Note: Sorry about the late update, but on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I
have school, so the updates won't be until I get back in the afternoon.
Tomorrow it should be up around noon, though.
Elsewhere in General Hospital-
The things that go on in someone's head are, at times, more than a bit scary. They can be downright haunting if given the chance. For Zander Smith the latter was true, much to his dismay. He dreamt of Emily, how much he loved her. How much he hated it when she was with Nikolas, keeping from him the fact that she was slowly dying from the same cancer that had killed her biological mother and had also affected Monica at one point in life. He saw their marriage, one built on love, but destroyed by the love for another man. For Nikolas. Emily was his heart and soul, the one person in life that he felt he could depend on to never intentionally hurt him. He couldn't depend on his father, or his brother, or his mother. He had no one except Emily, and now he didn't even have that anymore. She was in love with another. She didn't care about how much it hurt the man that would always love her no matter what. All she wanted was Nikolas. The memories that they had, the happy ones, they couldn't filter out how it all ended. The hate, the anger, the mistrust. Zander tossed in the bed and woke up when they became too much, "Emily!"
"Not quite," Faith said as she walked up from the other end of the room. "Did you have a bad dream, baby?"
"What happened?" Zander asked. "Why am I in the hospital?"
"You hit your head last night, don't you remember?"
"No," Zander replied. "The last thing I remember was the gun going off."
"Well, you fell after the bullet hit your shoulder," Faith informed him. "Thanks for taking the bullet, by the way."
"You didn't really give me a choice, did you?" Zander asked. "You pretty much pushed me into the way of the bullet."
"It was either that or ruin my favorite jacket with my blood," Faith smiled. "Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of that fabric?"
"Your concern over my health is truly touching, Faith," Zander mused. "At least I know where I stand on the scale of things in your eyes. Somewhere beneath your clothes."
Faith playfully batted at his nose with her index finger. "Silly little lackey, everything takes second priority behind my clothing. I thought you knew that."
"You could have just gotten a new coat, you have enough money."
"It wouldn't have the sentimental value," Faith replied. "That couldn't be replaced."
"What's so sentimental about that coat?" Zander wondered.
"It's the coat that I make you take a bullet for. It has untouchable value to me."
"Are we done here?" Zander was losing his cool.
"I'm not done looking at you in that hospital gown. It doesn't leave very much to the imagination. Maybe I should have you go out in one every day."
"I wouldn't do it."
"You always think that you have a choice when it comes to the orders that I give you, don't you, Zander?" Faith shook her head. "I'm afraid that isn't the case. See, you do what I tell you to do, and if you're lucky and manage to live through it you get the cash prizes."
"How much do I get for taking the bullet?"
"Actually, you owe me for taking the bullet," Faith giggled. "Someone had to pay the bill for you to stay in here. You really should look into getting some health insurance. Maybe the one with Snoopy on the commercials."
"That's life insurance, Faith."
"Oh," Faith looked the other way. "No sense in you getting any of that, now is there? You goons have such a short life span."
"Can we talk about something that doesn't involve you making me look like the most insignificant person on the face of the Earth?"
"That might be a little hard, Zander." Faith thought about it for a moment. "But, I suppose I should appease you. After all, your body made such a wonderful human shield. Who do you think did it?"
"You've got a whole lot of enemies, Faith," Zander reminded her.
"I can't help it if I'm popular."
"Sonny and Alcazar are at the top of that list."
Faith smiled, "Lorenzo and I have a deal. If I don't try and hurt the object of his desire in any way, he won't make a move against me."
"Since when do you take the word of another person? Especially a man?"
"When the man has more power than I do," Faith retorted. "I might not like admitting it, but Lorenzo could easily wipe me off the map without breaking a sweat. If playing a small part of the game by his rules keeps me alive then who am I to risk my life? Yours I would in a heartbeat, but never mine."
"Which leaves Sonny and Jason."
"Sonny's too busy acting like a wounded puppy over his bastard child's rejection," Faith laughed. "I don't think they even care about anything that I'm doing. Besides, I know the people that work for Sonny, none of them were there."
"I'm running out of options," Zander said.
"Maybe you are, but I'm not," Faith got up. "Someone tried to take my seat of power, someone that I've never seen before. I'll make sure that I never see them again."
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'll find a way. I'm very resourceful when my own life is put in danger over something." Faith grabbed her bag and went for the door, "Rest up, pet. I'll take you back home later tonight. For now I'm going to go idea shopping."
"Bring me back something nice."
"You have your life, Zander. What more could you want?" Faith walked out.
Elsewhere inside the Hospital-
"It's great that he's better, Damian, but I can't help but feel bad that you made him sad when he left."
"He wanted me to go back with him and live with Sonny and Carly again, I can't do that. I told him over and over again that it won't be happening anytime soon."
"I know," Maxie muttered. "Couldn't you have just spent a couple more minutes with him, though?"
"I'll go visit him before the end of the day, make sure everything is okay."
"And if he asks you to stay again?" Maxie asked.
"I'll tell him the same thing I told him before." Damian sighed, "The last thing I want to do is hurt my little brother, but there isn't much that I can do that wouldn't hurt him somehow."
"At least he went home today. You didn't have to miss any school."
"And I can go visit my grandparents next weekend."
Maxie looked at him, "You're going back to L.A?"
"Just for the weekend," Damian replied. "There are some things that I need to take care of with them."
"You want to talk about them?"
Damian shook his head, "Maybe another time, when I'm comfortable with what's going on. I don't know how to feel about it, Maxie. I have to talk to them about it. I have to know the truth and hear it from them."
"Our first weekend as a couple and you won't even be here," Maxie pouted slightly.
"Please tell me you're not one of those people that has anniversary's for the most trivial things," Damian's eyes were full of worry. "The last thing I want is for us to have one of those 'the first time we heard this song' days."
"I'm not," Maxie said. "I'll just miss you, that's all."
"It's only the weekend."
"Will you tell them about me?" Maxie asked.
"Of course I will!" Damian smiled. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, how could I not ramble about you for hours on end?"
"Well, you don't need to talk for hours," Maxie said.
"I'll try to limit myself, but I'm not going to make any promises."
"My shift is about to start," Maxie said looking at her watch. "I need to go change."
"You want me to stay here for a bit?"
Maxie grinned, "No, thank you. You've been here for too long. Go back to the apartment, get some rest."
"If you insist," Damian replied as he leaned in to kiss her. "Call you later."
"If you don't, I'll call you."
Damian nodded, "Bye."
Maxie walked off to another part of the hospital. Now she didn't have to worry about Michael and Damian while she worked. It took a lot of weight off her shoulders. And for that she was thankful.
Faith grinned as she watched from the hallway, "So, the most powerful criminal in the immediate area's son has a thing for the Commissioner's daughter? This could have some potential."
14
Elsewhere in General Hospital-
The things that go on in someone's head are, at times, more than a bit scary. They can be downright haunting if given the chance. For Zander Smith the latter was true, much to his dismay. He dreamt of Emily, how much he loved her. How much he hated it when she was with Nikolas, keeping from him the fact that she was slowly dying from the same cancer that had killed her biological mother and had also affected Monica at one point in life. He saw their marriage, one built on love, but destroyed by the love for another man. For Nikolas. Emily was his heart and soul, the one person in life that he felt he could depend on to never intentionally hurt him. He couldn't depend on his father, or his brother, or his mother. He had no one except Emily, and now he didn't even have that anymore. She was in love with another. She didn't care about how much it hurt the man that would always love her no matter what. All she wanted was Nikolas. The memories that they had, the happy ones, they couldn't filter out how it all ended. The hate, the anger, the mistrust. Zander tossed in the bed and woke up when they became too much, "Emily!"
"Not quite," Faith said as she walked up from the other end of the room. "Did you have a bad dream, baby?"
"What happened?" Zander asked. "Why am I in the hospital?"
"You hit your head last night, don't you remember?"
"No," Zander replied. "The last thing I remember was the gun going off."
"Well, you fell after the bullet hit your shoulder," Faith informed him. "Thanks for taking the bullet, by the way."
"You didn't really give me a choice, did you?" Zander asked. "You pretty much pushed me into the way of the bullet."
"It was either that or ruin my favorite jacket with my blood," Faith smiled. "Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of that fabric?"
"Your concern over my health is truly touching, Faith," Zander mused. "At least I know where I stand on the scale of things in your eyes. Somewhere beneath your clothes."
Faith playfully batted at his nose with her index finger. "Silly little lackey, everything takes second priority behind my clothing. I thought you knew that."
"You could have just gotten a new coat, you have enough money."
"It wouldn't have the sentimental value," Faith replied. "That couldn't be replaced."
"What's so sentimental about that coat?" Zander wondered.
"It's the coat that I make you take a bullet for. It has untouchable value to me."
"Are we done here?" Zander was losing his cool.
"I'm not done looking at you in that hospital gown. It doesn't leave very much to the imagination. Maybe I should have you go out in one every day."
"I wouldn't do it."
"You always think that you have a choice when it comes to the orders that I give you, don't you, Zander?" Faith shook her head. "I'm afraid that isn't the case. See, you do what I tell you to do, and if you're lucky and manage to live through it you get the cash prizes."
"How much do I get for taking the bullet?"
"Actually, you owe me for taking the bullet," Faith giggled. "Someone had to pay the bill for you to stay in here. You really should look into getting some health insurance. Maybe the one with Snoopy on the commercials."
"That's life insurance, Faith."
"Oh," Faith looked the other way. "No sense in you getting any of that, now is there? You goons have such a short life span."
"Can we talk about something that doesn't involve you making me look like the most insignificant person on the face of the Earth?"
"That might be a little hard, Zander." Faith thought about it for a moment. "But, I suppose I should appease you. After all, your body made such a wonderful human shield. Who do you think did it?"
"You've got a whole lot of enemies, Faith," Zander reminded her.
"I can't help it if I'm popular."
"Sonny and Alcazar are at the top of that list."
Faith smiled, "Lorenzo and I have a deal. If I don't try and hurt the object of his desire in any way, he won't make a move against me."
"Since when do you take the word of another person? Especially a man?"
"When the man has more power than I do," Faith retorted. "I might not like admitting it, but Lorenzo could easily wipe me off the map without breaking a sweat. If playing a small part of the game by his rules keeps me alive then who am I to risk my life? Yours I would in a heartbeat, but never mine."
"Which leaves Sonny and Jason."
"Sonny's too busy acting like a wounded puppy over his bastard child's rejection," Faith laughed. "I don't think they even care about anything that I'm doing. Besides, I know the people that work for Sonny, none of them were there."
"I'm running out of options," Zander said.
"Maybe you are, but I'm not," Faith got up. "Someone tried to take my seat of power, someone that I've never seen before. I'll make sure that I never see them again."
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'll find a way. I'm very resourceful when my own life is put in danger over something." Faith grabbed her bag and went for the door, "Rest up, pet. I'll take you back home later tonight. For now I'm going to go idea shopping."
"Bring me back something nice."
"You have your life, Zander. What more could you want?" Faith walked out.
Elsewhere inside the Hospital-
"It's great that he's better, Damian, but I can't help but feel bad that you made him sad when he left."
"He wanted me to go back with him and live with Sonny and Carly again, I can't do that. I told him over and over again that it won't be happening anytime soon."
"I know," Maxie muttered. "Couldn't you have just spent a couple more minutes with him, though?"
"I'll go visit him before the end of the day, make sure everything is okay."
"And if he asks you to stay again?" Maxie asked.
"I'll tell him the same thing I told him before." Damian sighed, "The last thing I want to do is hurt my little brother, but there isn't much that I can do that wouldn't hurt him somehow."
"At least he went home today. You didn't have to miss any school."
"And I can go visit my grandparents next weekend."
Maxie looked at him, "You're going back to L.A?"
"Just for the weekend," Damian replied. "There are some things that I need to take care of with them."
"You want to talk about them?"
Damian shook his head, "Maybe another time, when I'm comfortable with what's going on. I don't know how to feel about it, Maxie. I have to talk to them about it. I have to know the truth and hear it from them."
"Our first weekend as a couple and you won't even be here," Maxie pouted slightly.
"Please tell me you're not one of those people that has anniversary's for the most trivial things," Damian's eyes were full of worry. "The last thing I want is for us to have one of those 'the first time we heard this song' days."
"I'm not," Maxie said. "I'll just miss you, that's all."
"It's only the weekend."
"Will you tell them about me?" Maxie asked.
"Of course I will!" Damian smiled. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, how could I not ramble about you for hours on end?"
"Well, you don't need to talk for hours," Maxie said.
"I'll try to limit myself, but I'm not going to make any promises."
"My shift is about to start," Maxie said looking at her watch. "I need to go change."
"You want me to stay here for a bit?"
Maxie grinned, "No, thank you. You've been here for too long. Go back to the apartment, get some rest."
"If you insist," Damian replied as he leaned in to kiss her. "Call you later."
"If you don't, I'll call you."
Damian nodded, "Bye."
Maxie walked off to another part of the hospital. Now she didn't have to worry about Michael and Damian while she worked. It took a lot of weight off her shoulders. And for that she was thankful.
Faith grinned as she watched from the hallway, "So, the most powerful criminal in the immediate area's son has a thing for the Commissioner's daughter? This could have some potential."
14