General Hospital-
Maxie was sobbing in one of the chairs. She hadn't stopped with her agonizing tears since she realized that it was the person that she loved more than she'd ever loved any other guy. It only made it worse that they had that stupid fight only earlier in the day, and the possibility existed that she would never get a chance to say that she was sorry for the way that she acted. She would never get to say goodbye.
Georgie had stopped working as soon as she realized what was going on. She had to stay by Maxie because if she didn't she knew that Maxie would end up losing it completely. Georgie was the one thread that managed to keep Maxie somewhat grounded. If she wasn't there, there was no telling what was going to happen. She had been doing something else on another floor when Damian was wheeled in. She hadn't seen how he looked, but from what Maxie had told her things didn't look like they were going to go over well. It was so horrible. She had only seen them together again earlier that day. She had seen Maxie melt in happiness, like everything that was ever wrong in her world was corrected simply because the person that she loved was standing a few feet away. He had been gone from her for a week, and he was in the hospital now. It wasn't fair. How long had they been waiting? When would they get some news on his condition? Would the doctors even tell Maxie and Georgie? Maybe, maybe not. They weren't family, and even though Monica and Bobbie knew that Maxie and Damian were involved with one another, it might not have been enough to warrant disclosure. They could check the records, but Georgie didn't want to be forced to find out, and she knew that her sister didn't want to feel like she was being excluded.
Ric was also in the area. He hadn't left since he got there, although a part of him had thought that leaving would have been the wisest thing for him to do. When Sonny arrived he would no doubt be angry and scared. Sonny was irrational almost all the time, but the moment that someone was hurt that he cared about, the second that the situation became something that was more than he could handle, it made Sonny even worse than he could ever be when things were going his way. Ric could hear Maxie's crying in the distance. He had even looked a few times over at the poor girl who had gone through so much in her short life, and her problems only seemed to escalate because of her involvement with his nephew, with his family. It wasn't fair. If anyone should have been spared the pain, it should have been Maxie. At the very least he saw that Georgie was there, as she would always be, standing over her older sister like the protector that Ric knew she was.
Every time he tried to leave he couldn't. Not until he had some news about what was going on. He'd stay regardless of what Sonny said. Sonny didn't matter, their grudge didn't matter. Everything that was going on about them, between them, should have been ignored for the time being. Ric knew that he would be more than willing to make such a pledge, but if Sonny was going to feel the same was another story entirely. They should have stood together. Ric should have been there to help his big brother when Sonny needed it, because he knew how much Sonny cared about Damian. Did Sonny know how much Ric cared for Damian? That was a debatable question. Odds were high that even if Sonny did know he would find some way of making it so that it didn't seem like Ric cared at all. Sonny never believed that Ric could be the type of person to care about anyone other than himself, even after he had seen how much Ric truly loved Elizabeth. Sonny chose to blind himself which was something that Ric would have to accept, regardless of how much it hurt.
Bobbie had done a lot of things in her time at the hospital. She had seen people die and that would never be something she could become comfortable with. But when she saw someone that she viewed as family lying on the gurney she knew that it was the worst feeling she could ever have. Luckily, Damian wasn't family, which allowed her to get past the rule that the hospital had prohibiting workers from doing anything on family members. It was still hard, but at least she knew that she was the one that was doing everything she could to keep him safe. If anyone failed it would be her. She wouldn't fail.
Sonny and Elizabeth tried to stay as calm as they could. It was slightly easier for Sonny, although it was still a struggle. His son... the one that he had barely known... could be leaving him before they ever really got a chance to be together. Sonny had thought that when they weathered their animosity towards one another, or at least Damian's animosity towards him, that they had finally gotten past everything. It wasn't the case, though. Sonny knew that now. He could solve that problem easily, but keeping Damian alive could have been a bigger problem, one that he couldn't battle. Sonny had a lot of power and influence, there was very little that Sonny couldn't do. Bringing back the dead was on that very limited list. Sonny had been made aware of that fact early in his life, even after his rise to power. He couldn't bring back Lily or their baby, he couldn't bring back Stone, he couldn't bring back the baby that he and Carly had lost because of AJ. But Damian wasn't lost to him yet. Sonny wouldn't lose him without a fight.
When they arrived at the hospital lobby where everyone was, Sonny, for once, did not focus on Ric. He noticed Maxie first. Out of the people that were there he didn't go and look at the person that he hated most. He knew that she was taking it the hardest. What could he do? Was there anything that he could say? Sonny sighed, he didn't know, and that was the worst thing that could have happened to him.
Time flowed at a painful pace. It seemed like if they looked at the clock, any of them, it meant that the clock would only go backwards in time. It had only really been ten minutes, but it seemed like it was much longer.
Monica walked up. She knew that someone would have been there by then. Sonny would have had someone come and see his son if he wasn't there himself. She was thankful that he was there, though. It made her feel better about a lot of things knowing that he cared about his son enough to be there when he was hurt. Maybe he wasn't the worst choice for a father that Michael, her grandson, could have had.
They all noticed her, but it was Sonny who took spoke, "Monica... how is he?"
She looked at the girls that were around her. Maxie, Georgie and Elizabeth were not family. "I shouldn't talk about something like this in the open."
"They can hear what you have to say," Sonny said. "I know that Damian wouldn't want the people that he cares about to be kept in the dark about something as important as his health."
Monica, now with the blessing of the patient's father to talk openly, could give the answer. "Stable," Monica's one word meant more than it was implied. Everyone knew that stable was about the best that he could be aside from fully recovered. "But that doesn't mean that everything is going to be okay. He's lost a lot of blood from the gash on his head and various other places on his body. We'll wait until the morning before we get him into an x-ray room, but he might have a few broken bones. All things considered, it could have gone much worse for him."
"You can't see if there's anything else wrong with him?" Sonny asked. "Will this be like with Jason? Will he forget who he was?"
Monica didn't enjoy hearing that part of her own past, losing her own son, but she knew that it was a fair question to ask given the situation and was not something that Sonny said to hurt her intentionally. "I don't know for certain, Sonny. We can't take any risks right now until he gets slightly stronger. Like I said, he's stable but tampering with him and putting him through a bunch of tests could put that stability in jeopardy, and I don't think any of you want that."
Elizabeth clung to Ric's hand. He was on the arm of the seat she was sitting in. "At least he has a chance..."
"Can I see him?" Sonny inquired.
Monica shook her head, "Right now we just need to be around him, the doctors and nurses. Bobbie is with him right now. She felt it best that she stay with him and I give you the news. Someone will let you know when it's okay for you to come in." She walked off, hurrying because she knew that if something was going to happen it would happen soon.
"Sonny..." Ric started.
"Don't talk to me," Sonny quickly cut his brother off. "The last thing I want to hear right now is your voice. I let you stay because Elizabeth was the one who told me what happened and I knew that you wouldn't leave her alone. But now that we know what we're up against, I don't have to play nice with you."
"Don't you think we can just be there for your son?" Ric asked.
"I will be here for my son, I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I," Ric said.
"No, you're leaving."
"Sonny," Elizabeth got up, "please... Ric's just as concerned about Damian as you are. Can't you at least not fight with each other for the sake of someone that you both care about? Would you do something like this if your mother was in the hospital?"
Sonny turned his penetrating eyes towards Elizabeth. She defended him, as he knew she would. "I don't have the time to fight with him, and I don't care what he does. But if I think for a minute that you're going to hurt my son, Ric, I'm going to make sure that you don't."
"I would never hurt him..."
"Prove it," Sonny stated. "You're only getting one shot with me, and the only reason I'm giving it to you is because I know that Damian actually does view you as a member of his family, as someone that he cares about. I may never accept or understand why he does it, but he made the choice and I'm not going to spit on that choice, not right now."
Ric wasn't sure if he should thank his brother, so he didn't. "Elizabeth, maybe we should get some coffee, it could be a long night."
"Yeah, that would probably be smart," Elizabeth got up and walked away with Ric, looking back once.
"Maxie," Sonny spoke her name and she almost jumped. "How you doing?"
Maxie wiped away her tears and sniffled. She had never had an easy time talking with Sonny, even if she was going out with one of his children. Being around him as much as she was didn't make it any easier. But he was being kind to her at that moment. She knew that he was genuinely concerned about her. "I'm so scared..."
"So am I," Sonny admitted.
"Do you think... do you think he's going to die?" Maxie asked. She struggled with the possibility, knowing that it was at that moment more real than it had ever been at any other time in their lives.
"I won't let him die," Sonny stated. "I will do everything that I can to protect my sons."
"This is a good hospital, Maxie," Georgie said, trying to sound as comforting as she could. "They saved you, remember?"
"They've saved a lot of people," Sonny said. "I don't care what it takes, Maxie. If I have to fly specialists in from around the world I will. I've got enough money to front something, no matter the cost. There is nothing that is more precious to me than keeping my son alive." His words weren't doing anything to motivate Maxie. He tried another avenue. "Hey, he wouldn't want you to cry." Sonny gave her a box of tissue that was nearby. "He would want you to be strong and he needs you to think that he's going to get better, not that he's going to get any worse."
Maxie took the tissue and looked up. She had never seen Sonny Corinthos in such a vulnerable position in her life. It made him seem more human... less alarming. A person that she could appreciate.
Maxie was sobbing in one of the chairs. She hadn't stopped with her agonizing tears since she realized that it was the person that she loved more than she'd ever loved any other guy. It only made it worse that they had that stupid fight only earlier in the day, and the possibility existed that she would never get a chance to say that she was sorry for the way that she acted. She would never get to say goodbye.
Georgie had stopped working as soon as she realized what was going on. She had to stay by Maxie because if she didn't she knew that Maxie would end up losing it completely. Georgie was the one thread that managed to keep Maxie somewhat grounded. If she wasn't there, there was no telling what was going to happen. She had been doing something else on another floor when Damian was wheeled in. She hadn't seen how he looked, but from what Maxie had told her things didn't look like they were going to go over well. It was so horrible. She had only seen them together again earlier that day. She had seen Maxie melt in happiness, like everything that was ever wrong in her world was corrected simply because the person that she loved was standing a few feet away. He had been gone from her for a week, and he was in the hospital now. It wasn't fair. How long had they been waiting? When would they get some news on his condition? Would the doctors even tell Maxie and Georgie? Maybe, maybe not. They weren't family, and even though Monica and Bobbie knew that Maxie and Damian were involved with one another, it might not have been enough to warrant disclosure. They could check the records, but Georgie didn't want to be forced to find out, and she knew that her sister didn't want to feel like she was being excluded.
Ric was also in the area. He hadn't left since he got there, although a part of him had thought that leaving would have been the wisest thing for him to do. When Sonny arrived he would no doubt be angry and scared. Sonny was irrational almost all the time, but the moment that someone was hurt that he cared about, the second that the situation became something that was more than he could handle, it made Sonny even worse than he could ever be when things were going his way. Ric could hear Maxie's crying in the distance. He had even looked a few times over at the poor girl who had gone through so much in her short life, and her problems only seemed to escalate because of her involvement with his nephew, with his family. It wasn't fair. If anyone should have been spared the pain, it should have been Maxie. At the very least he saw that Georgie was there, as she would always be, standing over her older sister like the protector that Ric knew she was.
Every time he tried to leave he couldn't. Not until he had some news about what was going on. He'd stay regardless of what Sonny said. Sonny didn't matter, their grudge didn't matter. Everything that was going on about them, between them, should have been ignored for the time being. Ric knew that he would be more than willing to make such a pledge, but if Sonny was going to feel the same was another story entirely. They should have stood together. Ric should have been there to help his big brother when Sonny needed it, because he knew how much Sonny cared about Damian. Did Sonny know how much Ric cared for Damian? That was a debatable question. Odds were high that even if Sonny did know he would find some way of making it so that it didn't seem like Ric cared at all. Sonny never believed that Ric could be the type of person to care about anyone other than himself, even after he had seen how much Ric truly loved Elizabeth. Sonny chose to blind himself which was something that Ric would have to accept, regardless of how much it hurt.
Bobbie had done a lot of things in her time at the hospital. She had seen people die and that would never be something she could become comfortable with. But when she saw someone that she viewed as family lying on the gurney she knew that it was the worst feeling she could ever have. Luckily, Damian wasn't family, which allowed her to get past the rule that the hospital had prohibiting workers from doing anything on family members. It was still hard, but at least she knew that she was the one that was doing everything she could to keep him safe. If anyone failed it would be her. She wouldn't fail.
Sonny and Elizabeth tried to stay as calm as they could. It was slightly easier for Sonny, although it was still a struggle. His son... the one that he had barely known... could be leaving him before they ever really got a chance to be together. Sonny had thought that when they weathered their animosity towards one another, or at least Damian's animosity towards him, that they had finally gotten past everything. It wasn't the case, though. Sonny knew that now. He could solve that problem easily, but keeping Damian alive could have been a bigger problem, one that he couldn't battle. Sonny had a lot of power and influence, there was very little that Sonny couldn't do. Bringing back the dead was on that very limited list. Sonny had been made aware of that fact early in his life, even after his rise to power. He couldn't bring back Lily or their baby, he couldn't bring back Stone, he couldn't bring back the baby that he and Carly had lost because of AJ. But Damian wasn't lost to him yet. Sonny wouldn't lose him without a fight.
When they arrived at the hospital lobby where everyone was, Sonny, for once, did not focus on Ric. He noticed Maxie first. Out of the people that were there he didn't go and look at the person that he hated most. He knew that she was taking it the hardest. What could he do? Was there anything that he could say? Sonny sighed, he didn't know, and that was the worst thing that could have happened to him.
Time flowed at a painful pace. It seemed like if they looked at the clock, any of them, it meant that the clock would only go backwards in time. It had only really been ten minutes, but it seemed like it was much longer.
Monica walked up. She knew that someone would have been there by then. Sonny would have had someone come and see his son if he wasn't there himself. She was thankful that he was there, though. It made her feel better about a lot of things knowing that he cared about his son enough to be there when he was hurt. Maybe he wasn't the worst choice for a father that Michael, her grandson, could have had.
They all noticed her, but it was Sonny who took spoke, "Monica... how is he?"
She looked at the girls that were around her. Maxie, Georgie and Elizabeth were not family. "I shouldn't talk about something like this in the open."
"They can hear what you have to say," Sonny said. "I know that Damian wouldn't want the people that he cares about to be kept in the dark about something as important as his health."
Monica, now with the blessing of the patient's father to talk openly, could give the answer. "Stable," Monica's one word meant more than it was implied. Everyone knew that stable was about the best that he could be aside from fully recovered. "But that doesn't mean that everything is going to be okay. He's lost a lot of blood from the gash on his head and various other places on his body. We'll wait until the morning before we get him into an x-ray room, but he might have a few broken bones. All things considered, it could have gone much worse for him."
"You can't see if there's anything else wrong with him?" Sonny asked. "Will this be like with Jason? Will he forget who he was?"
Monica didn't enjoy hearing that part of her own past, losing her own son, but she knew that it was a fair question to ask given the situation and was not something that Sonny said to hurt her intentionally. "I don't know for certain, Sonny. We can't take any risks right now until he gets slightly stronger. Like I said, he's stable but tampering with him and putting him through a bunch of tests could put that stability in jeopardy, and I don't think any of you want that."
Elizabeth clung to Ric's hand. He was on the arm of the seat she was sitting in. "At least he has a chance..."
"Can I see him?" Sonny inquired.
Monica shook her head, "Right now we just need to be around him, the doctors and nurses. Bobbie is with him right now. She felt it best that she stay with him and I give you the news. Someone will let you know when it's okay for you to come in." She walked off, hurrying because she knew that if something was going to happen it would happen soon.
"Sonny..." Ric started.
"Don't talk to me," Sonny quickly cut his brother off. "The last thing I want to hear right now is your voice. I let you stay because Elizabeth was the one who told me what happened and I knew that you wouldn't leave her alone. But now that we know what we're up against, I don't have to play nice with you."
"Don't you think we can just be there for your son?" Ric asked.
"I will be here for my son, I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I," Ric said.
"No, you're leaving."
"Sonny," Elizabeth got up, "please... Ric's just as concerned about Damian as you are. Can't you at least not fight with each other for the sake of someone that you both care about? Would you do something like this if your mother was in the hospital?"
Sonny turned his penetrating eyes towards Elizabeth. She defended him, as he knew she would. "I don't have the time to fight with him, and I don't care what he does. But if I think for a minute that you're going to hurt my son, Ric, I'm going to make sure that you don't."
"I would never hurt him..."
"Prove it," Sonny stated. "You're only getting one shot with me, and the only reason I'm giving it to you is because I know that Damian actually does view you as a member of his family, as someone that he cares about. I may never accept or understand why he does it, but he made the choice and I'm not going to spit on that choice, not right now."
Ric wasn't sure if he should thank his brother, so he didn't. "Elizabeth, maybe we should get some coffee, it could be a long night."
"Yeah, that would probably be smart," Elizabeth got up and walked away with Ric, looking back once.
"Maxie," Sonny spoke her name and she almost jumped. "How you doing?"
Maxie wiped away her tears and sniffled. She had never had an easy time talking with Sonny, even if she was going out with one of his children. Being around him as much as she was didn't make it any easier. But he was being kind to her at that moment. She knew that he was genuinely concerned about her. "I'm so scared..."
"So am I," Sonny admitted.
"Do you think... do you think he's going to die?" Maxie asked. She struggled with the possibility, knowing that it was at that moment more real than it had ever been at any other time in their lives.
"I won't let him die," Sonny stated. "I will do everything that I can to protect my sons."
"This is a good hospital, Maxie," Georgie said, trying to sound as comforting as she could. "They saved you, remember?"
"They've saved a lot of people," Sonny said. "I don't care what it takes, Maxie. If I have to fly specialists in from around the world I will. I've got enough money to front something, no matter the cost. There is nothing that is more precious to me than keeping my son alive." His words weren't doing anything to motivate Maxie. He tried another avenue. "Hey, he wouldn't want you to cry." Sonny gave her a box of tissue that was nearby. "He would want you to be strong and he needs you to think that he's going to get better, not that he's going to get any worse."
Maxie took the tissue and looked up. She had never seen Sonny Corinthos in such a vulnerable position in her life. It made him seem more human... less alarming. A person that she could appreciate.