After the Fire
A GH fanfiction
Disclaimer: The ABC/Disney Corporation owns all characters of General Hospital.
Chapter Two: A Time for Rebuilding
As Maxie stepped off the elevator and approached the ninth floor nurses' station, she could hear Audrey Hardy and her Aunt Bobbie talking. "I'm worried about her, Bobbie," Audrey was saying, "she hasn't been herself since the fire."
Maxie knew they were talking about her and stayed back so they couldn't see her.
"She's been through a lot the last few days," Bobbie said to Audrey. She paused, remembering her own loss. "We all have." Bobbie had just buried her daughter Carly a few days before. Out of the corner of her eye, Bobbie saw Maxie at the nurses' station. "Maxie? Are you working today?"
Maxie nodded. "I know I wasn't scheduled," she said to Audrey, "but is it okay for me to be here?"
Audrey smiled. "Of course, dear, we can always use the help."
Maxie stashed her purse and her coat in a cubbyhole and started her shift. She spent the next few hours passing out books, talking to patients and generally lending a hand to the nurses.
It was six o'clock when Audrey insisted she go home. Maxie agreed reluctantly. As she walked out of the hospital, she could see the bus approaching the stop. Maxie hurried to the bus stop, making it just as the bus pulled to the curb. She sank into an empty seat and closed her eyes. Immediately, she drifted off to sleep.
Someone was shaking her. "Maxie! Wake up! We're home!"
Maxie opened her eyes and saw Georgie peering down at her. "What's wrong with you, Georgie? Why are you yelling at me?"
"You fell asleep on the bus and the driver is waiting for us to get off," Georgie told her.
Maxie looked around. She didn't remember falling asleep. Grabbing her purse, she stood up and hurried off the bus. Georgie fell into step beside her as they trudged home.
"Are you okay, Maxie?" Georgie asked, after they had walked for half a block.
Maxie shrugged. Normally she could tell her sister everything but not this time. Georgie had no idea what Maxie had been dealing with the past few weeks before the fire. She had been helping Zander Smith elude the cops for his part in the shooting of a cop. Maxie believed that Zander had not shot anyone so she agreed to help him escape, but she also believed it was best for him to give himself up and trust in the system. The night of the fire, she had finally got Zander to agree to talk to Mac, but Maxie couldn't find him. When she found out the hotel was on fire, Maxie's first thoughts were of Zander. 'What if he couldn't get out in time?'
When the victim list was made, Zander's name was first on the list and it broke Maxie's heart. She felt guilty knowing she was the last person to see him alive.
"I'm fine, Georgie."
Georgie wasn't dumb. In fact, she was one of the smartest girls in her class. She knew her sister, she knew her better than anyone, and she knew that Maxie was anything but fine.
What she didn't know was how to get Maxie to confide in her so she could help. For most of their lives, Maxie and Georgie were as close as two sisters could be. They told each other everything. Growing up basically without their parents around them, they had learned to rely on each other. That had begun to change in the past year when they started fighting over their life choices, mostly having to do with boys.
"Is it about Mom?" Georgie asked finally. When Felicia finally arrived home everyone, except Maxie, had greeted her warmly.
Maxie rolled her eyes. "I don't care about mom, Georgie," she scoffed. "She hasn't cared enough about us for the past year so why should I care about mom?"
Georgie didn't say anything. She got tired of defending their mother to Maxie because she knew that nothing she said would change her mind. She knew as well as Maxie that Felicia hadn't been the most reliable parent but she was still their mother. Why couldn't Maxie feel the same way?
----
Elizabeth was busy clearing a table after the dinner rush at Kelly's. She looked up as Emily and Lucky walked in. Seeing the exhaustion on Em's face, Liz guessed that they had come from General Hospital. "Hi, any word on Nikolas?" she asked, as they hung up their coats and sat at an empty clean table.
Lucky sighed. Nikolas had sustained many injuries from being trapped under fallen debris in the fire, one of which was a broken back. "The same," Lucky told Liz, "Nikolas can't feel anything from the waist down."
Elizabeth sat down opposite Emily and took her hand. "I'm sorry, is there anything I can do? Do you want anything to eat? Or drink?"
Emily smiled wistfully. "I could really go for one of your famous brownies right now."
Elizabeth stood up. "Well, it just so happens that I have some right now," she announced, walking behind the counter. "I decided to make a batch today and give them out to my special customers and I have a few left over." She brought out a box and carried it to the table.
Emily took one out and bit into it. "Mm, delicious as ever."
Elizabeth knew her friend well enough to hear something was missing in her voice. Joy. Lucky heard it too and patted Emily's back. "Maybe I should take you home," he suggested, "you need to get some rest."
"I'm fine, you guys," Emily insisted. "Besides, I don't want to go back to Windemere right now. It's too big and empty without Nikolas."
"What about the Quartermaine's?"
Emily agreed and Lucky retrieved her coat from the coat-rack. They bid Elizabeth goodbye and left the diner. Elizabeth decided to close early for the night. Bobbie would understand considering the fact that Elizabeth was pregnant and needed to take care of her unborn baby. After locking the door, she picked up the dirty dishes and carried them into the kitchen, turning off the light to the dining room on her way.
----
Maxie lay across her bed pretending to sleep when she heard her mother's voice. "Maxie? Can I come in?" Felicia called out before opening the door. She spotted her daughter and tiptoed in. She laid down the mail she was carrying on the nightstand and sat on the bed. "Honey, I know you're not asleep. You used to pull that trick on me all the time when you were little."
Maxie sighed and sat up. "What do you want, Mother?" she asked, with more than a little irritation in her voice.
Felicia frowned at her daughter. "You know, Maxie, I'm getting a little irritated by your attitude these days."
Maxie avoided her mother's gaze. She knew Felicia wanted to talk. Her eyes came upon the nightstand by her bed. "Is this for me?" she asked, picking up the stack.
"Yes, a couple of college applications and there's also something personal in there for you," Felicia replied. "There's no return address."
Maxie laid the envelopes from the colleges aside and looked at the envelope with just her name and address. There was no postmark on it. Curious, she flipped it over and tore the flap open. As she read the note, her eyes grew wide. Looking up at her mother, her eyes were wild. "When did this come? Today?"
Felicia took the envelope from Maxie and looked at it. "I don't know sweetheart," she said, "it was downstairs but I don't know when it came. Who is it from?"
Maxie took the envelope back. She shook her head. "Just a friend." She rushed out of her room and ran down the stairs. Grabbing her coat from the rack, she let herself out the door. When she was safely out of sight of her family, Maxie opened the letter and began reading again:
Dear Maxie,
By the time you get this, I'll be gone. I want to thank you for being there for me when I needed you. I really appreciate everything you did for me. You were a friend to me when I had none and I will always be grateful to you for that.
I hope your life brings you happiness, Maxie, because you deserve it. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
Your friend,
Zander
Zander. Maxie beamed. Zander was alive! He made it out of the hotel and he survived. Clutching the letter, Maxie opened her arms and twirled around in the newly falling snow, laughing for the first time in a week.
(Hope you like it. Please review. To my reviewers, I'm sorry to upset you over certain deaths in this story. It was hard for me to "kill" Mac but I thought it would help the story, besides, it brought Robin home and that thrills me.)