"…Again, Jason Morgan, local alleged gangster and right hand to Port Charles crime boss, Lorenzo Alcazar, has been shot outside of the Port Charles Police Department. There is still no word on his condition, but bystanders say…"

Caroline "Carly" Alcazar could give less than a damn what bystanders had to say. They knew nothing. Besides, most of the people on the streets would have just blamed Jason's shooting on himself. He shouldn't have been in that dirty business, they would have said. You reap what you sow, and all that garbage that made her want to slap them all. The bystanders didn't give a damn whether or not Jason lived or died.

By the time Carly had been told to turn on the news, they were already loading Jason into an ambulance. Looking past Sam McCall, she could see Jason's face. His skin was blanched and there was a lot of blood that made his black shirt stick thickly to his skin, but he was uncovered. No sheet over his face meant that he was alive, and for the moment, that would have to do.

What worried her more than anything was that nothing had been said about Lorenzo except that he reportedly employed Jason. She wanted to believe that they would have been shouting with glee if her husband were dead, but at the same time, she couldn't be sure. No one had called to tell her he was alright. When the news cameras passed the area, she didn't see him standing by, the black hair that reached down to his jawline blowing in the wind. She stared at the television, and didn't see him anywhere, and that worried her.

"Mom? Dad's okay, right?"

"They didn't say anything, so that means he's okay, right?"

Carly looked at the girls as though she were seeing them for the first time. She had known they were there, as they had been the ones that came running downstairs to tell her to turn on the television. It dawned on her that they shouldn't be there, they shouldn't be watching this. They were only fifteen, and though they knew about the life that their father led, they didn't need to see it so up close and personal.

"And Jason's not dead. They didn't cover his face."

"I saw Sam, and I saw Jason, but I didn't see Dad. That meant he's not hurt, but Jason is."

"How bad is Jason hurt, Mom?"

Sofie and Sage Alcazar, possibly, spent as much time with Jason as they did their own father. The two had been friends since long before they were born, and would be forever. They shouldn't have been watching him, either. They shouldn't have had to find out that he'd been shot by watching the news. None of them should have found out that way.

Carly shook her head. "You two should, um… You shouldn't be watching this." She turned the television off, then walked away. She stopped in front of the mahogany desk that sat a few feet from the front door and alternately looked from the phone to the door. She had three choices. One, she could call Lorenzo directly. Two, she could ask the guard at the door if he knew anything. Three, she could go out and find out for herself.

Option one was dicey. If Lorenzo were hurt, he wouldn't answer. However, if he were meeting with people, trying to find out what happened, he might not answer then, either. Whichever way it went, she would become upset if he didn't answer the phone and her mind would go to the worst-case scenario. Option two was almost ridiculous, as there was no way that Max would know anything before she did. Option three seemed to be her only choice, and that was contingent on Max even letting her get out the front door.

The phone rang and she pounced. By the second ring, she was juggling the phone and thrusting it to her ear. "Lorenzo?" She stopped and sighed. Carly looked to the girls and shook her head as she said, "Alexis…" She sagged against the desk, using one hand to steady her. Though usually strong, she feared that without something sturdy to hold on to, her knees would buckle and she would collapse. "Why isn't anybody telling me anything? Why did I have to hear about this on the news, huh?"

"Lorenzo is fine," Alexis told her. The woman's voice was flat, almost deadpan. They didn't always get along, but Carly knew enough about Alexis to know that there was always something in her voice unless she was talking to the police. She also knew that she would never speak to her in the same tone that she reserved for officers of the law. Carly guessed shock as the culprit. "He got hit in the shoulder, and they took him to GH. Jason got us out of the way before it all hit the fan."

"What about Jason?" Her head dropped for a second, then rose back to look at her daughters. "Is Jason alright?"

"Carly…" Alexis paused, then sighed. "Honestly, right now, I don't know. I'm at the hospital and I'm trying to get some news. I'm also trying to get Lorenzo to let them work on his shoulder and stop him from storming out of the hospital. All I know is that Jason was hit multiple times and they're trying to get him stable enough for surgery."

"I'm coming down there."

"No!" Another sigh, this one harder. "I'm calling because Lorenzo wants you to stay at the penthouse. I'm begging you, stay at the penthouse. It's bad enough I've got to take care of Sam, I don't need to take care of you, too."

"I don't need you to take care of me! I need you to go find out how Jason is doing! I need you to tell Lorenzo that I'm on my way!" Carly's grip on the phone was so tight that her knuckles started to ache. Her heart was beating rapidly and the angrier she got, the harder it became to breathe. She forced herself to calm down, at least enough to stop herself from hyperventilating. "I just need to know that everybody's okay, and I can only do that if I'm there."

"Carly, Lorenzo wants you to stay there. He wants to know that you and the girls are safe."

"Yeah, well… I want him to not be shot, but we can't all have what we want, now can we?"

Carly slammed the phone down. Her hand hovered over the phone for a second, then grabbed it again. She took the headset off the cradle and laid it against the desk, just in case Alexis tried to call back. Then, she pulled out her cell phone and turned it off. When she was sure there was no way that anyone could reach her without coming physically to see her, she turned to the girls. She wanted to get to the hospital, and she knew that they wouldn't let her leave them behind. Plus, she wasn't really secure in leaving them at the penthouse alone.

"Get your coats," she said as she stomped off towards the stairs. "We're going to the hospital, right now."