The hospital room was crowded, and it was only due to the various relations that certain people had to the higher-ups in the hospital that stopped security from coming in and escorting the majority of the room out. As it were, the room held enough Quartermaines to keep the men in uniform at bay. Outside the door, anyone who thought they would tell Mrs. Alcazar that there were too many people in her son's room would have to get through two South American guards and a heavily bandaged Zander Smith.
Carly laid stretched on Michael's bed, having been advised that she probably needed to lie down more than he did. For the most part, Michael was well except for some bruises and stitches, and a mild concussion that Tony Jones wanted to keep an eye on. Carly, however, had gotten dizzy about half an hour of sitting with her head down. She wasn't leaving the room, so the only place for her to go was her son's bed.
AJ stood staring out the room's window. He watched the snow fall, wondering if he should even be there. No doubt, when their business was taken care of, this was the first place Lorenzo would bring his trio of mobsters and AJ wasn't all that sure he could see the man without screaming at him. Only Carly's own injuries had kept him from screaming at her. Lorenzo, however, was an entity all his own and could handle anything AJ said, so he thought that maybe he should have been back out checking on the other half of Michael's accident instead of waiting for news.
Emily sat in the doorway, her legs crossed, the left line of her body pushing against Zander's leg. He needed to lie down just as much as Carly, but he refused to go anywhere but that door. He told her that he still had a job to do, and he had to do it better this time. She just wanted him to sit somewhere and let his dislocated shoulder and aching lungs rest. Well, that wasn't all she wanted. She also wanted to know for sure that Lucky, Nikolas and Gia were fine… and why THEY got to go out in the adventure and she had to stay behind.
The Quartermaine doctors, Alan and Monica, drifted in and out of the room to check on Michael, but Barbara Jean Spencer sat beside the bed, softly rubbing her daughter's hair. She wished that Luke were in town, because he would probably know exactly what to do and how to handle things. This couldn't be much different than dealing with Helena Cassadine, after all. If he could take out the majority of the Cassadine family, he'd be able to help out with one dirty mobster who didn't know how to leave children out of things.
In the corner, Brenda stood with Lois. She had considered bringing Jax with her, but thought better of it the second she mentioned the idea to Lois. There was no way that she wanted Luis and Jax in such close proximity. She, too, knew that the Alcazars would show here, first, and she had to see that he was alright for herself. She may have been angry with him for showing back up, angry with him for leaving, but the second she heard Carly say that they had gone after the girls, she grew worried, almost fearful. She'd come to the hospital to check on former friends, people who were very nearly relatives at one point, and stayed behind for Luis.
And seated at the foot of the bed was Sam McCall, with Alexis posted at her side. It was Alexis's job to make sure she didn't get out of the room, and if Alexis failed, the guards at the door were not to let her get far. The second Carly said Luis, Lorenzo and Jason had gone after Corinthos, she had threatened to bolt. In that moment, she and Carly shared a glance that said Carly understood what she wanted to do and would have done it herself if she could. They may not have liked one another, but they understood each other, and sometimes, that was more important. At that moment, though, the only thing important to Sam was Jason, and she had no idea whether he were dead or alive.
The scuffle of Emily rising to her feet turned heads. The squeak that came from her throat popped Carly up straight. Sofie and Sage came rushing through the door, and didn't stop until they had collapsed on Michael's bed. Arms enveloped them and their mothers tears fell hotly on their heads. It had already been discussed, in the car on the way to the hospital, they had been told that their mother didn't need to know the details of their captivity, nor anyone else for that matter. She was never to know that the bomb did blow, but they were already disconnected from it. She didn't need to know that there had been a bomb at all. Right then, they couldn't think about it anyway. The only thing that mattered was that, though dirty, they were back with their family and their mother cried onto them.
Lorenzo walked into the room next and instantly locked eyes with AJ. No words were exchanged, and none were necessary. AJ was angry that his son was caught in the middle of this mess, and Lorenzo knew that he was right. If Michael were younger, it might have even been enough for him to talk to Carly about letting Michael be with AJ more. This was a dangerous life, so dangerous that it even occurred to him to tell Carly to leave him and take the girls with her. He'd done it once before, and she'd told him in no uncertain terms that she wasn't going anywhere. She would probably do the same this time.
Luis entered the room, leaning heavily on Lucky. Bobbie was on her feet instantly, rushing to her nephew. She didn't know that the blood covering his clothes didn't belong to him. She didn't know that the dirt and soot on his face wasn't hiding any more serious damage. Gia and Nikolas walked into the room behind him, both dirty and both alright. Alexis left her post at Sam's side, going instantly to her nephew. This was the last time, she told him, that he would be involved in anymore Alcazar mess. His reply was, "When you stop, I'll stop," and she had no reply.
Luis stood in the middle of the room, his face drained, clothes covered in blood. Once Bobbie was sure that Lucky was alright, she went straight to him, checking his wound and sending Emily out to get a doctor. Luis could have cared less, though, because his eyes were trained on Brenda. His family was crying and his sister-in-law were swearing that her daughters were very lucky they were too old for spankings, but he could only look at Brenda Barrett. She was the only person in the world at the moment, the only one who mattered, because she was actually there. Brenda walked towards him, then stopped herself. She stared at him, and Luis could tell that it took all of her will and Lois's tight grip to keep her in her place. She stared at him until Monica came into the room with orderlies and pulled him away, then she turned and looked at Lois with teary eyes, a shaky lip, and no words.
On the floor, Sam waited. She stood up when Luis came in, knowing that at any second, Jason would come through the door. She waited, twisting her hands, folding them over and over, but he didn't come. She pushed everyone out of the way, nearly knocking Luis over as he was led out of the room. She looked down one way, then the other, and still no Jason. She spun and looked around the room. All the happy families, all the relieved faces. Even Brenda was relieved, and last she'd heard, her life no longer centered around Luis. Everyone had who they'd been waiting for except her.
Sam strode with heavy steps to Luis, her bootheels thumping hard against the floor. She grabbed Lorenzo by the arm and spun him around. "Where is Jason?"
"Sam…"
"Where is he!" The room fell silent and she screamed again. "Where is Jason!" Her words seemed to echo throughout the room, bouncing off of each chest within range and resounding back to her ears. "Where is Jason! Where is Jason! You brought Luis back and you brought Lucky back and everybody else! Where is Jason!"
Sam started to droop to the floor and Lorenzo grabbed her. She looked up at him with tear drenched cheeks. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. A squeak pushed out of her throat then stretched into a strangled cry. "Where is he, Lorenzo! Where is he?"
Lorenzo looked past her, to Alexis, then back to Carly. He wondered if Carly was going to start screaming, too, but she didn't. The only reason he could come up with was because her children were right there. Maybe she wanted to be adult about the situation or maybe she just wanted to revel in their lives. Whatever the reason, she didn't scream, she didn't yell. She did cry, though, and he knew that the renewed tears were for Jason.
"Go to the penthouse and wait for him, Sam," he said softly, brushing her hair back. "I know what you're thinking and…" Lorenzo sighed, slowly bringing Sam to her feet. "Just go to the penthouse. Wait there."
