Chapter 30
Jed stood in the doorway that separated the bedroom from the sitting area and watched his former staff. For a moment it was as if he had stepped back in time. Back to some point on the campaign trail. Josh was standing with his back pressed against the wall trying to ignore Sam who had looked up from typing frantically on his portable computer a few feet away to ask some absurd question. Leo was pacing as he spoke into a cell phone behind the couch that CJ was perched on the back of while she read over Toby's shoulder and he bounced that damnable ball of his while he grumbled about whatever comment she had made on what he had written. "One of these days I'm going to shove that somewhere," Abbey muttered as she came up behind her husband and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I don't doubt it," Jed laughed as he looked back at her. "Feeling better?" he added as he took in the slight puffiness around her eyes.
"Would've killed you to have them send up a couple of chilled spoons, huh?" she chided in way of an answer as she straightened up.
"Oh, yeah, that was at the top of my things to order from room service," he muttered as he turned his attention back to the room, his eyes shifting to the door as it opened, breaking the time warp when V entered as opposed to Dolores Lyndingham or Donna.
"Looks like they're all here," Abbey sighed. "You giving the order or am I?
Jed smirked slightly, knowing exactly what order she was referring to and how likely, or in this case unlikely, his former staff was to follow it. "You."
"Good. They'll be more likely to follow it coming from me anyway," she shot back as she gave him a gentle push out of the doorway.
"Whatever," he muttered, earning a roll of her eyes as he reached back and grabbed hold of her hand in a gesture that showed a united front, as well as a sharing of strength.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chris looked up from the file he was reading to catch sight of Carly and Ned coming into the room, bemused expressions on their faces, "What's with the goon?" Carly asked as she put the bags containing her take out order on an end table and started to shrug out of her coat.
"Security for the doctor who's consulting," he replied as he looked back at the file, noting a question he had with what was written and what he had seen.
"Charming," she sighed as she moved closer to the bed and looked at Donna. "So they get the tests done or what?"
"Just got back from them, although I'm surprise to see such concern."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked as she turned an indignant frown on him.
"Well, considering no one from your camp has been here for. . ." he paused as he looked at his watch, "I'd say in close to 3 hours. . ."
"Bobbie told me then that they were bringing her down and I had to leave," Ned objected from where he stood near the edge of the bed, torn between watching Donna and looking away from the evidence of her injuries.
"Really?" Chris asked, rubbing his chin.
"Well, at least Jax got through to someone to get the tests done," Carly commented, trying to defuse the situation as well as wondering when Ned had snuck back in.
"Actually Abbey got it taken care of."
"Who's Abbey?" Ned asked.
"Consulting physician," Chris shrugged.
"She any good?"
"Depends on who you want her to be good for," he shot back, annoyance evident in his voice, as Eve stuck her head in the door. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," he told her as he dropped his feet and reassembled the file into an order other people would understand.
Watching as he started to leave, Ned couldn't help but call after him: "I don't see any of her other supposedly concerned friends here right now."
Chris stopped and looked over his shoulder at him: "that's because they're meeting with her doctor back at the hotel to try to come up with a plan of action. But at least a couple of them were here when she crashed."
"She crashed?" Carly asked, concern raising her voice an octave. "Why? Is she going to be OK?"
Chris sighed, "Yeah, she crashed, big time. And hopefully the test results will yield the answers to those questions, because we'd like to know them ourselves," he added before walking out. "So what's up, Lambert?" he asked as he saw her leaning against the wall and tapping her foot angrily. "And I hope that I'm not the one that anger's directed at. Because whatever it is I'm telling you now I didn't do it."
Eve rolled her eyes at that, "No, the ex-husband is responsible. He bailed on taking Danny tonight in an effort to make me look bad. I mean I'm only on duty, but he had a last minute date with the dipstick."
"Tell me how you really feel."
"Oh, believe you me, Ramsey; you don't even want to come near the tip of that iceberg."
"So you want me to cover for you or what?"
"Actually, Scott was picking up Christina from an outing with Frank, so he offered to take Danny."
"You let Baldwin baby-sit?"
"No, Serena's going to. It's not like she hasn't before. He just took Danny with him. Not that I don't trust him."
"And you need me for what then?"
"I was given some of the prelims on Donna's blood work ups."
"And?"
Eve pushed away from the wall slightly so that she was standing close enough to him that as she dropped her voice to an annoyed whisper no one else would here: "You want to tell me why you did a tox screen, and why it's showing a sedative we never prescribed?" Chris put out his hands, and Eve handed him the report, noticing the anger coming off of him, as he read the results. "This is bad isn't it?"
"On so many levels."
"The suit isn't just because of Dr. Bartlett is it?"
"She said to call her Abbey," Chris reminded as he shook his head, knowing she would take the answer for what it was.
"Sometimes, I really wonder why I didn't take that job in Salem."
"And miss out on all of this excitement?"
"Yeah, who am I kidding?" Eve sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I've got a patient down in peeds I need to check on. Let me know when the other tests results come in."
"Will do," Chris responded as she started to pass him and then paused.
"Wait a minute aren't you supposed to be off duty?" she asked.
"Wanted to make sure the test results were done and she wasn't alone."
"Be careful Ramsey. That armor's losing some of its tarnish again."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered with a slight smile. "You might want to call Baldwin and tell him it's going to be a long one. She's coming back to talk to us once the results are in."
"Somehow, I doubt they'll be answering all our questions," she sighed, and then frowned as she thought of something. "Chris, if someone's playing with. . ."
"Yeah?"
"How do we know that they didn't change. . ."
"Fuck."
"I'll track down the results myself after I see this patient."
"Yeah."
"I'll run some of the tests over too. Just to be on the safe side."
"Somehow I don't think there's such a thing in this mess," he muttered as he rubbed at the space between his eyes. "Let's just hope the fact that Cassidine's the one who put the light under people to get the tests run will be enough of a deterrent for possible problems."
"And when all else fails, we can always pray," Eve said in a tone somewhere between sarcasm and seriousness.
"Yeah, well around here you never do know when angels will intercede," Chris muttered as he watched Eve start down the hall before returning to Donna's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AJ pulled away from the hands checking his head, and looked into the blue eyes of his sister. "I really am losing it," he muttered as he pushed himself back and ended up hitting his head against the wall he was now leaning against.
"You need to be careful there," she sighed as she leaned back on her heels, watching him with amusement.
"I need another drink."
"Sure, that hasn't added to you 'losing it."
"I'm talking to a dead person!" he announced as he buried his head in his hands.
"Good, you're not as drunk as you seem," she laughed, enjoying the way his head shot up and eyes widened. "Come on, AJ, I don't have a lot of time to chit chat. I'm here for a reason."
"Other than haunting me?"
"You think I'm haunting you for the fun of it?"
"What am I saying? Why am I even talking? This is nothing more than an alcohol induced hallucination. Yeah, that's it. I've just had too much too drink, that's all. . ." AJ muttered as he started to push up to his feet.
"Not so fast there, little brother," Dawn admonished, putting a hand on his shoulder, and watching the panic grow in his eyes. "While I'll certainly agree you've had too much to drink, that's not what's causing me to be here. At least not directly."
"What? Dawn, you're not making any sense, not that I am. I am talking to a ghost after all. Then again, considering our family history I shouldn't be surprised. Leave it to the screw up to go crazy."
"Point of reference, Lila used to talk to Edward's ghost, and she's the sanest one of all of you."
"I hate to point out to you that Grandfather wasn't really dead. Unless. . ."
"No, AJ, I will not be making a return appearance to Port Charles. At least not in the flesh."
"I so am not having this conversation."
"You so are," she countered as she moved so that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. "They're going to be getting here soon."
"Who?"
"Doesn't really matter. I have to be gone before they come."
AJ looked over at her, and shook his head. "Exactly why are you here? Other than haunting me that is. Not that I'm convinced this isn't some vodka induced. . ."
"Hallucination. I got that," she sighed as she bumped his shoulder. "I'm here because. . . well, you need me right now."
"And I didn't before?" he asked as he shifted against the wall to face her better. "You have any idea how many times over the years I've wondered. . ." he shook his head.
"It was meant to be this way, AJ."
"I've needed divine intervention before, you know. So why are you here all of a sudden?"
"Who saids I haven't been here all along? That you just haven't seen me--- heard me--- before?"
"Dawn. . ."
"You're going to get the chance to fix things before they go too far. I'm here to. . ."
"To what?"
"My job depends on what decisions you make."
"What does that mean?"
"You have the power to change your destiny, as well as that of some other people."
"When did I step into a Dickens' piece?"
"I'm serious AJ. So is this."
"How serious?"
"Life and death serious."
At her words he looked down at his hands, watching as they shook slightly and tried to take a calming breath. "Whose?" he asked as he looked back to where she had been sitting only to find her gone. "Dawn?" he called as footsteps echoed down the hall, but no answer was forthcoming. . .
Jed stood in the doorway that separated the bedroom from the sitting area and watched his former staff. For a moment it was as if he had stepped back in time. Back to some point on the campaign trail. Josh was standing with his back pressed against the wall trying to ignore Sam who had looked up from typing frantically on his portable computer a few feet away to ask some absurd question. Leo was pacing as he spoke into a cell phone behind the couch that CJ was perched on the back of while she read over Toby's shoulder and he bounced that damnable ball of his while he grumbled about whatever comment she had made on what he had written. "One of these days I'm going to shove that somewhere," Abbey muttered as she came up behind her husband and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I don't doubt it," Jed laughed as he looked back at her. "Feeling better?" he added as he took in the slight puffiness around her eyes.
"Would've killed you to have them send up a couple of chilled spoons, huh?" she chided in way of an answer as she straightened up.
"Oh, yeah, that was at the top of my things to order from room service," he muttered as he turned his attention back to the room, his eyes shifting to the door as it opened, breaking the time warp when V entered as opposed to Dolores Lyndingham or Donna.
"Looks like they're all here," Abbey sighed. "You giving the order or am I?
Jed smirked slightly, knowing exactly what order she was referring to and how likely, or in this case unlikely, his former staff was to follow it. "You."
"Good. They'll be more likely to follow it coming from me anyway," she shot back as she gave him a gentle push out of the doorway.
"Whatever," he muttered, earning a roll of her eyes as he reached back and grabbed hold of her hand in a gesture that showed a united front, as well as a sharing of strength.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chris looked up from the file he was reading to catch sight of Carly and Ned coming into the room, bemused expressions on their faces, "What's with the goon?" Carly asked as she put the bags containing her take out order on an end table and started to shrug out of her coat.
"Security for the doctor who's consulting," he replied as he looked back at the file, noting a question he had with what was written and what he had seen.
"Charming," she sighed as she moved closer to the bed and looked at Donna. "So they get the tests done or what?"
"Just got back from them, although I'm surprise to see such concern."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked as she turned an indignant frown on him.
"Well, considering no one from your camp has been here for. . ." he paused as he looked at his watch, "I'd say in close to 3 hours. . ."
"Bobbie told me then that they were bringing her down and I had to leave," Ned objected from where he stood near the edge of the bed, torn between watching Donna and looking away from the evidence of her injuries.
"Really?" Chris asked, rubbing his chin.
"Well, at least Jax got through to someone to get the tests done," Carly commented, trying to defuse the situation as well as wondering when Ned had snuck back in.
"Actually Abbey got it taken care of."
"Who's Abbey?" Ned asked.
"Consulting physician," Chris shrugged.
"She any good?"
"Depends on who you want her to be good for," he shot back, annoyance evident in his voice, as Eve stuck her head in the door. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," he told her as he dropped his feet and reassembled the file into an order other people would understand.
Watching as he started to leave, Ned couldn't help but call after him: "I don't see any of her other supposedly concerned friends here right now."
Chris stopped and looked over his shoulder at him: "that's because they're meeting with her doctor back at the hotel to try to come up with a plan of action. But at least a couple of them were here when she crashed."
"She crashed?" Carly asked, concern raising her voice an octave. "Why? Is she going to be OK?"
Chris sighed, "Yeah, she crashed, big time. And hopefully the test results will yield the answers to those questions, because we'd like to know them ourselves," he added before walking out. "So what's up, Lambert?" he asked as he saw her leaning against the wall and tapping her foot angrily. "And I hope that I'm not the one that anger's directed at. Because whatever it is I'm telling you now I didn't do it."
Eve rolled her eyes at that, "No, the ex-husband is responsible. He bailed on taking Danny tonight in an effort to make me look bad. I mean I'm only on duty, but he had a last minute date with the dipstick."
"Tell me how you really feel."
"Oh, believe you me, Ramsey; you don't even want to come near the tip of that iceberg."
"So you want me to cover for you or what?"
"Actually, Scott was picking up Christina from an outing with Frank, so he offered to take Danny."
"You let Baldwin baby-sit?"
"No, Serena's going to. It's not like she hasn't before. He just took Danny with him. Not that I don't trust him."
"And you need me for what then?"
"I was given some of the prelims on Donna's blood work ups."
"And?"
Eve pushed away from the wall slightly so that she was standing close enough to him that as she dropped her voice to an annoyed whisper no one else would here: "You want to tell me why you did a tox screen, and why it's showing a sedative we never prescribed?" Chris put out his hands, and Eve handed him the report, noticing the anger coming off of him, as he read the results. "This is bad isn't it?"
"On so many levels."
"The suit isn't just because of Dr. Bartlett is it?"
"She said to call her Abbey," Chris reminded as he shook his head, knowing she would take the answer for what it was.
"Sometimes, I really wonder why I didn't take that job in Salem."
"And miss out on all of this excitement?"
"Yeah, who am I kidding?" Eve sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I've got a patient down in peeds I need to check on. Let me know when the other tests results come in."
"Will do," Chris responded as she started to pass him and then paused.
"Wait a minute aren't you supposed to be off duty?" she asked.
"Wanted to make sure the test results were done and she wasn't alone."
"Be careful Ramsey. That armor's losing some of its tarnish again."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered with a slight smile. "You might want to call Baldwin and tell him it's going to be a long one. She's coming back to talk to us once the results are in."
"Somehow, I doubt they'll be answering all our questions," she sighed, and then frowned as she thought of something. "Chris, if someone's playing with. . ."
"Yeah?"
"How do we know that they didn't change. . ."
"Fuck."
"I'll track down the results myself after I see this patient."
"Yeah."
"I'll run some of the tests over too. Just to be on the safe side."
"Somehow I don't think there's such a thing in this mess," he muttered as he rubbed at the space between his eyes. "Let's just hope the fact that Cassidine's the one who put the light under people to get the tests run will be enough of a deterrent for possible problems."
"And when all else fails, we can always pray," Eve said in a tone somewhere between sarcasm and seriousness.
"Yeah, well around here you never do know when angels will intercede," Chris muttered as he watched Eve start down the hall before returning to Donna's room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AJ pulled away from the hands checking his head, and looked into the blue eyes of his sister. "I really am losing it," he muttered as he pushed himself back and ended up hitting his head against the wall he was now leaning against.
"You need to be careful there," she sighed as she leaned back on her heels, watching him with amusement.
"I need another drink."
"Sure, that hasn't added to you 'losing it."
"I'm talking to a dead person!" he announced as he buried his head in his hands.
"Good, you're not as drunk as you seem," she laughed, enjoying the way his head shot up and eyes widened. "Come on, AJ, I don't have a lot of time to chit chat. I'm here for a reason."
"Other than haunting me?"
"You think I'm haunting you for the fun of it?"
"What am I saying? Why am I even talking? This is nothing more than an alcohol induced hallucination. Yeah, that's it. I've just had too much too drink, that's all. . ." AJ muttered as he started to push up to his feet.
"Not so fast there, little brother," Dawn admonished, putting a hand on his shoulder, and watching the panic grow in his eyes. "While I'll certainly agree you've had too much to drink, that's not what's causing me to be here. At least not directly."
"What? Dawn, you're not making any sense, not that I am. I am talking to a ghost after all. Then again, considering our family history I shouldn't be surprised. Leave it to the screw up to go crazy."
"Point of reference, Lila used to talk to Edward's ghost, and she's the sanest one of all of you."
"I hate to point out to you that Grandfather wasn't really dead. Unless. . ."
"No, AJ, I will not be making a return appearance to Port Charles. At least not in the flesh."
"I so am not having this conversation."
"You so are," she countered as she moved so that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. "They're going to be getting here soon."
"Who?"
"Doesn't really matter. I have to be gone before they come."
AJ looked over at her, and shook his head. "Exactly why are you here? Other than haunting me that is. Not that I'm convinced this isn't some vodka induced. . ."
"Hallucination. I got that," she sighed as she bumped his shoulder. "I'm here because. . . well, you need me right now."
"And I didn't before?" he asked as he shifted against the wall to face her better. "You have any idea how many times over the years I've wondered. . ." he shook his head.
"It was meant to be this way, AJ."
"I've needed divine intervention before, you know. So why are you here all of a sudden?"
"Who saids I haven't been here all along? That you just haven't seen me--- heard me--- before?"
"Dawn. . ."
"You're going to get the chance to fix things before they go too far. I'm here to. . ."
"To what?"
"My job depends on what decisions you make."
"What does that mean?"
"You have the power to change your destiny, as well as that of some other people."
"When did I step into a Dickens' piece?"
"I'm serious AJ. So is this."
"How serious?"
"Life and death serious."
At her words he looked down at his hands, watching as they shook slightly and tried to take a calming breath. "Whose?" he asked as he looked back to where she had been sitting only to find her gone. "Dawn?" he called as footsteps echoed down the hall, but no answer was forthcoming. . .