Elizabeth was tired, and it was no wonder. From Luis to Cameron, to every single patient that she could reach-- Elizabeth had been running, and she couldn't remember the last time she had a break. The closest she could even consider to a break was sitting beside a writhing Lorenzo or a whimpering Cameron. At least then, she was off her feet. At least then, she was able to catch her breath long enough to truly realize just how deep the pile of shit was that she was standing in.

Luis was at the screaming stage, now. Even when she wasn't in his room, she knew about it. She may not have been able to hear him, but she knew. Someone was always ready, willing, and able to let her know how much pain he was in. The only place she was safe from an Alcazar report was when she was with Cameron. Everyone seemed to realize that this was a time when she should be left alone. So, being with Cameron gave her a small reprieve from the constant reports of how bad Luis was doing.

Elizabeth wasn't cruel or heartless, though. It was just her way of protecting herself. Every time someone told her that he was screaming out her name, begging for mercy, or asking God to just kill him and get it over with, Elizabeth's stomach twisted in knots. She was the reason for this. Oh sure, she could go back to the past and blame any number of people for his pain. Brenda. Alexis. Even Lorenzo for keeping him alive when he probably should have died. But right now, in these moments, at this time, Elizabeth was the one that gave the go ahead to take him off of the Oxycontin. Elizabeth was the reason he was in pain.

With Cameron, though, she was safe. Safe from Luis's pain, that is. With her son, there was a whole other kind of pain. The pain of helplessness. She could do nothing to ease his pain. If she could, she would have taken his fever and his aches and taken it all on herself. The worst thing a parent could go through was losing a child, and with that possibility floating through the halls of General Hospital, she couldn't help but feel herself already starting to mourn him.

Elizabeth shook herself and stood up straight. She walked to Cameron's bedside and held his hand loosely. They were keeping him asleep as much as possible, anything to stop the whimpering and crying. Tears started to drip from Elizabeth's eyes and she wiped them away, only for them to be replaced by new tears. There was nothing she could do for him, and there was no reason for her to feel guilty over that. Yet, stil, she thought she wasn't doing enough for him. She was spreading her time too thin. Her baby was weak and possibly dying, and she didn't spend every single minute with him.

"Elizabeth?" She turned as Bobbie came into the room. "We need to run some more tests on him."

"And I need to leave." Again, Elizabeth wiped her eyes. That was the hardest, she thought. She was a nurse, so she understood, but at the same time, she was a parent. She wanted to be in there with him. She wanted to be on his case, but Cameron and Luis seemed to be the only patients that weren't on her list of rounds. She was too close to them, they told her, and while she may have understood, she still didn't like it. She wasn't on Diego's case, either, or Nikolas. Again, too close.

"Just for a little while." Bobbie gently touched her arm and smiled softly at her. "We think we may have something that will work."

Elizabeth's eyes widened with hope, then her brow furrowed with confusion. She already knew about the chimpanzee. They found the original strain in him, and they could use his antibodies to make a serum that could possibly work. But, the chimp was gone. Carly and Jason were off running around, chasing it down around town, but she hadn't heard word that they had returned. She hoped that amidst all of the reports on Luis's health that she was given, she would also get news about the return of the chimp that could save everyone's life.

"Are they back?" Elizabeth asked. "Jason and Carly?"

Bobbie shook her head. "No, honey, they're not. But, Luke—" Bobbie paused, and Elizabeth suddenly felt like a horrible person. She was so involved in her own angst that she hadn't even taken the time to see how this was affecting Bobbie. Her brother and her neice had both been brought in as the first cases, and the last Elizabeth checked, LuLu was getting worse. And no one had heard anything at all about Lucky. That could have only been a good thing, though, because it meant that he wasn't in the hospital. She and Lucky may not have become the perfect couple that everyone expected of them, but she still cared.

"Luke's getting better," Bobbie continued. "It looks like Luke has built up some kind of immunity to the encephalitis, and Patrick and Robert think that they can make a serum out of it. It might not be as potent as what we get from the chimp, but they think it'll put a dent in it."

Elizabeth blinked and tried to process everything she'd been told. A possible cure? After more than twelve hours of people being near death, there might finally be something to help? Wringing her hands, Elizabeth asked, "Who gets the first dose, Bobbie?" She looked past her to Cameron. "Please tell me these tests are to make sure that he can handle this."

Bobbie gave her that matronly smile that always seemed to make her feel better. It was hard to believe any of the truth of Bobbie's life before she became a nurse when she smiled like that. "LuLu and Cameron will probably get the first doses. Of the older patients, LuLu's the worst off, but Cameron's the worst of the children. There aren't many children who caught it, thank God, but there are still a few."

Elizabeth's body sagged with relief. "Then, I'll go," she said quickly. "I don't want to cause him to have to wait any longer, ya know? I'll just go and—I don't know. I'm supposed to be resting, but I have to see Luis. He—He'll get it, too, right?" Always an afterthought. She wondered if that bothered him. That she never thought of him first. He said it didn't, but how could it not? "Bobbie, I know what people think of him. I know that he's not liked here, but he's a good man. He brought Cameron to me, even though he was already sick himself. I don't want him to— I don't want that to happen to him because he's not what some would call an upstanding citizen."

"I have nothing to do with the choosing, Liz. Patrick is making the choices. He's the most impartial, and I really believe that he's just looking at the files of people. He's not even looking at the names. This is based solely on who is the worst."

Elizabeth sighed. "Thank you. I'm gonna—I'm gonna go, now. I'll be in Luis's room. I need to tell Lorenzo that he'll be fine, so you can find me there. If not, I'll come back before I go on rounds, again. I just—"

Elizabeth stopped talking and ran out of the room. She ripped past people, her heart filled with hope that finally, everyone would be better. By the time she reached the Alcazar room, her chest was hurting and her lungs ached. She leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath. She was tired, and if she had a fever, she would have worried that she was coming down with it, too. But, she was just tired. She was overworked. She needed to stop and take a moment. Too bad that wasn't an option.

As she entered the room, Tony Jones was coming out. Had he already told Lorenzo about the serum? Or was he just there to check on Luis? Tony was his doctor, after all, and at some point, it only made sense that he would stop in to check on him.

Elizabeth walked into the room and looked around. Diego was sitting up, obviously still feverish, but he was conscious and right then, he wasn't hallucinating. Luis was asleep, blissfully, and the only sounds from him were faint moans. Lorenzo sat in a chair between the two, and he looked as though he had just sat down. His shirt was pulled free from his pants and the top buttons were open. His head volleyed back and forth, between his brother and his son.

"Lorenzo?" He looked up at her, slowly starting to stand. Elizabeth leaned against the door. "Did Tony tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He walked towards her. "He only told me that they found something stronger to give him for the pain. Unfortunately, he can only have it for short periods of time, otherwise, it will interact with any medication for the fever." His brow furrowed in concern. "Elizabeth, you don't look well."

"I'm fine," she waved him off. "There's a cure, or at least a temporary one." She shook her head and slid along the wall until she was fully into the room. She sagged against the wall and closed her eyes for a second. She took a breath. She tried to build up her strength. Her eyes reopened and she said, "Luke has antibodies against this thing. Bobbie told me that LuLu and Cameron will be the first to get it. They're the worst, but Patrick's making the choices on who else gets it. And that's even if it works. Patrick was concerned about Luis, so there's a very good chance that he'll get the serum in the second round."

"Elizabeth, you don't look well at all. You should sit down."

Lorenzo walked closer to her and she stood up straight. "Aren't you even listening to me? They can help them! Luis will get better soon, and Diego has to be on the list somewhere! They'll be saved!"

"That's wonderful news, Elizabeth, but right now, they are still sick, and you still bad." He touched her face and sighed. "You're not feverish. Do you have any other symptoms?"

"I don't have symptoms of anything, alright? I'm just tired. I'm working a never-ending shift, and I'm excited. I'm just tired." She took a step forward and the room started to spin. She turned towards Luis's bed just as he opened his eyes. "I'm just tired," she muttered, right before she collapsed against Lorenzo and fell into darkness.