"Thanks Janet. I owe you one." Bobbie carefully hung up the phone before looking to her watch. She had spent a good portion of the night on the phone, trying to find a way to protect Lucky from his father. Stifling a yawn, Bobbie evacuated her post that she had taken up hours before. Leaving the cramped office behind, Bobbie began to make her way back towards her nephew's room.
Leaning her tired body against the doorframe, Bobbie took in the sight in front of her. Elizabeth's body was draped loosely over Lucky's, frozen in the position that she had taken up the night before. As Bobbie observed the two sleeping, she felt a smile lift the corners of her mouth. They looked so young and peaceful. It was almost too easy to forget that only one of them would be roused from their sleep. Shaking the thought from her head, Bobbie closed the distance between herself and Elizabeth, gently shaking her from her sleep.
Elizabeth let out a small murmur. Her head was still foggy. The last thing she knew, she had been dancing with Lucky in the boxcar. Lifting her head, she saw Lucky lying there beside her, and she realized that she must have fallen asleep sometime during the night.
Turning around to face the intruder, Elizabeth's face dropped when she saw the serious look Bobbie wore on her face.
"Bobbie…Luke didn't come back last night, did he? Oh God, please tell me he didn't…" Elizabeth trailed off as her eyes scanned the rhythms that the machines detailed for her. Seeing that all of Lucky's signs were normal, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"No, I'm sorry to scare you like that. Lucky's fine. I don't know where Luke disappeared to last night, but from the looks of things he hasn't been back here. At least not yet."
Elizabeth gently held Lucky's hand as she listened to Bobbie's reassuring words. Still, the seriousness of the situation worried her. "Bobbie, what are we going to do?"
Bobbie pulled an extra chair up close to Elizabeth. "We have to stop Luke from shutting off the ventilator. I know that my brother means well, but the fact of the matter is that Lucky needs more time. We can't will him to wake up Elizabeth, but we can help grant him the time that his body needs to heal. We can give him a chance to fight to come back to us."
"What do you have planned?" Elizabeth asked with a half smile. If there was one thing that she could count on, it was the strategizing capabilities of the Spencer family. Sure, some of their plans could be half-baked, but they usually ended up working themselves out in the end. Hopefully this wouldn't be the exception.
Bobbie scooted her chair closer as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I spoke with a friend of mine that I went to nursing school with. She's working over at Mercy, and with a little persuading I was able to convince her to assist us in moving Lucky over there."
"Lucky isn't really in a position to be moved right now…"
"Elizabeth, listen to me. We're running out of options. If we bring Lucky across town, we can admit him under a different name. Nobody will know that he's there, including Luke. I don't want to shut Luke out, but if we can keep him in the dark long enough for Lucky to begin the recovery process…look, this is the only option I see that could keep Lucky with us."
Elizabeth nodded her head. "You're right. Let's do it."
Luke inhaled a deep breath of the cold air surrounding him. He sat on the edge of the hospital roof, his legs dangling above the city of Port Charles. Looking to his watch, he let out a deep sigh. Somehow, hours had passed. And although his decision had been made, he still wasn't any closer to marching down those stairs and pulling the plug that could stop his son's life.
Questions rapidly shot around his head. What if it didn't work? What if this ended up killing him? Rising to his feet, Luke began to pace around the helicopter pad.
Bobbie and Elizabeth just didn't understand. He didn't know how to explain to them that he wasn't trying to kill Lucky. They had thrown accusations at him for being a killer, but that wasn't what he was trying to do. He just wanted Lucky to make his own decision…one way or the other. He couldn't just let Lucky cling on to existence for months. That wasn't living. He would be a vegetable – cold, pale, unmoving. Just like his mother.
Luke's thoughts darted back to Laura. The last time he had been allowed to see her, she hadn't moved. She sat in her wheelchair, staring at something behind him that Luke couldn't see. Even when he placed himself in her direct line of vision, she continued to look through him, unseeing. He couldn't let his son go through the same turmoil. He wouldn't condemn Lucky to the same fate as his mother.
Luke felt tears well up in his eyes as he thought to the state of his son. He was so young. He hadn't even begun to live. He had always wanted to get married, start a family. Lucky was looking forward to the future that he was going to have. Now, it was starting to look like the only future for him would be contained to a hospital bed.
Luke looked to his watch once more to note the time. When he had left his companions earlier, he wanted to give them time to cool off and rethink their anger. He wished that they could just see where he was coming from. They were living in a fantasy world, thinking that words would change his condition and Lucky would wake up when he was ready to once again face the world. But Lucky couldn't wait forever. Hours had passed, and Luke headed back towards the door that would bring him back into the hospital. If Bobbie and Elizabeth hadn't come to terms with Lucky's conditions and said potential good-byes to him by now, they never would. Either way, it was time for Lucky to make a decision.
"He's ready." Elizabeth announced as she finished gluing the fake mustache on Lucky's upper lip. "But Bobbie, don't you think this is a little much?"
Bobbie took a quick glance at her nephew while she carefully fingered the machines around him. "Actually, I don't even recognize him. It's perfect."
"I just wish things could be different. I hate having to do this to him." Elizabeth gently brushed the hair away from Lucky's face before looking to Bobbie.
"Well, hopefully it will just be a temporary situation. I've got everything all set. The ambulance should be waiting for us down in the ER. Time to put this plan into action."
Wheeling Lucky's hospital bed towards the door, Bobbie froze as she saw a familiar figure fill up the door frame in front of her.
"Nice costume job Barbara Jean. But tell me, what scheme is Lucky involved in that he has to wear a disguise?"
Bobbie lowered her head at her brother's words. Feeling defeat weigh upon her shoulders, she tried to reason with him. "Please Luke, just let me take him. You don't want to do this."
Luke took a step into the room, closing the door behind him so he could lean his back against it. Brandishing the paper once more, he tried to keep an even voice while he spoke. "I have every right to do what I think is best for Lucky. I've already made a decision, and this is what I feel is the right thing to do. Now, I'm going to the end of the hall to make a few phone calls. There are a few other people that need to be here when this takes place. If you haven't already, I suggest you say your goodbyes now." Luke paused. "We don't know what the outcome of this is going to be."
Bobbie frowned as she began to fiddle with Lucky's machines once more.
"That's it?" Elizabeth crossed her arms. "No backup plan? We just let Luke go through with this?"
Bobbie turned to face Elizabeth, tears filling her eyes. "If there was anything else I thought that I could do for Lucky, I would. But sometimes, you've got to admit defeat. Elizabeth, Luke is just outside the door. There's no way that we could transport him now, and legally, there's nothing we can do to stop Luke. I think the only thing that we can do now is to just say good-bye."
Elizabeth's shock was evident on her features. Shaking her head, she stumbled over her words. "Well, I guess I'll give you a few minutes with Lucky. I'll be out in the hallway." Squeezing Lucky's hand, she removed herself from the room and closed the door behind her. Leaning her back on it for support, she slowly sunk to a sitting position as her tears began to fall freely.