Part 83

Oksana had decorated the gate house, and wanted Zander to put a Christmas tree up there. He thought this was absurd.

He called Quinn up and told her, and asked her if she wanted to see the house now.

He sat on one of the benches in the large entryway, reading.

He got up when he heard a car pull through the gate. Seeing it was hers, he went out to greet her.

"She's really working on you," Quinn said, seeing the kitchen.

"Yeah," Zander agreed. "Open the drawers and the cabinets."

The house had dishes and silverware and glasses now. Even wineglasses. Now there was a microwave and a toaster.

The dining room had a white wood table and chairs, and a china cabinet with china, which was not flowery. Nothing was. "And she obviously knows it is a guy who will live here," Quinn said.

"Wherever did she get that idea?" Zander asked.

The living room was fixed up in a really sharp way; dark blue and tan and nothing that could be accused of frilly femininity. The bedrooms were similarly set up, with a black quilt on the bed, and dark patterned sheets. There was a little TV in the bedroom and a big one in the living room. It was the upper bedroom that was set to be the bedroom. The lower was a study with a desk and a computer and bookshelves.

"Oh, this person is a student," Quinn said, giggling.

The hallway had a couch and a couple of chairs, and the stereo was there. Zander had put one of the CDs in. The music was from the seventies and eighties.

"There's still a lot a room," Quinn said. "You can dance up here, there's room, so that's why the stereo is here. Also, you can hear music through both sides of the house. Good idea. Great place for a party."

She looked out the window. "What were you reading?" she asked.

"Ulysses," he said. "Amanda, the tutor, told me to read the first chapter then write down whatever I thought about it."

"I may have an Irish background, but I never could stand that book! Nothing happens!"

"I don't think anything is supposed to happen."

"A novel should have something happen!"

"It doesn't seem like a novel."

"What in the world is it, then?"

"I don't know. A poem? A statement? Somebody's diary."

"It is good that you are OK with things that make no sense!"

"It is rhythmic language. Poetic. It describes the people pretty well. I can see the guy on the roof with his shaving cream – like a photo or a movie."

"No plot, just shaving. But you can see it. Interesting."

"And berating his friend for not praying when he didn't believe in it. When his mother was dying, he wouldn't pray for her, even then, because he didn't believe in it. So should you pretend you do, at that point, to humor your mother, or stick to your beliefs no matter what is going on?"

"Rhythmic," she murmured.

"Yeah. Music. I would like to hear someone with an Irish accent read that."

"My grandfather might be able to imitate it. Or it must be on tape with an Irish reader. I'll look around the bookstore."

The stereo played "Tiny Dancer."

"Come here," he said. He held his arms out. "Won't you dance?"

She walked over, slowly, and looked up at him.

"I felt bad for you, about Paul and Elizabeth, but not enough to wish it hadn't happened."

"Join the club."

"All your family members are in it."

"Every one is a member of that club."

"I'm a member, too."

They danced a little longer.

"You know," she said, moving closer, "I think I'll join that club, too."

He went downstairs to get Ulysses. When he came back with it, he took her hand and led her over to sit on the couch with him. He opened the book, and put his arm around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder. She asked him how far he was.

He flipped some of the pages with his free hand.

"Never mind," he said. "Read from anywhere. Nothing happens, so it doesn't have to go in order, right?"

"This is pretty earthy," Quinn said, after reading a page.

"Really sexy. You should have stuck with it. "

"I never would have gotten this far, though. Only you would think of starting in the middle!"

"Want to help me pick the Christmas tree for this place?"

"You mean New Year's Tree."

"You remember!"

"Yes. You have your own house and your own tree."

"Do you get one for your place?"

"No, I never bothered. I went home on Christmas Eve."

"You can still have one."

"A little one. OK. Let's go and look for both."

He bent his head down and kissed her. She looked at him a second, then leaned back towards him to kiss him again, and Ulysses dropped onto the floor.

Paul and Elizabeth were wandering through the Christmas tree farm, very slowly, looking at the stars and at the trees. He asked her if she'd pick the tree. She said she'd tell him when she saw it. He laughed, contented. They wandered hand in hand, not going in any particular direction, just turning wherever fancy struck them.

Quinn and Zander were doing exactly the same thing.

They turned a corner and ran right into the other two.

Elizabeth was the first to speak. "Well," she said, seeing Zander and Quinn, holding hands, "It seems that all resentment is moot. Let's just go on. All friends."

They looked at each other, both men, both women, the former couple, and Zander and Elizabeth.

Zander drew his arm around Quinn's shoulders. "OK," he said.

Quinn laughed, and drew hers around his waist, and leaned her head against his chest. "Well, then, OK for me too!"

They walked a few paces, Quinn and Zander ahead, having been the ones to reverse direction.

"My painting Girl Racer is nearly done," Elizabeth said, cordially. "Let me show it to both of you sometime."

"I would love to see it," Zander declared.

"Emily! Welcome Home!" Lucky hugged her, there in the Quartermaine's living room. "I haven't heard your voice in so long, I hardly recognized you on the phone. How are you?"

"OK," she answered, a little slowly.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"You're blonder," he commented. "Nice."

"Thanks. You look the same."

"Well, you look better."

"Are you still living at Kelly's?"

"Yes."

Emily wanted to see Kelly's. "And Elizabeth. Where's Elizabeth?"

"I'll tell you on the walk over," he said.

"I think Elizabeth and I are broken up," he said, cautiously, as they walked. "At least temporarily."

"Oh, no! Is it Jason?"

"Not this time. This time it is another doctor. I don't know him, and she's never told me that she was going out with him, I only know about this from that guy's former girlfriend. Elizabeth and I had an argument, nothing big, and I hadn't spoken to her, or she to me, for a little while, but instead of working itself out it got to be a bigger problem because she met this guy."

"Which doctor is it?"

"Paul, Whitley, Whitman, a psychiatrist."

"I met him. When Mom and I were at the hospital to get together with Gail for lunch."

"So, what did you think?"

"I thought he was friendly, nice, really good looking. But I had no idea!"

"Well, he's it, apparently, Elizabeth has this sudden thing for him."

"That's too bad. You'll get back together, though. It was always meant to be."

"Yes, that's kind of what I think, but I'm not sure what to make of it. She's not likely to be at Kelly's, though. She hasn't been there in forever."

When they got there, Lucky said, "Let me look inside first." He went up to the window and looked in. He saw Zander and Quinn at a table.

"It's a good thing I decided to do that. Zander's in there."

Emily could not resist peeking.

She looked back at Lucky, a look of almost-shock on her face. "I didn't expect him to have a girlfriend!"

"Why not? But that's not his girlfriend. That is the nurse who was dating Dr. Paul Witless - until he dropped her suddenly for Elizabeth."

"He even dropped that girl, to steal Elizabeth?" Emily looked back in. Lucky admonished her to be careful.

"She's a nurse? She's very good looking. I mean - not that Elizabeth isn't, too."

"Quinn – she's a nurse - lost Doctor Paul the same way you lost Juan. She had no time for her boyfriend. She was spending it all helping Zander. She was the nurse on his case. Just like you with him in jail, she helped him in the hospital."

"Why was he in the hospital?"

Lucky realized his mistake.

"What was he in the hospital for, Lucky?"

"Your parents – You're not supposed to know –"

"Not supposed to know what? Tell me!"

"OK, but let's get out of here."

They walked into the park.

"The long and short of it is, he got shot in front of Corinthos Warehouse. He was in the ICU after your parents did surgery on him. This nurse, Quinn, had to get his medical history from him. He wouldn't tell her or anybody anything. He wouldn't even tell them his parents names. Alexis and Quinn had to work really hard to get information people normally just give their doctors. To get it out of him, or behind his back, they even had to get help from the police. Finally, they flushed out his parents and got his medical history. Well, as usual, Zander turns out to be just fine. But Quinn and her family are tangled up in helping him reconcile with his parents."

"His parents?"

"Yeah. Well, his mother's mom's partner now. She and his brother live up with street from you."

"Live here? And a brother?"

"Yeah, just a 16 year old kid. Another one in the making!"

"Has he done anything wrong?"

"Oh, no. He's just a kid. He might even go to PC High. I don't know, but he goes to school. The mother bought into Deception."

"No father?"

"The father has been around. He had been in jail and got out, and there was some deal about his visitation with the brother. They got him over for Thanksgiving, to see the brother, and Quinn got involved in that, which led to an argument with this Paul Witless, her boyfriend. I even told her that she lost Paul the same way you lost Juan. I keep warning her, but she doesn't listen."

"Like I didn't."

"Almost exactly."

She was thinking for awhile. Lucky thought it might be a chance to change the subject.

"You had a boyfriend at school, from what Elizabeth said."

"Vinnie."

"Is Vinnie in town? I'd like to meet him."

"No. He wouldn't come. But we broke up last night."

"How, if he's not in town?"

"Over the phone."

"Why?"

"Grandfather did a background investigation on him and I found out why he wouldn't come meet us in San Diego for Thanksgiving, and why he won't come here for Christmas break, or why he never wanted me to go to West Liberty with him for the weekend."

"What was it?"

"He got a girl pregnant, back in high school. So he wants to see his son. I guess he was never going to tell me about him. "

"Gee, I hope you didn't get too over involved with him."

"On Halloween night, I did."

"Oh, no! What brought on the background check?"

"They were suspicious that he wouldn't come for Thanksgiving, and that he never took me to meet his parents on the weekends. Grandfather said some thing about another deviant, but I didn't believe it. I told him not to do that to Vinnie, not to do a background check. But as soon as I got here for Christmas vacation, Grandfather gave me this report."

"Better luck next time," Lucky said. "You deserve it. You've gotten the short end of the stick three times now."

At home, later, Emily demanded of Monica to explain what had happened to Zander. "Lucky said he was in the hospital and his medical history was hard to get, but that now he is OK. I wish I had known about it."

"Of course, he was fine. Your father and I did the surgery ourselves. You were in your first week. The last thing you needed was more troubles with Zander."

"Who shot him?"

"Carly. She thought he was AJ"

"Do you think Zander was part of the plot to murder AJ?"

"Not now. He's not under arrest for it. The police seem to treat him as a victim. If he had been part of it, how would he have ended up taking the shots?"

"How do they know it was Carly?"

"She called AJ and told him to pick up Michael at the warehouse instead of day care."

"Sonny is not behind it, is he?"

"No, he took advantage of AJ showing up there by having Zander lock him in a storage room for awhile. Sonny lectured and berated AJ. He was only trying to intimidate him. His lovely wife hadn't planned for this diversion. She was lurking outside. At the time she expected AJ to come back out, he was locked in that room. Zander was leaving work. It was getting dark. Carly saw a hark haired man of medium to short height coming out, so she fired. Later, the police were able to match shell casings from the crime scene to a gun that had been in her possession, registered in a false name to one of her husband's goons. They got witnesses to her movement that afternoon and evening."

"So what happened to Zander?"

"Two shots to the abdomen. Fortunately, Carly is not a good shot. While we did the surgery, he had so many PVCs - premature ventricular contractions, which are irregular heartbeats - they can be harmless, but can indicate an arrythmia in the lower chambers of the heart. It can mean there is a rather serious and potentially deadly heart condition, Long Q-T Syndrome, which affects people his age and is hard to detect, but is marked by certain symptoms in childhood and also has a genetic component. So to try to rule it out, I needed his childhood medical records his family's medical history for certain things."

"Lucky told me that Alexis and the nurse worked really hard on that. Does he have this condition?"

"So far as we can tell, no family history of it, but some of the family's history can't be obtained. We are doing several EKGs on Zander, his father and brother. It looks good for them, overall."

"Why didn't you tell me all this?"

"You were busy! When we talked on the phone, you never asked about Zander and you were talking about good things, fun things, Vinnie, parties, classes, grades, football games and the Halloween costume party."

"But of course I assumed Zander was OK."

"Exactly why I wanted you to be able to enjoy college without being dragged into his negativity. He ran away. This threat of Long Q-T Syndrome was the only reason there were able to find him! The looked to me like perfectly decent folks, well off, responsible. So you can bet there's ton of trouble in his past to explain his running away."

"Lucky says they live here now."

"I don't know about that. "

"Zander's mother is Mrs. Spencer's partner at Deception."

"Really. I never heard about that."

"Zander is still here."

"You haven't seen him, have you? You expressly promised."

"I haven't talked to him. Lucky told me this, that's all."

"I'm saving your present for New Year's," Quinn said. "But here's a little Christmas present." They had the tree up in the gatehouse hallway.

It was a Christmas tree ornament, in the shape of a shamrock.

"An Irish good luck charm! Thank you! You knew that's what I needed!"

He put it on an upper branch.

"That's one!" Quinn laughed. "You're lucky you've got through the New Year to decorate it! The Russians are smart, you know that?"

"Would you help me find presents for your family?" Zander asked her. "You know what they'll like best. Mine and Rosa's is easy. Winter clothes."

"I already thought that too! And I'm sure that's what my mother thought. They will be overwhelmed with mittens and scarves! I think I'll look for something else."

"No, don't have to. They'll need them."

"Especially Rosa and her nieces," Quinn said. "The others may not be used to it for a long time, but at least they have Russian blood. That must be genetically engineered to keep you warm."

"I don't know what happened to your blood then, being from here," Zander laughed. "You're always shivering." He put an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her upper arm to warm her up. They looked at the tree for a little while, both very happy with it and its single ornament.