CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
A price to be paid
The universe shifted and Alexis no longer knew whether up was down or left was right. The world spun crazily on its axis; light blurred and danced crazily in her vision while the floor tilted away sickeningly beneath her feet. She was going to be sick, oh God, she was going to be so sick...
Then there was a strong grip holding her, guiding her when she couldn't see to put one foot in front of the other. And then there was the solidity of furniture beneath her. But the world wouldn't stop spinning...
"Alexis..." his voice seemed to come from so far away... Sonny? Her mind asked and rejected all at once. If not him, then who... something chilled was pressing against her lips. She swallowed instinctively and was grateful for the cool water as it slipped down her throat. It's soothing realness helped Alexis center herself. But with that came a fresh wave of pain.
She lifted a confused gaze to Mason's. "What happened?" She was seated on her leather sofa, Mason kneeling at her side, holding the glass.
"Are you all right?" he said, looking at her concernedly. "I think you fainted for a moment."
"I don't faint." Alexis replied automatically. ""What happened?" she repeated - but even as she asked, she knew the answer. She wanted it to be all in her imagination, but she knew it wasn't. But still, she stared at Mason, waiting for him to say the words.
"It was your sister, Kristina, on the phone. I spoke to her after I got you to the couch. You just dropped the phone... and your face went all pale...and then you just seemed to go out of it." He was uncomfortable under her gaze but continued. "...She said the police were at the door... that there had been an explosion down on the docks and that there was reason to believe that Stefan Cassadine had been caught in it."
"No!" Alexis try to wrench herself free of Mason's hands and rise from the couch, but Mason held onto her with both hands on her upper arms. "Was it the launch? The dock? Are they transporting him to General Hospital or is it an airlift? " she cried. She tried to rise again, but Mason, concerned for her, held her fast. "Mason, I've got to get to him!"
"Alexis!" Mason said, shaking her to get her attention. "No - it wasn't in either place. Kristina said it was in a building. After you collapsed, the police told her that it was one of Sonny Corinthos' warehouses."
"I still have to get to him..." she began, but the new look of sorrow in his eyes stopped her from finishing her sentence. Alexis stopped struggling and stared at him in disbelief.
"No." she whispered.
"No!"
Sonny's reaction was not as violent, but in its own way just as stunned. He'd been at the main Corinthos-Morgan warehouse, working in the office when Jason had unexpectedly showed up.
His first thoughts were of mingled rage and disbelief. He looked up at Jason, who had delivered the news moments before. Stefan Cassadine, in one of his warehouses? What the hell had he been doing there? The answer came surging in with all the force of a sudden storm. Stefan had come looking for him.
"My God," he muttered out loud. "Alexis."
"Kristina is already down there at the scene." Jason said. "That means Alexis already knows. I'd bet she was on her way down there as well."
"What about Cassadine?"
"They were saying the odds were that nobody who was inside could have survived. But they're still looking."
He snatched up his coat. Alexis. did she know? He couldn't imagine how she'd react when she found out.
"Sonny, if you go down there, you're asking for trouble from the cops." Jason warned him.
"It doesn't matter - they're gonna come looking for me either way." What mattered was that he get to Alexis and see her – see how she was. Jason followed him out the door.
It was mayhem when he arrived. Sirens blaring, firemen rushing around with hoses and ladders, trying to bring the blaze under control, and the inevitable police out in force, keeping back the growing crowds. Sonny stared into the ruins of the building watching as the flames consumed what was left that had not been leveled from the explosion. From the fierceness of the flames, Sonny could tell that they weren't natural. This had been no accident, but a deliberate act against him.
Only it had gone horribly wrong and someone else had paid the price. Again.
Sonny's eyes frantically searched the crowds being held back by the police. After a few moments, he spotted Kristina in the crowd almost opposite from where he and Jason stood, but she was alone. But if she was there, then it was just as Jason had said - Alexis had to know what had happened. His mind raced - he had to get to her the moment she arrived. He had to let her know that this wasn't his fault. It wasn't. Hadn't Alexis herself told him that he couldn't hold himself responsible for things that were outside of his control? That she might think otherwise now was a thought Sonny refused to allow entry into his mind.
Wherever Alexis was now, she would look for Kristina first of all; that would be where he would find her. Sonny marked her position and started to cross over to her, but found himself suddenly face to face with Police Commissioner Scorpio instead.
"Come down to enjoy the latest fireworks, Corinthos?" Mac Scorpio said, his expression stern and unforgiving. "Seems like another innocent soul got caught up in a disaster of your making."
Sonny wasn't about to try and justify himself to Mac. "Have they found anyone?" he asked.
"The fire marshal says it's doubtful if there will be anything to find. The intensity of the inflammables make that highly unlikely." Mac's iron stare spoke volumes.
"Quit looking at me, Mac. I didn't have anything to do with this." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a swirl of long chestnut hair in the throng and knew somehow that it had belonged to Alexis. She had finally arrived. What the Commissioner thought was suddenly irrelevant. Sonny wanted – needed - nothing more than to go to her and hold her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right. He turned to go, but was halted by Mac's hand coming down hard on his shoulder.
"You're not walking away from this one, Sonny. Someone possibly died today. And you're going to come downtown and answer a few questions." His voice told Sonny that he would accept no excuses. "More than a few."
Sonny was watching Alexis. She looked pale, her eyes enormous in her face. She hadn't noticed his presence; her entire focus was on the still-burning building. She stood there so still, like a statue, as if she were the one that had died. Without stopping to wonder why, Sonny could feel her pain from where he stood.
"Let's go, Sonny." Mac was adamant. Sonny looked into his face and saw Mac's train of thought. He could either go down voluntarily or he could go down handcuffed; neither of which would get him to Alexis. Co-operating, though, might get him in and out of police custody quicker. Mac moved as though to escort him out by his arm, but Sonny jerked away angrily.
Mac shrugged, as though to say 'have it your way.' Instead he stood back and motioned Sonny forward. "You want call your lawyer?"
Sonny chanced one final look back at Alexis. She hadn't moved.
"No."
