Chapter Four

As the door opened, Maxie was prepared with the speech she was going to deliver to Lulu when she entered. But she would have to save it for another day; Johnny Zacchara emerged from the hallway.

"Johnny, what are you doing here?" Maxie asked, "Shouldn't you be at Lulu's feet right now groveling until she takes you back?"

"I just came by to see if she was here," he replied, "She's been ignoring all of my calls."

"Join the club, I think I left her like 20 messages. And do you know how embarrassing that is for me?" Maxie stated.

Johnny looked at her suitcases, "Are you moving out?"

"Only temporarily. I'm going to be staying at my dad's house until this mess gets all sorted out. But you need to convince Lulu to take you back"

"Don't worry Maxie, I have a plan," Johnny replied confidently.

"Oooh, a plan," Maxie said sarcastically shaking her hands in the air on either side of her face, "I just hope it works."

"It's a sure thing," he said. More confidence, this was definitely a big improvement from yesterday.

Maxie struggled getting out of the door with her two suitcases and toiletry bag. Johnny sat down on the couch and waited for Lulu to stop by.

He looked at his watch, only thirty minutes had passed, but it felt like it had been much longer. There was style no sign of Lulu, to pass the time he had been doodling on a pad of paper that was on the coffee table.

He heard the doorknob jiggle and saw the door swing open. Lulu was wearing a pair of dark denim skinny jeans, he couldn't help but notice how well they fit her, and a black leather motorcycle jacket. Damn she looks fine, he thought to himself. Her arms were full of different colored shopping bags. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Johnny standing in the living room.

"I'm going," she said as she turned around.

He walked over to her, "Please just hear me out," Johnny took all of the bags from her arms and together they walked to the couch. He set the bags on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch facing Lulu.

"Lulu I'm sorry," he said putting both his hands on top of Lulu's. She almost instantly pulled them away from his touch.

"I don't know if sorry is going to be enough this time," she said lowering her eyes, "I think we both knew where this relationship was headed after our fight."

"That was just one fight Lulu. I admit I was a complete ass that night and I'm sorry for that too," he said taking her hands back into his, "It's just really hard sometimes. I feel like I need to be this perfect guy for you and I always fall short."

Lulu just looked at him and didn't respond. He decided he'd talk some more, he didn't know how long he'd have before Lulu left so he was going to make the most of it.

"I made a mistake, a big one. And kissing Maxie," he saw Lulu cringe, " was just part of it. I honestly thought that you would be better off without me and that I would be able to walk away. But boy was I wrong. I will never be able to do that. Last night I was a complete wreck, my life is a wreck without you."

"You should have thought of that be for you…you know," she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I was angry and I hated the way we left things," he said, "I hated myself because I knew I could never be able to deserve you. I'm not a good guy Lulu, I know you like to think that I have no flaws, but the truth is I've lost count of how many I have."

"You're right. I'm sorry for believing in you Johnny Zaccharra! It's my fault that you turned to Maxie. I wish I never got in your stupid yellow car," she was getting upset. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"No, this is all coming out wrong," he was getting frustrated with himself, "I love you Lulu, please give me a second chance," Johnny pleaded.

She calmed down a bit, there was no denying that his man in front of her was truly sorry. "I don't know, I want to forgive you Johnny, I do, but I don't know when I'll be able to. It shouldn't be this hard to stay together."

"The best things in life come from working hard. Months from now, I don't want to wonder what if I had given everything I had and wish that I had put up a fight. We could slow things down. How 'bout I take you out to dinner? I mean when was the last time we actually had a real date. I could take you to that restaurant you love, or maybe even a movie," he asked, searching her eyes. She hadn't given up on him just yet, even though he had given her countless reasons to.

"I guess we could try it," Lulu replied.

"So it's a date then, tomorrow night I'll pick you up, say around five thirty?"

"Where are we going to go?" she wondered.

"That is a surprise," he grinned.

***********

"Peek-a-boo!" Maxie said covering her face with her hands then quickly moving them away revealing her face, "Peek-a-boo!" Emma smiled and giggled.

"Maxie, is that the only thing you know how to do?" Robin asked handing her a glass of Coke.

"No, but it's her favorite," she tickled Emma's tummy then followed Robin to the sofa. There were no traces of Matt Hunter's presence from last night, the blankets and pillows were gone, as was the trashcan,

"What do you think Emma's first word will be?" Maxie asked looking at the crib where Emma was.

"With Patrick's help it will either be race car or dump truck."

"Yea, that's not happening." Maxie said, "I'll make sure her first word is haute couture."

"Between you and Patrick Emma is going to be one well-rounded baby."

The both shared a laugh.

"I heard you're going to be staying with Mac for a little while," Robin managed to sneak in the conversation.

"Yeah, Lulu and I aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye right now," Maxie said, she knew Robin was going to pry for more.

"And why is that?" she asked with her hand on her hip.

"Robin, I love you, but sometimes you are just so nosey!"

"It's only because I care," Robin responded.

"I think you should spend less time worrying about me and more time worrying about Patrick turning my only niece into a tomboy," she said motioning her hand to the pile of toy cars.

Robin chuckled, "Okay, I'll back off," she paused, "This time."

******

The church was full of the residents of Port Charles, most of them doctors. There were two large framed pictures of Leyla Mir and Andy Archer placed in front of the pulpit. Matt Hunter entered the church and quickly took a seat in the back. The soft, sad music had stopped and Nadine Crowell got up from the pew and stepped up to the pulpit.

"Nurse Leyla Mir and Dr. Andy Archer were two people who dedicated their lives to save other people. Each day they came into work they affected the lives of everyone around them. I know I speak for everyone at the hospital when I say their presence is truly missed." Nadine stated.

Matt had tuned out the rest of her speech; instead all of his focus was placed on the two photos at the front of the church. He couldn't help but think about the pain he had caused, not matter what anyone tried to tell him, he was directly responsible for their deaths. Before Leyla died he heard her tell Patrick that she had finally found happiness, she was newly engaged. Why does life have to be so unfair? He hadn't really known Andy too well, but they had bumped into each other several times at the hospital. These two people did not deserve to die. Matt closed his eyes and relived that night in the O.R.

"Wait something's not right." The room begins to blur, he sees the faces of Leyla, Monica, Liz, and Andy. There is nothing he can do, he fights to keep consciousness, but loses. Everything faded to black; cold, dark, unforgiving black.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, Matt jumped. He looked up to see Patrick and Robin standing above him. The church was nearly empty.

"You doing alright Matt?" Patrick asked.

"Yah, I'm fine," he saw the concerned look on Patrick and Robin's faced, "Really, I am. No need to worry about me," he tried to assure them.

"Well, we are all headed to my Uncle Mac's house for dinner, you are welcome to join us." Robin said.

Before he could refuse Patrick said, "Now don't try to make any excuses as to why you can't come, we all know that you have nothing going on tonight. Unless that is you are going to hit up Jakes again."

"Fine, I'll go," he got out of the pew, "You know, you guys are really good at this ambushing thing," Matt joked.

"That's what family is for," Patrick grinned.