Outside General Hospital-

Sonny waited in the back seat of the limo as the dim lights that came from the hospital managed to almost pierce their way through the black bulletproof windows that he had installed in all his vehicles, just in case people got ideas. It wasn't that he had to worry about too many people anymore, since Lorenzo and Faith were gone, but, if anyone targeted Sonny again he wasn't going to allow himself to be caught unaware. However, all the physical protection that money could buy could not protect something that was more important to Sonny: his soul.

Carly looked over at Sonny, ready to get out of the car and make sure that Lois was all right. They hadn't said anything to one another during the whole ride, although it was a short distance from point A to point B. Still, whenever Sonny was quiet it was often a sign of things going and taking a turn for the worse. In some small way, Carly blamed Lois for doing it. If she wouldn't have gotten into an accident, Sonny wouldn't be worrying about her wellbeing, and that would mean that Carly could rest a little easier. Somewhat selfish? No, completely selfish, and Carly didn't give a damn. After all, it was Lois that she was thinking about.

Carly watched as her husband continued to stare into the vast nothingness of space. While it was true that Sonny's mind was, at times, the most complicated thing that she had ever come in contact with, there were times when she didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. Such was a time that had befallen her at that moment. Sonny's eyes showed pain and worry. She had seen those eyes many times before, usually when the people who were close to Sonny had gotten hurt. Maybe even on some small level, Sonny wondered if what had happened to Lois was somewhat related to her ties with him. "You didn't have anything to do with this, Sonny. We don't even know what happened yet."

"Which is why we can't be too sure if I really didn't have anything to do with it, Carly," Sonny replied, turning his head slowly to meet the gaze of his wife. On one level he almost wished that Carly wouldn't have come. He appreciated the gesture, he really did, but there was little more than that. Carly wasn't going to the hospital to see Lois out of the goodness of her heart, Sonny knew that. She was going to the hospital because she wanted to make sure that there was nothing that happened that would send Sonny over the edge. While it was a very noteworthy thing to do, given the circumstances it was a little cold.

"The only way that we're going to find out one way or the other is if you actually go and ask yourself. For all you know she could be in a bed waiting for you to come and see her and make sure that she's all right." That would be just like her, needing Sonny when Lois was well aware of the fact that Carly was his wife, not the other way around. She placed her hand over his gently and tugged at it, "I know how afraid you must feel right now, Sonny. Remember how many times I've gone through the same thing with you, or with Jason, or with Courtney, or with our children. Believe me, I've tried to find ways to make the time go by a little quicker, make the pain a little less intolerable."

"And?"

"And I found that the best thing to do when something like this comes up is to just go and do it. Get it over with… and then deal with the consequences. But always hope for the best. I know you've been praying ever since you stepped in the car, Sonny, I know that you'll probably go and pray to God at the chapel the second that we get inside the hospital, and I don't blame you for it. But you're never going to find out what happened to Lois unless you get up the courage to actually go and check up on her."

Sonny nodded, "You know… a few seconds ago I was half-hoping that you hadn't come with me, Carly, but now, after hearing you say that, I'm glad that you did." Sonny gripped her hand tightly before he made his request, "No matter what happens, please say that you'll stay with me, be by my side."

With her free hand, Carly touched Sonny's cheek softly, "I wouldn't imagine going anywhere else. Courtney and Jason are with the boys right now, so they'll answer any questions that Michael might have if he knows about what happened to Lois. I'm here for as long as you need me."

Inside General Hospital-

Tears were a funny thing. There were plenty of things that could create tears, plenty of feelings. Maxie had long ago learned that she could cry tears of sadness and frustration at the same time. Kyle had made her realize that very quickly in their relationship. But, if there was one thing that Maxie thought she would never have to deal with in her relationship with Damian it was her crying the same way that she had cried with Kyle. How foolish of her to think that he really was as great as she thought he was. He wasn't, Damian was just like Kyle in so many ways. He lied to her, he used her. Maybe he didn't use her for sex, but he still used her, and that was just as bad as him expecting her to just spread her legs for him. The image of him holding Brook in the church continued to disgust Maxie as she made her way back towards the nurses' station. How could he do something like that to her? In a place of worship, no less. She was fully aware of the fact that he had abandoned the strength of his faith, but even he had to admit that cheating on his girlfriend with another girl in the church was just incredibly tacky.

Maxie saw her Aunt Bobbie standing at the nurses' station, looking over a file. What the file contained did not matter to Maxie, she had one thing on her mind. Trying to cover her emotions as well as she could, she walked over to Bobbie and spoke, "I can't do this today, Bobbie. I'm sorry, I just can't volunteer right now… I've got a lot on my mind and I don't want people to suffer because I can't give them the focus that they need."

Bobbie looked up for Lois's file, which was not in clear view of Maxie. She was shocked to hear Maxie say such a thing. It wasn't like her to just abandon a shift. The old Maxie may have done that, quite frequently, but the new Maxie, the one who was responsible and thought of others more than she thought of herself? That was almost unheard of. Unable to contain her curiosities as an Aunt, Bobbie had to ask, "Is everything all right, sweetie?"

"No, it isn't," but Maxie was strong, convincing herself that she wouldn't cry in front of the people that she loved, or in front of anyone. "Please, I just need to get some time to myself, I have a lot to sort through. Bobbie… please."

"You're a volunteer here, Maxie, I can't make you stay against your will," Bobbie continued to look into her niece's eyes, seeing that there was the faint outline of tears. What was going on? Knowing that Maxie would only retreat further into herself if she was constantly probed, Bobbie kept her questions to herself, instead only giving her niece a simple word of advice, "If you need me, you know that you can call me at any time, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks. I'll be back the next time that I'm scheduled to be here, I promise." She wasn't going to let him keep her from doing something that she liked, even if it was the place where he worked at most of the week. She could avoid him. The hospital was a big place. She could just go to the cafeteria all the time, he hated it there, it was like the plague to him. So upset was Maxie that she didn't even see Dillon right around the corner as she headed for the elevator, nor did she hear his calling of her name. If she had been less blinded by her anger she may well have pondered just what it was that had brought Dillon to the hospital on a night when her sister was not doing any volunteer work. But, at that moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting home and making sure that she could vent out her anger in a safe environment.

Dillon thought about following Maxie, having seen the state that she was in, seen the look of hurt and frustration that was on her face, but there were more important things that he needed to do. It caused a knot to twist in his stomach, knowing that he was sacrificing the wellbeing of someone who he cared about for another, but Maxie was alive, Maxie was physically fine, there was almost no chance that Lois came out of the accident without a scratch. Besides, Maxie had Georgie. Lois didn't have anyone, she didn't even have Ned, who had refused to return the calls. Dillon had finally given up. If Ned didn't answer any of his million of messages, then it was obvious that he just didn't care that the mother of his daughter may have been…

"Dillon?"

Dillon turned around when he heard his voice called by a most unlikely person. "Carly?" What the hell was Carly doing there? It was one of the few times where he was actually thankful to see a familiar face. If it was anyone but Carly, he probably would have ran to her and hugged her, looking for comfort, but Carly wasn't particularly fond of him, and the same could be said the other way around. They got along, but it wasn't like they were the type of friends that Carly was with Courtney and he was with Damian. Sonny followed closely behind, Dillon looking at his solid brown eyes that sent a jolt of pure fear into the boy. "Sonny…"

"Have you gotten in touch with your brother yet?" Sonny asked, immediately going straight to business. There was no time to dance around the issue at hand, he needed to be focused, he needed to do what he could.

"No, I've left him a bunch of messages…"

"Bastard…"

"Come on, Sonny. Ned's a really busy guy." Dillon loved Ned, Ned was like his anchor a lot of the time that he was staying at the Quartermaine mansion, the person that he felt that he could talk to about his problems the most. Lila was there in the beginning, but at the same time Lila wouldn't really relate to the problems of a teenager. Ned didn't really understand them either, but he had the advantage of having the same mother as Dillon. So, when Sonny called Ned a bastard, Dillon had to defend his brother's honor, even if it was against someone who could have him wiped off the face of the earth without a moment's notice. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. What was that thing that people said about best friends with benefits? It didn't have the same context, but maybe Damian and Dillon's strong friendship gave Dillon a few 'get out of being erased free' cards. Knowing Dillon, he'd probably given up a few already.

"Your brother is the one who made Lois run away, Dillon," Sonny said calmly. "We were at a restaurant here in town because it was the first night in a long time where we were able to actually have a moment alone. Lois came around and said that she was waiting for Ned, and when your brother came they took off to a table of their own. I didn't think anything of it, but not even five minutes later Lois took off, and it was easy to see that she was upset."

Dillon lowered his eyes, "I didn't know that…"

"Of course you didn't." Sonny replied. "But, Dillon, I swear to you, if Ned killed Lois, if what he said hurt her so much that she ended up dying in that accident…"

"Sonny," Carly placed a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't so much to keep Dillon from hearing Sonny basically place a hit on his older brother, but it was to keep Sonny from saying something that Dillon could use against him in a court of law. Carly would lie for Sonny if the worst happened, she had done it many times before. Dillon, on the other hand, was under no such oath, and, against his own brother, Carly was uncertain where Dillon's loyalties may have fallen, but her money was on them not going with her family.

Sonny blinked a few times, letting the anger ride over him. He was upset at Ned, which made it easier because it meant that he had something to focus his anger on instead of needlessly beating himself up, but he was angry at Ned, not Dillon. "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said… it's just that Lois is so important to me, and knowing that she's hurt, and knowing that someone that I know could have been at least partially responsible for it…"

"I'm sure Ned didn't mean to do anything that would cause Lois to wreck her car." Yeah, they were divorced, but Ned had never spoken badly of Lois, ever, at least not as far as Dillon had seen or heard. "And, once he finds out, he's going to feel really bad."

"Let's just hope he feels bad enough," Sonny muttered under his breath.

Carly wanted to get the two off of a topic that could have led to something that she wasn't ready to deal with, so, she spoke up after looking around and finding something, anything else to talk about. "Where's Brook? Does she know that her mother is in the hospital?"

"She's the one who called me," Dillon replied, still feeling the tension in the air, noting the way that it had only increased instead of gone down. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be around Sonny and his family all the time. They had been pretty decent people up until that moment, when Dillon actually felt more than a little uncomfortable in being around them. He was downright scared. "She's… actually, I don't even know where she is right now. She came to the hospital with me, but then she said that she needed to go and do something on her own."

"And you just let her go?" Sonny was aghast, how could Dillon do something like that? Something so stupid?

"Sonny, if I thought I could help her I would have followed her, but I saw the way that she looked at me, she looked at me with eyes that said that she needed her space. I'm her uncle, I can't smother her just because. Besides, I called Damian up right after she left and he came as soon as he could and said that he would look for her. Since he hasn't called me or anything I can only assume that he found her, he said he had a good idea of where she was going to be."

"So now what?" Carly wondered, leaning against the arm of the couch, the tension easing just a little with the motion.

"We wait," Sonny replied, sitting down in one of the chairs, lowering his body and leaning forward, much in the same way that he did when he was contemplating something. Waiting was never his strong point.