Samsonlove- Ric's probably my favorite adult character on the show, and I truly believe that Rick Hearst is the most talented person on the show. I adore him so much, and am in awe of his abilities. If he and Robin Christopher had scenes together, I would just die. The thing that is great about Ric is that he has so many dimensions. Even when he was supposed to be hated, I still loved a part of him, because it was impossible to truly hate him. Jason and Dillon will have more interaction throughout the story, that's just a nice little preview as to what's going on between them. Back when Jesse premiered, some of the fans (IE: me) came up with the tag of 'Messie' for Jesse and Maxie, it caught on with some people, it did. I do enjoy Jesse, but he's not in the story, so he doesn't exist. Carly is capable of anything, absolutely anything. The secret that the two of them have together might come out, but, as of right now, the plans are to just let it linger over Carly and Damian's head.

Story-

Quartermaine Mansion, Interior-

Brook couldn't really sleep. It was nearly impossible for her to get much sleep when she was worried about her own mother in the hospital room. It didn't matter how good General Hospital was, when her mother was in danger, and she was, Brook couldn't help but think that the worst was going to happen. So far there was nothing that had come, no news that told her that she would need to buy a black dress and mourn the only parent she ever had who had actually been there for her. Before Damian had even come to her side, Brook had made a promise to herself and to God that, if he spared Lois, Brook would be better. Brook would do everything that she could to embrace her mother, even for all her flaws, all the little things that Lois did that drove her crazy. Brook would love those just as much as she loved everything else about her mother.

The young girl was still in her bed at the mansion, which almost always felt empty, but, without Lois there to help give her something it felt even emptier. She wanted to have someone there that she could confide in, but she didn't have anyone. She wanted to call her mother, but she didn't want to risk waking Lois up in case she was asleep. There were so many things that Brook wanted to do, but she kept herself from doing each and every one of them because there was always some sort of consequence that could happen because of her actions. Until the night before, Brook had never really bothered to worry about the consequences, which just went to show herself how much one event had changed her.

Had it been the same way for him? She wondered that question all through the night, for when her thoughts weren't focused on Lois, they were focused on Damian, on the way that he comforted her when she needed someone to be there for him, the way that he told her so much about what he had gone through when he found himself in a similar situation. He had always looked so strong and confident, but she had seen it, and heard it. The way that his voice cracked, just a small crack but still noticeable, and when he would turn his head a wipe his eyes to keep her from seeing that he too was in pain. Brook wanted to tell him that he didn't need to tell her any more, that she was going to be all right, but she knew that it would be a lie, that she didn't know if she was ever going to be all right, and, as long as she could hear his voice she would have something that would keep her distracted, which was what she needed.

It was with great amounts of coaxing that Brook even bothered to leave the hospital. She wanted to stay with Lois, she wanted to be there the whole night, just to be by her mother, but, Lois had shot that idea down. The woman didn't really give a reason, other than the fact that she didn't want her own daughter to see her in such a position of vulnerability. Lois said that it made her feel old. Such a joke would have previously made Brook mad with rage, but, at that moment in time, she laughed and hugged her mother, crying tears of joy because Lois's lame sense of humor had remained intact through it all. Plus, there was the added factor of Brook being able to sleep in a bed at the mansion instead of somewhere in the hospital. The chairs weren't all that comfortable.

So, with great amounts of regret, Brook Lynn Ashton returned to the Quartermaine mansion, the home of her birthright, but it didn't feel like a home, it never had, it never would. Port Charles wasn't home to Brook, no matter how many friends that she had, no matter who she cared about, there wasn't anything that was in Port Charles that made her think of it as a home. She wanted to go back and tour with her mother, she wanted to leave the place… she just didn't want to be around the town anymore. She didn't have a reason. The boy that she cared about had someone else, someone that he would never leave because he loved her that much. The other boys at school were all completely uninteresting and they only liked her because of her looks and quite possibly her money, or rather the money that they thought she had. At least when she was on tour she could have everything that she wanted. The people that Lois toured with were like a family to Brook, they treated her like she was one of their own. A few times they even let her open up for them, singing old cover songs. It was a small act, but it filled her with confidence.

She hadn't even changed from the clothes that she was in from the night before. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but her mother at that moment. Everything else just seemed to be there. Although the sound of the music was low, it was there. The songs that Lois loved listening to. Brook would sometimes tell Lois that she hated listening to those old songs over and over, but at that moment, she loved them all. She knew each word, and she would hum along or sing along lightly.

"Honey?" Ned walked in to the room, seeing his daughter, her body not under the sheets, her shoes still on her feet, the mascara that she had on her face had been severely smudged from all the tears that she had shed through the night. She had wiped as much of it as she could, but there had to be a point where she just didn't care. Ned heard the songs as well, the same songs that Lois would have him listen to when they were married. Such a short amount of time, and now he wished that he had it back. It hurt Ned a lot, the fact that she didn't see him the night before, but, as much pain as it caused, he had to respect the decision that she made, and he did, despite his regrets.

"Hey…" Brook looked up, her voice lacking any sort of passion, good or bad. She was still completely unaware of the fact that it was her father who had inadvertently caused the accident that had caused her mother to go into the hospital, but it was probably better that way. Brook needed her daddy, and she let him know it. "Daddy… I'm still scared."

Ned gently sat beside her, watching as she scooted to make room for him. It was more symbolic to him than anything else, just watching her as she made room for him on the bed seemed to echo her making room for him in her life. A beautiful sentiment, too bad it had to come at such a price. Still, taking the victory for what it was, Ned wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I know you are, princess, but, you know what the doctors said, they said that nothing vital was hurt in the accident, that your mother just had a few bumps and bruises on her body."

"So why did they keep her for observation?"

"Because they wanted to make sure, Brook. Believe me, if there was anything wrong with Lois do you think that we wouldn't know? Alan and Monica live in this house. In fact, I'm sure Monica's already gone to go see your mother. She called just a little while back and said that Lois was in good spirits, even though she was still a little weak."

"How come she didn't want to see you?" Brook asked, wondering if there was something that Ned knew that she didn't. They weren't married anymore, but Brook had always known that they would care about each other. Unlike other children whose parents divorced, Brook's parents seemed to have something that vaguely resembled a peaceful relationship, once a person saw passed the whole making Brook stay away from her own father for most his life thing.

"She was probably just too tired to have a bunch of people fawning over her. You know how your mother is, Brook, she hates it when people pay attention to her if it isn't attention that she doesn't want, and I doubt she wanted us to keep on looking at her while she was in that hospital gown."

Brook laughed, "She would hate to be seen in something like that normally, wouldn't she?" It felt good to laugh at something that seemed so trivial, but it was better to laugh about something trivial than cry herself silly because of something more dire.

"I know you probably don't want to think about school right now, and you need to know that I think that is perfectly fine, I won't force you to go while you're busy worrying about your mother, but, honey, I want you to get some rest yourself. I don't want you driving yourself crazy. Why don't you take a shower or something, relax your nerves… I took one. It didn't help that much, but it helped a little, and every little bit helps, right?"

"I guess," she had to admit that he had a point, one that she hadn't thought of. Brook, while still young, had been through many chaotic days in her life, and a shower always seemed to at least ease the pain a little bit. Why didn't she think of that before? Leaning over, she kissed her father on the cheek, "Thanks, daddy. Now, could you go… privacy and all."

"You make it seem like I haven't seen you naked before."

"Dad!"

Ned put his hands up, "Relax, relax, I'm going. I'll drive you to the hospital if you want."

"Sure… in a little while, okay?"

"Of course."

Brook Lynn watched her father leave the room. The moment she was alone, the small smile that she had fought hard to provide for the comfort of both herself and her father faded, and the lethargy returned, but she fought it. She pulled herself up, using all the strength that she could hope to muster and found a way to walk over to the bathroom, which had a robe that she would use by the end. Brook closed the door and started the water, making sure that it was at its hottest before she did anything else. Then, she sighed. Lois loved it when she could take hot showers. She used to say how, when Brook was a little girl, it was one of the only times that Lois had where she didn't have to worry about being a mom, where she could just be herself. Now, Lois couldn't even take showers in the hospital.

Ned felt horrible, even worse than he had felt the night before when his brother berated him for what he had caused. There was no mistake about it, though, Ned blamed himself for what had happened to Lois, and while he was fortunate enough to not have to worry about killing the mother of his child, he still had to carry the guilt of causing her to become so upset that she almost killed herself. And guilt never rested easily on the soul of Ned. He was one of the few Quartermaine's who even allowed himself to feel guilt. Despite being named after his grandfather, there was very little of Edward in Ned, aside from the business savvy, or so he tried to tell himself. Then, he realized that there was more and more of the old man creeping inside of Ned as he got older. Now, it had gotten to the point where he pushed aside his own family for the gain of the business.

It wasn't just the guilt that he had to shoulder coming from Lois and Dillon, though. Brook didn't know yet, there was no way that she could have known because if she did know she would have been a lot colder towards Ned than she was. But, she would eventually find out about Ned's part in the overall scheme of things, and when she did find out what would happen? Would Brook push him away? Would he lose the little girl that he had yearned for, the daughter that had been taken from him so long before, only to be back for a short period of time?

"Don't look like that, darling, if you frown your face will show it when you get older."

"All I would need to do is look at you before you get one of your monthly injections of botox in order to understand that theory, mother."

"You're overly catty for such an early time in the morning. What happened, did you call one of the people in Japan and they shot you down again? I tell you, the way that you speak with those people is the only way that you're going to impress them, make one mistake and you're blacklisted for the rest of your life."

Ned turned a cold glare at his mother, "Do you even know what happened last night, mother?"

"Of course I know what happened last night, Ned. Your ex-wife was in a car accident and she's currently resting in the hospital, where I'm sure that she's giving people a migraine with that monotonous high pitched voice of hers and that too thick for her own good accent. Really, it's almost a joy to be rid of her…"

"Don't ever say that again!" Ned shouted, losing his temper with Tracy happened from time to time, but it was rarely with such a huge amount of force. He saw the look on Tracy's face, even she was stunned to see her son showing a rare glimpse of a backbone. He certainly didn't get that from her, she took it out of both her children when they were small. Then again, Dillon had finally managed to forge one of his own, as evident by the fact that he was busy living it up with the mobsters. Maybe Ned had a slower backbone regeneration meter, and it had only now spawned one. "I'm sorry… no, wait, I'm not sorry I yelled at someone as heartless as you."

"You know I'm not heartless…"

"Please, the villains in every animated movie that Disney has ever done marvel at you, you're like the template for them…"

"Don't say that, it makes you sound immature, and not to mention the fact that it isn't true. Look, I know that Lois was in the hospital, and, for what it's worth I'm glad that she's alive and well. I may hate the woman, but I certainly never wanted her dead…"

"No, just out of my life."

"That's different, darling, because I know what's best for you, but nonetheless my point remains. I never wanted Lois hurt or otherwise disposed, just out of the picture. She's fine, Ned, you know that, we all know that. Why bother worrying about something that had happened and that there weren't any horrible consequences?"

"Do you know what it's like, mother?" Ned asked. "Do you know what it is truly like to worry about someone that you care about when they're in the hospital and you don't know what's wrong with them? Have you ever had that moment of true fear when you realize that they might be gone forever?"

"No, Ned, I haven't. But you know what I have felt? I've felt the pain of losing someone that I care about more than life itself. I've had that happen to me twice already, once with Dillon when he decided to leave us because he needed his space, and once when I lost my mother. At least I can know that my son doesn't hate me on some level, that I can still see him as he walks down the street, but what about my mother? Don't you think I know what it's like to lose someone?"

"Maybe… but you've forgotten how to show pity to other people who have felt the same thing." Ned, still upset at the antics of his mother, which never seemed to end, left her alone, to brood in her own unique way. He didn't need to deal with her, he didn't want to deal with her. Ned had enough on his plate, more would just cause it to collapse.