Chapter 39- The Reunion
"Uh, what's going on?" Trina stood there, mouth agape.
Cameron crossed his arms. "Want to tell them, Joss? Or should I?"
Spencer clenched his jaw and tackled Dex onto the bed. "Did you take her? Did you take Laura?"
Josslyn grabbed Spencer and tried to pull him off. "Get off him! Get off him! Cameron, help me!"
Cameron stood there and watched Spencer punch Dex. "Nah, I'm good."
"Where is she, Errand Boy?" Spencer demanded. "Where is my daughter?"
"I don't have your daughter," Dex muttered.
"Trina, call the cops," Spencer commanded. "They're looking for him."
Trina looked between them all and pulled out her phone.
"No, Trina, don't," Josslyn said. "It was all a mistake. Dex didn't mean to do those things."
Spencer laughed, still pinning Dex to the bed. "He kidnapped your niece and may have kidnapped my daughter, and you're defending him? What are you sleeping with him too?"
Josslyn's face went red.
Trina gasped. "Is that why you've been so distant the last few months? Did you cheat on Cameron?"
"I didn't mean to hurt Cam," Joss cried.
"How could you do that to Cam?" Spencer asked. "And to your niece and sister-in-law—or whatever she is to you?"
"Who I spend my time with is my business," Josslyn said.
"Yeah, and who I get arrested is my business," Spencer said. "Call the cops, Trina!"
"Trina, please don't," Josslyn pleaded. "I love him."
Cameron started to tear up. "And all this time I thought you loved me. You even came to me this week wanting to get back together."
"What is Cameron your back-up?" Spencer asked. "You're disgusting."
"No, not a back up." Josslyn buried her face in her hands. "I love both of them."
Cameron scoffed.
"But I just love you as a friend now," Joss said.
"Trina," Spencer said. "Call. The. Cops."
Trina dialed 9-1-1.
GHGHGH
Morgan wasn't too pleased when Sonny stopped by again. He didn't want anything to do with him or Carly.
"Son, I need to talk to you," Sonny said.
"There's nothing to talk about," Morgan said.
"It's about Nelle."
Morgan stared at him. "What about her?"
"Ava found her."
He scrunched his face. "Ava?"
"Yes. They connected Nelle to Ava. Before Nelle fell off the cliff, she was married to Julian, but Julian died and Ava is his next of kin. So, the Denver Springs mental institution contacted her."
"She's in a mental institution?"
"Yeah, I still don't know all the details. But she said she'll probably need a guardian because she's been deemed legally incompetent."
"She is not incompetent!" Morgan kicked the couch. "I wish Mom never came to the friends. She's ruined our lives. We were happy there."
Sonny sighed. "I'm sorry, son. But I'm sure between you, Nina, and the doctors, Nelle can get back on track."
He gawked at him. "Nina?"
"Nina's gone to Denver to see if she can bring Nelle home."
"But that's my job," Morgan said. "I'm her husband. Lin and I were trying to protect her from Nina and all of you."
Sonny rubbed his chin. "Nina cares about Nelle. I'm sure if you work together—"
"I need to go back to Denver. I need to get Isla out of there."
"Well, Nina's already left. So, she's going to work on getting Nelle out of there."
"Yeah, to bring her back here! I didn't even want to come back to Port Charles. I only did because I thought maybe one of you brought Isla here."
"Morgan, deep breath," Sonny said. "Have you been taking your bipolar medication?"
He laughed. "I didn't need it at the friends. Do you not get how peaceful our lives were until Mom showed up? I didn't have any symptoms there."
Sonny sighed. "I'm sorry, son."
Morgan took a deep breath. "Thank you for telling me. I—I gotta go."
"Can go with you?" Sonny offered.
"No, I'm going by myself."
Sonny frowned. "You don't have any money. Can I at least drive you to the airport and buy your ticket?"
"Okay. Okay, yeah."
GHGHGH
Willow sat on the couch with Wiley and the kitten and pushed the baby swing with her foot. Britt had to get to the hospital, but she thought Willow would be fine until Michael got there since it wouldn't be too long.
Wiley grinned, looking up at Willow. "I can't wait to see Daddy! I wanna show him Bluey and my new toys and my new room."
Willow smiled. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see everything. But not as happy as he'll be to see you."
Ding.
She opened three new attachments from Nina—pictures of a keychain, a tiny stuffed Bingo (from Bluey and Bingo), and a pink baby rattle.
I found these in the gift shop while waiting for my flight.
Can I buy these for you guys?
Willow shook her head and texted back: Yes. You don't need to ask my permission for small things lol. Thanks!
A second later, Nina texted back: Okay haha, great!
Knock. Knock.
"It's Daddy!" Wiley jumped up and opened the door. He jumped into Michael's arms. "Daddy!"
Michael scooped him up with one arm and hugged him. In the other arm he held a paper bag. "Hi buddy. I missed you."
"I missed you too!"
Michael walked in and closed the door. He smiled at Willow. "Hey."
"Hey," Willow said.
Wiley smiled. "Daddy, Grandma Nina bought me clothes, Lego, cars and trucks and trains, lots of stuffies, blankets, a racecar bed, and a kitty!"
"Wow," Michael said. "Sounds like Grandma Nina is spoiling you. But wait… a kitty?"
Willow held her hand up. "Don't worry, Nina is keeping the cat here, even when we move out. But even though she lives here, she'll be Wiley's cat."
"Okay." He cleared his throat. "How's Amelia?"
"Good," Willow said. "She's such a good sleeper."
Wiley picked up Bluey from the couch and brought her over to Michael. "This is Bluey."
Michael bent over to pet her and chuckled. "I should've known you'd call her Bluey. That's your favourite show…. So, I brought us some McDonald's." He glanced over at Willow. "I know it's not super healthy, but I thought it might be fun for tonight."
GHGHGH
"Dex Heller, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Amelia Corinthos, for assaulting Michael Corinthos, and for holding Nina Reeves and Willow Tait at gunpoint," Mac said as he cuffed Dex. Dante stood next to them.
Josslyn stood there white in the face.
"Don't forget about Josslyn," Spencer spoke up. "She should be charged for aiding and abetting."
Josslyn scoffed. "Excuse me?"
"She knew Dex committed all of these crimes and tried to talk us out of turning him in," Spencer said. "And she was hiding him here."
"I was not hiding him!"
"Yes, you were."
Dante cleared his throat. "Cameron, Trina, can you confirm this?"
Cam and Trina exchanged a look.
"Is Spencer telling the truth?" Dante asked. "Was Josslyn harboring a criminal and trying to protect him from being arrested?"
Cameron nodded.
"Yes," Trina said in a small voice.
Dante started to handcuff Josslyn. "Josslyn Jacks, you are under arrest, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…."
GHGHGH
Wiley wolfed down his chicken nuggets and Michael ate his Big Mac, while Willow just sipped at some lemonade.
Soon, Wiley's eyes started to droop so Michael tucked him into bed, then joined Willow on the couch.
"Willow, I miss you," Michael said. "I miss the kids. I miss us being together."
Willow lowered her gaze.
"I'm so sorry about Dex, that was a big mistake. If I'd known he would take off with Amelia—"
"But it's the fact that you concocted this whole thing to get back at Sonny," Willow said. "You didn't even consider what kind of man you were hiring, and Amelia paid for it. And all the while we've been judging Nina for a year."
"But Nina—"
"I'm just… angry at you. I need more time. I miss what we had, but I need more time to think about all this."
He nodded. "I want to make this up to you and the kids. You and Wiley and Amelia, you're my whole world."
"But we weren't your whole world when you were consumed in vengeance against Sonny. You didn't consider how this might affect us."
He frowned. "You're right. I didn't consider that."
"But all that said, Wiley misses you. I still want you to be able to see the kids while I figure things out."
He smiled a little. "Can I still see you too?"
She paused for a minute in thought. "Maybe a bit. But I'm not barring you from the kids."
"Okay, thank you."
"Do you maybe want to take the kids on Saturday?" Willow suggested. "I have a follow-up appointment from the transplant. So, that might be a good day."
"Yeah, I'd love that. Maybe I can take them to the chocolate factory. I've been promising Wiley for months that I'd take him there. I'm sure Amelia will be okay in her stroller while we walk through."
"Sounds like a lot of fun."
GHGHGH
Nina finally arrived at Denver Springs later that evening and met Ava in Dr. Watson's office.
"Where is she?" Nina asked.
"I can take to her to you," Dr. Watson said. "But please have a seat first."
Nina sat next to Ava.
"Ms. Reeves, is it?" the doctor asked.
"Yes."
"And you are Nelle Benson-Jerome's mother?"
Nina nodded.
"Great." He handed her some forms. "We just need some information about you and about Nelle."
Nina skimmed it and gulped where it asked for a lot of personal information about Nelle she did not know, such as medical history.
"Then we'll see if we are able to hand over her temporary guardianship to you until the courts can make a decision."
"The courts? How long will this process take?"
"It could be as little as five months or it could take up to a year," he said.
"But Nina has a good chance of taking guardianship, because she's Nelle's mother, right?" Ava asked.
"She should, yes."
"Okay, so tell me more about Nelle's condition," Nina said.
The doctor cleared his throat. "So, when she fell off the cliff two and a half years ago, she developed amnesia, and still hasn't gained her memory back. She's been in a commune all this time called the Friends of Peace and Love. Her husband Luke and grandmother Lin, who we haven't been able to locate because we don't know last names for either of them, kept her at the commune and wouldn't tell her anything about her past or her family. She said she kept asking and was starting to lose trust in them. So, one day a woman named Bertha arrived at the commune and convinced her to get tested for bone marrow for a friend."
"Bertha is Carly and the friend is my other daughter, Willow, Nelle's twin."
"That would make sense," he said. "So, she had the procedure done and Lin finally told her she had a mother and a twin sister, but both she and Luke told her that they were bad people. But she was starting to not trust them anymore and wanted to get back to the clinic because she really wanted to find her mother and sister. But you see, she is very lost and doesn't know up from down. She doesn't remember anything of her past and doesn't know how to get around. She's very confused and even has to be reminded to brush her teeth, to shower, to eat, etc. I'm not sure if it's due to the trauma to her brain or if she just grew too reliant on the predictable, daily schedule at the commune, or maybe it's both. From my understanding they were very strict at the commune, and she grew too dependent on them. She only left a few times, but she was always with Luke."
Nina shook her head feeling angry at both her mother and Morgan. "But this is only temporary, right? We can get her back on track, and she can live a normal life? She's going to live a normal life, isn't she?"
He frowned. "Anything can happen, but at this point, it's not looking like she will. The most she can hope for is to live with a guardian. But until then, she's going to have to stay in an institution, either here or at Shadybrook."
Nina fought back her tears. "I need to see my daughter."
GHGHGH
"All right, Heller," Mac said as he approached Dex's cell and handed him a cell phone. "Here's your one phone call."
He took the phone and dialed Heather's phone number, but it went to voicemail. "Mother, it's me, Dex. I've been arrested."
Meanwhile, Josslyn was appalled to find herself in a cell across from Madeline Reeves. Dante handed her a phone.
Josslyn stared it, then called Diane. "Hi Diane, it's Josslyn. Please come to the PCPD, I've been arrested. And… can you let my mom know?"
GHGHGH
"You could've made a difference, Nina," Nelle's voice played in Nina's head as Dr. Watson led through the hallways at Denver Springs. "You could've helped me and Wiley, but you chose to stab me in the back. Which isn't a surprise because that's what everyone does. And I chose to let myself believe… in you."
"If every single person stabs you in the back, Nelle, maybe every single person isn't the problem. Maybe… just maybe… the problem is you," Nina had responded to her.
"I thought you believed in me. And when you said you did, I trusted you to be on my side, but it turns out you were lying just like everybody else. Right?"
"No. No, Nelle. YOU lied. That's your M.O…. So, if you're disappointed again, it's time to see that the person screwing up is YOU! And I wish I could stand here and say that your life could change if you just change. But I'm starting to realize, Nelle, that's not possible. Because it's not who you are."
"Then I guess that's it then…. You know, I really thought you were different. I really thought that you were the one person who cared about me. That's okay. I'm used to being let down."
Nina pushed away her tears when Dr. Watson stopped at a room. "Here she is. She's more used to the name Isla than she is to Nelle." He pushed the door open, and Nelle was sitting up in bed. "Isla? Your mother is here to see you."
Nelle sat up straight at the edge of the bed, facing the door.
Nina stepped into the room and placed a hand over her mouth. She immediately began to cry.
Nelle gazed up at her. "You're—you're my mom?"
Nina dropped her purse and knelt in front of Nelle. She touched her cheek and then hugged her. "I'm so sorry. I won't let you down again."
