August 2013

Alexis stopped to pick her and Sam up some breakfast at Kelly's Diner before the morning rush. She hadn't bothered to change her clothes and she knew she smelt of barbecue sauce from the Floating Rib which she left a couple of hours ago.

She'd had a basket of them but she'd been too preoccupied to eat more than a couple washed down by her Scotch on the Rocks. Relaxing had been on her mind as well as trying to stir up more interest in the bone marrow drive for Danny…but a man there had stirred up her ire until Mac separated the two of them.

Derek Wells, the new publisher of the town newspaper and Crimson magazine.

He'd told her he'd bumped the bone marrow drive off the front page of his precious rag. It'd probably wound up between the horoscopes and crosswords after the latest scandal involving ELQ ha replaced it.

Damn him for that. Danny needed a donor match like yesterday and when Franco's test had turned up cancer cells, it'd crushed both her and Sam. The article, it'd given them both hope and when Sam told her that he'd agreed to run it front and center…they'd felt that the tide might be turning.

"You know the donor drive is meaningless if the word doesn't get out…"

She'd told him that once he dashed her hopes…and that of Sam, an act of cruelty the way she saw it. The look in his eyes then…almost made her take her words back. But she'd always back her family first…even as he apologized to her.

She apologized back to him, her eyes downward before bringing them back up to his face.

"I just should have realized it's not realistic for me to think that one man could save my grandson's life…"

The woman at the counter took her order and she waited, thinking back to Derek. He'd approached her with some lousy pickup line and had been called on it by Mac. She smiled at her friend's protectiveness when it came to her, not that she needed it.

Still it'd been nice…and she'd bit back a smile when Mac had asked Derek if he were going to ask her for her astrological sign next. Whatever Derek's interest in her…she had no time for it…her focus was entirely on doing what it took to save her grandson's life.

"Hey Alexis…"

She glanced up and saw Olivia walk up to her by the counter.

"Hi Olivia…"

Sonny's latest mafia moll on deck, just in case he got tired of Kate…Connie or whatever she went by. The woman looked beautiful in her green dress but she'd been exactly the way Sonny liked his women, passive, devoted and prone to hysterics.

"How's Danny?"

Alexis sighed.

"He's still waiting for a bone marrow match. The chemo didn't work…it's his only hope."

"I read about the drive in the Press this morning," Olivia said, "I hope a lot of people read it and turn out."

Alexis narrowed her eyes.

"I hadn't seen it…it was supposed to be on the front page but Derek Wells, the publisher bumped it."

Olivia frowned.

"The man's a mook….a total jerk and he's driving Connie crazy…she wrote the front page story and he pushed her hard on it. Said he'd shut down Crimson if she didn't do it."

Alexis furrowed her brow. Olivia's words didn't fit with the man she'd met last night.

"He told me he bumped the story…I lit into him for it and he wound up apologizing."

Olivia's eyes widened.

"Really? He apologized?"

Alexis nodded.

"Then he offered to buy me a drink."

"Wow…I guess everyone has a moment when they're different but man, he just was not very nice to me…and Connie…she's completely stressed out from his ultimatums."

Alexis shrugged as the woman handed her two egg and ham and toast specials to go along with freshly squeezed orange juices.

"All I can say is that I was hard on him last night and he didn't push back like I thought he might…and he ran the story…that'll help even if it's not on the front page."

Olivia sniffed.

"I still think he's a jackass…"

Alexis took the bags of food and left Kelly's eager to get to GH and check on her family. She didn't know what to think of Derek but that wasn't her word of choice.

Derek ordered room service as he got out of bed and headed to the shower. Afterward, he got dressed and read his own newspaper.

Connie had come through on the Q story but then he'd made sure she couldn't back out. Sure enough she'd gotten cold feet but the fix was in place. Everyone in PC would get the latest news about what had gone down with the fraudulent vote.

Ava no doubt would be pissed but he'd been irate at having to bail her…bail the both of them out before she tanked their long-term plans. He knew he'd be hearing from her before long.

She hadn't been the woman he'd been thinking of when he woke up this morning. That fiery brunette with the most amazing pair of eyes that tore through him had been there instead.

Alexis Davis.

Not exactly as he'd pictured her. He'd hid his surprise when she'd given him her name after he dropped those lines on her. The man behind the bar who'd stepped in between them more than once had believed he was hitting on her.

Only she really had looked familiar to him…in ways he couldn't explain or understand. He'd seen her while sipping his beer and been compelled to go talk to her. Buy her a drink, get to know her…he'd done that with women before but those eyes…they captivated him.

Once she discovered he was Derek Wells, she'd smiled at him because of the article. She'd resembled the vibrant young woman who'd strode uninvited into his office and blown past his defenses and territorialism.

She'd left his office a few minutes later, unnerved and already committed to doing the article on the drive.

Then Connie had come through for him…the major story had hit the press and the ripple effect no doubt was being felt citywide.

But damn if he felt like a heel right now…that last look Alexis gave him before he went back to his corner remained with him since.

He had no time for any sentimental side of him that remained after he'd carved that part away from him like useless flesh, honing the parts of himself he'd use to obtain his objective. Best to stop thinking about her and her daughter Sam Morgan and keep his eye on the plan.

Yet he couldn't stop…not even when his breakfast arrived.

Sam had hit him hard when she asked him if he had children. Alexis…well he just couldn't figure out how he knew her. He'd run through his past, both of them and her role in either one…nothing.

No matter they were just people he'd bumped into, who didn't factor into his…no Julian Jerome's master plan to retake his family's territory in grand style.

Best he just forget about them.

Alexis gazed down at her grandson as he slept. His fingers curled around a fold in his blanket, his chest moving up and down with each breath. He'd struggled to breathe the most recent time Sam had rushed him to GH but the medications prescribed to him had relieved his discomfort caused by the leukemia trying to squeeze the life out of him.

The Cassadine Curse. Kristina, her middle daughter had taken sick too from a similar illness and had needed a bone marrow transplant.

She stroked his body with her fingers, soothingly. Sam had gone to talk to Ellie about the drive…Mac and Felicia would be dropping by later…he'd said something about them getting a marriage license from City Hall.

Today just had to be the day when the donor match would be found for Danny. Sam looked so weary when Alexis brought her breakfast this morning.

Her heart broke again for her daughter….

Ellie had announced that the latest batch of donors had been tested and not one of them had been a match. But since they had exhausted the roster of blood relatives, the Qs and the known Cassadines, they'd been left pinning their hopes on the much steeper odds of friends and strangers.

1 in 50,000. Silas had told them more than once.

God…that still meant that in a town the size of PC maybe there were one or two people out there, needles in a large haystack who might be able to save Danny.

But there had been one name unmentioned. Sam's father. A man named Julian who existed out there who as she told Mac could have a whole slew of relatives who could be donor matches. If only her memory hadn't betrayed her…if only she hadn't had so much to drink that night years ago. Still, even if she knew more about him…how on earth would they find him in time?

She'd give anything, her soul included to be able to know his last name. Then maybe Sam or Spinelli could search for him, against a ticking clock.

But nothing…no matter how much she tried to remember…even hypnosis had only revealed so much…grudgingly. She still didn't remember anything about him beyond the messy hair, his leather jacket and his smile.

Nothing that could save Danny's life.

Ava hissed at Derek even after tearing him into that article he'd published exposing her daughter as not being a Q after all. Her family business had been splashed all over the front page of her brother's tabloid for all of PC to read over breakfast.

She'd felt betrayed, then rebuked him for treating her like a child when they were equal partners in this plan.

Derek had listened to her diatribe, the iciness of her eyes contrasting with the twisted emotions on her face. Her manicured nails pointing at him, berating him and Connie for what they'd done. She'd hinted at a secret that put fear on her face but wouldn't spill it to him.

No matter he had his own secrets too. While she railed at him, he thought of her again. The woman in the bar who'd taken him to task for bumping the story about her grandson…but as defensive as he'd felt, he understood her. Family mattered to Alexis more than anything and she'd protect them against anything.

He hated being challenged unless by a worthy foe. He had the strong feeling he'd just met one.

"Are you listening to me Julian? How would you do this to me, your own sister?"

Hurt laced her voice but anger dominated her face. The look in her eyes, murderous. He took a step backward behind his desk.

"Ava…I did what needed to be done. ELQ was your project, not mine."

She sneered.

"You're too busy playing the publishing magnate. I mean actually doing a story on a bone marrow drive for that impertinent woman's son."

He rolled his eyes.

"One day's circulation in a dying newspaper…"

She folded her arms.

"We need to keep our agenda on track…you need to keep your focus older brother."

He fiddled with papers on his desk.

"I will little sister…I've been working on this plan for years…it's been my primary focus…"

He didn't want to explain what those two women he'd encountered randomly around town had done to him.

Understanding it himself proved impossible. He watched as his sister finally left him in a huff. After watching her scorch the carpet with her exit, he idly picked up the paper and flipped to the back cover.

Not for the first time, he read the story again. The one about the little boy fighting for his life…all he needed was the right bone marrow.

He sighed, putting down the newspaper knowing what he had to do.