Chapter 4
A/N: Special thanks to Stacie Q., Bonnie Tyler, and the Time for inspiration and motivation. Gotta love the 80s on 80. Blondie Boots was in an F- it mood and those wonderful artists helped her move her butt.Thanks again for the reviews. Hope you like this chapter.
Patrick was standing at the nurse's station filling out Spinelli's discharge forms. Robin was standing by, signing charts. He stood there a moment, pen in hand, then turned to her.
"Have I said how happy I am that you're having my baby?"
Robin blinked, looking up from the paperwork.
"Are you going to break out into that cheesy song about how me having your baby is a wonderful way for me to say how much I love you?"
"I hadn't planned on it."
"Good, I'd kick your ass on principle."
"What's with you women and violence?"
"Hormones. I have a baby growing inside me and it's slowly driving me insane."
Patrick shook his head.
"What's Liz's excuse?"
Robin put a hand up.
"You don't even want to go there."
"Seems like," Patrick mused.
Just then Maxi pulled up with Spinelli in a wheelchair.
"Can we break out of this popsicle stand?"
Patrick took a deep breath.
"Visiting nurse's will be seeing you everyday for incision care. Here are your forms." Patrick explained what each one was for. "And your prescriptions. Some pain meds and antibiotics. I suggest you fill it outside the hospital until we have complete control over the med scam."
He turned to Maxi.
"He is not to do anything more strenuous then go to the toilet. And he should transfer from the wheelchair to do that. The visiting nurse will assist with bathing and other personal care issues."
Spinelli looked wistful.
"Oh, so get over the idea of me giving you a sponge bath, Spin," Maxi snapped, teasing.
Spinelli had actually been imagining a very different scenario. He'd pictured Leyla in the naughtiest nurse outfit; tight bustier, barely there skirt, fish nets, little hat with the red cross on it. Sponge bathing him very inappropriately.
"Never Maximi-" he cut himself off, "Maxi."
Patrick handed the 'scripts to Spinelli, who then handed them to Maxi.
"Why isn't Jason picking you up?" Maxi asked.Spinelli shrugged.
Patrick and Robin gave each other a knowing look and she shook her head.
"You get all that, Spinelli?" Patrick asked.
"Whatever I forget, Maximi- Maxi will doubtlessly remember."
"Great, the blonde leading the blind…" Patrick muttered.
Robin smiled.
"I could take offense to that," Maxi said, "But since this isn't my natural color, I'll let it go."
"Take care, Spinelli," Robin said as Maxi wheeled the young man away.
Patrick took Robin's hand.
"Can we talk for a minute?"
"Are you going to propose again?"
Patrick looked absolutely certain.
"No. No… no. Just want to talk."
"Lounge?"
"Sure?"
Claudia remained after Ric left.
"You know, Johnny, you should give him a chance. You're shooting yourself in the foot by not cooperating."
"What do I need Ric Lansing for? I have my super sister to handle things."
Claudia smiled.
"And you're damn lucky."
"You gonna explain things to me now?"
"Yes. I'm setting the last piece in motion very soon, so you should know."
She took a deep breath.
"I found out, through my many and varied sources, where Sonny was getting his prescriptions and what he was taking."
"Why is that useful?"
"He's bi-polar, Johnny, don't be dense. He has to take meds to stay stable. And if he stops taking those meds, what do you think happens?"
"He becomes unstable?" Johnny said, unsure.
"Right. He was taking lithium and risperdal, and I… convinced… the pharmacist to replace them with placebos. So, not only is he looking at the bi-polar issues, but abruptly going off those kinds of meds will cause many and various side effects, a couple of which being; paranoia, psychosis, irrationality. You know, all the stuff he is anyway, but to the nth degree."
"Great. You're driving Sonny Corinthos crazy. Crazier. How does that get me out of jail?"
"Oh, you thought I was doing this to get you out of jail? No, no, no, no. This is to secure us as the mob power in Port Charles. I have no worries about you going to jail. It's just not going to happen."
Johnny shook his head.
"Sweet of you to say. But how can you be so sure?"
"There are only a finite number of judges in Port Charles. And they all owe the Zaccharas. Well, they owe me. It's better if you don't ask what or why."
"Oh, my God, Claudia! What did you do?"
"You really want to know? You really want to know everything I had to do to secure their loyalty."
Johnny shuddered slightly.
"Not really."
Claudia gave him a look.
"I didn't do them. I just exposed their… less than savory sides. You'd be amazed how many elected officials have a shady side. Huh."
"I wouldn't be. What about dad?"
"Your father? He's taken care of."
They sat there silently.
"You going to tell me how?" Johnny asked.
"He is currently residing at Shadybrook after suffering a meltdown. Brought on by stress and senility."
"You had him committed?"
Claudia looked faux shocked.
"I had to. He went into a rage and tried to attack me with a spork. Stood up and everything. Turns out the invalid thing was a sham. He was just biding his time. His little man guard had to pull him off of me, it was traumatic. I may never recover," Claudia dead-panned.
"So, they put him Shadybrook?"
"For now, pending his final examination, which I am sure he will fail with flying colors."
"Have you been giving him something?"
Claudia looked circumspect.
"Noooo."
Johnny quirked an eyebrow.
"Have you had someone else give him something?"
"Yes."
Johnny blew out his breath.
"It's like pulling teeth with you. Tell me!"
"Fine. So, Sonny got the placeboes. Your father got the actual drugs. Which mellowed him right out for that month and a half. Then, suddenly, he stopped taking them. Psychotic break. Simple."
"Your brain is all twists and cul de sacs. It's amazing."
"Whatever works."
"So, what is the point of driving Sonny crazy? What's the end game on that?"
"You are going to see very shortly, like within the next 24 hours."
"And I'm not going to jail…" he mused. "What about Lulu?"
"Fuck Lulu!" Claudia snapped. "She doesn't even register."
"I have to take care of her."
"Why?" Claudia pled. "Why do you give a shit about that whiny, self absorbed, pathetic, shrieking, mewling little piece of afterbirth?"
Johnny sat there a minute.
"I can't explain it…"
"Then maybe it's not a good reason. What? Did she give really good head? Animal in the sack?"
Johnny sighed.
"No and no."
"Then why?!"
Johnny sat silently.
"I think we have an answer," Claudia stated, standing up, "I'll see you soon, Johnny."
Lulu was sitting on the bed when Lainey knocked.
"Come in," she called.
"I heard you wanted to talk to me," Lainey said, pulling up a chair to sit by the bed.
"I… I need to tell you something."
Lulu curled into a ball.
Lainey put a hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"Just breath and say it, whatever it is."
Lulu pulled herself upright, eyes red-rimmed and shining.
"I killed Logan."
Lainey sat there blankly, careful not to betray a flicker of emotion.
"I didn't mean to. It was a horrible, horrible accident. On my part. I think if he'd had a chance, I'd be dead and he wouldn't be tearing himself up about it."
Lulu steeled herself.
"I had a chance to think about things, and I need to tell the truth. Johnny could go to prison for something I did. I can't let that happen."
Lulu told Lainey everything.
"…and then he ran towards me, straight into the knife. Then Johnny showed up and helped me, took care of everything, and we ran away. That was wrong. I never should have ran. I should have gone to the police and told them everything. I was protecting myself, Logan was crazy, he would have killed me."
Lainey finally let her face relax into sincere concern.
"We need to get your brother over here, you need to tell him. Give a statement. You need to do it for yourself, Lulu. You won't be able to get over this until you do what you know is right in your heart."
"I'm scared…"
"I know. But I'll stay by your side. I'll help you get through."
Lainey put her arms around Lulu and the girl began to cry.
Jason was walking through the OCTF mobile command center with a borrowed cell phone to his ear. His cell, that he was searching for, continued to ring, but no sound reverberated through the small trailer.
"What are you doing, Agent Morgan?" his immediate superior, Special Agent Jack Carter asked.
"I can't find my cell phone, sir. I left it in the command center before the raid and I can't seem to locate it."
Agent Carter gave him a look.
"Well, carry on Agent Morgan, you have paperwork to file."
"Yes, sir."
After another few minutes, Jason located his vibrating cell phone in a desk drawer.
After deleting the most recent numbers, being from the borrowed cell, he saw Liz's number. Placed earlier that morning. There was a voicemail as well.
"7:30, tonight at the docks," was all she said.
Jason checked his watch. He had some time, maybe he'd make some headway on that paper work…
"The lab has determined that the blood on the cloth and the ground is indeed Sam McCall's," a short, built OCTF tech told Lucky.
Alexis was standing by. Her face fell.
Lucky had called her right after calling for the CSU. He explained Sam's role in an undercover sting on Karpov, leaving out Sam digging up dirt on Jerry. Lucky told her, after arriving at the PCPD, that Sam wasn't answering her cell, and he was unable to locate her.
"Lucky, do you think her cover was blown?"
Alexis sat heavily in a chair.
"Because there are two Russians unaccounted for."
Lucky wanted to say no, but he didn't use the easy lie.
"I don't know. She spoke to Jason Morgan right before the raid." He took a deep breath. "Finding out he was an agent was a shock, huh?"
Alexis nodded. She'd just found out herself. She was annoyed with the man, as she had been his lawyer for some of that time. Hopefully she'd be able to look at the files of the people Jason supposedly 'killed'.
But that was for another time.
Alexis sat up and thumbed through a file.
"According to the records… There was only one woman arrested… Karpov's lawyer. No records from the hospital either."
"I don't want to say it. But, they could have taken Sam. They saw her talking to Jason before the raid and the missing Russians took her."
"We don't know that. What did Jason say?"
"Not much."
"Great." Alexis ran her hands through her hair. "I'm going to talk to the agent in charge and I'll let you know what I come up with."
Lucky watched the woman walk away without so much as a backward glance.
"Just… be careful… Spinelli. Do it slowly!"
Spinelli was trying to stand and having a hard time of it.
"Scoot forward and you'll land on the sofa."
Spinelli did as he was bade and he did indeed land on the sofa, and not in too much terrible pain. He attempted to get comfortable, but Maxi put a hand on him.
"You'll pull a stitch. Let me."
Maxi picked up his legs and swung them up onto the couch. She then moved a cushion out and pressed him down to lay on it.
"You. Lay here and fondle the remote." A look of frustration passed over her face. "Crap! Damn it, Spinelli, we got you on the couch before you went to the toilet."
She went to move him.
"I'm fine, Maximi- Maxi. I have no need of the facilities right now."
Maxi made another face.
"And shit bird! I forgot to drop the 'scripts off before we got here! It'll take forever…"
Spinelli just looked at her.
"I need to pick up some food anyway. You promise you'll be fine if I'm gone for like an hour?"
Spin nodded.
She handed him the phone.
"And if you do need me, call and I'll come back."
Spinelli just continued to nod.
Maxi went to the door and stopped and turned back to the young man.
"You sure?"
"Go. I will be fine."
Maxi sighed and left.
It was like she just appeared out of no where. It was like that always. She wasn't there and then suddenly she was.
Sonny sat behind his desk, staring into space.
And then she was there.
"Claudia, leave."
"You don't want me to leave."
Sonny rubbed his face.
"You need me. You need me to tell you the truth."
"What truth? What truth?!" he shouted.
"You're all alone, Sonny. You have been."
Sonny closed his eyes and tried to will her way.
"You've been coming around here for weeks saying that."
"Because it's true, Sonny," she cooed into his ear. "Your security? They don't give a shit about you. How else do I keep getting in here?
"They all hate you. Because of Michael. Carly blames you, Morgan blames you, your father, Bobbie. Jason hates you the most. He blames you the most for Michael. Did you know he's a federal agent? Did you know he'd been gathering intelligence on you for ten years? And that Spinelli is currently digging into your most recent criminal activities so Jason can stick you in a 9x10 cell for the rest of your life?"
Sonny squirmed.
"Jason hates you, Sonny," she purred, leaning across his desk, looking into his face. "He can't wait to see you sent away."
Sonny was red faced with rage.
"What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
Claudia trailed a finger from his temple to his jaw.
"Come on, Sonny. You've been in the business a long time. You know how to get rid of a snitch."
Sonny reached for his phone. Claudia put a hand over his.
"You have to do it yourself. It's the only way."
"I've gotta kill Spinelli. It's the only way. If… If Jason doesn't have his whiz kid, he can't nail me."
"That's right, Spinelli's the one. Go take care of him."
He stood, patting his jacket.
"Looking for this?" Claudia asked, holding out a gun in a gloved hand.
Sonny reached out, took it and placed it in his waist band.
"Now," Claudia said, standing up and putting a hand on his back, "you need to go take care of your problem. He's back at the penthouse right now. Digging up more dirt to send you to prison."
Liz was sitting on a bench when Jason walked up.
"You came. I didn't know if you got my message."
He nodded and sat next to her.
"Why did you want to meet here?" he asked.
"No chance of getting horizontal, if we were so inclined."
"Oh."
"Yeah, so we need-"
Jason's phone rang.
"Just one second, please," he said. "Yeah? Wait, wait, Maxi, slow down. What? What… Right now!? I'm coming!"
"Jason?! What's going on?"
"Spinelli… Sonny… I have to go."
Jason turned and left at a run.
Sonny burst through the door, waving a gun.
Spinelli had been sleeping on the couch and his heart jumped when the door slammed open.
"Computer boy! Time to stop," Sonny said.
Spinelli lay stock still, frozen in fear.
"You and Jason, plotting against me… Fucking plotting… I didn't shoot Michael… I… It's not my fault. Jason's a fucking liar!"
Maxi had just reached for the door knob and heard Sonny's voice.
"I'm going to kill you like the greasy snitch you are."
Maxi opened her cell and dialed in record time.
"Jason…"
Jason burst through the door, weapon drawn.
"Put it down, Sonny!" he shouted.
A shot rang out.
TBC