RedDragen: Thanks so much! I hope this chapter lives up to the beginning!
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Another thanks to all of you you're so nice for taking the time to reply. This chapter would have been out sooner (especially with all the nice feedback) but I had a family emergency that needed my attention. Now all is cleared up and I'm back to writing! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks again! (I know, I ran out of ways to say it, lol!)
Chapter Two
Spinelli's hand was warm on her back as they sat in the hospital, waiting to see Georgie. It had taken a little bit to get her there. Luckily Mac would not rest until she was taken care of and although Georgie had been more then reluctant she gave in under Mac's glare and agreed as long as neither Robin nor anyone close to her would be her doctor. Robin understood and said that she should take charge and regain the control back in her life.
Maxie just ignored it all, blissfully happy. So happy that when Spinelli mentioned he called Lulu to tell her about Georgie she almost let it slip by without reacting. Almost. "You. Did. What?"
He shrugged, "I called everyone."
"Dillon?"
She felt the air leave her lungs. Dillon. She didn't want Dillon to come. Or Lulu. Especially not Lulu. That would mean she'd have to share Georgie with the two people that hurt her the most- sans Diego of course. "Are they both coming?"
He nodded, "The Blonde One arrives with the Crabby Commando next week, Film Guy already booked a flight for tomorrow."
Maxie glared and folded her arms across her chest, "what were you thinking? Georgie doesn't need all of these people hanging around her, asking questions, taking all her time. Let her readjust!" Shaking her head, she didn't give him a chance to reply, instead she whisked herself into Georgie's room, not caring about the doctor in there or not. What she found was Dr. Ian Devlin talking somberly to, what looked like, a panicked Georgie. Her sister was wearing Mac's large black sweat-suit that dwarfed her and made her sickly pallor even paler. The commonness of the white room and the doctor's white coat matching it all did not fit Georgie at all. Maxie hated seeing her there. "What the hell did you do to her?" She barked out, already in a rage over the Lulu and Dillon situation. "Get the hell away from my sister- now."
"Maxie," Georgie began in a quiet but meaningful voice, she furrowed her brow, "Dr. Devlin did nothing wrong, he's just trying to do his job."
"His job is not to freak you out. I definitely think Robin should be doing this," she glared at Dr. Devlin angrily, "don't you realize what she has been through? Look at what they did to her! She's so thin and so sick! And then you think just because you're some hoity toity doctor you can scare her half to death? Well I have news for you Dr. Devil, you're going to go do something mad-doctor-like somewhereelse."
"Aphrodite, oh Aphrodite will you just listen to me!" Spinelli had followed her in, looking pleadingly at her. "I'm sorry that I caused you unhappiness and it wasn't at all my intention to pressure the Wise One after such an ordeal but-"
"Did you just call me Dr. Devil?" Dr. Devlin asked, his forehead creased as he interrupted Spinelli without pause.
Georgie sighed, "I think she's been hanging around with Spinelli a lot while I was gone- I guess the nicknames thing is contagious?"
"Aphrodite, please just listen-"
"STOP!" Maxie yelled, putting a halt to the two conversations going on at once. "This is chaos. Everyone out of this room, now. I want to spend time with my sister." she glared at Spinelli who downcast his eyes and walked out then at Dr. Devlin who didn't budge. "Are you deaf?"
Dr. Devlin looked at Georgie, "think about what I said, alright?"
She nodded and then smiled at Maxie, "seriously, he wasn't hurting me. He's a good doctor- he just needs to work on his bed-side manner, methinks." She looked back at the doctor. "Maybe you'll think about what I said, Doctor?"
"Trust me, I have everything you said memorized."
Maxie looked from one to the other then got even more sour. Were they flirting? No, no that wasn't allowed. Not so soon. Georgie couldn't handle a relationship, she needed time to be herself again, to be home with her family. "You're totally flirting with your patient! Oh that's just skeevy."
"Shut up, Maxie." Georgie muttered. Maxie smiled, the anger melting away. It was just like old times. Watching as the doctor left She sat down on the corner of her sisters bed, not facing her. There was no awkwardness, it almost felt like Georgie had never left. "you used to encourage me to flirt with older men- remember Pete?"
Maxie chuckled, "you know, after you…" she trailed off and then left it blank, "well, he visited me at the boutique, you know? He had been out of town when it all happened. He dedicated his book to you." She remembered that day, how lost she was. She had come into work drunk, almost got fired. Pete came in like some kind of knight in shining armor with a book to give her. Inside it read : 'to my muse- Georgie Jones.' He had already dedicated it before she died. Had it been afterward, he explained, he would have called her an angel. "I think he really cared about you, Georgie."
"Maybe that's why he didn't try and sleep with me." Georgie offered, a smile playing at her lips. "Now why are you so mad at Spin, Maxie?"
"He called The Bitchy Blonde One," she smirked at her title for Lulu, "and Dillon. Now they're coming home." She watched Georgie's expression carefully for any kind of bad reaction. "I wish he didn't. And I don't think you should be dating any Petes or Pete-like people either. You need to focus on getting better, Georgie."
Georgie put her hand on Maxie's, "thanks for trying to protect me. But it had to happen sooner or later. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be- or at least, I better be anyway. And don't worry about Dr. Devlin, I think he was just being nice because I look like death warmed over."
Maxie felt tears coming to her eyes again. She wasn't sure when she cried most, when Georgie died or when she came back. The thought of her sister being locked away like that, for two years, it was almost too much to bear. It gave her this searing need to protect her as she never had before. It made her want to be the sister she should have been all along. "I wish the doctors and cops would leave you alone."
Georgie shrugged but her eyes flickered with darkness, "I gave them all the information I had- which wasn't much. I mean, I…" she closed her eyes and then reopened them. "Maxie, what I need to do is tell you what happened because…because I owe you the biggest apology- I think I owe Dillon one to."
"You owe Dillon a swift kick in the balls, that is what you owe Dillon." She muttered angrily, but quieted and let Georgie continue.
"I seriously thought it was Coop who did those murders, Maxie." Georgie confessed in a low, coarse tone. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I thought that and….and when I woke up, God knows how long he had me drugged but, when I woke up and saw Diego I thought- I thought he had saved me. I thought it was a miracle, I thought…" Her hands were trembling and she couldn't get the words out. "I was so happy that he was alive that- that, well, it doesn't matter now. I'm just sorry."
Maxie turned and hugged her sister, tightly, maybe too tightly. But it felt so good to have her back again, it felt so right. "Georgie don't apologize- or rather, if you have to everything is forgiven. Whatever, whichever. I'm just so happy to have you back- I-I was lost without you, you know."
"You had Spinelli, he's a good guy."
Maxie nodded. She didn't really want to talk about Spinelli, especially not with Georgie. Not when it felt like a betrayal. Everything involving that endearing nerd just confused her. Only one thing was for certain- whatever feelings she thought she had were to be squashed. Georgie was home. Georgie liked him. That was the end of the whole ordeal.
Georgie was smiling, "I'm glad he's living with you guys and not Jason anymore."
"Georgie, you didn't know?" She raised her eyebrows, "of course you don't. Georgie- Jason Morgan is dead. Johnny Zacharra killed him. He killed Sonny too…Carly and Elizabeth fled the country to hide from Trevor and Johnny."
She let out a small shaky breath, "that's…" She didn't finish, "and they're not after Spinelli?"
Maxie shook her head, "no, not at all. Mac stepped in. Oh Georgie, you would have been so proud! He went straight to Trevor and threatened him with the law, with violence, with everything. No one was going to hurt Spinelli because he had a piece of you in him."
"That's good." Georgie gave a small smile, "and Spinelli was just trying to help, Maxie so don't be too hard on him, okay?"
Maxie forced a smile. It seemed all those feelings for Spinelli had lasted That was good. That was fine. She took a deep breath. For the first time she'd do something completely selfless for Georgie. She'd force those pesky feelings for Spinelli out of her head and give him to her sister. that was what was meant to be. "Hey, Maxie, can you do me a favor? Can you grab me some real food? I can't…I can't really take too much of this…"
Her name had been Cherry- like from the book he had to read in eighth grade called The Outsiders. He hated the girl from that book. It was morning and he hated this Cherry now too. It wasn't fair of course and so he was polite but distant as they got dressed and said their goodbyes. "It was a fun time," she told him before she left, "but I know who you are- lose my number."
He smiled, she hadn't even given it to him.
After she left he was by himself, he had the room for another couple of hours but it was worthless staying in it. He didn't sleep until he drank himself into passing out. Hung over or not he could still get some work done. The key part of living in an apartment above where he worked was the ability to shower and be in his office within ten minutes of waking up. The downfall was that at night the club was pretty loud and so sleep was non-existent until after two in the morning.
It was all right, he liked nights anyway.
The Cherry girl had looked nothing like Lulu- but her voice was kind of the same. He hadn't noticed consciously- or maybe he had. He had been too drunk to remember. Too bad he could never get drunk enough to forget that night.
Lulu wasn't smiling anymore. Her eyes were red, she had been crying. His first instinct was to hold her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright. But it vanished quickly. Nothing was alright and she didn't want him to hold her anymore. Every day the distance between them grew a little more. She belonged to Logan, she always would it seemed. "Tell me you didn't do it, Johnny, tell me you didn't kill Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan."
"I didn't kill Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan." It was a lie and they both knew it.
She wiped a tear away. He regretted causing the tears. But he regretted a lot of things, that had always been the problem. He lived too fast, too hard for normal people to keep up with. She thought she wanted adventure, excitement, the bad boy. Or maybe not- maybe she thought he was stable or sensitive deep inside. Whatever she thought it certainly wasn't what she was thinking while she was looking at him right then. "You did."
"Fine."
"I'm leaving…with Logan."
He nodded, already half-expecting it to happen. She wasn't who he thought she was either, he guessed. She wasn't the muse made of moonlight, she was just a pretty girl full of life. Maybe he thought he could have some of that life to make up for what he lacked. It didn't matter. "I guess I should say goodbye then."
"Johnny I-"
"Please, just don't." Johnny shook his head, "Goodbye Lulu."
"Johnny, I loved you." She went on relentlessly, "I did, those feelings weren't fake and I know you loved me too- I know you did but I can't be with you. You killed Jason and he was my friend…" She wiped away a few more tears, "and…I know if I stay I' won't be able to stay away from you, so I have to go."
"Then go. It's fine." He couldn't keep the hollow sound from his voice. He felt empty. Not just because of Lulu but because he could still hear Sonny screaming in his head. He could still see the blood spattered on Claudia's skin. He could still smell death wherever he went. "I hope you have a good life."
"You…too."
She turned.
He couldn't help it, for some reason he had to watch her walk away.
Johnny opened his eyes, returning to the dirty motel room. It had been better that she left, she wasn't who he had thought she was anyway. He opened the door and started towards the parking lot where his car was. Unfortunately his car…was no longer there. Idiot thieves. "Damn." He shoved his cold hands into his pockets and began to walk towards a bus stop. He could always buy another car- and once the those idiots looked in the glove box to see who owned their freshly stolen vehicle, well, his name still inspired a great deal of fear. He just wished he could be there to see it. He stopped short of where he was going, seeing the girl from the night before, wearing a pair of huge sweats and a man's jacket, in the parking lot of the bar. The wind ripped her hair from side to side and flung her clothing all over as it was too big for her body. She had her arms wrapped around herself. He followed her into the building- some kind of compulsion he couldn't contain.
She was already at the bar talking to Joe, ordering he guessed. Joe was a younger guy with his hair in fire engine red liberty spikes and he usually wore leather. He used to wear piercings in his lip, five on the right, two on the left but after getting two ripped out in a bar fight he left piercings to fashion plates.
When he got closer he could hear what Joe was saying. "I really wish I could hire you, I do. But we don't need a dish washer- we could use a bartender."
"No, that's okay. I'll just have some southern comfort on the rocks, I guess."
The bar was empty sans those two and the quiet made it less comfortable instead of more. He yearned for the loud distracting music and conversation. All the quiet did was allow him to think about things he didn't want to and remember things he'd rather forget.
"I'll pay." Johnny spoke up, taking the seat next to her, "and make it two, will you? My car got stolen- it's already a crappy day."
She glanced at him nervously but didn't say anything, just took the drink down when she got it and made a sour face. She ordered another, then one for him and he took down his drink. "Slow down there, kids, it's only two in the afternoon."
She stared up at him with those wide eyes but didn't reply. They were the color of a doe's eyes, with the same amount of fear and gentleness. After she finished her second drink she asked for a beer and then walked over to a table to sit down.
She was different, as lame as it sounded he thought the words anyway. She wasn't like other girls- none that he had ever seen. There was some other-worldliness about her, like she was only half there, where the rest of her was piqued his curiosity. He had never been shy and so he brazenly sat down at her table. "I'm Johnny Zacharra."
"I know who you are." She took a swig from her beer, still not looking at him. He followed her gaze to one dirty window in the back of the bar. It barely let any light through. Another drink, her expression didn't change, she barely moved.
He swallowed, "then I guess you have one up on me, huh? I don't know your name."
Her first smile but it was marred with bitterness. "It's not very important."
"Maybe I think it is."
She finally looked at him, "call me Anna," she offered , sullen expression even darker. "It's as good as anything." Her gaze flickered to his, maybe to see if he believed her. They both took it for the lie that it was. At least it was something he could call her. They were quiet but it wasn't awkward and he liked that. She didn't seem to need conversation and she didn't seem annoyed that he was sitting with her. There was nothing to be said.
She took another sip of her beer, the sound of the bottom of the bottle hitting the table echoed in his brain. There was no music playing, Joe wasn't bustling about and if Johnny strained he could hear the rustle of her clothing as he chest moved. There was a stillness around them, a calmness, like the whole world was dead and they were all that was left. The truth was, neither of them was very alive. He wondered, briefly, who had really died that night- Sonny Corinthos or the guy at the bar at two in the afternoon?
It wasn't a comfortable thought. He shifted in his chair and tried to not even blink. The second his eyes were closed he'd see Sonny, and every other person he killed, in his head. "I need another drink."
She looked down at her bottle. "I'll have another too."
XXX
"She didn't give us much to go on." Lucky told Mac apologetically. "Just that she remembers being attacked in the park and when she woke up she was in, what looked like, a hospital room. Diego was there and at first she thought he saved her but later realized he was the text message killer. He drugged her again and she woke up in another room." Lucky flipped a page in his notebook, "various men would bring food in for her and then leave again. There was a shower, a bathroom, movies, books to read. She tried many times to escape but could not."
"Did she mention Diego again?"
"Not at all, not even that he was conspicuous by his absence or anything. She just said that she finally managed to escape only to find she wasn't the only one locked up. She and this Mike left together. He stayed in Mexico."
Mac nodded. "They had my little girl locked up all that time."
"Have you called Felicia?"
"I can't get a hold of her," Mac sighed and sat down on the chair in the waiting area. Spinelli was next to him, watching them both carefully but pretending to be playing on his lap top. "I don't want to tell Georgie that her mother isn't coming."
Lucky grimaced, "it's tough. Is Maxie still in there with her?"
Mac shook his head, "she went to get Georgie some real food. Hell, she looks like they starved her. I wonder what else happened to her in there?"
"She didn't say they hurt her or anything but…you know, when I was locked up that was traumatic enough Mac. I think keeping a close eye on her is a good idea. I told Maxie the same thing."
The conversation drifted to problems at the station after that and Spinelli found himself bored with it. So he decided to check up on The Wise One, see if she needed anything. See her face one more time just to make sure she didn't disappear or that this wasn't all some insane dream. When she died he had wondered what could have been with her. Sure, a part of him still wondered a little but it wasn't nearly as strong as his feelings for Maxie. Well, that was a useless dream. Aphrodite didn't bother herself with jesters and clowns.
Sighing, he pushed the door open….to find an empty bed.
XXX
"So, Dr. Devlin, how is Georgie feeling?" Robin asked.
He didn't look up from her chart, "you know I'm not discussing her with you- she's a patient." He flipped the page, then back one. Something wasn't making sense. Her story wasn't coinciding with the damage done to her body. "So please stop asking."
"She's my cousin," Robin argued, "and we're all very worried about her."
He looked up, "worry to someone else. I've got rounds."
He ignored her scowl and walked over to the nurse's station, asking Nadine to check on a few patients. She was a sweet girl, not terribly interesting. "Dr. Devlin, your girlfriend called." The Nurse's Aid Don told him as he walked past the desk, not taking the time to leave any further detail on the message. He suppressed a sigh, why did she call him at work? He was getting bored with her. He always got bored with them. She'd have to wait for his call. There were patients to tend to.
"Doctor, Georgie Jones is gone." Nadine rushed up to the desk, her expression pained.
Dr. Devlin groaned. Why did people have to be so difficult?
XXX
"To Joe's." Johnny raised his shot glass. Southern blues- it seemed fitting.
"To Joe's," she repeated dully. They clinked glasses and downed the shot quickly. It went down easy, the blues always had come quick to him. A silent chuckle followed his dark little thought. How self-pitying, how…Ric Lansing. He looked back up into her sad eyes- someone could see the world in eyes like that, all the pain and the misery that every poor sap suffered through. More importantly, he saw himself there. She was staring back at him. He wondered what she was thinking, did she wonder why he was there? Did she know everything about his family or just the glorified parts? Right then he wanted her to know, he wanted her to know all of it like she was some kind of priest who could absolve him of the unforgivable. He could see it in his head, she would listen, her eyes would widen in surprise at what he'd done but she'd understand, she'd get it, she'd get him.
Funny, he thought he was too dead to dream.
And that was what it was, just a dream. Because no one would, no, no one could understand.
"I should go home." She began to stand, her eyes lingered on the table yearningly. She didn't want to go or maybe it was just his imagination. "People worry."
"It must be nice to be worried about."
She closed her eyes, expression full of agony. "Not when they have reason to."
Spinelli watched as the flakes fell from the sky, quickly accumulating on the ground already. By tomorrow there would be three inches, by the next week even more. A blizzard was coming, or so the weathermen thought. Nobody could really know, after all, mother nature was as fickle as human beings were.
Hands inside his jacket he kept walking down the street, Aphrodite had asked him to help search for The Wise One and so he was. Sure, he was searching in the bad parts of town, places where she would never go but it was worth a shot, besides everyone else got the usual haunts.
He kicked a rock down the street and let his mind wander to his own problems, like how the hell was he going to tell Aphrodite that she rocked his world? It seemed impossible. She was so…out of his league- no, not even in the same game. Impossible. Harder to crack then the CIA main frame…
No, harder to crack then Bill Gates' computer….
Worse.
He kicked the rock again, it went rolling down the hill, clinking off a toppled over garbage can and landing in the road. Maxie, he would say, using her name to show how serious he really was, we've been friends for a long time now and I just want you to know that it has been the best friendship I've ever had but…
No, lame.
Maxie, you are the most beautiful, amazing girl-
Nope.
You are sex.
He winced, that wasn't very romantic.
So what was he going to say and worse, if he said it would he lose her forever? He didn't want to be dramatic but, a world without Maxie sucked. He knew that because he lived it. With Maxie everything was different. He felt important, he felt, cool. The only other time he had felt really cool was when Georgie was alive and dropping by just to see him. Of course, Georgie was alive again…or she never died but…
It wasn't the same. It was Maxie that he wanted.
He looked up and frowned. There was Georgie, walking quickly down the street, her head bowed. "Hey! Hey! Wise One!" He ran forward, the cold air filling his lungs deeply as he tried to catch up with her. She turned, smiled but he could tell it was forced. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital"
"Pizza." She shrugged, "There was a place here, Dillon and I really loved it. Right down the street over there, it was called Osso's Pizza…" She trailed off, frowning, "or maybe I remembered wrong."
He shook his head, "no, no, it was there. Osso's closed down last year."
There was no response, she just looked past him.
"Maxie's really worried about you."
She met his gaze once more, "oh, well. I really wanted pizza- and," she sighed, "I just didn't want to be in that little room anymore, you know?"
He understood, who wouldn't? She was trapped in a room for two years. "Hey- speaking of rooms, I'm really sorry about me changing your room so much…" He trailed off and bit his lip.
She chuckled, "don't be, I was dead. People needed to move on. I'd be sorrier if they hadn't. And don't worry, I'm going to ask Mac if I could just use the attic as my room. At least for the next few days. I don't really want to live there, I need my own space and I have that money I was saving up to go to Europe- I was the only one who knew where it was so it's probably still there."
"I don't think Maxie would want that," he warned quietly. He didn't want that either. What Georgie needed was her family, her friends, a support system after such a traumatic event. "And do you think it's a good idea?"
"Of course I do. I think it's the best idea. I need to be out on my own, doing my own thing, like normal people." She smiled again, he didn't see any of her in the smile, not the old her anyway. "I need to be…a normal person, that's what I need. Yes," she let out a breath, "just the normal Georgie Jones…"