Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Georgie was barely aware that she was releasing Elizabeth's hand and sliding off the bed. She was only semi conscious that she had brushed past Bobbie and had raced down to the ER, where people were milling around, gurneys being pushed, cops, and doctors and nurses shouting orders. She only came into full awareness when she saw Faith being wheeled on a gurney, looking half-dead. Georgie snapped into reality. Then she saw Dillon.

He was on his back, his head in an immobilizer, his eyes shut. And there was blood, lots and lots of blood. Georgie saw all the people and things around her swirl together in a mass of colors. The sounds began to be loud and hollow, as if coming from a distance.

Her knees became rubbery...

Bobbie had come back down to ER after informing Audrey and Elizabeth of what had happened. She was headed for the trauma room with Dillon when she saw Georgie start to collapse and rushed to her, catching the girl before her knees hit the ground.

"Lucky!" Bobbie shouted frantically to her nephew, who had come in with the police. He'd been at the scene as part of his academy training. Lucky rushed over.

"Take her," Bobbie ordered, still holding up Georgie. Lucky obliged, grabbing Georgie under the arms and pulling her flush against his chest. "Get her out of here, Lucky!"

Bobbie shouted to him as she raced into the trauma room that Dillon had been taken into.

Obeying quickly, Lucky leaned down to put a hand under Georgie's knees and lifted her up. Carrying her, he walked out the ER inner doors to the waiting area. He placed Georgie on the couch.

"Stay there," he told her firmly. She obeyed and he walked to the water cooler, filling a paper cup. He carried it back and handed it to Georgie who accepted it gratefully. Her mouth was still dry and she felt weak and terrified. Lucky kept a brotherly arm around her shoulder, propping her up. "Breathe," he told her soothingly. "And take small sips."

Georgie swallowed, trying to stay calm. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the image of Dillon lying on the gurney, covered in blood, from her head. She took a deep breath.

"N-Ned," Georgie gasped out. "Someone needs to tell Ned." She was suddenly cold and began to shiver. Lucky quickly removed his jacket, taking his cellular phone out of the pocket.

"I'll call ELQ," Lucky promised her, dialing the number. He heard a voice recording.

"Thank you for calling Edward Louis Quartermaine Enterprises of Port Charles, New York. All calls are being forwarded to a cellular number."

Emily was exasperated. It seemed all the Quartermaines could do was fight, and about nothing at all. Of course, she realized, she had almost missed out on this fighting forever, and smiled to herself, actually feeling gratitude for the Quartermaine insanity.

"And of course, we'll have a string quartet at the reception," stated Edward proudly.

Monica caught Emily's grimace.

"No, Edward, we'll have whatever sort of musicians Emily wants," she told him. Edward looked at his granddaughter, who shook her head slightly.

"Well, perhaps a string quartet just while the dinner is being served-" he conceded.

"If you even want a sit-down dinner," Alan assured Emily.

Em laughed. "You guys are making me feel like a princess!" she burst out. "A mental institution princess, but still." She looked at her father and grandfather. "I would love a sit-down dinner," she told them. "And Grandfather, I think having a string quartet playing during the dinner is a perfect compromise. The rest of the time, I want to dance!"

Edward, Alan, Monica and Ned all smiled, blinking back tears. Emily was their miracle. To think about what life would have been without her...

Ned pushed the thought out of his mind. "What about food?" he asked her. "We could have Cook make that divine coconut cake of hers..."

Emily shook her head. "Zander's allergic to coconut," she informed them. "And Jason hates it," she thought to herself, not wanting to invite talk of "the hoodlum" from Edward. Still, he wasn't devoid of commentary.

"Speaking of which," he jumped in, "where is that miscreant?"

"My HUSBAND," Emily said firmly, "has very kindly gone to get me some books and CDs to keep me occupied, as well as a fresh nightgown. And don't call him a miscreant!"

Jason and Zander, she thought, ought to take a two man show on the road - The Hoodlum and the Miscreant. Edward would have a baby.

"What about chocolate then?" Monica asked, smiling, knowing what the answer would be. Emily closed her eyes in bliss.

"Mmmmmm..."

"I think she likes the chocolate idea," Alan quipped. The Q's laughed, and Ned's cell phone rang.

"Quiet!" he ordered, answering the phone. "Ned Ashton...Lucky-"

"Lucky?" Em asked, her eyes growing wide.

Ned held up a finger to tell them all to stay quiet. "What?! When? How bad is it? Where are you? Okay, okay, I'm on my way." He snapped the phone shut.

"What's going on?" Monica asked.

Ned stood up. "That was Lucky Spencer. Dillon was just brought into ER. There was a car accident."

Emily was alarmed. "What happened?"

"Whose car was he driving?" Edward demanded. The others glared at him.

"Faith Rosco's." Ned answered.

"What?!" Alan was incredulous.

"Apparently," Ned informed them, "Faith had taken Dillon hostage." -the others gasped –

"The police found a gun in the vehicle."

"Mother of God," swore Edward.

Monica and Alan snapped into doctor mode. "We should get down there," Monica said. "Will you be alright sweetheart?" she asked Emily.

Em nodded. "I'm fine, please go!" Her parents rushed out. Edward followed them, saying something about calling Lila. Then Ned headed to the door. He turned when Emily called out his name.

"Ned, where was Lucky calling from?" she asked.

"Downstairs," Ned informed her. "He's in the ER waiting area with Georgie Jones." He realized what he had just said and his eyes locked with Emily's.

"Georgie..." they both said. Emily spoke efficiently.

"Ned, go down and check on Dillon. Tell Lucky to bring Georgie here," she ordered. Ned nodded and left. Emily leaned back on the pillows and closed her eyes.

"Oh god..."

Lucky was trying to soothe a quivering Georgie when Ned rushed over to them. "Ned!" Lucky called out. Georgie began to cry.

"Ned...he...he..." she swallowed pitifully.

"It's okay, sweetheart, everything will be okay," Ned assured her. He spoke quietly to Lucky. "I have to get in there. Emily told me to send you two to her room." Lucky nodded. Ned turned to Georgie. "Honey, Emily wants you and Lucky to wait in her room with her, but I promise I'll come get you as soon as I hear anything, okay?" Georgie nodded, wide eyed. She was shivering. Ned rushed away.

"You ready?" Lucky asked, trying to help Georgie to her feet. Her knees were still weak though and she was shivering so she could hardly stand.

Lucky sat her back down on the sofa and kneeled in front of her. "Georgie, I'm gonna carry you, okay?"

She nodded, too scared to feel embarrassed about being picked up like a baby. He put his arms under hers, forcing her arms around his neck. He pulled her to her feet and leaned down to place a hand under her knees, scooping her up. Lucky held Georgie tight against his body as he headed for the elevators.

Emily sat in her bed, drumming her fingernails nervously together. The door opened, a bit awkwardly, and Lucky entered, carrying a shaking Georgie.

"Oh my god," Emily murmured. She scooted over in bed. "Bring her over here." Lucky carried Georgie over to the bed and placed her down on it. Emily quickly gathered the girl into her arms. "She's shivering," Em said. "There's another blanket in the closet."

Lucky went to get it as Emily held Georgie tight. "Lucky, do you think she needs a doctor?"

"No," Lucky told her, bringing the blanket over. "She's just in shock." He and Em wrapped it around Georgie and he sat on the bed, rubbing Georgie's arms as Emily huddled her close. "The way you were," he reminded Em, "after the snake."

Georgie was beginning to warm up. Emily and Lucky were taking efficient care of her. "The snake?" she asked.

Emily and Lucky exchanged a look over Georgie's head. "Might be best to keep our minds occupied," Lucky muttered. Em nodded.

"When my birth mother died and I was about to be adopted by the Quartermaines, I started to get really scared. Here was this big family, full of loud, blustering people, and I was supposed to magically become one of them. I knew I had an aunt somewhere, Corrie, my mother's sister. They hadn't spoken since I was a little girl, but I wanted to know all my options. So I asked Lucky to run away with me, to go search for my aunt..."

"...Which led us on this wild goose chase across the country, lying to about everyone we encountered, playing amateur detective and trying to avoid my parents who had come after us as soon as they figured that we were missing," Lucky added.

"Lucky lied like a champion," Emily joked.

"Thank you...thank you very much," Lucky did an Elvis imitation, making Georgie giggle softly.

"Anyway," Em continued. "We ended up in New Mexico, camping out in the desert to avoid leaving a trace. Which was fine, until one night when we got caught in a rainstorm and Lucky sent me into a cave while he went to get our stuff. Which would have been okay, except that there was a rock slide and I was trapped in the cave. And to add insult to injury, there was a rattlesnake in there."

"Oh my god," Georgie gasped. "What happened?"

"Well, Indiana Spencer here tried to move the rocks to get me out, and wound up getting knocked unconscious," Emily informed her.

"And what about the snake?"

"Em bombed it with a rock and killed it," Lucky said proudly. "And I finally came to-"

"And somehow managed to get the rocks out the way and get me out," Emily finished.

"I was never so happy to see a couple fingers," Lucky said wistfully, repeating the words he had said that night. Em looked at him gratefully over Georgie's head. How many years had her friends been saving her life again and again?

"But if you hadn't..." Georgie whimpered.

"But he did," Emily assured the girl. "Everything was okay."

The words were similar to what Ned had said and Georgie's mind was assualted with pictures of Dillon lying on the gurney. She tried to fight it, but couldn't hold back the tears. She cried out.

"Georgie, sweetie," Emily gathered Georgie tightly into her arms and held her as she sobbed, choking. "Shhh...shhh...shhh..." She made soothing noises as she rubbed Georgie's back. Tears burned in Emily's eyes, which locked with Lucky's over Georgie's head, which was buried against her shoulder as Georgie cried. Lucky closed his eyes in tired sadness and reached out to soothingly brush back a lock of Emily's hair.