Brenda Returns – Chapter 5
At the Port Charles Airport
Brenda chews her lower lip, nervously. She shifts back and forth from foot to foot.
"Jason, thank you for coming with me. You really didn't have to, I would have been fine," she says, looking up at him.
He shrugs. "It's not a big deal."
"And if I haven't thanked you enough for arranging for us to stay in that house. I felt like everyone would be more comfortable if we didn't meet at the hotel."
"It's not a problem."
She takes his hand and squeezes it.
Her attention is diverted quickly when she hears a small girl yelling mommy.
"Hey there, baby girl," she says, bending down with her arms wide open.
Brenda grabs the little girl in her arms and lifts her up, holding her tightly. Jason smiles at the pair as a middle-aged woman approaches them with a smile.
"I've missed you so so much," Brenda says before kissing the small girl's cheek.
"I've missed you too, Mommy."
Brenda smiles, hearing those words. "Did you have fun on the plane with Maria?"
The little girl nods. "Uh huh. It was a long ride, though."
Brenda sets her down and ruffles her hair. "Yeah, this was the longest you've ever been on a plane, wasn't it?" She looks up at the woman standing next to Jason. "Hi Maria, thanks so much for doing this. I know it's taking you away from your family."
Maria nods and smiles. "That's okay, I'll do anything for this little one…." She says in her thick Italian accent.
Brenda smiles at her. She then takes the little girl's shoulders and pulls her so that she's standing with her back to Brenda's legs and gives her shoulders a squeeze. "Hey, there's someone I want you to meet. He's a good friend of mine….his name is Jason."
Jason crouches down so he's eye to eye with the child.
He smiles warmly at her. "It's nice to meet you, Hope."
"It's nice to meet you, too," Hope says shyly.
"You sure are a beautiful little girl."
Hope smiles and blushes and moves in closer to her mom's side.
Brenda chuckles. "What do you say?"
"Thank you," Hope says in a quiet voice.
Jason smiles and stands up. "You're welcome."
Brenda turns her attention back to Maria. "And this is Maria. She's Hope's Au Pair and such a tremendous help and friend to me."
Maria holds her hand out to Jason. "It's very nice to meet you, finally. Brenda has spoken of you many times."
Jason almost winces. "Uhh, that might not always be good," he says, giving a quick smile to Brenda. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"You guys must be tired," Brenda says, looking at Maria but giving Hope's shoulders a squeeze again. "We only have a couple of hours until the doctor arrives. It wouldn't make sense to go to the house and then come back again…"
"If you want to go to the house with them, I can wait here for him," Jason says.
Brenda cocks her head a little. "Are you sure? You don't have to do that."
He waves her off. "It's okay, I can make a few phone calls while I wait. You go spend time with your daughter and friend."
She gives him an unsure look, but shrugs. "Okay. Well, you have my cell number, so call me if you have any questions or if you need me for anything…"
He cuts her off before she keeps rambling.
"Brenda…..Brenda, its okay, really. I know how to reach you."
"Right. Okay….you hungry?" she asks, looking down at Hope.
Hope nods.
"We'll get something on the way. Does that sound okay, Maria?" she asks as the three of them walk toward the exit.
A few hours later, Brenda paces around the house as Maria watches her.
She looks at her watch again before saying, "Jason should be here by now. He left the airport twenty minutes ago."
Maria looks up from the book she's reading. "You seem to trust this Jason a lot."
Brenda stops pacing. "I do. I've trusted him with my life, many times."
"Is he….."
Brenda cuts her off and shakes her head, "No."
Maria stands up and walks over to Brenda.
"I didn't mean to pry, I just thought maybe….the blue eyes. But he is here….in Port Charles, isn't he?"
Brenda looks away from Maria when she hears a car door shut.
"They're here," she says, her heart starts to beat rapidly.
She races to the door and opens it before Jason can even knock on it. Jason walks up with the doctor behind him.
"Hi, you must be Dr. McNeal. I'm Brenda Barrett, it's nice to meet you," she says when they reach the door. She shakes the doctor's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, too," Dr. McNeal says.
Jason raises his eyebrows in question. "Uh, Brenda you wanna…." He motions to the door.
Brenda steps out of the way. "Oh right, come inside. I'm sorry, I'm just a little anxious."
Jason nods at Maria when they get inside.
Brenda takes the doctor's jacket. "Thank you so much for making this trip. I'm sure you've a very busy man."
"I just hope I can help. I've reviewed the tests already done on your daughter, but I'd like to run some more," he says.
Brenda stops folding his jacket over her arm. "More tests?"
Maria decides to take her leave. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Water would be fine, thank you," Dr. McNeal says.
Maria nods and leaves the room.
Brenda lays his jacket across a chair. "I'm sorry, I should have offered…"
"It's okay," he stops her. "I know you've been through a lot in the past few months."
Brenda nods. "And so has my daughter. I was really hoping she wouldn't have to go through anymore tests. I don't know how many more needles can be stuck in her little arms anymore," she says, rubbing her own arms up and down.
Jason walks over to her and rests his hand against her back. "I'm sure the doctor understands that and wouldn't put Hope through anymore than she has to, right?"
"Absolutely. I'm not going to duplicate any tests that have already been run. I'm trusting the doctors in Italy did a good job with those tests. I have a couple of ideas and actually….it's a good thing you had me meet you here, in Port Charles."
"Why is that?" Brenda asks, cautiously.
"There's a doctor at General Hospital that I'd like to have consult on this case. From what I understand, she's done some research on a similar type case already."
Brenda glances up at Jason before turning her attention back to the doctor. "And who might that be?"
"Dr. Robin Scorpio. I actually thought that's maybe why you were here, in Port Charles."