Brenda Returns – Chapter 8
As soon as Brenda, Maria and Hope walk into General Hospital, Brenda becomes paranoid of her surroundings. She knows the truth is going to come out, but she's just not ready for everyone to know, yet.
She looks around, nervously.
"Maria, Dr. Scorpio's office is on the Eighth floor, can you go ahead and take Hope up there? I'll be right behind you," Brenda says.
"Of course," Maria replies.
"Mommy, I want to stay with you," Hope pleads.
"I'll be up in a minute. Go ahead, go with Maria."
She leans down and gives Hope and kiss on the forehead.
They get into the elevator as Brenda waves to them as the door closes. She looks around and takes a deep breath.
Maria takes Hope's hand as they get off of the elevator on the Eighth floor. They head straight to the nurses' desk.
"Hi, may I help you?" Nadine asks.
"We have an appointment with Dr. Scorpio, can you show me where her office is?" Maria asks.
Nadine smiles and walks around the desk.
"Just follow me."
They start to follow Nadine but a shoe from Hope's doll falls off.
"Oh, wait a minute," Jax says as soon as he gets off the elevator. "I think you dropped this."
Nadine, Maria and Hope all stop and turn around.
Jax bends down to pick up the shoe and holds it out to Hope.
Hope smiles and immediately walks over to the stranger, which is something she usually doesn't do.
"We don't want your doll to get cold feet, now do we?" he asks as the little girl stops in front of him.
She shakes her head and takes the shoe from him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Do you need help putting it on her?" he asks sweetly.
She holds the doll and tries to get the shoe on herself but doesn't have any luck. Maria is watching the pair closely.
"Yes, please."
"Here, let me help you with that," Jax tells Hope.
Robin had decided to meet them so she joins them in the lobby and stops when she sees Jax kneeling down next to his daughter, helping her with her doll's shoe. It actually pains her heart a little to see this touching scene, knowing that he has no idea that that is his daughter.
She walks over to them, to try to hurry things along.
"Hi Hope, I see you made a new friend," she says to them. "Hi Jax."
"Hi Robin," Jax says, standing up. "How could I resist such a beautiful young lady whose doll was in distress?"
Robin smiles at him. "Always the hero."
She reaches down and takes Hope's hand.
"Did you thank Mr. Jacks?" Robin asks Hope.
"Yes, she did, actually. She was very polite. You are very welcome, Hope," Jax says.
"I'll see you later," Robin tells him before she walks away with Maria and Hope.
"Bye," he returns. He watches the trio walk down the hall and smiles.
A minute later, Brenda reaches the Eighth floor. She almost freezes when she sees Jax standing at the desk.
"Hi," she says to the nurse and to Jax.
Jax turns around when he recognizes her voice.
"Hi," he says. "Everything okay?"
She nods. "Yep. I'm here to see Robin," she says casually.
"Oh, Dr. Scorpio is with a patient right now," Nadine says.
"Oh okay. Well, can you tell me which way her office is and I'll come by later?"
"Sure, it's down that hall. You'll make a right around the bend and you'll see her office on the right."
Brenda nods. "Great, thanks. So, how are you today?" she asks, turning to Jax.
"I'm good. I just had a run-in with an adorable little girl who needed my rescue, so that made my day," he chuckles.
"Needed your rescue?"
"Her doll did, actually. Lost shoe."
Brenda's heart melts but she can't let that show. "Oh."
"You okay?" Jax asks, reaching out to touch her arm.
She pulls away without making a big deal about it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to go wait for Robin," she says, pointing toward the hall. "Bye."
"Bye," he says, watching her carefully as she heads to the hall.
Once she's out of his eyesight, she leans back against the wall and takes a deep breath. That was too close.
She finally gets to Robin's office and knocks before letting herself in.
"Hi, sorry," she says.
"Mommy," Hope says as she sits across the room on a couch.
"It's okay," Robin says. "We're just getting to know each other better. I was asking Hope some good questions, I hope that's okay?" she asks, looking at Brenda.
"Yeah, you know I trust you to ask the right things."
She takes a seat next to Hope. "You okay?"
Hope nods.
"I uh, heard your dolly lost her shoe," Brenda says cautiously and slowly looks up at Robin for a reaction.
"Yeah, but a nice man helped me put it back on, so it's okay," Hope says.
Robin and Brenda stare at each other a few more seconds.
"Let's get this show in the road, shall we?" Robin asks. She sits down across from them.
She goes over what she knows about the case and talks to them about procedures they've already tried.
"I really do think this experimental drug might work."
"The one that would have the same affects that chemo would?" Brenda asks.
"Yes, that one. We can try a small dose and see what kind of affect and reaction Hope has to it."
Brenda looks down and then looks over at Maria, who gives her a reassuring smile.
"Okay, let's do it."
"Good. I'll need to get approval from the Board in order to get it, but that shouldn't be a problem."
They sit and talk for a few more minutes.
"I really have to get going, I have another appointment in fifteen minutes," Robin says, looking at the time.
"Oh okay, we don't want to keep you. Thank you so much, Robin," Brenda says as she stands up and gives her friend a hug.
"Don't thank me yet. But I'll do my best to get this little girl healthy," she says, smiling down at Hope.
"Maria, can you take Hope down to the car while I ask Dr. Scorpio a couple more questions?"
Maria gives Brenda a suspicious look and then reaches out her hand.
"Of course. Come on Hope."
"I'll see you in a few minutes, sweetie."
"Okay, bye mommy. Bye Dr. Robin," she says, looking up at Robin.
Robin smiles back down at the little girl and then reaches down and gives her a hug.
"Bye Hope. I'll see you in a few days and I'll try to make you feel better, okay?"
Hope nods and leaves with Maria.
As soon as the door shuts, Robin looks back at Brenda.
"Tell Jax now," she says.
Brenda starts to pace and rubs her forehead. "I know, I know. What happened earlier?"
"I went out to the lobby to see where you guys were and I saw Jax kneeling down next to Hope, helping her doll with her shoe," she shrugs. "It was a very sweet moment. Does Maria know who the father is?"
Brenda stops for a second and shakes her head. "No."
"Well, she might now. With the two of them standing next to each other like that….God, she's the perfect combination of the two of you."
Brenda tries to fight the tears that are coming to her eyes.
"And Brenda….Jax is on the Board and there's a good chance they're going to want the patient's name. They'll definitely need her history."
"Can't you say the patient wants to be kept anonymous because she's a minor?"
"We'll see, but you still need to tell him. Today was too close for comfort."
"I know," Brenda says softly. "I'll figure this out."
Robin gives her a reassuring look. "Call me if you need me, okay?"
Brenda nods and gives her a hug one more time before leaving.
When Jax comes home, Carly looks up from the contract she's looking over and smiles.
"Hi, you're home early," she says. She sets the contract aside.
"Yeah. I just wanted to get home to see my wife," he says as he rounds the couch.
He sits down next to her and leans over to give her a kiss.
"Aww, that's nice. Now, what's the real reason?" she asks, with a twinkle in her eye.
He chuckles. "No, really. I didn't have any pressing things to do at the office or the Hotel so I decided to come home early. The boys home from school yet?" he asks, glancing at the stairs.
Carly raises an eyebrow. "No, not yet."
"Hmmm," he says with a mischievous smile as he starts to lean in closer to her.
"Why, what did you have in mind? Chess, maybe?" she asks as she leans back on the couch a little.
He smiles and shakes his head. "No, not chess…."
She wraps her arms around him as he starts to kiss her neck. "Oh, I got a new backgammon set."
His fingers find the buttons of her blouse.
"Okay, this definitely isn't backgammon," she moans.
"I want to make a baby," he whispers into her hair.
Her fingers, that were running through his hair, stop.
"What?"
"You….me….a baby."
She tries to shove him off.
"Jax….we need to talk about this."