Without a price?

Chapter 2

Sam smiled as she heard that Eleanor was completely healthy. "She does not need any shots or anything?" She asked the doctor, as she placed Eleanor in her carrier, who fell asleep almost automatically. Sam first thought that babies at this number of weeks were awake more. Then again, the doctor did say every child is different.

The doctor looked over Eleanor's medical records once more. "No, she seems perfectly cared for previously. You usually do not find that with adopted babies." Dr. Macken answered. "Do you have any other questions? I assume this is your first child."

Sam smiled uneasily; she did have one more question that was quietly nagging at her. "Well, now that you mention it, the adoption woman said that Eleanor's father was partially color blind. I have heard that females rarely get the condition, but is there a way to make sure?"

"Absolutely, my strongest advice is to go to an optometrist and see if he can do any tests. You must wait until she is three months though. No baby is able to see color until they are that age; even then it may be hard to tell. I would not worry about that now though." The doctor responded.

"Alright," Sam replied, taking the carrier and bag after she told the doctor to have a goodbye and thanks. As she was shuffling out and resifting her weight, she came across Dr. Monica Quartermaine. She did not know her that well but they weren't complete strangers either.

"Do you need any help?" Monica questioned her as Sam finally got the carrier and bag in a position that was comfortable with her.

"No, I'm good now but thanks." Sam said, noting Monica was looking into the carrier, she figured she should introduce them. "This is Eleanor."

"About six weeks old I imagine?" Monica asked she glanced at the sleeping baby.

"Almost seven actually," Sam corrected her.

"So you are correct. It's great that you adopted Sam, there are many babies out there who need a good parent but do not have one." Monica mentioned, looking Sam in the face.

"Yeah, I know. The paperwork is a bit much but well worth everyday I have with Eleanor, but I guess you know that." Sam quickly remembered that Emily was adopted, so she was quick to say the last part of the sentence.

"Yes, Emily." Monica murmured, "Have you seen or talked to my daughter lately? I know you and Jason spent a lot of time together so you got to know Emily. She has a soft spot for her second eldest brother."

"No, actually I have not seen or talked to her for a month or so." Monica's face fell so Sam felt she needed to mention Jason and Emily's dinner plans. "But Jason said he and Emily had dinner plans tonight."

"Oh, well, that's good." Monica commented as her beeper went off and Monica quickly excused herself. Sam glanced at Monica's fleeting form, reading between the lines. So Emily was not talking to her mother again. She could have sworn they just started talking to each other again though. Either Emily had a loose fuse or Monica and Alan just really knew the wrong things to say. Or maybe both, it was no secret Monica and Alan was not the greatest parents.

Checking to see her daughter was okay, she was set to leave when she came across Alexis and Kristina who were passing by in the hall. It took Alexis exactly five seconds to note the baby carrier and bag.

"No adoptive baby will ever make up for the one you lost Sam," Alexis remarked, to which Sam wanted to take offense to but decided it was better to let it go. She did not care what Alexis or anyone thought. This baby needed someone to love and care for her, and she just happened to fit the position. That was the only thing that mattered.

"And no one said Eleanor would," Sam stated stubbornly, pushing her chin up. "Now, good day" She told Alexis. Sure it was rude, but what did she expect with that remark?

"That's a rude thing to teach to your daughter," Alexis called out to her back.

Sam took a second and turned back to Alexis. "Look who's talking," Sam motioned toward Kristina, who was well aware of her mother's actions. Satisfied that she took a stand, Sam walked away feeling much better than she had been.

She was not that vulnerable anymore to take any insensitive comments from Alexis. Alexis would get that same treatment from Sam as well until she stopped her own ways. After all, karma has more an affect than people know or recognize on their lives.

Jason knocked on Emily's apartment door and received no response. Sure, the normal person would just take that as a sign that the occupant was not home but he was not normal. He knew better and he knew that Emily was in her apartment, she just did not want company. She had not wanted company for far too long though. It made him worried. She had not been to Port Charles for weeks, which was unlike her. Therefore, he still stood at the door. He knocked again, determined to see his sister and make sure about her wellbeing. .

If she would not open the door, then he would just pick the lock. Normally he would not go that far, but this was a special occasion. Emily had not given him an extra key to her apartment either, though he really should mention that he wanted one. The door swung open finally and he found himself staring at his sister. One look at her face and he knew he would not get a welcome reception.

Emily quickly turned away, but left the door open for him to enter. She knew how stubborn he can be and decided against ignoring him further. Jason was not one to give up in such cases like this. "I knew I shouldn't have opened the door," she muttered as Jason closed the door behind him. Okay, so he admitted it, he lied to Sam about having dinner plans with his sister. It was actually a surprise visit.

Jason looked around her small apartment. It had a living room, a small kitchen to the side and two closed doors. One was to her bedroom, the other was another exit or entrance (it depended on how one used the door) to the bathroom. It was tidy and organized, except for the pile of papers that were scattered on the small table that was her dining table. That in itself was a mess.

He followed his sister into the kitchen, and watched as she grabbed a glass from a cupboard. She filled the glass with tap water, and walked over to the counter where she had placed two small pills. She took the pills, drank a few gulps of water, and put the glass down.

"Headache," Jason asked, as he studied his sister. She was somewhat paler than when he last saw her. She also lost some weight, and the make up she had put on did not do much to cover the bags she had under her eyes. It was as he expected: in this time of trouble she let her health go.

"More like a migraine," Emily answered his question, not looking him in the face. She knew what she would find: worry and perhaps some pity. Things she would really not like to see at the moment or in the near future. Convincing him that she was fine would be useless; she well knew she looked less than healthy. She'd never be able to pull it off.

"Are you busy tonight?" He questioned her, knowing fully well she probably did not. Emily had not gone out too much recently. She had been pretty preoccupied and held a lot of burdens at the moment. She was trying to work through them but somehow they always seemed to be increasing rather decreasing. It was also obvious Emily was not responding to that well.

"Um, yeah, actually," Emily replied, surprising him to a small extent. But he quickly figured out that it did not mean getting out of this apartment. It had something to do with those piles of papers on the dining room table though. Anyone could be certain of that. "And for the entire weekend as well." She verified.

Her plans probably had her cornered in this place, with some kind of alcohol next to her, working on all the paperwork she had to do. Normally you would find the alcohol part of it surprising but Emily actually had a very high alcohol tolerance. Alcohol actually spurred her brain into action, helped her concentrate, and some great work and ideas came from it. It was a rare thing, alcohol usually does the opposite. Not in Emily though. It was one of her unique attributes.

"Let me guess you plan on having some kind of alcohol beverage that will spur you into getting all your work done." Jason revealed that he could easily guess that. He was one of the few though. Monica or Alan could not even imagine that Emily would do that. Then again, that relationship was again strained. It was remarkable how fast Monica and Alan could say the wrong thing.

"Hasn't failed me yet," Emily justified. He did not deny that was false, it had miraculous results but still basic needs needed to be met. She needed some subsidence, a couple hours of sleep, and help. She would deny she needed those things though, especially the last one.

"And I don't foresee it ever doing so, but you are going to prolong those plans for an hour at the very least. We are going to dinner," he ordered, her taking her by the elbow and pulling her from the kitchen. Emily started to argue but Jason was quick to interrupt any reasoning she had to not do so. "And then, when we come back you will be free to follow your previous plans, after you tell me what I can do to help."

"I don't know how much you can do in a couple of hours." Emily commented, as Jason handed her purse. She searched through it for her keys to lock the door, as she walked.

"Well, then it's a good thing I am prepared to stay the whole weekend." Jason responded though he could not say Emily was too excited about that.

"You can't stay the weekend," Emily argued, "I don't have a guest room." Emily quickly criticized herself for using that lame excuse. She really needed better material when it came to uninvited guests. Usually she could use the roommate would not like it excuse but she no longer had a roommate. He had recently gotten married so she had moved out to make way for his…spouse. If that is what you could call it.

"You have a couch, don't you?" Jason figured waving the issue as solved even though Emily saw it was not.

"Yes, but-"Emily's statement was cut off by Jason who again moved in to stop any arguments from her. She really was well into this independent streak.

"So problem solved," Jason shrugged as they left her apartment building, then stopped before the entrance. He turned to look at her, "Emily you can't do this by yourself, no matter how much you think you can." Emily looked away, still keeping herself from admitting that.

"But this is not the time to argue about that, so come on." Jason pushed her forward and luckily Emily's stomach won out as she accepted his dinner invitation. He did not care to argue with Emily but sometimes it was necessary. It was unfortunate this was one of those times. Sad thing was it was not even Emily's fault; she got trapped into these times.