PART 16
One week after Metro Court Disaster...
The cemetery surrounding the Queen of Angels Church was covered in a damp dewy blanket as scores of people arrived for the day long schedule of services. A few came and went, those that only knew the deceased through job or passing acquaintance, but many stayed thorough all the of the memorials. It would have been preferable to some to have the service's separate, but with so many dead, every church, chapel, and hall, had been scheduled for multiple services.
The last two memorials of the morning were, if anyone were to comment, and odd pair. In life, Maxie Jones and Elizabeth Webber had not been friends, but seeing how they shared so many of the same people in their lives, it was a simple matter of shifting a few people to different pews from Maxie's remembrance before they could begin the last service.
Elizabeth Webber's service began much like Maxie's, there was no body recovered from the hotel. That wasn't a shock to anyone... the building's massive structure had pancaked down on top of itself, pulverising nearly everything below the last three floors. The fact that the top floors had been nearly spared was the only reason they had been able to recover Luke's body from the security control room.
It was Damien Spinelli that carried the picture out from the waiting room and set it down on the center table in place of Maxie's portrait.
Anyone with watchful eyes would have seen him swipe the back of his hand over his eyes to stem the tears that wanted to fall, but it was young Cameron that most were focused upon. The normally energetic child looked about in varying degrees of confusion and consternation as he surveyed the gathering.
Emily Quartermain stood from her seat and with a steadying hand on Nikolas' shoulder she advanced to the podium. It took a few deep breaths before she could begin. "I want to, on behalf of Elizabeth's family, thank you all for taking the time to come and celebrate the life of one of my dearest friends... no, my best friend, Elizabeth Webber..."
They listened as Emily told a few stories about their time together as teenagers... the way they'd supported each other through the years... and then the birth of Cameron and Elizabeth's return to Port Charles. "When I saw her with Cameron, her smile.. the light in her eyes.. it was... it was... magical." Sniffling, she blotted her nose with a tissue. "When she found out that she was pregnant again, I told her that this time... she would stay here... and I ... and I would be right there... to help-"Emily's knees buckled and she fell to the floor, her hands covering her face. Nikolas darted out from his pew to help her to her feet and sit her down.
Cameron picked that moment to stand up on the pew's bench and look around the room, craning his little neck to see the assembled group.
"Cameron, sweetie," Audry tried to set him down, "we should sit down and-"
"I don't wanna sit," he declared in the absolute and sure tone that only children could manage, "I'm waiting for my Mommy!" He didn't see the looks of pain and pity that were directed at him. He continued to look about for his mother's familiar face. "Why isn't she here?"
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI -
Beyond the fact that Ric Lansing was determined to have everything he wanted in life, Ewen was certain of one other thing, Elizabeth Webber was a strong woman.
She may have a petite frame and delicate features, but beneath her luminous skin she had a will of steel when it came to her baby. Having refused numerous times to accept the idea that Ric Lansing was the father of her baby, Ewen was forced to try another tact. Every time he tried to convince her just to go along, she fought harder... the harder she fought... the more stress she was under and the stress was going to endanger her pregnancy... without her cooperation, he was going to have to resort to other methods.
After administering another dose of the drug he leaned forward in his chair and began to talk to her... rather, recite the same line over and over in her ear. "There is too much pain in 2007, Elizabeth... to many wrong turns in your journey... so let's go back... it's not 2007... or 2006... or 2005... or 2004... the year is 2003... and you're married... to Ric Lansing." He took a breath and continued. "There is too much pain in 2007, Elizabeth..."
- Queen of Angels Cemetery -
Passing Alexis Davis and her two youngest daughters huddled around Sam's grave, Lucky continued on to Elizabeth's memorial site guided by Father Coates who talked to him in low tones. Lucky heard little beyond the rush of blood in his ears and sizzle of his nerves as he considered reaching into his pocket for another pill. He barely realized that Father Coates had stopped. Turning slightly he looked at the priest, confused. "I thought you were going to put Elizabeth," he looked around the graveyard and pointed to a corner by the brick back wall to a butcher shop, "over there."
The priest returned Lucky's confused expression with one of his own. "I received your email... and the cashier's check. You wanted her memorial moved to the garden." Father Coates gestured down the hedge lined path."
Lucky caught Lulu's eye and saw her shrug. They followed Father Coates down the path.
When the hedges stopped, they stepped into a secluded alcove centered around a marble statue. Lulu stopped at his shoulder, whispering into his ear. "How did you afford this?"
Grinding his teeth together he hissed in return. "I didn't."
Father Coates smiled at them, his eyes moistened with tears. "The statue arrive yesterday afternoon from Italy. I don't know how they managed to sculpt it so quickly... it truly is a beautiful piece."
"Why does the angel have my mommy's face?" Cameron, squirming down from Audry's unresisting arms, moved closer to the marble carving in the middle of the garden and touched her face. Emily moved up to stand beside him, mussing up his curls. "This is a memorial for your Mommy, Cam." She blinked back tears and looked back at Nikolas. "Did you do this?"
The prince shook his head and turned to Audry, her hands busy wiping the tears from her own face. "Is this from her parents?"
She could only return his quizzical look for a moment before the truth dawned on her as she caught sight of another mourner in the little garden. "Jason."
His troubled blue eyes lifted to meet Audry's as he found his voice. "She deserved something beautiful to mark her life," he looked over at Cameron, peering up into his mother's marble face in wonder, "and angels watch over things."
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI -
Ewen listened as Ric ripped him a new one in the private lounge at the clinic. "Now I know why you got caught, Ewen." He grabbed the taller man's shirt and pulled him closer. "You can't even do this one thing for me. One little thing."
Reaching up with his hand Ewen removed Ric's fingers one by one as he glared at him. "It's no little thing to mess with someone's mind. It's a delicate balance and pressing things too hard can damage her psyche in a number of ways. I-"
"You've got a few more days, Ewen... I need to move her then, so you'd better hurry."
Ric took out his cell phone and walked out of the hospital dialing as he went. "Hello? So he got my resignation? Good... good... and everything else? Yes... just like I wanted. No... just put everything into the off shore accounts. And I'll know if you take more than your... customary cut."
- Queen of Angels Cemetery -
The world was closing in around Lucky as if the very lush walls of hedges surround the garden were growing up above him to block out the light. He was losing control... to Jason. The man who had always found a way to come between him and Elizabeth had found one last way to be the center of her world. To give Elizabeth something he could never give her. The wreaths and flower arrangements were lovely, his was dead center in the grouping. When he looked at the other arrangements, he paid close attention to the names on the cards.
"I don't see any flowers from you, Jason." Lucky's eyes were snapping with impotent anger. "Didn't Elizabeth rate flowers... or just the stone... cold, like your soul."
Jason didn't move, Emily walked to his side and Jason felt her hand grasp his tightly.
"She never liked being surrounded by flowers," his voice was quiet but still the words were easy to hear within the garden memorial, "it made her think of funerals."
"Well," Lucky ground out between his teeth, "shows how much you know, Jason... she loved flowers... the more the better... and if you really knew her..." Lucky's mind fumed... Jason just stood there... quiet... beaten, "you were just a distraction." Shouldering his way past the enforcer, Lucky left the garden without a backward glance for Cameron.
Jason's eyes watched the young boy as he tentatively approached the marble angel, his steps hesitated as if he wasn't quite sure what to do. Crawling up onto the bench beside the figure, he leaned his shoulder against hers and looked down into the face of the baby she held in her arms.
Cameron touched the forehead with a gentle stroke of his fingers and then turned his head to look at the object in the angel's hand. An oddly shaped chunk of glass was held delicately in place, turned so that the sunlight might shine directly through the stone and offer some semblance of a warm pink to the baby's skin.
"What's that?" Cameron asked no one in particular.
Several people turned to look at each other, but no one had an answer.
No one, until Jason spoke up. "It's a piece of glass... from Italy." He let go of Emily's hand and crossed over to the bench. Sitting down beside Cameron he pointed to the glass. "I gave a piece like that to your mother a long time ago. She really loved the color."
Cameron nodded. "Where is the one you gave her?"
Jason let go of a breath that sent a shiver through his body. "I don't know, Cam... maybe she lost it."
"No," Emily stepped up and knelt at Jason's feet. "I've seen something like that before." She looked up at Nikolas with a smile. "In her jewelry box. It was in the bottom of the box tucked away with a postcard and," she smiled through her tears, "a label from a baseball bat-"
Cameron turned to his aunt with a confused pinch between his eyebrows. "My mom played baseball?"
Jason sucked in a breath as images of Elizabeth in his arms, their hands joined as he showed her how to swing the baseball bat, flooded his mind. "Not really, Cam... but she had one... that I gave her."
The young boy looked up into Jason's face for a moment, his gaze roaming over his features. Wrapping his arms around Jason's neck he settled into his lap and sighed. Cameron's voice, muffled against his neck, cut through Jason's pain. "Did my mom ever give you something?"
Looking over at the baby, held lovingly in the embrace of Elizabeth's statue, he nodded as he wrapped his arms around Cameron. "She gave me the world."
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI -
Ric's cell phone rang and he looked at the screen. He let it go to voice mail and listened to it later.
"Hello, DA Lansing... I want to know... where you are. You promised me something in exchange for Elizabeth. You got your prize... now where... is mine?"