Part 33
-Elizabeth-
She was stuck in a nightmare. She'd had them before... she'd had them for months and months after her rape, the kind of nightmares that were endless cycles of fear and pain. She'd had them after Lucky died and she couldn't get the smell of fire out of her nose. Then she'd had them after her time in the crypt.
Still, no matter how bad they were, no matter how much her heart pounded and her head hurt... they would end and she'd wake up the next morning and find a way to get out of bed... but this dream... this hellish nightmare just wouldn't stop.
The Metrocourt... the fundraiser... had that all been a dream? Some of it had seemed real.
Robin shot.
Alan's heart attack.
The cramps.
Had they all been part of the nightmare.
Ric! A doctor altering her memories? This was just too crazy for words, and yet here she was living it... still... why couldn't she wake up?
-GH Staff Elevator-
Cameron held tight to Alan's hand as they stepped onto the elevator. The young boy looked around at te walls and the buttons. "This elevator looks different."
Alan smiled. "That's because it is, Cameron. This is the elevator that the doctors get to take to get to where we're going faster than other people."
"Like nurses?" Cam's gaze narrowed at the older man. "You should let nurses use it too... they're just like doctors... and probably do more stuff than you."
"Oh," he smiled at the honest assessment from the boy, "I'm sure they do. I'll be sure to let your mommy use it when she's ready to come back to work."
Cameron thought it through, nodding. "Okay. That's fair."
The doors slid open and Cameron followed Alan out into the hall, rising up on tip-toe so he could read the name cards on the different doors.
- GH Emergency Room-
Jason was a few steps ahead of Audrey when they reached the ER and swept back the curtain to bay #3. The room was empty.
Stepping back, Jason met Audrey's look with a question. "You said THREE, right?"
"Yes," she hurried up to his side and looked at the room, "I left Cameron here with Nadine."
Jason fought against the rising panic that twisted his heart. "Cameron!?"
There was no answer and the hubbub of activity in the ER seemed to camouflage his voice. "Cameron!"
A security guard stepped forward. "Sir, I'll have to ask you to-"
Jason shoved past him on the way to the desk. "Where's Nadine?"
Audrey was at his side. "Yes, page Nurse Cromwell, please... she has my great-grandson with her."
-General Hospital Hallway-
Alan stopped and waited for Cameron to read the name on the door.
"W-E-B-B-E-R!" Cameron grinned at the man. "That's my Mommy!"
Alan reached for the door and opened it. "Let's go see her, shall we?"
-Elizabeth-
The doctor had told her all kinds of things... putting thoughts into her head. She could only imagine that this is what Lucky had felt like. Like there were two people inside his head. One real and one a bunch of garbled information... but after awhile... it was really hard to tell which one was real... and which one...
Then her mind had done something she didn't even know she could. She built her own panic room. She built a room inside her head and she'd hidden away so that the words... the thoughts that the doctor had tried to shove in... could only go so far... for awhile, the thoughts had pounded on the door... trying to get in.
Screamed and stomped... kicked and threatened... and through it all... Ric had smiled at her... told her he loved her... it was all as messed up as it had been when they'd been together. When she'd loved him.
Then the 'other' had stopped trying to get in. She'd stopped doing pretty much of anything. She looked... she felt... tired... sad... fearful and listless. The 'other' didn't understand the world around her. Didn't understand anything.
-Elizabeth's Room-
Cameron stopped just inside the door. "It's really dark in here."
Alan lifted the chart from the foot of the bed with his free hand. "Your mom is sleeping, Cam, and I-"
He read the notes on her attack and let out a breath. "Maybe we ought to let her sleep for a bit."
"Nuh-uh!" Cameron pushed a chair closer to her bed and climbed up on it. "It's not time for sleepin' I want to see her."
"Well," Alan helped him up as much as he could with the pain in his stitches still healing, "but let's be kind of quiet so we don't bother anyone else."
"Mommy?" Cameron kicked off his sneakers and they fell to the floor with two dull thuds. "Mommy?" He shook her arm. "It's time to wake up and give me a big hug... I miss you so much. Mommy?"
-General Hospital Emergency Room-
Nadine ran outside from the break room and waved at Audrey. "Hey!"
"Where's Cameron?" Jason's eyes were snapping with barely leashed anger. "Where is he?"
Nadine took a step back. "What do you mean?"
"My great-grandson," Audrey's hands were pressed to her chest, "you were supposed to watch him!"
"He's with Doctor Quartermaine."
"Monica?" Audrey looked at Jason. "But how?"
"No," Nadine shook her head, "Alan."
-Elizabeth-
Elizabeth started suddenly. There weren't any sounds outside. The whole thing had gone quiet. Leaning her ear to the panic room door she listened intently for any sounds of the 'other.' Nothing.
Then, there was a sound like a door unlocking. A crisp metal click. A whoosh of contained air. And suddenly there was nothing against her cheek besides the cold air conditioning.
-Elizabeth's Room-
Cameron gave up on her arm, crawling up higher on the bed until he could touch her forehead with his own. "Please, Mommy... wake up. I love you, forever and ever and-"
"Ever." Elizabeth's eyes opened and her hands cupped Cameron's cheeks. "Hi, baby."