Mattie bundled her coat tighter to her body as she raced to the front door of General Hospital. She'd gotten home from the intervention at Lila's very late the previous night and as a result, had slept past her alarm; which meant that she had exactly twelve minutes to ride the elevator to the fifth floor, sprint to the employee locker room, change into her scrubs and be at the nurse's desk in time to start her shift.

Waiting as the elevator ascended to the fifth floor, she tapped her foot impatiently. She had a full day scheduled today, which included post-operative checkup on Ric Lansing.

Finally, the doors opened and she stepped out into the bustling hospital. A glance at the clock told her that she now had eight minutes to get changed and ready for her shift. Despite her long day, she had plans to see Maxie about the wedding. Mattie smiled to herself as she slipped into her scrubs and stowed her street clothes in the locker.

Now that she knew that Georgie was okay, Maxie was really throwing herself into the wedding plans. This was, Mattie reasoned, completely fine with her because she wasn't nearly as creative as her aunt. But she had to get through today before she could even think about the wedding.

Slamming her locker close, she placed her stethoscope around her neck and ran out to the nurses' station. By the time she got there, she was momentarily out of breath. Allowing her heart to slow, she smiled at Elizabeth who handed her the charts for her rounds.

"Good Morning."

Elizabeth looked from where she was making notations on a chart. "Hi! How are you today?"

Mattie opened the first chart to see who she was tending to first this morning. "Oh fine, I was out a little late last night. So other than a little sleep deprived, I'm fine."

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. "Sleep deprived? Too much time with Morgan?" Humor danced in her eyes.

Rolling her eyes, she grinned. "No, nothing like that. In fact, I haven't seen Morgan since yesterday morning. I was at Lila Alcazar's last night. She was in the middle of a major crisis."

Elizabeth's eyes clouded with concern. "Oh, is she okay?"

"Uh, yeah, she's fine now," Mattie replied. She's only pregnant with your grandchild. She cursed herself silently. She really shouldn't be talking to Elizabeth Morgan about Lila's crisis.

"I really have to go. I have a busy day and I am late as it is. I'll talk to you later," she called, racing in the opposite direction. It seemed as if there was always some secret in Port Charles. And when there was, there were too many players that could potentially get hurt from it.

Coming to a stop in front of the patient's room, she pasted on a smile and entered to begin her day.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

Lucky Spencer sat at his desk, head in his hands. It had been over a week since the ball at Wyndemere and PCPD were no closer on solving the Ric Lansing case.

There were dozens of motives, but no suspects.

Every single person who had a reason to attempt murder on Ric was accounted for. Everyone from Claudia Zacchara to Jason Morgan had been checked, rechecked and crossed off. There simply was no right answer. Sighing, Lucky stood up and paced the room. There had to be another side, someone else who wanted Ric dead. But Lucky was just not seeing it.

It had been a while since there were any high level mob-related cases in Port Charles. Jason Morgan was evidently lying low for the moment. And Sonny…well, Sonny was six feet underground.

Lucky sighed and stared at the papers spread out on the desk. He'd had it pretty easy since his instatement as commissioner of the police department. By then, Sonny was gone and had pretty much taken the mob with him.

But Lucky wasn't about to pull the wool completely over his eyes. He knew that Jason was still somewhat involved with the mob and that there was always a chance that things could change.

Lucky didn't think that Ric being shot had anything to do with the mob. There was no evidence of that. All mobsters had been accounted for on the evening of the ball.

That being said, no one shot Ric Lansing for no reason. The police were missing something. That, Lucky was sure of. And it was his job as commissioner to figure out what that something was.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

The winter sun spread neatly out over the bay in Port Charles, NY. The waters were quiet today, as it had been for eleven years. Sonny Corinthos had been taken down by a single shot and had taken the majority of the mob out with him.

Sonny may have died, but Ric Lansing hadn't. And that was the biggest thorn in the side of one very important player.

This player stood in the shadows of the apartment, looking out over the water and imagining the joyous moment when Ric was snubbed out for good. But for now, he had to plan his next move.

A cell phone rang out in the silent room and the man snapped it up, answering harshly. "Tell me why you waited to call me until now—six days later."

He frowned as his guard sputtered as excuse. "No! Stop. I don't want your petty excuses. All I want to know is why you wasted a bullet by shooting Lansing in the stomach!"

"Sir, I was distracted. I—"

"Obviously you were distracted, but it was an open shot! There is no excuse. You are excused from this position. I need the best and obviously you are not." He shut the phone with a crack before another word was said. With a disgusted growl, the player paced the room, grumbling about lack of good help.

"You are too hard on him, Mikhail."

The man turned around and was about to snarl again when he saw whom the voice belonged to. "Anya, I did not hear you enter." He sighed and shoved the phone into a drawer.

"You sounded very angry," the young woman replied, walking further into the room. She wore exercise clothes and carried a half-empty bottle of water. Pushing her hair out of her face, she smiled up at her brother.

"Did you go out running?"

"Yes, it was so refreshing. I—"

"What have I told you about going out alone? You must not do that, Anneke. It is not safe," Mikhail scolded.

"I'm fine, Mikhail. Port Charles is very safe. Much safer than home," Anya answered. She laughed to herself over the fact that no matter if they were twins and that she was the youngest by only eight minutes, her brother still felt that he had to be protective of her.

"It is safe on the surface, but the mob is still in the underworld. And we are too connected to the mob to take that risk. Think of Grandfather," Mikhail said, coming to take his sister's hand. "I love you Anya and I would die myself if anything happened to you. So I worry."

She smiled and patted his cheek. "Well, you mustn't worry so. I am very capable of taking care of myself. And on that note, I have to get ready for work. My shift begins very soon." She kissed his cheek and turned toward her bedroom. "And I do not need an escort to get to General Hospital."

He shook his head and reached for his phone. No matter what Anya thought, she was still his baby sister and he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Shaking his head, he dialed a number to request a car to follow her to the hospital.

No matter how long it took to rid Port Charles of Ric Lansing, nothing would happen to Anya. That, he was certain of.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

Hours after her shift had begun Mattie exited a patient's room and made her way back to the nurses' station. She had been checking on new mothers and examining two mothers-to-be. Now she could only hope that those two mothers didn't decide to deliver at the same time. If that was the case, she'd have to call Kelly Lee. Who, Mattie knew, was in the middle of a caesarian section at the moment.

Handing her charts to Elizabeth, she turned as her uncle Dr. Matt Hunter came out of the elevator. "Hi Uncle Matt!"

"Hey," he too handed his charts to Elizabeth. "Your dad said that you're getting married. I didn't get a chance to congratulate you."

"Thanks. Yeah, after all these years, Morgan and I are finally getting married."

"That's exciting. When's the big day," Matt asked.

Mattie grinned. "Well, we are planning on January 5. Maxie's going in seven different directions trying to plan it. But she'd having the time of her life, so I can't complain. At least I know that I'll have a really great day."

"And so you will. Your dad's really happy," Matt replied, looking up as a nurse hurried toward them.

"Dr. Hunter, Ric Lansing is awake. Elizabeth said to tell you right away. He's lucid—"

Matt didn't even wait for the woman to finish her sentence before he raced down the hall. Mattie was close to his heels. Even as they rounded the corner near Ric's room, they could hear him calling out.

"What the hell happened to me? How did I get here?"

Matt entered room, following closely behind by Mattie. "Mr. Lansing, I'm Dr. Hunter. I see that you are feeling better." He moved to stand at the end of the bed and opened his chart.

"What happened to me?" Ric demanded.

Mattie stepped up beside her uncle. "Perhaps I can explain that Mr. Lansing." She smiled at the patient and glanced at Matt, who nodded.

"I'm Dr. Mattie Drake. You were shot at the charity ball at Wyndemere, Mr. Lansing. It was a single shot that entered your right side and went through the outer wall of the right lung. It then lodged itself in your trachea. At the scene, I performed a field tracheotomy because you were essentially suffocating. Once you arrived at the hospital, you went into surgery and Dr. Hunter patched the hole and extracted the bullet," she finished breathlessly like a marathon runner at the end of a race.

Matt nodded at her and turned back to Ric. "Okay Mr. Lansing, do you have any questions?"

Ric nodded curtly. "Yes, am I going to recover?"

Matt smiled. "Oh yes, I do good work. You are as good as new. Although I will have to make you stay in the hospital for observation for a few more days."

"Thank you Doctor. My second question is: do the police have a suspect?" Ric looked critically at the shapeless hospital gown.

"I don't have an answer to that. But I'm sure that the police will want to talk to you. I can let them know that you are on the mend," Matt answered. He nodded to the nurse to finish taking Ric's vital.

"Thank you Dr. Hunter—and Dr. Drake," Ric replied as both Mattie and Matt exited the room. Together they walked back down the hallway, satisfied that Lansing was on the mend.

In the shadows outside Ric Lansing's hospital room, a young nurse fingered her cell phone. Punching a familiar number, she waited until a voice answered on the other end.

"Mik? You said that you wanted to know about Lansing? Well, he's awake. Yes, only a few minutes ago. His attending physician gave him a clean bill of health but said that he will have to stay in the hospital for a few more days. I have to go. See you later."

She slipped the phone back into the pocket of her pink scrubs. Moving quickly down the hall, she pasted a smile on her face as she entered the nursery. She wasn't quite sure why her brother was so interested in Ric Lansing. As far as she could tell, he was just another lawyer who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There were some things that one was just better off not questioning.

GH*GH*GH*GH*GH

So here's another update! I think that this is my fastest update so far. I am now going in a different direction so that my story retains its interest. I think that you all will like this new storyline. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Georgie story. It's coming! Keep reading and Keep reviewing! Enjoy!