Switching Places
Chapter 89
Jason was struggling with his tie when Elizabeth walked in carrying Lia. "Wow that is some dress." He said as he observed the blood red full-length dress she was wearing.
"Skye and Emily picked it out." She said. "The bride is ready, can you take Lia. Don't worry about the tie." She said removing it from his neck. Handing over their daughter, she looked around the vestry and saw all the guards. "Do you still think that Juan's death was connected to this?"
"I don't know but I am not taking any chances." He said grimly before entering the church carrying his daughter. Sitting behind the family, he waiting for the music to start.
Nik came out to stand in front of Father Coates while Michael stood so seriously next to him. Then Elizabeth came down the aisle carrying the bouquet of flowers, soon followed by Alan escorting Emily. The couple had wanted everything to be simple and it was.
Fifteen minutes later, the priest blessed the couple and then turned and announced Mr. and Mrs. Nicolas Cassidine. With the organ music swelling, Elizabeth handed her back her flowers and then straightening her dress, paired up with Michael to walk back down the aisle.
At the party, the mood was somber, most of the guests barely recalled Juan, but his death at the hands of Helena had shocked them all. Even worse was the fact that the water had been tainted at the bottling company, and not by Juan as Helena had thought.
Seeing Zander in the crowd, Elizabeth joined him in time to hear what had his attention. Maxie was fighting with her boyfriend about his recklessness. "I can remember when I was like that." He said softly.
"You outgrew it. How are you doing, aside from chasing Helena?"
"Good, I am in a good place. I actually am on my way to New York to visit Lydia's accountant, to deal with some bequests that I want to make." He said wincing when he saw Maxie slap Jesse and storm away.
Nik and Emily were dancing in the center of the ballroom, his hands on her belly bump as they giggled and cooed at one another. "Have we ever been that nauseating?" Skye asked her husband.
"Yes." Said Sage bluntly. "At least I was the only witness."
Diego and Dillon were arguing about visiting Lulu when Tracy entered the discussion. "You will not be visiting that girl. It is as simple as that."
"So, Hornsby, I guess I win the girl." Said Diego as he watched his father dancing with his wife out of the corner of his eye. He still had not forgiven him for letting him be dragged in front of that group. Those old men had no right telling him that he could not follow in his family's footsteps.
He just had to be subtler, he thought to himself. He was going to regain the respect his family deserved. Soon everyone was gathering around for the bouquet toss, which was caught by a shocked Maxie Jones. Then when Zander caught the garter belt, they were teased until they gave in and danced.
Carly was watching the whole thing, recalling how Jason and Elizabeth had been the ones at the previous wedding and how they hadn't danced. She could not help wondering what would have happened if they had. The pretender would have lost right there and then, she did know that. Sam would not have gotten her hooks in as deeply as she had, because one dance would have woken Jason up to his feelings for Elizabeth.
Jax asked Carly to dance, and seeing her shock wondered if he had been misreading the signals, maybe she really did want to be just friends. "Sure, but I have to dance with Michael first."
After Michael exited the floor from where he had been dancing with his grandmother, he saw his mom coming for him smiled and ran the other way. "That little shi-"
"I guess that means you are mine." Jax said while watching out of the corner of his eyes as Michael went to get some more cake. He was more like his mother than most people gave him credit for.
Johnny was watching as Georgie and Kitty were dancing with some old guy, he saw the man making her laugh. When they came back, he asked "Who is that?"
"Dr. Thornheart, Kitty likes his accent. He is leaving for his new job tomorrow." She said, as Kitty wanted to meet someone else, dragging Johnny and her over to the guest. "Hi!" She said with a bright smile.
"Hello, you must be Kitty Zachara."
"Yes, I am. Pleased to me you." She said. "What's your name?"
"I am Steven Webber." He said. "Elizabeth is my sister do you know her?"
"Yes, she is Lia's mommy." She said. "Do you have any kids?"
"No, I do have a grandmother though."
"I don't have one of those." She said thinking about it. "Johnny can we get a grandmother like we did sisters?"
Patrick Drake was enjoying himself, the party was full of single young women, he wished he had realized that weddings were such a great hunting ground. As he found himself in high demand on the dance floor as yet another gorgeous young woman needed a partner.
Seeing his patient and his wife dancing, he sighed. She was beautiful and they looked exactly like what he didn't want. Commitment. Looking around he saw that more than a few of the woman seemed to be paired, well there was the fiery blond he had meet earlier, Carly. She would do.
Walking over he asked her to dance only to be told she was done with that for the evening.
"Well, if you change your mind." He said.
"Join us, this is Jasper Jacks, and the woman across from me is Lainey Winters and her date Justus Ward. You have meet Steven. This is Alexis Davis and her husband the police commissioner, Mac Scorpio.
"Any relation with Robin?" He asked curious.
"She is my niece, she mentioned coming to help you with a case." He said to the young man that had her so riled up.
"Yes, I just need her in the operating room since she is aware of the drugs. Steven Webber is actually administering them, but protocol requires that two doctors agree on the dosage."
Carly had been aware of that, but still breathed a sigh of relief, she had thought that Elizabeth was insane to let Robin in there, but it looked like she was more than capable of dealing with Miss Robin.
Seeing Kitty dancing with Michael, Johnny told Georgie that he had to get her home. Leaning in to kiss her he made her promise to stay until she was ready. "We will be waiting at home for you."
"I could just come now." She said.
"No, this is your family." He said not wanting to admit it was being close to his family and not claiming him was making his stomach churn. He knew that he had to sit Georgie down and tell her the truth about Alexis and him.
Mac and Alexis slipped up to the parapet so they could watch as some of the guests started to leave. "I have a surprise."
"Really." She said with a smile.
"I have to go to New York for a couple days, I was thinking we could go as a family. Kristina and us. Georgie has classes and same with Maxie."
As the party started to break up, Nik and Emily took the boat to the pier along with Jason and Elizabeth who handed them the key to the cabin. "Thanks, we will be back in two days." The bride said to her brother.
"I have men keeping an eye on it, far enough for you to have privacy but close enough to see a flare if you get in trouble."
"Thanks, Jase. I love you." Emily said as tears started to flow. "Elizabeth, take care of him. We will be back the morning of his surgery."
"Have some fun, okay?" She asked. Seeing the hormones flaring, she hugged them and then watched as they drove off in one of the SUV's.
The next morning Carly turned on the television and hit her head on the table. Picking up the phone she called Elizabeth and said "turn on the TV. Now!"
"FOLKS, I CAN NOW CONFIRM THAT AMTRAK UNLIMITED OUT OF MONTREAL WAS ATTACKED BY TERRORISTS. HOMELAND SECURITY HAS NOW CONFIRMED THAT TWO MEN ENTERED THE ENGINE ROOM AND PLACED EXPLOSIVES ON BOARD before releasing a message to the press that we have been asked not to release at this time.
WE ARE WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION OF HOW MANY ARE INJURED IN THE CRASH OF THE AMTRAK COMMUTER HEADING TO NEW YORK CITY. ALL THAT WE DO KNOW AT THIS POINT IS THAT TWENTY SEVEN PEOPLE GOT ON THE TRAIN THIS MORNING AT THE DEPOT HERE IN PORT CHARLES.
STAY TUNES AS WE UPDATE THIS LATE BREAKING STORY. THIS IS ANDREA PLASTIN WITH ABC NEWS."
"Elizabeth, are you still there?"
"Yes, I am trying to reach Jason on my cell phone. He was supposed to, Carly I have a beep." She said before hanging up.
"Elizabeth, this is Alan, I need you to meet me out front. Skye and Sage are coming up to watch Lia. We need you to do triage. There was a tra-"
"I saw." She said as she hung up and rushed to change into some scrubs. Hearing Skye entering the penthouse and calling out to her as she rushed down the stairs while pulling her hair back. "Thanks."
"Here, dad sent this jacket for you."
As she rushed down the stairs followed by Milo, Elizabeth saw Monica and Epiphany waiting for her as Alan told the guard the coordinates. "There isn't room in the helicopter for you, Milo. Keep trying to reach Jason and let him know that I had to go."
When they arrived at the site by copter ten minutes later, Alan handed Elizabeth a clipboard and told her to get things going while they started to see what the medics had. Elizabeth's guards showed up twenty minutes later. The first of the victims started to exit the tunnels along with commuters. "We have a pregnant woman here!"
Monica and Elizabeth rushed over when they saw Alexis being helped by a man. "Alexis, what happened?"
"I couldn't find Mac and Kristina; I need to find my family." She cried.
"Alexis, I will have the guards look for Mac." Elizabeth promised as Monica got her onto a gurney and ordered the first ambulance to take her to GH.
"We have a body." Said the next group, Elizabeth was shocked to find out it was Dr. Thornheart, the handsome young surgeon had been one of her favorites to work with and now he was gone.
"We need medical help in the tunnels." Called out one of the first responders. "I have a man trapped inside with a kid."
Elizabeth looked at Milo and Greg and said "They are with me, we are coming in. Grab one of the kits."
AS they rushed insides, she could not believe the smoke and smell of diesel while Milo wished that Jason or Francis had arrived already. Elizabeth saw the man wasn't Mac when she helped tape up his arm and then tossed the used gloves off to the side in a plastic bag.
"He is stabilized." She announced as they came with a backboard and loaded him to be carried out. One of the medics was carrying the crying little boy as Elizabeth and the guards worked their way further into the tunnel.
"Zander?" Elizabeth called out as she rushed over to her friend while pulling on gloves; he was helping a woman through the fire. "Robin, are you okay?"
"Don't touch me. I am bleeding." She shouted at Elizabeth who had reached out to the woman.
Realizing she couldn't see the gloves, Elizabeth said "I am wearing gloves. Let me look you over. Milo shine the light over this way."
"Robin this looks deep." She said as she bandaged up the cut on her thigh. "Zander can you carry her out if you have help?"
"Hey, keep talking." Said someone in the tunnel. Two women came over and said "thank god, we were beginning to think we were the only ones left."
"This is Zander Smith; Zander take Robin and get these women out of here. The opening is five hundred feet in that direction. Be careful there is a side tunnel." Said Elizabeth as Milo handed them bottles of water.
"I am not leaving you in here." He said. "I have very few friends and can't afford to lose any of them."
"Just help them. I am fine. We have locators and water, now go." She said as she walked further into the tunnel wishing she were as confident as she sounded. Seeing the two engines all mangled together, she shuddered at the mess.
Jason arrived at the crash site and used his parents to get in. "What can I do and where is Elizabeth?"
Monica looked at Alan and said "She is in the tunnel. She went in before we could stop her. They are helping to get out the injured. Robin came out a few minutes ago with Zander Smith and a couple of women. They estimate that about fifteen people are still missing. Among them are Mac and Kristina."
"Morgan, I need you help." Turning Jason saw Garcia talking to the feds. "You have heavy equipment carriers right?"
"Yes, for the cranes."
"We need them; we have Jacks Construction holding up parts of the school, yours are the only ones available."
"Talk to Francis Corelli, he is the blond talking to my mother, he will have them out here as soon as possible. Have you seen Elizabeth?"
"Not since she helped treat one of my officers." Said Garcia. "Jesse rushed inside a few minutes ago. She is tagged with a locator beacon so we know where she is."
"Thanks." He said before heading over in time to see Jax talking to the FBI, offering his helicopter to them.
"We have enough but we need to clear the area. If you have any influence with the press, see if you can get them to back up-" he stopped talking as they all turned at the sound of rumbling as the entrance finally gave in.
"ELIZABETH!" Jason shouted as he started to rush over. Garcia told him to wait. "We can find her with the beacon, think man. Find that cool you are so famous for. Get control and I will let you come in with us."
"You can't ma-" started the FBI agent.
"Yes, I can. My boss and two of our officers are in there along with PORT CHARLES rescue staff. Don't tell me what I can and cannot do." He said. "Cruz, get over here and show me where they are on this map."
Taking the map, he said "they are right here, near the engines. That isn't good. We have diesel down there."
"Get me that equipment we are going to have to dig them out."
"You can't." They all turned to Luke who looked filthy but whole.
"Why not?"
"We were in the second train; the walls are unstable at best. You start using a lot of loud equipment and the tremors will bring that whole tunnel down."
"Luke, Elizabeth is in there." Said Jason urgently.
"I know she helped them strap Lulu to the board so they could bring her out. She stayed behind with Mac. Kristina is in bad shape. She had a compound fracture and sent me to tell Monica that her heart beat is erratic. I promised to come back with help." He said bleakly. "I won't let her stay there, Jason. Not Lizzie."
"We have to find a way in." said the FBI agent. "The equipment will be here soon. If there isn't another option we have to go in."
"Jason, can you look at something?" Said Zander. "Jax we might need you too."
Luke and Garcia followed them, knowing that the remaining people had one chance and it wasn't the heavy equipment heading their way.
"What is it?"
"When we were inside, Elizabeth warned us about following the tracks, there is a second tunnel, and maybe we can use it to get to them."
"Where was it? And how do we get to it."
"We use the airshaft. There has to be one. Where was this tunnel headed Smith?"
"Towards the river." He said.
"Jax, can you commandeer a helicopter?" Asked Jason.
"Sure. Find that entrance. I do not want to be the one to tell Alexis that her family and one of her closest friends died because I didn't do my best."
Garcia told them to where to find equipment. "You might need the oxygen."
"Luke, I need you to stay out here and be a distraction." Said Jason. "Jacks, Zander and I will go in."
"I am going too." Said a voice behind them. Turning they saw AJ and Johnny saying me too.
"Fine. Johnny, have you ever done any climbing?"
"A little, but mainly escaping my father. O'Brien called, the equipment is on the way, and we have about thirty minutes."
"Got it." Said Zander as he showed them the shaft uses the binoculars. "There is a spot about fifteen feet away to land the helicopter."
"Got it." Said Jax. As they slowly moved to the helicopter, Luke saw the perfect target as Lorenzo and Diego arrived. "Follow my lead." He said to the South American.
"You bastard, you stole blaze from me, now you show up here, how dare you?"
Not sure what Spencer was up to but joining in, he said "you just hate that she loves me instead of your drunk decrepit old body. Sober up Spencer."
"I will win her back, I swear I will not let you steal that wondrous beauty."
"Stay away from my wife old man. Why don't you find one of your own instead of stealing other men's wives? I hear her Aunt is available, besides Tracy is more your style anyhow. Hard up."
Alan had been watching as his sons and Jax took off and figured out that Lorenzo and Luke were a distraction but did they have to drag Tracy into it. Skye would be amused, but Tracy would hit the roof.
By the time they had separated the two men, the helicopter had already started to land on the flat terrain above them. "What is the helicopter doing?"
Elizabeth was doing the best she could for Kristina with immobilizing her leg, but they needed to get her out of here. Looking at Milo as he tried to find them a way out, she said "What about the tunnel, do you think it leads to a way out."
"It's an airshaft tunnel; we would have to find away up to the grate." He told her. Looking at Mac who was unconscious, he asked is there anything I can do for him?
"No, we need to keep his wound covered, but it's minor, there is nothing else to do for him, he has a head injury, that's why he is out."
""How is she doing?" He asked when he came back five minutes later.
"I have an idea, but I need your help."
Seeing her holding a needle, he just about passed out to her annoyance. "Milo, how is it even possible for you to be scared of blood?"
"I just am what about Greg?"
"He has cuts on his hand and I am out of gloves." She said. "We can't wait on this."
"How do you even know it will help? What if she doesn't have the same blood type?" He asked weakly as she swabbed her arm with the alcohol swab.
"ELIZABETH, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, CALL OUT." Said Jason. Seeing the lights flashing their way, the rescue team rushed the last hundred feet. Pulling his wife into his arms, Jason said "I am going to kill you when we get out of here, don't ever worry me like this again."
Giving him a tired smile, she said. "I wasn't expecting the tunnel to collapse."
"We have to get out of here, they are going to bring in heavy equipment but this might fall in more."
"I have to stabilize Kristina first; she has lost a lot of blood and Mac-" turning she saw Zander and AJ were getting him on his feet. "Do you have any idea Kristina's blood type Mac?"
"AB+." He said as he knelt next to his little girl.
"Crap, I am AB-" she said.
"I am AB+" said Johnny. Looking at him, Elizabeth realized she had forgotten he was also Kristina's sibling.
"We need to do a quick transfusion. I have the equipment. I hate to ask, but when was the last time you had your blood checked."
"Last month, I had a physical." He said. Rolling up his sleeve he looked at Jax and asked "How long?"
"Fifteen minutes, Elizabeth we are going to have to move in fifteen minutes."
"It should be just enough time. Milo give him that orange juice you found. Johnny drinks it all and see if you can find some more juice and some fruit in the train."
Cruz waited a few minutes for the dust to settle from the after affects of the helicopter flying to rescue the trapped commuters. "Sir, I think it was a gunshot that caused that tunnel to collapse."
"Are you sure?" Asked the FBI agent.
"Yes, when I was a kid, in Rochester, we used to fire guns in the tunnels by the river. The sound was similar. This was more of a rat-tat-tat but it had the same echo."
"Automatic weapons let me guess you were firing a revolver?"
"Yes."
"Get on the phone and let someone know that that terrorists are still inside the tunnel and were alive. Unless Morgan's people fired, my guess would be the men who did this."
"Morgan's people were further in the tunnel." Said Garcia. "They're his wife's guards."
"Was she on the train?" Asked one of the agents.
"No, she is s first responder. Elizabeth Morgan works at GH. She came in one the helicopter."
Johnny was drinking the juice when they saw a shadow coming their way. "Is someone there?"
"Jesse." Mac called out then held his head as his voice echoed inside.
"Boss." He said coming into view while weaving. Seeing the blood, AJ and Jason caught him.
"What happened?"
"Two men, I thought they needed help. They shot at me, I returned fire. They had AK-47's. I got 'em. They are in the tunnel. I got them." He said before passing out. Elizabeth held her hand to his neck and shook her head.
"He got here on pure adrenaline." She said sadly. "Mac, he is dead."
The group was somber as they left the tunnel, Mac walking slowly but on his own as Zander helped carry Jesse out along with AJ. Greg and Milo were still carrying the water, just in case.
Jason was carrying Kristina and Elizabeth who was worried about the cut she had to make so that she could draw his blood was guiding Johnny. When they arrived at the airshaft, Jax climbed out with Jason following as they climbed up the knots.
"Okay, this is what we are going to do. Elizabeth, we have to strap Kristina to you, you are the only one small enough to get through the hole with her." Explained AJ as he did what he said.
"What now?"
"Jax is going to raise the helicopter slowly with the rope tied to it, Jason is guiding the rope."
Two minutes later, Elizabeth saw the sun setting as they came out of the square shaft. Jason quickly took the ropes off and tossed them back down as he took her to a protected spot from the winds of the rotors.
Next came Mac who called GH to tell them they were on their way with Jason's phone. Then AJ tied Jesse's body to the rope, wishing they had a cloth to cover him. This indignity of being lifted this way seemed wrong to him. After Milo, Greg, Zander and he were out of the shaft, they loaded Mac, Elizabeth and Kristina and Jesse.
"Straight to GH man." Said Zander as the five remaining men started to walk down the mountain carefully.
Jax gave the helicopter as much speed as he could after handing Elizabeth a mic so that she could talk to GH.
As they were landing a crew was waiting to take Kristina into surgery. "Elizabeth!" Yelled Steven.
Hugging his sister before leading her down the stairs, he told her "Monica is taking Kristina, Tony has Mac.
Let's get you cleaned up."
"Thanks Steven. How is everyone?" She asked as Audrey joined them in the staircase. Hugging Elizabeth, she was looking her over when she was paged down to the ER.
"Lulu Spencer is going to be airlifted to her clinic tomorrow, but she is fine. Alexis Davis is being monitored for her blood pressure and Dr. Meadow's new assistant sedated her. Robin had to have eight interior stitches and fourteen exterior."
"How many dead?"
Steven took Audrey's notes and said "Grams coordinated with the other hospitals. Nineteen, including the guy they just took down. Mercy has seven critical and County nine."
"What a day." She said. "I will be with Alexis, can you call Carly and have her come here."
"She is with Alexis; I will have her meet you in the locker room. We should look at that arm."
"When I am done showering. That is what I need Carly for."
Carly rushed into the locker room minutes later. "Emily and Nik just arrived. They are with Alexis. You need my help?"
"My arm, I think I hurt it earlier. I was going to wait for Jason, but they stole a helicopter so my guess is the FBI questions them."
"Okay, how are we going to do this?" She asked awkwardly.
"Carly, haven't you ever showered with a guy before? Same thing just without the sexual overtones." She said with a laugh.
"Don't laugh, but I never have." Carly said.
Looking twice at her, Elizabeth could not believe as tired, as she was that that astonished her. "Really?"
"No, wait, you have?"
"With Jason frequently." Said Elizabeth.
"Great, one more thing I didn't want to know about your relationship." She said growling. "Let's go muffin."
"Carly I am almost sure that if you are getting in the shower with me, you shouldn't be calling me muffin." Elizabeth said ironically.
Jason thanked Diane and rushed to GH. Entering Alexis' room he saw Elizabeth had her arm in a swing. "What happened?"
"I stressed it. Steven wants me to wear it for a week or so."
"How is Kristina?"
"They should be finishing." Said an entering Alan. "Alexis, she is heading to recovery. Mac do you want to go in with her."
"Sure, Alexis, sleep, please. I will be with Kristina."
"Elizabeth, I need to talk to you." Said an entering Alan. "You need to write up a report, but with your arm in that sling, I am going to have Audrey write it for you. She is waiting in her office for you. We need your notes while it is still fresh."
Jason escorted her down along with Johnny O'Brien who had joined them at the hospital. "They won't be able to get in anytime soon. The diesel exploded when something sparked inside the engine of one of the trains.
"We are heading home; you need to do the same." He said. "Remember, until I am back I want Francis and you making all the decisions. Keep it quiet and make sure that the men don't know. Elizabeth will keep me away and will be the contact for any emergencies.
"Zachara is going to be helping, but only with the coffee warehouse. I told the men you want him to learn that part of the business."
Maxie did what she had to do, slipping down to the morgue, she looked through the bodies on the gurneys until she found the right one. "Why did you do it?"
"Because he had to." Said Zander behind her. He had seen her and knew exactly where she would go.
"He was so eager to run into danger." She said. "We fought yesterday; I told him that unless he explained why he was such a danger jockey we had to break up, that I didn't want him to die. He said he wouldn't that he had plans for the future. What future, he doesn't have one anymore."
Robin was lying in a hospital bed, listening to the head nurse explain about her family. "So Alexis has been admitted. Kristina's leg is in a cast and Maxie's boyfriend died. Can you find Georgie for me?"
"She is with Johnny so it will be a few minutes." Said the woman, "Is there anyone in Paris you need me to contact?"
"No, I will do that when I am better. Thanks. Could you please ask either Dr. Webber or Dr. Drake to come and see me?"
"Webber is in surgery, Drake isn't here."
Georgie didn't want to visit with Robin, but holding onto Kitty walked down to see her. "Hey, how are you?"
"I have been better. How is Maxie?"
"She is devastated. Zander Smith took her home after Monica gave her a sleeping pill. Dad is with Kristina who is still asleep."
"Who is your friend?" She asked as the little girl stared at her.
"This is Miss Catherine Rose Zachara, aka Kitty."
"Hello Kitty. Why is she with you?"
"Georgie is my sister, along with Maxie and Kristina; she got hurt to day. She has a booboo."
"I heard." She said as the little girl smiled at her.
"Kitty and I are heading home in a few minutes."
"Do you think you could drive me as well, or do you have that sports car?"
"I am staying at the Brownstone, let me ask Bobbie if you can crash there tonight."
After talking to Bobbie, she said "Let's head out. I just have to make sure that Johnny is okay. They are keeping him because of the fumes entering the cut Elizabeth made when she drew blood to save Kristina."
TBC
I won't be posting until Sunday, as I am going on a trip with my family. Mandy