US Senator, Hiram Edgar Quartermaine boarded his plane at Dulles International Airport with a sense of dread. It was far from the first time that he had taken advantage of a short Friday session and no Monday session to take a three-day weekend and see his extended family in Port Charles. But he held almost as much trepidation as he had when he had boarded a plane the third Friday of January 1988, the first time he had returned to Port Charles since his father's death in Port Charles right before Christmas. Then his son had met him, together they had gone to the Quartermaine Mausoleum in Memorial Cemetery and then spent much of the weekend at the Lodge in Kemp Falls. This time he would also spend the weekend with Hugh Lars as he prayed that they would not leave another family member in the Quartermaine Mausoleum.

He had just made his way to his seat in first class and was hoisting his roller bag into the overhead bin when he heard a grating but familiar voice.

"Senator Quartermaine, what a surprise," Pat Kensington said.

Hiram forced a smile, contemplated why her hair seemed to get blonder every time he saw her, and reminded himself that suggesting it was anything, but a pleasant surprise would not be appropriate. "Hello, Mrs. Kensington," he said.

"Are you also on your way to Port Charles?" Pat asked with at least manufactured shock and awe.

"My extended family lives there. I often go visit them when I have a three-day weekend and not enough time to go all the way back to Utah. Have a good flight," he said. He was certain she was well aware that his extended family lived in Port Charles. Her husband was a sitting senator from New York, and her stepdaughter had married into the Quartermaine family.

"Well good for you. I always say you have to take care of yourself, or you can't take care of anyone else, but you know Jack is too dedicated for his own good. He won't be leaving Washington until they get a budget passed," Pat said.

Hiram was all about passing a budget and avoiding the looming government shutdown. However, since there weren't any sessions until Tuesday morning, Senator Kensington didn't need to stay in the capital. Or at least he didn't need to stay to pass the budget so that raised the question of whether he had already tired of wife number three. He probably didn't need to mention any of that to Pat either he supposed.

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Elizabeth Webber sighed but failed to release most of her frustration when she exited the classroom after the nutrition unit exam in her seventh period Health Class. Maybe, if she was lucky, she had gotten half of the questions right. She had definitely not known at least half of the questions.

"No, A,D, E, and K are the fat soluble vitamins," Emily Quartermaine's voice floated down the hall from where she stood surrounded by several football players and some girl Liz thought was named Deenie. She had slept over with Sarah once a few weekends ago.

Liz grimaced. So that is one more that I got wrong, she thought as she shook her head.

"Ok, well what about one with the cholesterol?" the girl Liz thought was Deenie asked.

"That two part one? That was so unfair because I probably got both wrong!" one of the football players complained.

Normally Liz considered the guy an oversized whiner, but she had to agree with him. That was a cheap question.

"Ok, so the first part was asking which was the best strategy for heart health and that would be trying to lower low density lipoprotein or LDL the theoretically bad cholesterol. Then the second part was dietary changes, and you want to reduce fat intake with an emphasis on reducing saturated fats," Emily said.

"Darn, I got both of those wrong. How are we supposed to know that. We don't all have parents who are doctors," Deena said.

"Hey! My dad only does eyes. He would probably fail this test himself!" a different football player protested.

Liz realized that although she had gotten the first part wrong, her total guess on the second part of the question had been right. Maybe she would get fifty percent correct. She was contemplating that when she heard Emily call her name.

Liz forced a smile. "Oh, hi, Em," she said.

"How was the test?" Emily asked.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. "It was, what it was I guess," she said.

Deena laughed. "Good one, wait, aren't you Sarah's sister?"

"Guilty," Liz said.

"I'm sorry I have no manners sometimes. Liz this is Deenie Danforth, Chet Driscoll, Chad Rindell, and Art Emmonds. Guys, this is my friend Liz Webber," Emily said.

Emily's words were interrupted by the bell signaling that seventh period was officially over.

"Well, it's been real, I have to get to cheering practice," Deena said. She turned and gave a parting kiss to Art Emmonds the guy who had been whining about the unfair questions.

"Yeah, we have to get all the way over to Murdoch Hall for Latin so gotta jet," Chad said.

"You're going to a class over there too, right Liz? Do you want to walk with us?" Emily asked.

"Do people really still take Latin?" Liz asked.

"My father thinks it is useful for foundation in the sciences," Chad said as they walked.

"So, are you going to be a doctor like your dad?" Liz asked.

Chad shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Right now, I'm just trying to get into college. If I do medicine, I'm definitely not devoting the rest of my life to the eye."

"Oh, wait that was the match for Vitamin A, right?" Liz asked.

Emily laughed. "On the association matching? Yes, Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness but eating carrots isn't like a magical cure for farsightedness," she said.

"Really, because I've never seen a rabbit with glasses," Liz quipped.

Emily and Chad both laughed.

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Dr. Alan Quartermaine emerged from OR 7 and made his way down the corridor towards the door that exited the Main OR Suite System and would take him to the surgical family waiting room. When he entered the waiting area, he scanned the room for the family of Dan Kennicott. It took him a moment to locate his sister, Katie Kennicott an aesthetician at Rejuvenate!; the spa in the Port Charles Hotel. In that moment he saw a different familiar face and his heart sunk.

"Is he going to be, ok?" Katie Kennicott asked desperately.

"It was truly a Grade IV laceration, so I was able to preserve and repair about 75% of the spleen. There is still a risk of immune dysfunction, but it is much less than if I had done a true splenectomy. Also, with this degree of residual spleen, endocrine issues and, or pulmonary hypertension are very rare. They're getting him settled in the Surgical ICU now but then you can see him. What other questions do you have?" Alan asked.

"So, he is really going to be, ok?" Katie asked with obvious apprehension in her voice.

"Recovery will be a process and there is still concern for infection, but I think he will do very well," Alan said.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Katie gushed. She paused and took a breath. "I'm sorry, it's just our sister died when I was still a little kid and Dan is really all I have left," she said.

Alan smiled. "You don't need to apologize, I have siblings of my own, I understand. Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

"No, you've already done the most important thing. The surgical ICU is on the 4th floor, right?" Katie asked.

"Yes, their waiting room is almost literally two floors above this," Alan said.

After Ms. Kennicott had departed, Alan made his way over and sat down beside his nephew. "What can I do to help you?" he asked.

Ned raised his head from his hands. He really looked exhausted and defeated. "At this point, I don't even know. Dr. Meadows thinks Carly had a placental abruption she is doing a cesarean section right now.

Alan had known that seeing Ned waiting outside the main OR hadn't been a good sign; but if Carly was truly abrupting in the context of HELLP then he wasn't sure if things could be worse. Unless all of that sent her into DIC. That would be worse!

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Stefan Cassadine made his way down the connector from the North Wing of PCGH to the Administrative Pavilion and reflected on his earlier conversation with Dr. David Hayward. Although he had agreed to pursue privileges at Mercy Hospital, he had also booked a flight to Atlantic City. That left Stefan to wonder exactly how much the demented doctor knew about his father's life, or his death.