Keesha Ward stood on the curb on Charles Street while her boyfriend opened his car door for her. As she settled into AJ's BMW, she yawned and then quickly covered her mouth with an open hand.
"Tired?" AJ asked as he got in the car and then pulled his own door closed.
"Just a little, the five-year MSW at PCU is definitely not a joke. I was up late finishing up that problem set for my research methods class and then I never got a chance to nap," Keesha said.
"Not to mention that you're insistent on completing all the requirements for your teaching credential as well. Do you want to just do this another night?" AJ asked.
"No! Your cousin so rarely performs anymore and this benefits the Charles Street Foundation so, indirectly, Ward House and. Anyway, Aunt Harriet is back from testifying in front of congress so I can sleep in tomorrow."
AJ smiled. "Ok, onto The Outback it is," he said.
XXXXXXXX
Carly Ashton fiddled with the straw in her sprite as she watched her husband finish his sound check. She had kind of forgotten she married a rock star. Although to be fair it seemed Ned himself had forgotten that most days.
October 10, 1997
Carly Ashton internally debated if she looked like a beached whale in bikini and then debated if a bikini was even appropriate for swimming in the Quartermaine pool. The invitation from Lila had caught her by surprise but she had been sick of hanging out in the Quartermaine Penthouse in the Port Charles Hotel and she liked Lila. With that thought Carly reached for the coverup she had draped over the chair and exited the pool house.
When she reached the side patio by the pool, she saw Lila's empty chair parked pool side and her attendant Reginald was sitting on the edge of one of the poolside chaise lounges. She hadn't actually expected that Lila herself swam but she supposed there wasn't a reason she couldn't. She might be mobility impaired on land but it wasn't like she was paralyzed. "How is the water?" she asked.
"It's nice, dear. Alan had a solar heater installed last spring so it looks like we might be able to extend the pool season to nine or ten months which is quite unheard of in upstate New York," Lila said.
That was impressive since Carly knew parts of Florida where people didn't count on a nine or ten month pool season. A bit hesitantly she stepped out of her slide on sandals on to the slate tile around the pool. "Definitely," she agreed as she started down the stone steps into the water.
"It was kind of you to join me this afternoon, dear, I know you probably could have had much more exciting plans," Lila said
Carly almost laughed at the absurdity of that idea. Exciting plans usually required you to have friends, which she really didn't. Well, except for maybe Simone but she was in Manhattan. Then there was Jason but Carly wasn't sure how to really characterize that. There was a time when she had wanted so much more than friendship from Jason. She had never gotten that but she knew in her heart she had also never really let go of that need. More recently she had started to accept that she once the baby was born, she would have to find a way to let go of that need. It was only fair to her child. It was only fair to Ned.
"I think you sell yourself short, Mrs. Quartermaine, I always enjoy our time together. You were one of the first people who accepted me for me here in Port Charles."
"Was my nephew Jason the first?" Lila asked.
Carly felt her cheeks flush. "Yes," she admitted. "But don't get me wrong, I am very happy to be married to Ned now."
"You don't owe me an explanation, dear. After all, I think people come into our lives at different times for different reasons. Sometimes the greater plan is not for us to understand in the moment," Lila said.
Carly thought about that. For so long she hadn't trusted that there could be a greater plan. But perhaps that was the point. "I'll keep that in mind. Are you attending Ned's performance at the Outback tonight?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, I will need to miss it. Two nights out in row is a bit much at my age. Between you and me, I would have preferred to skip the reception last night but Edward enjoys those kind of things," Lila said.
"Did you know Dominique Baldwin well?" Carly asked.
"She was Monica's sister in law. She was a very compassionately kind young woman with outstanding business acumen and spunk to boot. It was a winning combination and her death was a loss," Lila said.
Carly smiled. In her view Lila seemed to embody the triad as well and she realized that it was something worthy to aspire to. She had never imagined having that perspective a year ago. Heck she hadn't imagined having that perspective a few months ago but she was starting to accept that a path paved with bitterness and revenge was a dead end. Or maybe she was, she still had her moments of fury.
Ironically, their conversation had ended because Jason had shown up to say goodbye to his great aunt Lila before he went out of town indefinitely. Carly could read between the lines enough to know that Jason wasn't going on vacation. Perhaps Lila sensed that, and the urgency it invoked for Carly because she requested Reginald accompany her back into the house so she could prepare for afternoon tea.
When Carly reflected on her own goodbye with Jason, she realized that it was an example of how the heart defied logic. Moments before Jason had shown up, she had accepted she needed to let him go, but once he was right there in front of her she was struggling to fight the intense desperation to be in his arms, and later on the back of his motorcycle, riding off into the sunset. But sunset was hours away and she felt her baby, their baby, move inside her. So, she placed Jason's hand on her belly and let him feel his son. Then she stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
Jason had wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close, and whispered, "You know I will always do everything I can, for both of you,".
Carly could see that; even if Jason believed the best thing he could do, for his child was to just get out of the way.
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Dr. Alan Quartermaine pressed two fingers against the dorsalis pedis and then the posterior tibial artery and then removed his hand. "Everything looks good with your repair Ms. Starnes. We'll keep a close eye on you because you are still at risk for some complications but I am optimistic we're going to be able to save your leg," he said.
His patient didn't acknowledge his words or him. She turned her head in the opposite direction. He took that as his cue to leave. "I'll check back on you in the morning then," he said. Just before he stepped out of the room he paused by the doorway and whispered to the nurse, "The pulses are great so let me know if that changes. I wrote for Q1H neurovascular checks overnight just because there is still a risk of compartment syndrome. I also wrote for frequent labs just to make sure we don't end up in a DIC scenario. Blood bank has two units of PRBCs on hold if we need more blood."
"Of course, Dr. Quartermaine," she said.
When he stepped out of the room, he saw that his brother in law had entered the unit. "Hi Ryan, it's certainly been a day. Thank you for taking this patient, it wasn't quite clear to me why Dr. Davis was uncomfortable with this."
"To be fair, it wasn't clear to me either but I was getting the story through our resident so I'll try to address that with him on Tuesday. While this is a particularly sad case it is also actually a great example of a patient who should go to the Psychiatric ICU and why we need a Psychiatric ICU," Ryan said.
"Thank you, and if there is something that I could have done or said that would have clarified for him that I am not trying to dump the patient on him please let me know so I can adapt. Anyway, I was able to perform an end to end anastomosis and I think we will have a good result. I basically put in all the orders for vitals, neurovascular checks, labs, IV antibiotics, and wound care. If there are any questions or concerns with any of those aspects of care, I can absolutely be first contact. I have inhouse trauma call tonight so I will be readily available unless I am scrubbed in a trauma. I need you to manage her psychiatric medications and address any safety/restraint issues."
"I can do that; eventually we will probably transfer for long term psychiatric treatment possibly via formal commitment but I understand you need to watch her closely for a few days and make sure the repair is viable."
"Most of these that fail do so within seventy-two hours. There was a recent Brigham study which recommended doing at least five days of IV antibiotics so we would probably be looking at close to a week if all goes well," Alan said.
"That is reasonable. I'll plan to reach out to Dr. Reichman at Shady Brook on Tuesday. He discharged the patient a few weeks ago and was her primary attending for over a year so I think he is pretty familiar with her."
"If there was any way to safely admit her to our Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Unit, I think she would really benefit from that but given their layout, I don't really see how that is possible."
"No although Shady Brook has PT and OT services available now so that is an option, and given her suicide risk, probably the safest option. On that note I'm going to go see her and then try to track down our resident so maybe I can catch Ned's second set," Ryan said.
"That's right, I'm sorry, you can tell Tracy I owe her for spoiling your plans."
"Actually, Tracy went on ahead with Edward," Ryan said.
"Oh, I see, so, you're suggesting I really owe her," Alan said. His brother in law was diplomatic enough to not comment further.
XXXXXXXX
Ned Ashton waited for the applause to die down a bit and then picked up the microphone. "Thank you, thank you very much. It's been awhile since I've been up here so I really appreciate the warm welcome. This next song is for my wife, Carly, as we prepare to start our family," he said.
Ned made eye contact with Carly, struck a C chord, and began to play.
Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home
XXXXXXXX
Lucky Spencer slurped his chocolate milk shake as if that would give him courage. His father had once told him that courage involved facing your fears like a man. Of course, his father had also told him that real men didn't apologize so he wasn't sure exactly how that really worked. "I'm not sure how to say this and apologies are not exactly a Spencer strength but I know I owe you both a huge one."
Emily shrugged her shoulders but didn't say anything. Allison opened her mouth as if she was going to speak but then glanced at her sister and just took a gulp of her water instead.
Lucky supposed he deserved that. Or maybe he did. It wasn't like he had come up with the plan to fake his mother's death. He had just gone along with it and he hadn't really had a choice.
"I accept your apology and I realize that you probably didn't have a choice about being involved in the latest Spencer scheme. Are you planning to also apologize to Faith and Nikolas?" Emily asked.
Nikolas was basically the last person Lucky was going to apologize to since he was the reason extreme measures were necessary in the first place. He hadn't even thought about Faith Ward, he probably should have. "Nikolas is a Cassadine," he said.
"Nikolas is a human being, and my friend. Lucky, you were basically my first Port Charles friend, if I don't count Alli, and I will always be grateful for that. I want us to be friends but I can't continually be caught in the middle of some Spencer-Cassadine Vendetta," Emily said.
"I agree. Also, I guess while you're figuring out how you become your own man you may want to consider the concept of collateral damage. There have already been too many innocent victims who were collateral damage in the Spencer-Casssadine War. If you and Nikolas wage that battle into and beyond the twenty first century, I am sure that number will only increase exponentially."
Well this is going well! "So, is this a lead in to get along with Nikolas or we can't be friends?" Lucky asked.
"Considering Nikolas is your brother, I think civility might be a good goal but I'm not exactly offering an ultimatum," Emily said.
"Yeah, basically what she said. I don't advocate you continue to hate and plot against Nikolas or that he hate and plot against you but I guess as long as we don't have to referee your battles it isn't really any of our business. For the record, you might also consider Sly someone else you owe an apology to. If you don't think that watching your family bury a casket you claimed was your mother brought back a lot of feelings for him you aren't a very in tune cousin."
Lucky realized Allison probably had a point, even if he didn't want to admit she was right. The truth was he had felt slimy when Sly showed up at the funeral much the same way he had felt slimy when Emily had poured her heart out to him when she believed his mother was dead. The problem was that his relationship with Sly was already far too complicated to face.
"Things are just complicated with Sly, you know that," Lucky said.
"I kind of got that impression, and that is also sad, especially since I remember when you were basically best friends," Allison said.
Lucky sensed there was more Allison could say but she didn't. He decided to take that as evidence that she did value their friendship. He did as well so maybe there was hope even if it meant he had to refrain from Cassadine insults in her presence. He could do that.
XXXXXXXX
Dr. Jake Marshak stood uncomfortably in the banquet room at Chez Nous. Apparently his fiance's uncle, Rex was marrying Lucy Coe and their presence had been requested to celebrate the union. Or at least that was how Danielle had explained it but the more Jake got to know Danielle's uncle the more he had the impression that the man was more into demands than requests. That concerned him. In the moment though he really just wanted to get the evening over as he had a twenty-four-hour Saturday call which would begin in a little less than eleven hours.
XXXXXXXX
Robin Scorpio glanced around the lady's room lounge in Chez Nous while Lucy Coe's other bridal attendants helped her with the finishing touches for her hair and makeup. They were a bit of a motley group. She vaguely knew of Louise Mercer. Her mother in law had socialized with Lila Quartermaine and she had met her one of the times her own mother had arranged for a playdate with AJ. Apparently, Lucy's maid of honor, Danielle Ashley Stanton was Lucy's fiancé's niece and Katherine Bell's half-sister.
"Ok, I think that does it," Louise said as she finished spraying Lucy's updo with hair spray.
"Yes, you look great! Now, let's go before Uncle Rex calls me again to make sure you're not about to going to stand him up," Danielle said.
Robin noted that Lucy did not immediately protest she would never do that. When Rex Stanton had called the night before and explained he was Lucy Coe's fiancé Robin had no idea who he was. She also didn't understand why Lucy Coe had chosen her as a bridesmaid. Sure, they had the connection through their AIDS advocacy work but there were many people who Lucy was likely closer to, including Karen and Brenda neither of whom were even invited. But she hadn't had any better plans and Jason was no longer taking her calls for her own protection so she figured that it was a free plane ticket and an opportunity to just bump into Jason.
"I just wish Serena could be here," Lucy wailed.
Danielle reached over and patted Lucy's shoulder. "I know, but with such short notice and a nighttime wedding that just wasn't possible. I'm going to see her tomorrow so I can mention you have been thinking about her and maybe bring her a piece of cake."
Lucy looked surprised. "You're going to see her tomorrow?"
"Yes, tomorrow is the Fall Carnival at Lilac Park Elementary School. Scott decided not to push the issue about attending because of his pending charges but wanted to make sure someone was there for Serena so Karen and I are going to go. Monica should be there as well but I guess she has STEMI call so she might have to go back to the hospital," Danielle explained.
"What is a stemmy?" Louise asked.
"It's the kind of heart attack where they need to go to the cath lab right away. So, if someone has that kind of heart attack, she would have to go take care of them," Danielle explained.
Robin wondered how Danielle knew that. She wondered if she was also an intern at the hospital with Karen.
"I don't understand why Scott would ask you instead of me!" Lucy wailed.
"Maybe because he thought you would be busy on your honeymoon with your rich and sexy hubby," Louise said.
"Did you do the background check through CPS yet? Anyone who wants to spend time with Serena has to be cleared by them," Danielle said.
"That's ridiculous! Serena wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for me!"
Robin supposed technically Lucy was correct, or at least partially correct. Dominique and Scott could have always picked a different surrogate. In fact, at the time of their embryo transfer, most of Port Charles thought they should have.