October 16, 1997
It was still dark in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan when Jason Morgan awoke next to the blonde woman whom he had met playing pool at City Bar. She conveniently lived in one of the upstairs lofts, so they had gone back to her place. He hadn't even known her name the first time. He still didn't know her last name.
"You don't have to go," Ally said as he stood and slid into the jeans that had been carelessly tossed on her bedroom floor.
"I have to go meet someone," Jason said as he reached for his shirt.
Ally rubbed her eyes and glanced over at the clock radio she had on her bedside table. "It's four o'clock in the morning," she said.
"Some people get up early," Jason said. Then he grabbed his leather jacket from a nearby chair and started for the door.
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Sometimes Dr. Alan Quartermaine enjoyed the solitude of early morning rounds alone. As much as he enjoyed teaching, he was truly much more efficient when he rounded alone. He had gotten an early start, but he had still managed to work his way through the SICU and ICU and even placed a central line along the way by five o'clock.
When he stepped off the East Elevators onto Pediatrics, he saw one of the interns, Dr. Julie Devlin, dressed in scrubs and scribbling furiously in a chart. "Good Morning, Dr. Devlin, were you on call last night or are you just a very early riser?" he asked
"Oh, good morning, Dr. Quartermaine, yes, I was on call Wednesday. Is there anything I can help you with?" Dr. Devlin asked.
"Are you taking care of Rachel Berlin with Dr. Hardy?" Alan asked.
"Dr. Banning is but if there is anything, I can pass it on at changeover," Dr. Devlin offered.
"I looked at the Gastric Scintiscan and the Upper GI series and my suspicion is that the gastroparesis is all due to her eating disorder. I spoke with her father yesterday and he absolutely does not accept that, however, he is willing for me to do a complete endoscopy with biopsy so we can absolutely exclude a malignancy and then to place a percutaneous G-J tube. I'm about to go see her, but I've added her onto the OR schedule for today. Since she is currently getting TPN, anesthesia will want electrolytes repeated before the OR. I ordered that for nine since the case is supposed to be scheduled for eleven," Alan said.
"Thank you, I'll pass that on at changeover," Dr. Devlin said.
Alan nodded. As he made his way to Rachel Berlin's room, he was struck by how much the apple seemed to fall far from the tree in the case of Dr. Julie Devlin. Cooperation and collaboration were definitely her father's strong suits.
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"I'm glad you're going to this with Brenda. I wish I could but I'm on call tomorrow night," Dr. Lois Cerullo said as she pulled up in front of Grand Central Station.
Miguel Morez shrugged his shoulders in her passenger seat. "It's important to Brenda," he said.
"You're a good friend to her," Lois said.
Miguel shrugged his shoulders again. "Someone has to be," he said.
Lois winced. His words stung but they weren't completely unfair. She hadn't exactly been a great friend to Brenda, but it was awkward and difficult to be a great friend to someone who was still best friends with her ex-husband. "I guess I deserved that," she finally said.
"Lois, I wasn't referring to you. I was more thinking about Ned's concern about Brenda's relationship with Jasper Jacks," Miguel said.
"So, apparently Ned and I still agree on something," Lois said.
"I think you and Ned could agree on a lot of things if you would just give yourselves a chance. Just think about it, now I'm going to go before you're late for rounds or I miss my train," Miguel said as he opened the door.
"Travel safely," Lois called! She waited until he was inside the train station before she pulled away from the curb and continued on to New York Presbyterian Hospital.
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As he coiled his stethoscope back into his pocket and stepped away from Katherine Bell's bed, Dr. Alan Quartermaine reflected on the fact that he had yet to examine her in a conscious state. The nurses told him that, at least when Nikolas Cassadine visited, she was awake, alert, and melodramatic so he presumed that her head injury was healing well. Unfortunately, she still had a small air leak, so her chest tube was going to have to remain to suction for at least another twenty-four hours.
When he pulled the door open to exit, Alan found himself face to face with Dr. Jonathan Ross, the neurosurgeon who had been kind enough to admit Katherine to his service on Sunday night. With a bit of an internal grimace, Alan realized that they had likely reached the point where it would only be professional for him to return the kindness and accept Katherine back onto the trauma service in transfer.
"So, she still has a small air leak, so I need to leave the chest tube to suction for at least another twenty-four hours. If you're at a point where you would sign off if only you weren't the primary attending then I would be happy to accept her in transfer to my trauma service," Alan offered after he stepped into the hallway.
"I think it is actions like that which bode well for better cooperation between Neurosurgery and Trauma so thank you. Unfortunately, I am not at that point. I sense that I'm not getting an accurate exam because she is not cooperating and perhaps there is a bit of secondary gain for her so I'm going to have PT and OT see her today and see how she does with them. Maybe I am being unfair, and she really would benefit from an inpatient physical rehab stay," Dr. Ross said.
"That is a very thorough and insightful assessment," Alan said. He had been convinced that Dr. Ross was the best of Dr. Hardy's recent crop of hires. Of course, that had been comparing him to Dr. Dorman and Dr. Devlin, so it had not been much of a contest. However, as they worked together more, he was really starting to impress in his own right.
"So, I guess thanks, but no thanks, as my younger, and inherently cooler, brother would say," Dr. Ross said.
Alan chuckled. "I'll have to remember that one," he said.
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In the dining room at Wyndemere, Stefan Cassadine poured coffee from the silver decanter on the sideboard. In the five days he had been gone the family had seemingly spontaneously imploded in destructive fashion. Then there was Katherine. Technically she was also now family he realized as bile rose up in his throat.
"Good Morning, Uncle!" Nikolas said as he came into the room and joined him at the sideboard.
"Nikolas, we need to discuss the company you have been keeping. Further, it is unacceptable for you to concern the staff by keeping such erratic hours," Stefan said. He ladled a portion of porridge into his bowl and then made his way to the long table and sat down.
"With respect, Uncle, I am not going to turn my back on a friend just because you have decided to part company, as Cousin Alexis put it," Nikolas said as he joined him at the table.
Stefan gulped his coffee. Katherine was also Nikolas's cousin. He just couldn't quite face that reality. "There are things you are too young to understand," he finally said.
"I am nearly eighteen!" Nikolas protested.
"That means you should be old enough to understand that some things are not for your purview," Stefan said sharply. He regretted the words once they were out but Nikolas's obstinance was vexing at best.
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Miguel Morez settled into his seat and inserted his ear buds. When he had last been in Port Charles, Lily had been alive. She had been married to Sonny Corinthos, but she had been alive. He had been able to handle that because he had accepted that he didn't have a choice.
May 30, 1996
Miguel Morez descended the steps at Kelly's Diner with a lot on his mind. He was supposed to be leaving that afternoon for a weekend concert in Miami. Then there was the issue of Lily. The evening before, Brenda had revealed that Sonny had told her he was planning to file for divorce. From Brenda's perspective that meant that it was his chance to reconcile with his first love, Lily.
When he stepped into the diner Miguel realized Lily was sitting at a table in the center of the diner sipping tea and picking at some strawberries. It could be kismet but Miguel was sure it really couldn't be that simple.
"Good morning, Lily," Miguel said as he pulled out the chair opposite her.
"Oh, Miguel, yes, it is a good morning," Lily said. She set her teacup down on the table and really looked at him. She smiled.
Her apparent happiness surprised him. Was she finally ready to step away from her relationship with Sonny? When she had returned his ring, he hadn't let her go because he didn't care but because he truly did care. It was because he loved her that he could see that they couldn't just keep hurting each other and that was exactly what they had been doing as they tried to reconcile their son, Juan's death.
"It is nice to see you really smile," Miguel said.
"Thank you. I got good news; I'm pregnant! God willing, Sonny and I will have our first child at the end of this year," Lily said.
"Congratulations! I know how much you have always wanted to be a Mom. Does Sonny know about the baby?"
"Of course, I told him yesterday evening when he got home. He is excited about being a dad and we'll be able to do this together from the start," Lily said. She really seemed happy.
Miguel swallowed hard. He wanted Lily to be happy. Once he had envisioned her finding that happiness with him and their children but apparently that was not meant to be. He needed to accept that. He could accept that. "I'm happy for you. I wish it could have been different for us, but I am happy for you," he said.
Lily laid her hand over his. "Thank you, there is a little more good news. Something my father said made me wonder about our son and one of Sonny's private investigators looked into it. Juan is alive! Sonny was arranging for us to visit him, but I told Sonny I needed to go with you. He understands. Juan seems to have a good family; they seem to love him. I don't think it is our place to take him back, but I just need to see for myself that he is alright. I need him to know that we loved him, but circumstances were what they were. We could go together to see him and say goodbye," she said.
"Would you still feel the same way if you weren't pregnant with Sonny's child?" Miguel asked.
"I made the decision before I knew I was pregnant. I wanted to reach out to you last week to make arrangements, but I haven't been feeling well. There will always be a place in my heart for Juan. This baby I am having with Sonny won't change that," Lily said.
Her words sounded so reasonable. That didn't mean they didn't also hurt. "I was supposed to leave for a concert in Miami, this afternoon," Miguel said.
"Lois mentioned that, listen, I can get Sonny to make the arrangements for Monday. It is one of the cultural exploration days, so I don't have to work. The Santiagos live outside of San Juan so we can fly into there on Monday morning. I can fly down to Miami Saturday afternoon Sonny and I want to tell my dad about the baby in person anyway," Lily offered.
Miguel thought about that. He wanted to meet his son. He just wasn't sure he could meet him and walk away. "I would like to meet our son, I am just not so sure I can just walk away," he said.
"I know. I'm not sure I can either. Miguel, there is a part of me that just wants to grab our baby and run. But he isn't a baby anymore. He will be eight soon and the Santiagos are the parents he knows. I don't see how we can take him from them," Lily said.
In that moment, Miguel knew, as much as he wished it could be different, it wasn't, and Lily was right. "Entiendo," he said.
He had hugged Lily before she left the diner that morning to go teach Spanish at Port Charles Junior High. He had left for Miami with the anticipation of meeting his son. That meeting had never happened because less than forty-eight hours after he had hugged Lily goodbye she was gone forever.