As they lay in bed, Dr. Monica Quartermaine kneaded at the insertion point of her husband's sternocleidomastoid muscle. He seemed to always hold his tension there. "The repeat ABG looked a lot better so I think that is a good sign. I can repeat an echocardiogram in the morning if you want but let's try to be think positive and get some sleep tonight," she said.
"I doubt Ned is getting much sleep," Alan offered morosely.
"No, probably not, but I would actually advise that he try to follow the same advice. Tomorrow will challenging enough for all of us without sleep deprivation," Monica said.
Alan flopped back onto his back and exhaled. "Why do you have to be so logical and rational?" he asked.
"Because, right now, that is what you need me to be. Don't worry, I'm sure you will get a chance to return the favor. Apparently, Dara is presenting Scott's case to the grand jury next Wednesday," Monica said.
"I thought that your father was saying that they traced the DNA to another individual?" Alan asked.
"They did, but apparently that doesn't resolve the issue for reasons I will admit I do not understand. However, if I am advocating, that we get restful sleep, I need to just not go there tonight," Monica said.
XXXXXXXX
San Francisco Police Department Detective Jagger Cates glanced at the clock as he leaned back in his chair and then groaned with frustration. It was almost seven which meant it was almost ten in New York and too late to call Karen once again. She certainly should be asleep if she had to be at the hospital before seven the next morning. To make it even worse, if he could understand the somewhat cryptic , she had emailed him, she was on call the next night so she wouldn't be home at all.
"Is everything ok?" his new partner, Andrea Harrison-Vega asked.
"Sure, I just meant to make a phone call before it got too late," Jagger said and then returned his attention to the no knock warrant he was working on. He might as well make it another late night. It would truly be better than returning to an empty apartment and his thoughts of his late brother, Stone.
"Now, see this is why you're so fortunate to have me as a partner," Detective Harrison-Vega said.
They had only worked together for about six weeks, but Jagger wasn't exactly feeling that. "Excuse me," he said.
To her credit, Detective Harrison-Vega appeared a bit embarrassed. "I just thought you were referring to following up with that witness from earlier. I just meant I called her," she said.
"Oh, so, did she remember anything else?" Jagger asked.
"Well, no, not really. I just don't understand how no one saw anything on a busy street in broad daylight," Detective Harrison-Vega said. Then she exhaled deeply with obvious frustration.
Jagger just shook his head. It wasn't that no one saw anything. It was that no one was willing to take the risk of admitting what they had seen. That was essentially business as usual in the Tenderloin District, and with the Aryan Brotherhood moving in, to challenge Wah Ching; the Asian Boyz; and the Eddy Street Mobsters; he doubted it would be changing any time soon.
"Antonio has a big test coming up, so he is hanging out at the library. Did you want to grab some sandwiches from Sing Sing and then see if the ME is done with the autopsy?" Detective Harrison-Vega asked.
Somehow his late night had been much more pleasant before he realized he was expected to spend it with his newby partner tagging along. Frankly, most events were more pleasant when Detective Harrison-Vega wasn't tagging along. Of course, perhaps, Alejandro Garcia had felt the same way when he had been his newby partner and a brand-new Detective in the Port Charles Police Department. He thought he had been a bit less clueless and also a bit less oblivious to the reality that there was still a lot he didn't know. He hoped that had made all the difference. With that thought, he shook his head again. "I already checked with the morgue at St. Francis, they won't be done with postmortem until at least tomorrow afternoon. You should just go ahead and go. Thanks for following up with Ms. Millstone," he said.
"Umm, ok, if you're sure," Detective Harrison-Vega said.
Jagger heard the uncertainty in her voice. He felt a little badly about being so frustrated by her ineptitude. He supposed it wasn't her fault she didn't grasp that two years of experience in Llanview didn't exactly prepare her for a Detective assignment with the Vice Division of San Francisco PD in the Tenderloin Station. "Definitely, I'll see you in the morning. Have a good night!" Jagger said.
XXXXXXXX
Melissa McKee Murdoch's heart went out to Ned Ashton as she watched him stand in anguish over his wife's bed. Visiting hours had ended fifteen minutes ago, at ten, but she wasn't about to ask him to leave. She imagined he was far too distraught at the peril his wife and unborn child were in to even process her request. Her heartless charge nurse also wouldn't ask him to leave because he was on the hospital board and his family donated generously to the PCGH Charitable Endowment each year. Normally that double standard would irk her, but in the moment, it was super convenient.
Ned brushed his lips gently across Carly's forehead and then stood fully upright. He raked a hand through his hair absently. "I appreciate you giving me some extra time; can you call me if anything changes?" he said.
"Of course," Melissa said. "Legally, you and Chase both know I can't tell him any of this, but, I think you should and it's not like he's doing anything exciting tonight if you need a friend," she added.
"Isn't he still mired in the Pierce Dorman trial?" Ned asked.
"Technically he finished presenting the state's case on Tuesday," Melissa said.
"So now it's up to Justus to show the jury that significant reasonable doubt exists?" Ned asked.
"Something like that. Between you and me, I don't think Chase feels like it will be a super hard sell."
"It shouldn't be when the defendant is truly innocent," Ned said. "I'm sorry, I know that Chase had nothing to do with choosing who the PCPD arrested and then once the grand jury returned an indictment the die was cast to an extent," he added.
Melissa shrugged her shoulders. She was sure that there was no love lost between the Quartermaine Family and the late Dr. Pierce Dorman. How could there be when he had harassed, stalked, and then ultimately kidnapped Dr. Monica Quartermaine? Of course, that raised another question, could Ned know with certainty that Kaylee Reynolds was innocent because he was the real killer? That had certainly been Detective Taggert's theory early in the investigation. Of course, Detective Taggert seemed to hate the Quartermaine Family almost as much as Sonny Corinthos so perhaps he just wasn't capable of an objective perspective.
"Perhaps we should just forget we ever started talking about the trial," Ned suggested.
"Perhaps…that is usually the approach Chase and I end up taking. Dr. Dorman was a pretty crappy physician, and a worse human," Melissa said.
"But, all life, even one as depraved as his seems to have been, is precious on some level?" Ned asked.
"Ironically, your Aunt would probably agree with that," Melissa said.
Ned smiled. "Monica has always kind of had a thing for the sanctity of human life. She is a cardiologist after all," he said.
"Or not, Dr. Dorman was a cardiologist and then there is Dr. Devlin," Melissa said.
"That is true. For the record, Dr. Devlin's hiring was never voted on by the full hospital board," Ned said.
That was information Melissa hadn't known. "But I thought that was the process," she said.
"It generally was the process, but the hospital bylaws didn't prohibit a direct hire by the Chief of Staff and that was how Dr. Devlin came to join us. Now the hospital bylaws do prohibit a direct hire by the Chief of Staff without board approval," Ned said.
"I see," Melissa said uneasily. It was no secret that Dr. Devlin wasn't her favorite attending. Somehow knowing he had gone around the standard hiring approach just made her dislike him more.
Ned pushed his hands into his pockets uneasily as he turned to look back at his wife longingly.
In that moment, Melissa felt for him even more and felt even more ashamed by her behavior. "I'm sorry if I didn't exactly seem thrilled about your marriage. Bobbie is basically the closest thing to a mom I have left, and I miss her, and it was just so much easier to blame Carly for all of that whether that is fair or not. Regardless, I promise you I never let my personal feelings get in the way of patient care. Carly and your baby are going to get through this."
"I'm trying to hold on to that hope. About the other stuff, you don't owe me an apology and maybe I'm completely out of line, but I think you and Carly have a lot of common ground and maybe you could both use a nonjudgmental friend," Ned said.
"I think maybe that was Chase's point before," Melissa said.
"Chase is a pretty smart guy, even if he did insist on going to Cornell," Ned said.
"He couldn't go to Harvard, because he's not that cocky and he can play hockey," Melissa said.
Ned chuckled. "I've heard the song. Mark was actually in the Cayuga Waiters during undergrad when I think they weren't that tacky, and they didn't like khaki which I'm sure Chase also knew because they were fraternity brothers in Delta Tau Delta. I guess I'm just saying I think maybe you and Carly could relate to each other a lot more than either of you realize. Just keep an open mind and call me if she needs anything," he said.
Then Ned was gone leaving Melissa alone with her thoughts and her patient. She took a deep breath as she reached for another bag of Lactated Ringers.
XXXXXXXX
Celia Anne Quartermaine stepped out onto the balcony patio of her Penthouse Suite in the Port Charles Hotel. She shivered a bit and wrapped her sweater more tightly around her. Although the night was chilly, she still welcomed the space and alone time since she was sharing her suite with her father.
The Port Charles Hotel had six Penthouse Suites: two were reserved for ELQ Enterprises use by their own traveling executives or by clients; another was rented long term by Jasper Jacks; and the final three were available for short term occupancy. Those last three suites were all occupied, so, at least intellectually, Celia understood exactly why she was sharing a suite with her father. There were three bedrooms so that shouldn't be a problem, except that left far too many opportunities for him to bring up all of the topics she had successfully skirted on the ELQ Jet. She definitely wasn't looking forward to that.