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Jason looked down at his baby sister’s face with tears in his eyes. Emily looked up at him with fear and hope in her face, thinking that her was someone else.
”Oh Emily,” Jason thought to himself. Bending down, Jason brushed the tears and rain away from Emily’s eyes.
Emily looked at the figure in front of her with confusion.
“Jason?,” Emily asked in a small whisper.
Jason nodded and gathered her into a fierce hug, which she returned. Sonny, Johnny and Francis watched with barely concealed emotion on their faces.
AJ drove down the familiar streets of Port Charles, trying to think of where his sister could be hiding. Suddenly, his cell phone rang.
“Hello?,” AJ said, turning it on.
“Have you found her yet?,” Monica asked hopefully. She was really frightened by the fact that her youngest child was missing.
AJ rolled his eyes in annoyance. It was her fault that she bought the little drug addict into the Quartermaine home. “No Mom. I’m still looking,” he said.
Monica sighed through the phone, visions of her daughter lying in a ditch somewhere. “I just have no idea where she could be. She’s never done this before. Lucky always picked her up from school,” she said, probably not realizing that she was speaking out loud.
Rolling his eyes, AJ spoke into the receiver. “I have to go Mom. I need my concentration on the road,” AJ said, lying through his teeth. He just didn’t want to hear Monica whine about the little b****, especially since he just realized where she was.
“Okay AJ, I’ll let you go now. Just bring my baby back to me,” Monica said as she hung up.
AJ grimaced and turned his phone off. Throwing it onto the passenger seat, AJ made a sharp U-turn and headed for Port Charles High School.
Luke walked into the ER section of General Hospital, a scowl on his face. Spotting a nurse, he walked over to her.
“Hey nurse? I’m looking for my son, Lucky Spencer? Where is he?,” Luke asked impatiently.
The nurse looked at him. She recognized him as Bobbie Spencer’s brother.
“Number six,” she said, pointing to a partially closed cubicle. She quickly walked away to attend to her patients.
Not even bothering to thank her, Luke quickly walked towards the cubicle and heard arguing as he got closer. Maybe Lucky wasn’t as hurt as he though if he had the strength to argue with his doctor. Breaking into a grin Luke peeked in and saw who his son was arguing with. His doctor was Chris Ramsey.
“Damnit! I’m fine! Just let me leave!,” Lucky practically yelled, all patience gone from his voice. All the stupid doctor had done was shine a flashlight into his eyes, bandage his head and ask him a whole bunch of stupid questions. “If you ask me another question, I wont be responsible for what I do to you,” Lucky warned menacingly.
Chris watched as his patient finished his latest tirade. He leaned back in his chair and watched as Lucky Spencer watched him.
“I know that you say you are okay, but you had a trauma to the head and its policy to release you into the custody of someone until you are fine,” he said, “Besides, if I let you go before your father got here, your Aunt Bobbie would skin me alive for letting you leave, and personally, I don’t want to die just yet,” Chris said with a grim smile. Barbara Spencer, RN was a force to be reckoned with.
Before Lucky could respond, someone pulled the curtain back.
Luke watched with a smile on his face as Chris Ramsey turned to look at him. “Barbara Jean threatened you, huh?,” he asked, already knowing the answer. Bobbie had a way of staring a man down when it suited his purposes. He could see how scared she had made the young doctor. Turning to Lucky, he grimaced as he saw his son with a bandage on his head. “Are you okay son?,” he asked.
Lucky rolled his eyes at his father, but was secretly glad that he was here. “I’m fine Dad, but he wouldn’t let me leave! I should have picked Emily up already. Have you heard from her?”, he asked, sending a scowl Chris’ way.
Seeing this as an excuse to get away from the two Spencer men, Chris got up and walked towards the curtain.
“I’m going to get your release papers ready and see about some pain medication in case you get headaches,” he said.
Luke walked over to him and shook his hand in a rare show of gratitude. “Thanks or taking care of my son,” Luke said. “If you see Bobbie, tell her that I’ll call her later”. Chris nodded and left. Luke sat down and turned to his son. “Jason had her tailed all day and she waited at the school for hours, freaked out. He went to get her. Jason said that he would get her, but don’t worry, he won’t tell her anything. He said that he would tell her that you called him and say that you said to get her,” he said. He knew that Lucky was worried about his best friend. Heck, he was worried about her too. This whole situation didn’t sit well with him.
Lucky nodded and walked out the room, his father behind him. He got his medication and left the hospital, thoughts of Emily in his head. “I’ll go see her tonight,” he said, not bothering to turn around and look at his father.
Luke nodded. He knew that the night wasn’t going to end without Lucky checking in on her. “The poor girl must be going out of her mind” Luke thought to himself sadly.
Emily sighed as her brother held her in his arms, but she was not content. The sigh was one of dread. She made Lucky get hurt and was afraid of what had happened to him. Lifting her head up, she stared into her brother’s eyes, dreading the truth that she would find there.
“Where is Lucky?”
Helping her stand, Jason helped her pick up her stuff and walked her back to the limo. It was then that she noticed Sonny, Johnny and Francis watching and waiting.
“Hi Sonny,” Emily said timidly. It was embarrassing her to know that her brother’s friend and business partner had watched her in the middle of what could only be described as a nervous breakdown.
“Hi Sweetheart,” Sonny said softly. Emily had always held a special place in his heart from the day that he first met her and it hurt to see her hurting the way she was. “Are you okay?” he asked, already knowing the answer. She looked like she had just walked through her own private hell.
Emily sighed and gave a small smile. Jason had yet to answer her question, but she didn’t want to have anyone worry about her. Even though they had not said anything to her, she could tell that Johnny and Francis were worried about her too. She didn’t want anyone to worry about her, after all, everything was her fault.
“I’m okay. I’m kind of cold though,” Emily said with a little smile.
Noticing how she was shivering, Jason quickly ushered her into the back of the limo. Getting in behind her, he gave her one of the blankets that he bought with him and wrapped her up.
“Here, you should get warmer now,” he told her. Glancing up at Sonny he nodded and everyone got into the limo.
They were so caught up in making sure that Emily was okay that no one saw the man watching them from his car, a scowl on his face.
The ride to Jason’s penthouse was done in silence. Emily sat next to her brother in silence as Sonny and Jason were both caught up in their own personal thoughts. By the time the limo arrived at Sonny and Jason’s building, the rain had stopped, but a cold chill permeated the air.
“We’re here,” Jason whispered to Emily.
He had been secretly watching her all through the ride from the school and he was worried about her. She seemed to be in her own little world. Kind of like Carly when she was in Ferncliff, except he knew that she was faking. He wasn’t sure about his sister.
Sonny watched Jason watching Emily. “Poor girl,” Sonny thought to himself “She doesn’t deserve all this”. He knew that she had a long road ahead of her. Watching Johnny as he motioned that it was safe to get out of the limo, Sonny caught Jason’s eye. He looked like he was in Hell. Getting out first, Sonny waited for Jason and Emily.
“I have some work to do Jase, why don’t you take Emily to your apartment and get her comfortable”, he said, knowing that Jason wanted some time alone with his sister.
“Okay,” Jason said, glad that Sonny understood his need to be alone with his sister and talk. Taking a glance at her, he noticed how small and alone she looked and it broke his heart. “I wish she would tell me what was wrong. I’d do my best to fix it,” he thought to himself. Helping her exit the limo, Jason wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She really needed to get into some dry clothes.
Emily silently watched as the two men fawned over her, but she really didn’t care. All that was in her mind were thoughts of her best friend and how she got him hurt, possibly dead. “I wish I was dead with him,” Emily thought to herself, “Then all my problems would go away. I don’t deserve to live anyway, all I do is hurt people”.
Emily let Jason put his arm around her as they all piled into the elevator. “Oh Lucky, I’m sorry,” were Emily’s last thoughts as she passed out in her brothers arms.
AJ silently fumed all the way to his meeting with Moreno. He saw when Jason was holding Emily at her school. He should have figured out sooner that she would stay there in hopes that her ‘white knight’ would come for her.
“Hmmm...I wonder where the piece of trash was,” AJ thought to himself, thinking of Lucky. “Maybe he’s lying in a ditch somewhere”.
That thought made him laugh out loud. Finally reaching his destination, AJ stopped laughing. Sorel was waiting for him to take him up to Moreno. Parking his car in the shadows, AJ got out and walked towards him.
Sorel watched as AJ Quartermaine walked towards him. Tonight was going to be interesting. It wasn’t everyday that the brother of your worst enemy wanted to join your side.
“Hello Mr. Quartermaine. Nice night isn’t it?,” Sorel asked with a smile.
“Very nice,” AJ said. “Is Moreno waiting for me?”
Sorel smiled. “Right this way,” he said, motioning to the building behind him. He led AJ into the building that his boss had recently purchased. It was too new for Sonny Corinthos and his people to know about it, so it was perfect to hold the meeting. Leading AJ towards the elevators, they got in and Sorel pressed the button for the top floor.
Letting Moreno’s little henchman lead him into the building, AJ thought about all that would be accomplished that night. “He can’t refuse me, the carrot I’m dangling in his face is too big,” AJ thought smugly, “and he wants to get to Jason as much as I do, maybe even more”
As the elevators opened, Sorel got out and motioned for the guards to let him and his guest pass. They walked down a hallway to the last door in front of them. Another guard was posted there and he stepped aside when he saw Sorel.
“Mr. Moreno is waiting inside,” he said after he stepped aside.
“Good, you my leave now. I’ll take over here,” Sorel said as he ushered the guard away, “Go stand guard with Gino”.
The guard, Joey, walked away and went to stand by Gino. He knew that the Boss had something big going. Its not everyday that you see the brother of one of your worst enemies in your presence without a gun to his back.
Sorel smiled as he let AJ Quartermaine in the room and shut the door behind them. It was going to be a nice night indeed.
Jason watched as Emily silently dried her hair after he gave her some of his sweats to wear. Sonny had gone over to his place to do some work and Johnny and Francis were posted outside each of their doors. Emily and Jason were the only people in his place. Noticing Jason watching her, Emily decided to make the first move.
“You never answered my question,” she said in a small voice. Jason had to strain to hear her correctly. “Where is Lucky?”
Jason got up and went to sit next to his little sister. Even though he knew that Lucky was okay, this was going to be hard to explain to her. Deciding to jump into the story, Jason began. “There was an accident today on the way to your school--”
“What?!!,” Emily jumped in before he could finish his sentence. The color leached from her face as she stared at her brother in horror. Then the tears came. “Its all my fault,” Emily said as the tears rolled down her face.
Jason gathered his sister close to him as he stroked her hair. “He’s okay Emily, the traffic was piled up and he bumped his head so he had to be taken to the hospital,” he said soothingly.
Emily jerked out of her brother’s comforting embrace to stare at him with disbelief. “He’s okay?,” she asked, half afraid that she had heard her brother wrong. The small ray of hope in her was ready to die at any moment.
Jason gave her a small smile. “Yeah, Luke went to go get him and take him home. He’ll probably call you tonight,” he said.
Emily started to cry and grabbed her brother in a tight hug, which Jason returned. “He’s okay! He’s okay!,” Emily shouted gleefully, “I gotta go home and wait for his call,” as she said that, he smile faltered. “Everyone’s looking for me, huh?”, she asked, already knowing the answer.
Jason nodded. “I got a call from Carly. She said that Alan, Ned and AJ are out looking for you,” he said. Now was the time to approach the questions that have been plaguing his brain since he picked her up. “Why didn’t you call me? Anyone for that matter? Why did you stay in front of the school in the freezing rain?”
Emily sat down. “I dunno,” she said. It sounded dumb to her ears and she knew that Jason wasn’t buying it, but how do you tell your brother that you ‘hoped you would catch pneumonia or that you hoped someone would walk by and kill you’?
Jason narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew that Emily was lying to him. She had been lying to everyone for quite some time now, but why was she lying? Who was she trying to protect? Looking her straight in the eye, he decided to confront her.
“Why are you lying to me?”
Moreno sat behind his desk and contemplated all that the young Quartermaine had told him and offered him. It was and interesting deal. Watching AJ through hooded eyes, he realized that he was truly serious about his proposition. Moreno gave AJ a small smile and spoke.
“We have a deal Mr. Quartermaine,” he said as they shook hands.
AJ smiled. The fool went for the carrot. Standing up, AJ smiled at his new partner. “Then I won’t take up any more of your time tonight. You won’t regret this,” AJ said as he walked towards the door.
Moreno smiled and took a sip of his drink as he watched AJ leave. The whole situation was interesting and he would use it to his advantage. Picking up his phone, he pressed a button and spoke.
“Get me Vincent”
Lucky sat in his apartment, his father having left twenty minutes ago. Jumbled thoughts danced in his head, most of them about Emily. He couldn’t believe what his father told him.
“I can’t believe that she waited in front of the school for me all day. It was raining!,” he thought to himself. Lucky got up and headed for his bathroom to take a shower, thinking about how he was going to help Emily the whole time.
AJ got into his car and drove down familiar streets towards his home, a huge smile on his face.
“Everything is going according to plan,” he thought. Laughing, AJ turned on his radio and sang along with the music. Suddenly, his cell phone rang. Cursing loudly, AJ turned down his music and turned on his cell phone. “Hello?”
“I just got a call from Jason, he said that he had Emily,” Ned said.
AJ muttered under his breath. “Really?,” he asked, trying to sound happy. He really hated that b**** right now. If she said anything to ‘Prince Jason’, she was going to regret it. He had seen to that tonight.
“Still there Junior?,” Ned asked snidely. AJ was such an idiot. Sometimes, he couldn’t understand why Grandfather made him head of ELQ, but it didn’t matter to him anymore. He got out of that mess and was extremely happy. “Jason said that he would bring her home,” he said, “by the way, where were you tonight? Me and Alan have been trying to reach you all night,” Ned said suspiciously.
Damn, he forgot about that. “Something was wrong with my phone. I couldn’t dial out either,” AJ said, lying through his teeth.
“Whatever, just get home. Grandfather is having a fit and wants us all to be there when she gets home,” Ned said, shutting his phone off.
AJ shut off his phone and threw it in the back seat. Thinking about what he was going to do to Emily when he got home, he sped up his car and headed home.
Emily watched as Jason hung up the phone. Jason had called the Quartermaines and covered for her. He told them that she had come over to his place after school and forgot to call and say where she was. She could hear when Grandfather started to yell at him through the phone and smiled slightly when Jason turned his phone off.
“Thanks,” she said.
Jason stared at his sister. He knew that she was hiding something about who was hurting her and he just wanted her to let it out. “Something is wrong with you Emily and I want to know what it is,” he said. The tone of his voice left no room for argument. He knew that he sounded harsh, but he was tired of being lied to.
Emily blanched as Jason waited for her to answer. Trying to hold back a sob Emily shook her head back and forth. She couldn’t take any of it anymore. The pain. The lying. The looks that she got, but she couldn’t say anything. People would get hurt, so she decided to lie once more.
“Nothing is wrong Jason, I just want Lucky to call. Can you take me home, please?,” she asked. Emily watched as Jason’s eyes became shuttered.
Jason watched as his little sister lied to him again. He could swear that a little piece of his heart broke off and died. Jason watched as Emily turned her gaze to the floor. “Fine, lets go,” Jason said tersely. He went to the door and told Johnny to tell Sonny that he was leaving and to bring the car around. Motioning for Emily to follow him, he got into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. Neither of them said a word.
General Hospital's Friendship Forever