| |
||
| |
||
Carly sighed as she walked with Michael through the park. Seeing Emily the way she was brought up a plethora of emotion that she had long tried to suppress.
“Oh God, I can’t do it again,” Carly thought to herself. Feeling weary, Carly decided to sit down for awhile. “Lets go sit down Mr. Man,” she said quietly.
Michael cooed as Carly pushed his stroller to the benches on the south side of the park. Loosening his little jacket, Carly gave him a cookie. Smiling, Carly leaned back against the bench to try and enjoy the rest of the day. Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of her.
AJ sat in his office thinking about the situation at the mansion. “That little b**** better not do anything stupid,” he thought to himself. He had gone through so much trouble and he didn’t want the ‘game’ to end before it even had a chance to begin. “I’ve got all my little ducks in a row,” AJ thought smugly. AJ sat in there, in his executive chair, contemplating his future, until his cell phone rang.
Jason sat in silence as he tried to process everything that had been thrown at him in the last few hours. On top of his concern with Emily, Carly seemed to be on the brink of a nervous breakdown, for real this time. Stretching, Jason got up and went to check on his baby sister.
“God, will she ever be okay again?,” he thought to himself. Silently climbing the steps, Jason started to think about all the good times that he had with his sister. Hanging out with her when he was still a Quartermaine. Her acceptance of him after the accident. Taking her for rides on his bike. Playing with Michael.
Noticing that he was at the top of the steps, Jason cleared his thoughts and headed to the room to check on Emily, great trepidation in his heart. Even though he didn’t say anything when she left, he heard the argument that Emily and Carly had. It wasn’t pretty. Emily was so scared that she was lashing out blindly. Turning to the hall phone, he took it off the hook. He didn’t want any interruptions. Collecting himself, Jason knocked on the door.
“AJ Quartermaine,” AJ said as he turned on his cell phone. “Who is this?,” he asked. He was angry that someone decided to interrupt his train of thought. It was annoying.
“I have information that should be very interesting to you,” Vincent said in an even monotone.
AJ cringed ever so slightly. The sound of that man’s voice freaked him out sometimes, but he was happy to hear from him none the less. “Yes, what is it?,” he asked carefully, in case someone was outside his office door or something.
“Well, it seems that your lovely young wife paid an extended visit to your Mafia brother this morning,” Vincent said.
AJ was happy that he wasn’t talking to Vincent face to face because the other man would have witnessed his mouth falling open in shock. Collecting himself, he spoke. “Excuse me?,” AJ said.
“I said, Your. Wife. Went. To. Visit. Your. Brother. Today. Is that clear enough? I also believe that she knows of your situation with young Miss Quartermaine. I witnessed a very heated argument between them. She also had your son there too,” Vincent said quietly. This was fast becoming a very interesting job for him.
AJ leaned back in his leather chair and and drummed his fingers on his desk. This certainly livened things up. “Is that all?,” AJ asked, seething inside.
“Yes. I will contact you at another time,” Vincent said, shutting off his phone. There was no need for inane chit chat between them.
AJ turned his cell phone off and shoved it back in his pocket, rage on his face. Suddenly, his secretary Maude, knocked on his door and entered. “What?!”
Maude stared at her boss with a blank expression on her face. Personally, she preferred Mr. Ashton, but she wouldn’t risk her job by commenting on her new boss’s strange behavioral patterns. The man was scary.
“I have the Jakarta papers that you requested I get ready for your meeting at three o’clock Mr. Quartermaine,” Maude said quietly.
AJ gritted his teeth as he snatched the papers from Maude’s hands. He knew the little wretch preferred Ned to him, but he didn’t care. He owned her now and she would do exactly as he said if she wanted to keep her job. “Fine get out and cancel all my appointments except the three o’clock,” he said snidely.
Maude nodded her head, not even bothering to tell him that today’s meetings were the most important of ELQ’s stateside holdings. Rolling her eyes heavenward, Maude closed the door.
Lila turned off the cordless phone for the fifth time. Sighing, she handed it back to Reginald. Jason was obviously in the middle of a long telephone conversation. “Reginald, would you be a dear and get me some jasmine tea?,” Lila asked politely.
“Anything for you Mrs. Q,” Reginald said happily. Lila Quartermaine was one in a million. He still couldn’t figure out how she stayed married to Edward all these years without maiming him. The man didn’t know when to quit. Giving the object of his thoughts an evil glare, Reginald left to get Lila her tea.
Edward snorted as Reginald passed him. He would have fired the incompetent fool year ago if it wasn’t for Lila. “Have you gotten hold of your mobster grandson yet?,” he er in the hallway.
Carly had to bite back a scream as she realized who was towering over her. “Hi Momma,” she said
Bobbie Spencer looked at her daughter, concern on her face. “Are you all right Carly?,” she asked. Carly had that ‘deer in the headlights’ look on her face before she walked up to her. Noticing that Michael was staring at her, Bobbie picked her grandson up and gave him a big hug. “How’s my beautiful grandchild?,” Bobbie asked. Michael cooed in response.
Carly managed to give her mother a wan smile. “I’m okay Momma. Michael is fine too,” Carly said, hopefully convincing enough for her mother. She wasn’t that good of an actress.
“Please don’t lie to me Carly. Something is bothering you,” Bobbie said. She had never seen her daughter so desolate. She was half afraid of what might have made her daughter so sad.
“Can me and Michael stay with you at the brownstone?,” Carly asked quietly. She couldn’t take having to go back to the Quartermaine mansion, ever. And Michael wasn’t going back there either.
Bobbie watched as Carly lost herself in thought, her emotions playing across her face and for the first time, she knew that her daughter was truly scared. “Of course sweetheart. You and Michael have some stuff there from the last time you stayed over,” Bobbie said, hugging her daughter.
Carly smiled gratefully. “Thanks momma,” she said. Buttoning Michael’s jacket, they all left the park together, never seeing the man sitting in the shadows.
Jason waited patiently for Emily to answer his knock. Watching the hall clock as the minutes went by, Jason realized that something wasn’t right. “Emily, its me Jason. Open the door,” he said as he knocked on the door more forcefully. Panic rising in him, Jason tried the lock. He sighed with relief as the door opened. “Emily, where are you?,” he asked, glancing around the room. Suddenly, he noticed that the bathroom light was on. Walking over, Jason gently pushed the door open.
Emily glanced up at her brother, a bloody razor poised at her wrist.
Jason froze in shock as he watched the bloody razor in his sister’s hand. Glancing at her arm, he could see the bloody cuts that she had already inflicted upon herself. Suddenly, Jason snapped back to reality.
“No!,” he yelled as he grabbed the razor from Emily’s nerveless fingers. Throwing it in the sink, he grabbed Emily and hugged her to himself as he tried to stop the bleeding.
Emily stared into space as Jason tried to stop the bleeding in her arm. It was like she was watching everything happen, only she wasn’t a part of it. She felt Jason pick her up and bring her into the bedroom and pick up the phone, but was in too much shock to do anything. Staring at her sobbing brother, Emily let her own tears fall.
Carly sat in her mother’s living room playing with Michael when the telephone rang. Placing Michael on his play mat, she answered the phone. “Hello,” she said.
Jason sighed as he heard Carly’s’ voice. Eyeing Emily’s prone form, he spoke into the phone. “I-Is your mother there? Please tell me she’s there,” Jason said sobbing over the phone.
Carly’s smile died as she heard the desperation in Jason’s voice. “Jason, what’s wrong? What happened?,” she asked, panic in her voice. Jason never cried and she sounded like he was bawling over the phone.
“ Emily slit her wrists,” Jason said brokenly.
“MOMMA!!!!,” Carly screamed. Michael glanced at her in shock and Bobbie came running into the room.
“What happened?!!,” Bobbie yelled, fear in her voice.
“We gotta go over to Jason’s penthouse, now,” Carly said, alarm in her voice. Turning back to the phone, she spoke. “We’re on our way Jason. Put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding,” she said, hanging up the phone.
“What the hell happened Carly? Did someone get hurt?,” Bobbie asked, concern in her voice.
Carly stared her mother in the eye and spoke. “Emily tried to kill herself,” she said, almost shouting.
Bobbie turned white as a sheet and shook her head in denial. “Emily who? Not Emily Quartermaine?!,” she said hysterically. “Does Monica know? I have to call her,” she said reaching for the phone.
Carly ripped the phone chord out of the wall and threw it on the floor. “Those people aren’t getting anywhere near her! Come on, let’ GO!,” she yelled.
Not bothering to question her daughter’s outburst, Bobbie raced upstairs for her medical kit. Returning downstairs, she saw Carly and Michael bundled up and ready to go. Grabbing her jacket, all three left the brownstone and headed out into the night.
AJ drove home from work, a smile on his face. Parking his car in the driveway, he entered the house to see Monica pacing the hall. “Mom, are you okay?,” he asked sweetly. “Have you found Emily yet?,” he asked, knowing exactly where she was.
Monica gave AJ a hug as answered his question. “No, no one knows where she is or who she’s with. I just want her home safe,” Monica said, tears in her eyes. Turning around, she headed into the family room.
AJ grinned behind Monica’s back as he followed her into the room. Lila, Edward, Alan and Reginald were inside. “Where’s Carly and Michael?,” he asked, noticing their absence.
“She’s been out all day,” Reginald said snidely. He really didn’t like Carly sometimes.
Sighing, AJ went to the bar and poured himself a glass of water. Turning around, he watched everyone in the room as they worried about ‘poor little Emily’. ‘Slutty Little B****’ was more like it. He remembered the countless times that she had snuck that criminal, Lucky Spencer, into her bedroom. She didn’t deserve to be worried about. They never worried about him that way. “Oh well, they be worrying about her much longer,” AJ thought to himself. She’d be gone.
Sonny letce about what? Did he get arrested again?,” he asked angrily. He really couldn’t stand the sight of that man.
Alexis sighed, recognizing the tone in Jax’ voice. He was in ‘I hate Sonny’ mode. “I know you don’t like him Jax. No, he isn’t in jail, but something isn’t right. I need to get over there. He knows I won’t help him if I know that he’s guilty of anything”
“But its ten o’clock in the night! Does he know what ‘business hours’ means? I’m going with you,” Jax said as he left for his jacket.
Alexis smiled. Jax was overprotective sometimes, but he was a good friend.
Alexis and Jax walked into Jason’s apartment building to be stopped by one of the guards. “Sonny called me,” she said, slightly annoyed.
Francis nodded at Alexis and glared at Jax. “Go right up,” he said.
Getting into the elevator, Jax smiled evilly at Francis as the doors closed. Turning to Alexis, he noticed that she was fidgeting. “Are you okay?”
Alexis glanced at Jax nervously. “I’m fine, I just have this weird feeling that something is really wrong. I can’t explain it,” she said. Before Jax could speak, the elevator doors opened. Walking up to the door, Alexis nodded to Johnny as he let her and Jax into the penthouse.
Jason looked up as Alexis and Jax walked into his apartment. “Thank you for coming,” he said quietly.
Jax looked at Jason with narrowed eyes. The man looked like he was in Hell. “What do you want with my wife Morgan? Need a loophole for staying out of jail?,” he asked.
Carly stared at Jax with anger in his eyes. “Shut your mouth Kangaroo Boy,” she said angrily. Before she and Jax could get into an argument, Sonny stepped in.
“Be quiet Carly,” Sonny said. He should of made her leave with Bobbie.
Alexis flounced down into one of Jason’s chairs and spoke. “Exactly what do you want from me?,” she asked. It was late and she would rather be in her house right now than listen to them argue.
Suddenly, Jason spoke. “I need you to tell me what I need to do to get Emily away from the Quartermaines, legally,” he said.
“What do you mean, get her away from the Quartermaines?,” Jax asked. “They’re her family. What the Hell is going on?”
Carly got up and motioned for Jax and Alexis to follow her. “Come upstairs and I’ll show you,” she said. Sonny nodded his head in agreement as she walked by him.
Alexis and Jax followed Carly up the steps, wondering about what she wanted to show them. Reaching the top of the steps, Carly led them to a bedroom door and pushed it in. Walking inside, she motioned for them to follow.
The first thing Jax noticed was the blood stains on the beige carpet. “What happened?,” he asked quietly.
Alexis’ eyes were riveted on the pale form on the bed. Suddenly realizing what happened in the room, she spoke. “Sweet Jesus”Alexis and Jax stared at Emily’s pale form in open-mouthed shock. Bobbie had bandaged her wrists, but she was pale as a ghost and incredibly small-looking in the kind sized bed. Raising her hand to her mouth, Alexis had to stifle a sob. Beside her, Jax rubbed her shoulders comfortingly as he closed the bedroom door. Walking back downstairs behind Carly, Jax and Alexis stared into space as they sat heavily in the couch. Collecting her wits, Alexis turned to Jason and spoke.
“I need to know everything that has happened. Everything."
Walking towards the brownstone, Bobbie was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t realize that she was being followed.
“Barbara Jean? Barbara Jean? BARBARA JEAN!!!,” Luke yelled, trying to get his sister’s attention for the last fifteen minutes.
Bobbie turned around in shock as she realized that someone had been calling her name for quite some time. “Luke?,” she asked.
Luke grinned at his sister. “Who did you expect?,” he asked cockily. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for hours?”
Sighing, Bobbie opened her door and ushered her brother in. “I was at Jason’s penthouse,” she said quietly.
At the mention of the penthouse, Luke’s ears picked up. “What were you doing over there?,” he asked suspiciously. Bobbie looked nervous. “What’s wrong?”
Sitting down, Bobbie began to speak. “I met Carly and Michael in the park and she asked if she and Michael could stay over. So, a while later, Jason called and Carly freaked out. I asked her what had happened and she told me that Emily Quartermaine slit her wrist--”
“WHAT!!!,” Luke yelled, his eyes going wide. “Tell me I didn’t hear you right Barbara! Oh my God! Is she okay? I gotta call Lucky!,” Luke said, forgetting that Bobbie was even in the room.
"Luke! What the HELL is going on! Carly won’t tell me anything, she won’t even let me call Monica! The Quartermaines deserve to know!,” Bobbie said angrily. She was getting tired of being kept in the dark.
Luke turned away from his cell phone. “So, she’s not in the hospital?,” he asked, ignoring her tirade.
“No, the cuts weren’t too deep. I just stitched them. Luke tell me what’s going on or I’m going to Monica. Why is everyone keeping this a secret?,” she asked.
Lucky jumped out of his shower to answer his phone. Rushing down the hall, he picked up the receiver. “Hello?,” he said.
Carly sighed as she heard her cousin’s voice. “Its me, Carly. Listen, you have to come to the penthouse, now,” she said quietly.
“What happened? Is Emily okay?,” Lucky asked, fear in his voice. Carly sounded like she had been crying.
“Emily slit her wrists,” Carly said, her voice hoarse.
Lucky dropped his phone in shock. Staring into space, he tried to process what Carly had just said. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he slid to the floor, his legs having gone numb. “I-Is she okay?,” he asked, finally picking the receiver up.
“Momma came and stitched her wrists, the cuts weren’t that deep,” Carly said.
Lucky sighed gratefully. “I’m leaving now. Tell Jason I’m coming. Thanks Carly,” he said, hanging up the phone. Rushing to his bedroom, Lucky threw on his clothes, grabbed his car keys and ran out the door.
Vincent watched from his hiding spot as Lucky raced to his truck. Having tapped Lucky’s phone, he knew exactly what was going on. It seems Miss Quartermine decided that it was time to ‘shuffle off this mortal coil’. “Such a shame, she’s really beautiful,” Vincent thought to himself. Starting his car, he made his way towards Harborview Towers. Things were heating up.
Jason paced the living room as Alexis and Jax waited for him to speak. Standing in front of his dining room windows, he began to speak, only to be cut off as someone barged through his door.
“Where is she?,” Lucky demanded breathlessly.
Everyone in the room stared at Lucky in shock. He must have set a land speed record to get here as fast as he did. Sonny pointed him in the direction of the steps. Not even bothering to thank him, Lucky took the steps two at a time to reach Emily. Jax and Alexis shared a ‘look’ as they watched Lucky’s retreating back. There was something in his eyes that spoke of more than friendship between him and Emily. Filing that piece of information away for later, Jax turned to Jason.
“Could you please just tell us what’s going on with Emily? She’s not on drugs again, is she?”, he asked, thinking about the time she tried to take a flying leap off the Quartermaine roof.
Jason looked at Jax with undisguised anger on his face. “My sister is not on drugs,” he said flatly. “Carly, could you please tell them what’s going on? I’m gonna check on Emily,” he said, already heading for the stairs.
All eyes turned to Carly as she began her tale of finding Emily in her bathroom.
Lucky silently crept into the bedroom and walked towards the bed. Emily was resting with her head facing towards the door, a pained expression on her face. Sitting down, Lucky took one of her hands in his and held it. “Oh, Em. Why did you do this to yourself?,” he thought to himself.
Laying in the bed, Emily fought to stay in that hazy sleep that promised sweet dreams, but she lost the fight. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see Lucky staring down at her, tears in his blue eyes.
“Hi,” she said quietly, trying to release her hand from his, but he wouldn’t let it go.
Lucky sighed heavily as he pulled his best friend towards him for a tight hug. “Why did you do this Em? I couldn’t take it if I lost you too,” he whispered brokenly.
Emily began to cry as she heard Lucky’s words. Hugging him tighter she spoke.
“God, I’m sorry, so sorry. Please don’t hate me Lucky. Please?, she said in a small voice, burying her face in his neck.
Lucky pulled away from Emily and brushed the tears away from her eyes and kissed her nose. “I could never hate you Emily, I love you,” he said, surprising himself.
Watching from the partially closed doorway, Jason smiled.
Luke hung up the phone, realizing that Lucky wasn’t home. “Damn it!,” he said.
Bobbie glared at her brother angrily. “Luke, answer my question,” she said, steel in her voice.
Luke looked at his sister and motioned for her to sit down. Sighing, he began to speak. “There is a whole lot going on here Barbara and I promise that I’ll tell you everything, but I have to go to Jason’s now,” he said.
“Fine, I’m coming with you. You can explain on the way,” Bobbie said, already reaching for her jacket .
Alexis stared at Carly, not quite believing what Carly just told her. “She was beaten? By Who?!,” Alexis practically yelled.
“By AJ,” Jason said, appearing in the living room. Jax swung his head around to stare at Jason. “You have got to be kidding! AJ? AJ Quartermaine? Why?,” he asked.
“Because he’s a slimy bastard,” Carly said flatly. Rising from her spot in the couch, she went upstairs to check on her son.
“I’m going to need to speak with her and get everything in her own words,” Alexis said, already in lawyer-mode.
Sonny glanced at Jason. “I don’t think she’ll talk to you,” he said.
“Yes I will,” Emily said from the steps.
General Hospital's Friendship Forever