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The breeze swept back her hair and the sun's rays glowed upon her face as she tilted her head up towards the brilliant star. It was a beautiful day for September. Though fall was coming upon them swiftly, whatever warmth was left over from summer was making the days enjoyable.
The trees had yet to lose their color, the flowers were in full bloom, no yet ready to wilt away. In the park, couples picniced and children played on the slides. Yes, it was a bright, sunny day for those who were lucky enough, but for her the world was dark. It would always be dark.
"Emily, the doctor will be up in a few minutes."
She didn't turn. "What time is it?"
"Nine o'clock. He'll be checking your bandages to see if there is any progress."
Emily turned away from the hospital window and gripped the handles of the walker.
There would never be any progress, she thought miserably as she shuffled her slippered feet along the tile floor.
Once reaching the bed, she climbed up and waited for the doctor to come.
She soon heard the heavy footsteps stop at the door to her room. Familiar to her, she looked up.
"Hi Dr. Scanlon."
The doctor smiled. "What did I tell you about calling me that?"
Emily turned at the sound of metal being dragged across the floor only to stop in front of her.
"A stool." Joe stated. "Let's check those bandages, shall we?"
Pressure over her eyes made her jump.
"I've drawn the curtains and shut off the light," he said as he pulled the bandage away. "We don't want anything to hurt your eyes, as sensitive as they might be right now."
He leaned back.
"Now, can you tell me what you see?"
Darkness, she thought. Nothing but darkness.
"Just some shadows." she told him, turning her head. "Does this mean that I'm not going to get better?"
But the doctor was beaming.
"It means that you are getting better, Emily."
She looked at him in hope. "Really? Are you serious?"
He laughed. "You must understand something though. This is only the first step, seeing shadows. You have far more to go." His voice softened as he turned serious. "And there's a chance that there might not be a full recovery."
She didn't care, she wasn't even listening. She was going to get better! She could actually see her friends and family...and colors! She could look at Elizabeth's newest painting and the flower's in Lila's rose garden. She was going to see!
And then what he said hit her.
"But I thought you said that I was going to get well."
"You may be able to make out shapes and distinguish light from dark, but there's no sure chance that you will be one hundred percent recovered."
Her hopes were diminished. She lowered her head.
"Could you please put the bandage back on?" she asked softly.
"Emily-" Joe began.
"Please."
He sighed and nodded in compliance. As he wound the gauze over her eyes, Emily, for the first time, welcomed the darkness.
It would never end. He came to that conclusion a long time ago. No matter how hard he tried, or how muched he willed it, the images wouldn't leave him.
He could picture it almost vivedly; the fun, the excitement...all of it quickly turning to horror. He had picked her up in his silver jaguar for a concert at Jake's. The sky was pelting raindrops onto his windshield; the roads were slick making it hard to navigate. Thunder began to rumble far off in the distance as the rain grew heavier...but the speedometer kept rising. They were both trying to have a good time. She trying to forget the latest argument at the mansion, he trying to forget his latest encounter with Katherine. With the music turned up, they were just beginning to relieve the tension and have fun.
But at the next corner, the fun ended. The slick roads made the car hard to handle. And all in less than an instant, he lost control. She never screamed, he remembered. He heard her intake of breath and saw her hand shoot out to grab a hold of the dashboard as the car turned into the other lane and dropped down into the embankement.
The cars skidded on the roadway below, trying to swerve out of the way of the sudden oncoming car. He pressed the brake, but the silver jaguar only kept up speed as it rolled down. Cutting across the lanes, the car came to a sudden halt as it met the guardrail. Their seatbuckles snapped them back against the hard seat.
It took several minutes for him to regain conciousness. As his eyes opened, he saw drops of rain reappear just as the windshield wiper finished it's job. His gaze fixed on Emily, who sat in a daze. His mind cleared at the site of her. He had called out her name. It took him three calls for her to turn to him and when she did he gasped. Blood ran down her forehead, her eyes wide.
"I got cut." she stated.
He blinked. Her voice sounded so distant, almost like a child holding out his finger saying "I got a splinter".
He reached for the button on his seatbuckle and moved towards her. "Emily-"
And then he noticed it. The distinct smell of gasoline filled his nostriles.
"Oh, God, we've got to get out of here. Emily, do you hear me? Can you move?"
But she appeared to be in shock, for she only stared at him. He backed up and opened the car door. As he stepped out of the car, pain shot through his leg and his knees buckled. His jeans sopped up the rainwater as he fell to the road. Looking up, he saw cars parked along the shoulder, people running towards him. Over the roar of the rain and the distant rumbling of thunder, he could hear the ambulance sirens wailing. A blessing.
Reaching out to the car for help, he stood and managed to get around to Emily's side. Through the window he saw her turn her head, her eyes half closed.
"Don't go to sleep...Emily!" he pounded on the window. "Don't go to sleep!"
He yanked the car door open and she fell into his arms. He groped around for the latch of the seatbuckle, and when he finally managed to find it, dragged her away from the car. But they were still too close. The sky was lit up with red and orange flames as his silver jaguar turned into debris. Emily, eyes wide open, didn't have time to turn her head away...
Tears, like the rain, now ran down Nikolas' face as he stared out the window overlooking the city. His face twisted in torment as he replayed the scene again in his mind. She was hurt because of him. If only he had driven slower, if only he had been in control. If only he had gotten to her in time. One moment later and she would have been killed. But one moment sooner and she could have been saved from a life of darkness.
Emily shot up from her bed, sweat pouring down her face. It was the same dream…it was always the same…Nikolas, the car…the accident. When it's quiet she swears she can still hear the screeching tires and the warmth of fire on her face. Emily wiped the back of her hand across her face and Slowly lowered herself back onto the bed. It's funny her first reaction to waking up from a nightmare is to turn on her bedside lamp. Emily chuckled and murmured to herself,
"at least it saves on the electric bill."
Emily awoke early the next morning, at least she thought it was early, it had only been several weeks since the accident and her parents still refused to buy anything that would help her or make her life easier…it's like buying an alarm clock with a voice that tells you the time means there's no hope. Her parents refused to give up hope, but it was too late, Emily already had.
Emily stumbled to the bathroom and took a shower…cold like always. Nothing warm…never anything warm. By the time she returned to her room she knew it had to be after 8, she could hear the family downstairs yelling. It was always the same, Grandfather yelling about how she should be "up and about" and then usual response of;
"she's having a hard time."
HA! A "hard time" yes, yes, Emily the invalid!
She walked back to her room and began to brush her hair, about mid stroke she abruptly stopped…someone was in the room with her, she could feel it, and it didn't feel right, it felt…awkward.
"Who's there?"
She turned towards the door and gripped the wooden bedpost tightly, letting the hairbrush fall from her hand onto her bed.
''Who's there?'' she called out again. She clenched her fists in frustration and froze as she heard the sound of heavy footsteps on her carpet. And then a voice...
''It's only me.''
Her relief made her laugh out loud as she reached out for her brother.
''Jason, when did you get back?''
''Just today. Sonny called and told me what had happened.'' He leaned back to look her over. Her hair had just been washed and there was a fresh bandage around her eyes.
''How's my godson?'' She asked.
Jason smiled. ''Michael is doing fine. Do you want to see him?''
No, she thought, I want to hear him laughing. I can never see him. But she only replied, ''Is he here?''
''In the gardens.'' He responded.
Emily stepped away from him and got down on her hands and knees. ''I just have to find my shoes, I know that Monica put them here somewhere.''
Jason's heart fell as he watched her feel around on the ground.
''Am I hot or cold?''
Jason's brows narrowed in confusion. ''What?''
Emily smiled and shook her head. ''Where are they?''
He paused. ''They're here.''
Emily looked up. ''Well, aren't you going to help me?''
He glanced at the shoes which lay waiting beneath the windowsill.
''No.''
This infuriated her. ''Why not, you can see them.''
''Don't grow dependent, Emily. I had to learn that.'' Though he couldn't see her eyes, he could see her mouth twitching in anger.
''You weren't blind Jason, you could still see. Where are they?'' She gripped the bedpost and pulled herself up. ''Where are they?'' She asked again, angered at his silence.
He watched her. She grew frustrated.
''Where are my shoes!'' she shouted, ''why won't you help me?''
Jason stared at her for a long time before sighing and raking a hand through his hair. ''They're by the window,'' he finally answered quietly.
She turned her head towards the window and reached for her dresser to help guide her way. Bending down, she patted the soft rug until her hand reached her oxfords. She stood, shoes in hand, head bent.
"Thank you.''
He didn't say a word.
She lay on a lounge on the patio, her face raised towards the sun. Behind her in the gardens she could hear Carly laughing as she and AJ picked flowers with Michael.
She couldn't really piece together what was going on with all of them. Jason had gained full custody of Michael when the truth about Carly and AJ came out. Somewhere along the line, AJ and Jason began talking again-after a very heated argument-and actually became brotherly. He had forgiven Carly and now saw Michael on a regular basis. It had seemed that all was right in the Quartermaine family for once, until...
''Emily, you have an appointment at the hospital.''
Emily made a face. ''They just checked my bandages yesterday.''
''It's for therapy, sweetheart.''
Emily's face clouded at the words. ''I don't want to go.''
Monica sat in a chair beside her and patted her leg. ''We talked about this. You have to go if you wnat to become more independent. You have to learn how to do things for yourself, don't you want that?'' Monica looked for any sign that would indicate that she was about to comply, but her daughter's face was expressionless. It must be something she learned from Jason. Monica sighed. ''Come on. I'll meet you in the car.''
Emily listened for the door to the parlor to close. When it did, she stood and reached for the doorway. She had already given up hope, but she couldn't help wondering if becoming independent contradicted what Joe had said about the possibility of recovery. It must, if he suggested that she go to this therapist.
Despair overwhelmed her as she realized that there was nothing left for her to look forward to.
Emily went. She was none to happy about it, but Monica had promised during the ride over there that they would get sno-cones in the park-just the two of them. And she never could resist a grape sno-cone.
She waited for Joe in an empty hospital room. He had told her that she was going to meet her therapist- that she could wait a long time for.
While waiting, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and glanced around the room. She wondered what it looked like, wondered if it had plain, white walls with cheap plastic curtains and a gaudy picture hanging right above the bed.
She laughed out loud at the thought, but quickly closed her mouth when she realized that the door to her room was open.
It was then that she felt a presence. It wasn't Joe, for she would have recognized his footsteps-or perhaps the high heels of the therapist. And she was getting quite good of depending on her other senses.
But this presence was different. It was silent, and she could feel the person's eyes on her. And for some reason, this silence was almost familiar.
''Jason, you know I hate it when you don't say anything. You can come in.''
She waited until she heard footsteps gingerly step on the tile as they came closer. And then a voice spoke, deep and so unfamiliar that it made her jump.
''Who's Jason?''
The room was silent except for Emily's strained breathing,
"Who's Jason?"
Emily's head snapped up, she wished she knew who it was, or at least be able to recognize the vioce, but she couldn't. It was deep and smooth…nothing she's ever heard before.
"Who's there?"
She couldn't stand this, not being able to see who was in the damn room! First Jason just sitting there not helping her, and then her mother making her go to the hospital, she had had enough! She slammed her hand onto the metal try next to the bed forcing a sharp pain to shoot through it; she ignored it and continued to listen.
" Answer me!"
She couldn't take it, anymore! She jumped of the table and began to cross the room to where she thought the door was located. She practically ran across the room to whoever was there. She was almost to the door when she rammed her foot into something solid…something metal…something…that hurt
"Ah! Damn!"
She leaned over to rub her foot when she finally heard him.
He came rushing to her side, "are you alright?"
His voice was deep and smooth and she thought she actually heard concern.
"NO! I'm not all right! Now who the hell are you?"
He grabbed her by the elbow and started to pull her up. OK, now he's helping me…so he's a nice stalker?
He was just about to speak when she cut him off, "Hold on…you know what? I don't want to know! Just get the hell outta my room…y-you freak!"
Just as she was about to stand on her own he dropped her and she landed smack on her behind.
"Last time I checked this was a public hospital"
He folded his hands over his chest and was about to continue to yell at this little brat, when he noticed she was silent, just waiting for him to continue. He took a deep breath and began in a much calmer tone, almost playful.
"Huh, Sonny was right about you, you're a fiery one."
Emily got up quickly and brushed herself off and straightened her clothing, "OK, first off all, How do you know Sonny? And secondly, 'you're a fiery one'" she said imitating him, "…last time I checked we weren't in a forties movie"
One thing Emily had to admit was that with all she was going through, she hadn't lost her sense of humor…no matter how snotty or twisted it was.
The stranger chuckled, "Well, first of all Sonny and I go way back, he was almost my step-father," he thought for a second, "…or was my step-father," He glanced at Emily and he could tell she was slightly confused, "…it's a long story, but it makes sense at the end…in a Jerry Springer sorta way. Second…What can I say, I'm a big Clark Gable fan."
Emily was completely stumped… ok, some guy comes into my hospital room, won't identify himself, helps me, and is now making jokes…Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
"I'm Juan" he said extending his hand, it took a minute to realize she wasn't going to shake it and pulled it back embarrassed.
"Ok, Juan" She sighed, "just what the hell are you doing here?"
She knew that he was still in the room, even though he hadn't spoken for some time now. She could feel his presence, hear the slight shift of his body as he hesitated. Even more than that, she could hear his small intake of breath.
Emily shifted uncomfortably and dropped her head slightly so that her hair fell over the bandages.
"Well?" She asked expectantly, becoming impatient.
"Laughter." he spit out.
She thought about this.
"What?"
"I heard someone laughing as I was going past-more of a chuckle actually...I take it that was you?"
Emily reached out for the chair by the door and took a seat.
"There wasn't anything funny, I promise you that."
"There must have been."
"Can you leave?" she suddenly asked. "I'm supposed to meet someone."
"In a hospital?"
Emily's head moved towards the voice and replied rather sarcastically,
"Yes. I'm a person in a hospital, a public hospital," she stressed, "that's called a patient. Patients are supposed to meet with their doctors. Now, do you mind?"
But Juan didn't leave. In fact, she could hear him move a step closer.
"What are you doing?" She gripped the arms of the chair so tightly that her knuckles began to whiten. "Please leave!" she demanded more urgently.
And then his voice, so close to her...so soft. And was that sympathy she detected?
"Why are you here?"
"I thought I asked you to leave."
"What are those bandages for?"
If she could see him reach out to brush her hair out of her face, she would have hit him, she decided afterwards. But she didn't see it coming-quite literally. She jumped and let out a startled cry. The boy jumped backwards.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, apparantly taken aback by her sudden outburst.
"Don't you ever do that again!" she yelled fiercly. Her lower lip trembled with fear. "Do you know what that's like..." she paused, he stared at her. "...for someone that's blind?"
He watched the clock as the smaller hand clicked to the three. A bell chimed, telling him that it was a quarter after the hour. He heard that bell chime four times already, and he made a mental note to throw it in the trash.
Or he could give it to Carly as a late housewarming present.
He chuckled at the thought and turned around just as the penthouse door opened.
"You're late, Jason." he commented as he mixed his drink.
"I was with Emily." the man answered.
Sonny Corinthos immediately softened. "How's she doing?"
Jason sighed as he took a seat on the leather couch. "Giving up. I don't know what to do."
Sonny sat down in a chair across from his business partner.
"I didn't help her." Jason explained. "She was looking for her shoes and I told her to find them herself."
"She needs to be independent, Jason." He took a sip of his drink as Jason shook his head.
"She's the exact opposite of me, Sonny. The exact opposite. I wanted to be independent, I didn't want anything from the Quartermaine's. But with Emily, with Emily it's different. It's like she's scared of doing things on her own because it means that there's nothing left for her to look forward to."
Sonny raised an eyebrow, but Jason went on. "She feels as if there isn't any hope."
"And she told you this?"
"I could see it."
Sonny understood. Jason did have a way of seeing things, their emotions, that others couldn't. Standing, he walked over to his desk and pulled out some papers.
"You can't change what she's feeling, Jason. It's tough on her, let her work through it. But you let her know that if she ever needs anything-"
"To come to you. I'll tell her."
Sonny nodded as he sat down in his chair once again. "Now, the reason I called you here." Sighing, he placed the papers in front of Jason on the coffee table. "We have a problem."
General Hospital's Friendship Forever