Lucy and Jessie enter the hospital that Kevin has been keeping Greg at. ''Lucy, are you sure we should be doing this?'' Jessie asks. 

''Of course I'm sure -- if that monster is still alive, do you know what he could have done to Kevin!'' 

''I still think you're over-reacting.'' Jessie tells her. 

''Well, come on, we haven't got much time, Felicia said she can only watch the twins for a few hours.'' Lucy says, and they approach the front desk. 

''Can I help you?'' the woman behind the desk asks. 

''Um, yes -- I'm Dr. Coe -- Coleman. Dr. -- Leslie Coleman. I'm a colleague of Dr. Kevin Collins -- I believe you know him.'' Jessie rolls her eyes as she watches the exchange. 

''Yes, Dr. Collins, he's here quite often.'' 

''Good. Good. Well -- he's kind of -- busy today. He wanted me to come and check up on his brother. So if you'll just let me in there, then --'' The woman begins looking through a list. 

''I'm sorry -- I don't have any Dr. Coleman on our approved list. Did Dr. Collins call here to let us know you were coming?'' 

''Well, he was supposed to -- his brother is here, right?'' 

''I'm sorry, I can't give you any information without Dr. Collins' approval. If you'd like me to page him, I'll --'' 

''Oh, no, no, that's not necessary. In fact, you don't even have to tell him I was here, I'll -- I'll tell him myself. And boy will I give him a piece of my mind for not calling you. Well, gotta go -- Ta!'' Lucy says, and she and Jessie quickly leave the building. ''Did you hear that! He's here! Jessie, Ryan is HERE!'' 

''Lucy -- she confirmed nothing!'' Jessie tells her. 

''Oh, please -- she barely flinched when I mentioned that Kevin's brother was here. Jessie, we have GOT to get back to Port Charles, that monster is OUT there, impersonating my Doc, while my poor Doc is in here and -- oh my gosh, Doc -- we've got to get him out of here, and --'' 

''Lucy -- let's go home and tell Victor what we suspect. He'll know what to do, okay?'' 

''I -- I guess you're right.'' 

''Come on -- there's gotta be a logical explanation for all of this.'' The ladies head back to Port Charles. 

Patrick enters his office, and is stunned to see his notes scattered about his desk. ''What the --'' he says to himself, clearly upset. He starts to look around, and as he turns the corner he sees Chris lying unconscious on the floor. ''Oh my god, Chris!'' Patrick shouts, immediately kneeling down next to him and checking his vitals. He then gets up and goes to the phone. ''This is Dr. Reardon, I need a gurney in the lab, STAT!'' he says, then returns to Chris. ''Hey -- Chris, come on, can you hear me? Wake up.'' he says. No response. He glances down, and notices the empty vial and needle lying on the floor. He picks it up and looks at the vial's label. ''Oh my god.'' he says, and races to the medicine cabinet. He takes out a vial and injects Chris, then immediately checks his pulse. ''Come ON, Chris, don't do this!'' he shouts, just as a couple of staff members come in with a gurney. ''Get him on oxygen, NOW!'' Patrick shouts. ''It looks like he was given an overdose of benzodiazepine, I don't know how long he's been here. He's barely breathing, his pulse is weak -- I gave him .2 milligrams of flumazenil, but he's not responding. Get an IV started, give him another does while we get him down to the ER!'' They get Chris on the gurney and rush him out of the lab. 

Victor hears pounding on his front door, and gets up to answer it. ''Monk, what are you doing --'' 

''Victor -- you have to help me. Please -- help me.'' Kevin says, pushing his way inside. 

''Monk, what is it? Is it Lucy? The twins? What?'' Kevin sits down and runs his hands through his hair. 

''I didn't mean to do it. I don't know why I did it, I just -- you LIED to me, dammit!'' Kevin screams, his mood suddenly changing from panicked to angry. 

''Monk, what are you talking about, I never --'' 

''Lying BASTARD!'' Kevin screams, getting up. He grabs a vase from the fireplace mantle and throws it, aiming at Victor but missing. 

''Monk, stop it!'' Victor says, getting up and grabbing Kevin's arm. 

''Let go of ME!'' Kevin screams, shoving Victor away roughly, and then grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his back. 

''Kevin -- let me go sit down, now!'' 

''Like hell I will!'' 

''I am your father, and I am telling you right now to let me go and SIT DOWN, young man!'' Victor shouts. Kevin suddenly lets go of Victor, then sits down on the couch, and begins to sob. Victor sits down next to him, and Kevin puts his head on Victor's shoulder. 

''I'm sorry -- I'm so sorry.'' Kevin says, his voice shaking. 

''It's alright, Monk. It's alright.'' Victor says. ''I'm going to call someone to help you.'' 

''No -- no, please don't.'' Kevin says. 

''Monk -- you're not well.'' 

''I know that.'' Kevin tells him. ''It's my fault.'' 

''It's not your fault.'' 

''Yes it is.'' Kevin says, finally starting to calm down. ''I know about Greg Cooper, Victor.'' 

''Greg Cooper -- he's dead.'' 

''No -- no, he's alive. And he's my brother.'' 

''Monk, please, if you'll just let me --'' 

''I KNOW Victor, okay? We did a DNA test. Why didn't you tell me?'' Kevin asks. Victor looks stunned. 

''I -- I didn't think you needed to know.'' Victor says. 

''He's my brother.'' 

''And my son -- yes, he is.'' Victor replies. ''That day, when Marcia died -- we were on a picnic. We were -- we were planning to take you three boys and go off together, that night. Somewhere where no one would ever find us. And then, Marcia --'' 

''It was Ryan, wasn't it?'' Kevin asks. 

''He didn't like Marcia. She had hoped he would grow to like her, but -- I couldn't believe a little boy would -- you stopped him from hurting the baby.'' 

''And then what?'' 

''I couldn't keep that little baby. Melanie would have found out -- she'd have killed him. And I certainly couldn't put him up for adoption without her knowing that --'' 

''Victor, you -- you didn't.'' 

''There was this couple, the Coopers. The wife was unable to conceive, and they were looking to adopt a baby and didn't want to wait. And they were offering quite a bit of money. I figured with that money we could start a new life -- you, Ryan, and I. But then -- well, you know what happened, and --'' 

''You SOLD your own child?'' 

''What choice did I have, Monk?'' 

''You sold Greg -- you abandoned Ryan -- you're a LOUSY father!'' Kevin says, his tone changing again, and he reaches out for Victor's neck. 

''Don't make me hurt you son -- I don't know what's wrong with you, but I know you don't want to do this!'' Victor says, grabbing Kevin's hands forcefully as Kevin continues to reach out for Victor. Just then the door bursts open, and Jessie and Lucy enter the house. 

''Victor, you have to -- oh my gosh!'' Lucy screams, as she sees the two men struggling. Jessie immediately reaches into her purse and pulls out a small bottle. She sprays Kevin in the face, and he lets go of Victor and covers his eyes, crying out in agony. 

''You sick bastard! What did you do to my Kevin!'' Lucy screams, hitting Kevin with her purse. 

''Stop it! I AM Kevin!'' Kevin shouts. 

''And I'm the Queen of England! Jessie, call the police!'' Lucy says, as Jessie starts to go to the phone. 

''Jessie, don't -- this is Kevin, it's not Ryan.'' 

''But Victor, how can you explain --'' Lucy begins. 

''I don't know -- but I know my son. Let's take him home, get him settled there, and figure out what's going on here.'' Victor suggests. 

Patrick is on the phone in the ER waiting room. ''Come on, dammit, answer the phone, Jessie!'' he says to himself, slamming down the receiver. He tries to calm down, then picks up the phone again. ''Jessie -- it's Patrick. You need to call me at the hospital the minute you get this message, it's important. Have me paged, okay?'' Patrick hangs up the phone. Ellen Burgess comes out of the ER and into the waiting room. Patrick looks up at her. ''How is he?'' he asks. 

''We've got him stabilized finally -- he must have been there for at least 15 minutes according to his blood work, the drug had already worked its way through his bloodstream. It doesn't look like there was any permanent damage -- we'll need to continue to monitor him for the next 24 hours for side effects and do several more blood panels in order to make sure.'' Ellen tells him. 

''Can I see him?'' Patrick asks. 

''Of course. Have you told Jessie?'' 

''I've been trying to get ahold of her -- I thought she was working this afternoon.'' 

''She changed shifts with someone, something came up that she had to do. I'm gonna order another blood panel in four hours, to see how much improvement there is.'' Ellen tells him, and leaves. Patrick enters Chris' room. He picks up Chris' chart, and sits down in the chair next to Chris' bed as he starts to go over the chart. A few minutes later, Eve enters the room. 

''Hey, I just heard what happened -- how is he doing?'' Eve asks, immediately sitting down on the edge of Chris bed and squeezing his hand. 

''He's gonna be out for awhile -- we still don't know how much damage the drug did. So far everything looks okay, but -- they need to keep running more tests just to be sure.'' Patrick tells her. 

''Who did this?'' Eve asks. 

''I don't know -- someone broke into the lab. It looks like they were trying to steal from my cabinet, and --- Chris probably walked in on them, so they -- I'm sure he can tell us what happened when he wakes up.'' 

''My god, Patrick -- what if you had been the one that walked in on them?'' 

''Then I'd be the one lying here, I guess. Eve -- if I had gotten there even five minutes later -- we'd be having this conversation in the morgue. I almost lost my brother Eve. And the last thing we ever did was -- argue. I told him to get out. I hit him, I threw him out of my home, and --'' 

''Hey -- Chris is gonna be fine. And the two of you will work this out.'' 

''What do you think he was doing in my office?'' 

''He was probably looking for you. He apologized to me again this morning, and -- he probably wanted to fix things with you too.'' Eve tells him. 

''I doubt it. He probably wanted to tell me to stay the hell out of his business again.'' Patrick suggests. 

''You don't know that.'' 

''I don't know how to BE a brother, Eve. It's always been me, and -- I just feel like I'm always doing the wrong thing. If I try to help him, I'm butting in. If I don't do anything, I'm a selfish jerk. I don't know what else to do here!'' 

''You're being a wonderful brother, Patrick. And I think deep down, Chris knows that. And I think he's just as scared of this relationship as you are. Chris isn't a bad guy once you get to know him. It's getting him to let you in that's the hard part.'' 

''No kidding.'' Patrick says. 

''You gonna stay here for awhile?'' 

''Yeah -- I haven't gotten ahold of Jessie, and I don't want him to be alone.'' 

''Well, I have to get back to work -- I'll stop by on my next break. Tell him I was here when he wakes up.'' 

''I will.'' Patrick says. Eve leaves. Patrick picks up the phone in the room and dials, then hangs up, exasperated. ''Jessie, where the hell are you?'' he says to himself. 
 
 

At the Lighthouse, Victor comes downstairs, where Lucy and Jessie are waiting. ''Victor, what's wrong with him?'' Lucy asks worriedly. 

''Apparently he's been taking some drug -- something that a Dr. Reardon is testing.'' Victor tells them. 

''Patrick wouldn't be using Kevin as one of his test patients.'' Jessie says. 

''No, he -- Kevin says he stole the drug. And I suspect that's what's cause this -- psychosis of sorts.'' 

''Why would he do that? Why would Doc do something like that?'' Lucy asks. 

''I haven't been able to get all the details from him -- his mood swings are still very erratic.'' Victor says. ''He wants to see you, Jessie.'' 

''He -- he didn't ask for ME?'' Lucy says, a bit hurt. 

''I'm sure he'd like to see you, Lucy, but -- he did ask specifically for Jessie.'' Victor tells her. 

''Come on -- let's both go up there.'' Jessie says, and they go up the stairs and into the bedroom. 

''Oh, Doc -- what happened to you?'' Lucy says, going right to his side. 

''I'm sorry, Lucy. I'm so sorry.'' Kevin says, crying. 

''Oh, it's okay -- you're gonna be okay now.'' Lucy says, hugging him. ''Doc, I -- I know who you're treating -- did this happen because of him? Is it his fault?'' 

''I was just trying to help my brother. And I thought if the medication helped him, then maybe it -- I just didn't want our children growing up and becoming -- so I thought, if I tried it, then --'' 

''My god, it's true.'' Jessie comments. ''He's alive.'' 

''Jessie, is he okay?'' Kevin asks. 

''I don't know -- we didn't see him, we just --'' Jessie begins. 

''No -- Chris.'' Kevin tells her. 

''What about Chris?'' Jessie asks. 

''Jessie, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was doing. You know I don't like the guy, but I never would have done that if I had been -- it was the drug, Jessie. It made me -- do things, and --'' 

''Kevin -- what are you talking about?'' Jessie asks. 

''You don't know. Oh god -- oh my god, I killed him.'' Kevin says, panicking. 

''Doc -- just tell us what happened.'' Lucy says, trying to calm him down. 

''I -- I broke into Patrick's lab. I was looking for more of the drug. Someone came in -- I grabbed a vial of benzodiazepine and a needle and hid it behind my back. It was Chris -- he saw me, and I panicked, and I took the drug, and --'' 

''NO!'' Jessie shouts. ''Oh god, NO!'' 

''Jessie, I'm sure he's just fine, and --'' Lucy begins, as Jessie frantically picks up her cell phone, which has been turned off. She turns it on, and sees that she has a message. She dials her voice mail, and listens to the message. 

''Jessie -- it's Patrick. You need to call me at the hospital the minute you get this message, it's important. Have me paged, okay?'' 

Jessie can hear the tone of worry and fear in Patrick's voice. ''Oh god, Chris.'' Jessie says, in tears. 

''Jessie, is he --'' Kevin begins. 

''You BASTARD!'' Jessie shouts at him, then races out of the room and down the stairs. 

''Jessie, where are you going in --'' Victor begins. 

''I have to go -- I just -- I have to go Uncle Victor, I'm sorry.'' Jessie says, and rushes out the door. Victor goes up the stairs, and enters the bedroom. 

''What's wrong with Jessie?'' Victor asks. 

''Victor, we -- we're gonna need your help.'' Lucy says, fighting back tears. 

''What's going on here?'' Victor asks. 

''I -- I killed Chris Ramsey.'' Kevin replies. 

Jessie enters Chris' hospital room. ''Oh, baby!'' she shouts, in tears, and rushes to Chris' side. ''Patrick, is he okay?'' she asks. 

''He's doing better. His last blood panel improved over the one before it.'' Patrick tells her. 

''Has he been conscious?'' she asks. 

''He's been in and out, but he hasn't really been alert. Don't worry Jessie, I'm sure once Chris wakes up he can tell us who did this to him, and --'' 

''It was Kevin.'' Jessie interrupts. 

''What! Kevin?'' Patrick asks, stunned. 

''It wasn't his fault, Patrick. He didn't know what he was doing.'' 

''What are you talking about?'' 

''He stole your new drug from you -- he thought it would help him stay --'' 

''Oh my god. What the hell was he thinking, I told him it wasn't an option for him to --'' 

''You told him? I thought you barely knew Kevin.'' 

''I've been working with a patient of his.'' Patrick tells him. 

''His brother?'' 

''You know?'' 

''Lucy and I figured it out. Patrick, how could you! He belongs in JAIL for what he did!'' 

''Kevin convinced me to help him -- I didn't want to Jessie, but -- Kevin was desperate, and --'' 

''Patrick, I know you were trying to help, but Ryan is --'' 

''Ryan? What do you mean Ryan, I was --'' Patrick stops as Chris suddenly starts to awaken. 

''Jessie.'' Chris calls out, starting to open his eyes. 

''Hey, I'm right here, baby.'' Jessie says, squeezing his hand. 

''Where am I?'' Chris asks, still extremely groggy. 

''You're in the hospital.'' Jessie says, touching his cheek softly. ''You're gonna be alright, sweetheart.'' 

''What happened?'' Chris asks. 

''You were drugged.'' Patrick says. ''How do you feel?'' 

''Like I'm gonna be sick.'' Chris tells him. Patrick picks up a needle from the tray next to Chris' bed. 

''I thought you might need this when you came around.'' Patrick says, and injects the medication into Chris' IV. ''That should help.'' Chris takes a deep breath. ''Better?'' 

''Yeah. Thanks.'' Chris says, then he looks over at Jessie. 

''Jess -- Kevin, he -- he was in the lab. He was -- he was crazy. He pulled out this vial and I didn't even get a chance to pull away, he just --'' Chris starts to become very agitated. 

''Shhhh, calm down.'' Jessie says, squeezing his hand. ''It's alright.'' 

''What did he give me?'' Chris asks. 

''Benzodiazepine.'' Patrick replies. ''You're lucky I found you when I did. A couple more minutes, and --'' 

''Jessie, call the police, get someone in here. I want to make a statement.'' Chris says. 

''Chris -- Kevin didn't know what he was doing.'' Jessie tells him. 

''He knew enough to try and kill me.'' Chris says. ''Are you gonna call the cops or am I?'' 

''You don't know the whole story, Chris, and once you do I think you'll --'' Jessie begins, but Chris interrupts. 

''I don't NEED to know the whole story. Your insane cousin injected me with a lethal dose of a narcotic. What else is there? Now are you on my side or are you on his?'' Tears start to form in Jessie's eyes. 

''Jessie, let me talk to him, alright?'' Patrick says. Jessie squeezes Chris' hand and kisses him on the cheek. 

''I'll be back. I love you.'' she whispers, as Chris looks at her coldly. Jessie leaves. 

''Give me the phone.'' Chris says to Patrick pointedly. 

''No.'' Patrick replies. 

''Reardon, give me the damn phone or I swear I'll --'' Chris sits up as he shouts at Patrick, then suddenly stops and turns pale, hyperventilating and trying desperately to catch his breath. Patrick reaches for the oxygen mask, pushes Chris back down and places the mask on him. 

''Would you just take it easy already? You already scared me to death enough today as it is.'' 

''Like you care.'' Chris says, still holding the mask on his face. 

''For some reason I do.'' Patrick tells him. ''Now you're gonna keep your mouth shut and hear me out, is that clear?'' Chris just glares at him. ''Greg Cooper is alive.'' Chris' eyes get wide. ''Kevin found out that he and Greg are brothers. He cut some kind of deal with Cooper when he was being held hostage, to help him in exchange for letting him go. They staged his death. Kevin found out about my drug trial, and he persuaded me to use Greg as one of my test patients. Ever since the kidnaping, he's been paranoid about his family's history of psychosis, and is afraid for his children. I just found out from Jessie that Kevin stole some of my drug and has been medicating himself with it. But since he wasn't suffering from any kind of mental dysfunction, it obviously had the opposite effect on him. It caused him to have a breakdown. You apparently walked in on Kevin trying to steal from my cabinet -- by then he was probably too far gone to even reason with, because of the medication. And if you have Kevin arrested, I'll be arrested, too. I was aiding and abetting, Chris. And you know this will come out if Kevin ends up in jail. Is that what you want? For me to go to jail, too?'' Chris pulls his oxygen mask away. 

''You've got a lot more Ramsey in you than I ever realized.'' he comments. 

''Will you keep quiet about this?'' 

''Where's Collins now?'' 

''I'm not sure -- I didn't get to talk to Jessie in too much detail. It sounds to me like he's under control. The medication should start wearing off soon, and he should be back to normal.'' 

''He was never normal.'' 

''You know what I mean.'' Patrick says. 

''Alright, I'll keep quiet -- for now.'' Chris says. 

''Thank you.'' Patrick tells him. ''You feeling better now?'' 

''Yeah, just exhausted. I feel like I could sleep for a week.'' 

''Well, sleep is the best thing for you right now. We're gonna need to monitor you for awhile yet, so you're not going anywhere. Look, don't be too hard on Jessie, okay. This isn't easy for her. She loves you, but she loves Kevin as well. I know how you are when you're angry, but -- put yourself in her shoes before you lash out at her.'' 

''What, I'm supposed to feel guilty that her cousin tried to kill me?'' 

''You KNOW what I mean. By the way -- why were you in the lab?'' Chris sighs. 

''I wanted to apologize. For being such a jerk yesterday.'' 

''Well, then -- apology accepted.'' Patrick tells him. ''You get some rest. I'll check up on you later. And for the record -- I'm glad you're alright.'' Patrick leaves the room. Chris gets a look of content on his face as he closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep. 

Jessie enters the lab, and walks into Patrick's office -- the door is still open. From the looks of the place, it's obvious that Patrick left in a hurry and hadn't returned. Jessie walks over to the medicine cabinets, and sees the empty, broken vial lying on the floor. Jessie picks it up and stares at it. She then grabs a towel, and wraps it inside the towel. She cleans up the broken glass around the cabinet, and using another towel, wipes the cabinets clean in order to remove all traces of fingerprints. She then leaves the lab, and once in the hallway throws the towel containing the vial into the first hazardous waste bin she sees . . . . . . 

The doorbell rings at the Lighthouse. Victor opens the door. ''Can I help you?'' he asks. 

''Mr. Collins -- I don't know if you remember me. I'm Patrick Reardon, we've met briefly a couple of times before.'' Patrick says. 

''Yes -- Dr. Reardon. Jessie -- talks about you quite a bit.'' Victor says. ''Please, come in.'' 

''I think you know why I'm here.'' Patrick says. 

''Dr. Ramsey -- is he --'' 

''He'll be just fine. He's been admitted for overnight observation. Jessie is with him now.'' 

''Thank god. Monk said he --'' 

''I know what your son did. I want to talk to him.'' 

''He's been very upset, I really don't want to --'' 

''UPSET? He nearly killed my brother, and HE'S upset? Where is he?'' 

''Upstairs. First door on the right.'' Victor says, seeing no point in arguing. Patrick makes his way upstairs and enters the bedroom. 

''You stupid JERK!'' Patrick shouts, staring right at Kevin. ''How DARE you do this?'' 

''I'm sorry. I didn't mean to --'' 

''Like hell you didn't. You knew exactly what you were doing.'' 

''Please, I know that this is -- not an easy time for you, but -- my Doc needs his rest right now, and --'' Lucy begins. 

''Your 'Doc' needs to be locked away somewhere! But unfortunately I can't DO that without getting myself into trouble. As of this minute, our professional relationship is OVER Collins, is that clear?'' 

''Is he dead?'' Kevin asks. 

''Chris? You'd like that, wouldn't you?'' Patrick suggests. 

''Of course not.'' Kevin replies. 

''Fortunately I found Chris in time. If he hadn't made it, I WOULD be sending you to prison, no matter WHAT it cost me.'' 

''What are you going to do?'' Lucy asks. 

''Nothing. Just stay the hell away from me from now on, Collins. Is that clear?'' Patrick says, and his cell phone rings. Patrick answers it. ''This is Dr. Reardon. What? No, I -- I know how to get in touch with him, I'll take care of it. I'll be there as soon as I can.'' Patrick hangs up the phone. ''That was the hospital -- your brother just took an overdose of sleeping pills.'' Patrick tells Kevin. 

''Is he --'' Kevin begins. 

''He's alive -- I'm going out there right now. And I'm taking him OFF the drug. It's obviously not having the effect we'd hoped for.'' Patrick says. 

''Will you -- let me know what happens.'' Kevin says. 

''You can find out for yourself. I told you -- as of right now, my professional relationship with you is OVER.'' Patrick says angrily, and he leaves. 

''Doc -- why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me Ryan was alive?'' Lucy asks. 

''Ryan? Lucy, it's not Ryan. It's Greg Cooper. Greg Cooper IS my brother.'' Kevin tells her, as Lucy stares at him, stunned. 
 
 

July 30, 2001 -- morning. Lucy is in the kitchen, making breakfast. Victor enters. ''Good morning, Victor. I'm getting the twins breakfast -- did you want anything?'' 

''Oh no, nothing for me -- Kevin is awake, he's feeling much better this morning. He wants to talk to you.'' Victor tells her. 

''I've got a lot of business to do at Jacks this morning -- we're finally getting the new offices open after all of the -- well, anyway, I'm dropping the twins off at Felicia's, she said she'd watch them. So I need to hurry up and get them breakfast, Don is waiting for me.'' 

''Lucy -- did you hear what I said? Kevin wants to talk to you.'' 

''I heard you.'' Lucy says, continuing to cook but not looking up. 

''Don't you want to talk to him?'' Lucy finally looks up. 

''Not really.'' she replies. 

''Lucy -- what happened yesterday, he didn't know what --'' 

''Oh, and what about the last two MONTHS -- he's been hiding that -- that -- that MAN and he hasn't even told me about it! What if he had gotten free again? I went through hell, almost losing my little girl because of one monster brother of his -- and now he almost lets the other one loose? I'm sorry Victor, but it's gonna take a lot more than an itty bitty little apology from Kevin to get me to forgive this.'' 

''Lucy -- after all the two of you have been through. Everything that happened to Kevin on Jasmine Island -- the past year, with Ryan --'' 

''NONE of that was Kevin's fault! THIS was! My god, Victor -- he medicated himself with an experimental drug, and almost killed someone because of it! And he knew exactly what kind of risk he was taking! How can I just --- pretend that it didn't happen?'' 

''I don't know, Lucy -- but you have to --'' 

''I have to feed my children right now. I don't HAVE to do anything else.'' Lucy tells him, heading upstairs to get the twins. 

Patrick enters Chris' hospital room -- he is carrying several charts. ''Hey -- you getting sprung from here this morning?'' Patrick asks. 

''Yeah, Jessie just went to my locker to get a change of clothes for me. Then once I get discharged I need to do rounds.'' Chris tells him. 

''NO, then you need to go home and just take it easy for today. Besides -- your rounds are done.'' 

''Excuse me?'' Chris says. ''By who?'' 

''Me.'' Patrick replies, handing Chris the stack of charts. ''Got here early -- thought I'd do you a favor. Figured you could go over my notes before you checked out.'' He hands Chris the charts. Chris starts thumbing through them, somewhat glaring at Patrick but not saying a word. After looking through a few of the charts, he looks up at Patrick. ''Is there a problem?'' Patrick asks. 

''Yeah, there is.'' Chris says, handing Patrick the stack of charts. ''What the hell are you doing wasting your life holed up in that lab? Do you know how many doctors would kill to be this good at what they do?'' 

''Did you just -- pay me a compliment? Are you sure you're feeling well enough to leave here?'' 

''Oh, ha-ha, very funny.'' Chris quips. ''I'm serious. You're -- you're really good at this. You should be out there on the front lines, treating people, not locked away in your little cubicle looking at blood and urine samples all day.'' 

''I'm not good with people. I think I failed bedside manner in med school.'' 

''So did Chris. Didn't stop him.'' Jessie teases as she enters the room. ''I got Ellen to sign your walking papers -- we can go any time you're ready.'' she says to Chris, handing him some clothes. 

''Thanks.'' Chris says. ''I'm gonna grab a shower. I'll be right out.'' he says, taking the clothes and going into the other room. 

''How's he been doing?'' Patrick asks. 

''Alright. He was kind of restless last night, I don't think he got much sleep. Then again, neither did I.'' 

''This has to be hard for you.'' 

''Patrick, I love Kevin. He's like a big brother to me. But Chris is -- I don't know how I'll be able to forgive Kevin for this. He came SO close to taking away the most important thing in the world to me. How can I forgive that?'' Jessie asks. 

''I don't know what to tell you. I'm pretty angry at the guy myself.'' Patrick says. 

''Patrick, I -- I went into your lab last night. It was still -- the way you left it. And I -- destroyed any evidence of Kevin being there. I don't know why I did it, but --'' 

''You wanted to protect him.'' 

''Yeah, I -- guess. Dammit, I don't know why, because I am so MAD at him right now for what he did! How could he DO this?'' 

''I don't know what he was thinking. I do know how desperate he was to help his children.'' 

''Oh, don't use the twins as an excuse for him! A mistake is one thing, but when you make a decision that almost costs an innocent person his LIFE, that's another thing entirely! How dare he LIE about this -- go behind Lucy's back -- put people he supposedly cares about in jeopardy due to his erratic behavior that's nobody's fault but HIS OWN!'' 

''Jessie, if you're gonna blame Kevin, you might as well blame me as well.'' Patrick tells her. ''I feel just as responsible for what happened to Chris as you think Kevin is. It was my drug that caused Kevin to behave the way he did.'' 

''You didn't GIVE him the drug.'' 

''No -- but I never should have gotten involved with him and Greg Cooper in the first place.'' 

''Greg Cooper? What are you talking about?'' Jessie asks. 

''Ryan isn't the one in the hospital -- it's Greg Cooper. And he IS Kevin's brother.'' Jessie sits down on the edge of the bed. 

''I don't believe it. So -- all this time --'' 

''Kevin's been protecting Greg. Yes.'' 

''This just gets more and more insane by the minute! Patrick, why did you even HELP him?'' 

''I don't know.'' Patrick shrugs. ''Typical doctor God-complex, I guess. Figuring I could save everyone. I guess he kind of reminded me of -- well, of me in a way.'' 

''HOW?'' Jessie asks. Chris starts to enter the room, but stops and listens in, unbeknownst to Jessie and Patrick. 

''He just wanted to help his brother. It wasn't Kevin's fault that he never got to build a relationship with his brother when he was young. I guess he figured that -- that maybe if he had, things would have been a lot different -- for both of them. I never really thought about anything like that until -- I met Chris.'' 

''You hated Chris when you first met him.'' 

''No more than he hated me. I had no idea we were family. I never even thought about having siblings before. Even when I went to find my birth father. It never even crossed my mind that I could have a brother or a sister out there. And even when I found out, I -- I was young, immature -- angry. I guess I didn't care enough. Now, after meeting Chris and getting to know him I -- I wish I had.'' 

''Hey, you ready to go?'' Chris says, finally speaking up. Jessie and Patrick turn around. 

''Whenever you are.'' Jessie replies. 

''How about NOW -- you know I hate being a patient here.'' Chris says. 

''Okay -- be right back.'' Jessie says, and leaves the room. Chris sits down on the edge of the bed and looks straight at Patrick. 

''How much of that did you hear?'' Patrick asks. 

''Enough.'' Chris replies. ''You know, I was thinking -- why don't you and Eve come over for dinner one night this week.'' Patrick looks stunned. 

''Are you serious?'' he asks. 

''Yeah -- tell Eve to make arrangements with Jessie. I figure it's time we -- got to know each other better.'' Patrick smiles. 

''Okay. I will.'' he says. 

''And, uh -- I think I can trust you to keep an eye on my patients for today.'' 

''Yeah -- no problem.'' Patrick replies. 

''Just make sure they don't start to like you better than me -- if you steal any of them, I'll just have to sue you for lost wages.'' Chris teases. Patrick laughs. 

''I'll do my best Boardman imitation.'' 

''Well don't torture them THAT much.'' Chris says. Jessie enters the room with a wheelchair. 

''You ready?'' she asks. 

''Oh, come ON Jess, I don't need that.'' Chris says. 

''Hospital policy -- get in.'' Jessie says. Chris sighs in disgust, and grudgingly gets in the chair. Jessie and Chris start to leave the room. 

''I'll see you tomorrow.'' Patrick says as they leave. 

Lucy enters the twins' bedroom. Dominique is laughing as Kevin coos at her, holding her in his arms. ''Put her down!'' Lucy shouts. Kevin turns around. 

''I just changed her -- I think she's ready to eat. Daniel is still asleep.'' Kevin tells her. 

''Give me my daughter.'' Lucy says matter-of-factly. 

''Lucy -- I'm sorry.'' Kevin says, handing Dom to Lucy. 

''I called the hospital and told them that you had the flu, and wouldn't be at work today. I'm going to Jacks to get some things done, and Felicia is watching the twins, so --'' 

''Lucy -- I'll be here, I can stay with the kids.'' Kevin tells her. 

''I don't think so.'' 

''You don't trust me with my own children?'' 

''Trust you? I don't even KNOW you anymore, Doc! After everything we've gone through -- how could you take such a risk? How COULD you?'' 

''I don't know. I just -- I wanted to protect our children. And I was afraid that --'' 

''That's just IT, Doc -- don't you know that if you're afraid, of ANYTHING, all you have to do is come to me and I'll do anything I can to help you! I thought you knew that.'' 

''Lucy -- after everything you had been through -- everything WE had been through this year -- I just didn't think you could handle Greg Cooper being alive. At least not now. I had planned to tell you -- eventually.'' 

''Oh yeah -- just exactly when, huh?'' 

''I was hoping that -- I could help him.'' 

''Help him what? Doc, at worst, the man belongs on death row, and at best in a mental institution for the rest of his life. How could you possibly help him?'' 

''I don't know -- I guess I wasn't thinking it through clearly enough.'' Kevin tells her. 

''No, you weren't.'' Lucy replies. ''I'm gonna go feed Dom -- I'll be back for Daniel when I'm done.'' Lucy says, and leaves. Kevin walks over to Daniel's crib and looks down at him and watches him sleep. 

''Your dad really messed up this time, son. I just hope your mother can forgive me eventually.'' he says. 

Later that afternoon, the doorbell rings at the lighthouse. Victor answers it -- it's Jessie. ''Jessie -- please, come in!'' Victor says. 

''Is Kevin here?'' she asks. 

''Yes, he's -- upstairs.'' Jessie pushes her way past Victor and starts to head up the stairs. ''Jessie, please don't be too hard on him, he's already having a hard enough time, and --'' 

''Uncle Victor -- stay out of it.'' Jessie states, and goes upstairs. She walks into Kevin's room -- he's standing at the window, staring outside. Jessie slams the bedroom door, and Kevin turns around. ''Dr. Quartermaine wants you to review this chart -- she assumed I'd be coming by to check on you, seeing as how you have the ‘flu' and all.'' Jessie remarks, slamming a chart she's been carrying down on the night stand. 

''Jessie -- I'm really --'' Kevin begins, but Jessie interrupts. 

''Don't, okay? Don't tell me you're sorry. Because frankly, I don't care.'' 

''How is Chris?'' Kevin asks. 

''He'll be fine. No thanks to you.'' 

''I never meant for this to happen.'' 

''Then why did you do it?'' 

''I didn't know what I was doing, Jessie. I don't like Chris, but I never would have --'' 

''I don't mean what you did to Chris. I mean, why did you take an experimental drug WITHOUT permission from Patrick and without proper protocol? Pretty stupid thing to do, Kevin.'' 

''Yes, it was. And I regret it very much.'' Kevin tells her. 

''You know what bothers me the most? If this drug works like Patrick says it does -- somewhere deep down, you WANTED to kill Chris. You really hate him that much.'' 

''Jessie, I told you, I didn't know what I was doing.'' 

''Chris told me what you said to him -- that you were doing me a FAVOR. That's what you really think, isn't it? Regardless of whether or not you wanted Chris dead -- you want him out of my life. You'll never accept that I love him, will you?'' 

''I just think you can do better, Jess.'' Kevin tells her. 

''Better than what? Chris may be a lot of things, but at least he's never had any psychotic episodes that I know of.'' 

''Okay. I deserve that.'' Kevin says. 

''Just stay out of my business from now on, Kevin. And by the way -- Chris and I are getting MARRIED.'' Jessie tells him, showing him her engagement ring. 

''What!'' Kevin shouts. 

''Do you have a problem with that? Do you want to try to kill Chris again?'' 

''No, of course not.'' Kevin says unconvincingly. 

''Good.'' Jessie pauses for a moment. ''Just to let you know -- there's no evidence of what you did to Chris. I destroyed it -- consider it a favor. And now you can do ME a favor -- leave me -- and my fiancee -- the hell alone.'' Jessie leaves in anger. 

July 31, 2001 -- Chris enters the OR scrub room -- Kim is in there. ''Chris -- I heard what happened to you the other day, I'm glad you're alright.'' Kim tells him. 

''Sure you are.'' Chris replies. 

''Contrary to what you might think, I'm not heartless. Did they find who did it?'' she asks. Chris pauses for moment. 

''No.'' he finally says. ''Now, if you'll excuse me --'' 

''Chris, I need to talk to you -- it's important.'' 

''Have you reconsidered my offer?'' he asks pointedly. 

''No, I haven't.'' Kim replies, offended. 

''Then we have nothing to talk about. Now if you'll excuse me -- I'm late.'' Chris says, and he leaves. Kim sighs in anger. 

''I will not be ignored, doctor. Especially not by you.'' she says to herself. 

Lucy arrives home from work that evening, and walks into the lighthouse to find Victor waiting in the living room. ''Victor, are you still here? You don't have to sit here and babysit Kevin, he can handle himself. And I can handle myself.'' 

''Lucy -- I need to tell you something. I went home this morning, and came back here later to see how Kevin was doing. And I found this.'' He hands Lucy a note. Lucy opens it up and reads it. 

Dear Lucy, 

In all the time we've been together, I never thought anything like this would happen to us. I've hurt you in a way that nobody deserves, especially not you. I don't expect your forgiveness -- and I think we both need some time to sort everything out -- alone. Please give all of my love to the twins -- maybe someday I can make you understand why I did what I did. Until then, I think this is for the best. I love you. 

Kevin 

''Oh, Doc.'' Lucy says to herself, putting the note down. ''Victor --- do you have any idea where he went?'' 

''I don't know, Lucy -- he took a suitcase, I checked all the hotels, and even -- even all of the psychiatric hospitals I could think of. There's no sign of him.'' 

''I've just been so mad at him, and -- I didn't want him to leave, Victor. I just -- didn't --'' 

''It's okay, Lucy. I'm sure Monk will be back when he's ready. He has a lot to deal with right now. Maybe it's for the best that we give him some time on his own.'' 

''Victor, what if he ---'' 

''I'm sure he'll be fine. Let's just give him some time.'' 

''I guess -- you're right.'' Lucy replies, unconvinced. 

August 2, 2001 -- Jessie spots Kim in the cafeteria, alone, and goes to sit with her. ''Hey Kim -- mind if I join you?'' she asks. 

''Sure, go ahead, sit down.'' Kim tells her. 

''Is something wrong? You look upset.'' Jessie says. Kim sighs. 

''Remember that guy I told you about?'' 

''The one that just broke up with his girlfriend?'' 

''Yeah, him. Well, he -- he got back together with her.'' 

''Oh, I'm sorry. Hey, those things happen. You really liked him, didn't you?'' 

''It's more than that. Jessie, I -- I think I'm pregnant. And it's his baby.'' Kim tells her. 

The doorbell rings at the lighthouse -- Lucy answers it. It's Mac. ''Lucy -- I'm sorry to drop by like this, but -- I need to talk to Kevin.'' 

''He's not here.'' Lucy says. 

''Well do you know where he is? I've got a case I need his help on.'' 

''He's -- out of town right now.'' Lucy says. 

''Well, when will he be back? I really need his help.'' Mac says. Lucy hesitates for a moment. 

''I don't know.'' she finally whispers. 

''What do you mean you don't know? Lucy, what's going on?'' 

''Kevin is -- gone. I don't know -- I don't know if he's ever coming back.'' Lucy tells him sadly. 

Victor walks down a long hall, then finally comes to a door. He takes a deep breath and opens the door. In the room, Greg Cooper is lying in bed, hooked up to several machines. Greg opens his eyes and looks up at Victor. ''Hello, Son.'' Victor says as he enters the room. 

Chris and Patrick are at Chris and Jessie's house, making dinner. ''Tell me again -- how come WE got stuck with this job?'' Patrick asks Chris. 

''Three reasons -- One, if Jessie did all the cooking it'd be tofu everything, two, if Eve did all the cooking we'd all be spending the evening at GH with food poisoning, and three, Jessie thinks this is a good way for us to 'bond' or something like that.'' Chris tells him. 

''Why couldn't we just go to a baseball game or something?'' Patrick asks, starting to inspect the food Chris is preparing. 

''I don't know -- hey, stay the hell away from that, I told you, you deal with the appetizers, I'll handle the main course.'' 

''What, you don't want a second opinion, doctor?'' 

''On my cooking? No.'' Chris replies. 

''Look, I'm done with my end of the cooking -- let me do something.'' Patrick says. 

''You want to do something? Go to the store and get some oregano, I thought I had some but I don't.'' 

''Can't you just use something else?'' 

''No I can't use something else -- this recipe calls for oregano, that's what I'm using.'' Chris says, as he's slicing up some tomatoes. 

''Alright, I'll go -- hey, that knife is too big, you're gonna cut your hand on that thing.'' Patrick tells him. 

''Oh, thanks MOM --- are you going or not?'' Chris remarks. 

''Fine, I'm going -- don't touch my salad.'' Patrick says, and leaves. 

''Who'd want to? Next time I'm just ordering pizza.'' Chris says to himself under his breath. He continues to slice up the tomatoes, and a few minutes later ends up cutting his hand, and lets out a loud cry. ''Dammit, dammit, dammit!'' he says to himself, grabbing a dishtowel and wrapping his hand in it. He starts to head to the other room, when the doorbell rings. Chris stomps over to the door. ''What, did you forget your wallet, Reardon?'' Chris says as he opens the door, and is stunned to see Kevin standing in front of him.