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When Cassadines Fall
No Cause for Worry
Stefan wanders around the kitchen not quite sure what to do with himself. Liz and Maddy look at him and then at each other and roll eyes. Stefan finally comes to a halt in the middle of the kitchen and flatly declares. "You both are coming to stay with me at Wyndemere."
"Oh no, we're not." Maddy replies calmly. She'd been expecting this one since Nik left.
"It's dangerous for you to be here by yourselves."
"Mr C., I know you mean well. You're probably worried about Niknik's mother too. But Liz and I have responsibilities around here. That's why I didn't tell Nik I would be here. I told him I'd be on the cell 24/7. I'm not going to be here alone; I'm going to go about my business which is the only reason I didn't go with him. That means I'll be up at 5am like I normally am and I might be back at the house by ten or eleven at night."
"It's true." Liz verifies. "She's never home. This is her busy season. Fact is you were planning on hitting the sale today over at the mall and fill orders right?"
"Yep. Best shopping day of the season. I have a list about a mile long of things to get, wrap and label for my customers. I also have to get over to the hospital and see Larry. And I'm going to get Cinnamon in to see him too. I really need to check out the competition in the mall. I might want to get a kiosk going there."
"And I'm actually scheduled to work today at Kelly's." Liz tells him. "But that isn't until the afternoon."
"Elizabeth, you've been dealing with cops long enough now with going to the station for your class and all..."
"What are you thinking?"
"Nik and Lucky are going to want to know about the accident. Why don't you forward your calls to the house line. Mr C, do you have your cell phone on you?" Stefan offers it up. "Thanks." Maddy snags it and hands it to Liz. "I want to keep my line free for other calls. But you should call the copshop down in Carolina and find out what happened. Mr C., You should probably call Mrs Lansbury and let her know if you are going to go back to the island or if you are going to stay here until Nik gets back."
"Yes, I'll be staying until Nikolas returns." Stefan decides in that instant.
"Okay." Maddy says warningly "But you'll probably be bored."
"How bad was it, Lesley." Luke asks his mother in law. He is sitting across from Lesley on the other hospital bed in the room with Lulu on his lap.
Lesley winces as she tries to adjust herself in the bed. In addition to all her broken bones she was one big achin' pain. "Baby, will you go in Gramma's purse and get a dollar out. If I don't get a pepsi soon I'll be nonfunctioning all day." Lulu hops down from her father's lap and goes over to the closet where the nurse had put Lesley's items that hadn't been cut from her before surgery. She pulls out a dollar and goes in search of a soda machine. Lesley waits until Lulu is clear before she answers Luke. "It's bad, Luke. I knew that at the scene. The car hit on Laura's side. The paramedics had to cut her out of the car. And typical side impact collision... the airbag didn't deploy." The disgust in Lesley's voice is clear. Head on collisions are actually very rare, nasty but rare. People are more likely to get rearended or hit from the side thanks to intersection collisions. "We were coming home from a movie after having dinner. The other car seemed to come out of nowhere. I could see his face... the guy was freaking out. He knew it was going to happen."
"But slamming on his brakes wouldn't have done a damn thing, not on ice." Luke comments coolly. He still wants to kill the other driver on GP's not because he doesn't understand.
"It was slicker than snot last night. And it happened so fast. While we were in the theater..." Lesley shakes her head and then winces. She might not have passed out in the accident but she did bang her head on the window of the car when they'd impacted. "The paramedics got there quickly I guess. It seemed like forever. They transported Lulu and me out of there first cause we were the easiest to extract. Once we got to the hospital I wouldn't let them take me to surgery until Laura was here. I wanted to be informed of her injuries. Only after they took her did I let them take care of this." Lesley refers to her casted right arm.
"She isn't awake yet." Luke tells Lesley.
"That's nothing to worry about... yet. I knew even before they took her it was going to be a long surgery. It takes some time to get out from under the anesthesia. Yes, the sooner the better but it's actually only been a couple of hours." Lulu comes back carefully holding Lesley's pepsi. "Thank you, Baby."
"I didn't shake it up or anything." Lulu whispers as she hands Lesley the soda.
Luke picks her up and settles her back in next to him. "Well of course not. You know how nasty those casts smell when they get sticky and wet?" He shudders. "Nope. No spilling anything on your grandmother until the day before she gets her cast off. And then we'll soak her in champagne to celebrate." He gives her a snuggle rubbing his nose at her neck until she giggles.
"Sounds like a waste of good champagne." Lesley says wryly.
"Oh we'll save the good stuff for when you actually get it off."
"So how was your Thanksgiving?" Lesley changes the subject now that Lulu is back in the room.
"Well it was going kind of slow until Junior pulled out the cards and we got a poker game going."
"Oh Luke." Lesley makes a face.
"Oh Lesley." Luke makes one back.
Bobbie reaches over to take Jerry's hand. "Are you sure you want to do this now?"
"Too many people know or suspect." Jerry replies bringing Bobbie's hand to his lips but keeps his eyes on the road. "I have to be the one to talk to Maddy about this and find out how she is going to feel. I don't want her blindsided by anyone."
"You mean Carly."
"No, I mean my mother." Jerry sighs. "Bobbie, Carly is going to want an apology for this morning. She really didn't do anything."
Bobbie sighs. "I know. It's just...."
"Habit." Jerry nods. "Well her habits will come in handy now. I have every confidence that Carly will not be the one slipping up in keeping this confidential until I tell her it's okay. If there is one thing that girl can do it's keep a secret."
"And people tell me I have the curse of finding the silver lining." Bobbie falls silent as they pull into the back of Wyndemere Lite. Jerry comes around the SUV and gives Bobbie a hand out of the vehicle. Together they walk up to the back door of the the house. Bobbie knocks on the door and is taken aback when it is Stefan who answers. "Stefan."
"Barbara. Is there word on Laura?" He looks from one to the other.
"No, not since we got the call this morning." Jerry replies. "Luke will probably call if he thinks of it." Bobbie winces but doesn't bother to defend Luke. It's true. "Is Maddy here?"
"No." Stefan steps back from the door leaving it open in a nonverbal invitation for them to enter. "After Nikolas and Lucky left for North Carolina she and Elizabeth both left for work. I'm here to monitor the phones if Nikolas or your brother should call."
"Luke would call you?" Bobbie wishes she could recall that as soon as it is out of her mouth.
"Of course not. Lucky's phone is forwarded here to the house. Why do you want to speak to Madeliene?"
"It's a private matter."
"How private can it be when your mother is stalking her?"
"Excuse me?" Jerry protests and stiffens.
"Your mother's questions are not appreciated. Madeleine cannot afford to be, will not be, distracted at this juncture. Her safety is paramount." Stefan says grimly. "Taking the time to figure out who is asking personal questions about her at coffee stands is time better spent being vigilant."
"Stefan!" Bobbie protests her ex husbands tone.
"Tell Maddy we stopped by and have her give us a call. If you don't then we'll be back." Jerry tells Stefan. Taking Bobbie's hand he leads her back to the car.
"What was that all about?" Bobbie asks once Jerry gets in the car and buckles his seat belt.
"**** me." Jerry mutters. "I must be sleep deprived. With everything else I totally blew off that the Maddy is in hiding from the feds. I need to talk to Pete... or Ricky, find out how things are going."
Maddy does a quick consult of her list-- from age 6 months to size 26 every thing broken down in advance to store and budget. Dealing with the sale crowds is a bitch but she'd studied the ads the night before and thanks to forgetting about her alarm she was actually able to make the early bird specials. She's been able to fax ahead to have favorite sales lady at Wyndams who has set things aside for her. "Elaine!"
"Maddy. Oh hon, you picked hell day to come shopping."
"Yeah, but this is when the prices are the best. Did you get everything?"
"Yeah, I got your fax at home so I pulled everything ahead of time."
"Two tickets to the ballet coming up." Maddy reaches into her bag and pulls out the tickets in a folder.
"Oh these are gold." Elaine kisses them. "I tried like mad to get them but it was sold out within like twenty minutes. How did you get them?"
"If I told you then everyone would know." Maddy laughs. Thank you, Lila Maddy goes to the rack where everything is set aside. She goes thumbing through the hangers marking things off against her list. Thanks to Elaine most of her clothing shopping is done. Now she'd just have to do the other gifts. "What is the damage?" Elaine totals up the invoice and calls out the total. Maddy pulls out her credit card and offers it up. "I have to do some other shopping. Is it okay if I leave this stuff here?"
"Yeah I'll mark it all sold. Just try to get back before I go off shift today."
"Oh yeah. I want to be out of here by noon when it gets really crazy."
"I wish I could say the same." Elaine gripes. "I wish I had my foot bath on some kind of timer to be ready the second I got home." She looks down at the most comfortable work shoes she owns. And they'd be fine for about the first five hours or so... it's the four after that, that would tell the tale on her bunions.
"I'll talk to some people and see if there is something they can come up with. It won't help for today but maybe for the day after Christmas."
"You find me an automatic foot bath and you can name your ticket for the christmas shopping trip."
"Honey, this is my Christmas shopping trip. Or at least 90% of it. The day after Christmas is for me, just me." Maddy steps back from the counter and runs into someone, she turns around to apologize. "Sor..."
"Nope, I'm the one who is sorry." Carly admits grudgingly. "I thought about what you said and you had a point. You'd be peeling me off the ceiling if something happened to Bobbie and nobody told me. And I don't even like her half the time. Love her yes, like her..." Carly rolls her eyes.
"Mothers are like that." Maddy agrees. "It was dirty pool of me to bring that up. Sorry. Still buds?"
"Definitely. I'm not going to lose a pal over Laura Spencer. It's not like the witch ever gave me the time of day. Here. Let Elaine check me out and then we'll go for coffee. How long is your list?" Carly steps up to the counter with a stack of stuff.
"Not as long as it was, thanks to Elaine. And the only way I'll have time for coffee is if we sip and shop... but I do want to check them out." Maddy agrees.
"You gonna put them out of business?" Carly perks up as she hands over her card.
"Got to see how they run their show first. If I can do it better... yeah, you betcha." Maddy watches as Carly collects her bags and then they start toward the coffee kiosk. "We have to get different things." She mutters to Carly.
"Well then let me order first so I can get what I want... but I'll buy." Carly demands. She looks over the list of options. "I'd like a latte...grande but I want it made with sumatran and skim milk and if you have the chocolate covered espresso beans I want white chocolate. Oh and a danish-- cheese... heated." The clerk nods and starts writing grimacing halfway through.
Maddy takes her turn. "I'll have a tall coffee-- black and a banana nut muffin."
"That's it? That's all you're getting." Carly protests. Maddy just glares at her and says shush over her shoulder. Since Carly's hands are full she carries the drinks and pastries to a table out of hearing range of the barrista. "Why didn't you get something fancy? I mean I was buying."
"Cause you did. Besides this is the base of everything." Maddy holds up the coffee. She starts examining the beverage like someone would a fine wine.. swirling it to check color and density. She sniffs it checking the aroma finally she sips the beverage. Her eyes narrow.
"Well?" Carly demands.
"Do you like theater popcorn that you just know came out of a bag popped who knows when?" Carly grimaces in reply. "I'd bet ya that they get use those preform packets... it's good for inventory control... and tap water rather than bottled or distilled. Port Charles water is very distinctive." The next thing she takes the muffin and bites into it chewing it thoughtfully and then shrugs. "Not bad. They're costco. Can't beat Johnny's of course."
"You can tell all that?" Carly looks at her with fascination.
"I could be totally BS'ing you."
"But I don't think you are. Sonny and Jason are like that... or at least I've heard they are. They can taste coffee and just know where it came from. AJ spends more time with them than I do now."
"I can't do that." Maddy shakes her head. "I just know what is good and what is mediocre." Maddy holds up the cup. "This is the latter. It's okay but not memorable." Getting up Maddy goes to the bar with the sugar and cream and starts doctoring the brew heavily. When she gets to the table her phone starts ringing. "Hello? Niknik? How are things there? Okay things I found out... your mom is in recovery, Luke is there already and spending time with your grandmother and your sister. Her room number is.... The police officer who investigated the accident is named...." Maddy starts reeling off the particulars. "He works graveyard. So he is probably off work by now and won't come on again until eleven. Elizabeth found that one out. I'm at the mall now so if there is anything you want me to pick up for Stefan or Miss Lesley lu...." Maddy nods. "Okay, I'll talk to you later. 24/7 remember?" Maddy hangs up the phone.
"Wow. I should have asked you how Laura was doing."
"Nik was in flight. He couldn't get all the info."
"Actually with the right laptop and assistant you can get just about all you need. AJ's assistant is amazing. She used to be Ned's but AJ stole her when he took over as CEO." Carly realizes an opportunity. "You know it still amazes me sometimes that AJ forgave me for cutting him out as Michael's papa for the first year. Michael adores him. Well he adores AJ and Jason both-- one is Papa and the other is Daddy. And I swear it takes both of them sometimes to keep up with him. This baby will be so lucky..." Carly pats her barely protruding stomach. "He or she will have what I didn't. A solid Mom and Dad from day one."
"You got guts bringing a kid into the world."
"Oh it's not like I plan them. I'd really like to plan one. Or should I say I don't plan their conceptions... I plan the hell out of the pregnancies! Actually Michael was more scheming. This one is different. But I never realized how important a father is. Bobbie has no clue who my birth father is... and my adoptive father split early on. But when I see AJ with Michael... or Jerry with Lucas... Since your mom died have you thought of..."
"Tracking down my birth father?" Maddy shakes her head. "No. And I probably won't unless I like need a kidney or something and even then..." She shrugs. "This bird is out of the nest and flying fine on her own. There is no use in crawling back in."
Lucky and Nik stride confidently down the corridor of the hospital armed with the information that Maddy had just relayed. They find Lesley's room without difficulty. Lucky knocks and pokes his head in. "Hey how is everyone doing here?"
"Lucky! Nikky!" Lulu sees both of her big brothers and goes running to them giving them both hugs.
"Hey Princess." Nik checks Lulu out from head to pink sneaker clad toe to make sure that she is truly uninjured. He gives her a squeeze. "Laura is out of surgery?" He looks to Luke who nods.
"We're still waiting on the surgeon." Luke replies. "No visitors until he checks on her in recovery."
"That's standard." Lesley reassures her grandsons as she gets a one armed hug from each of them. "And you three have to promise to be nice to the surgeon. He's been at it since last night." The guys take up chairs around the room.
"Dr Webber?" A tired man in fresh green scrubs walks into the room carrying a file.
"Dr Manheim." Lesley offers her left hand. The doctor takes it in a modified hand shake. "This is my son-in-law, Luke Spencer and these are Laura's boys-- Lucky and Nikolas. Why don't you sit down and tell us how my daughter is doing."
Dr Manheim takes the seat gratefully; it's the first time he's sat down in fourteen hours. "Mrs Spencer hasn't come around from the anesthesia. It's not a reason for concern yet."
Lesley frowns. She knows that is true but she glances over at the clock. It was getting to the point where it would be a reason for concern. "Have you checked her EEG?"
"Until now the concern has been blood and breathing both of which your daughter had difficulty with both at the accident and then in surgery. We've stopped the internal bleeding and she is breathing on her own. She is off the ventilator. She is responding to stimuli but yes, I've order an EEG."
"I'll want to see that." Lesley who'd been doctoring when this guy was in short pants demands.
"Yes, ma'am. Now about visits. The little one can't go in. Not until her mother is moved to a regular room. Other visitors family only and then for ten minutes an hour." Dr Manheim looks to Luke. "I assume you'll be first."
Luke is already on his feet. "I've been waiting on this for hours."
"Even though your wife is not on the ventilator there is a lot of mechanics involved in monitoring her condition and giving her fluids and medicine."
"I've been in recovery rooms before, Doc. Just take me to my wife." Luke demands.
As soon as Luke leaves the boys move in closer to Lesley. "Gramma, an EEG?"
"It measures brain activity. Like the doctor said-- Your mom not being awake yet is nothing to freak out about but I'd like to start ruling out potential problems now."