When Cassidines Fall

Machinations

Stefan wakes fully alert. Reaching over to the bedside table he flips on the lights to the hotel room. He and Monica had arrived in Baltimore at approximately 2am. They'd been escorted to their rooms and wake up calls arranged for 8am. Picking up his watch he glances at the time. Still a half hour before eight. The accommodations are not up to Cassadine Standards but that's a sacrifice willingly made for the proximity to the hospital. They have an appointment with the director of the Neurosurgery department for 10am. The interim would be sufficient for checking the lay of the land. Rising from the bed, Stefan goes through an abbreviated regime of Tai Chi. The ritualistic exercise allows him to focus mentally and physically on the task ahead.

"Sorry, I'm late." Maddy says in a rush as she enters the Quartermaine mansion on a run smiling a greeting to Reggie who grabs her coat on the fly.

"Did you get hung up at one of the kiosks?" Em looks up from the Quartermaine breakfast table where she has the Herald spread out in front of her. Grandfather had already left with the Wall St Journal for the office.

"Nah over at the house. I haven't even been to the kiosks. I called them but I haven't physically checked in." Maddy is appalled by the downfall of her routine. And then to be late to class on top of that.

"Weird what happened in court. Grandfather is going to call Justus as soon as he gets to the office. Johnny checked in with the Judge and his mom last night."

"I still don't really know what happened. I haven't talked to Aunt Dara." Em offers Maddy the front page of the Herald which headlines Courthouse Hostages Released "Oh boy." Maddy slides her bookbag to the floor and grabs the paper. As Maddy is muttering as she reads, Emily goes over to the breakfast bar and grabs a coffee and croissant as well as some sliced fruit for her pal. "Dara said that I didn't have to be there... that it was just paperwork."

"I guess Alexis had other ideas." Em sits back down.

"Is she around?"

"Nah they've already left for the office. Alexis wasn't looking too good but she said she had to get to the hospital, because Stefan is out of town."

Maddy holds up a hand in a stop motion. "Mr C is out of town? When did that happen?"

"He and my mom left last night for Baltimore... John Hopkins. I thought you knew about that?"

"I'm going to kill Nik." Maddy folds up the paper and slaps it down next to her plate. "Not telling me about Aunt Dara... well I figure he didn't know. But he could have told me about Mr C last night."

"So that begs the question... what were you talking about last night? Or rather what were you doing?"

"You aren't going to believe this one." Maddy leans in and keeps her voice low fills Em in on what is going on with Jerry.

The pounding on the door wakes Ricky from a sound sleep. His system has semi adjusted to his graveyard work and he hadn't been able to get any sleep until the sun was almost up. He is still half asleep when he puts his feet on the floor and that wakes him up the rest of the way... swearing. He picks his feet up from the icy floor and slides them into his slippers. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Hold your horses. What?!" Ricky pulls open the door demanding.

Cookie walks into his small apartment. She takes it in at a glance. "Well I was going to see if you needed any groceries but I see what you really need is a new apartment. Now that you've quit the BS you can get a place with heat." She hands Ricky a thermos. "Coffee. I don't suppose you have any cups around here. Time for you to come up with a plan."

"Look Lady, I got to bed at about 6am. I really can't deal with you right now." Ricky protests not taking the thermos. He has his hands tucked up in his armpits to keep them warm but still is shivering.

"Works for me." Cookie says with a grin. "Tell you what... you just go back to bed and I'll go pick out your new apartment, in your new neighborhood, with your new furniture. And then I'll stop by the university and pick up the list of classes available after the Christmas break."

"Yeah, fine whatever." Ricky turns away and then stops in his tracks. He'd finally woke up. If he let this woman do all she claimed she would, goodness knows what he'd end up with. He groans. "Let me go grab a shower."

"You do that." Cookie agrees. Ricky grabs some clothes and goes into the minuscule bathroom slamming the door after him. She grins again when she hears the shower turn on and Ricky start swearing. Evidently heat wasn't the only thing this hovel lacked. She makes his bed by just throwing the comforters up and straightening them and then goes over to the sink. Not finding any clean cups, she washes up a couple of them ignoring the screech from the bathroom when what little hot water there is, is diverted to the sink rather than the shower.

Carly hands over the funds with a healthy tip added to the top. "I really appreciate you doing this on short notice."

"Looks like you have a full house, Mrs Quartermaine."

"Yep. I thought I'd be able to postpone until spring but it's better if my little brother's horse is up here." Carly tells the driver shifting Michael on her hip. He's really getting too big to be carried but with the big rig and the horse trailer there is just too much stuff for him to get into.

"Well I don't know if your road is going to last until Spring." The driver comments. "It's gotten worse since I dropped off your horse."

"Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to break down and have it smoothed out. Don't suppose you have anybody you'd recommend?"

"My brother in law has a Cat. He could make short work of it. At least get you through to spring. Taking a pen from behind his ear, he looks around for a piece of paper and not finding one takes Carly's hand and writes the name and phone number on it. "Tell him I told you to call. You start thinking he's playing ya' just give me a call I'll set him straight. He does good work but I don't see what my sister sees in him."

"Families are like that." Carly agrees. "Thanks for this and sorry again for the short notice."

"No problem. Your babies going to need a ride to the show in February?"

"Yeah, Thanks for reminding me. Don't let anyone book you. Mr Roberts and Thunder will both be going." Carly and Michael wave as the driver departs down the rutted path then go back into the office of the stables. Carly copies the phone number from her hand to a post a note on her desk and sticks it to her computer monitor as a reminder to call. "Take that, Nikolas Cassadine. Don't think you're going to duck Jerry Jacks that easy."

"My Horsey, Mama?" Michael says greedily. Thunder had afterall been put in the stall that had until now been reserved for his toys.

"Nope, it's Lucas' Thunder. But if you are really nice he might let you ride him."

Michael goes tearing through Carly's purse until he finds what he knows is there. He holds up the ziploc of apple pieces along with big pieces of carrot. "I feed?"

"Okay, lets see how the new guy is settling in." Michael races ahead. Carly only pauses long enough to put all her stuff back in her purse which Michael had overturned before following her son into the stables.

Nik looks at the stack of papers on Stefan's desk. This is just what he'd collected from the secretary and from the nurses station where the messages had come through. "What a pain." He sighs. And he'd been in such a good mood when he came into the hospital. There is a soft knock on the door. "Enter."

"Nikolas?"

Nik rises to his feet and walks around the desk. "Amy." He gives her a brief hug. "How are you doing?"

Amy exhales heavily and makes a rocking motion with one hand. "So-so. I looked for you first at your office but I saw the note on your door that you were working in here today." Amy looks around. She avoids this office at all costs normally. It's kind of like the principal's office of the hospital. "I heard that Stefan and Monica are out of town... together." Amy's inflection puts a lewd insinuation on the comment.

"Hospital business, Amy." Nik says matter of factly. "Have you talked to Luke today?"

"No. It's too early for Luke. Even if he's at the hospital he's probably asleep and definitely nonfunctioning. I called last night. He says Laura squeezed his hand last night and opened her eyes."

"That's great!" Nik says almost before he sees Amy shaking her head.

"It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's not great. It doesn't mean that she's out of the coma. Both of those things are reflexive actions-- muscle contractions."

"But she opened her eyes." Nik protests.

"It doesn't mean she saw anything, or processed anything." Amy explains. "It doesn't mean she's awake. I've seen it before... it's kind of spooky. The patient's eyes are open but they aren't tracking with anything. Until she starts talking or actually reacting to things the only way to tell if she's coming out of the coma is an EEG. And those are still about the same."

Nik starts getting an overwhelming urge to throw something, to break something but instead takes a deep breath followed by another. "I guess that would have been too easy." Nik reaches behind Amy and shuts the door. "You have a decision to make Aunt of mine."

"Excuse me?"

"There are decisions being made regarding Laura's care. If you are going to be in the loop that means you have to keep secrets."

Amy takes a seat in front of the desk. Nik sits down next to her. "I can keep a secret." Nik looks at her sternly. "I can!"

"Amy..." Nik shakes his head and then sighs. It wouldn't be fair to keep her out of this when it is about her sister. He knows how much he hates it when he's kept out of the loop when things happen with Lulu. "Stefan and Monica are out of town looking for a specialist for Laura. What that means for the hospital is that Alexis and I will be covering for Stefan and Alan Quartermaine will cover anything that needs doing on the medical side. I'll be meeting with Audrey this morning and telling her the same. Any problems, I want to know about them... FIRST. Nothing can interfere with this trip Stefan and Dr Quartermaine are on."

Amy nods. "I'll keep an eye on things." She rises to her feet and starts moving toward the door.

"Amy?"

"Yeah," Amy turns around after opening the door.

"Mother's condition is nobody's business but ours. Nobody's. This trip is nobody's business. Stefan and Monica are on hospital business."

"I got it." Amy runs into Alexis on her way out. "Wow, you look like hell."

"Thank you, Amy." Alexis says tersely. She slides by Amy into Stefan's office.

Nik looks at his other Aunt. She was dressed for success as always-- her lawyer garb, an armor and symbol of her profession. The sunglasses inside the building and the tinge of green in her skin tone give away the excesses of the previous evening. "Luke's?" Nik laughs.

"You know about that?" Alexis pushes her sunglasses up to the top of her head but closes her eyes against the harsh overhead lights.

"You were on speaker phone when Stefan called you last night. It gets better. Lucky heard it too." Nik teases.

"Stop. Just stop." Alexis demands. "I'm here now. What did Stefan want? Where did he go?"

"He's out of town. You and I will have to pick up the slack at the hospital."

"Oh Great." Alexis leans over and picks up the stack of papers on the middle of Stefan's desk juggling it briefly before getting control of it. "I'll be down in the conference room."

"Alexis..." Alexis turns around half way to the door. "...I'm glad you are alright."

"Me too. Although by the time I get to the bottom of this stack I might be wishing I was still being held hostage by a wacked-out, dirty FBI agent."

"That reminds me... any way of freezing his money? And if not returning it to those from whom he extorted it-- then to give it to charities in those localities?"

"You've been hanging around Luke too much. That's the same thing he did to Stefan's war chest."

"Only briefly down in North Carolina. But I know a good idea when I appropriate it."

"I'll have to think on that a bit and get back to you. Highly illegal and I wouldn't want anything to damage the case on Larkin. Should be able to freeze them no problem, Cassadines specialize in freezing things, it's the disbursement that would be illegal."

"True. But even if they don't get him for the extortion... a thief stealing from thieves... I'm sure his shenanigans in the court room will discredit him."

"You'd hope so. But we are after all in Port Charles." Alexis reminds him.

In the teaching theater of of John Hopkins, Stefan leans up against a wall in the observation gallery above. Below him the prey is completing a complicated surgery. The operating room itself looks like something out of NASA. The patient can barely be seen with the number of staff around the table. In the background a racket of modern rock music can be heard. A microphone picks up the comments of the lead doctor explaining what she is doing to the residents who are assisting. Midway through the procedure, Stefan realizes half of the comments are toward the patient explaining as she goes what she is doing. Rather than a typical set up with the anesthesiologist at the head of the patient, the lead doctor stands at the patient's head. The anesthesiologist to the side monitoring vitals. Monica comes up beside him. "Why did I know I'd find you here?"

"She is very young. It is unexpected." Stefan replies. "Especially with the credentials she's already established."

"You wanted the best. She wasn't on the top of the list from the headhunter but I thought she had the most potential."

"Explain yourself."

"You said it yourself. Her age and her credentials. She's packed a lot of learning into her career thus far. She appears to be an intuitive doctor. I also gave her brownie points for being female."

"Excuse me?" Stefan glances away from the operation below.

"In case you hadn't noticed.... and why would you? This place is an old boys club. Sure, there are other women neurosurgeons but not here at the top medical school in the country. In medical school she would have been outnumbered 3:1 by guys and then once she got to residency the odds would have been even greater... and then selecting neurosurgery as her specialty?" Monica shakes her head. "You've not only got to love what you do but have a spine of steel to put up with the crap I'm sure she had to go through. She's also young enough to bring on at GH without immediately threatening Tony Jones. He can respect her surgical skills and not suspect you are grooming her for his job."

"And her substandard taste in music?"

"That's another thing that makes her different. Rather than listening to music that might be her preference... the music she has on is for the patient. I over heard a family member saying that she'd requested a tape of the patients favorite band. Korn, I believe."

"What does she want?" Stefan wonders aloud. The question is rhetorical meant only for him to ponder but Monica answers anyway.

"Well guessing on the papers she's published... so far her interest has been largely in trauma induced brain injury. The guy on the table now is a snowboarder who lost an argument with a tree. He was lifeflighted here. Secondary interest was in treatment of brain lesions in AIDS patients. She took a year off in the middle of her program here to study in Uganda. And as to what she wants... you want me to get a list of the equipment down there?"

"I'll get that."

"If you do it's going to set up a turf battle back at GH." Monica warns him. "All the departments have been running lean; you start beefing up Neuro and the rest of them will want some bennies as well."

"That is your problem." Stefan says flatly. "One not as immediate as the hospital's current need which we are here to address."

"Hi! I came as soon as I could." Carly says cheerfully. Michael races to Cookie. He knows her from Brunches at Porter's. Not having any goodies on her Cookie searches her bag and comes up with some Lifesavers. She offers Michael a piece of candy. "What are we doing here?" Carly looks at the two bedroom apartment in a converted Victorian. "Nice place."

"Empty place. That's where you come in. I need this place furnished yesterday."

"You're not moving out on the Judge, are you? I mean I heard about what happened at the court house. And yeah, on one hand I was happy they'd finally have someone else to talk about but I know how scared you must have been. But you know the Judge stays on top of things like that. Everything turned out fine, right?"

"It's not for me, Carly." Cookie rolls her eyes. Ricky comes out of the back bedroom slamming his cell phone shut and with a disgusted look on his face. "It's for him." Cookie points. "Ricky Robideau, this is Carly Quartermaine. She'll be handling things from here. I have to get to the restaurant. I'll be back after work with supplies for your kitchen. Here is your key." Cookie makes sure Ricky notices that she has retained one of the keys to the apartment. "You two have fun."

"Hey wait a minute!" Ricky protests. "You drove."

"Carly will get you back to your place to pack. See ya." Cookie leaves with a wave.

Carly checks out the new guy. "Robideau... Like in Maddy's Poppi, Robideau? Ricky like in Lucas' new best buddy? You're that Ricky?"

"Carly... like in Rita's riding instructor, as in Old Man Quartermaine's nemesis who threatened to skin him alive and had him arrested? You're that Carly?"

"Well it appears that introductions aren't necessary. Except for.... Mr Man, this is Ricky; he's a friend of Lucas." Carly looks from her son to Ricky. "There now-- you'll have a friend for life. Michael thinks Lucas hangs the moon. So... nice place."

"Yeah, it'll be my cell for the next four years." Ricky slams the cell phone into his pocket. "Whatever the Judge said to my father has got him stonewalling me."

"The Judge is good at that. Whatever he wants he gets." Carly says cheerfully. "You should have seen him while he as courting Cookie. And he'll probably be on the federal bench before Rita gets out of high school. Even if there is a republican in office. And as Cells goes this isn't so bad. I've had worse."

"I've heard that about you."

Stefan rises to his feet when the good doctor enters the restaurant. Monica also rises and makes eye contact. The slim redhead dressed in a cable sweater over a turtleneck and wool slacks strides over. Monica extends her hand to the newcomer. "Hello-- I'm Dr Monica Quartermaine."

"KC Ryan." The woman's grip is firm but not overpowering. "I've read your stuff. I think we were both at a conference in Philadelphia a couple years ago."

"I remember the conference but I'm afraid..."

"Oh you were a speaker; I, a mere supplicant, taking notes furiously." KC quips. She glances over to Stefan.

Monica flushes slightly. "Sorry, This is Stefan Cassadine he is the CEO of General Hospital in Port Charles, New York."

KC extends a hand. "Mr Cassadine."

"Dr Ryan." Stefan takes it carefully but a shock goes up his arm at the contact.

KC feels it too and pulls away with a laugh. "Must be the carpeting. Call me KC." Stefan winces. These little names of affection were never his thing. KC notices. "Or you could call me Sandy. I'm really not one to stand on formality."

"What does the K stand for?" Stefan asks trying to find a way around this.

"I was named after my mother so I've never used it." KC replies with a shrug. "One Katherine in the family was enough."

Monica bites her lip to stop from laughing. Stefan says grimly. "I couldn't agree more, KC."

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