Path To Power

The trip back to the cottage is silent. Dillon for once not driving but instead sitting in the back seat of the Lincoln. There is no conversation between Faith and Ned at all. But the vibe coming off them isn’t sad or worried. It’s angry. It’s like the fury had been building since the hospital. It’s the reason why he had ridden with them rather than driving back with Bruno. He climbs out of the back and opens the door for Faith. He gives her a hand out. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Fine." Faith reassures with a calm smile. "I’ll see you in the morning. We’re going to be on damage control." She gives him a hug. Faith goes into the house.

Ned holds up a hand to stop Dillon from saying anything more. "Tomorrow, Dillon. Tomorrow is soon enough." He follows Faith into the house. She is already at the bar pouring herself a drink and one for him too. She hands him the drink. He takes a sip and then drawing back throws the glass at Faith’s head-- barely missing. The ricochet of the shattered glass doesn’t miss but Ned doesn’t see his wife’s flinch in the low light. "You selfish, conniving bitch! You think you’re going to use this to get the Quartermaine money, you can think again!"

Faith blots at the cut on her face with one of the cocktail napkins. "I’m not getting a dime. Lila told me that the same day as she told me she has cancer."

"Lost?! What the fuck did you lose?!" Faith demands. She’d known this was coming but really he was pressing on her last nerve. "She was here the whole time. If you wanted to spend time with her you could have! Where the hell were you? Where were you when I was having a ramp put on the back of the house? When I started going to the GARDEN CLUB? When I was driving around that old fat meddling gasbag who burnt down your HOUSE?! Where the fuck were YOU? Do you think I signed on for any of this?"

"No, Listen to me, Lover. Lila will not be in any pain. It’s not a hope or a wish; it’s a promise. It’s the reason why she came to me. It’s the reason why I’m not in the will. Well that and the million bucks I got from the Old Man." Faith smirks a little at the memory of that but then gets serious again.

"That’s up to you. You better make sure she has the best pain killers on the market. This is all about taking care of her. If you don’t take care of your grandmother... then I will. That’s the promise Lila wanted from me– and I always keep my promises. Well that and making sure that Edward doesn’t hook up with anyone younger than their daughter once Lila’s gone."

Ned laughs around a sob. "She knows the Old Man too well." Ned goes over to the couch and collapses down onto the middle cushion. Resting his elbows on his knees he buries his face in his hands and then runs his fingers through his hair.

"Nobody more." Faith agrees knowing that the worst is over. At least for now, Ned is getting with the program. She goes around the couch and kneels on the floor between Ned’s legs. She runs her hands along his thighs.

"I’m sorry, Faith. I’m so sorry." Ned hugs her close and presses a kiss to her cheek where she’d been cut. "I’m sorry; I just can’t lose her. She’s always been my rock. She’s always...."

Upstairs Alice takes her finger off the phone. The 9 and the 1 already dialed and just waiting for the last number. It’s a miracle Mrs. A hadn’t killed him. Maybe tomorrow Mr. A would realize that. Course the real miracle is that Lil Miss had slept thru the whole thing.

AJ nods. "We’re all still processing, Sally. Grandmother and Faith have a head start on all of us. They’ve been keeping it secret since the beginning of summer."

"Your day off starts now." AJ informs Sally. "Thanks for being so flexible in covering for Lydia’s trip. But don’t worry about breakfast tomorrow– hell take Monday too."

"Lila probably wouldn’t mind if you told your father about this, but she purposely didn’t tell anyone about her illness because she doesn’t want anyone to know. As far as everyone is concerned she just had a bad night and going to the hospital was a precaution due to her age. The doctors checked her out and she went home."

"That’s exactly what it looked like on the news when she rolled out of the hospital and you guys put her in the Lincoln rather than an ambulance." Sally nods her agreement. "Made the whole news break thing earlier sound alarmist. They were giving her obit and just leaving off the date."

AJ puts an arm around Lydia. "Are you okay?" They start walking up the stairs together both keeping a hand on the banisters even thought their footing is sure.

"Better your mother than Ned’s." Lydia reminds. "I thought Faith’s man, Bruno, was going to have to sit on Tracy to keep her out of your grandmother’s room while Edward was in there."

"I shouldn’t feel sorry for Aunt Tracy but I do. Dad has Mom. Ned and Dillon have each other. Tracy has nobody and nobody to blame but herself. Thank God for you."

"If it weren’t for you..." He rubs a hand over her stomach. "... and you. I would be in the same boat. We got through tonight. Who knows what will happen tomorrow."

Lydia goes into the combination master bath and dressing room. She leaves the door ajar so that she can keep talking to AJ. "Skye told Kyle down in The City when we first found out-- that he would have to help her with Alan. That was the only thing she said and yet it all just sort of fell into place, didn’t it? You and I keeping your mother focused. Cole, Skye and Kyle holding Alan up. And then Ned, Dillon and Faith with Tracy... as much as Tracy would let them."

"I still didn’t know if it was going to work until Grandfather came out and just laid down the law about Grandmother staying there at home." AJ strips out of his clothes and climbs into bed. He turns down Lydia’s side for her.

"It’s going to be impossible to contain this, AJ." Lydia comes out of the dressing room in a sheer white cotton nightgown. She doesn’t need anything heavier for bed because AJ is a furnace. "Tomorrow it’s going to start all over again. Only this time it is going to be Carly and Jason, your sister out in California." She climbs into bed and pulls the covers up. She reaches over and turns off the bedside lamp.

AJ winces. "I’ll call Jason tomorrow. Let him know before he shows up at the back fence to take Michael to church. He can tell Carly. Em... Em really should be told in person. She shouldn’t hear this one alone so far away."

"Tomorrow is going to be too late." AJ reaches over and grabs the phone. He calls over to the mansion. "Reg, is my mother still awake?" He waits for Reginald to place the call. "Mom, Lydia and I were talking. I should have thought of it sooner. Do you want Lydia to have the plane ready for you to fly out tomorrow to tell Em?" AJ nods at Lydia. "Okay we’ll call you in the morning when we’re on our way to pick you up." That call over he calls the hanger and lets the maintenance crew know there will be a flight the next day. Hanging up the phone, he turns off the light on his side and cuddles his wife close.

"I like Dr. Alan." Kyle shrugs. "I’m wiped. Between the party last night and now this. I think I’m just going to sleep until I have to meet Mom." It’s said as a statement but he is looking at his Uncle. Normally he’d be doing clean up at Jakes before the bar opened.

"I couldn’t cry around Alan. He was so close to losing it." Skye sobs. "I don’t know what I’m going to do. Sure, you’re the one who told me that I should get the Herald but Lila is the one who arranged it. When Tracy was trying to blackmail me... I wouldn’t be a Quartermaine without Lila’s support. I can’t do this. I can’t."

Cole shakes her roughly to get her attention and his tone is mean even though it’s breaking his heart. "Knock it off Skye. This isn’t about you. It’s about what the Old Lady wants. The fact she didn’t tell anyone pretty well tells you how she wants this one played. You hear me?! You can turn on all the waterworks you like here. You will do this because that is what your grandmother wants."

Skye crosses her arms in front of her. "She wants me to hold the Quartermaine fourth of July picnic out here." Even with the swollen eyes and the tears Skye’s whole posture screams– so there.

Cole winces and holds up one finger for emphasis. "I have at least three months to talk her out of that one. And I didn’t tell you to get the Herald. You came up with that one all on your own. Cole steps forward and gathers Skye close again. "You aren’t doing this alone, Babe. I’m right here. Use me as you will: waterworks proof shoulder, scrub your back, kick ass. Whatever you need."

The next morning, as excuses go it’s a pretty lame one, but it would do. A lot of the bags from the plane hadn’t been sorted in their hurry to get to the hospital. It is the custom of the Quartermaine airplane crew, everything left on the plane is brought to the mansion the next day. A couple of calls later and Skye, Faith and Lydia are all at the mansion. Lydia is the one who had made the calls. She’d stayed behind while AJ drove Monica to the airport.

Lila stays in bed even though her hair and face are perfect and she is a housecoat away from a trip downstairs in her chair. Soon her bed is covered in the booty from the shopping trip. She coos over the little baby things Lydia bought, and admires the fall wardrobe Faith had picked up for Kristina and nods appreciatively at the men’s wardrobe Skye picked up.

"I’m going to have to hide some of it over here." Skye admits. "If I bring all this home, Cole will go into shock and then go on a shopping spree of his own."

"In Cole’s case, Darling, don’t worry if he’s buying you lingerie. Be concerned if he stops." Lila offers knowingly. "Quartermaine men, on the other hand, are always lax in the lingerie buying department. They’d rather order up something sparkly from the jeweler."

"Doesn’t bother me a bit." Faith interjects. "Of course the last time Ned was feeling guilty he had the Porsche sent over." She touches the small cut high on her cheek. There had better be something nice waiting for her when she got home. "The car is definitely overkill; I’m more into crystal as a guilt gift. What about you, Lydia? What does Junior get the girl who has everything?"

"Wedding ring, baby and foot rubs." Lydia offers her left hand, pats her protruding stomach and then makes a little mini production of showing off her brand new shoes. "And considering my shoe addiction that foot rub option is..." She starts to practically purr. "... wonderful." She doesn’t mention having it written into her prenup although losing foot rubs would have been a deal breaker. "I am convinced AJ gave neither Carly nor Courtney a foot rub. If he had he wouldn’t have been an eligible bachelor when I met him." Lydia thinks about it for a second. "You know I think it could also be that he gets me whatever I want."

Lila suspects the conversation is going to deteriorate from there and changes the subject. "And the benefit? Reggie told me he was going to collect the clippings. He said there had even been a picture of all of you on one of the entertainment channels. But yesterday was quite... disrupted."

"There will be good coverage." Skye nods. She takes a seat at Lila’s breakfast table. Faith takes a seat on the foot of Lila’s bed and Lydia takes a seat across from Skye. "It’s an excellent cause of course."

"He and Dillon will be the ones getting the press." Lydia agrees. "They were both perfect gentlemen; it wouldn’t surprise me if they started getting invitations of their own from hostesses who want to even up their numbers. They are both so young, handsome and single. Skye would have been the focus too but she was soooo serious. I don’t think you got out on the dance floor once."

"Lydia and I-- the two old married women." Faith rolls her eyes. "Other than a few gigolos they were keeping it to business. Trying to work Lydia for her stuff and me for ELQ– as if I have anything to do with that headache."

Faith groans at that; talk about spoiling all their fun. "Well there goes the idea of checking out the male strippers next time. The shopping wasn’t too bad but please. Can’t ELQ just write them a check?"

"Unfortunate but true, the charities make more money when pretty people go to them. Puts them in the papers and brings in even more money." Skye explains.

AJ arrives back to the mansion after dropping off Monica and picking up Michael. Michael hesitates before going into his Great Grandmother’s room. "Come in, Darlings, Come in. Lydia is going to need help with all these packages." Lila waves the two of them in.

"I’m having a wonderful day today, Michael. Thank you for asking. While Lydia and I were waiting for your Aunts to arrive, she showed me the drawings you and AJ selected for the attic." She pats the edge of her bed. Since Faith is already sitting on the end of the bed, Michael takes a seat on the edge of the bed next to his Grandmother. "Excellent choice going with the pirate galleon. It will be quite dashing. I know I have some Errol Flynn movies around here somewhere. They may be in black and white but wonderful sword play."

"Absolutely true, Darling." Lila nods. "Lydia couldn’t know this but this will not be the first time the Quartermaine family has had dealings with pirates. There is even a story of a Quartermaine daughter running off with one back in the 1700s. But your Grandfather Edward is the one to tell that story."

"That’s because they are all a bunch of hooey, Darling. But very entertaining." The twinkle in Lila’s eyes infects the others and they all start laughing. Even Faith cracks a smile.

Faith shrugs as she stands up. She gathers up her bags. "We’re a phone call away. Expect that Tracy is going to show up some time today. Ned and Dillon are checking on her this morning. But she’ll be by." Faith warns.

"What are we doing here?" Ned looks over at his brother behind the wheel of his car. They are supposed to be on their way to the Port Charles Hotel and instead they are in front of a jewelry store.

Dillon looks at Ned. "You planning on getting Faith another Porsche?" Dillon’s tone is too calm. He’d known leaving Ned alone with Faith last night was a mistake but he never thought....

"No, you really didn’t." Bruno should be having this conversation. Bruno is the one who should be telling Ned. This is his big brother. "It’s her face, Ned. She’s going to see it every time she looks in the mirror. The fact that you’re still breathing is pretty much... probationary. She says one word to the guys... I mean they like you and everything but..."

And that is when Dillon explodes. "Oh we are so not going to go there. Lets pretend for one second that there actually is a justification, a rationalization for throwing glass in the general direction of your wife. It’s Faith, Ned. It’s a freaking miracle that you woke up this morning with all your body parts. Have you seen the knife she carries in her purse?!"

The woman sitting alone in the corner of Kelly’s has a number of Sunday newspapers in front of her. She’d gotten them for the want ads but hadn’t been able to resist the Society Page. She used to be on the society page. Her picture taken at Country Club fund raisers and fashion shows. But then everything had fallen apart. Taking her pen she draws on horns and a pitchfork on the person in one picture and then a target over the other. Skye Quartermaine and Cole Radcliffe wheeling Lila Quartermaine from General Hospital. It isn’t fair. This isn’t the way it’s supposed to work out. Having the money cut off wasn’t a surprise once she thought about it. Of course he’d cut the money off. It’s a way to lure her back to Port Charles and take the demon seed off his hands.

This is all the red haired bitch’s fault. She is the reason why Cole is acting the way he is. He’d never given a rats ass about either her or Kyle as long as they stayed out of his hair. Maybe the bastard planned this all along, putting the house in Kyle’s name. He’d given some bull story about it being Kyle’s college fund. Something one of the pervs from the strip club had told him about. Right. Taking financial advice from a guy whose idea of investment is stuffing dollar bills in saline enhanced party doll’s g-string?!

Cole’s tastes had always run to the obvious: whores, hookers and strippers. He’s just putting on an act to impress this... faux Quartermaine. And she was the one who brought in Children’s Services. Cole would never have involved them. Never. The first thing that Child Services would have been good for was to track down Kyle’s dead beat father. Or at least tried to. Well fine. All she has to do is get Children’s Services on her side and then that red haired bitch wouldn’t have a thing to say. Kyle would be living with her and Cole would be paying the child support or she would have his brother tracked down and thrown in jail for the thousands of dollars the bastard had never paid. Cole owed her. And she’d collect. Margery notices the waitress eyeing her and tossing the exact change for the coffee on the table, she gathers up the papers she hasn’t read yet and leaves. She is going to be meeting Kyle for brunch at the Grill in about an hour.

The waitress tidies up the table putting the newspaper with the stack others had left behind and goes to ring up the coffee. Maxie comes through the door apologizing all the way. "Sorry, I was up late talking to Kyle about his trip to New York then about Mrs. Quartermaine. Anything I need to know?"

"Everyone is caught up and all the tickets paid. The breakfast special sold out." The waitress grabs the bowl of tips from under the counter and dumps it into a purple Crown Royal bag, tugging at the gold colored strings and tying them in a knot around the top. She pulls her purse up on her shoulder and holds out a hand. Maxie slaps her hand. "Tag. You’re it."

As the other waitress is leaving, Maxie puts away her purse and jacket and does a quick survey of the tables. She’d actually brought a book to read because Sundays are dead. Most people headed over to the Grille for brunch after church. Spying the newspaper sitting on top of the juke box. "I’m ahead on the reading anyway." She mutters to herself and then going over to the juke box grabs the pile of newspaper, pouring herself a coke she starts reading... sports page first since there may be something in there about Kyle and if not then definitely something about her new neighbor’s son.

"I’m not here to see your mother. I’m here to see you." Dara interrupts. "I have standing instructions from your mother. She knew what happened yesterday was going to happen... sometime. There a quiet place we could talk?"

"Of course. Come in." Alan steps back and then leads the way into Edward’s study. "Then you knew too? You and Faith? Anyone else know before Mother’s family?"

"I have no idea." Dara keeps her voice low and even. "Lila came to me to get her will done. She wanted it done early and correctly so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later. I think she had a check list and it wouldn’t surprise me if she did her Christmas shopping too just in case she didn’t feel like it later."

"All the medical records from the original diagnosis and the second opinion. Since you’re chief of staff at GH I suspect you already have dozens of tests running and probably a full body scan too. Your mother wanted you to have these so you aren’t playing catch up."

"Ha!" Alan exclaims derisively. But he already has the packet open and is scanning through it. He would read it in detail when Dara isn’t around. See if there is anything that they might have missed, anything that they didn’t suggest trying.

"If nothing else they will be a good point of comparison. You’ve probably heard of the doctors but I took the extra step and had research done on them. Their resumes are included as well as any complaints or malpractice suits they might have been involved in. They look solid but doctors are your area; quacks are mine. I’m sure you want to get into these. If you have questions please give me a call. I’ll answer what I can." Dara nods in Alan’s direction but then doesn’t wait to be shown out. She’d done the easiest first. Next is a trip to see Tracy Quartermaine at the Port Charles Hotel. Oh Joy.