Chapter Five: Everything Can Change

Recovery Room

"Ha!" Carly whirled around, facing him with sparkling eyes, and poked him in the middle of his chest with her forefinger. She laughed at his expression of disbelief. "Teach you to bet against me at anything ever again, Ramsey."

Chris nimbly snatched the dart out of her fingers before it became embedded in his chest. "You played me," he protested. He batted his eyes in an imitation of Carly and pitched his voice high. "'Oh, I don't know, Chris. Pool is more my game. Darts?'" Chris mock glared at her as Carly continued to laugh unrepentedly. "I sacrifice a perfectly good Saturday night for you, and you played me!"

Carly reached up to pat his cheek fraternally. "And it was so easy," she said with a giggle, dancing nimbly out of his reach. "Be right back," Carly started towards the bar, their empty pitcher in hand, pausing only to call over her shoulder, "I'll tell them to add it to your tab 'cause, you know, you lost the bet. BIG time."

"Ha-ha. Because you CHEAT," Chris called back, sinking down into the nearby chair and watching her as she leaned over the bar, gesturing with the pitcher in hand. Eyes all over the room, his included, lingered on the blond hair falling over one shoulder, the too bright sparkle in her eyes A lady like a flame; the thought flitted unbidden through his mind. It was remarkably close to the first thing he'd ever thought about her.

Carly had first walked into the Corinthos Children's AIDS Wing on a cold, rainy day almost six months ago and, quite literally, run into him. He had been rounding a corner in a particularly bad mood; an oh-so-typical run-in with his former best friend, Eve, and her pretty boy toy, the not-so-great Dr. Thornheart, had made him late for rounds, which had made him late for the afternoon hours he spent with the kids over here. His arms were full of files he hadn't yet initialed when he ran into a very wet Carly Corinthos.

"Damnit!" Chris snarled, files careening everywhere. He dropped to his knees, brushing at the damp on his shirt with one hand, grabbing at everything in reach with the other. "Don't you ever look where you're going?" he demanded harshly, not bothering to look up.

There was a moment of silence, in which he cursed all new, idiot nurses under his breath, then her voice rang out sharply. "Yeah, asshole, I do. Pity the same can't be said of you."

Chris had looked up then. And, the curses had changed to something quite different. He knew who she was, of course. Even if you lived in a cave, as long as that cave was somewhere in the vicinity of Port Charles, you couldn't have avoided hearing about Carly Corinthos. Her company's dramatic rise to success coupled with the even more dramatic murder of her husband -- more people in this town knew her face than knew the mayor's. She was, if not Port Charles' beloved daughter, certainly their favorite news story. And, he thought, his eyes flickered past her shoulder to the plaque on the wall bearing her name then back to her royally pissed face, he had just managed to insult her. Chris groaned, inwardly. This downhill slide his day was on had just turned into an avalanche.

He straightened up, flashing a patented Ramsey smile at her. If anything, the frosty glare she had trained on him only deepened. He sighed, and decided just to throw himself on the mercy of the court. The false charm fell away, and Chris looked up with tired eyes at the blonde woman. "I'm sorry. It's just been a rotten day, and," his small smile, this time, was sincere, "I'm late for a tea party. Which, pathetic as it is, is going to most definitely be the highlight of my day."

She had smiled at him then, and he had caught his breath. Her whole face changed; the best thing he could liken it to was lighting a fire on a moonless night. Carly stuck out her hand towards him. "I'm Carly Corinthos," she said. "Mind if I tag along?"

It had been the start of a beautiful friendship. The tea party had been a rousing success, and Carly had started spending two afternoons a week attending other tea parties, reading stories, and just holding the hands of kids who were dying before they'd had a chance to live. After the first month, he'd rearranged his schedule so that the hours he put in at the AIDS wing coincided with hers. They talked about everything from old movies to the relative merits of Bruce Springstein to the ways love and the dying of it could scar your heart. He was the brother she'd never had, and Chris had never in his life been as comfortable with any woman.

Only problem, Chris mused darkly, was that he was slowly realizing that his feelings for Carly were becoming distinctly unsisterly. Her hair, the way she tilted her head -- he'd waken up one too many nights lately dreaming of her smile. And, she, he knew all too well, was in love with a dead man. Chris sighed deeply, running his fingers brutally through his hair then started violently as a full pitcher of beer plopped down in front of him on the table.

"Buy you a drink, sailor?" breathed a sultry voice in his ear, and Chris had to bite his own tongue to keep himself from groaning outloud. A minute later, Carly slid into the chair beside him, laughing. "Chris?" she asked, sobering, looking at the expression on his face.

Chris shook his head quickly, schooling his face into a different sort of plaintiveness. "Remind me never to play poker with you," he complained, pouring tall glasses for both of them, taking a long draught from his. "Or, actually, any sort of game more complicated than Go Fish."

She laughed again, and started to say something when her eyes suddenly narrowed focused on something near the door. "What is that about?" Carly muttered under her breath. Chris followed her gaze; it was trained on a dark haired beauty he recognized as Deception's signature model and a blonde guy he couldn't quite make out who'd just entered the bar. Carly stood up, and looked at him. "Have I ever introduced you to Gia?" she asked and tugged at his sleeve. "C'mon, Ramsey, let's go socialize. Maybe you can impress her with your skill at darts."

"Ha-ha, Carly. You are just too funny." Chris tugged playfully at a loose strand of her hair and stood up, following her towards the couple approaching the bar. Realizing, with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, that there was almost nowhere he wouldn't follow her.

Luke's

"A date?" Jax looked down at his wife, cradled in the protective curve of his arm. "Your father's bringing a date?"

Hannah sighed. "I know, I know. But, I couldn't stop him without telling him our news which was the whole point of having this dinner in the first place." She tilted her head up. "Maybe this is a bad idea, Jax. Maybe we should wait, tell him when it's just us."

Jax hesitated a moment, considering the out she had handed him on a shiny platter. "No," he said, finally shaking his head and forcing a brilliant smile. "Let's not wait; I want to," Jax choked back the words 'get this over with', "share our happy news."

The smile Hannah turned on him was equally as bright as his; she lifted her face to plant a quick kiss on his cheek, then slipped out of his arms. "Be right back, honey." She nodded towards the restroom. "I have to go powder my nose."

His smile faded as soon as he saw her disappear, and Jax scanned the crowds almost fiercely. He looked past her once, then his gaze swept back to the chesnut-haired beauty, all in red, drinking alone at the bar. Jax's smile returned, becoming something darker, something wolfish, and with one last glance to make sure his wife was still occupied, he made a beeline for the lady in red.

Jax slid his arms to the bar on either side of her, effectively trapping the woman on her stool, and bent his head to murmur sexily in her ear. "Run away with me, beautiful. Run away with me to a tropical island far, far away from here, and I'll make all of your dreams come true."

The woman spun around with a rich laugh, and reached up to cup his face between her palms. "When do we leave, love?" Alexis laughed, leaning her forehead briefly against his. "Because there's this recurring dream I keep having about dumping all the Cassadine files along with every weasel faced attorney that comes with them overboard. Without a parachute."

"What?" Jax pulled back in mock shock, both hands over his heart. "You mean you don't dream of blonde, Australian ex-husbands who are more than willing take you away from it all, including, and especially, this town and everyone who lives in it?"

Alexis arched an eyebrow. "You're in a mood tonight, ex-husband. Is there anything in particular bringing on this desire to run away from your life?"

Jax slid into the empty bar stool beside her with a small grown. "Avoiding dinner with my father-in-law and his date seems like a good enough reason, though I'm sure I could come up with ten or fifteen more with very little effort," he said, darkly.

The gaze Alexis trained on him was full of pity; his words and the shadows in his eyes told her more about the state of her ex-husband's marriage than she had wanted to know. "Hmmm. Well, would it help at all if I told you that I'm--"

"Hey there," her words were cut off by Roy DiLucca's appearance from behind the bar. He placed a swift kiss on Alexis's cheek and smiled at her. "Sorry you had to wait; Claude has a thing about spiders." The gaze he turned on Jax was considerably less warm. "Jacks," he nodded at the younger man. "Did you lose my daughter?"

Jax slid hastily off the bar stool, it slowly dawning on him that his ex-wife was dating his father-in-law. Which daytime talk show have we landed on? He cleared his throat. "No sir, she's just in the restroom. I'm sure she'll be joining us shortly."

"Good," Roy turned his back on his daughter's husband, offering his arm to Alexis as she gracefully slid off the stool. "We'll be over there," Roy indicated a small table for four in the corner of the room without bothering to turn to look at Jax. "Why don't you wait for Hannah, then join us."

Great, Jax thought sourly, as Roy and Alexis moved off. "Tropical island, here I come," he muttered under his breath.

Recovery Room

"Thanks for doing this," Gia fiddled nervously with her braids, not quite meeting Jason's eyes. "The PR people at Deception will really appreciate it."

Jason shrugged, his eyes following her fingers up-down, up-down as they caressed a strand of her hair. "Gia," he leaned forward forcing her to look at him, "I didn't come here for Deception's PR people."

"Yeah, well, thanks anyway." She moved nervously away from him then met his gaze with flashing eyes. "Just don't think just 'cause we're doin' this I'm gonna end up with you in any room at the top of a set of stairs somewhere."

Jason's eyes flashed back at her, and his mouth curved in a lazy, slow smile that very few people had ever seen on his face. He stepped towards her, and this time she didn't move away. His lips parted to speak--

"Well, well, well," Gia and Jason moved apart as if answering the same unspoken cue and turned to face Carly who was studying them, her hands on her hips, "fancy meeting you two here."

"Hey Carly," Gia crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest, "what, um, what're you doing?"

Both of Carly's eyebrows rose. "Same thing you are, looks like." She glanced behind her, gesturing Chris forward. "Jason, Gia, this is Chris Ramsey. Chris," she nodded at the other two, "Jason Morgan, Gia Campbell. And, now that we're all best friends, if you two gentlemen will excuse me," she grabbed Gia's arm, "I need to talk to Gia."

Jason and Chris stood, backs to the bar, as Carly dragged Gia away to a darker corner of the room. Neither man made a move to stop her; both of them knew better.

Jason spoke first, his eyes still trained on the two women. "Didn't know you knew Carly," he said, his voice pitched low.

Chris made a dismissive motion with his hand, playing it down deliberately. "She volunteers at the hospital; I work there. We're friends."

Jason tore his eyes away from the two women, one a bright flame, the other dark and leveled his gaze on Chris. "You didn't tell her about--"

"No!" Chris burst out. A couple of nearby patrons turned around, and he lowered his voice. "God, Morgan, I know how to keep my mouth shut. And, I'm not an idiot. Which is why you came to me in the first place, right?"

Jason's cool, blue, merciless gaze scanned Chris for a long moment before he turned away, back to the women. "I wasn't the one who came to you," he said, finally. "And, if Carly finds out, I'll know who to blame."

Across the room, Gia looked at the two men they'd left behind, trying to turn Carly's attention to them. "That looked kind of intense; wonder what that was about?"

"Oh, no, honey, don't even try it." Carly reached out and took Gia's chin between her well-manicured fingers and turned it towards her. "Last I heard, you didn't, and I quote, babe, want to see Jason ever again. Wanna explain to me exactly how that one changed?"

"Hey, that one's not on me!" Gia lifted her palms and took a step back. "Lisa, down in PR, said the best way to fix this thing was for me to be seen with Jason, so it wouldn't look like a one-night stand. She said it could even be good for business." Gia took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying her damnedest to count to ten. Or at the very least, three. "Look, Carly, this is so no big deal. It's just for show, okay? I don't give a damn about Jason Morgan, and he sure as hell doesn't give a damn about me."

Carly's gaze flickered over her shoulder then back to Gia. "Yeah, well, here's the thing, Gia. Jason's been hurt, a lot. And, enough of that was my fault that if I can stop it, I'm not gonna let it happen again." Gia made a frustrated noise but Carly cut in before she could speak. "He's been lookin' over here for the past five minutes, Gia. Jase knows what my ass looks like."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Carly," Gia retorted, through the sudden flush that had sprung up in her cheeks. "I won't hurt him, okay? That good enough?"

"No," Carly said bluntly. "But, it'll do. C'mon, we'd better get back before they start getting nervous." She sauntered back to Chris and Jason, letting Gia follow or not. Sliding comfortably beside Chris, Carly flashed a brilliant smile at Jason. "Jake's huh?" She jerked her chin towards Gia who had rejoined them. Her voice was low and rich and held a thousand shared memories in the texture of it. "Some things never change," she laughed, deep in her throat.

Chris, who's arm was linked through hers, noticed first as Carly's body tensed suddenly in the midst of laughing. "Carly?" He bent his head towards her. "What's wrong?"

She broke out of his grasp, trembling slightly, all attention suddenly focused on the man who had just walked diffidently through the door. A muffled sob and a half a minute later, and Carly had barreled into the older man's arms.

Chris started to follow her, but Jason's arm lifted, holding him back, his eyes locked on Carly as the man's arms rose slowly and tenderly to hold her.

"Jason?" Gia questioned softly.

"It's Mike Corbin," Jason answered her, without dropping his gaze. "Sonny's father."

Luke's

Emily leaned back against the railing outside Luke's, pausing to give the monkey an affectionate pat on the nose. She turned to Nikolas, standing patiently beside her. "I know you hate this, Nikolas. Thank you sooo much for coming with us tonight."

Nikolas shrugged and smiled gallantly. "Emily, after what you've put up with this week, the very least you have the right to ask of me is a night at Luke's with you and your brother."

Emily laughed, laying a soft, graceful hand on his arm. "I haven't done that much, other than just hang out, which, you know, I'd do anyway. Especially the riding part; I'd forgotten how much fun horseback riding can be. I used to ride with my mom all the time, back in Arizona," a wistful expression that made her look so much older than her years crossed her face.

"And, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed riding with a companion. Solitude has it's downside, on occasion," Nikolas covered her hand with his own. "Emily, you've been a better friend to me this week than I've been to you in all the years we've known one another. A fact of which I am aware and ashamed, by the way. If you wanted me to go to a thousand Lukes with a thousand brothers, I'd still only be about halfway on my way to paying you back."

Emily lifted her free hand to her flushed cheeks, grateful for the relative dark outside. "Well," she said, her voice light and teasing, "I don't have a thousand brothers, but I do have one other one. Me, you, Jason -- Jake's next Saturday. Is it a date?" she asked, playfully.

"Ah," Nikolas laughed, "can I have a lifeline?"

Emily gasped, her eyes twinkling. "Nikolas Cassadine! A pop-culture reference; someone's going to have to wash your mouth out with soap," she giggled.

"Sorry I took so long with the car," AJ slung an arm around Emily's shoulders. "Luke's is packed tonight." He looked from his kid sister to Nikolas Cassadine. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Emily turned and smiled at her brother, who she couldn't remember ever having looked so happy as he had since Alyssa had come into his life. "Shall we?" she asked the two men.

At approximately the same time Emily, Nikolas and AJ entered Luke's, Jax had had about enough; dinner had dragged on. And on. And on. And, apparently everyone except him sitting at the table was having a bloody perfect time. Including his current and his ex wives, both of whom found everything Roy said absolutely delightful. He, on the other hand, had never had a worse headache. Time for this farce of a family dinner to end. Jax cleared his throat, and three pairs of eyes turned to his. He cleared his throat a second time and stood up, glancing quickly at his wife.

"Pleasant as this has been," he began, pasting on a smile, "Hannah and I did have an ulterior motive for inviting you to dinner." Jax paused and reached down for his wife's hand, twining her fingers lightly with his. "Shall I, honey?" he asked her. Hannah nodded, rising to slide her arm around her husband's waist. Jax looked at Alexis briefly turning away quickly at what he saw in her eyes, then looked to Roy. "Congratulations, Roy," he said. "You're going to be a grandfather."

Jax turned to look at Hannah, who was oddly quiet beside him, expecting her to chime in anytime here. Her eyes, however, weren't focused on him, or her father, or anyone at their table. Hannah's suddenly pale face was, instead, trained on AJ Quartermaine who had entered Luke's just in time to catch Jax's words.

AJ held her gaze a long moment, with burning eyes, then turned on his heel and walked past Nikolas and Emily and out the door into the night.

The odd silence at the table was interrupted as Hannah turned abruptly, knocking over her nearly full glass of water. She looked from Alexis' carefully neutral face to her father's all too knowing one. She didn't look at her husband at all; she couldn't bear that. "I'm sorry," Hannah whispered, suddenly short of breath. She pressed both hands unconsciously over her stomach. "I'm sorry," she repeated, making a move away from all of them. "I think I -- I need some air." Hannah turned, still carefully not looking at Jax, and almost blindly took off towards the door.

Men get lost sometimes
As years unfurl
One day he crossed some line
And he was too much in this world
But I guess it doesn't matter anymore

He was waiting for her, of course. She'd known he would be. AJ looked at her, his eyes visible flames even in the darkness of the night. There was a long silence as Hannah gasped for breath, and he just -- watched. "Is it mine?" AJ asked, finally, the words dragged up from the very bottom of his soul.

Hannah shook her head, once. Then again, and again. She couldn't seem to stop. "I don't know," she said finally, her voice barely audible. "God help me, I don't know." Both hands lifted to press themselves against her lips, forcing herself to stop shaking. "AJ..." her voice trailed off; what else was left to say?

Nothing. Nothing whatsoever. He started to reach towards her, thought better of it, and slid his hand into his pocket. This time, when he turned and walked away, she didn't follow.

In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
Things can get pretty strange
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute

Roy had mumbled some kind of an excuse, then headed out after Hannah. Which was good, because if Jax had to look at the accusation in his eyes any longer, he was fairly positive he was going to have to kill him. He sank down in the chair he had vacated only a moment before, letting his head fall into his uplifted palms. After a moment, his shoulders started shaking, and he felt Alexis' hand at his shoulder. Jax lifted his face to look at her, laughing. "Do you realize what a goddamn irony this is?" he asked, his voice bitter.

"Jax," Alexis' hand slid from his shoulder to slip her hand in his, "you don't know what that was about. Pregnancy does funny things to women's hormones; Hannah could have just been reacting to that."

"Alexis." Jax's tired voice stopped her. "You know better than that. You saw her face. She doesn't want this marriage or this baby, god help us both, any more than I do. One week ago, I was about to ask her for a divorce, and instead, my wife tells me she's pregnant." His grip on her hand was very tight. "How the bloody hell did my life turn into this?"
Lying here in the darkness
I hear the sirens wail
Somebody going to emergency
Somebody's going to jail
If you find somebody to love in this world
You better hand on tooth and nail
The wolf is always at the door

"Okay." Emily looked at Nikolas, her face blank. "That was -- bizarre. Do you think we should go after him?"

Nikolas shook his head. "I think the last thing he wants is company, Em. And, Hannah just went out that door. If AJ leaves, and I think he probably will, I'll call a cab to get us home."

Emily sank down in the nearest available chair. "Wow." She looked at Nikolas, apologetically. "Sorry about that. I didn't think when I invited you here that we'd get to watch a floor show starring my brother." She sighed. "I mean, I knew he was in love with Hannah, but I thought he was over that. Maybe it was just a reaction to hearing that she's moved on with her life?"

Nikolas moved past her to stare out the window, trying and failing to see the stars through the haze of streetlights and neon. "He's not over her, Emily," Nikolas' voice was so soft she had to strain to hear it. "He's still in love with her. Trust me on that one. I know."

And in these days
When darkness falls early
And people rush home
To the ones they love
You better take a fool's advice
And take care of your own
One day they're here;
Next day they're gone

She had slipped outside, just for a minute. Gia closed her eyes and lifted her face to the cool night breeze; it felt almost cleansing. Everything back in there had started to get too heavy, and Gia felt like an intruder in the midst of all the teary reunion drama. It just served to heighten that feeling she hated most, feeling like an outsider, like she didn't belong. The pathetic part was that as much as she hated it, that's who Gia was most of the time.

Gia hugged her arms across her chest; it was cooler outside than she'd expected but she didn't want to go back in yet. She looked up, finding at least one persistent star up there. Gia closed her eyes tight. "Star light, star bright," she whispered, "first star I see tonight..." She trailed off and slowly opened her eyes, brushing a single tear off her cheek. All the wishes she knew had come true, save one. She hadn't ever known anything sadder in her life.

What the head makes cloudy
The heart makes very clear
The days were so much brighter
In the time when she was here
But I know there's somebody somewhere
Make these dark clouds disappear
Until that day, I have to believe
I believe, I believe

"Hey," his voice was soft, and she reached up to cling to his hand at her shoulder. Chris sat down beside her, his arm still resting gently around her. Carly's head fell against his shoulder. "You okay?"

"No," Carly laughed, very brittlely. "You think it's getting easier, and then you hear a song or see a picture or a man walks into your life, and it hits you all over again. Losing him once almost killed me, Chris. I can't do it again every time a memory strikes me funny." Her face turned, her cheek pressing hard into his shoulder.

Chris dropped his head to cover hers, his lips pressed softly into her hair. "Tell me," he murmured gently. "Tell me how to make it better, Carly."

She lifted her head and looked at him a long moment, then slid her chair closer to his, sliding into his arms once again. "Just do this. This is good," Carly whispered, her eyes closing.

He held her, stroking her hair as gently as if she were a child at GH. In the corner of a crowded restaurant, ignoring all curious glances, Chris held her. Because she'd asked him to. And, because, god help them all, he was in love with her.

In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
You can get out of the rain
In a New York Minute
Everything can change
In a New York Minute*

*song credit -- "New York Minute" by Don Henley HOME BACK NEXT