Chapters 26 - 28     CHAPTER 26: THE QUEST FOR THE TRUTH   Lois sits at the gatehouse, waiting for Emily to come back downstairs from changing. A few moments later, Emily comes back down wearing her burgandy silk PJ's and matching robe. "I feel much better." Lois smiles, "I bet." She picks up the paper and glances at the picture of Emily under wedding announcements. "Okay, now, you wanna explain this to me?" Emily shrugs, "What's there to explain, Lois? I'm pregnant. I'm getting married. Not that unusual." Lois gives Emily a blank look. "What about Lucky?" Emily gets defensive, "What about him? He's not an issue here." She calms down, "I'm sorry Lois. I'm just a tad touchy today, but I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm sorry." Lois gives Emily a reassuring hug, "It's okay Em, I know how you feel." Emily looks up, "It's not like Lucky and I were 'official' or anything. We were casual lovers. We used to take off at a moment's notice and go flying around the world. Just the two of us. It was wonderful, you know, the type of things that dreams are made of. But then, he started going off alone; looking for new bands for the club or investigating something for Nik. I felt left out. That's when Tommy and I started seeing each other." "Did they know about each other?" "Tommy knew about Lucky, but Lucky wasn't around enough to know about Tommy. After Christmas, things started heating up again between Lucky and me. I thought that maybe he was ready to made some sort of committment. I quit seeing Tommy altogether." "And then you found out you were pregnant." Lois puts the pieces of the puzzle together. "Why are you afraid to tell Lucky that it's his baby? I've seen how he looks at you. He adores you, Em. And he'll adore this baby too." Emily shakes her head, "No, I don't want him with me just because of the baby. I want Lucky to want me for me. All the stuff that's gone on before, I mean, I thought he loved me. And then came Evan, who turned my whole world upside down. And yes, Lucky's adventurous, and he was there when Evan left, but I don't know if it's just because we're friends or what. You know?" Lois nods reassuringly, "Oh Em, sweetheart, I know this has gotta be hard on you." Emily takes a deep breath, "I want to tell Lucky the truth, but I'm afraid of what he's going to do. Every time I think I'm gonna tell him, something stops me." "Honey, not telling him the truth will hurt him more in the end though. Look at what Ned and I went through." "I know." Emily thinks about Lois' words. "I know," she repeats sadly. Lisa looks around cautiously before entering the club. As she goes in, another couple leaves. Still wearing her red dress from the Nurses' Ball, she sits down at the bar. Lucky turns around from the corner where he is quietly nursing a drink. "What can I get ya?" he asks softly. Lisa shrugs, "Whatever you're having." As Lucky pours her drink, she pulls out a cigar and lights it, inhaling deeply. He gives her a sideways glance, "Don't you know those things are hazardous to your health?" he says with a trademark smirk. Nodding, she says, "Yeah, but that doesn't stop you either, does it?" "Nope. What are you doing out this late?" Then he realizes that they've never been officially introduced, "Lisa, right?" "Yeah, Lisa Smith." She extends her hand. "Lucky Spencer," he says shaking her hand firmly. "So, where'd you lose your date?" Lisa laughs slightly, "Scott and I are only business assiociates." She cringes slightly, "Besides, he's old enough to be my father. And he's still hung up on that blonde chick he had a fling with a few years ago." Lucky nods, knowing who she's talking about, "She's a friend of mine." Lisa glances up from her glass, "Oh, sorry." "It's okay." He changes subjects, "Where did you learn to sing like that? I'm impressed." She blushes, "You mean at the Nurses' Ball?" Lucky nods, so she continues, "My mother used to run a casino in Atlantic City, and I started singing there as a little girl." Lucky frowns, Smiths, Atlantic City. Isn't there some connection there? He wonders slightly whether there is a connection between Lisa and the Smiths that his family had trouble with when he was a kid. Lisa looks at her watch and ponders absently. "Lucky, can I borrow your phone?" Lu and Dylan are walking around the park, still dressed in their Sonny and Cher attire. Looping her arm through Dylan's, Lu looks up at him and smiles, but before she can say anything, he stops her. "What was going on with that guy you called 'daddy'?" "My stepfather." "You never said anything about a stepfather." Lu shrugs, "I told you, there would be consequences." "You said that about your brother." Lu avoids his gaze, "You didn't tell me your brother was Eddie Maine, either." Dylan reaches down and cups Lu's face in his hands, "What aren't you telling me?" "Nothing." She changes the subject, trying to focus on his family instead of hers, "You're really good with your nieces." "They're more like sisters to me than nieces. I've been around them since they were born, just about." She nods. "It's like that with me and Staci." Dylan looks down at her, "So I gather Staci isn't Lucky's daughter?" Laughing slightly, Lu shakes her head, "Uh, no. Lucky's not the parental type, if you know what I mean." Dylan nods seriously, Emily being foremost in his mind, "I know," he says softly. After a minute or two of silence, a younger voice interrupts them, "Hey guys, wait up!" Lu turns around to see Staci following them, "Hey Staci, where'd you come from?" "Mom and I were out here walking, and we saw you stroll by. What are you doing?" Dylan smiles, "Nothing really. So, you must be Staci?" "Yes." Dylan reaches out a hand to her, "Hi, I'm Dylan." She shakes his hand firmly for a little girl. "Are you a friend of Aunt Lu's?" "Sure am." "You both sang very well," Staci says shyly. Before anyone can say anything else, Gina comes up to them. "Hi guys, sorry to interrupt, but I'd better be getting Staci back to Wyndemere." To Staci, she adds, "Come on, honey, your daddy's waiting for you." Staci sighs, "Okay Mom, goodnight Aunt Lu, Dylan." As Gina and Staci start to walk off, Gina's beeper goes off, she looks at it and frowns. She turns back to Dylan and Lu, "There's been an emergency at the hospital..." Lu cuts her off, "Go ahead, I'll take Staci home." "Are you sure?" "Go!" Gina rushes off, leaving Lu, Dylan and Staci standing around, somewhat awkwardly. Lu looks up at Dylan, "Well, I guess I'd better get home, then." Dylan shrugs, "I guess." Lu looks down at Staci, "Go on ahead of us to the parking lot, we'll be there in just a second, okay?" "Sure." Staci bounces along towards the parking lot. Lu watches her for a second before turning to Dylan, "I'm sorry to have to cut this short..." He silences her with a kiss before saying, "It's okay. We'll get together tomorrow, all right?" Lu nods. Dylan cups Lu's face in his hands and pulls her towards him tenderly. Lu instinctively wraps her arms around Dylan's waist. As they pull each other close and deepen their kiss, Staci lets out a shriek from the parking lot. They jump apart and both make a mad dash for the parking lot, in time to see a black sedan speeding away. "STACI!" Lu screams. "My bike, c'mon!" Dylan says as they both run for Dylan's motorcycle. As they slam on their helmets, Lu determinedly states, "We have to get her back, no matter what." Jumping on, they take off in pursuit of the car. In the car, a masked man holds Staci at gunpoint. He looks out through the back tinted window. "Well little girl, looks like your fiesty aunt and her boyfriend are trying to rescue you." Snarling, he adds, "Isn't that sweet." He waves a gun under Staci's nose, "Too bad they won't live to see you returned to the family." And with that, he rolls down the window and begins shooting at the pursuing motorcycle. The first few shots miss. Staci screams for the man to stop. He swiftly backhands her across the face, "Shut up, kid!" Staci silently obeys, but watches out the back window, silently praying that Lu and Dylan will be safe. The next shot rings out; Staci watches Lu fall off the back of the motorcycle. Dylan looks back, but maintains his pursuit to get to Staci. He knows Lu would want him to. Staci stifles a scream, fearing another slap. The man glances at her and registers the sight of her alarm, "That's right, little girl, you dear aunt is dead and it's all your fault." He continues firing until he hits the front tire of the motorcycle and Dylan goes sprawling over the handlebars. Staci begins crying as the car speeds off, leaving the two teenagers unconscious on the road.   CHAPTER 27: TAKING CARE OF THE KIDS   Doctors Tony Jones and Hans Von Vetten stand outside Bradley Quartermaine's ICU room. Monica is sitting at Bradley's bedside, talking to a still sleeping Brad. Tony looks over Brad's chart and then hands it to Hans. "So far, so good." Dr. Von Vetten nods in agreement, "I am pleased with the boy's progress after the surgery." Tony adds, "Did you hear about Keesha?" Hans shakes his head, "No, what happened?" "She went into premature labor several hours ago. Delivered a 4 1/2 pound baby girl." "Quite a day for her then, no?" Hans asks. "Has she been told of Bradley's progress?" Tony glances back through the glass and into Brad's room. "I'm not sure." Inside Brad's room, Monica is holding his hand and talking to him, "Come on, Brad, it's Grandmom. Wake up, honey, we all want to see your big brown eyes. Okay?" A tear slides down her face effortlessly. She sits in silence. After a minute or two, Bradley's eyes flutter open. "Mommy?" he asks weakly. Monica squeaks for joy, "Brad! It's Grandmom." "Grandmom?" he asks, "Where's Mommy? I want Mommy!"" "I'll get her!" she says as she jumps up and meets Tony and Hans at the door. "He's awake and asking for Keesha!" Tony and Hans both go over to Brad's bed, Monica walks outside and lets them look him over. Just then Alan comes over. He notices the smile on his wife's face, "He's awake?" he asks eagerly. Monica only nods. Alan grabs her and spins her around in a big hug. "He's asking for Keesha," Monica adds. Kissing Monica, Alan says, "Wonderful! I'll go find Alex." In the maternity ward, Alex Garcia sits next to Keesha's bed, holding her hand in his. She wakes up slowly. "I'm sorry, I keep nodding off," she says softly. Alex reaches over and kisses her on the forehead, "Don't be Mi Amor. You need your rest so you can be strong for our daughter and Bradley." "Have you heard anything yet?" she asks anxiously. Alex shrugs, "The surgery went well, according to Tony. Now they're just waiting for him to wake up so they can determine how much, if any, permanent damage there is." Keesha nods as a Bobbie pops her head in the room, "Oh good, you're awake." Keesha nervously asks, "Is it about Bradley?" Bobbie smiles, "No, it's about your little girl. I don't usually do this, but I wanted to bring her into you myself. She's such a cutie!" With that, Bobbie opens the door all the way and rolls in a bassinet. Alex stands up and crosses over to Bobbie, "How is she?" As Bobbie lifts the baby out of the bassinet, she says, "Small, but very healthy. She'll be able to go home as soon as she reaches the five pound weight requirement. Probably about a week or so." Bobbie gently hands the baby to Keesha. Keesha cradles her daughter in her arms and tears roll down her face as she looks into the infant's bright eyes. Alex stands beside them, beaming with pride. "What are you going to name her?" Bobbie asks. Keesha smiles and looks at Alex, who nods. Keesha says softly, "Mary Mae." Bobbie smiles again, a bit sadly this time, "Your grandmother would be very proud." After a second, she adds, "Well, you'll have to excuse me, but I volunteered to take Robin's baby in to her." Keesha looks up, "Robin had her baby?" Bobbie nods, "Just a few hours before you did. Also a girl, Anna Lila. You two enjoy your beautiful daughter." Bobbie leaves the room as Alan comes in, "I have wonderful news, Bradley's awake." Keesha starts to cry again as Alex smiles broadly. Jason stares in the nursery at the baby girl in the bassinet marked "Morgan". Ned comes up beside him, "She's a cutie, Jason." "Thanks," Jason says as he looks over at Ned before adding, "What are you doing here?" Ned smiles, "Lois insisted on coming to see Robin, since we were here anyway. How is Robin?" "Good. Tired, but good. She's sleeping right now, but they'll soon be taking Anna back in to her." "Lois was always tired after the girls were born." Jason looks over at Ned seriously, "I think Robin and I are going to be content with two kids, though." Ned laughs and pats him on the back, "We'll see about that. I wouldn't trade my girls for the world." "Ah, there's the proud Daddy," Bobbie says as she walks up to the two men. "Hi Ned," she adds. "Hello Bobbie," he replies politely. Bobbie turns back to Jason, "I'm just getting ready to take Anna in to Robin, you coming?" Jason smiles proudly, "Of course." "That's what I thought," Bobbie says, smiling. On the way back to her hotel, Lisa decides to take the scenic route through the park. Entering the parking lot, she can't help but notice a large object in front of her reflected in the headlights. Stopping the car, she runs up to it, and gasps as she gets close enough to see that it's a person. She looks down the road a little way and can barely make out the shape of another person down in the road by a fallen motorcycle. She looks at the face of the figure in front of her. Wiping blood out of the person's face, she screams in alarm as she recognizes Lu. She checks for a pulse as she whips out her cellphone and calls for an ambulance. She runs over towards the bike and finds Dylan. One of his arms is bent at a weird angle. "Damn!" She looks down at him gently, "Hang on kid, help is coming." She runs back over to Lu and spies the bullet wound in her leg. She rips a piece off the lower part of her leg and wraps it tightly around Lu's wound to try and stop the bleeding. Lu starts to move. Lisa tries to hold her still. Lu mumbles, "Staci..." "Hush babe, save your strength, okay? I'll call your brother and have him meet us, you just hold still!" Lu lapses back into unconsciousness as Lisa adds worriedly, "You'll be okay, little sister, just hang on." Lisa watches her sister as she hears the approach of the ambulance. CHAPTER 28: CLOSER TO THE TRUTH   The ambulance rushes to the ER entrance. Doctors Joe and Karen Scanlon burst out from the doors to meet the paramedics. As they wheel the unconscious Dylan and Lu into the trauma rooms, Lisa stands by helplessly, trying not to let her emotions show. Lucky comes flying around the corner and nearly runs over Lisa. "What happened?" he asks frantically. Lisa shrugs, "I don't know, Lucky. I just found them." She starts to cry, "Lu was lying there in a pool of blood. I noticed that Lu had a gunshot wound, and I think her friend has a broken arm." Lucky explodes, "Gunshot! Who the hell would shoot a little kid?" He instantly remembered the time he was shot. He was younger than Lu at the time. Lisa continued, "Lu came to long enough to say 'Staci' before passing out again." "Staci? Was she anywhere around?" Lisa shakes her head, but can't say anything else as she starts to cry again. Lucky's furious, but he doesn't know who to be furious with. He wonders why Lisa is so upset, but figures that anybody would be upset having found that sort of accident. He instinctively wraps his arms around her and lets her cry on his shoulder. Lisa pulls back, "Thanks. I don't know what came over me," she says as she wipes away a final tear. "I'm not usually like this." Lucky laughs slightly, "I know the feeling. You wait here, I'm gonna see what they've found out about Lu and Dylan." "Dylan?" Lisa gapes, "Is that the boy's name?" Lucky nods absentmindedly before heading off, "Yeah, Dylan Hornsby, I think." Lisa closes her eyes as her hand flies up to cover her mouth. She pulls out her cell phone and hits the speeldial button. After several rings, a female voice groggily answers, "This had better be good. Do you know what time it is?" Lisa sighs, "I know you told me never to call you at home, but we have a big problem." "Lisa! Where are you? You're supposed to be in Port Charles to arrange that meeting for me!" "I am, but there's been a slight problem." The female sighs, "What is it? Are you so inept that you can't handle this one little thing for me?" Lisa becomes harsh, "Just shut up a minute. There was an accident involving Lesley Lu Spencer." Sarcastically, the woman responds, "Awww, so you're having a problem with your baby sister. I DON'T CARE! Now you call my brain damaged nephew and arrange that meeting!" "Tracy wait," Lisa pleads, "Lu was in an accident with DYLAN." Tracy Quartermaine sits bolt upright, "Dylan? My Dylan?" she asks quickly. "How many other Dylan Hornsby's would be hanging out in Port Charles?" "Oh no. How is he?" Tracy asks quietly. "I don't know, yet. They just brought him in to GH. He has at least a broken arm, if nothing else." Tracy sighs than harshly says, "You are my eyes and ears there. Keep me informed." With that, she cuts off the connection. Lisa puts away her phone and sits in the nearby chair, holding her head in her hands. Lucky corners Bobbie coming out of Lu's trauma room, "How is she?" he asks anxiously. Bobbie takes a deep breath, "She's lost a lot of blood, Lucky." Before Bobbie can say anything else, Lucky charges through the door and stands by Lu's bedside. He recognizes the ghostly paleness as a sense of deja vu overcomes him. He reaches down and takes her hand in his. "I won't let you die on me, Lulu. You're too young." Tears freely roll as he remembers seeing his father like this. Lu eyes flutter open as a look of sheer panic crosses her face. "Staci...kidnapped...Lucky...help," she says weakly then loses consciousness. Lucky reaches down and kisses her briefly on the cheek, "Don't worry, babe, we'll get this all straightened out. I promise!" "Excuse me," Karen says, "We need to get her to surgery to remove the bullet. Can you sign for it?" Lucky looks blankly at Karen, not registering completely what she's saying, his thoughts are elsewhere. "Uh, yeah, sure, I'm her brother." Then he nods, "Go ahead, do it as soon as you can. I'll sign the papers." He waves her towards Lu as she and Joe wheel her stretcher towards OR. "You hang on, Lu. Be strong for Staci!" he calls out after them. Lucky walks back out into the waiting room and sees Lisa still sitting there. She looks up as he walks towards her, "How is she?" "They're taking her to surgery to remove the bullet." Lisa nods, but doesn't say anything. She starts to walk away to find out about Dylan, but Lucky catches her by the arm. "Wait a minute. Thanks for coming in with Lulu." Lisa nods again, "Yeah, no problem," she says before walking away. Lucky watches her go. He can't help but notice the tear in her dress and the dried blood where she had tried to staunch Lu's bleeding. He promises himself that he'll thank her properly when Lu is okay and Staci safely returned. Staci. He crosses the room and picks up a payphone. After dialing the number, he sighs as Nikolas answers. "Nik, it's me, Lucky. Lulu's been hurt. She's at GH in surgery now, and she'll be okay, but you need to get Mom and Stefan down here. And I wouldn't tell Mom what happened until you're here. There's more to it than just the accident." In the Cassadine gameroom, Stefan closes his laptop computer and turns around to look at his wife, who is silently dozing on the sofa. He goes over and kneels in front of her. Pushing a stray hair out of her face, he reaches over and kisses her on the forehead. Laura stirs at his touch, "Did I fall asleep?" she mumbles. "Have I told you how enchanting you look when you're asleep?" Laura smiles as she sits up, "Not lately." Stefan sits comfortably beside her, "I found out more about the woman that was with Scott Baldwin tonight." "Oh really?" Laura asks, her curiousity piqued. Stefan looks hesitantly at his wife, knowing what he has to say might upset her, "Her name is Lisa Smith. Her most recent address is listed in Atlantic City, and her closest relative is a woman by the name of Jennifer Smith." Laura gasps, "It can't be the same Jennifer, can it?" Stefan nods, "I'm afraid so." A thought occurs to Laura, "Did your information say how old Lisa was?" "There were two separate birthdates listed. The one believed to be correct puts her at 30." "Jennifer was living here at that time," Laura says, nodding. "And she was only involved with one man." "What are you thinking, Lasha?" "I'd be willing to bet that Lisa is Luke's daughter." Before either of them can comment further, Nikolas rushes in the room. "Lesley Lu's been in an accident. She's okay, but we need to get down to the hospital." Stefan and Laura jump up. "What kind of accident? How bad is it?" Laura asks hurriedly. "I don't know, but Lucky's there with her." The three of them rush out of the room and head to the hospital, all of them still in the dark about how serious the situation is.