Dream a Little Dream

Chapter 39

The sun cast a golden early-morning glow into Rachel Adair's bedroom. She slowly opened her eyes, stretched, and nearly jumped out of her skin when her foot brushed Steven Webber's shin.

As she felt her heart rate return to normal, Rachel remembered the night before, the intense, wordless lovemaking. They both fell asleep immediately afterwards, perhaps a protective move to keep from talking too soon. What now? she wondered. Would Steven want to get back together, or just assume that they were? Rachel lay as still as possible, trying to put off Steven's waking up.

It didn't work. A few minutes later, Steven stirred, then rolled onto his back. Rachel watched him wake up, seeing the momentary confusion over the unfamiliar surroundings. He turned his head and looked at Rachel.

“G'morning,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied.

He looked in her eyes for a moment.

“You didn't feel it, either,” he said. Rachel's eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. Steven smiled sadly, and put his arm around her. They both knew it – too much time had passed, too much had happened and been said. It was over for both of them.

“It's okay,” he said. “We weren't meant to be for the long run. But it was good while it lasted.”

“You're all right with that?” Rachel asked. Steven nodded.

“We know now,” he said. “Beats the hell out of dancing around each other. I'm not sorry last night happened, Rachel. I'm glad we got everything out in the open, and that I got to see your point of view. If I hadn't have been such a dipstick back then and seen it ... maybe things would have been different. I'm sorry for that, but I know I can't undo it. I think we'll be able to let the past go now, and look back on the good memories. There were some great ones.”

“There sure were,” she said, smiling. “I'd like to try and be friends – real friends. Do you think we can do that? Besides, it would give Amy Vining fits as she tries to figure out how to spin that for gossip.”

“I think we can give it a try,” Steven said with a laugh, getting out of bed and putting on his pants.

“You want breakfast?” Rachel asked, sitting up.

“I gotta go,” he said. “Gran expects me to pick her up for church at 8:45, and I have to go home, clean up and change first.”

“Okay,” she said, as Steven finished getting dressed. “See you at work tomorrow?”

“See you then,” Steven said, leaning over and kissing her forehead. “'Bye, Rach.”

He turned and went out the front door of her apartment. He shook the final tears from his eyes, and went down the stairs. Rachel got up, went to the door and locked it. She smiled through some last tears of her own.

“Goodbye, Steven,” she whispered.

* * *

Robin Scorpio was also up early. She rarely slept in on her days off, as she had to take her HIV medications at precise times. Today, she was feeling restless. She stripped the bedding off her bed, put clean sheets on and re-made the bed. Then she vacuumed the floor. She took everything off her dresser and bookcases, dusted everything, cleaned the mirror, and put it all back neatly.

The little white antique dressing table in one corner was left. Robin didn't use it for doing her hair or makeup. It was her shrine to Stone. There were several framed pictures on the table, along with a satin-lined box of mementos. Stone's memory book – filled with letters of love and respect from family and friends – was on one side.

Stone's birthday had passed a few weeks before. Ten years since the last birthday he'd lived to see. Every year on that day, she went to their bridge for a while. She also spent some time at the table, looking over the photos and mementos, and reading the memory book.

Robin felt ashamed because this year, the ritual at the table had felt flat, and, she hated to admit it, stale. She didn't even need to look at the mementos; she knew by touch what they were. She could recite entire letters in the memory book at the drop of a hat. She felt like she was poking at a dying fire, desperately trying to coax just a warm ember of meaning out of it. It was wrong to feel that way, she knew. Stone was her first and great love. She owed him at least this.

Robin lovingly dusted the table, and everything on it, and put it all back. She looked seriously at herself in the mirror. She contrasted what she saw there to the picture of her and Stone. She'd lost the last of the baby fat in her face, and it had come into maturity. She had Anna's dark eyes and hair, and Robert's smile, with its good-humored quirk. No one would guess that she carried a fatal virus in her veins.

While she was proud of her work, and never regretting for a second loving Stone, she had begun to chafe at the boundaries of her life. She didn't want to be looked at as an untouchable saint on a pedestal, as Lila Quartermaine had been in her final years. Thankfully, her girlfriends didn't treat her like that.

The smell of coffee brewing wafted into the room. That meant Anna was up and making breakfast. Robin got up from the dressing table and headed downstairs.

* * *

After locking up when Steven left, Rachel went into her bedroom and mechanically stripped the bed and remade it with fresh sheets. She sorted her laundry to do later, then brushed her teeth and got into the shower.

As she washed her hair, the reality hit her. She and Steven had truly moved on. Any remaining fetters were broken. She was free. The thought made her so dizzy, she had to turn the water to cool.

Now what? Rachel thought. Instantly, the thought of Lucky Spencer popped into her head. She imagined him in the shower with her, shampooing her hair, soaping her back, turning her around ...

Rachel smiled as she rinsed off, turned off the water, ran a detangling comb through her hair and wrapped it up in a towel. I'm free, she thought. Look out, Lucky.

* * *

Anna was taking cranberry orange scones out of the oven as Robin walked into the kitchen. They sat together at the large vintage red Formica and steel table in the breakfast nook.

Robin spread Devon cream onto her scone and sipped her coffee.

“Are you all right?” Anna asked. “You seem tired. You were out last night and up early today. Maybe you should take a nap this afternoon.”

Robin smiled as a decoy.

“I'm fine, Mom,” she said. “I don't have any plans for today, so I'm just going to take it easy. Maybe there's a movie on pay-per-view. What are you and Stefan doing today?”

“He's over at Wyndemere this morning,” Anna said. “Then he's bringing supper over to Alexis and her family tonight when they get home from Maine. He'll spend the afternoon watching baseball and cooking. I probably won't see him today. And, by the way, I can tell something's on your mind despite the diversionary tactic.”

Robin flushed.

“Busted,” Anna said. “What's going on? Is it something at work?”

Robin took a bite of scone to buy time to compose her thoughts.

“I ... I feel like I'm forgetting Stone,” Robin whispered.

“Forgetting him? How?” Anna asked.

Robin told her about the birthday ritual, and how she felt. “It used to be so comforting, like he was still close by,” she said. “But now ...”

“What you did served its purpose, Robin,” Anna said. “You'll never forget Stone – he's embedded in your heart. But what you're feeling, it's a natural part of the grieving process – letting go.”

“But if I let go, he'll really be gone,” Robin said, tears in her eyes.

“He's really been gone all along,” Anna said. “You were using your memories to keep that reality at bay, and make it a little easier to bear. He'll never be forgotten, darling. So many people were touched by him – I was, and I never knew him. The wing that bears his name helps so many others, and will continue to do so for decades to come. That is a legacy to be proud of.”

Robin blinked back the tears and looked away.

“There's something else,” Anna said. “By letting go, you also have to admit that you're lonely.”

Robin kept her face averted.

“Memories are sweet, but if you cling to them and shut out the present and future, it makes for a pretty lonely life,” Anna said, reaching across the table for Robin's hand. “It's not a betrayal of Stone to move on, Robin. He wanted you to live a long, happy life. Using him to keep love and happiness away would be a real betrayal.”

Robin turned her face back towards Anna and squeezed her hand.

“It's like what you went through when you got your memory back and realized Dad was gone,” Robin said, choking over that last word. “And you've moved on.”

“It wasn't easy,” Anna said. “I wasn't looking for someone – Stefan and I just happened. But before it could happen, I'd been able to make peace with your dad, my great love, being gone. It still hurts, sometimes, especially when I see you living your life, and wishing he was here to see it. But we had what we had; it was amazing, and it gave me the greatest gift in my life – you. I've learned to be grateful for it while accepting that it's over.”

Robin smiled weakly, and finished the last of her scone.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said. “I think I'm going to go lay down for a little while.”

After she went upstairs, Robin lay on her bed for a while, gazing at the dressing table.

“It's time, Stone,” she whispered. “Mom's right. You're always going to be a part of me. But I have to move on and live my life. I hope you understand.”

She sat up and slowly took everything off the dressing table. She set aside a framed photo of Stone to put on her dresser. She went into Anna's office and found an empty file box, then put the pictures, mementos and memory book into it. She wrote “Stone” across the side with a marker, and put it in a far corner on her closet shelf.

A little while later, the dressing table held a mirrored tray of perfume bottles on one side, a basket containing her makeup on the other. In the middle was a silver brush and comb.

Robin lay on the bed, checked her watch to make sure it was set to go off when her next round of meds was to be taken, and fell asleep.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning for a horseback ride. Stefan and Nikolas Cassadine took full advantage of it.

“It feels good to get back on a horse,” Stefan said.

“I thought you'd totally converted to motorcycles,” Nikolas teased.

“Both have their advantages in terms of power and grace,” Stefan replied. “For a quiet Sunday morning like this, a horse it has to be. We'll work up a good appetite for breakfast.”

“I'll definitely be hungry,” Nikolas said. “I hope you don't mind that Emily's joining us.”

“Not at all,” Stefan said. “If all goes well, she will be one of us someday.”

“And she thought being a Quartermaine was an adventure,” Nikolas said wryly. Stefan laughed.

“She's definitely used to dysfunction, although not quite on our Gothic level,” he said. Then he turned serious. “Have you told her anything about Caesar Faison?” he asked.

“No,” Nikolas said. “First of all, Luke asked me not to.”

“I didn't think Spencer's opinions counted for much with you,” Stefan said, raising a sardonic eyebrow.

“Normally, no,” Nikolas said. “But he's the one putting his life on the line to end whatever Faison and Helena started. The least I can do is respect his wishes, especially since I understand where he is coming from. This has to be kept as quiet as possible. And I don't want to do anything that would upset Mother – this will be harder for her than she is willing to admit.”

Stefan nodded. “What are your other reasons?” he asked. Nikolas stopped his horse and looked into the trees for a moment.

“Emily's relationship with her family was very hurt by the secrets she and I kept,” Nikolas said. “She is working on those relationships, and very much wants to be there for them as they're going through so much right now with Jason and AJ, and Skye's wedding coming up. I don't want to put her in a position where she has to keep another secret from her family.”

Stefan looked at Nikolas with pride. This was the prince he raised – someone who thought of others, not the selfish brat of a few months ago. With a light heart, he followed Nikolas back to the house.

* * *

Patrick Drake sat with the five other interns in a conference room at General Hospital early Monday morning. Today they would begin their internship.

“Good morning, everyone!” Dr. Lesley Webber said as she came into the classroom, carrying a box holding large binders. She set it down and smiled at the interns.

“It's a big day for you all,” she said. “Welcome to General Hospital. We're going to be very busy today, so let's just get down to business.”

Lesley reached into the box and handed a binder to each of them. She kept one for herself.

“This is everything you ever wanted to know about General Hospital, but were afraid to ask,” she said. “There are a lot of nuts and bolts things up front – hospital phone directory, staff list, maps of the building, cafeteria information, important local phone numbers. We also put in our mission statement, hospital policies on hiring and employment practices and an FAQ sheet. At the back, you'll find the benefits information – health insurance, retirement plans. We'll be going from here to get your hospital ID badges made, then you get to fill out a whole lot of paperwork. There will be representatives from human resources and our retirement plan company who can answer questions. That will take up the morning. After lunch, the afternoon will be spent on a tour of the hospital, where you'll be meeting many of your future colleagues. We'll go from there to dinner with Mr. Cassadine and both Dr. Quartermaines. We've got a full day ahead of us, so we'd better get moving.”

As she spoke, she looked closely at each intern. Patrick Drake's resemblance to his father was even more striking in person. There was an almost cocky poise about him that reminded her of Noah, along with the blue eyes that met her with confidence. Lesley wondered what Bobbie would think when she saw him.

The interns followed Lesley out of the conference room. Elizabeth Webber and Robin were talking at a far corner of the nurses' station as they passed by. Patrick, talking softly with another intern, didn't see them. But they saw him, and both clapped their hands to their mouths to hold back the giggles. When the group was safely out of earshot, Elizabeth whispered to Robin, “Wait 'til the girls hear this!”

* * *

“Thanks for helping us out with this, TJ,” Maxie said.

Maxie and Georgie Jones, and TJ Hardy, were pulling into a parking spot their neighborhood Wegmans grocery store.

“Glad to do it,” TJ said. “Sounds like these Johnsons got away from a real mess down there, judging by the morning news.”

“You actually watched the news this morning?” Maxie said, stretching and yawning as she got out of the car. “It was all I could do to get up, get dressed and go. These are our last days of freedom before school starts – I should be sleeping in.”

Georgie rolled her eyes.

“You just need coffee, Maxie,” she said. “Besides, it's nice to be able to do something to help.”

It was Maxie's turn to roll her eyes.

“Listen to little Mary Sunshine,” Maxie jeered. “What, do bluebirds dress you in the morning as you twirl around your bedroom singing?”

Georgie looked at TJ with a conspiratorial smirk.

“We're definitely getting her coffee,” she said. “Maybe if you weren't out all night Saturday, Maxie, you wouldn't be so tired and grumpy today.”

“Where'd you go?” TJ asked.

“A little party near the campus,” Maxie said. She hated lying to TJ, her oldest friend, but she couldn't say anything about her night with Jesse with Georgie around. Maxie was too tired to deal with Georgie's finger-wagging this morning. “It was a late night, so I just crashed there.”

They walked into the store, Maxie and TJ each grabbing a cart. A stand selling coffee and pastries was immediately to the right.

“Here you go, Maxie,” Georgie said. “This ought to help.”

They all got something – Maxie a mocha latte, Georgie a capuccino and TJ a large coffee with cream and sugar. They drank it as they wheeled their way around the store.

“I saw there's a coffeehouse near the campus,” TJ asked Maxie, as Georgie got the deli orders. “How is it?”

“It's good,” Maxie said. “AJ Quartermaine opened it as a place to hang out without alcohol. They've got really good coffees and desserts and stuff. There are a bunch of couches, and wi-fi. It's a nice place to study during the day. It gets more social at night.”

Georgie came back with a few things in her hand. “We might as well use one cart for Stan and one cart for the rest,” she said. “It'll make unpacking go faster.” She put the reduced-fat cheese and turkey breast in one cart, the ham and swiss in another.

“What'd you do this weekend?” Maxie asked TJ.

“Went to see my mom yesterday,” TJ said. “It wasn't good.”

“What happened?” Georgie asked.

“My grandmother was napping when I got there,” he said. “But she must've heard Mom and me talking, because she started screaming and cursing. She thinks I'm my dad, so she was yelling at Mom to get away from 'that Hardy boy with jungle fever,' and that Mom had to marry some guy named Harrison. 'Like stays with like,' she kept screeching. Mom had to go in and sit with her for 45 minutes to calm her down and get her to take a sedative. It was the only way we could spend any time together.”

“Oh, my God,” Maxie said. “It must've been so awful for you guys.”

“Yeah,” TJ said. “It hurts, even though I remember when Grandma Ravelle knew and loved me. I know this isn't really her. To see her like that, knowing it's only going to get worse ...”

TJ turned away and wiped his eyes as Georgie and Maxie looked on sympathetically.

“It must be so hard for your mom, day in, day out,” Georgie said, as she put boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the cart, along with lean ground beef and center-cut pork chops. “Does she have any kind of respite care?”

TJ nodded.

“Mom's still going into work,” he said. “She's cut down to three days a week, and is handing off her patients. She has a night nurse so she can get some sleep. It probably won't be too long – less than six months, I'd say – before Hospice is called in, then Mom will take a family leave from the practice.”

“It's so cruel,” Maxie said as they ambled down the bakery aisle and she put whole-wheat bread into the carts. “That rich, wonderful life, all those memories, wiped out. She deserved better.”

They went quietly for a few minutes, stopping in the produce section. Apples, oranges, strawberries, peaches, green beans, salad greens, okra, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, red bell peppers and asparagus went into the carts.

“Let's take care of the staples next,” Georgie said. They picked up skim milk and whole milk, orange juice, butter, eggs, flour, salt, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, jelly, maple syrup, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, mayonnaise, canned tuna, tea bags, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. In the cereal aisle, they got Raisin Bran and oatmeal for Epiphany, Wayne and Celeste.

“Gotta go with the Captain for Stan,” Maxie said, reaching for a box of Cap'n Crunch.

“Uh-uh,” TJ said. “Get the one with Crunchberries. Do you know anything about this guy?”

“Lucky told me they used to play pirates together all the time,” Maxie said. “They'd use an old packing crate in the back yard as their ship, and play swordfights with sticks. His mom would paint rocks in gold paint and put it in a box with some chocolate coins for their buried treasure. He's big into computers now – got his degree in computer science, I think.”

“Imagine him and Jeremy together,” TJ said. “They'd probably speak fluent geek to each other.”

They finished shopping, loaded the car, and headed over to Vagabond.

* * *

Elizabeth Webber was stunned to walk into the cafeteria on her lunch break and see her brother, Steven, sitting and laughing with Rachel Adair. Oh, Lord, no, she thought. Please tell me he didn't get back with her.

Steven spotted her and waved her over.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “What's going on?”

“I'm trying to help Rachel write a tactful congratulations note,” Steven said. “Two of our old med school classmates had a baby. Rachel got them a gift, but she's not good at the note. What do you say about an ugly baby?”

“Steven!” Rachel chided, laughing.

“There's no such thing as an ugly baby!” Elizabeth said indignantly. “They're all cute and ... oh.”

She uttered that last word rather flatly as Steven handed her the picture. The poor mite had a sallow complexion, with close-set eyes and a pointy chin that made him look like a rodent, and jug ears. His expression was one of miserable resignation.

“Ah ... well, I ... uh,” Elizabeth fumbled for something nice to say. “He looks so healthy! Yeah, that's it!”

“A good start,” Steven said.

“Don't worry, I'll find something to say,” Rachel said. “I have to get back to work. See you both later!”

After Rachel left, Elizabeth cocked her eyebrow at Steven.

“That's some change,” she said. “Two days ago, the sight of her had you looking like you'd been kicked in the gut. What happened? Or do I want to know?”

Steven smiled at her.

“We talked after Karen's party,” he said. “We got a lot of things out in the open, and realized that there was nothing there for us anymore. We both had stuff to apologize for, and to forgive. And we were able to do that. So now we can both go on with life. But we'd like to be friends.”

“Can you really handle that, Steven?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah, I can,” Steven said. “It's over. We just needed to admit it to each other. It's good, Liz, it really is. I feel free of it now.”

“Gran must be so happy,” Elizabeth said.

“Yep,” Steven said. “I think she's already plotting fix-ups. I'm hoping having both Jeremy and TJ around will be distracting for her.”

* * *

Laura Spencer sat at the window overlooking the back entrance to Vagabond, waiting for the Johnsons to arrive.

Everything was perfect. Maxie, Georgie and TJ had brought the groceries, and put everything away. Georgie even thoughtfully remembered to get flowers for the dining room table. Luke, who hated waiting, was sitting outside smoking a cigar. Lucky and Lulu sat with him. Felicia Jones, Nikolas Cassadine, Karen Wexler and Dillon Quartermaine sat in the living room with TJ, Maxie and Georgie. The television was on, and hurricane coverage was wall-to-wall.

“I think we'd better turn that off when they get here,” Georgie said. “They're going to be tired and overwhelmed enough.”

“You're probably right, Georgie,” Laura said from the window. “It's been a long drive and – oh! Here they are!”

She jumped up and ran to the door. “Let's give them a few minutes to say hello before going down,” Felicia suggested to the others.

The yellow Cadillac pulled in first. Epiphany, exhausted and triumphant, stepped out from the driver's side.

“Epiphany!” Laura cried, flinging her arms around her. “Oh, it's so good to see you!”

She stepped aside so Luke could get in an embrace. “Hey, Piph,” he said. “You must be just about done in. Don't worry, we've got a small brigade of people upstairs to help unload your stuff.”

Meanwhile, Stan had pulled in in the van. Lucky jumped up as Stan opened the door, and pointed at him.

“Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!” Lucky cried in a pirate voice.

“Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! Avast, ye scurvy dogs, prepare to be boarded!” Stan replied. They hugged.

“Great to see you!” Lucky said. “Glad you guys got out.”

“Good God!” Stan exclaimed. “This is Lulu? What the heck happened to that kid I last saw?”

“Growing up, you remember what that's like,” Lulu said, moving in for her hug.

Laura helped Celeste out of the back seat of the Cadillac, while Luke brought around Wayne's walker. He and Epiphany helped Wayne out of the passenger seat, and steadied him while he found his footing with the walker.

As Spencers greeted Johnsons and vice-versa, everyone else came out to help unpack. Laura proudly introduced the Johnsons to her other son, Nikolas. Eventually, all the introductions were made, and unloading the cars could begin. Dillon and TJ brought flatbed dollies down the ramp for loading.

Laura, Karen and Felicia took the Johnsons upstairs. “Oh, how pretty!” Celeste exclaimed when the door opened on the apartment. She was delighted with the kitchen. But it was her bedroom suite that made her gasp with joy.

“Oh, look!” she cried. “Wayne, this bathroom is perfect for you!”

Wayne looked in and his eyes lit up. One of the hardest things since his stroke had been his dependency on others for the most personal tasks. No one will have to help me to the toilet here, he thought with satisfaction.

Epiphany looked at Luke and Laura with a glowing face. “Thank you,” she whispered. Luke hugged her shoulders.

Wayne sat down on the bed as Epiphany went to look at her room. She crowed with laughter over the bedding. “Now this is something like!” she said.

Karen took advantage of the others being elsewhere to get out her black medical bag.

“I'm a doctor, Mr. Johnson,” Karen said. “Luke and Laura wanted me to give you a quick check-up. Is that okay?”

“Pshaw, I'm ... fine,” he said. “But if .... it'll make 'em feel ... better, go ahead.”

Karen took his pulse, listened to his heart and breathing, took his blood pressure, and examined his eyes.

“Your blood pressure is a smidge high,” she said. “Probably the excitement of the last few days. Did you take your medication today?”

Wayne nodded. “At breakfast,” he said.

“Good,” Karen said. “The best thing you could do right now is rest. I'll have a look at Mrs. Johnson, and you should both lay down and take a little nap.”

“Everything all right in here?” Celeste asked at the door.

“Dr. Wexler ... gave me a ... little check-up,” Wayne said. “Your turn.”

Celeste rolled her eyes at him, but submitted to Karen.

“You're fine,” Karen said. “Your blood sugar is good. As I was saying to your husband, you should put your feet up and take a rest now. Everything's crazy in there right now with unloading the stuff, so let them do it and you can unpack later.”

“You heard the doctor,” Epiphany said from the living room. “I'll close the door so we won't bother you too much.”

Epiphany noticed the TV. “What's going on down there?” she asked.

“So far, the city's still standing,” Luke said. “The roof's getting torn off the Superdome, though. Water's coming in. Looks ugly there.”

Epiphany thought of Marcellus and his family. Maybe they were better off staying in their home. She prayed they were.

“Where's Stan going to sleep?” Epiphany asked. “Is that a sofa bed?”

“We put him across the hall,” Laura said. “That way he'll have a little privacy, and room for his computer stuff.”

“You set up two apartments for us!” Epiphany cried, her eyes welling. “It's too much. It's ...”

“It's the least we could do after the way you and your folks were our rocks back then,” Luke said.

* * *

The interns were getting the hospital tour. Lesley was explaining how the floors and wings were organized.

“You'll be working in different parts of the hospital during your time here,” she said. “You'll all be starting on a rotation in the emergency room. Later on, you'll split up and your assignments will include assisting in surgery, general practice, obstetrics and the new mobile health clinic, which we hope to be launching early next year.”

Along the way, they got to meet several department heads – Tony Jones in neurosurgery, Joyce Meadows in obstetrics, Eve Lambert in pediatrics, Joe Scanlon with the mobile health clinic.

They were coming up to the fifth floor nurses' station, where Bobbie was talking with Melissa Bedford.

“Are these our new interns, Dr. Webber?” Melissa asked.

“Yes, they are,” Lesley said, making the introductions. “And this is Bobbie Spencer, who will be our new director of nursing starting next week.”

“Welcome aboard,” Bobbie said. “I'm looking forward to working with all of you, and please, if I can help, let me know.”

Patrick noticed her gaze lingering on him. He also recognized the name – his great-uncle had mentioned her once or twice when he and Noah were reminiscing. She had dated his father. He prayed she wouldn't mention him here in front of everyone.

He breathed a sigh of relief as Lesley led them away to the Stone Cates Wing.

“You okay, Bobbie?” Melissa asked, as Bobbie gazed after the interns. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“In a way, I did,” Bobbie said. “C'mon, let's go take a coffee break and I'll tell you all about it.”

Meanwhile, the interns got to see the state-of-the-art equipment in the Stone Cates Wing, including doors, decontamination rooms and air pockets that would seal off the wing and protect the patients if there was an infectious disease outbreak, like influenza, in the hospital.

“Excuse me, Dr. Webber, have you seen Robin?” Rachel Adair asked Lesley. “I have some cases she wanted filed, but I can't seem to find her.”

“I think I saw her heading over to the nurses' station,” Lesley said. Just then, Rachel was paged.

“Oh, shoot,” Rachel said.

“We'll take care of it,” Lesley said, taking the folders from her. “Dr. Drake, would you please bring these over to the nurses' station? We'll be heading over to the wing's lab next.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Patrick said, taking the files and going to the nurses' station. He walked fast, because he didn't want to miss anything. He saw an administrative assistant standing at the nurses' station.

“Here,” he said brusquely, thrusting the folders into a startled Robin Scorpio's hands. “These need to be filed for Dr. Adair. Thank you.”

He turned and strode back to join the interns. Robin stood there, stunned then chagrined. Who did this guy think he was?

One intern, Kelly Lee, had seen from a distance Patrick's interaction with Robin.

“Thanks,” Kelly said in a low voice as he rejoined them.

“For what?” Patrick asked, looking puzzled.

“No matter what I do today, I won't screw up quite like you just did,” she replied.

“What do you mean?” Patrick demanded. “I just gave the files to a secretary.”

“That was no secretary, Doctor, that was Robin Scorpio,” Kelly said, choking back a giggle. “You know, the director of this wing. Also, a favorite of the Quartermaines. Nice going.”

Patrick threw back his head and grimaced. Not a good way to start a new job.

* * *

“Where's Stan?” Epiphany asked.

“He's over in his apartment,” Laura replied. “Lucky, Lulu, TJ and Dillon are helping him set up his computer.”

Felicia, Georgie, Nikolas, Karen and Maxie had left. Wayne and Celeste were still napping.

“You should take a nap, too, Piph,” Luke said. “You've had a long four days.”

“No, I'm fine,” Epiphany said. “If I sleep now, I'll be up half the night. I'll just go to bed early. I think I'll go unpack now.”

“I'll help you,” Laura said.

“I've got to check on some things with Coleman downstairs,” Luke said. “I'll be back in a while. We'll handle dinner for you guys tonight – the kitchen will send it up.”

“As if you haven't done enough,” Epiphany said. She went into the bedroom and began taking things out of her garbage bags.

“Didn't have time to get anything else,” she said, half-apologetically, to Laura.

“They did the job,” Laura said. “Here, I'll fold and you organize things as you like them.”

They worked in silence for several minutes.

“You're really worried about back home, aren't you?” Laura said.

“I am,” Epiphany said, neatly putting her nightgowns in a drawer. “It's not just the house, although that's enough. Mama and Daddy worked their whole lives for that place. I always made sure we had flood insurance on top of regular insurance, so we're covered. But, still, we had to leave a lot behind. And then we have friends who couldn't or wouldn't leave. I know Stan's worried about his best friend. Marcellus and his family decided to stay put. I'm worried about them being at home, but maybe they're better off there than at the Superdome.”

“I hope Lucky, Lulu and their friends can help distract him from worrying too much,” Laura said.

“It'll be good for Stan to be around folks his own age while we're here,” Epiphany said. “He's been so busy lately. He couldn't find a regular job in computers – so he's been cobbling together contract work and temp jobs to earn a living. He insists on chipping in around the house.”

“He's such a good young man,” Laura said. “You have so much to be proud of with him.”

Epiphany smiled.

“I am,” she said. “I didn't know what I was going to do when I found myself pregnant and his father took off. Never heard a peep from him since. I know I was hard on Stan – making sure he always wore nice clothes to school, hounding him about his schoolwork, not letting him have lots of free time after school to get into mischief. It was hard for him growing up. The neighborhood really went downhill – 'most all of the little boys he used to play with, they went bad, then turned on him and made fun of him for being smart and studious. Kept telling him he was 'acting white.' Now, some of them are dead, some are in prison, more are into drugs – dealing or using – and the rest are going nowhere fast. Only Stan and Marcellus are making anything of themselves. Marcellus just got a waitering job in the French Quarter. He's hoping to make enough money to become a trucker.”

“We've both had to fight a lot of hard circumstances to raise our children,” Laura said. “The way we dragged Lucky around, making him learn a new identity each time we moved, having danger following us everywhere we went, it's amazing how stable he's grown up to be.”

“We've had our struggles,” Epiphany said, giving Laura's hand a squeeze. “But things turned out okay for both of us. I'm not running a cosmetics company like you, but I have my nursing and I have my family and Stan's safely an adult. And to have friends like you, who come through in tough times, I've got no complaints.”

“You were a friend to us when we needed one,” Laura said. “This is only a small payback. You know you're welcome to stay however long you need to.”

Epiphany looked around the room, feeling at home for the first time since she'd left New Orleans, and let out a sigh. She had led her family to a safe harbor, but who knew what lay ahead?