Daily Updates

From: rika@netcom.com (Melissa Martin)
Subject: GH: Update, Wednesday, 10/9/96
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 15:49:29 GMT

                         GENERAL HOSPITAL UPDATE
                        Wednesday, October 9, 1996

My apologies for the delay in posting this update:  I suffered
The Attack of the Killer Midterms, and my problems were compounded
by two consecutive evenings of busy signals on Netcom (GRRRRR......).

TODAY'S STORYLINES:
------------------
* The Life and Times of a Lame Duck
* Meanwhile, Back at the Cabin
* But What if he Didn't Exist?
* Am I Talking Too Fast?

The Life and Times of a Lame Duck
---------------------------------
Bobbie is still at the Q's for some not-at-all-obvious reason.
(Zeman must have a huge guarantee in her contract - I can't see
any other explanation.)  She checks for phone messages, finding that
Tony hasn't called in, and then bothers Lee Baldwin and Justus (who
is growing a goatee.  Maybe he is about to go to work for Stefan).
They confirm that the financial figures suggest that GH may not
reopen.  Monica worries about Alan.  He says the pain is better,
but he doesn't want to become dependent on the painkillers.  He
remarks how unbelievable it is that he avoided the surgery for
weeks so he would be available in case of a crisis, and the very
day he had the operation, the fertilizer hit the fan.  It's as
though THE WHOLE THING WAS PLANNED.  (Good call, Big Al!)

Edward enters the room briskly.  He has called in a lot of markers,
and has put a plan together to rescue the hospital using ELQ funds.
He is offering a short-term loan.  He snipes at Alan's management
skills (or lack thereof).  Monica tries to defend Alan.  Justus
points out that Ned has to approve.  Edward:  "Ned won't be a
problem."  Ned, who has just arrived, begs to differ.

Ned looks over Edward's figures, while Edward and Alan argue that
the family is connected to the hospital.  Edward to Ned:  "It's
where you take your wife when she has her contractions."  That
was the wrong thing to say - Ned reminds him that the sentence
should have been past tense.  Edward keeps trying - Monica and
Alan work there, and he wants to protect Steve Hardy's good name.
Fine, replies Ned, use your own personal funds.  Edward objects -
ELQ is his company.  Ned reminds him that HE is CEO, as a result
of Edward's pleas.

Edward assures Ned the loan will not hurt ELQ in any way.  They
will address the problem of adequate management, and then things
should be fine.  Ned says it is a no-brainer:  "You'd have to have
no brain to agree to this."  Ned explains that ELQ is recovering
from Jax and Tracy's evil deeds.  Considering what it cost him
personally, he is not about to risk the recovery for "a lost cause
with sentimental value."  He leaves, and Justus and Lee go back
to poring over the financial figures.

Bobbie leaves, and Monica tells Alan that he looks tired and needs
rest.  She asks him to stay at the mansion - he needs looking
after.  Just then, Edward comes in and starts sniping at Alan
for screwing up the hospital.  Alan finally blows up, pointing out
Edward's recent management failures - railroading Ned out of ELQ,
allowing Tracy and Jax to jeopardize ELQ, and then begging to get
Ned back.  "Gee, it's a shame that some of your management skills
didn't rub off on me.  Well, at least you're a wonderful, caring
father - you've got that to fall back on."  Alan leaves.  Monica
follows him, after saying, "There are no words, Edward."

Ned comes in and assures Edward that Alan is wrong:  Edward is
a brilliant manager and a master manipulator.  Edward doesn't
understand, then, why he couldn't convince Ned to help the
hospital.  Ned explains that it's because he is no longer
under Edward's control.  Ned is the boss now - "the CEO of the
only thing you love more than Grandmother.... and I'll be making
your life a lame-duck hell as long as I'm still around."  (Did
someone say DUCK?)

Edward tells Ned he is where he belongs, Lois or no Lois.  That's
another decision you don't get to make, Ned tells him.  But Edward
got what he wanted - Ned is back at the helm.  Ned asks, "Is it as
bad for you as it is for me, Grandfather?  I sincerely hope so."
He leaves Edward alone, gulping sherry.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE CABIN
----------------------------
Anybody who has seen any episode of GH over the past week or two
knows full well what Carly and Tony are doing - over and over and
over.  (Whatever you may think of the situation, you have to
give Tony points for stamina.  It offers an insight into what
Lucy saw in Tony those many years ago).  Carly loves it at the
cabin - so far from the real world.  Tony insists it *is* the real
world.  Carly thinks the real world is the hospital.  Tony:  "WHAT
hospital?"  (If he only knew......)

Later, Tony calls Betty, the ever-available babysitter.  (Don't
all you parents of small kids wish you lived in Port Charles?)
Tony asks Betty to stay with Lucas till Bobbie gets home.  Carly
remarks that Tony needs to go home, and he tells her that he
*is* home.  Carly has some anxieties and doubts, but Tony assures
her their relationship is real.  He asks, if he could give her one
thing, what would it be?  To fall asleep in his arms and wake up
there tomorrow, she replies, though she knows it is impossible.
Tony calls home and leaves a message for Bobbie - he claims to
have an emergency at the hospital, and he'll spend the night
there (OOPS....)

AM I TALKING TOO FAST?
----------------------
Luke and Lucy arrive at the Outback (may I ask WHY Lucy continues
to frequent this establishment, instead of Kelly's or Luke's or
the Grill?  I know she lives nearby, but I would think she'd just
as soon not risk seeing Felicia on a regular basis).  He has tagged
along to her meeting with Alexis.  Lucy appreciates his concern for
her in coming along to the meeting just because he's her pal (let
us pause here for a sarcastic snicker or two at the idea of Luke
doing anything for reasons not directly related to Luke's own
interests).  Lucy decides that Luke's experience with lawyers
(Luke:  "We can get an injunction faster than a babysitter") might
be helpful:  Luke can size up Alexis's capabilities.  Luke agrees:
"I don't want my partner hooked up with some fast-talking clothes
horse who's gonna charge you a full day's wage for just stapling
two papers together."

Alexis arrives just in time to hear Luke's remark, and greets both
Lucy and "Mr. Spencer" by name.  Luke is momentarily speechless.
Alexis makes the most of the silence, uttering the LOD:  "Am I
talking too fast?"

(NOTE - for the rest of the scenes, sparks and conversational
darts fly between Alexis and Luke at a fevered pace.  Poor Lucy is
in the middle, trying to maintain the peace and return the focus
to Kevin's plight.  Just imagine Luke looking smug and amused,
Alexis looking self-assured and amused, and Lucy looking unhappy
and fidgety, and you've got the gist of it.)

As they sit down, Alexis explains that she overheard Luke calling
Lucy his partner, and figured out who he was.  Lucy told Alexis
about her financial situation in case anyone sues her for not calling
the police about Kevin.  Luke suggests that Alexis had to know how
much Lucy was worth so she could take her for all she was worth.
Lucy explains that Luke is just skeptical - Alexis shouldn't take
it personally.  Alexis has another great line:  "Call me homely,
and I'll take it personally.  Call me craven, and I'll take it
you're not a virgin with the legal profession."  Luke:  "You ain't
homely."

Luke's next barb:  "[Lucy] told me you just dropped in out of
heaven, and I never thought that was a launching pad for lawyers."
Alexis:  "A skeptical nature and opposable thumbs are the only
things that separate us from the beasts."  She gets her resume
from her briefcase and gives it to Luke.

Lucy changes the subject to Kevin's defense strategy.  Luke
interrupts, remarking on Alexis's education (in Belgium).
The interruptions continue, as do Alexis's attempts to talk to
Lucy about Kevin's case.  Luke is especially animated when he
discovers she got her law degree at Harvard.  Lucy tries to get
Luke to stop interrupting so that they can get to the important
issue of Kevin's fate.  Luke:  "Oh, don't wait for me.  I'm
like a bad haircut - I grow out at my own pace."  Alexis explains
she can only discuss Kevin's case with "the representative he has
named," and Lucy suggests that Luke go to the bar for a drink so
she and Alexis can talk about the case.  Luke basically refuses
to leave.  Alexis predicts that Luke will suggest a background
check, and she agrees to answer any questions he has.

When we return, Alexis is answering some question of Luke's about
her early graduate work (political science) while Lucy fidgets.
"After Harvard - " Luke begins, and Lucy interrupts, filling in
Alexis's early days at a firm (whose principal partners, to hear
Lucy tell it, include someone named "Woodchuck"), which they have
apparently already discussed.  Luke wonders how she dealt with the
"glass ceiling."  Alexis:  "You've seen those fire alarms?  'Break
glass in case of emergency?'  It became an emergency for me to
leave the firm and start my own practice."  She reviews her twelve-
year record of successes in litigation, criminal defense, and "a
knack for quick and favorable settlements in civil suits, as my
bank account will attest, should you wish to investigate it."

Luke asks what Alexis is doing to get Kevin out of maximum security.
Luke remarks that it sounds like an emergency, and Alexis agrees.
He asks again what she is doing about it, and she doesn't answer.
Luke realizes it has to do with the "wall of confidentiality."
Lucy tries again to get Luke to go to the bar and wait, but Luke
interrupts, asking for references.  Alexis tells him they are in
the resume, and remarks to Lucy that it's getting late.  Lucy
asks Luke to let her talk to Alexis about Kevin, but he refuses
again - he tells Lucy she is being lied to.  He doesn't believe
that a lawyer of Alexis's ability and credentials would "scour
the hinterlands looking for some doctor who, in his spare time,
terrorizes women and small children."  Lucy whacks him for this
(and he deserved it, if for nothing else than the factual errors
in his statement), but Alexis is privately amused.  Alexis explains
that she would never had heard about the case if Stefan Cassadine
hadn't asked her to look into it.

Lucy is furious - Alexis should have told her this.  Alexis suggests
that they get back to Kevin's case.  Lucy tells her that, though
she didn't outright lie, she wasn't completely honest.  It's too
late to plead my sincerity, replies Alexis.  Besides, what Lucy
and Kevin need are results, not sincerity, and Alexis can provide
results.  Lucy fires her, telling her she can't trust her.  Alexis
wishes Lucy and Kevin luck - but they'll need more than that.  As
she leaves, she asks Luke to take care of Lucy.  Luke assures Lucy
that she did the right thing.  (Any bets on how many days it will
be before Alexis is back on the case?)

BUT WHAT IF HE DIDN'T EXIST?
----------------------------
(These scenes were just plain wonderful.  I hope nobody missed
them.)

We start with a repetition of the final scene Tuesday, in which
Stefan declares his love for Laura.  She insists that it was an
unreal, intense experience on the island - that is what he feels.
He hoped to find that was true - it would have made his life
simpler - but "you are still incomparable, still Lasha."  When he
saw her on the dock, he wanted to turn her away, but she was so
beautiful, pleading for her child, with a passion he remembered,
and he couldn't do it.  He swore he would never say these things,
but they are leaving (yeah, right) and he may never see her again.
Nikolas will always have the best of Stefan, because he loved
Nikolas's mother.

Laura talks about how difficult it must have been for Stefan to
raise Nikolas alone, especially with Helena "breathing down his
neck."  He says he preserved Nikolas's spirit so that he would
have some part of Laura with him.  Laura doesn't know how to
thank him for helping to save Lesley Lu.  She always knew Stefan
wasn't like the other Cassadines, and because of that she is able
to leave Nikolas with Stefan and say goodbye.  Stefan asks if she
remembers the last time they said goodbye.  For him, that day
stands out as one of the most important.

We see a flashback of Laura, on the hill overlooking the cove,
calling to Stefan.  She finds him and tells him that Helena let
her know that Luke was alive.  She weighs the need to see Luke
against the need to stay with Nikolas.  Stefan promises to take
care of Nikolas, and they embrace as Laura cries.  Back in the
present, she tells Stefan she intended to come back.  He claims
to understand her reasons for not doing so - but he has lived his
life shackled to his family:  "Even the woman who made me see that
life was more than pain and anger and revenge belonged to my brother,
and loved yet another man."  Stefan asks Laura if he had been the
only one, under different circumstances, "could you have loved me?"

Laura sidesteps the question - "I'm in love with another man,
and I always will be."  Stefan:  "But what if he didn't exist?"
Laura:  "But he does."  She points out that Luke stayed with her
in spite of the hurt she caused him by concealing the truth about
Nikolas for so many years.  Now it is her turn to stand by him.
She thinks it best that Stefan and Nikolas leave.  Stefan agrees
to go, and reaffirms his commitment to take care of Nikolas.
Laura thanks him and says goodbye, kissing him on the cheek.
He watches her go, saying quietly to himself, "Goodbye, Lasha."

Later, Alexis and Stefan meet.  She tells Stefan about the
meeting with Luke and Lucy, remarking that Luke is sharp (as
Stefan told her).  She told Luke about the Cassadine connection
because she felt that he was about to figure it out on his
own.  So far, things have gone precisely as they expected.  She
was surprised at Luke - she has never met a non-Cassadine who was
so sure of himself.  Am I up to speed, asks Stefan?  Am I, couters
Alexis, noting his subdued mood.  Stefan tells her that everything
went as expected, and asks her to go.  He stays in the park, and
thinks about his question to Laura about Luke ("But what if he
didn't exist?") and her reply ("But he does").

Meanwhile, Laura arrives home.  She gets out the photo of herself
with baby Nikolas and looks at it tearfully.  Luke arrives home,
and she tells him that Stefan and Nikolas are leaving for Greece.
Luke asks if she "bought it".  He seemed sincere, she said, but
she realizes that lying and manipulating are second nature to the
Cassadines.  She wants to believe it.

Luke isn't convinced.  Stefan isn't going anywhere - based on
something Laura doesn't know.  Just then Bobbie bursts in, flinging
emotion everywhere, freaking out about the hospital being closed.
(Did anyone else wonder if she had had an amnesia attack after
leaving the Q's, gone to the hospital, and learned the news again
right before running to Luke?)  Laura is stunned.  Luke looks at
her:  "That's what I was going to tell you."

------------------------
by Rika, 1/2 of the Wednesday Update Team