General Hospital Rewrite Part One

October 17th 2016

8:32 a.m.
     "Jodie!" Alex runs up to her. "So I heard from an anonymous source that you like theater." he says. "I told you." she laughs. "I won't reveal my source but I was hoping that'd you'd be interested in trying out for the musical with me after school." he says. "What's the musical?" she asks. "Its actually one of my favorites. Its a French musical about a man who was arrested because he stole some-"
     "I love Les Mis!" she exclaims. "Really?" he asks. "Its my absolute favorite. I've seen it live, I've seen the movie like fifty times, I read the book twice. I totally wanna try out. Especially with you." she moves into his arms. "The rules are that we have to sing a song from the play, so we'll have to pick something." he tells her. "Who do you wanna play?" Jo asks. "Hmm, maybe Javert. I don't know. I like the two solos he has but he's an ass. Plus, if I play him, I can't kiss Cosette, which you'd be wonderful as."
     She looks down. "I'd have to wear a wig." she points out. "Its okay. You'd be pretty as a blonde, I mean, you're gorgeous now, but you'd look good as a blonde too." he says. "Will you be the Marius to my Cosette?" she asks. "Well I'm not gonna let you be the Éponine to my Marius." he tells her. Her face turns bright red so she turns. "Hey, don't look away." he urges. "Why?" she asks. "Cause you're beautiful." he says. She reaches up and wraps her arms around his neck. He hugs her back. "Come on love birds get to class." a teacher barks from their room. They laugh and head to the gym.
     "I'm so excited." Jo says. "For later?" Alex asks her. "Yeah, but also cause it's my first day being cleared to play in gym again. I want a rematch for the first day." she tells him. "We aren't playing soccer anymore." he tells her. "What are we playing?" she asks. "Football, and we're going outside." he tells her. "What? It's freezing outside!" she says. "Brown doesn't not go outside until it's less than sixty or raining."
     "I'm so tiny, I'll turn to ice!" she starts laughing. "I'll keep you warm." he says. They stop at the bleachers. "How?" she asks. He pulls her close and presses his back to the bleachers so she's not cornered. Jo stands on her toes so she can kiss him. "Can I have your hoodie?" she asks. He unzips his sweatshirt and puts it over her shoulders. Its too big for her and hangs off her shoulders and down until her mid thigh. "You're tall." she giggles. "Break it up and go get dressed." Mr. Brown tells them.

     Julian holds Leo close to his chest. "Come on buddy. Please stop crying." he urges, bouncing him. Leo screams louder in protest. "Alan! Thank god you're here." Julian says. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asks, putting a hand on Leo's back. "He woke up crying and screaming this morning. He won't eat, he's holding his head and he's in so much pain." Julian tells him. "Sounds like an ear infection but I'll take a look." he says.

9:32 a.m.
     "So are we gonna do a duet or separate songs?" Alex asks. "I don't know. I guess we should divide and conquer. Both do our own songs." Jodie says. "What song are you gonna sing?" he asks. "I have no idea." she says. "Well, if you don't have a song of your own they make you sing the star spangled banner." he tells her. "I'll find a song." she says. "What are you gonna do?" she asks him. "I'm think Wheel in the Sky." he tells her. "Love that song." she says.
     "Well it got me in last year. We did The Wizard of Oz. I was the scarecrow." he tells her. "So you know the theater kids. Anyone I should look out for?" she asks. "Well, the girl who played Dorothy, her name is Kayla, she's probably gonna go for a lead." he tells her. "I'll watch out." she says. "I'll see you later." he kisses her cheek.

     "You have like, a super power or something." Julian tells Alan. "I'm just old." he says. Julian runs his hand down Leo's head. Alan had gotten Leo to stop crying and the boy was now falling asleep on his dad's chest. "Come on. You did me a big favor. You helped my boy." he says. "Just ear drops with pain relief. You can have the bottle. Its just over the counter. I'll get you set with a prescription for anti-biotics. Little man's gonna be fine."
     "I can't believe I did this again. When Jodie was his age she got an ear infection too and I rushed her to the hospital. I was a mess." he says. "I get it. I have three kids remember? One point, all three of them had ear infections. All three. Ear infections are catchy. It was miserable. All three of them!" Alan rolls his eyes. "You're a saint." Julian compliments. "I'm a push over." he retorts. "Maybe a bit. But you're kind. Naturally kind. I mean, I can be that way with kids, but you can be nice to anyone."
     "I once beat a man half to death because he called my wife a racial slur. He was the same race." he states. Julian stares at him. "I almost killed my best friend's father at that same friend's funeral because he grabbed my wife's arm." he tells him. "That's a good reason." Alan agrees. "I've done crazy things for my wife." Julian tells him. "Haven't we all?" Alan asks. Julian laughs in agreement. Leo groans. "I should get this boy home. He needs a nap."
     "I need a nap too. I gotta head home. I'm not ready for full time again." Alan says. "I get it. When I first got back to work after I got shot, I called Alexis and had her pick me up before nine." Julian comforts. Alan smiles. "Thanks for being understanding. We live in a world where men can't show emotion without being ridiculed." he says. "Thank you for helping my son, and my wife. She adores you. She loves you as her doctor and friend. For that, and my Leo, I will always be grateful, and you will always have a place in Port Charles and in our family."
     "Thank you." Alan shakes his hand. "You go take care of this beautiful boy."

12:36 p.m.
     Jo sits next to Cassidy. "Hey." she greets, only getting a grunt in response. "Come on Cas, what's wrong?" she asks. "None of your business." she snaps. "Sorry, but if you need to talk, I understand." Jo tells her. "You don't understand nothing! Poor rich girl. 'You don't know how hard my life is.' Blah blah blah." she mocks. "Poor rich girl. Poor rich girl who was torn away from her father at two. Poor rich girl who went through her whole life grieving for a father who wasn't dead. Poor rich girl who's mother worked three jobs to support them. Poor rich girl who's only family was a distant mother and an uncle she hardly knew. Poor rich girl who's best and only friend killed himself because she couldn't protect him. Poor rich girl who's mother slowly died from cancer. Poor rich girl who watched her father beaten to a bloody pulp. Poor rich girl who was chased through the woods, stabbed, and raped at twelve while walking home from school. Poor. Little. Rich. Girl."
     She grabs her bag and walks to the other side of the room. She sits next to Tyler. "Hey Jo." he greets. "Hey Ty." she says, defeat strong in her voice.

2:26 p.m.
     Jo runs up behind Alex and covers his eyes. "Guess who." she tells him. He turns and picks her up briefly before putting her back down and kissing her. "I picked a song." she tells him. "What song?" he asks. "You'll see." she says. "Okay. I'm gonna go up now." he says. "Good luck." she kisses his cheek. He smiles at her and runs to the stage. "Alex Peters, nice to have you back." one of the judges says. Jodie sits on a ledge and watches him. 
     Her eyes light up and she stares at him. The minutes of the song turns into hours of peace for her. When he finishes he bows and walks to Jodie. She lunges forward and kisses him. "You have a beautiful voice." she beams. "I'm okay." he says. "Its amazing." she pushes herself into his arms. "My turn." she says nervously. "You're gonna be perfect." he says. She goes up to the mic and takes a deep breath. "Jodie Miller, you're new here. We know you have some musical theater experience."
     She puts her hands on the mic. "Jodie, what are you singing?" the judge asks. "Lost Boy, by Ruth B." she says. "Okay, continue." they tells her. "There was a time when I was alone, no where to go and no place the call home. My only friend was a man on the moon, even sometimes he would go away too." she starts singing. She looks to Alex and sings with more confidence. "Neverland is home to lost boys like me and lost boys like me are free. Neverland is home to lost boys like me and lost boys like me are free."
     She puts the mic down and steps away from the mic. She looks over at Alex, who's smiling and staring. She looks to the judges, who are talking to each other. "That was amazing Jodie. We haven't decided anything yet but expect good news tomorrow morning." one of them says. "Thank you." she says. "No, thank you Jodie. We needed someone like you for this musical. For our musical department." the other one says. "Thank you. I love performing and I just hope I can get a part." she says. "Its guaranteed." one tells her.
     She looks down and walks over to Alex. "Don't look down. Don't look down. You're not a slave. Don't look down. Don't look down. You're not standing in your grave." he sings. She wipes the tear off her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow Marius." she says. "Au revoir Cosette." he kisses her cheek.

3:32 p.m.
     "How was auditions?" Julian asks his daughter. "Amazing." she breaths.

See, I promised I'd start to be nicer to Jodie. Wait, did I? Well, let's say this is me being nice to Jodie.