General Hospital Rewrite Part One

November 10th 2016 Part 1

6:42 a.m.
     "Jodie, double time!" Julian urges. "I got lots of meetings today." he tells her. "I'm coming." she grabs her bag and gets up. "Alexis is still asleep so I'm not gonna wake her." he says. "Okay, I'll see her later." she says. "Let's go."
     They get into the car and make their way to Jo's school. "So, uh, how have you been doing?" he asks. "Fine." she answers. "If you need to talk I'm here for you." he tells her. "I said, I'm fine. God I'm not some helpless kid." she grows, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her. He watches as she goes, after the other night they'd both been on edge and he just wanted to help her. His phone rings so he answers before driving off. "Hello?" he answers. "If you know what's good for you, you'll go visit Arthur." they hang up. He hits the gas and heads for the cemetery.

8:27 a.m.
     Julian gets out of the car and heads to Arthur's grave. "Sonny?" he asks. "What the Hell?" he grabs Sonny's shirt and slams him against the closest tree. "You behind this?" Julian demands. "No way, I probably got the same call as you." he says. Julian's phone starts ringing again. "Same number." he tells Sonny before answering it. "Listen I don't know who you are or how you got my number, but you'd better-"
     "Put the phone on speaker." they tell him. Julian just does what they say and puts the phone on the headstone. "Listen carefully, we have very incriminating evidence, enough to put you both away for life. We won't release that evidence until tonight at seven. Unless that is, you find it first. We'll leave you a trail, find it and follow it. You're here at the end, find the beginning and start there. You'll figure it out." they tell them. "Who are you?" Julian asks. "You know who we are." they say. "Why are you doing this?" Sonny asks. "We have our reasons."
     "Can you give us a hint?" Julian asks. "You're at the end, get to the beginning to start. Good luck." they hang up. Sonny looks over at Julian. "Where do we start?" He asks. "I don't know." Julian admits. "How do you not know?" he asks. "It's your friend's grave!" he yells. "I know! I just, don't know what the beginning is." he confesses, sitting on Arthur's headstone. "They said this is the end, it's Arthur's grave, maybe they mean his beginning." he suggests. "We don't have the time to get to England." Julian states. "Not that far back. Maybe he means when you first meet Arthur."
     "You could be right. You know, the place we meet isn't too far. Maybe forty-five minutes with good traffic." he tells him. "We'd better get moving."

10:03 a.m.
     Julian stops the car in front of the hospital and gets out. "This is where I meet Arthur. My brother had a guy he was taking home and he mistook Arthur for that guy. Date was mad, punch Stevie in the face and broke his nose. Arthur felt so guilty he had to stay with him in the hospital." he reminisces. "Emergency room must be the first spot." Sonny says. They walk inside and Julian heads over to the general area he'd meet Arthur. They walk around for a few minutes before Sonny goes over and talks to a nurse. Julian's phone rings and he reluctantly answers it. "What?" he demands. "You didn't go to the right place, but I'll let that slide. Now, where did you go after they fixed your brother's face?"
     "His apartment?" Julian asks. "Don't rush, you've got all day. Immediately after you left the hospital, where'd you go?" they hang up. "Where did you go?" Sonny asks. "Bud stop. Stevie wanted Arthur to go home with him but he was only seventeen do I wanted him gone. I tried to leave him but he flashed Stevie his puppy dog eyes and melted him." he trails off. "Remember where that bus stop is?" Sonny asks. "It's across the street." he tells him. Sonny grabs Julian's arm to get him out of his daze. "I'm coming." he says.
     They walk across the street and over to the bus stop. "Have a break, turn a page." Sonny reads. "Stevie wanted Arthur to get a job at the club he worked at, Arth wasn't old enough so he got a job at a book store but I can't remember the name." he says. "Think harder." Sonny tells him. "It was more than thirty years ago!" Julian reminds him. "Think man! I have kids to get home to! You got a baby on the way!" he motivates. "I know! I just don't remember!" he stops to catch his breath. "I just don't know."
     "I can't go to prison." Sonny says. Julian sits on the bench. "It was a name. A last name, started with an H." he tells him. "Harper? Howard? Harrison? Hampton? Hopper?" Sonny lists. "Harmon!" Julian exclaims. "It was Harmon." he says. "Let's see if there still there." Sonny says, pulling out his phone to look it up. Julian's phone rings expecting it to be the anonymous caller he answers it. "Julian what the Hell? You've missed two important Crimson meetings!" Nina screams. "Sorry, I'm really not feeling good." he lies.
     "You'd better be dying!" she says. He holds his breath so he sounds sick. "I think I have a flu or food poisoning." he says. "You'd better not be lying to me." she warns hanging up. He rolls his eyes. "Harmon's is still open. We should head there." Sonny says. "Yeah let's go." he agrees. A message comes through. *Shut your phone off* It reads. He does as it says.

12:12 p.m.
     Julian sits in a diner booth across from Sonny. "This place is a dump." Sonny comments. "It's been the same dump for thirty years." Julian tells him. There'd been a note at the book store leading them here. "I don't wanna eat anything that comes out of that kitchen." Sonny says. "Can't be worse than Pentonville." Julian says. Sonny twists his nose when a waiter walks by with a tray of food. "That's just gross." he says. "Well unless you wanna end up back in Pentonville I suggest you order something and shut up."
     A waiter walks over. "What can I get for you?" he asks. "Nothing for me." Sonny says. "Uh," Julian realizes what he's supposed to order, "a foot long hotdog." he orders. Sonny looks over at him. "Aren't you super health conscious?" he asks. "I'm not gonna eat it. Stevie and Arthur used to eat here all the time, it's all they could afford. When I'd come, Stevie used to always say Arthur likes his meals like he liked his men." Julian says. Sonny chuckles. "That's gross too." he says. "Yep, I figured, they want us to do something."
     "How do these guys even know?" Sonny asks Julian. "If I knew, I'd have said something. Its scary actually, what they know. I mean, these are things I thought no other living human knew. To find out that dozens know, it's worrying." he admits. "Arthur could've told them." Sonny suggests. "Shut up." Julian says. "I'm just saying." he says. "I said, shut up." the waiter walks over with what Julian ordered and puts the tray on the table. Julian pulls out the note from under the hotdog. "They want us to go the strip club they worked at." Julian tells him.
     "As if this diner wasn't gross enough."

1:47 p.m.
     Jo pulls her ear buds out as the end of the day announcements start. "There will be no after school activities held today." the principal's voice runs through the school. "Damn." she mumbles. She pulls out her phone and texts Alexis. *rehearsals off, can you pick me up??* She waits for a response. *I can't. Try your father.* She goes to her conversation with Julian.*canceled rehearsal, I need ride home.* she hits send. *Message failed*
     She puts her phone back in her bag. "Guess I'm walking." she says quietly.

     "This whole town is as gross as it was thirty years ago." Julian states as they walk out of the club. He looks back at the building. It was called "Cupid's" now. It was completely different inside but he recognized the general layout. He'd snagged a picture of Arthur and Stevie off the wall. Sonny catches up to him. "Where next?" he asks. "Their apartment. The place I found my brother's body." he says. "That's rough. Lets get a move on."

3:32 p.m.
     "I don't wanna go in first." Julian admits, moving to the side. Sonny opens the apartment door and walks in. "Looks like the 80s." he comments. Julian looks in. "Its the same, I mean, close enough." he says. Sonny wonders to the table while Julian just scans the apartment he hadn't been in since the day his brother died. "Hey Jerome, there's something we gotta listen to." Sonny calls him over. "What?" Julian asks. Sonny hits play.
     "I know this is confusing to you Julian. I know it's confusing as to why Sonny is here. We have answers. Call Arthur." the message ends. Julian looks at the phone on the table and dials Arthur's number. "This is just sick." he says. "I know you have questions. We can answer every one." they promise. Julian covers the phone. "Should we ask anything?" he asks Sonny. "Yeah, we can get real answers." Julian uncovers the phone. "We have questions."

     Jo walks through the woods, crunching leaves under her feet. She gets another message and stops to open it. *New Message From: Alex<3* She opens it and smiles. She hears some leaves crunch behind her so she turns. Her heart starts to pound, this felt all too familiar. She spins in a circle, scanning her surroundings. A squirrel runs up a tree. She sighs with relief, laughing she keeps walking. Another crack of a leaf makes her stop again, the cold November air mixed with the creepy silence makes her shiver.
     She stops dead in the middle of a clearing. She knew she'd heard something. She turns and the face of her fears stared back at her. "Miss me Jodie?" Benson asks.