General Hospital Rewrite Part One

December 26th 2016 Part 2

9:31 a.m.
     Alexis takes a seat on the couch next to Julian. Emily still quietly and happily resting in her grandfather's arms, gripping his shirt. "I'd love to stay here all day with you two but I have to get Cassy to physical therapy and Diane is expecting me." Alexis says, touching Emily's hand. "We'll be okay."
     "I know you will. That isn't why I'm upset I can't stay. Watching you with a newborn, it makes everything seem okay. In a couple months our baby will be here and I just know you'll be the most wonderful father. I can see it when you're with Leo and Avery, with Jodie, and now with Emily. I can feel the love you pour into your kids and grandkids. It just makes what's happening with Margaret so much worse. Knowing you never had a parent who loved you the way you love your family, it breaks my heart."
     "I have a real family now. It's all I need. I don't need anything from Margaret anymore. Sam and Jodie do so I'm not gonna stop them. I've made peace with it." Julian tells her, giving a smile. "You shouldn't have had to make peace with something like that. Margaret hurt you and your brother. If she wasn't eight seven or whatever years old, I'd say you press child endangerment charges."
     "Well she is eighty something and she's sick and dying so this is almost over. It is over but it'll be over over." He says. "For once a family member's death will actually relieve stress." He laughs.

10:02 a.m.
     "Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Jo says, looking over at Sam on the couch across from her. "No, we have to do this. For Dad. He's done so much for us, we owe him this." Sam says, trying to comfort her nervous little sister.
     "What if we make things worse?" Jo asks, getting even more worried. "There's no way things can get any worse. At this point, I just need closure. So does Dad. I mean, you and I know what it's like to be lied to by your parents. We've got our answers, our closure, doesn't Dad deserve the same?"
     "Of course he does. I just don't wanna get in trouble. I've had enough of that recently. Let's just do home and spend the day with Dad and Emily. Come on Sam." Jo pleads, pulling at Sam's sleeve. "Jodie," Sam pulls her arm away, "we need real answers. Don't chicken out on me now."
     Jo sits back on the couch and crosses her arms. "We'll be quick." Sam assures her. "Fine." Jo says. "Look there she is. I'm just gonna find out how much of the abuse she knew about. If she only knew about once they were adults, that's one thing, but if she watched her little boys take that kind of torture, I don't think I'll even be able to look at her."
     They fall silent as their grandmother is wheeled in front of them. "I didn't think you girls would come see me. I didn't think anyone would be coming to see me." Margaret admits. "We did come to see you. We just came for answers."
     "I have no reason to lie anymore. I've already lost everyone." She says. "I have questions. Uh, uh first, when did you first start watching my dad and Stevie?"
     "A week after they were born. Once I regained my strength after delivering them I need to see them again. Victor, their father, and his wife threw a party to celebrate a deal or something Victor had done. I snuck in as a member of the caterers and saw them. They were perfect. One was wearing blue and the other was in green. I just held them, I nursed them, I kissed their heads and I left." Margaret explains, clearly reliving that night.
     "How often did you see them?" Sam asks next. "After that night, I didn't see them until their first birthday. I saw them on every birthday until they started boarding school. I'm the reason their father sent them away." She says, looking down at her trembling hands. "What do you mean? Why is it your fault? What did you do?"
     "When they were five, they ran away from home. I had gotten good at following them and I did. I followed them until they both were on the verge of collapsing. I brought them to my home and feed them. Then I brought them back to their father. Julian, your father was very timid and he went willingly with his father. My Steven screamed and cried. 'Please Ms, I don't want him to hurt me anymore.'"
     "You knew your five year olds were being abused and you just let their abuser take them? Why did you ever bring them back? They ran away for a reason! Dad's told me about that night. His brother had a huge cut on his face. Why didn't you take them and hide them? You sent them back." Sam nearly cries.
     "I would have been charged with kidnapping." Margaret tells them, looking to Jodie to be the voice of reason. Jo stays silent, she hadn't said a word since Margaret was brought over.
     "You should have been charged with reckless endangerment." Sam hisses. Jo touches her hand, calming her down without saying anything. Sam composes herself and puts on the face she would if this were a case. "I understand that Victor wouldn't have let you near them but what about when he wasn't a factor? Like, after Stevie was kicked out of school and disowned. Why did you not help him then?"
     "I couldn't find my younger one. He dropped off the face of the Earth. It took me months to find him and when I did, he didn't want to even speak to me unless I offered money. He was working as a prostitute. I paid him and bought him a meal and a safe place to sleep for the night. I decided not to tell him I'm his mother. He was your age Jodie. Just a child. He sat across from me eating watermelon. He was covered in cuts and bruises, burns and bites. It was terrifying."
     "How do you think they felt?" Sam asks. "I can't imagine."
     "How much else did you know?"
     "I went to both of their funerals. I watched your father break down on his knees and scream for his brother. I saw so much pain in their lives. I knew your father wasn't dead. I watched him even after Julian Jerome was burried. I watched him lose you Jodie. I went to you and your mother's funeral. He feel to his knees again. Only this time he didn't scream. He just stayed there, for three hours. His British friend made him leave. Arthur. I remember Arthur well. It was hard to watch him die for all those years. Your father was slowly losing everyone. I wanted to reach out but I thought he would hate me. I thought about how I should have ended it before it started."
     This takes Sam and Jo by surprise, Sam catching on to what she's saying. "Did you try to get rid of them before they were born?" Sam asks. Jo still stays silent.
     Margaret nods, completely ashamed of herself. "It was after I told Victor. He demanded I see a doctor, so I did. That's how I found out I was having twins. I said I'd carry the babies and give them to him after they born. He believed me and let me go. I tried to have someone abort them but when I mentioned there were two I was turned away. That's when Victor's man grabbed me and brought me to Victor's house. That's when he locked me up. I didn't see the outside world until the day I had them and was thrown out two hours after giving birth to twins."
     "You expect sympathy?" Jo asks, finally speaking. "I expect you to hear what I said. I suffered too and I did what I could for my boys. How could you have forgiven your mother and uncle but not me?"
     "Leave them out of this, their dead."
     "And I'm dying." She reminds her. "Not fast enough I might add." Jo says. Sam's mouth drops open. "There's no difference between what I did and what they did."
     "I wasn't abused and I was actually loved. Come on Sam, let's go. Margaret has told us everything she can. I'm satisfied with the answers I got." Jo says, walking away. Sam follows after her. They get into Sam's car and sit there for a while in silence. "Do you know what Jason's nickname is?"
     Jo shakes her head. "Stone cold. Now, that was cold. That was stone cold. I think I'll have to tell Jason about that one. He'll respect you." Sam tells her. "I'm not proud of what I just said. Let's not talk about it."
     "Okay. I don't wanna go back just yet. Honestly, I don't think Dad will give up Emily yet. Let's go do something. We need some sisterly bonding. What do you wanna do?" She asks. "I don't know."
     "What did you used to do for fun?" Sam asks. "I used to hike with Jensen but I know you probably aren't feeling up to that. Oh, we used to go to a shelter and play and walk the dogs so they would get some loving."
     "Let's do that. I wanna go check out a shelter anyways. I think when Em is a few months we might consider thinking about getting a dog. Danny and Jake have been dropping major hints. I know you used to have a dog, do you think we should get one?"
     "Yeah. It's good for kids. They'll learn responsibility and it's a good way to teach them how to form special bonds."
     "I'm gonna have to pitch that to Jason." She laughs. "D-does Jason not like me?" Jo asks. Sam doesn't answer her, instead she keeps quiet and drives. "It's okay. I already knew."
     "It's not that he doesn't like you, it's just that he doesn't view you as family. Not yet. He views you as just my half sister who didn't exist until this year." She tells her. "Well," Jo starts, "I just view him as my brother-in-law who doesn't deserve my sister."