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"Sonny?" Lucky repeated incredulously.
"You shouldn't be picking up the phone," he said, lowering his voice.
"I knew it was you,"
Sonny responded, his tone amused.
"How?"
"I'm the one who paged
you."
"You? Why are you
paging me? I thought it was--"
"Carly?" Sonny asked.
"Yeah, she's here. Nice little surprise too. How long were you planning
on keeping her release a secret?"
"Jason knew too,"
Lucky said defensively.
"Yeah, well that's
between him and me. Right now we're talking about you."
Lucky groaned and
leaned his head against the wall. He was not up for an argument with Sonny
Corinthos right now. "Listen, I didn't know how you would react. The plan
was to have Carly hide out at the penthouse with you, but Jason didn't
want anyone to know she was coming, just to be on the safe side."
"Yeah, okay, Lucky,"
Sonny said, annoyed. "You just gave me a great reason for you *to* tell
me that your cousin was coming."
"Jason wanted to surpirse
you."
"Why would he want
to do that?"
"I don't know!" Lucky
half shouted, and glanced quickly around him to ensure no one had overheard
him. He lowered his voice again. "He didn't want you or Carly to know about
each other until..." Hic s voice trailed off as he looked in the direction
of the ambulance entrance. There seemed to be a commotion over there.
"Lucky?" Sonny asked.
"Until what? We ran into each other in the shower or something? Lucky?"
Lucky frowned, unable
to determine the reason for the sudden action in the ER. He heard someone
calling his name and brought his attetnion back to the conversation. "Yeah?"
"Never mind," Sonny
said, his annoyance even clearer. "Get over here as soon as you can, okay
kid?"
"Yeah, sure. Wait,
put Jason on," Lucky said as an afterthought.
Sonny called for Jason
and the next thing Lucky knew, he was on the line with him. "What do you
need Lucky?" Jason asked.
"I almost told her,"
Lucky said quietly.
"Told her? Told who?
What are you talking about Lucky?"
"My aunt Bobbie. I
almost told her. About Carly being back. I didn't want to keep her daughter's
return from her. I'm sick of all the secrets in this family."
Jason was silent for
a moment, then spoke slowly and carefully. "Lucky, you didn't, did you?"
"I said *almost* Jason!"
Lucky snapped. He felt the anger boiling inside him and forced it down.
"I don't want to be like my father. I'm tired of lying all the time. I'm
going to end up just like him, Jas." He leaned his head against the wall,
again, trying to sort the conflicting emotions he felt about his aunt and
cousin.
"It's almost over,
Lucky," Jason assured him. "Pretty soon the game will be over. But right
now we have to play with what we have, and nobody, and I mean *nobody*
can know that Carly is back from the hospital."
"Fine," Lucy said
sullenly.
"What?"
"I said *fine* Jason.
I just want this to be over."
"I know, Lucky. It
will be, soon."
Lucky hung up the
phone and leaned heavily against the wall. He heard the patter of running
feet past him and opened his eyes to see what was going on. He saw his
aunt running alongside a gurny and pair of paramedics. Her voice was frantic
as she conversed with the doctor beside her. Lucky watched them run by,
then his curiosity got the better of him and he followed after.
He hadn't taken tep
steps when he was stopped by a hand on his chest. "You can't go in, " the
paramedic said gruffly.
"Let me go!" Lucky
shouted, his pent up frustration finally taking hold.
"Hey!" the paramdeic
said sternly, and pushed him down in his seat.
"That's my aunt in
there," Lucky explained in a careful tone.
"Is she the patient?"
"No--"
"Well, that's a good
thing, because it's a man. And it means another thing too; you get to wait
in the hall." The paramedic's smile was a little smug as he crossed the
room to lean against the nurses' station, watching Lucky carefully.
Lucky muttered a quiet
curse and waited for his aunt to emerge from the trauma room. "Bobbie!"
he called when she walked out.
Bobbie glanced at
her nephew and felt her chest restrict painfully. Her eyes were wide and
filled with tears. "Lucky," she said slowly.
"What's going on?"
Lucky asked. "I saw this big commotion at the door-"
"Lucky," Bobbie repeated,
putting an arm around his shoulders. She guided him away from the door.
Lucky stared at her, confused. Her tone seemed a little---sympathetic.
He could not begin to fathom why. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but your dad has
been in an accident."
Carly watched Jason
hang up the phone and smiled. "Is he coming?' she asked.
"Yeah, he's on his
way. There was something he wanted to take care of first, though, I think.
I'm pretty sure he's at the hospital."
"The hospital?" Sonny
asked. "Why?"
"I don't know," Jason
conceded. "He said he talked to Bobbie, so I guessed that would be where
he'd find her."
Carly's expression
changed slightly as she lisetened to Jason's words. The thought of her
mother suddenly saddened her. She didn't know why, but the plans forming
in her mind were suddenly forgotten. "Did he say anything about her?" she
asked abruptly.
"What?" Jason asked,
surprised. "You mean Lucky?"
"Did he say anything
about my mother?" Caely winced and chided herself for calling her that
around other people.
Jason and Sonny watched
Carly carefully, taking in her sudden change in emotions. Her anger finally
seemed to have abated. "He just said he talked to her," Jason said finally.
"He was about to tell her that you were back."
"Why didn't he?"
"Carly. Bobbie can't
know that you're back. Nobody can," Jason explained.
"Why not? Jason, why
do I have to be your dirty secret?"
Jason shook his head.
"You aren't my dirty secret, Carly. You have to know that. I swore vengeance
on two people, Carly. Moreno and Tony. And I won't rest until I bring both
of them down."
"So what?" Carly asked,
her voice rising in anger. "Why do I have to be involved at all? You said--"
"I know what I said
Carly!" Jason snapped. "I promised to leave the orginazation, and I *will*.
But not until I take care of Tony and Moreno. I'm going to need your help
to do that Carly."
"*My* help?" Carly
asked incredulously. "With Moreno?"
"No," Jason said firmly.
"That's what Sonny is helping me with. You and Lucky are going to help
me git rid of Tony Jones for once and for all."
Carly sighed and brushed
away hot tears from her cheeks. She could not understand the sudden passionate
anger that threatened to overwhelm her. Try as she might, she could not
keep the bitter tears from falling. "You have no idea how *happy* I am
to hear those words, Jason. I want to kill that monster for what he did
to my baby."
"I know. So do I.
That's why it's so important that we work together to take care of him.
Once he's gone, you can shout your return all over town if you want."
Carly nodded and wiped
away the remnants of her tears. "So, how do I help? What am I supposed
to do in this little scheme of yours?"
"You're the bait."
Brenda ran into the
ER, looking around frantically. She spotted Lucky and Bobbie Spencer further
down the hall and hurried over to them. "Bobbie!" she shouted as she approached.
"You have to help-" Her voice cut off as she took in Lucky's countenance.
He was deathly pale, and seemed on the very verge of losing it. "Did something
happen?" she asked queitly, forgetting brielfy about Jax.
"Oh, Brenda," Bobbie
said sympathetically, touching the younger woman's arm. "I'm so sorry.
I know you must've just heard."
"What?" Brenda looked
from Bobbie to her nephew, thoroughly confused. She wondered if Bobbie
knew anything about Jax. "Did i hear about---Jax's accident?" Brenda prodded,
hoping for a certain repsonse from Bobbie.
She didn't get the
one she wanted. Bobbie nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. "I feel so terrible
Brenda, I just don't know what to say."
Brenda stared at her,
shocked. "You mean---Jax is here? Then it's true." She collapsed in the
nearest chair, trembling. "Oh, god, it's true. I thought, that maybe---Mac
could be wrong."
It was then that Mac
and Robin ran up them. Both wore similar expressions of worry and surprise.
They saw the expressions on Lucky and Brenda's faces, and Robin knelt beside
her friend. "Brenda," she said softly.
Brenda sobbed and
threw her arms around Robin, her grief and fear washing over her. Mac looked
at each of the others' faces and finally turned to Bobbie for an explanation.
"What happened?" he asked shortly.
Bobbie darted a quick
look at her nephew, then at the young women beside her. Brenda had pulled
away from Robin and everyone now stared at Bobbie, waiting in expectation.
"I'm sorry," she said her voice breaking. She put a trembling hand up to
her mouth and forced the words to come out. "Jax and Luke were killed in
a car accident."