CHAPTER 2

Anxious for news from Keesha about how things had gone with Carly and the sonogram made A.J.'s day at the General Hospital gym drag, despite being busy. He had just given a patient his exercise sheet to follow once he was released from the hospital, when Monica entered the gym.

"Mom," A.J. said, surprised to see her. "I thought you were still on vacation."

"I am. Does that mean I can't visit?"

"No...no, of course not. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"I'm sure you are. I thought you were going to call me."

"I was. I mean, I am. Mom, I can't talk now. I told you I'd be in touch, and I will."

"As soon as you have 'everything worked out'. I believe those were the words you used."

A.J. sighed and shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was laced with hurt and anger. "It's the truth, but I can tell you don't believe me, so, please, by all means, think whatever you want. I don't have time for this right now."

He tried to walk past Monica, but she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"A.J. Quartermaine," she said in a low but firm tone, "You stop this right now. I am not your father. You may be able to get by talking to him that way, but I have never given you any reason to talk to me like that. And I won't let it start now. You apologize right this instant, young man, and you make the time to talk to me."

A.J. looked at his mother as she released his arm. He knew it was his anxiety that made him react the way he did to her words.

"I apologize for my words and my tone," he said contritely. "But I honestly can't talk with you right now. Please have faith in me for a little bit longer, and then, hopefully, I'll be able to tell you and the entire family what's been going on. I'm asking for a little more time. That's all."

"When, A.J.? When are you going to be able to tell us what's been going on?"

"Tonight. Tomorrow at the latest."

Monica sighed. "All right. I'll let you have another 24 hours. After that, I want some answers, and I won't be put off."

"I understand," A.J. said, nodding.

"Twenty-four hours, A.J.," Monica said as left the gym.

"Right," A.J. said, and then turned his attention to the next patient who had entered the gym ready for his workout.

At 5:00 p.m., A.J. received the phone call he had been waiting for.

"Keesha! How did it go?"

"Wait until you hear what I have to tell you."

"Please tell me that everything went okay."

"Well, that depends on your perspective. Are you ready to leave work?"

"Yes."

"Great. Why don't I stop by your place with dinner? We can talk."

"Sounds good."

A.J. had no sooner entered his apartment when Keesha rang his doorbell.

"Hi. Come on in."

"I stopped for Chinese. I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," he said, taking the bags from her hands.

They made their way to the living room where they set the cartons on the coffee table and sat on pillows across from each other on the floor.

"So, what happened?" he asked as they were fixing their plates.

"A.J., you are not going to believe this. Carly found someone to switch the results for her."

"You're telling me that she lied to me about the due date?! I could be the father?"

Keesha pulled the sonogram picture from her purse. "Here's the picture. According to this, her baby is due in January."

A.J. did a quick calculation and determined that the night they spent in April could have produced the baby Carly was carrying.

"Well, it all makes sense, now, doesn't it? What did Carly have to say for herself?"

"Not much. She left in tears, determined to find Tony."

"That little witch! I can't believe she would continue to lie to me after I confronted her."

"Lying is all she knows how to do, A.J. Surely, you've come to that conclusion by now, haven't you?"

"Of course, I have," he answered, somewhat defensively. "I'm just trying to figure out the entire puzzle here. I still think there's a key piece that's missing."

"Talk to me," Keesha prompted, wanting to hear his ideas and possibly theories.

In between bites of food, A.J. threw out a question. "Do you think there's any chance Tony could be the father?"

"I would think so," Keesha replied, after swallowing her chow mein. "Of course, there was that period when they weren't together, right?"

"Yes. The night we met. She said they had split up. Well, she is obviously going to fight me on this, so I guess the next step is a paternity test once the baby's born."

"So, A.J., now that you know all this, are you going to tell Tony and your family?"

"My family for sure. I would rather Tony hear the story from Carly, with me present, of course, to fill in any gaps."

Keesha allowed herself a small smile.

"Is she unbelievable or what?"

"Well, she can do or say whatever she wants now."

"What if she's convincing Tony to elope again as we speak?"

"She would be a fool to do that since she knows you're going to tell me what happened."

"A.J., I must say you are taking all this very calmly."

"Because I know the truth. So, now, there's no reason to hide or protect Carly anymore. She can't hurt me."

Keesha smiled at the thought that A.J. had finally, completely seen for himself what Carly was capable of. She was also thrilled that he was going to tell his family about his ordeal at the hands of that witch.

"By the way," A.J. said and grinned. "Just how did you end up with the sonogram picture, Ms. Ward?"

Keesha smiled devilishly. "When I caught on to what Carly was trying to do, she was so upset that she didn't even think about the picture. All she could think about was finding Toneeee."

A.J. laughed at her imitation of Carly saying Tony's name. "She does have a unique way of saying his name, doesn't she?"

Keesha laughed with him and nodded. She sensed A.J.'s relief at knowing the truth, and she knew her own was apparent as well. The one remaining issue, as far as she could tell, and it was a big one, was what did he do if the baby was his. She voiced that question to A.J.

"That's the part of this that I have to get used to. I've never thought about being a father before. This is certainly not the way I would have liked it to happen."

Keesha nodded in understanding. "I know what you're saying, but you and your family would be able to provide a good life for your son or daughter."

"My family," A.J. said and shook his head. "Are they going to love this screw up or what? Let's see. I fell off the wagon again, took a drunken woman I had just met to bed, Jason's bed, no less, blacked out and had no memory of it, and now, I may be a father, thanks to that night. This is sounding better and better, isn't it?"

Keesha admitted the night did sound like a bad movie.

"I need to rethink my plan," A.J. suddenly realized. He stood up and, running a hand through his hair, began to pace the living room. "I must have been insane to think I could tell my family about this!"

Keesha saw his struggle and tried to reason with him. "Don't you think that once you hear the lectures, the snide remarks from Ned, etc., they will be on your side when they hear what Carly did? And they would want to support you if the baby is yours?"

"Maybe my mom and my grandmother would support me. And that's a very tentative maybe. But I doubt I'll survive the lectures and those wonderful snide remarks of good ol' cousin Ned. And the looks, Keesha. You forgot about those Quartermaine looks. How could I have forgotten about those looks? I can't do this."

Keesha saw the panic begin in A.J.'s soft hazel eyes, and she stood up and crossed to where he was standing.

"A.J., please don't panic. Nothing has to be decided tonight. You know Carly isn't going to say anything and neither am I. This is in your hands, so you take the time you need to figure out what's best."

A.J. rubbed his hands along Keesha's upper arms.

"What would I do without you?" he said, staring in to her dark brown eyes. "You're right, of course. I have time, and I have to own up to what I did. I did do all the things I described after another nasty round with my family, and I will deal with the consequences. But right now, I want to finish this meal you brought and enjoy your company."

Keesha smiled at him. "Sounds good to me. Come on."

They resumed their places in the living room and finished their meal in silence. When they were through, Keesha began to clean up, but A.J. stopped her.

"I'll clean up later. You just relax. I know today couldn't have been easy for you, and I really appreciate all you've done for me."

They both sat down on the couch; Keesha moved closer to A.J.

"I'm glad I could help, but you're right about this not being easy for me. I hate what Carly has done to you, and I hate that you've had to go through any of this. But the one thing I'm grateful for is that this has given us a chance to be together again. I've always cared about you, A.J., even when your drinking drove me away. I'm thankful we have this time together as friends."

"Yes. I'm so glad you said as friends. I feel the same way as you do, but I know me. And I know that I can't offer you any more than friendship right now, especially with things the way they are with Carly."

"I understand. I just want us to stay as close as we are right now. Regardless of what happens."

"I want that, too."

A.J. was about to say more when a wave of nausea hit him. He clutched his stomach and tried to lean back on the couch.

"A.J.? A.J., what's wrong?" Keesha asked, immediately concerned. His face had gone pale, and beads of perspiration lined his forehead.

"I-I don't know. The room is spinning, and my stomach is doing backflips."

"Did you feel okay earlier?"

A.J. barely nodded. "This just came on me."

"Oh, no. I hope it wasn't the food!"

"You seem okay. We ate the same food."

"You ate the sweet and sour pork. I didn't."

"Oh, great. All I need, bad pork."

A.J. tried to sit up on the couch, but he couldn't do it. The room continued to spin out of control, and as soon as he tried to sit up, he doubled over in pain.

"I think you better call someone, Keesha. I don't know what's happening to me."

He continued to hold his stomach as the pains intensified.

"Do you want me to call 911 or your parents?"

"Call my mom, please."

Keesha called and asked to speak to Monica, but Alan told her she wasn't home.

"Did I wake you up, Alan? You sound different."

"I'm okay, Keesha. Why? What's going on?"

She hesitated to say anything to Alan because she didn't know if A.J. would want her to and because Alan sounded as though he might have had a cocktail or two, but one glance in A.J.'s direction convinced her to tell Alan. He was A.J.'s father, after all, and a doctor. He would know what to do. She explained the situation.

"Has he been drinking?"

"No, he has not been drinking." She spoke in a low tone so A.J. couldn't hear and get more upset, but she was livid with Alan that he would even ask her that.

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Alan, this is serious. Please hurry."

She wasn't sure A.J.’s father understood the urgency of the situation. She began to think she should have called 911 when A.J. asked her if Monica was coming.

"Sorry, sweetheart," Keesha said, returning to the couch. "Your father said she wasn't home. I hope you don't mind, but I told him the situation. He's on his way over."

"I'm too sick to care. How about that? Can you help me to my room, please?"

"Of course."

Keesha helped A.J. stand up and when he felt somewhat steady, she walked with him slowly to the bedroom. He stopped a couple of times as new pains ripped through his stomach. He was relieved when his bed finally came into view. Keesha helped him to sit down and offered a cold cloth. He shook his head.

"Can you take my shoes off, please?"

Keesha pulled off his shoes and helped him lie back on his bed. He felt worse lying down, so she propped up his pillows and assisted him to a sitting position.

"Thanks," A.J. whispered, as he continued to hold his stomach.

Keesha stayed with him until the doorbell rang.

"Hopefully, that's your dad."

A.J. nodded as Keesha left to answer the door. She said "hello" to Alan and then escorted him to A.J.'s room.

"Hi, Dad," A.J. whispered.

"Hello, A.J.," Alan said and nodded in his direction as he placed his bag on the bed. He immediately felt A.J.'s forehead and cheeks as he asked him what happened.

"We think it may be food poisoning," Keesha spoke up. "We had Chinese food tonight, and A.J. felt bad after we had eaten."

"How about you?" Alan said, looking at her. "You seem fine."

"I didn't eat any of the sweet and sour pork, but A.J. did."

Alan nodded. "And there are no liquor or drugs involved?"

A.J. stared at his father in disbelief.

"No!" he stated as firmly as he could.

"Alan, I can't believe you asked that. Again. I already told you no on the phone."

Aggravation with A.J.’s father had caused Keesha to make that slip of the tongue. He seemed to be the one who had drank the liquor or popped the pills.

As soon as he heard Keesha's words, A.J. wanted to ask his father to leave, but he was too sick to say anything.

"Just for the record," Alan said, "Any medical personnel would have asked you that, A.J."

A.J. didn't believe him, but he said nothing as Alan opened his medical bag, ready to examine him.

"I'm going to wait outside," Keesha said and smiled encouragement to A.J, giving his hand a squeeze. He held onto her hand for a long moment before letting her leave.

Alan completed his examination, determined it was food poisoning, and gave A.J. the medication he needed to relieve the symptoms. Disconcerted about the way his father had talked to him and the way he had conducted the examination, A.J. grudgingly asked Alan if he would be all right.

"You’ll be fine," Alan answered brusquely.

Not up to battling with his father, A.J. accepted his answer and didn't bother with any further questions.

"The medication I gave you will help you rest. Is Keesha staying with you?"

"I want her to."

"Have her call me in two hours and let me know how you're feeling."

"Okay." A.J. said.

Alan packed up his bag to leave. "Goodnight, A.J."

He talked briefly to Keesha and then saw himself out.

Keesha returned to the bedroom and asked him how he was feeling.

"About the same. I hope I did the right thing letting my father examine me. He did not seem to be on top of things tonight. He was acting very strange. Even for my father. I know something's going on, but I have no idea what. As long as I feel better, I guess I'm not going to worry about it."

"I'm glad that you mentioned your father's behavior because I noticed it, too. I thought maybe he'd had a cocktail or two?"

"Maybe. He was officially off duty, I guess, when you called him. Oh well."

"You seem to be better."

"Right now, I do feel better. Thank God."

Keesha smiled. "Do you want to try to sleep? And maybe find a more comfortable position?"

A.J. nodded, and with Keesha's assistance, he was able to get comfortable in his bed.

"Close your eyes, sweetie, and try to sleep," Keesha said encouragingly.

"Please stay with me tonight?" A.J. asked softly.

"Hey, that's an automatic," Keesha assured him with a smile.

A.J. smiled weakly back at her and closed his eyes. As soon as Keesha knew he was asleep, she left the room and began to wash the dirty dishes. She was rinsing the plates at the kitchen sink when she heard A.J. cry out her name. Running into his bedroom, she found him in agonizing pain.

"Call...9-1-1."


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