| Chapter 9 Over the next few weeks, a battle raged between the Cassadine�s and the Quartermaines, a battle of words at least. Stories were printed on both sides but story that got people�s attention most this morning was the one about BJ and Lucas. Tony had gone to the reporter that was printing the story and told his point of view off what was going on. The headline read that day. �Cassadine�s steal children away from father!� Bobbie read the article that morning and she was hot. �That bastard,� she yelled slamming the paper down on the table. Stefan looked up from the financial paper and asked, �What�s wrong?� �Tony,� Bobbie said and she handed Stefan the paper to read himself. Stefan looked over the paper and shook his head. �Great. First, I�m a murder and now we are kidnappers!� �What are we going to do?� Bobbie asked. �Well the court date is tomorrow. It will be up to BJ and Lucas on what happens. Neither one of them have uttered a word on what they were going to say to the judge about Tony yet to any of us,� Stefan said. �Well, I haven�t asked them because I don�t want to push the subject but it will be hard not to with this story out there,� Bobbie said shaking her head and fighting the tears. She was tired. She spent all her time at the hospital either working or helping out with Lucky. The court date slipped up on her and in fact, Tony managed to get it pushed up by at least two mouths. How he done it? Bobbie didn�t know but it was done and tomorrow they were going to the courthouse to fight for Lucas and BJ. BJ and Lucas came into the room before Stefan had a chance to comment. �Morning,� Lucas said kissing his mother before sitting down for breakfast. �Morning, mom,� BJ said and she walked behind Stefan to get to her chair. That was when she caught a glimpse of the paper before Stefan managed to put it out of view. �What�s that?� she asked taking the paper from Stefan. BJ stood there reading the paper and fuming. �I�ll kill him!� BJ yelled. �Kill who?� Lucas asked his sister puzzled at the outburst. He hadn�t bothered to worry about the paper war or any of that. All he really knew that was going on in the family was Lucky was in the hospital really sick this made Lu cry all the time. This was all Lucas knew or really cared about. �Our father!� BJ yelled as she paced the floor. �How could he do this to me?� �BJ,� Bobbie said reaching out for her daughter hoping to calm her. �No, mom. I have had it with him! He walks back in our lives thinking that things can be forgotten just like that, well I have news for him. I�m going on that stand tomorrow and tell the world what I think about Dr. Tony Jones. I�ll make sure he is out of your lives forever!� BJ yelled and she ran out of the house with tears in her eyes. Lucas looked after his sister then back at his mother and Stefan. �What�s going on?� Lucas asked with watery eyes. Bobbie looked at Stefan and asked, �Can you talk to him.� �Sure, go after BJ,� Stefan said as he moved beside his stepson and tried to explain what Tony had done. Bobbie found BJ outside by the pool pacing the deck. �I hate him,� BJ cried as she paced. Bobbie sat down on the bench near the girl and asked, �Then why are you crying?� �Because,� BJ said stopping in front of her mother trying to brush the tears away. Bobbie laughed at BJ and patted the place next to her. BJ sat down and Bobbie put a loving arm around her. �Honey, I know you love your father. You can�t hide that. Not from yourself or me! What I want to know is what are you going to do about it?� �I told you. I�m going to get him out of my life. I can�t do this any more mom. I love him. He is my father and thanks to him I�m here but that is all owe him. He walked away from Lucas and me. He didn�t write or call for months. Hell, he didn�t even send me a post card! Why should I give him another chance when I gave him one all ready after what he did with Felicia?� BJ asked her mother. Bobbie sighed and said, �I can�t tell you that. You have to do what you think you can live with.� �I can live with this. I have lived without him for a few years now. It will make it final that is all. I might not get along with Stefan all the time but I know no teen does at least with Stefan I know where I stand. I know he does care about me and will not walk away from me. I can�t say that about my own father any more,� BJ said sadly. Bobbie nodded and held BJ close to her. She wanted to be happy about this put part of her hurt as well. She might hate Tony but he was BJ�s real father and up until he left three years ago the only real father Lucas ever knew about. No matter what happened, he would always be part of the kids no matter what they said or did something about. ******************************************** Lucky lay peacefully in bed just like he would be if he was sleeping. No machines were around him and they only real sign that he was in a hospital was the band on his arm but other then that he looked like he was resting in a hotel room. The room was decorated up to look more like Lucky�s room then anything else. Laura had paced it full of things that belonged to Lucky. Pictures of the family and all his favorite things. Laura would play Lucky�s favorite music or turn on Lucky�s favorite shows when they were on. Laura tried everything to get Lucky to respond to her. Nothing looked like it was working but she wasn�t going to give up. This morning she was messing around the room. Playing with the radio and chatting with herself as if she was talking to Lucky. �School is starting soon. Like I told you yesterday, I had to leave to get Lu signed up. She loves her teachers and most of her friends are in her class. I�m going to take her shopping tomorrow. I hate to leave you but Lu does need new clothes and if I don�t take her. Mikkos might fly her to New York for a shopping trip and you know your grandfather,� Laura said. She so happen turned around and noticed that Lucky�s eyes were open. �Lucky?� she said and moved towards him. Lucky eyes moved with her. He didn�t say anything. He just laid there moving his eyes as she moved. Laura stood there unsure what to do. She moved her hand and Lucky eyes went along with it. Laura wanted to scream and run to find someone when this happen but she just pulled the phone off the table and called for Alex. Alex arrived thinking that this was one of Laura�s mind tricks but when she came into the room and Lucky�s eyes went on her. She almost passed out. She had given up hope that he would ever wake up but she hadn�t told that to Mikkos or the Spencers yet. She knew that news would destroy them. Now though it looked like Lucky had proved her wrong. �Lucky?� Alex said moving towards the bed and two big blue eyes went along with her. Alex ran test on Lucky and realized that he could respond to them along with moving his eyes. �What?� Laura asked leaning over to get a look at her son. Alex looked at Laura and said, �He�s awake. He knows we are here but for some reason. He can�t talk or move. I�m going to run some test on him. I�ll find out why.� �Please,� Laura said and she pent down gripped Lucky�s hand and promised. �You will be ok. Don�t give up on us!� Lucky�s only response was that he winked at his mother. Laura smiled at this and kissed Lucky on the cheek. Alex left to make arrangements and Laura sat there filling her son in on things he missed over the past few weeks. ************************************************** The word got out fast that Lucky had opened his eyes. Luke was the first to rush to the hospital. Luke and Laura had realized weeks back that sitting watching Lucky lie there in bed wasn�t helping either of them. So, one would stay with Lucky while the other would sleep or spend time with Lu. Luke took the night shift and Laura got the daytime hours unless Laura needed to do something in the daytime. Then Luke or one of the other family members took over. Luke had been asleep when Laura called. He was still trying to finish dressing when he ran into the room a little while later. �Cowboy!� Luke said as he burst into the room. Lucky�s eyes popped open and moved along with Luke as he rushed towards the bed. �Lucky?� Luke said again. Laura placed a hand on Luke�s arm and said, �He can�t talk or move just yet but he will. He does know you are here.� Luke bent down beside Lucky and said, �Don�t ever scare me like this again!� Lucky�s response was on lonely tear that slowly slid down his cheek. Luke brushed it away and said, �I know this is maddening but I promise you will be normal again.� *************************************** The next group to learn about Lucky was Mikkos and Angelic. Mikkos burst into the room asking a million of questions not giving anyone a chance to respond. �When did he wake up? Why didn�t you call me sooner? What did Alex say about his condition? When are the test going to be run?� Angelic placed a hand on her brother�s arm and said, �Will you stop it!� Luke laughed at this and Mikkos glared at his son. �Don�t start!� Mikkos snapped. �Hey, you�re the one that is talking a mile a minute,� Luke said laughing. �Ok, you two behave,� Laura said winking at Lucky. Lucky was looking at Mikkos then Angelic. Lucky closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again. It looked like he was thinking on something. Then to everyone�s surprise Lucky moved his hand. He raised it and gripped Angelic�s hand. Angelic smiled and patted Lucky�s fingers. �Keep at it. You�ll be fine,� she promised as she hugged Lucky. Luke and Laura hugged each other glad to see that Lucky still had fight in him. Mikkos was smiling as well and he swore to himself if he had to fly in the best doctors on this planet. His grandson was going to fully recover from this accident. ********************************************************* The next day while Alex was running test on Lucky to see what was wrong with him. Bobbie, Stefan, Alexis, BJ, Lucas and even Luke appeared at the courthouse. Luke was walking down the hall beside Bobbie. �You know the last time I was here I was about to be sent up for life,� Luke commented as he walked. �Well, I hope this event turns out better then that one did,� Bobbie said gripping Luke�s hand. �Don�t worry about it little sister. Alexis will not let you loose your kids,� Luke promised as he kissed Bobbie�s hand. Bobbie smiled at Luke and headed to the courtroom together. ************************************** Mikkos watched as one of the nurses eased Lucky back into bed. �You�re hurting him,� Mikkos snapped as he noticed this painful look on his grandson�s face. Mikkos quickly shoved the young woman away and finished the job himself. The nurse stood there stunned. She had no idea what to do or what she had done wrong. Mikkos was ranting as he settled Lucky down by himself. �He isn�t a bag of dirty clothes. You just don�t pull and push him around,� Mikkos yelled. �Mr. Cassadine,� the young nurse said as she tried to figure out what she had done that was so wrong. Mikkos cut her off by just a look. �I don�t want to here it. You are not to come near him again,� Mikkos yelled. The young woman backed up and headed for the door. Alex was walking in around that time and the young nurse ran right into her. �What�s going on?� Alex asked with a puzzled look on her face. The nurse was close to tears and was to rattle to speak. It was Mikkos that spoke for her in volumes. �She has no idea what she is doing. I don�t want her near Lucky at all!� �I�m sorry,� the nurse said and she ran from the room crying. Lucky had moved his hand and pulled on Mikkos� fingers. Mikkos looked down to see a pin in Lucky�s hand. It had come off and it was sticking in his arm. It was the pin that hurt Lucky not the nurse. It must have come off when she bent down to move him. �What�s this?� Mikkos asked taking the pin from Lucky. Alex looked at it and said, �The latch is broken.� Alex looked down at Lucky and asked, �Is this what got you?� Lucky nodded his head and smiled sheepishly. He was slowly regaining movement in his body but it was taking time but he still hadn�t uttered a word. Alex looked at Mikkos and said, �You owe that woman an apology.� �Me?� Mikkos said not seeing what he had done was so wrong. �Yes you! Now, you either go find her and say you are sorry or I�m going to find Angelic and Ruby and tell them you are acting like an ass!� Alex threatened. Mikkos looked at Alex and knew she wasn�t joking. He walked out of the room then grumbling. Lucky was smiling as Alex bent down and finished tucking him into bed. �That should teach him to jump down people�s throats. How you doing?� Lucky blinked at her and she smiled. Alex sat down in the chair placing a loving hand on top of Lucky. �I should have the test back in a few days but from what I see. You are getting stronger. I�m sure that in time you will finally gain full control of your body.� Lucky looked at Alex for a moment. He acted like he wanted to say something but he just couldn�t get it out. Lucky closed his eyes in frustration and then opened them. �Sucks!� he said in a cut and stammering tone of voice. Alex looked at him with a shocked look on her face. �You talked.� She said finally. Lucky smiled and nodded his head. �Keep fighting. I promise. You will make it!� **************************************************** The judge listed to both sides of the argument. He had to stop it a few times because of Tony and Mikkos. They couldn�t seem to keep from butting in when people were talking on the stand. It was finally BJ�s turn. Lucas had gone first. He admitted to the judge that he was confused about all of this and really didn�t know what he felt about it. He said he loved Tony but didn�t want to leave his home either. Tony was smiling as Lucas walked past him and took a seat next to Mikkos. Tony�s face changed when BJ walked past him without even looking at him once. She walked to the stand sat down and stared straight ahead. Alexis stood up and smiled at BJ. �How are you doing?� Alexis asked. �Fine,� BJ said in a clipped tone of voice. �You know why we are here,� Alexis asked. �Yes, I do.� BJ said and she looked at her father for the first time and there was no love her eyes or compassion for the man that was her true father. �Ok,� Alexis said picking up her papers and looking them over one more time. She looked at BJ then and asked, �Tell us how you feel about all this?� �How I feel?� BJ asked acting like this was the dumbest question she ever heard off in her life. �I think it suck! I think my father is a fool!� Tony looked down at his hands. Alexis cleared her throat and asked, �Why do you think that?� �Because,� BJ scuffed, �He thinks that I will forgive him for walking out on me. He thinks I will forget that he crawled into bed with my dead best friend�s mother. He thinks I will forget that it was his lied that destroyed my family! Well, I have new family now! It is bigger and more loving then my last one. Oh, we our problems but I know that Stefan respects me. He doesn�t go about telling me that I shouldn�t say things if doesn�t agree with them. He treats me like adult and not a two-year-old child. He never grabs me or slaps me. My mother talks to me instead of at me. I have a grandfather that listens to my problems like he really cares about them. He doesn�t act like he has other things to do. My father did all this. He didn�t care that I watched my friend fiend die. He didn�t care that I wanted someone to hold me but because he was to busy crawling into bed with her mother to notice me. When I didn�t want him around I was being childish. I should understand his needs and he feelings. When walked way and then came back. He couldn�t take me being mad at him. So, he slapped me. Well, if that is the love he has to offer me. I don�t want it. I don�t need it!� BJ stopped talking then. She wrapped her arms around her and glared coldly at Tony. Alexis nodded her head looked at Tony�s lawyer and said, �I have nothing more.� Justus Ward stood up looked over his notes and asked, �Barbara Jean, didn�t your father and you repair the damage his affair with Felicia Jones caused?� �Before he left town. Yes, we were doing ok but when took off again. I realized his words are empty promises,� BJ said. �Empty? How?� Justus asked. �Because he didn�t tell us where he was going and what he was dealing with. He just walked away! That left us wondering what we did. I�m tired of it and I can�t keep on forgiving him over and over again. I don�t have it in me,� BJ said and for the first time you could see the real pain under the anger in the girl. Tony started to say something but Justus rested a hand on his shoulder and then asked BJ, �BJ, Isn�t all of this about the promises of being Mikkos Cassadine�s granddaughter. Aren�t you more worried about money at this moment?� BJ�s eyes flashed with rage and she said, �I don�t give a damn about the money. Right now, money isn�t bring Lucky back to the way he was, it sure as hell isn�t bring Maxie back, and it isn�t going to repair the damage my father do to his marriage with my mother. I don�t care if Mikkos gives me one more red sent. All I care about is that my father is out of my life forever!� Justus looked at his notes and said, �Ok, I don�t have anymore questions.� The judge looked at BJ and asked, �Do you know if I decided that you get wish. You might not be able to change your mind down the road.� �Yes, I know that and I will not change my mind. Not about this,� BJ said and she got up and headed back to her seat. ********************************** Carly set up for her special board meeting. She had the papers that Alexis had written up for her in her brief case. She was waiting for the other board members to arrive. The door opened and her father walked in. �How you doing?� Victor asked smiling brightly at his daughter. �Ok, any word from the court house, yet?� Carly asked. �No but I got good news about Lucky. Alex just told me he uttered his first words. It looks like I get to live a little bit longer,� Victor said smiling. �Yeah, now all Luke might do to you is break your legs,� Carly said smiling. �Oh, well. I have legs broken before,� Victor said and he took a seat near Carly. He was there to make sure this went as Carly had planned. Carly smiled at her father at this but before they could finish their conversation. Monica and Edward arrived for the board meeting. Edward took on look at Victor and said in a cold hard tone voice. �I should have known you were behind this. What are you up to now?� Victor smiled at Edward as Monica and him took a seat at the board table. �You�ll see,� Victor said laughing. Edward crossed his arms and glared at Victor coldly. He sat there wondering what Victor and his family was up to now. Edward didn�t have to wait long because soon all the other board members arrived. Some had trouble looking Edward in the eye. This told Edward that trouble was heading his way. He didn�t� have to wait long. Carly stood up cleared her throat and said, �This special meeting is for one reason. It is time to get fresh blood in this hospital board. This board doesn�t need people around that put their own needs in front of their own. This hospital isn�t for people that think of it as their own personal play toy. Edward, you have done all this more then once but I think it should stop, right now. I�m calling for a vote to have removed from board permanently,� Edward�s blood pressure went threw the roof. �YOU WANT ME REMOVED! That�s a joke,� Edward said as he stood up and looked at the group around this table, who he called all friends. �It is the Cassadines that think this hospital is their own personally play toy. The only reason they are here is because they bought their way in. They don�t care about this town or the people in it. All they care about is their own almighty dollar. It is you and your family that should be out of this hospital!� Edward yelled pointing a finger at Carly. Carly smiled and said, �My family hasn�t ever tried to cover up a mistake we make that puts the people in this hospital at risk. You knew that Alan had drug problem but you did not bring that attention to the board. You worried more about what this did to your family then the hospital. Alan almost killed patient of his. We are paying for that mistake now! How many more are we going to have to pay for a mistake you try to cover up?� Carly asked. �Carly, that had nothing to do with Edward. This has nothing to do with Edward,� Monica said. She didn�t like her father in-law much at this moment but she didn�t believe in what they do to him at this moment. �This has all to do with your family�s hate for mine at this moment.� �No, it does not. I�m calling for a vote. Who in is favor of removing Edward Quartermaine from this board preeminently?� Carly asked and she raised her hand. Edward watched as one by one all so-called friends turned on him even Gail and Lee voted for his removal. Carly smiled handed Edward a paper and said, �The board has spoken.� Edward took the paper in frustration and said, �You think this is over. You�re wrong. You and your family has made a very grave mistake.� Carly smiled and closed her brief case. �If ever excuse me. I have cousin to see. Lucky has woke up and spoke his first word,� Carly said and with that she left the room with Victor smiling behind her all the way. The others as well and not one of them looked Edward in the eye. Gail and Lee told Edward they were sorry but soon left as well. Leaving only Monica and Edward alone in the boardroom. �You still think that this is all my doing?� Edward asked her. �Yes, it is. You did this to yourself and us. If you would have just loved AJ for who he was then he wouldn�t have tried so hard to gain your respect. Edward, you are destroying this family. Not the AJ, not Alan and not the Cassadines! You are doing this your self,� Monica said and she got up and left the room. She had worked to do and with the Cassadines head hunting she had to watch her back more then ever. Edward rolled the paper Carly had given him moments ago into a tight ball. He threw it into the trashcan and cursed the Cassadine family. ��You want a war? You got a war!� Chapter 10 Back to Trials of Love |