Episode 1: Christina's Legacy

Episode 1: Christina’s Legacy

Ferncliff
1999

“I can’t believe we’re really married, Chris,” Julie Devlin-Ramsey said. She was sitting in his lap at the time. Even being in Ferncliff could not put a damper on her perfect day.

“Too bad we can’t celebrate here,” Chris said, stroking her pretty face.

“That makes me sad too but, Chris, just think when I get out of here – and I will get out of here – we can ‘celebrate’ all the time and we’ll make a dozen beautiful babies for Christina to play with.”

“A dozen?” Chris said. “That’s too many for me.”

“Okay how about five?”

“Lower,” Chris said, smiling. “I had five siblings and it was hell.”

“Alright, then two,” Julie said.

“That’s better. Although I’m not really equipped to be a father.”

“You’ll be good, trust me,” she said. “Of course before we have more babies, we’ll need to renew our vows. I’m a traditional girl, after all.” She winked at him. “All of our remaining friends will be there, of course, and it will be a huge celebration. It will be the most perfect day ever.”

“Will I have to wear a tux?” He asked.

“Yes, of course. What’s a vow renewal ceremony without a tux?” Julie asked. In a softer voice, she said, “I love you, Chris Ramsey, and I can’t wait to start our new life together.”

“I love you too,” Chris said, kissing her. “And now can we stop talking about all this mushy stuff?”

“Just say that you love me one more time. It does my ears – and my heart - good to hear it.”

“Mrs. Ramsey, I will love you. Always and forever.”

“Ditto. You’ve been amazing through this whole ordeal. You’re my prince,” Julie said, kissing him again.

“No one ever called me a prince before. A jester maybe …”

Julie touched his cheek. “Well, you’re my prince and screw anyone who thinks otherwise.”

“Indeed,” he said and hugged her tightly to him.

XoXoXo

Somewhere in Oklahoma
One Year Later

Julie Devlin awakened from a light sleep. She was having the dream again – the one where she married Chris. It was a welcome dream but it also made her sad. She had no idea what Chris was up to these days. Maybe he had met another woman to take her place. Julie missed him with all of her tainted little heart.

She sat up in the bed when she heard Christina crying in the other room. “I’m coming,” she called out, getting up slowly so she didn’t fall as she had seemingly so many times before. The leukemia was wearing her down and she knew that eventually she would have to say goodbye to her little girl. She dreaded it. With every fiber of her being.

She padded down the hall to her daughter’s room. Christina was standing up in her little pink bed, arms outstretched. She reached out for her momma as Julie walked over. “Hello there, sweetness, you’re wide awake, aren’t you?” Christina was almost three years old now and she was getting heavy but Julie continued to pick her up as much as was possible. She loved the warmth Christina emanated and the affection. Julie needed that so much. It was her lifeline.

“Let’s change you and then you can eat. Do you want some more of that rice cereal you like?” Julie asked, rubbing her nose against her daughter’s affectionately. Christina laughed as she nodded. She then snuggled into her mother’s body.

Julie dressed Christina in a little denim jumper and carried her to the kitchen. She put Christina in her highchair and went to warm the cereal.

Suddenly, a wave of pain crashed over her and she sagged to the floor.

Christina started to wail. “Momma, momma,” she cried. Julie heard the screams of her baby girl somewhere far away but she was past quieting them as blackness descended.

XoXoXo

The Resident’s Lounge
General Hospital

“What’s eating you, Ramsey?” Eve Lambert-Collins asked as she walked into the room. “You look very pale.”

Chris looked up, startled. He had been looking out the window, lost in his own thoughts and he hadn’t heard her come in. “It’s not important,” he said.

“Sure it is. You look like death warmed over,” Eve said.

“Gee thanks, Eve. Please shut the hell up now.”

Eve was taken aback. Chris had always somewhat abrasive but right now he was being downright mean. “What’s stuck in your craw, Ramsey?” she demanded. “Did your date last night leave you high and dry?”

Chris sighed. “It was a woman.”

“Huh? What?”

“A woman I treated – she died,” he said at a loss for words. “She died right on the operating table. She has a young daughter and there isn’t a father in the picture. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the kid.”

“I imagine she’ll go to foster care,” Eve said sadly.

“Probably,” he said. “It makes me think of …”

“What?” Eve asked, touching his arm softly.

“Christina – and Julie. I keep thinking what if - god forbid - something happened to Julie. What would happen to Christina? She will be three years old next week and she needs her mom.”

“You really loved them, didn’t you?”

“Should I be honest here?” Eve nodded. “Alright. I adored them. Loved them even. I was actually happy for the first time in my life. I understood and liked Celine Dion songs for once. I had a home and a family I could depend on… All that was snatched away when she left.”

“I am still angry about that,” Eve said. “How could she just take Christina away from her parents? Lucy and Scott haven’t been the same since.”

“They weren’t her parents. Julie and Frank were her parents and I was her stepfather. I actually welcomed the idea of being a family with Julie and Christina.”

“It’s true that they weren’t her biological parents but they really loved her, Ramsey. I guess Julie couldn’t stand that.”

“No what she couldn’t stand was those asses trying to keep her from being with her baby. Taking Christina was Julie’s only chance to be with her daughter full time.”

“That’s bull and you know it,” Eve said. “If Julie could have provided a good home for Christina, she would have gotten custody. She was a nut job and to this day, I am not sure that I believe that she didn’t commit the General Homicide murders.”

Chris suddenly shot to his feet and grabbed Eve, shaking her as hard as he could. “Don’t you ever talk about Julie like that again,” he hissed.

Eve’s eyes grew wide and she tried to pull away. “Get your damn hands off me,” she commanded.

The door opened and Eve’s husband Kevin Collins walked in. “Hey, hey, what the hell is going on here?”

Chris let Eve go. “Nothing,” he muttered.

“Don’t you dare try to sell me that line of bull,” Kevin snapped. “I saw you assaulting my wife. I’m going to call the police.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket.

“Put that away, Kevin, I’m not hurt,” Eve said.

Chris glared at Kevin. He pushed past him and Eve, stalking from the room.

“I really should call the police,” Kevin said. “That kind of behavior is not acceptable.”

“No, don’t,” Eve said. “He’s just having a really crummy day.”

“That’s no excuse for him to man-handle you, Eve.”

“Look, I’m fine,” Eve said. “Just leave it alone. I can handle Ramsey with both hands tied behind my back. He caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“Alright, Eve. Whatever you say.”

XoXoXo

Somewhere in Oklahoma 

Julie awoke sometime later and found herself lying on the kitchen floor. Christina was crying hysterically. Julie pulled herself up to a sitting position with all the strength that she had left in her frail body.

“It's okay, Chrissie, don’t cry,” Julie said. She had to crawl over to the phone because she was so weak. She dialed 911.

Julie was slightly panicked herself and Christina’s hysterical sobbing just made it worse. She explained to the dispatcher that she had fallen and that she needed help. Before she could finish, she blacked out again and landed on the floor in a heap. The last thing she heard was Christina screaming “momma, momma.”

XoXoXo

The Firehouse
Lucy and Scott’s Place

Lucy Coe was working on some designs for the new Deception campaign when Scott walked in the door.

“You were gone all night again,” Lucy said without looking up.

“Is that a question or an accusation?” Scott asked, throwing his jacket over the arm of the couch.

“Take it however you want.”

“Do you want to know where I go?”

“I don’t care,” Lucy said.

“You should. You’re my wife in case you’ve forgotten.”

“In name only,” Lucy said, fighting back tears. She really didn’t like fighting; she just couldn’t communicate with Scott anymore. Christina’s kidnapping had broken them apart – it was hard to imagine things would ever be right between them again. The past year had been utterly miserable for both of them and they knew Serena was feeling the strain.

“Oh that’s great, Lucy, really great,” Scott said. “By the way, you are acting like a petulant child.”

“Scott, just shut up please. I’m getting a headache,” she said, massaging her forehead with her fingers as if that action alone would make it melt away.

Serena ran into the room, light brown eyes flashing. “Would you two please just stop fighting?” She begged. “I can’t take it anymore!”

“You don’t have to,” Scott said. “I’m leaving.”

Lucy was startled but didn’t speak. For once she knew she could not say the first thing that came to her mind.

“Dad, where are you going?” Serena asked, running a hand through her long blonde hair. She was so frustrated with her parents. They had been fighting for months on end, ever since the “crazy lady”, as Serena referred to Julie, had kidnapped Christina. Lucy and Scott were not half as attentive as they used to be to Serena’s needs either. Even at fifteen years of age, Serena longed to be important in her parents’ eyes again.

“I’m going to stay at Jake’s for awhile,” he said.

“Isn’t Jake’s a bar?”

“Yeah, but it has rooms on the second floor.”

“Are you and mom getting a divorce?” Serena asked. She really did not want them to do that. She knew they loved each other; they should be able to work this out. They were adults, yet they were acting like schoolyard children, bickering over a broken toy. She was far and away more mature than either of them put together.

“I don’t know,” Scott answered honestly, glancing at Lucy who quickly looked away. “I need to leave now before your mom and I say or do something that we can’t take back.”

Serena sighed. “You always say things you should regret – both of you.” She gave them each meaningful looks and then turned to face her father. “Can I visit you at Jake’s?” she asked.

“Oh no,” Lucy said, breaking her temporary bout of silence. “You may not. I’m not going to have my fifteen year old daughter hanging around a bar.”

“Lucy, you just had to open your mouth, now didn’t you?” Scott accused. “I was going to tell her not to come see me there but you wanted to show me up.”

“I did not!”

“You’re doing it again!” Serena yelled, covering her ears. “I’m going to Mel’s house. I can actually get some peace and quiet at her house.”

“Don’t forget to take your jacket, sweet pea. It’s cold out there,” Lucy said.

Serena grabbed her jacket and went to the door. “I wish you two would just kiss and makeup already.”

Lucy and Scott waited until Serena was gone before they started going at it again.

“She can’t even stand to be around us anymore,” Scott said.

“Is that my fault, Scott? Maybe if you made a little effort to be nice to me, she wouldn’t hate being around us all the time,” Lucy said.

“Why don’t you try being nice to me, Lucy?” He asked. “It goes both ways.”

Lucy stood to face him. “Just leave, Scott. Go to Jake’s, get drunk, sleep with some barfly woman … I don’t care anymore. Just get out of my face.” Lucy knew it was harsh but she couldn’t stand to be around him at this moment.

“Fine. I’m going,” Scott said. He put on his jacket and walked to the door. “Get a lawyer, Lucy, because it looks like you’re going to need one.”

“Why?”

“Because I want a legal separation.”

“Fine, whatever,” Lucy spat. She picked up a small vase and hurled it at his head. He was out the door before it made contact with the wall and shattered.

Lucy was left to clean up the shards of glass. She felt like she had been shattered too. 

XoXoXo

The Scanlon House

Nurse Jill Garnett stood on the Scanlon’s porch, trying to get up the nerve to knock. The door suddenly opened. Standing there was Frank, Joe’s brother.

“Oh hi, Jill,” Frank said. “Did you need something?”

“No, I just came to see Joe,” she said. “I’m guess I’m a little nervous.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Frank asked.

“No. I just need to take to Joe about something privately. But if he wants to tell you, I won’t stop him.”

Frank nodded. “Okay … well, Joe’s downstairs. He just got out of the shower so you might want to wait for a minute. Of course, there’s nothing to hide since you’ve already seen it all,” he said with a smirk.

Jill blushed. “He told you we slept together?”

“Yes, he mentioned it to me,” Frank admitted. “Sorry I said anything. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Look, I’ll see you later. I have to get to school.” Frank was of course, a substitute teacher by day and a paramedic by night.

“Okay bye,” Jill said, watching him saunter towards his car. She went inside the house and down the staircase.

She found Joe getting dressed. “Uh, sorry,” Jill said, turning to face the wall. She felt very nervous and with good reason.

“No, it’s okay,” Joe said. He finished putting on his scrubs. “You can around turn now. I’m all done.”

She turned to face him. “Joe, there is something I really need to talk with you about. I don’t even know where to begin …”

“Just take it slow,” Joe said. “Why don’t you sit down?”

Jill shook her head. “I think I’d rather stand.”

“Okay … Well, can I get you some coffee?” he asked. “I was just about to make some.”

She looked down at her white shoes. “No, no thanks. I have to tell you something and I need to get it off my chest before I lose my nerve... It’s really important – and life-changing.”

“Okay, what is it?” Joe asked.

“There is no easy way to tell you this,” Jill said. She wrung her hands and tears misted her dark brown eyes. “I had been feeling sort of under the weather lately and asked Dr. Lambert to examine me privately. You know, nurses and even doctors shouldn’t diagnose themselves as you well know. We lose objectivity … Anyway, Dr. Lambert did a whole battery of tests and one came back positive.”

“Positive?” Joe asked in a quiet voice, swallowing over a large lump of anxiety that had suddenly shot up into his throat. “Are you pregnant?”

“No, Joe, I’m not. I’m sorry but I have HIV.”

Joe stumbled backwards, clutching the sofa behind him to keep from hitting the floor. “Oh my god! We slept together, Jill. We didn’t use protection that night because we were drunk. That means ...”

She nodded solemnly. “That you could be infected too.”

Joe couldn’t speak as he rubbed his cheek and felt tears fill his eyes. Of all the things he had expected Jill to say, this was definitely not it.

“I’m so sorry, Joe. After I found out, I called my ex-boyfriend and got him to admit that he was the one who passed it on to me. We were in a committed relationship for a long time but … Anyway, he has full blown AIDs now. He exposed me to HIV and now I might have exposed you,” Jill said, breaking down in full-on tears.

“How could this happen?” Joe demanded. “Did you know you had HIV when we slept together?”

Jill was taken aback by his question. “Of course not! I would never sleep with someone without telling them I had HIV first.”

Joe punched the wall. He knew his hand would be bruised later but he didn’t care. “I think you should leave now, Nurse Garnett,” he said, going into professional mode. His voice was harsh but his meaning clear. He didn’t want to see her now – or maybe ever again.

“I’m so sorry, Joe,” she said, reaching out to touch his arm. He quickly yanked it away.

“I just bet you are,” he muttered.

He watched her go and then fell back on the couch, trying to keep the tears from escaping his eyes.

XoXoXo

The Kanelos Apartment

“Neil, you’d better hurry up or you’ll be late for school,” Courtney Kanelos called out to her son.

She was sitting on the couch thumbing through the latest issue of Vogue magazine. “I’m prettier than her. Why am I not making millions of dollars?” she asked herself.

Neil walked into the room, carrying a backpack over his strong, right shoulder. She couldn’t help but marvel at the way he had shot up in the last year. He was now officially taller than her.

“I’m getting a ride today,” he said.

“From whom?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, being evasive.

“Well of course it does,” Courtney said. “Who are you riding with?”

“Adam Wentworth.”

“Isn’t he a senior?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I’m just surprised you two are friends. Most seniors don’t hang around with tenth graders. They think it’s not cool. ”

“We’re not really friends exactly, Mom.”

“Then why are you riding with him?” Courtney asked. “Oh I get it. Isn’t Melissande, Adam’s cousin, right?”

“Stop. It’s not a big deal.”

“Well you have a crush on her, don’t you?”

“Mom, can you stop asking so many questions?” Neil asked. “You’re embarrassing me.” He ran a hand anxiously through his hair. Talking about girls with this mom was so awkward.

“So you wouldn’t like it if I walked you to the car in a pink nightgown, wearing curlers in my hair?” She joked.

Neil shook his head. “Please don’t do that, mom. Please.” He should have known she was kidding but with Courtney Kanelos as a mother, one could never be completely sure when she would pull some kind of stunt.

“I won’t, I won’t. I don’t even own a pink nightgown,” Courtney said. “Am I allowed to do this though?” She asked, starting to tickle his sides unmercifully.

“Mom, stop!” he cried. “I’m too old to be tickled.”

Courtney let him go. “You know something? You’re no fun anymore. Not since you became a teenager. What happened to my sweet little boy?”

Neil smiled. “Whatever, mom.”

Someone was honking their horn. “Looks like your date is here,” Courtney said, peeking out the window. “Wow, she’s prettier than I realized. Too bad she’s the poor relation of the Wentworths.”

“Ugh, Mom, you never quit, do you?”

“Nope,” Courtney replied. “Now give me a hug goodbye.”

Neil obliged with a brief, half-hearted embrace and then quickly pulled away. He was too old to be caught hugging his mom. He ran outside, leaving Courtney to her thoughts.

XoXoXo

Room 143
Port Charles High School

Frank was standing at the front of the class, trying to teach sex education to a bunch of squirrelly tenth graders. He would be substituting this class for two weeks while the real teacher was kicking back on a cruise. Lucky her, Frank thought.

It was slightly embarrassing to talk about a women’s private areas to a bunch of giggly adolescents but he needed the money and the EMT job just didn’t pay all that well. He was pretty much supporting Courtney on his small salary when he should have only been responsible for Neil. He talked to Courtney about getting a job but she always had an excuse (“I don’t feel well”; “Taking care of a teenager is a full time job in itself so why do I need another one?”). She always acted like such a princess, entitled to anything and everything.

Still he cared her for whatever reason. Though they hadn’t been intimate with each other in a few months because the sexual feelings between had dissipated and now they were just two friends raising a child together.

“Okay class let’s turn to page 189,” he said. “Can anyone tell me what a uterus is?”

The whole class laughed. Frank rolled his eyes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a dark haired girl hurry into the class and slip into a desk at the back of the room. “What’s your name?” Frank asked the girl.

“Lark,” she said.

“Well, Lark, do you know what time it is?”

She shrugged.

“It's almost nine a.m. You’ve missed half of the class,” Frank said.

“Who cares?” Lark replied.

“I care,” he said. “You need to know this stuff. We’re having a test on the material next week.”

“I know all I need to know,” Lark said.

“I don’t want to waste anymore time discussing this right now. Please see me after class.”

Lark shrugged. “Whatever,” she muttered sullenly.

XoXoXo

6^th Floor
General Hospital

Joe got off the elevator and approached the nurse’s desk. “Colleen, has Dr. Lambert come in yet?”

“Yes. I think she’s with a patient now. Is this important? I could page her,” Colleen asked with a friendly smile on her face.

“Please do,” Joe said.

“Hey, Joe,” Gabriela Garza suddenly greeted him. Her thick curly hair was pulled back in a loose pony-tail and was smiling, obviously happy to see him. But at the moment, she was the last person he wanted to see. They had been dating casually for the past month and had been considering having sex. Explaining why he now had to put the brakes on a physical relationship was something he never wanted to do.

“Hello,” Joe said shortly and then walked away to sit in one of the chairs in the waiting room.

”Are you okay, Joe?” Gabriela asked, following after him.

“I’m fine,” Joe answered stiffly.

“You don’t look fine.”

“I said I’m fine,” Joe shouted. “Could you just leave me alone right now?”

Gabriela was surprised at his words. “Fine, whatever. I was just trying to be nice.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

Joe knew he should feel sorry for the way he had spoken to her but he just didn’t at the moment – not when his whole life was falling apart.

Eve spotted him and walked over. “You rang?”

Joe jumped to his feet. “Why don’t you tell me, Eve?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean am I going to die?” Joe asked.

“All of us die eventually …”

“Not of HIV they don’t.”

“I guess you talked to Jill,” Eve said.

“Yes. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because she was my patient in this instance and I couldn’t betray her trust. That wouldn’t be ethical and you know that.”

“But you and I were friends. That’s more important than being ethical. You should have told me.”

“Joe, just calm down. Take a deep breath. Then I’ll walk you to the doctor’s lounge and find someone to draw your blood. It will be totally confidential.”

“Yeah I’m sure,” Joe said, stalking away.

Eve watched him walk away and sighed.

“What is in the water here? Suddenly all the men are acting like brutes,” she said.

XoXoXo

The Firehouse
Lucy and Scott’s Home

Lucy had been taking a nap when there was suddenly a loud knock on the door. Her heart leapt in her chest. Maybe it was Scott and he had forgotten his key when he rushed out so quickly. At least that was what she hoped was the case.

She ran to the door and threw it open. “Scott, I–“ she started to say but stopped because it wasn’t him.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Hey, Lucy,” Courtney Kanelos said. “I think I may have the answer to all your problems.”

XoXoXo

A Hospital
Somewhere in Oklahoma

“Ms. Monroe, you’re getting worse,” Dr. Lyle Coburn said. Kate Monroe was Julie’s alias and had been since she had escaped here.

Julie was currently lying in a hospital bed feeling utterly miserable. She tried not to move because when she did, it hurt so badly.

“Where’s my daughter?”

“She’s down in the pediatric play room,” the doctor replied. “Now let’s talk about you.”

“Okay …” Julie said, slowly inching herself up to a sitting position on the pillows.

“I think you realize that you don’t have much time left,” the doctor said, not unkindly. “You will need to make arrangements for yourself and your child. You also need someone to look after you. You’re too weak to have to do everything yourself.”

Julie’s eyes misted. “I know.”

“Isn’t there anyone you can call?”

“There is someone I wish was here…”

“Call him or her up immediately. There’s not much time left.” He picked up the phone and brought it over to her and then he left the room. Julie picked up the phone. What if he had a different number now? Or what if he was with some woman and didn’t care about her anymore? Julie bite on her fingernails in worry. It was a bad habit she had picked up in the last year.

She felt tears burn her eyes. Thinking of her sweet daughter being tossed into some orphanage after she died made Julie pick up the phone and dial the familiar number.

It rang two times and then someone picked up. “Chris Ramsey,” he said by way of greeting.

“Chris, uh … its Julie.”

On the other side of the line, there was abject silence as if for once, Chris had no idea what to say.

~~ Next time on Port Charles Revisited ~~

Chris rushes to be at Julie’s bedside
Courtney has a proposal for Lucy
Scott receives attention from a woman who isn’t his wife
Frank wonders about the bruises he sees on Lark