The Compound

In the waiting room of the intensive care unit, Courtney, Mike and Max all wait. Sonny had been taken from his regular room for tests and then moved to the ICU when they were done. Dr. Tony Jones comes out to give the family the results. Bobbie hangs back wanting to hear everything. If Carly had been here it would have been her right to have the news first. To have the news alone if that was her will. And Bobbie doesn't begrudge Mike and Courtney getting the news just knows that Carly should be here too.

"There appears to have been an embolism that traveled to Sonny's brain." Tony begins.

"Oh Gawd." Courtney sits down. She isn't a doctor or a nurse but the idea of ANYTHING other than blood and oxygen traveling to the brain sounded bad. Real bad.

Even Mike gets weak in the knees on this one.

"The initial test results, MRI, EEG have documented the affected areas of the brain. Sonny is on pure oxygen right now. There is some research that indicates that administering pure oxygen can minimize the physical consequences."

"Physical consequences? What are you talking about Tony? What is wrong with my son?!" Mike demands.

"It could change, Mike."

"Don't dance around it. Just tell us, Tony."

"He's totally paralyzed on the right side." Dr. Jones finally just says it flatly.

Max catches Mike as the older man's knees give way and helps him sit down next to Courtney. "He's too young for a stroke. This can't be right. There must be something you can do."

"Daddy, you know that isn't true. Carly nearly had a stroke when she fell thru the ice that time."

Mike pats his daughter's hand but continues to talk to Tony. "There is some kind of surgery you can do. There has got to be. Some way to fix my son."

"It isn't a clot, Mike. There is no bleeding that is putting pressure on Sonny's brain. There was no way of predicting this or really of preventing it. What we're doing now is stabilizing him. Monitoring him to prevent it from happening again and doing our best to minimize the damage that has been done. Right now Sonny is paralyzed over half of his body. It's going to take some time to see how much feeling and control come back and then it's going to be up to Sonny to work his way back thru physical therapy. That is where his age will work in his favor. I'll have more information for you in twenty four hours." Tony gives the room a brief concerned smile in general and then turns away.

Bobbie steps up as soon as Tony leaves. "Where is Jason?"

"Oh yeah." Max blanches. In all of the excitement he really hadn't given that information to anyone. Courtney knew but she'd been caught up with everything going on with Sonny. Looks like she hadn't told Bobbie. "The night that I found Sonny well, Jason got a phone call from the guy holding Carly. She was having the baby."

Bobbie's face goes tight and her hands clench to fists. She doesn't look away from Max.

He squirms in his seat. "Alcazar sent a plane for Sonny but since he was sick, Jason went instead."

"I've been a grandmother again for two, three days and you're just now telling me?"

"Yeah, sorry. Things kinda got messed up."

Bobbie's voice is fakey sweet. "Max?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever get shot-- Go to Mercy."

"Yeah." Max agrees with a nod, hanging his head low.

Bobbie turns sharply and walks out of the waiting room. She keeps walking until she gets to a quiet place away from all of the medical equipment and then she pulls out her cell phone and turns it on. "Sean? I just found out that Carly went into labor. Probably the same evening Conner saw her. Alcazar flew Jason down there to check on her." There is no real answer on the other end of the line. "Sean?"

"Bobbie..."

"Oh Gawd. I'm not going to like this. What happened? What do you know?!"

"Conner missed his check in." Sean rushes to reassure Bobbie and himself. "He's missed them before. I'm not worrying yet. " Sean lies then continues. "If he misses another one I'll be sending another agent to track him."

"I should never have brought you into this. I'm so sorry, Sean. This is all my fault."

"Knock it off, Bobbie. Conner was already there. He would have been there even if Carly wasn't."

There are many levels of trust. There was the blood to blood trust of family that existed even after betrayal. But between people not connected by blood, these things take time and nurturing. There are different types of trust, and they are generally built slowly. Trust built thru strong emotion whether it was love or hate. It is often times easier to trust an enemy than a friend... at least trust that you know what they will do, how they will react.
Then there is the trust built out of consequences, the conditional trust. That is the trust he is building. Slowly. Back when Carly had been Ric's prisoner there was no trust between them just manipulation. And that had continued to be true until Leon when Morlee had decided to give her mother a scare and taken him along for the ride. He and Carly had to trust each other when making the decisions that could have ended Morlee that day in a c-section long before she could have lived on her own. Carly had faltered after, broken trust when she'd called Port Charles and told them their location. There had been consequences.
Leaving Carly alone with Morgan at the compound. That was trust. Telling her that he would be gone for at least 24 hours. That was trust. And if she wasn't there when he returned. Then there would be consequences. It is understood. But it is difficult to not call. To not return to the compound, but if he did then he would be showing Carly that he didn't trust her and that would have consequences as well. This Donner/Donnelly situation could be reason enough to return if it were presented properly. But it was good that he had sent the plane to the states.
It gave him time to think since he didn't like having hired planes, or strange pilots on his airstrip.
Ric Lansing had developed Luis' Compound and as was the brothers' custom with planes and boats, Lorenzo had built his own on similar lines but in another location. Luis had been closer to the water while he preferred the mountains. And Lansing had nothing to do with the construction. Simon had handled all of the details in secret, even from Luis. Another reason why his compound had ended up in the mountains, it was Simon's home turf. Leon had proved that Luis' compound had been compromised. So Carly came to live in the mountains, in his retreat. His cell phone starts ringing. "Alcazar."

"Jefe, it's Simon."

"You should almost be halfway to Port Charles." Lorenzo looks at his watch. Simon had been gone for hours already.

"I'm on my way back to the island, Jefe. I received word from your people in Port Charles that Señor Corinthos is in critical condition at the General Hospital."

"That makes no sense. He drank too much and had to have his stomach pumped or something."

"His condition took a turn for the worse after a late night visit from Faith Roscoe."

"He had a heart attack?"

"No. A stroke of some kind. He is paralyzed and the doctors don't know how badly yet. I didn't know how you wanted to handle it. Or if you wanted to handle it at all."

"Nature abhors a vacuum."

"Sí, Jefe. If Señor Morgan doesn't return to Port Charles there will be nothing for him to return to. And the Señora..."

Alcazar interrupts to state firmly. "I will be the one to tell Carly."

"I believed that you would feel that way. And would want to tell her in person to make sure the little Mamacita didn't do something.. rash. The pilot says we are picking up a tailwind back to the island. I will call you again when we are within 30 minutes."

"Call our people in Port Charles. I want Faith Roscoe under surveillance. She has overstepped herself."

"I'll make the call." Simon is about to hang up when he realizes that Lorenzo isn't done with his orders.

"Have our people make contact with Carly's mother. Tell her to be expecting a call."

"I will, Jefe."

Bobbie knows that she is in no condition to be working on anybody and takes the day. If she screwed up at Kelly's maybe somebody got onions on their cheeseburger. If she screwed up at the hospital it was a different story. And she's too ticked to be driving so she walks over to Kelly's hoping that the November chill will cool her off. She is still ready to kill Max. And if feeling a little guilty about wishing the worst for Sonny, specially since it seems to have happened. As Bobbie walks up to Kelly's she sees two men in dark suits and coats sitting outside in the summer seating area. There were a foolhardy few that ate outside in the middle of winter. But these two aren't eating or even have cups of coffee. As soon as they see Bobbie they leap to their feet.

"Señora Spencer?" One of the men steps forward.

Bobbie edges toward the door. "I'm Bobbie Spencer. Who is asking?"

"Señor Alcazar will be calling you." The man reaches out a hand with a cell phone in it.

Bobbie takes a step toward him and takes the cell phone before quickly taking a step back toward the safety of the restaurant. "Is my daughter alright?"

"La Señora is fine."

"The baby?"

"It is a girl, as beautiful as her mother and grandmother I am sure." The man smiles. The news of La Señora's safe delivery had spread throughout Alcazar's organization quickly. Working at the compound is the gravy assignment and very few are ever permitted there. Alcazar up until recently had done most of his work in Caracas or on the island. Now he might do business elsewhere but most of his time is spent at the compound. If one were to get ahead then one had to get a position there. Or at least the trust of the Jefe to know where it was. The man gets serious. "There are a number of things the Jefe needs to speak with you about as well as making arrangement for you to speak with La Señora. I do not know all the details. We had hoped that you would stop here after you left the hospital early."

Bobbie's emotions are doing a rollercoaster from the joy of knowing Carly and the baby are fine to the worry that these two were too familiar with her schedule, and unscheduled absences. Keeping them away from the house seems to be a worthy goal in itself. "It's really cold out here. Why don't we go inside while I wait for this call. The coffee will be on me."

"You are very gracious, Señora." One man grabs the door for Bobbie, opening it politely then both of them follow her in.

As soon as the plane lands, Alcazar and Simon jump in the jeep and head for The Compound. He is barely thru the small front door when he is already questioning. "Where is La Señora?"

"She went into the village with Señor Morgan to see about the baby's baptism."

"How long have they been gone?"

"A couple of hours but it's market day and La Señora took a list since she wanted to go shopping."

Lorenzo starts to get a bad feeling and turns around to go after Carly.

"JEFE!" Michael comes racing toward him. "Mama said you had business."

"I finished sooner... Why aren't you with your mother?"

"Was I suppose to?" Michael gets a worried look on his face. "Is Mama okay? Did something happen? Did she get kidnapped again? Where is Uncle Jason?"

"Michael, Michael, I am sure everything is fine. Your Uncle Jason is with her. I'm just... surprised you didn't go as well."

The boy relaxes reassured that something horrible hasn't happened. "Jefe..."

"Yes?"

"Mama was going shopping."

"Ah." Alcazar nods and hides a grin.

"She took Morlee with her in case Morlee got hungry, that's how long she's going to be gone. What business did you do?"

Alcazar raises a brow at the question but shrugs. "I wanted to talk to the WSB without worrying your mother. To see his eyes so that he could not lie to me."

Michael nods, that makes sense. "Okay. Want to go swimming? I can't go unless Mama or a grown up is with me."

"Go change and wait for me by the pool." Alcazar instructs. As soon as Michael is clear he turns to Simon. "Go to the village. Start with the church but then the market. I will tell Mr. Morgan and La Señora the news myself."

Simon nods and leaves.

"Carly, you just had a baby." If he had been a lesser man there would have been a whine in his voice. Carly is definitely making up for lost time. There had been some hesitancy getting her out of the compound and even into the car that was being driven by one of the housemen. Being in the church had made Carly break out in a sweat but that wasn't anything related to general anxiety but rather the specific fear of being struck by lightening for setting foot in the church. For someone that claimed to not be a religious person, Carly actually had a lot of respect for the church. She'd probably claim to be covering all her bases. Only once Carly got to the stalls set up for market day did she actually relax. Shopping and spending money is as close to home as Carly could get.

"I know. I was there and awake this time." Carly looks at the fruit picking up one and sniffing it. Amazing enough when somebody wasn't trying to stuff it down her throat fruits and veggies weren't all that bad. Especially the fruit. "Oh man, you know you couldn't get this in Port Charles." Carly holds up the huge papaya. "I loved this stuff on the island."

"I thought you just ate cold pizza."

"That's just what I want you and Sonny to think." Carly grins at him.

"Sonny maybe. Remember I used to go grocery shopping with you when you were living with Dr. Jones. You weren't fooling me." Jason steps up and after Carly indicates how many papayas she wants he pays for them and adds them to the bag that is already started. The cook's wish list had already been filled and now Carly is on overdrive. "I've always known that a) you eat more than just junk food and b) you know how to cook."

"Oh like I'd cook in Sonny's kitchen. HA! Not worth the stress. I don't like cooking that much. And he needs the release."

"That and you're not too tidy when you cook or willing to do the cleanup."

"I get distracted. What can I say." Carly shrugs and then adjusts the baby carrier that she is wearing. Morlee is carried in front of her, sound asleep. It really isn't that much different than carrying her a week ago, cept that Morlee is on the outside rather than the inside. Carly moves away from the produce and starts down where the crafts are. There are some great hats. Not that anyone up in Port Charles wore a hat. Maybe a stocking cap in the winter to keep their ears warm. Luke wore a hat now and then but that might be because he had a bad hair day going that was decades long. "This kinda reminds me of the old days when we'd go grocery shopping."

"And I'd have to figure out how to get everything you picked out on the back of my bike." Jason reminds her wryly. "You're still buying too much."

"Bite your tongue. There is no such thing. Besides, we've got a car." Carly reaches out and grabs Jason's arm. "Oh my gosh, Jase, do you see that?!"

"See what?" Jason looks around.

"That." Carly starts tugging Jason toward a stall that has baby clothes. There is a beautiful white dress just Morlee's size on display. "Oh it's perfect. I have to have it. Morlee needs it for her baptism. Oh my word." Carly reaches out to touch the garment.

The vender knows that she has a sale already and rises from where she'd been sitting at the back of the stall working on another garment. "Buenos días, Señora, Señor."

"Buenos días." Jason answers. Carly is still too distracted by the dress, holding it up to the baby carrier and doing a basic size measurement between Morlee and the gown. "Cuánto?"

Before the woman can name her price, Simon comes up in a rush. "Señora, Señora!"

Carly turns at the sound of Simon's voice and the woman's eyes go wide. This is La Señora. The one that everyone down at the clinic had been talking about. The baby was the reason why the doctor was staying up at the Jefe's house. This is Alcazar's woman. "For La Señora, it is free. A present to congratulate her and the Jefe on the beautiful baby. Your money is no good." The woman holds her hand out in a stopping motion as Jason is reaching for his wallet.

Jason realizes what is going on and nods. It was easier than kicking up a fuss. "I will tell Alcazar of your kindness."

"What's going on?" Carly asks Simon with a frown on her face. "I thought you were with Lorenzo. You were going to get Sonny. You shouldn't be back yet. Not until tonight at the earliest."

"The Jefe has returned and he has news for you, y usted tambien, Señor."

"Lets go." Jason nods in the direction of the woman and then takes Carly's arm following after Simon who heads back to the car. The Houseman already has the trunk open on the car for the bags that are quickly thrown in the back. Carly and Jason climb into the back of the car. Simon takes shotgun and the houseman, who had already been questioned by El Jefe's second and knows that something is up, guns the motor before shooting the car down the road and back toward the compound.

Alcazar watches from the side as Michael goes running off the diving board and jumps into the pool. The boy never seemed to tire of the activity just making different combinations in the effort to make the biggest splash.

"Lorenzo? What is going on?" Carly calls out as she walks into the courtyard.

Alcazar gets Michael's attention with a snap of his fingers. "Go get the Nanny. Tell her, your sister needs her."

Michael pulls himself out of the pool and starts running toward Carly's quarters. Alcazar looks beyond Carly to where Jason is standing. "Sonny is still in the hospital. I will give you all the information I have once the children are supervised." Carly starts to protest. "Your son has a habit of eavesdropping, something he admits you taught him. This is information best you... process first."

As soon as the Nanny arrives Carly is handing the baby over and then she turns to Michael. "Mister Man, I bought way more things than Simon could carry in. Could you help them get the stuff out of the trunk?"

"Okay Mama." Michael takes off at a run again.

"What happened?!" Carly demands.

Lorenzo leads Carly and Jason into his office and shuts the door. "Sit down." Carly does but Jason remains standing. "I called the priest. He is making special arrangements so that Morlee can be baptized tonight."

"But Sonny isn't here. Sonny has to be here."

"Sonny isn't going to be here and tomorrow Jason will not be here either. If you wish him to be the Godfather of your child then the baptism will happen tonight."

Carly starts shaking her head. "I don't understand. What happened? Why are you all of a sudden in a rush? Why won't you let Sonny come?"

"According to my men, your husband had a stroke and is in the intensive care unit at General Hospital."

"I have to go. I have to leave now." Carly stands up and starts moving toward the door.

"No."

"Look you've won alright?! Sonny's in the hospital. Game over!"

Alcazar looks at Jason. "This was not a... natural event."

"Did you..." Carly looks at Alcazar in horror. But he is already shaking his head.

"That fucking bitch." Jason snarls.

"Was seen leaving Sonny's room the night before his conditioned worsened. When I heard that I assumed heart attack, not stroke."

"Faith." Carly hisses under her breath.

"Did they actually say stroke or embolism?" Jason asks with narrowed eyes. He has already figured out how he would kill or cripple someone in the hospital and get away with it.

"Embolism."

"What has that got to do with anything?! I have to get out of here. Sonny needs me. The plane is ready to go right? You said that Jason was leaving tonight. I'll go pack now. I don't even need to pack. Lets just grab the kids and go."

"No." Alcazar repeats again. Then he turns to Jason. "You are going back to a turf war. But it is not the first time that you have taken up the reins of the territory. That is a point in your favor." Jason nods in agreement to Alcazar's assessment. "I have men on The Widow Roscoe. She will be presented at your convenience." Jason nods again. "The priest said he could be ready..." Alcazar glances down at his watch. "... in about an hour. If you want to get ready." Jason actually leaves which shows how unsettled he is by the information about Sonny's health.

Carly waves a hand. "Yoohoo! I'm in the room! What in the hell do you mean no? It's over."

"I told you that I would protect you and your child... children. I cannot protect you in Port Charles and Mr. Morgan cannot either. He will have his hands full as it is protecting his own woman. You are safer here until the dust settles."

"Sonny is in the hospital!"

"And there is nothing you can do for him." Alcazar counters. "All you can do is be a distraction that will get Mr. Morgan killed. You are not going anywhere."

"You son of a bitch!" Carly swears. "How can you do this to me?! I have to go! I have to be there!"

"Do not make this into a two front war for Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Corinthos." There had been more than a few history lessons over the months Carly had been under his... care. And Carly catches the reference. Two front wars had been the downfall of both Napoleon and Hitler. "If you fight me on this, I guarantee he will lose and you will still be safe here."

If there had been a straight edge razor in the room, Lorenzo would have gotten more than a close shave. Carly is breathing hard trying to restrain herself from going on the attack. But if there was something that a woman learned early when going up against a stronger opponent... they had to sleep sometime. "Fine."

"Good. Now I have made arrangements for you to call your mother. I'm sure she has more information on your husband's condition."

When the cell phone rings, Bobbie bounces on it. "Hello?!"

"Mama! How is Sonny?" Her daughter's voice is loud and clear like she is in the next room but there is a bit of an echo like maybe it's on a speaker phone.

"Carly..." Bobbie hesitates to answer.

"Mama, I already know he had a stroke or an embolism or something. Just tell me."

"He's paralyzed on his right side, baby. These things are always worse right when they happen. You just have to wait for twenty four hours and see how things stabilize and go from there."

"Is he going to die, Mama?"

Bobbie can hear the fear loud and clear. "Carly, I can't answer that. Not really. He's in the hospital. He's being closely monitored. If he doesn't have another one... then I think he's going to pull thru-- but, baby, he's in a world of hurt. He might bounce back in a couple of days with barely a limp or it could be months of therapy for him to even be able to walk and talk. I just don't know. Nobody will know until Sonny stabilizes. How are you?! And the baby?"

"I'm fine. Morgan is fine, beautiful. That's what I named her-- Morgan Leigh. Mama, what if Sonny never gets to see his baby girl?"

"You just stop thinking that way, Caroline." Bobbie demands. "It's not going to do you any good whatsoever. You need to focus on getting your strength back and..."

Alcazar interrupts what Bobbie might have said. It looked as if it was moving in the direction of telling her daughter to get back to Port Charles any way she could. "Señora Spencer, there is just a couple of things I need to clarify before Carly lets you go. You need to know Sonny Corinthos' condition is no accident nor Act of God. But instead the work of an off balance woman who was observed outside of Corinthos' room at General Hospital."

That gives Bobbie pause as she reviews what her daughter's kidnapper just said. Alcazar seemed to have men all over. Bobbie glances over to the table next to the door where the two henchmen are still sitting. They are watching her on the phone like a dog waiting for a biscuit as a reward for performing a neat trick. "And the other thing?"

"The WSB agent made contact."

Carly's furious voice comes on the line. "Mama, you didn't! Tell me you didn't go to Tony. DAMN IT! How could you go to that smug bastard about anything!"

"No, I didn't go to Tony." Bobbie snaps back. "I called Sean Donnelly. What in the hell was I supposed to do when my pregnant daughter is missing and Sonny isn't telling me a freaking thing?! Sit on my thumbs?! I don't think so! And you can just tell that Alcazar if he doesn't let you and Conner go that he is going to get the combined hell that only the Spencer's and friends can provide."

"HA! Who in the hell is Sean Donnelly?! And really as if Uncle Luke would do anything for me! Good luck pulling him out of the bottle! Oh I know what would get him moving. Why don't you tell him that Lorenzo's got better cigars than he's ever dreamed of having. That might get him off his ass! At least I know then he'd track Alcazar down if only to steal his cigars!"

"Ladies." There is more than a hint of amusement in Alcazar's voice when he comes back on the line. Perhaps it would be better to keep these two a hemisphere apart. "Tell Mr. Donnelly that... his agent is alive and will stay that way. There will be consequences for entering my home under a cloak of lies. If he wants a call from me to arrange his agent's release then have him give you a number. Carly will call you tomorrow at this time to check on Sonny's condition." Alcazar disconnects the call.

"She called Tony." Carly starts pacing Alcazar's office. Pausing briefly with each pass to glare at Alcazar. "She went begging to that sonofabitch. He's going to use that against her. Prick. Bastard."

He is not quite sure who she is calling names him or, "Tony?"

"Tony Jones. Dr. Tony Jones. Her ex husband. The guy I shot. His brother is some woohoo secret agent man. I should have figured the night the Agent was here. But it should have been about you and it never occurred that she would go to him." Carly growls.

"And what of this Sean Donnelly she mentioned?"

"Who?! Never heard of him." Carly dismisses with the sharp wave of a hand.

"Sean Donnelly is the husband of your little brother's biological aunt."

Carly's jaw drops at that. "Where in the hell do you get this stuff?"

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