Collide 1
“I can’t believe you’re here
in Port Charles” Jax said from across the table as he took a sip of his drink
“General Hospital
made me an offer I couldn’t refuse”
“Oh come on Peter!” Jax said amused
Peter laughed heartily
“I know, I know… honestly I think
I just needed to slow things down a little. I need get a life…”
“That doesn’t sound like the Dr. Peter
Martin I know” Jax said intrigued
“It’s true. And I’m not saying
what I want next out of life is here in Port Charles but I did happen to get a great offer that would allow me to have some
kind of life besides the one I lived at the hospital… Also I have a great old friend here in Port Charles that seems
to be doing just fine for himself so when the offer came in I thought why not?”
Jax grinned
“Well I can tell you I’m happy to
have you here though I’m still somewhat shocked you’re giving up the fame and fortune you’ve earned as one
of the best Cardiologist in San Francisco for Port Charles”
Peter took a sip of his coffee
“I don’t know… something brought
me here I guess…”
Before Peter could finish his sentence Jax was
out of his chair
“Excuse me for one second” Jax said
as his arms already open for her
“Jax!” she said falling in to his
arms
Peter observed a quick kiss to the lips, a practiced
kiss to the lips
Peter thought quickly… he thought Jax’s
wife, Courtney was blonde
“Alexis let me introduce you to an old friend
of mine”
Alexis?
Peter stood quickly as Alexis was stunned momentarily
as she was caught by his emerald green eyes
“Dr. Peter Martin, this is Alexis Davis”
“Hi, nice to meet you” Alexis said
politely as she shook Peter’s hand
“Same here” Peter said not returning
her hand so quickly
“Alexis, Peter’s is the new Cardiologist
at General Hospital”
“Really? Well welcome to Port Charles”
“Thank you” He said politely as he
studied her smile
“Would you like to join us?” Jax said
ready to offer a chair
“No, no I don’t want to interrupt
and besides I was just picking up lunch, I have to go…” Alexis turned her attention to Jax “I have a million
things to do today and the girls…”
“Where are they? They’re ok?”
Jax asked grinning at the thought of them
“They’re fine; Viola took them to
the park. Kristina loves to play with the other kids at the playground…” she said charmed that he truly did want
know about them
“And you’re ok?”
“I’m fine” she answered quickly
“Good, so you’re ok? He repeated
Alexis gave out a seemingly nervous laugh
“I’m fine really…” She
fidgeted a bit “Tired…” Jax made a sincerely saddened face to her. Alexis again opened her mouth to speak
but the words didn’t follow
That nervous laugh again
“I’m just figuring out how to get
through this one day at a time I guess” she admitted
Jax had now taken her hand, pressing her palm
to his lips
“How about Courtney and I take the girls
this weekend…”
Alexis made a face
“Jax I don’t know two is a handful
and I’ve actually never even spent a night without Chloe…”
“Well I’m not pushing you but they
would be not even across town and you could get some much needed rest”
“So you’re saying it’s starting
to show?” Alexis teased
“Actually by the looks of you no one would
ever know you had missed a minute of your beauty rest… you look more and more beautiful everyday”
“Such a charmer” Alexis said grinning
as she patted his cheek
“You mistake charm with honesty”
Alexis continued to grin
“Will you at least consider Courtney and
me taking the girls…? I know Courtney would love to have them as much as I would. And I think you need the rest.”
Alexis let out a deep breath “Ok, ok”
Jax grinned satisfied
For a moment both Jax and Alexis had forgotten
Peter was standing there now what seemed further off in to the distance as they had continued the conversation between them
And it also was easy for her to forget everything
when someone asked how she was doing
It was consuming to lie especially when it was
to her best friend’s face. Especially when she already knew he could see right through her
“I’m sorry” Alexis said shaking
herself from her and Jax’s conversation. And turning back to Peter who had now seated himself back at the table after
Jax and Alexis furthered their conversation
“It’s fine. You two obviously needed
to talk”
“Well
like I said I didn’t mean to interrupt. And I’ll let you get back to your catching up… it was nice to meet
you Peter” she said once again easily fixated on his beautiful eyes
“Nice to have met you, Alexis” he
said giving his best charming grin and a goodbye handshake “I’m sure we’ll run in to each other again”
“I’m sure we will” She said
agreeing
Another affectionate kiss and embrace from Jax
to Alexis
Both watch her walk away
And Peter didn’t change the subject from
her
He couldn’t, it would be impossible to think
of anything but her now
Smitten, his mind desperately trying to remember
her face, her hair… her beautiful dimpled smile
There was something about her
“Can I get you more coffee?” Jax interjected
“No, no I’m fine”
A moment of silence passed through them
“Who is she?”
Jax eyes widened not sure at first of whom he
was speaking
“Alexis?”
“Yeah”
“She’s my best friend” Jax said
beaming
Peter shook his head
“What?”
“That was one hell of a hello and goodbye
for a friend”
Jax laughed “She’s also my ex-wife”
“She’s your ex-wife?” Peter
asked stunned to say the least
“I’m a fool huh?”
“Well you seem like a fool at least for
the moment”
“It’s a long story but as I said she’s
my best friend”
“So tell me about her”
“Why this sudden fascination with Alexis?
Jax teased
Peter paused unable to punch back a quip. “I’m
not sure. I’m just curious about her I guess…”
Jax laughed “She had that affect”
“So, tell me about her”
“Beautiful, brilliant, funny…”
Jax grinned “She’s a lawyer” he now said more seriously “And besides how obvious it is that she’s
beautiful I also meant the brilliant part. She’s a very successful lawyer, very smart”
“And on a personal level?” Peter now
asking what wanted to know
Jax took another sip of his
drink
“Well?” Peter
asked impatiently
“It seems at the moment she is the epitome of what a man’s stupidity can do” Jax said
fumbling now with the corners of cocktail napkin below his drink
“I’m not sure
I follow” Peter said confused
Jax shook his head
“It’s a long story…”
“Is everything about her a long story…?
I wasn’t trying to listen in on your conversation but I heard you ask her several times how she was and I didn’t
catch her response but I couldn’t help but see her face going from happy, to sad, to happy again when she answered you.
She seemed to want to hide her true feelings”
“She wants to but I’ve learned to
read her…”
“So the stupid man, he’s her husband?”
Jax looked at Peter almost as if he were thrown
off by his relentlessness of learning about Alexis
“Yeah” was all Jax responded
Peter could tell Jax was getting more uncomfortable
talking about Alexis and her personal life
“Peter it’s a
complicated story”
Peter leaned back in his chair
“Not a good story I
take it?”
“It’s just…
it’s her story to tell. Not mine.”
Peter shook his head understanding
Jax’s loyalties to Alexis
“I understand. I won’t
ask any more questions”
“Peter it’s just…”
“No, no I understand!”
“I truly adore her and
I love her. She’s had a life with so many ups and downs… And right now she’s down”
“She seems to have you”
Peter stated concerned
“I’m not sure
if I’m there for her like I should be”
“It didn’t seem
that way by the way she lit up seeing you”
Jax shook his head “Like
I said, I love and adore her”
Before either of them could
delve in or out of their conversation Peter’s pager went off
“It’s the hospital.
Excuse me” he said placing his cell to his ear “… Yes, yes about 5, 10 minutes. Ok, thank you”
“The doctor’s
work is never done?”
“Never!”
Jax stood up with Peter
“How much do I owe you
for the coffee?”
“Are you kidding me?
Get out of here” Jax said shoving him along “I’ll be calling you for dinner, you need to meet Courtney…”
“Very soon!” Peter
said stepping on to the elevator
++++++++++
Peter watched as the numbers
on the elevator fell. He was on his way to the ER. He had been paged once again for a patient that had come in with a previous
heart condition. It seemed to be his day in the ER
He stepped off the elevator
Before he could be lead to
his awaiting patient he heard the sound of her name
“Alexis!”
The sound of her name again
“Alexis!”
Repeated “Alexis, wake
up!”
He rushed to her
He looked down at her
It was her face, her beautiful
but now very pale face
“What happened?”
“Said she just collapsed,
unable to breath, clammy… then lost consciousness”
“Any sign of her coming
to?”
“She’s still pretty
deep in”
“And her history of
heart problems?”
“Heart problems during
last pregnancy… her heart’s still beating rapidly”
Last pregnancy?
She had children?
“The girls”
Peter suddenly remembered
hearing Jax asked something about how “the girls”
“She’s coming
to!” The nurse said
“Ok let’s get
her heart on a monitor” Peter said as he pulled his stethoscope away from Alexis’ chest “Alexis?”
Her eyes fluttered and suddenly
she struggled to breathe once again
“Alexis I know, I know
it’s hard to catch your breath. But try and stay calm… Let’s get her some oxygen and try and get her heart
rate down…”
She had awoken very uneasy
Her eyes were fully glaring
back at him
She was scared; she didn’t
know what was happening to herself. She didn’t know what was happening to her body
Why couldn’t she breathe?
Why was her heart racing?
She had bouts of asthma before
but she never felt her heart beating that fast in her chest, never finding herself falling to the floor…
“That’s better
Alexis. You’re ok now” Peter said checking to see how dilated her pupils were still
It was over
She could suddenly breathe
Her heart beating in perfect
rhythm
Elizabeth now the only one remaining at her bedside
“You gave us a little
scare”
“I don’t know
what happen” Alexis said still confused
“We think you had severe
panic attack. And your body just couldn’t take it…”
“I was just” Alexis
paused thinking of what she was doing when it all happened “I just had to stop by the office for a second and…”
“I think you passed
out in the elevator”
“Oh God” Alexis
said pressing her palm in to her forehead
“Look Alexis…
I didn’t know where your girls were… so I called Ric” Elizabeth
said still unsure if it were the right thing to do. For all she knew, for all anyone knew Alexis and Ric were “together”
at least the moment
Alexis closed her eyes
“Alexis I’m sorry
if I shouldn’t have… but he said he was on his way”
Alexis shook her head ok
“It’s ok”
she said giving her a light smile
It wasn’t Elizabeth’s fault for calling him. By law he was her spouse. He
should be the first called…
But she would tell Ric he
could go home and that she was sorry he had to come to the hospital
“Hi”
A charming voice interrupted
her racing mind
Both Alexis and Elizabeth
looked to the voice coming through the door
“Alexis I’ll be
back to check on you”
“Thank you” Alexis
said truly appreciative
“I told you we would
run in to each other again but I’m not sure if this is the way I envisioned it happening” Peter said grinning
as he continued to study the monitor on her heart
“I’m somewhat
embarrassed” Alexis said fumbling with the edge of the blanket
“Embarrassed? For what?”
he asked puzzled
“I had a panic attack”
“You had a severe panic
attack and you passed out because you couldn’t breath and your heart rate was out of control. You could have had a heart
attack…”
“I, I don’t know
what happened”
“It most likely was
building up from stress and just waiting to be triggered”
“I caused it myself”
“Stress, sleep deprivation,
worrying… it all could have triggered it”
Alexis clinched her eyes shut
“Alexis you’re
going to be ok this time. But whatever’s happening in your life that is causing this to happen has to be stopped. Your
heart can’t take it…”
There was more truth is that
than he knew
Peter was right about one
thing. Her heart, it couldn’t take much more
And speaking of the devil
It was her heart in flesh
and blood
“Alexis?” Ric
said barreling through the door
“It’s ok”
she said
“What happened?”
Ric looked pale. He was obviously
over come with worry and a bit of panic himself
“She had a severe panic
attack…” Peter said taking note of meeting face to face with the man Jax had made reserved mention of “I’m
Dr. Martin” Peter said formally
Ric stuck out his hand to
him and Peter shook it
“I’m a cardiologist…”
“A cardiologist?”
Ric questioned looking to Alexis “Her heart, her heart it’s ok?” Ric said now back to Peter
“She could have had
severe damage to her heart especially with her previous history with heart problems. But right now she seems to be fine. Alexis,
I would like to keep you over night for observation…”
“Over night? I can’t…”
“Alexis” Ric said,
his voice quickly pleading
“I need to make sure
your heart is ok. I also need you to get some rest and to get your stress level down. You can’t carry on like this…”
Peter wanted to give his speech in front of Ric. He didn’t know the story between them, but he did know that Jax was
worried about her and that her husband caused a lot of her grief. Peter wanted to make it known he thought she had hit her
limit and if Ric had any inclination that he was a part of her stress then he had done his job
“Please try and get
some rest and I’ll be back to check on you in a little while ok?” Peter said almost hesitantly
“Ok” Alexis agreed
Both she and Ric watched him
leave as if they were holding their tongue until they were alone
Alone
Together, alone
“You’re ok?”
Ric asked now gripping her hand more tightly than he realized
“I’m fine”
Ric clinched his jaw frustrated
at her answer. It was her answer for anything about herself. Was she happy, sad, angry… hurt? No, just fine
She pulled her hand from his
“You don’t have
to stay” she said her eyes darting away from him
“Alexis”
“I’m sorry you
had to come down here”
She said everything just as
she had planned to
“Alexis don’t
be silly! Where else would I be?”
“You just don’t
have to be here. You’re not obligated…”
“You’re right
I’m not but I wouldn’t be anywhere else…”
She let out a deep breath
“Alexis don’t
do this. I’m here because I want to be and because you need me to be”
Her eyes still refused to
look at him though they couldn’t seem to find a focus on anything
“I thought we were trying
to keep apart? I thought we weren’t going to follow the same path we’ve been down over and over again since before
Chloe was born?”
“Deciding that doesn’t
mean I don’t care what happens to you Alexis”
“No but it does mean
that if something happens to me you can’t come running to my rescue. And that is what we agreed…”
“The doctor said you
have too much stress and that you’re tired… Would you please just forget about whatever we said we were going
to do for the moment…”
“But it’s the
same path Ric”
“But I…”
he stopped himself. It was blatantly apparent he was about to blurt he loved her. But he stopped himself
They sat in silence
His words cut off like a knife
A knife that already had taken
one too many lives
Silence
Seconds that turned in to
minutes of him memorizing her sad, tired face and her trying desperately not to have to even look at his for fear she would
run to the place where she wanted to be more than anything
And also in those minutes
the realization that her stress, her angst, everything that brought her to General
Hospital … Ric had every part of
Alexis was right. They had
been down that same path over and over again now for a year
Back and forth, she loves
me, he loves me not. He loves me, she loves me not. Making love with each other and fighting with each other and somewhere
in between raising two little girls…
Ric had every part of
Seeing her terrified of what
happened to herself today was one thing but seeing her truly terrified of him and what it meant for him to be there was painstakingly
heart breaking
“The girls?” Alexis
asked suddenly
“They’re with
Emily and Nicholas. I told them I would get them later. They said not to worry…”
Alexis shook her head
Silence again and again
A knock at the door
Both Ric and Alexis were startled
by the sudden shift in the universe
His face appeared from behind
the door
“Hi”
Alexis placed a smile on her
face
“Come in”
“You sure?” Jax
asked
“Of course”
Ric stood from Alexis’
bed side
“You didn’t need
to come here”
“Don’t be silly.
I had to check on you! I had to see if you were alright for myself”
Alexis only shook her head
“I’m uh going
to get some coffee and let you two have a minute” Ric said almost uneasily
Jax let him pass by him before
taking his seat on the side of her bed
Alexis didn’t say a
word
“Ok” Jax said
taking in what was happening
“Ok what?”
“So you two are on opposing
sides again?”
“No, we’re not!
We just, we agreed again the night before last that we have to let go”
“Which obviously you
two are horrible at”
“It’s an endless
cycle”
“You think maybe it’s
because you both love each other and want to be together oh I don’t know say… more than anything”
“Jax you know the story
from the beginning. You know…”
“Alexis you’re
going to have to stop this. Whether it means you and Ric getting back together or ending it… you’re hurting yourself
mentally and physically now…”
Alexis let out a breathy laugh
“Alexis” he said
almost scolding
“It’s not that
simple. I have Kristina and Chloe I can’t just let go of everything, of everyone. There are ties that bind Jax”
Jax leaned in kissing her
on the forehead
“If you’re scared
about going at all of this alone you have to know you will always have me. If you’re going through all of this because
you believe that you and Ric can make it work…”
“I told you we have
to end…”
“What you told me and
what is actually happening…”
“I know!” she
snapped
Jax took her face between
the palms of his hands
“You still love him
don’t you?”
A breathy nervous laugh seeped
from her lips
Jax shook his head
Her inability or her not wanting
to answer was all the answer he needed
“I can’t make
him leave the hospital you know that?”
“I don’t want
you to” she said running her fingers through her hair
“How about you try and
get some sleep, because tomorrow I know two little girls who are going to be begging for attention from their mommy”
Alexis smiled and shook her
head ok
Jax soothed her hair and gave
her a kiss goodnight
“I’ll check on
you tomorrow ok?”
“Ok” she said
giving another slight smile
+++++++++++
Ric sat on the floor in the
hallway outside her room
Jax was surprised to see him
waiting there
“Ric?”
“I didn’t want
to interrupt and I figured she would be better if I stayed out here”
Jax took a few steps towards
him
“I told her she can’t
continue to play this game with you. I mean Ric look what happened to her today…”
Ric looked guilty
He knew, he knew everything
Jax was saying and about to say
“When she told me you
two were getting a divorce a year ago I had never seen her so heartbroken. But I knew there must have been a reason because
she is a strong and rational person. And I knew no matter how much it was hurting her she would get through it… now…
now I’m not so sure”
Jax placed his hands in his
pockets
“Either love her like
you should or leave her the hell alone”
Ric looked up at Jax somewhat
stunned, only in time to see him walking away
End Ch. 1
