Daily Updates

From: rika1@mindspring.com (Rika)
Subject: PC: Update, Tuesday, 9/30/97
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 06:23:41 GMT
X-Server-Date: 1 Oct 1997 06:24:11 GMT

                       PORT CHARLES UPDATE
                   Tuesday, September 30, 1997

Okay, I can't stand it anymore.  I've been writing relatively objective,
fact-infested PC updates so far, but I've gotta be me, and that means
some opinions and some cynicism are going to start creeping in.  Or
stomping in like an army of Imperial storm troopers, more likely.
Consider yourself warned.

Today's Storylines:
-------------------
* With Three You Get Egg Roll
* Mr. and Mrs. "Bub"
* The Devil With the Blue Scrubs On

WITH THREE YOU GET EGG ROLL
---------------------------
Danielle and Jake arrive at the door to Jake's apartment.  Jake
evidently has a plan to deal with dear ol' Uncle Rex - he emphasizes the
need to take Rex by surprise with their plan.  (Good luck.  Jumping out
a closet screaming "Boo!" might surprise him, but it probably won't be
very effective otherwise.)  They open the door to find Rex sitting on
the sofa watching TV and eating Chinese food.  He chortles, "Welcome
home, kiddies?  Did you miss me while you were gone?"

After insulting their taste in food and TV stations, Rex brings the
subject around to Jake's participation in The Plan.  Danielle tells Rex
that they won't play his game anymore.  Rex threatens them as usual;
Jake and Danielle hang tough.  Then they begin to play a variation on
Nice Cop/Bad Cop with Rex.  Jake says he's willing to work *with* Rex -
but he wants to know what his cut of the trust fund money will be.
Danielle looks at both men in alarm.

Rex asks, why the change of heart?  Jake says that if Rex isn't going to
leave him alone anyway, he might as well get something for it -   such
as enough money to fund his own DNA research lab.  Rex and Jake shake on
the deal; Danielle begs Jake not to do it.  Jake points out, "You made a
deal with the devil; why can't I?"  (Several answers spring to mind, but
we'll let Jakey learn from experience.)  Satan - I mean, Rex - seems to
like Jake's new attitude.  What does Jake need?  "Many zeroes."  Rex
seems impressed by Jake's moxie.  He leaves, pausing outside the door
with a speculative look on his face.

Jake watches out the window to make sure Rex has really left.  We learn
that Jake didn't tell Danielle his plan in advance, because he needed
her to look horrified when he proposed it.  (This was an interesting
commentary on Jake's assessment of Danielle's acting ability.)  She
warns Jake that he doesn't know what he's getting into.  Jake realizes
that they need help - so, who are the candidates?  (1) Scott - nooooo,
he hates them as much as he hates Rex.  (2) Kevin - Jake likes this
idea, remarking that Kevin is "a reasonable man"  (especially compared
to Scott.....).  Perhaps if Jake can win Kevin over, Kevin can convince
the others.  Danielle thinks for a minute (Jake used some long words
like "persuade" and "undo"), and then asks if Jake really thinks it'll
work.  (No, Danielle, he didn't mean a word of it.  He was just
practicing his English.)  We have to try, Jake answers.  They suddenly
head out the door - to try, I suppose.

MR. AND MRS. "BUB"
------------------
Karen is on the surgical floor, looking exhausted.  She tells Joe she
didn't get any sleep due to worry about Kevin.  She knows she set his IV
correctly and elevated his head.  Joe says he believes her (but let's
face it, he'd say he believed that she was Tina Turner if it would make
her sleep with him).  So, the big question - how did Kevin end up "flat
on his back with his IV wide open?"  They decide to talk to Lucy in
hopes of collecting clues. (A really, REALLY bad idea at the moment.
So, Karen, you WANT your head bitten off, huh?)

Meanwhile, Lucy is pacing in the waiting room.  She begins to fantasize
about the aftermath of her future wedding to Kevin, beginning as he
carries her over the threshhold of the Lighthouse.  It becomes quite
clear that this is not just the "new" Kevin, but a Lucy-interpreted
version of the new Kevin:  when Lucy begins to bounce up and down in
giddy delight, Kevin actually bounces right along with her.  Everything
is perfect in the fantasy - Kevin finally gets to wear a decent tux in a
formal-wear scene, he is reinstated as a doctor, and Lucy is pregnant
with a baby boy.  The newlyweds start to work on the honeymoon and
then.......

Back to real life.  (Bummer.)  Scott walks up and asks if there's news -
nope, Kevin is still in surgery.  (BTW, kudos to the hair/make-up people
for a touch of realism.  Scott and Lucy *look* like they've been hanging
around the hospital for 36 hours or so.)  Lucy is furious with "someone
who shall remain nameless" for making a mistake and threatening Kevin's
life.  Scott assures her that Kevin isn't going to die.

Karen and Joe arrive and ask for news about Kevin.  They are concerned
to hear he's not out of surgery yet.  Lucy angrily points out that
Kevin's seizure delayed the surgery.  Karen offers to do whatever she
can, and Lucy tells her, "I think you've done quite enough, don't you?"
In case that wasn't blunt enough, Lucy flatly accuses Karen of almost
killing Kevin through her negligence.  Karen tries to deny it, but Lucy
won't listen.  Joe and Scott defend Karen.  Then Karen defends herself,
and Lucy listens, though she's not fully convinced.  The big question:
"If you didn't do it, who did?"

Ellen comes by, and Lucy races over to her for news.  Kevin's surgery is
over; the operation was a success and Kevin is stable.  Lucy, Scott, and
Ellen head off to the ICU.  Karen heads off for parts unknown (till
later, anyway).

Lucy is nervously pacing outside the ICU - she can't get in yet because
Bennett is examining Kevin.  Scott tries to calm her down (for an
encore, he's going to try to keep the sun from setting tonight).
They're just about to get into a fine bickering session about Karen's
guilt or innocence when Bennett comes out of the ICU and tells Lucy she
can go in to see Kevin.  She races to Kevin's side at warp speed while
Scott thanks Bennett for saving Kevin's life; Bennett remarks on Scott's
awkward position, given Karen's role in the situation.  Scott tries to
defend Karen, but Bennett's not buying any.

In the ICU, Kevin is groggy but conscious.  Lucy holds his hand and
tells him how scared she was.  She can't live without him - she doesn't
even remember who or what she was before he came into her life.  Kevin
is charming even in the aftermath of brain surgery:  "I remember - you
were enchanting."  Lucy tearfully begs him to stay out of danger - she
never wants to see him in pain.  He calls her "Bub", a nickname they use
to tease one another, which reassures Lucy immensely.  Kevin sees Scott
in the doorway and invites him in.  He thanks Scott for staying with
Lucy throughout the ordeal.

A nurse arrives to shoo them out - ten-minute visits only, one visitor
at a time.  Lucy begs the nurse to let her stay, to no avail.  She says
goodbye to Kevin, promising she'll be right outside.

Scott and Lucy come out of the ICU and see Jake and Danielle standing
nearby.  They are both extremely upset to see that Danielle is still in
town.  (Believe me, Scott and Lucy, we can relate.)

The Devil with the Blue Scrubs On
---------------------------------
Bennett and Chris come off the elevator in sweat-soaked scrubs (Chris's
are blue and Bennett's are green, in case anybody wondered *which* devil
I was referring to).  Chris is working on permanently implanting his
lips to Bennett's gluteous maximus; the compliments about Bennett's
surgical technique fly fast and furious. Bennett (who remarkably manages
to keep his lunch down) points out that Kevin had a seizure and almost
died, though how this minimizes his surgical skill isn't clear.  Bennett
tells Chris he's on the right track so far (though whether he's talking
about Chris's potential as a surgeon or as a world-class brown-noser
isn't clear.  Maybe both.....).

Chris strides briskly into the on-call room and finds Karen waiting for
him.  (Your updater figured he was about to get blamed for the incident
with Kevin's IV, but your updater figured wrong.)  She wants to discuss
Chris's invasion of privacy in reading her letter from Jagger.  Chris
offers accusations instead of apologizes (Whew!  Big shocker there).  He
doesn't have to do anything to make her look bad, he says, based on what
she did to Kevin as a result of stress from her marital problems.  She
starts to threaten that if he tells anybody about the letter from Jagger
she'll - .  Chris interrupts - "What, tell Joe Scanlon on me?"  (Well,
that *could* be scary - he might come after you with a power tool.)

Joe (who knows a cue line when he hears one) throws open the door to the
On-Call Room just at this moment.  What's going on, he asks.  Chris
stalks out, leaving Joe and Karen staring at each other.   Out in the
hall, Ellen thanks Bennett for helping Kevin, who is a friend of hers.
Chris approaches, asking for a private word with Ellen.  He tells Ellen
that Karen was under stress she couldn't handle, but wouldn't admit it.

Back in the OCR, Karen can't believe she gave Chris the benefit of the
doubt.  She tells Joe about Chris reading Jagger's letter.  Then she
tells Joe that Jagger wants a divorce.  (He had the good taste not to
jump up and scream, "YES!!!", but there's always tomorrow.)

------------
by Rika