Daily Updates

Port Charles Update for Friday, 10-Mar-2000

Author:	flapwoman
Posting date:	Sun, 02-Apr-2000 7:15:54 PM PST

At Chris' apartment, he tells Julie that he's going to GH for a surgery. The surgical staff is trying to keep on schedule in case of a nurses' strike. Julie wants to go to GH also, but Chris thinks it's a bad idea. Julie knows that people will gawk at her, but she wants to talk to Alan about getting her job back.

Eve is in Kevin's room, happy to be watching him eating. Lucy and Scott come in. Scott tells how hard Lee is working to avoid a strike. None of them can imagine GH without the nurses. Mac comes in and shows Kevin the wig that Cooper used when he stabbed him. Mac explains that an ex-cellmate of Cooper's helped him get out and got the coat and wig for him. Cooper got out through a hole in the wall that he kept hidden with a poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mac tells the others that Cooper is in Attica until he can go to Sing-Sing. Matt arrives to change Kevin's bandages. Mac thanks him for saving his best friend's life. Eve, Scott and Lucy leave. Just as Matt is starting to change Kevin's dressing, someone comes in and tells him that he is needed on another floor. There are no nurses available to help. Matt tells Kevin to keep his finger on his vein. Kevin asks Mac if he wants to talk about Felicia. Mac says not now. Later, Kevin is sleeping. Lucy is in the room with him. When he wakes up, she gives him his godfather present - the picture of him with Christina. She puts it on the table next to his bed and notices the crystal there. Kevin says he realized it must have been from her. Lucy says she knows Kevin doesn't believe in her crystals, but she wants him to have it. Kevin says he wants to keep it. They joke about the crystal being the force behind him recuperating. Lucy tells him how everyone who loves him was pulling for him. She tells how Eve never left his side, except when she read Lucy the riot act. Kevin asks why she did that. Lucy says - the crystal. Kevin laughs. It hurts his stitches.
In another part of GH, Alan is so engrossed with making a call on his cell phone that he bumps into Rachel. He tells her that the strike may start at 5:00 if something isn't done soon. He admits that the nurses have a legitimate list of grievances but they're not giving him anything to work with. While Alan talks, Rachel listens intently and we can see her devious mind working overtime. Later, Alan talks with Lee, Karen and Boardman about how bad things look. Boardman is furious. Audrey comes along and asks if things are progressing. She looks sad. Matt comes along. He can't believe that he has to perform duties that are usually done by nurses. Alan and Karen are upset also. Boardman is still irate. As Matt and Karen get on the elevator, Julie gets off. Karen says "congratulations" and Matt says hi to her. Julie finds Alan. She asks for her job back. He tells her that she has lousy timing. He has three hours to avert a strike. He says to call him when it's over.

At the Recovery Room, an announcer on tv reports about Donatella Stewart coming to Port Charles. Scott is at a table talking to a client on his phone. Joe asks him about the strike. Scott says Lee is still working on it, but there is only two hours left. Joe thinks the nurses have legitimate gripes. At another table, Mary talks with other nurses. They worry about their financial situation if they are on the picket line. Scott says to Joe that things usually get worked out in the eleventh hour. Joe says that he knows that the nurses don't want to strike but they have to follow their conscience. Scott remarks that Joe knows all about that. Matt stops by to get a veggie burger. Joe tells him that his hearing is coming up. He feels he did the right thing. Matt remarks that the board might not see it that way. Joe says "that's their problem." Matt says he'll be flipping burgers for a long time with that attitude. Later, Mary and other nurses are making posters for the picket line.

Chris sees Julie at GH. She tells him what happened with Alan. The young couple that Chris had spoken with a week or two ago (I forget their names) come in. The wife is being wheeled in on a table. The husband is concerned that the strike may begin soon. Chris says that they don't need a nurse right now. He kisses Julie and goes off with the couple and other medical personnel. Rachel enters. She says "hi stranger. Remember me?" Later, in another part of GH, they have coffee. Julie guesses that Rachel is upset with her because she didn't call her when she was released. Rachel admits it would have been nice. Julie reminds her that the last time they spoke, they weren't exactly best friends. Rachel is glad that everyone now knows that Cooper is the killer. Julie says that she remembers Rachel's advice - wait a while before trying to get her job back. She tells Rachel that she ignored that advice and already asked Alan for a position. She also tells Rachel how she saw Scott and Lucy and they apologized. Rachel hopes that started a trend. She'd like to see the whole town eat crow. Rachel brings Julie to Kevin's room. She tells Julie that Kevin should apologize to her. Julie and Rachel go in. Kevin asks them to be brief. Julie thanks Kevin for telling Mac about Greg Cooper. Kevin says he just told the truth. Rachel keeps interrupting. Kevin asks Julie if Rachel always speaks for her. Julie leaves. Rachel lays into Kevin. She expected him to say he was sorry for not believing in Julie. Kevin says that Julie still needs help and he doesn't think Rachel is giving it to her. Outside Kevins's room, Rachel tells Julie that she's proud of her. Kevin is just jealous of their professional relationship. He is an example of what is wrong with psychiatry today.

Orderlies roll Donatella in on a gurney. She is screaming at them. They bump into things. She is outraged. Lucy picks up things falling from the gurney, like a plant and Donatella's purse, but Donatella does not appreciate it. Scott comes along. Lucy tells him that was Donatella Stewart, but he has no idea who that is. Lucy explains how important she is in fashion, movies, etc. She is an industry unto herself. Scott wants to find Lee because the negotiations are not going well. Karen and the rest of the staff are growing frantic with the lack of help at GH. She asks Scott how the possible strike may affect Joe's hearing. He says it will be put on the back burner. Eve runs into Julie and Rachel. They tell her that Julie just came from Kevin's room. Eve wants to know if he's still breathing. Julie tells Eve that she better get ready to see her at GH all the time. Eve says if Julie returns, she will leave. Chris comes along and tries to soothe Julie and Eve, but Eve walks away. Nurses storm out of a conference room, followed by Alan, Lee and Boardman. The nurses go to the nurses' station and announce that they are striking. One by one, the nurses put down their folders, or whatever they are holding, and walk out. Audrey says "Steve is turning over in his grave. Sorry, darling." The phones start ringing off the hooks as the doctors and Lee are all standing around. As Alan walks away he says "Will somebody answer the damned phones!"