Jason's room at the hospital --

Emily stood in the doorway of her brother's room and cautiously approached his bedside. She had waited till Elizabeth had taken a walk before she came in to see Jason. She didn't feel the tension would be good for his recovery. As she approached him, he awoke from his light sleep.

"Hi." he said as she took a seat on the swivel stool next to the bed. "Hi." was all she could say. She wasn't sure what to say to him. He had always been there for her and now they were on opposite sides. She didn't want anything to come in between them, but something had. She sat searching for the words to express how she felt at that very moment, her brother and her husband both fought so hard to survive this ordeal, words were hard to come by. Jason reached for her hand and she squeezed it tight. She knew he was of few words and with one squeeze of her hand, she felt she needed no words to express how much she loved him and how sorry she was that this had to happen.

Jason cracked a smile when his wife appeared in the doorway. Emily turned to see Elizabeth standing there with a cup of coffee in her hand and a smile on her face.

"I ... uh ... just stopped by to see how he was doing." Emily said as she rose from the stool and headed towards the doorway. "Oh ..." Elizabeth replied softly and nodded as she passed and left the room. Emily stood outside and blew a kiss to Jason through the plate-glass window.

She hated that a friendship like Elizabeth and she had was strained because of the feud between their husbands. Emily just wished it could be like it was before all this had started a year or so ago. Zander had inherited his portion of the territory after his uncle passed away last year, he had been molded by Sonny, and she thought Jason resented that from the start, but he never spoke of it with her.

After Zander took over the territory, the tension between she and Elizabeth grew to enormous proportions. It had taken a tragedy like this one, to bring them to speaking terms, but she figured who better to know how you feel is the best friend who is going through the same thing she was.

Emily turned and walked down the hallway back to Zander's room.

Zander's room at the hospital --

It had been over a week since his surgery and Zander was awake and being poked and prodded by his father-in-law it was not something he was used to. He grimaced as he tried to re-position his body so he'd be more comfortable. He hated hospitals, and it seemed he always ended up there for one reason or another. Before leaving, Alan jotted down a few notes in Zander's chart and told him his prognosis was good. Zander's eyes lit up when he saw Emily walk into the room, as she passed her dad on his way, he told her that Zander was doing fine and he was alot stronger then he was the day before, he'd back later to check in on Zander again.

She watched her dad leave the room and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Listen, there was a guy here last week, and he wanted to ask you some questions about what happened on the docks." she began as she could see the concerned look on his face.

"And ...?" he replied wanting to hear more.

"And ... I told him to go away, I told him that you were in no shape to talk with anyone, even if he did wear a badge." Zander groaned as he propped himself up on the pillow.

"A badge? A cop?" he inquired still wanting details about this stranger asking questions.

"He told me his name was Detective Jake Steel and he was from Miami. What I can't figure out is why he'd be interested in anything that's going on here in Port Charles?" she had a few questions of her own, and from the evasive look on Zander's face, she wasn't sure if he really wanted her to pursue it.

"I need you do something for me, Em. I need you stay away from this Detective." Emily bit her bottom lip wondering why. She was about to ask, and he told her not to, just do it. She agreed, even though in the back of her mind, she wondered why her husband asked this of her.

"One more thing, Em ..." he continued.

"Anything." she replied with a smile as always.

"I need you to call Ric. I need to see him." Just something else that posed more questions.

"Why Ric?" she thought, but she did as he asked. "Okay, I'll see if I can track him down."

At Kelly's Diner --

Ric Lansing hadn't been town all that long, less than a year and had already found what he wasn't expecting to find when he stepped foot in Port Charles. A well educated man, he had been given a lot of material things growing up as a child, more material then emotional. So much pressure from his father to do well in school, in life. It was hard to live up to. He was a young boy when his parents divorced, he living with his father till he was 18, then off to college to earn a degree in Business, then Law school ... only the best for the son of a Senator. His mom, still young, remarried a wonderful man in her eyes, Ric wasn't too pleased. He was into dirty dealings and had shady connections that were dangerous. Ric was surprised to find out when he came home from college during a winter break that his mother had a child with this man. A man he thought was all wrong for her. Ric had just hoped that this young child would not fall victim to his father's controlling and dangerous ways.

Arriving in Port Charles, one thing had brought him to this waterfront town ... Sonny Corinthos. He soon found out that Sonny was not the only reason he needed to stay. The two half brothers were surprised to find each other eating at the same diner for months and not even realizing who the other was. It surely took Ric by surprise when he sat eating breakfast one morning and saw a young man walk into Kelly's who seemed familiar. His eyes seemed to have something Ric had seen all his life ... it was like looking in the mirror and seeing a part of you staring back. He approached the young man and introduced himself. Being leery of a stranger, the other young man was cautious. Ric reassured him that he wanted nothing from him, just some answers to a few questions. The young man shook Ric's hand and introduced himself as Zander Smith.

Zander and Ric got acquainted and found that they had similar pasts. Zander not really knowing much about his family, he had spent most of his time away from home in boarding schools and when he was home, he was pushed aside like last week's news. It was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, when each piece was finally in it's rightful place, it had revealed that these two who had just met, were indeed half brothers. For Zander it was a chunk of his life he had soon forget, being unwanted by parents, never loved as he should of been, he ran away from that life a long time ago and never looked back. Ric, wishing he could of run from a family life that was suffocating him.

Ric sat eating his lunch at his favorite eatery, Kelly's. He had moved out months ago, but still love to come and people watch.

As he took the last bite of his sandwich, his cell phone rang. He reached in his jacket pocket and flipped it open.

"Yes." he answered. He recognized the voice on the other end without her telling him who she was.

"Ric? It's Emily Smith. Zander needs to see you at the hospital." He didn't ask questions, he told her he'd be there within the hour and flipped closed his phone. He paid his bill and grabbed his overcoat and headed out the door.

"Now what, little brother. What have you got yourself into?" he mumbled under his breath as he stepped outside into the winter chill.

At the hospital --

The automatic doors of the hospital opened as he approached and he made his way to the nurse's station, only to find Emily waiting for him.

"Hi. Thanks for coming so quickly." she said as she extended her hand to him.

"Sure, why wouldn't I come. My brother needs me." he replied as he shook her hand out of respect. "Come on, I'll take you too him." she said as she escorted him down the hallway.

Emily and Ric reached Zander's room, and he smiled when he saw both of them approach the bedside.

"Sweetheart, could you leave us alone for a little while?" Emily smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sure, I'll go see how my brother's doing." Zander thanked her as she stepped away from him. Ric took a seat next to the bed after he removed his overcoat and laid it across the bottom of the bed.

Zander moaned as he tried to prop himself up so he could sit more erect in the bed.

"Thank you for coming." he said as he looked at his brother sitting next to him.

"No thanks needed. It sounded urgent." Ric replied.

"Yes it is .... His name is Detective Jake Steel.