CHAPTER TWO

	Laura's cell phone began to ring as she and Luke looked around the slight
damage that surrounded their home.  The phone lines were down and the whole
neighborhood was out of power, despite the brightness of the midday.  
  
	“Hello?” Laura answered.  She breathed a sigh of relief, “Mother, I'm so
glad you took Lulu to North Carolina.  We just had an earthquake here...No, we're
okay, it was really mild, but we haven't heard from anyone else yet...I know, in
New York, it's amazing.  Fortunately, I don't think anything is permanently
damaged...Yes, we'll call you later, after we catch up with everyone...Love you
too. Bye.”
  
	Luke walked over to Laura as she disconnected the call.  “Everyone okay
in Carolina?” he asked.
  
	“Yeah.”  Laura reached down to pick up pictures off the floor.  “This
wasn't anything like the quake we were in when we lived in California.”
  
	Luke laughed slightly at the memory as the power came back on, “Lucky
was what, two, maybe?”
  
	Laura nodded, “He hid underneath the cushions of that old sofa that had
over half the springs broken in it.”
  
	An evil grin passed over Luke's face as he leaned into Laura and whispered,
“Angel, we broke over half the springs in that sofa.”
  
	Laura's laugh stopped when she saw one of the pictures in the floor.  “Oh
Luke, look.  This picture of the kids got torn by the broken glass.”
  
	Luke picked up both pieces of the picture up off the floor.  “We'll put it
back together and next Christmas we'll take another one.”  He looked sadly at the
picture, Lucky and half of Elizabeth had been separated from Lisa, Lu, Nikolas and
Emily.

*****

	Lisa answered her cell phone as quickly as it rang.  “Hello?”  She listened
carefully as Nikolas tried his best to explain what he’d heard.  Lisa dropped the
phone as Stefan walked into the room.

	Stefan couldn’t help but notice as his wife’s face drained of it’s color.  He
could hear Nikolas calling for Lisa from the discarded phone.  As Stefan picked the
phone up, he watched as Lisa backed up slowly, then fell into a chair.  “Nikolas,
what has happened?”

	“Father, Lucky and Elizabeth were in a car accident during the earthquake. 
Lucky didn’t make it.”

	“What?” Stefan gasped.  “That cannot be correct.”

	Nikolas’ voice cracked, “It is, the police just called.  Commissioner
Scorpio is on his way to tell Luke and Laura now.  He thought it best to tell them
in person and not just call.  They only called me because I was on his notify list.”

	“Do you need anything?” Stefan asked, concerned.

	“No, I’m fine.  I think Emily and I may go by the hospital tomorrow and
check on Elizabeth.”

	“All right.  You let me know if there’s anything you require,” Stefan tried
to reassure his son before disconnecting the call.  Stefan walked quickly over and
knelt in front of Lisa, “Leezia, are you all right?” he asked, taking her hands in his.

	Tears flowed freely down her face, “This can’t be right.  They’re mistaken. 
My little brother can’t be dead.”

	Stefan leaned forward and pulled Lisa into a comforting embrace, rocking
slowly with her as she began to sob.

*****

	At the Spencers, the doorbell rang.  Luke put down the candlesticks he’d
just picked up off the floor and walked over to the door.  Opening it, he saw Mac
standing there with a grim look on his face.  “Hey Bubba, you look like the world
just ended.”

	Laura joined Luke at the door, “Mac, is something wrong?”

	Mac swallowed hard, this was probably the hardest thing he’d ever done. 
He ran a hand through his hair, and started softly, “Luke, Laura, there was a car
accident earlier today during the earthquake.  Lucky and Elizabeth were involved.”

	Luke interrupted, “Why didn’t you just call us, Bubba, we would’ve met
you at GH.”

	For Laura, the realization sunk in, “He’s not at GH, is he?” she asked
slowly, not wanting the answer.  Her body started shaking involuntarily.

	Luke instinctively wrapped his arms around Laura, supporting her.  “What
are you saying, Mac?  Where is our son?”

	Mac just shook his head slightly.  Laura began to sob.  Luke gasped for air
and held on to Laura for dear life as she sagged against him.  For both of them,
time seemed to stop as they realized their son had died.	

*****





CHAPTER THREE
  
	Luke and Laura kept their arms around each other, supporting each other
as they absorbed the news of Lucky's death.  Finally, Luke spoke up, "I wanna see
my son, Mac."
  
	Mac looked sympathetically at Luke, "I really don't think that's a good
idea.  The car hit the guardrail and there was an explosion, you don’t want to see
that."
  
	Luke looked at Mac sternly, "Look Bubba, I appreciate you trying to shield
me, but I NEED to see my son.  I have to see him.  There's no talking me out of
this one."
  
    	Laura looked from Mac to Luke, "I should go with you, Luke."
  
    	Luke sadly looked at his wife, "No, Angel, I don't think that's a good idea."
  
    	"Luke, I have to see my baby one more time.  Don't take that away from
me."
  
    	"You don't want that image in your head the rest of your life, Darlin', trust
me," Luke tried his best to discourage his wife from coming with him.
  
    	"If you're going, I'm going.  End of discussion." Laura said defiantly.
    
    	Luke recognized the look on her face and knew he couldn't change her
mind.  Inwardly, he sighed, knowing what the images of what they were going to
see would do to her, but knowing any more words would be useless. 
  
    	United, they turned to Mac and fixed him with a stare he couldn't back
down from, "Well, I guess that's it then," he said somberly.  "I'll drive you both
over there."
  
    	Luke looked up as a noise became louder and louder and seemed to
surround them, "Is that a chopper?"
  
    	Before anyone else could say anything, Lisa flew in the front door.  Taking
one look at her parents, she rushed over to them and hugged them both tightly.
  
    	"Sunshine, what are you doing here?" Luke asked softly, disentangling
himself from his daughter’s tight embrace.
  
    	She looked from Laura to Luke and back again.  Taking in the sadness in
their eyes, she quietly said, "I heard about Lucky.  I had to make sure that you
were both okay."
  
    	Mac hoped that Lisa could instill some sense in Luke and Laura and said,
"They insist on coming with me to see Lucky."
  
    	Instead of the reaction he wanted, Lisa nodded, "Take the helicopter, it's
faster and safer.  The roads are still a bit messed up, between the snow and the
earthquake.  I'll stay here until you get back and take care of anything you need."
  
    	Luke kissed her on the forehead, "Thanks Sunshine."
  
    	Laura hugged her surrogate daughter again, but said nothing.  Lisa couldn't
help but notice that both her parents’ eyes seemed physically darker with emotion.
  
    	After she ushered them both out to the waiting helicopter and gave the
pilot instructions, Lisa went back in the house and breathed deeply.  Her parents
were going to be emotional wrecks for the foreseeable future so she took it upon
herself to be their support.
  
    	She crossed the room and pulled the Spencers’ personal phone book out of
the drawer.  Looking up a number, she picked up the phone and quickly dialed. 
Hearing the other person answer, she started slowly, "Hey Grandma, it's Lisa. 
How soon can you and Lu be packed and ready to come back to Port Charles?"
  
*****
  
    	On the way back from the morgue, Luke and Laura sat in the back of the
helicopter, arms wrapped tightly around each other with tears streaming down
each of their faces.  The memories of what they saw would haunt them forever. 
“Oh Luke, why?” Laura sobbed.

	Luke squeezed her even tighter, hoping against hope that they could draw
strength from one another, “I don’t have any answers for you, Baby.  I wish I did.”

	“That couldn’t’ve been our baby.  He was only a boy.  He should have
been...” her voice stopped as the tears overcame her again.

	“I know, Laura, I know,” Luke nodded, “He should have been home with
us.”  The guilt washed over Luke as he began to blame himself.

*****

	Lisa sat in the Spencers’ living room floor, staring at the fireplace.  She
remembered the first time she met Lucky...

	The young woman known as Lisa Smith watch as an
oncoming car careened towards a young teenager, oblivious to the
danger.  “Hey kid!  Lookout!” she shouted.

	The boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights.  Lisa
jumped instinctively towards him and shoved with all her might. 

	They both rolled towards the side as the car sped by.  The
boy cringed as he stopped rolling.  Lisa could see that he was in
pain.  She slowly picked herself up off the ground and knelt down
next to him.  “Hey kid, you okay?”

	As he tried to sit up, but couldn’t, Lisa noticed the odd
angle of his shoulder.  “Looks like you popped your shoulder.  Just
lie still and we’ll get you to the hospital.”  As Lisa pulled out her
cell phone, she continued to talk.  “Shame I couldn’t read the
plates on that car.”

	As she quickly called 911, the boy finally found his voice. 
“Yeah,” was all he could say.  


	From that point on, Lisa and Lucky had developed a bond that Lisa only
wished could have lasted a lifetime.  It wasn’t fair, she admitted to herself.  They
should have grown up together, they should have been able to be close for their
entire lives.  “I should have been the first to die,” Lisa admitted sadly.

	After her latest run-in with Billy Evans, Lisa nearly
escaped with her life.  She was in serious condition at GH.  Lucky
came in her room and stood at the foot of Lisa’s bed, “For a
Spencer, you’re a lousy liar, you know that?” he told his sister. 
“Accident, my foot.”

	“What are you doing here?” Lisa asked him weakly.

	“Dad knows the truth about you,” Lucky said as he walked
over and sat down on the stool next to the bed.

	“So he informed me last night.”  Lisa sighed sadly, “I
should be dead, Lucky.  The wasn’t the first time.”

	“Big surprise.  You gotta start taking better care of
yourself,” Lucky smiled.  “And if you don’t, I’m gonna haveta hurt
you.”  When Lisa didn’t respond, he sighed, “I’m joking.  Geez,
Big Sister, you gotta lighten up.”

	“Apparently there are a lot of things I ‘gotta do’ according
to you.”

	“We’ll have plenty of time for that later.  We have the rest
of our lives to be brother and sister.”  Lucky reached down and
gently picked up Lisa’s hand, careful not to bother any bandages
or IV’s.  He kissed her hand gingerly, “I love you, Big Sister.”

	“It was way too brief, Little Brother,” Lisa said softly and wiped away her
newest set of tears.  As she heard the helicopter land outside, she pulled herself
together and prepared to be strong for her parents.  For once, they needed her, and
she was not going to disappoint them.

*****