April 14, 2003 Transcript
"Some Lonely Head Case"

Zander: Peter died because of me, because I was careless.

Cameron: There was no hunting accident. You had nothing to do with Peter's death at all.

Zander: Look, I fired the shot that killed my brother! One slug right through the middle of the chest. I got to live with this every day. I go through -- I go through it in my head a million times. I aimed, I shot at the buck, and I slipped and missed. Pete was supposed to be back and to the right, but he wasn't. He was in the tall bushes. I -- I was supposed to be more aware. I should've been more careful, I should've been more intelligent, more everything. But I wasn't, dad. I shot him and I killed him, and I have to -- I got to live with that forever.

Cameron: All these years you've been punishing yourself for a lie. Don't you want to know the truth? (Cameron walks up to Zander) When I found Pete lying there, I thought it was an accident but I was wrong. Your brother took his own life. Pete committed suicide.

Alexis: Emily, would you do me a favor and just take her in the other room for a minute?

Emily: I'm so sorry --

Alexis hands the baby over to Emily.

Alexis: It's all right, sweetheart.

Ned: You don't need to be sorry. You did nothing wrong, Emily.

Alexis: It's all right. Thank you, Emily.

Emily takes Kristina into the back room.

Ned: So you kidnapped Kristina and you then you guilted Emily into keeping quiet?

Alexis: Why don't you let me explain, Ned.

Ned: You lied to me. You -- you looked in my face and you swore that you didn't take her.

Alexis: If you -

Ned: Do you hate me that much, or are you even aware of what you've done? You kidnapped Kristina, you feigned outrage, you blame me for letting it happen, and you know what? It worked because I felt very guilty about letting our little girl down.

Emily walks back into the room.

Alexis: I'm not the one that took Kristina, Ned. A.J. and Skye did it.

Alexis: Skye and A.J. kidnapped the baby from the nursery, left a note, and took the baby to Brenda's old cottage.

Ned: Those two always make good suspects, but why in the world would they want to take Kristina?

Alexis: They were using her as a power play with Edward. I found the baby, went to return the baby to the Quartermaine house, where I overheard Edward saying that he would move heaven and earth to keep my daughter away from me. Now, you add that to the fact that he tried to burn down your gatehouse, and I did what any parent with an ounce of sanity would do.

Ned: And how long have you had her? I mean, how many days did you leave me and everyone else who loves Kristina to wait and worry?

Alexis: I could've left the country, but I didn't, Ned. I stayed right here in Port Charles. I wanted to spend a little longer with my daughter before I was forced to return her to a household of dysfunctional lunatics that you call a family!

Ned: You're not even sorry --

Alexis: I'm not sorry, Ned --

Ned: You have no remorse for the hell you put me through!

Emily: What are you going to do, Ned?

Ned: I'm taking Kristina back to the house, and then I'm going to report her kidnappers to the police.

Alexis: Is that what you want? You want me convicted, Ned?

Ned: Alexis, I don't give a damn what happens to you anymore.

Cameron: We would've known sooner, but neither your mother nor I could bear to go into his room. I shut myself up in my study for months. Your mother sat in the living room with --

Zander: (Interrupting him) Wait, wait, wait -- what does this have to do with Pete?

Cameron: One night, late, I heard your mother cry out in Peter's room. When I got there, she was sitting at his desk with the suicide note in her hand. He'd tucked it into his journal.

Zander: (Starting to cry) What did it say?

Cameron: That he wanted to be a good son, a good brother. He felt guilty for the distance that had come between you and me, felt like it was his fault for stealing all the attention -- "all the glory," as he put it. He felt he didn't deserve it, that his whole life was a lie, that he wasn't special, he wasn't excellent. He was too tired to keep up the charade. (He steps away) He didn't want to embarrass the family. He didn't want anybody but us to know.

Zander: That's Pete -- always looking out for everybody else.

Cameron: The last day of the season, he knew the woods would be full of hunters. He could make it look like an accident. No one would know that he'd taken his own life.

Zander: He took thought and care into taking his own life, and he wanted you to see that. Even dead, he was seeking your approval, dad. That's pretty sick. You had him completely suckered. I think it worked, dad. I think he got you this time. He planned the perfect suicide. Did it ever occur to you to come to me and tell me this, to track me down? Or how about the first time that we saw each other, instead of continuing blaming me for thinking that I killed my brother?

Cameron: He was clinically depressed, and I couldn't see it. The pressure that I put on the two of you destroyed him. Alexander, I didn't want it to destroy you, too, and I felt you'd be better off hating me.

Zander: Oh, come on! Come on! That's a total copout! You don't care about me. You never did, you never will. All you care about is your image. You can't be the perfect family psychiatrist, trying to fix other people's problems if they knew that the great Dr. Cameron Lewis drove his own son to the grave.

Zander walks away.

Emily: All right, look, you have every right to be angry, but at least give Alexis a chance to explain.

Ned: Explain what? The night that Kristina was kidnapped, why were you there? Were you there to visit, or did you plan to kidnap her? That's why you brought the baby carrier, right? You planned to kidnap Kristina, but A.J. and Skye beat you to it.

Alexis: I was wrong, Ned. But I'm asking you not to go to the police. I am asking you not to do that to me, and more importantly, I am asking you not to do that to Kristina.

Ned: You are a deeply disturbed woman. You have your reasons for doing what you do, (Cameron walks in the door) but you need serious professional help, and clearly Cameron is not the man to give you that help.

Cameron: I did exactly what Alexis needs most.

Ned: What's your plan, Dr. Lewis? Are you going to hold me hostage? Huh?

Cameron: You need to have Kristina's interests at heart.

Ned: Oh, I'm looking after Kristina. That's why I'm getting her away from the people who violated a court order to keep her from her family.

Cameron: The baby you're talking about happens to be Alexis' child. She gave birth to Kristina. Why do you treat Alexis like she's some lonely head case who's obsessively attached to someone else's little girl? If you love Kristina half as much as you claim, you wouldn't be in such a hurry to return her to a family who plays interfamily kidnapping the way other families play touch football.

Ned: So instead I should hand her over to a mother who has already committed two felonies -- one with the help of her so-called shrink, who promised a judge that he would help her cope?

Cameron: That's exactly what I'm doing.

Ned: Really? Look around you. Alexis and Kristina and holed up in a cabin, like fugitives. That's your idea of coping?

Cameron: And your solution is, what, to have her arrested?

Ned: I am not the villain here. I am not keeping Kristina away from her mother. She is. Every time she breaks this court order, she is risking her future with her child because she insists on seeing her!

Cameron: When you return to that house, babe in arms, Edward will have everything he needs to destroy Alexis. And he will do a very thorough job of it. Is that really what you want, Ned? Is your revenge so important that you're going to take away Kristina's one chance to have a mother?

Emily: Wait. Let me take her back.

Emily: Look, I can return Kristina to the Quartermaines without giving them anything else. No names, no explanations. I'll just give her back and this whole mess will be over.

Alexis: Emily, I can't let you do that.

Ned: I don't want you involved in this.

Emily: Look, I already am involved, and I want to be. My whole family loves and trusts me. They would never suspect me of kidnapping, would they?

Zander comes in from the back way.

Ned: I realize that, but that's not the point. You can't get involved.

Emily: Look, I'm the only one here who has nothing to lose. (Turns toward Alexis and Cameron) Alexis, you could lose your baby and go to prison for years. Dr. Lewis, you would be arrested, too, and lose your license. Ned will have to tell what happened with Alexis or risk being charged with kidnapping himself. But I can --

Zander: Emily -- hey, look, Edward and the rest of them will be on you like vultures, and you know it. They will never stop pulling at you until you tell them everything -- where you've been, who took the baby, why you have her.

Emily: All right, look, look, I have handled my family for years. They can push and they can pull all they want, but I still won't say anything. Look, I want to do this. I need to. Please let me help. This means more to me than I can say.

Zander: Ok, look, if Emily's doing this, I'm going to help her.

Alexis folds up a baby blanket.

Alexis: Thank you for not calling the police.

Ned: I said some harsh things. I was angry and hurt.

Alexis: I know. I haven't exactly been a paragon of reason lately. I know that you love Kristina, and I know that she's going to need you, just as she's going to need me.

Alexis leans in toward Ned and he hugs her as she kisses his cheek.

Cameron steps in from the doorway of the back room and sees them.