Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Chapter 1

As Chief Resident over the current group of General
Hospital interns, Chris Ramsey stood with the five
interns at the nurse's station and introduced them to
Matt Harmon who would lead the interns through their
surgical rotation. Standing a few feet away reviewing
a patient's chart Ellen Burgess' conscious thoughts
wandered momentarily from her work and reflected on
the past 5 years. Matt, Chris, Karen, Eve, and Joe
had become outstanding doctors and an intricate part
of GH staff. No, Ellen corrected herself, not just a
part of GH's staff, but of her life also. She
considered Karen and Joe among her true friends in
Port Charles. Biting her bottom lip slightly Ellen
felt a pang of remorse knowing she had hurt Matt and
continued to hope one day she would be able to be
close to Matt again. It was ironic that for months
Matt chipped away at the emotion barrier Ellen had
around herself and now the situation was reversed.
Outside of perfunctory greetings and work-related
items, Matt never spoke to Ellen. She hoped the
passing of time and her continued attempts to build
some type of relationship with Matt would eventually
wear down his defenses.

Lost in her thoughts, she was brought out of her
musings when a male voice said, "I can't believe it
Dr. Burgess. Are you actually daydreaming while on
duty?"

Smiling broadly Ellen turned around, quipping, "You've
caught me Kevin."

With a rakish twinkle in his eyes, Kevin leaned in and
teased, "Yes, I have, haven't I?" Kevin was treated
with a rare instance of seeing Dr. Ellen Burgess in
full-blush mode. Suppressing a strong desire to pull
Ellen into a kiss in their professional setting, Kevin
gently clasped her small hand and nodded in the
direction of the chairs in the waiting area asking,
"Can we talk for a few minutes?"

As the couple walked to the open lounge area, Matt's
brow furrowed and his dark eyes followed them. A
slightly bored Chris Ramsey had been barely listening
to Matt's presentation but discerning the change in
Matt's faltering voice prompted Chris first look at
Matt and then turn to see what had captured Matt's
attention. Barely hiding an outright smirk, Chris
enjoyed seeing that his nemesis was still affected by
the sight of Burgess and Collins together. Looking
again at Matt, Chris cleared his throat and asked, "Is
everything o.k. Dr. Harmon? You seem to be a bit
distracted."

Throwing Chris a scornful look, Matt wheeled himself
around and told the group to follow him to the 4th
floor operating room.

Ellen and Kevin were sitting in the lounge area
talking about their upcoming trip to Italy when Alan
Quartermaine approached them. He was accompanied by a
new doctor at GH, Rachel Locke, who joined the
psychiatric department that day and Alan took it on
himself to introduce Dr. Locke to the senior staff at
General Hospital. Both Kevin and Ellen rose and shook
hands with Dr. Locke, welcoming her to GH.

Looking intently at Kevin, Dr. Locke remarked she
hoped to work closely with him in the department and
was sure they would be seeing a lot of each other in
the coming days. Shaking his head, Kevin replied he
was actually leaving soon for an international
conference and he'd be away from GH for two weeks, and
he suggested 2 of his colleagues in the psychology
department who were more than capable of bringing Dr.
Locke up to speed on things. Sighing her
disappointment and noting Ellen Burgess seemed
somewhat close to Kevin, Rachel looked at Ellen and
said maybe they could get together for lunch later in
the week once she was settled in. Before Ellen could
reply Alan Quartermaine noted, "You're batting 0 out
of 1000 here Rachel because Dr. Burgess will be away
from GH for the next two weeks also."

Having observed Kevin in a tête-à-tête with Ellen
moments earlier led Rachel to believe the two doctors
had a personal as well as a professional relationship,
but Rachel was nonetheless slightly taken aback to
learn they might be romantically involved. With her
eyes widening in surprise, Rachel asked, "Are you
going to Italy also Ellen? I thought your specialty
is emergency medicine?"

Something about Rachel Locke's demeanor didn't sit
well with Ellen and she was quickly trying to decide
how to respond to Rachel's somewhat nosy query when
her pager went off. Glancing at it, she excused
herself and after whispering to Kevin she'd catch up
with him later, Ellen left for the ER. Noting he was
expecting a patient within 10 minutes for a session,
Kevin departed also. Not looking directly at Rachel
Locke while he started to mention the nursing staff on
the floor, Alan failed to see the unmistakably
malevolent glare on the new doctor's face as she
watched Kevin retreat. With her façade momentarily
dropped, Rachel silently thought, "Enjoy your romp in
Italy, Kevin. I'll be waiting for you when you
return."


****

"Eleven o'clock," Dara noted looking at her office
desk clock. It would take another thirty minutes to
finish paperwork for the retrial motions and then she
was taking the rest of the day off. First there was a
lunch date with Ellen and afterwards the two of them
were going to shop for some new clothes for Ellen's
upcoming trip. And at 4 p.m. she had an appointment
at the auditorium at GH to rehearse with a pianist for
a fundraising benefit on Friday for the pediatric
center of the hospital. Completing the legal briefs
and passing them on to an assistant, Dara's departure
was postponed when Mac entered her office just as she
was opening the door to leave.

"Hi." Closing the door with one of his hand behind
him, Mac leaned with his back against the door and
pulled Dara to him, giving her several whisper-soft
kisses. Upon breaking the last kiss he stroked her
cheek with the back of his fingers and murmured, "Are
you late?" acknowledging he recognized she had been on
her way out of the office.

"Not yet," Dara grinned devilishly. Looking into
Mac's eyes and resting her hands behind his neck she
continued, "I have a few minutes. Were you coming
here to see me or someone else?"

"I have to meet with your boss to give him an update
on the Kelly investi-..." Mac's words were cut short
with a stifled groan as Dara shifted her hips and
pressed closer to him. Mac silently marveled how the
slightest touch from Dara could arouse him so
intensely. They had seen little of each other during
the last few days due to work demands and he was this
close to canceling his meeting with the DA. He warned
with a growl, "Keep that up and I promise you will be
late for your appointment."

Knowing this was not the time or place for a romantic
encounter, Dara relented but retained her arms around
Mac's neck while allowing visible space between their
bodies. "It's your own fault Mac for being so darn
irresistible. But I'll be good." When quizzed on
what she'd been busy with this morning, Dara hesitated
in giving her response and Mac immediately looked Dara
in the eyes, asking what happened. With a steady
voice Dara told Mac she was informed this morning that
next week Anthony Moreno would be transferred
temporarily from the state prison to a hospital near
Albany for cardiac surgery. Almost instantly Dara
felt Mac's body tense with rage as he swore.

It took several seconds for Mac's initial rage to
subside and for him to think clearly again. With a
puzzled look Mac shrewdly observed, "If he's going in
next week it can't be an emergency. What's going on?"

Nodding her head in agreement, Dara explained,
"Moreno's lawyer successfully appealed to the courts
for Moreno to have the surgery as a continuation of
the treatment he started while he was on trial.
Apparently the prison facilities cannot accommodate
such a specialized surgery so Moreno is being
transferred early next week to Mercy Methodist
Hospital for the procedure."

The whole story reeked with suspicious circumstances
as far as Mac was concerned and as soon as he returned
to the police station he was going to look into the
matter himself. The courtroom threats by Moreno
against Dara and the thwarted assassination attempt
flashed in Mac's mind and he was determined to make
sure Moreno stayed behind bars for the rest of his
miserable life.

Working fiercely keep any trace of anxiety out of his
voice, Mac slightly tightened his hold on Dara and
said reassuringly, "Moreno may physically be out of
prison for a few days but I'll contact the Albany and
state police to make sure he won't feel as if he's out
of prison." Mac changed the subject and asked Dara
about her afternoon plans. Mac's query reminded Dara
of her pending lunch date with Ellen so she asked Mac
to walk her to the office elevators. Upon hearing the
audible indicator that the elevator had arrived and
the opening doors, Mac looked at Dara and asked,
"Dinner at 7 p.m. tonight?"

"Um hmmm," Dara acknowledged. "Pick up some romaine
lettuce tonight from the farmer's market before coming
to the apartment, o.k.?"

"Will do," Mac responded as he quickly kissed Dara on
the cheek. "Enjoy your afternoon, beautiful."


* Something - lyrics & music by George Harrison


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