General Hospital recap for Monday, December 30, 2024: Boxing Sonny appears to have a heart attack

Alexis called Sonny to her office to discuss his custody battle with Ava. Alexis was happy to tell Sonny that the money Nikolas gave Ava in the divorce was not his to give, so the money was taken from her and now belonged to two-year-old Ace. Sonny was tickled pink by the news and thanked Alexis for the intel.

Alexis admitted she needed a favor in return. "I want you to take Charlie's from Kristina," she told a confused Sonny. Alexis explained that she didn't want Kristina involved with any of Sonny's businesses. He argued that Charlie's was legitimate, but Alexis still felt it was risky to have Kristina in charge. "If you let her keep Charlie's, sooner or later, she's going to end up on the FBI's radar," Alexis argued.

Sonny understood Alexis' reasoning but didn't want to give Kristina another emotional blow. Alexis had to accept that Sonny wasn't going to budge.

After Sonny left Alexis' office, he stopped by his boxing gym. While shadowboxing in the ring, he suddenly felt more chest pain and collapsed to the floor.

Ava paid a visit to Laura's office. They made some small talk about Lulu until Ava cut to the chase. Her custody battle for Avery was getting expensive, and Ava was broke thanks to mystery Cassadine family members taking all her money. Laura regretfully informed Ava that Ace was now the sole Cassadine heir, and there was nothing she could do about it.

An agitated Ava begged Laura to help her get the money back, but Laura told her "that's just not going to happen." Laura believed Ava was entitled to the money, but it was out of her hands. Ava was horrified to learn that Alexis was the trustee. Ava's next stop was Alexis' office. Alexis immediately slammed the door in Ava's face.

Valentin angrily stormed into the Prague cafe and approached Lulu and their daughter. "Hi, Charlotte. Having a good visit with your mother?" he asked. Charlotte thanked Papa for letting her see Lulu. Valentin asked Charlotte to allow him and Lulu to talk privately, so she sat at another table.

Valentin congratulated Lulu on her miraculous recovery, so Lulu told him she was well enough for Charlotte to come home with her. Valentin was not about to let that happen. "Charlotte has not had you for four years. She's been with me, and she's going to continue to be with me," Valentin said. Lulu argued that being on the run was no life for a teenage girl.

"It's not fair for her to live in this kind of world away from her friends. That cannot be the kind of life that you want for Charlotte," Lulu insisted. Valentin thought Lulu was being presumptuous and pointed out that Lulu and Charlotte barely even had a relationship.

"You are just an intriguing person for Charlotte to have lunch with every once in a while. You're a mother in name only. I am the only parent Charlotte has known for most of her life. I am not abandoning her," he said.

Lulu argued that Valentin wouldn't abandon Charlotte if she sent her to live a normal life in Port Charles with her mother. Sooner or later, whoever is chasing you is going to find you. I just want to make sure that our daughter is not caught in the line of fire," she said.

To prove that Charlotte would not be safer in Port Charles, Valentin told Lulu that Anna shot Charlotte last year. Lulu refused to believe Anna would do such a thing. Valentin explained that it was an accident, thanks to Victor convincing Charlotte that Anna was a threat to Valentin. Charlotte might have made a full physical recovery, but she was still having nightmares.

Lulu and Valentin agreed that they both wanted what was best for Charlotte. Lulu once again reminded Valentin that whoever was chasing him would one day find both him and Charlotte. "It might not end well," she stressed.

Lulu almost had Valentin convinced until Dante walked in and approached Charlotte's table. "You set me up," Valentin said angrily. Dante tried assuring Valentin that he came on his own. "He's either with the cops, or he led someone right to us," Valentin said. He was correct, as a gunman was on a roof outside.

Lucas was impressed with all the changes that Kristina had made at Charlie's. However, Kristina had another reason for inviting him to see the place. She found a photo of Wiley and Lucas from when Wiley was a baby. She assumed it had belonged to Julian.

As Lucas remembered his two years raising Wiley with Brad, he mentioned the incident with Willow on Christmas Eve. Lucas tried to be sympathetic to Willow's plight but admitted she's made some terrible choices lately. He was even more disgusted with Drew.

"He refuses to accept any responsibility. He's even trying to use Sam's death as his excuse for his affair with Willow," Lucas spilled.

When she heard that part, Kristina was as horrified as Lucas and the audience. "What? That's so unbelievably disrespectful to Sam's memory!" she exclaimed. If I'd heard him say something even close to that, I'd probably just punch him in his pretty little face." Lucas admitted he had been tempted. Kristina was surprised when she heard that Ava convinced him not to.

Lucas apologized for bringing up Ava's name, but it prompted Kristina to have a moment of clarity and maturity. The jury found that Ava wasn't responsible for Kristina's fall, so all she wanted to do was move on with her life.

Lucas explained to Kristina that he was growing closer to Ava. It began on the day of Sam's funeral when Danny chased him from the church, and he and Ava ended up at Julian's grave. Kristina wanted to know how Ava helped him cope after he let loose on Willow. Kristina was fascinated that their conversation centered on how hard it was to lose a child.

As the conversation progressed, Lucas mentioned that Ava was having some financial difficulties.

Lucky joined Elizabeth at the hospital as her emotional support for a medical review record meeting. Liz told Lucky that he could go, so he listened to her but made her promise to call when it was over. When Liz walked into the meeting, she found Portia and Terry with the hospital lawyer. The lawyer immediately wanted to ask her a few questions.

Elizabeth felt like she was being ambushed, so she threatened to leave unless she heard about Dex's autopsy before she said another word. Terry quickly told her what they'd all known all along. Dex had died from a lethal injection of Digitalis, just like Sam.

Elizabeth didn't want to say another word without a lawyer, but Terry assured her that she wasn't being accused of anything. Portia called it an informational review. As the lawyer asked a silent Liz questions, Ric rushed in to stop the interrogation. Ric told Liz to come with him, but Portia tried to stop them. Liz didn't care and did what Ric asked.

However, the lawyer stopped her before she got through the door. They had identified a third patient who died from a heart attack in August. Liz opened her mouth to give an explanation, but Ric stopped her from incriminating herself. Portia explained that they would have to suspend Elizabeth if she didn't answer the lawyer's questions.

After leaving the hospital, Lucky ended up at the boxing gym, where he ran into Isaiah. Lucky asked Isaiah if he had seen Elizabeth while admitting it was driving him crazy not to be there with her. Isaiah informed Lucky that no medical record review was routine, as Liz had said.

Lucky knew that. He was also sure the hospital should be looking for a murderer and not someone who made a mistake. Isaiah also advised Lucky to stay in town and be there for Elizabeth, so he stopped by Charlie's to apply for the bartender position.

Trina introduced Kai to the Jerome Gallery and her favorite painting. Kai knew she brought him there because it was the last place anybody would look for him. Trina told him that he "couldn't be more wrong." Trina explained she wanted him to see her favorite place in the world. She also wanted his opinion on the painting she loved so much.

Kai was less enamored with the painting than Trina was. "It has too many scribbles for me. It reminds me of something my little cousin would do," he said. Trina confessed that she thought the same thing when she first saw it, but then she examined it more. She was fascinated by the painting's colors and composition.

Trina was a little taken aback when Kai told her he wasn't looking at the painting anymore. He was looking at her. Trina wanted Kai to look at the painting instead and tell her what he saw upon second glance. Kai gave her the perfect answer. "This painting reminds me of you because every time I look at you, I see something new, too," he said.

Next on General Hospital

Someone takes a shot at Valentin.

Sasha has news for Michael.

Drew issues an invitation.