General Hospital Recaps: The week of March 18, 2002 on GH

Comprehensive daily recaps for General Hospital, dating back to 1996.

Monday, March 18, 2002

by Joan Mertz

Hospital:Luke accosted this poor woman in a hospital bed, thinking she was Helena but it was someone else. Roy saved him and apologized before Luke could get into too much trouble. Mac came in and they told him that it looked like Helena escaped. Mac called security and told them to block exits. When Mac asked Nikolas if Helena had said anything when she talked to him, Nikolas wouldn't tell him anything, only accused the police of being incompetent. Helena couldn't be found anywhere in the hospital.Elsewhere, in AJ's room, Sonny went to see AJ He told AJ he had heard that he wanted to marry Courtney. Sonny said AJ was the last person he would let Courtney marry. Carly came in and Sonny told her not to tell anyone he had been there but Alan came in and found them. He ordered them out. AJ poured some water from the jug and took a drink. He immediately spit it out, saying it was vodka. Alan immediately assumed that Sonny had given it to him, trying to hinder his sobriety. Courtney came in then and gave Sonny and Carly accusing looks. Sonny and Carly left and Carly told Sonny that she hadn't given it to him and Sonny said he didn't think she had.

Deception:Gia went to see Laura and Laura asked her about the article in the paper about her being the face of Deception again. Gia apologized about that but she wanted to be a model again and Nikolas wanted for her what she wanted. Laura told her she might beat her to the altar. Gia guessed that Luke and Laura were back together and Laura confirmed it. They were looking at bridal books and Gia tore a picture of another model out of a book, a girl that was a candidate for the Deception model. Luke came in and Gia left. He had to tell Laura about Helena escaping.

Quartermaines':Lila said she was going to make a decision about the shares and who would run ELQ. She let Edward and Skye each have a say and then proclaimed that they would share the job of CEO. They weren't too pleased about that at all.

Gia went to the stables for her riding lesson and lo and behold Helena was there.Courtney's apartment:Mike went to see Courtney and told her he wanted them to be like father and daughter again. He wanted them to go away for a couple of days. She asked if he was only doing this to get her away from AJ He said he had talked to Sonny and she got mad because she figured they were in cahoots. Janine came in and Mike left. She figured Courtney should go away with AJ She reminded Courtney of how her father left and never came back for twelve years.

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

by QT

Helena went to the right person to blackmail, Gia Campbell. Helena is a sick woman literally. It seemed that Helena was actually sick and holding her side while putting the blackmail moves on Gia. Helena threatened to make Nikolas a part of her escape if Gia did not help her. Nikolas further complicated the situation by giving Helena more ammunition against Gia as he spoke about the red light incident as Helena hide behind some hay. Gia finally gave in and agreed to help Helena escape by getting her money.

Alexis walked in on Ned and Kristina kissing at L&B. She apologized for the interruption, but said it was imperative that she speak to Ned. Alexis asked Ned to talk to AJ and get him off Sonny's back. Alexis pleaded with Ned for his help because AJ was pushing Sonny too far now. Ned was unyielding really. He looked at Alexis differently and told her that he was no longer a gate keeper anymore and that any interference that he could do would probably push Courtney into AJ's hold further. Alexis was upset and accused both Ned and Kristina of not helping her because of her feelings for Sonny. Alexis just walked out of the studio in disbelief. Kristina told Ned that he was wrong not to help Alexis because she cares for Sonny.

At the hospital in front of AJ's room, Sonny got his opportunity to tell his story to Courtney about AJ. Sonny explained that he only sees red when it comes to AJ. Sonny spoke in detail about how he and Carly lost their baby. Courtney began to cry and become sad even though AJ had already told her his side of the story. Courtney told Sonny that it was just an accident. Sonny asked Courtney to understand where he was coming from and how his dislike for AJ was causing this situation. Sonny asked Courtney if she would just let him keep her safe. Alan interrupted their conversation asking to speak to Courtney. Sonny was being very understanding and left Courtney. Alan then quizzed Courtney about AJ. Alan even asked if Courtney loved AJ. Courtney did not answer the question, but did tell Alan that she trusted AJ. He has done so much for me. Courtney even asked Alan if he would help AJ and her get away. Alan and Courtney went back into AJ's room. Alan resisted but then agreed to help the two get out of town for a couple of days. Alan called Mac and Taggert on Sonny and Mike. Mac demanded that Sonny leave the hospital immediately. Sonny then called some of his guards to watch over Courtney and make sure that nothing happens to his sister. Sonny instructed them to wait outside of AJ's room. Alan discovered the guards had taken Sonny's place and told AJ and Courtney that this would make things more difficult to plan an escape route.

After Lucky made many efforts to prevent Liz from finding out about Helena's escape, she found out anyway. Nikolas told Lucky that he had to tell Liz the truth about Helena. Lucky told Nikolas that he would tell Liz later. Lucky said that right now I just want to protect Liz and if I have to feign loving her for now then I will do what ever it takes. Nikolas disagreed with Lucky but kept his opinion to himself. Nikolas went to a budget meeting with Alan and left Liz in the party room. Lucky also left and went to look around the grounds for Helena. Meanwhile Sarah returned home and was angered to find Liz alone. Liz was really wondering what was going on and Sarah blurted out that Helena escaped from General Hospital.

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

by Jessica Jennings

Liz pales when Sarah tells her Helena has escaped. She is so badly shaken by the news that she can't even hold a glass of water. Sarah attempts to calm her sister, but Liz's fears are out of control. She tells Sarah they need to tell Lucky the news right away. Sarah is puzzled. "Lucky already knows," she says.

Meanwhile, in the stables, Gia lies to Lucky and says she was talking on her cell phone. Just as she tells Lucky that there is no way Helena could be hiding in the stables, Helena mistakenly makes a noise. Lucky begins to search out where the strange noise came from. Gia is able to convince him that the noise he heard was a rat and asks him to walk her back to the main house. When they arrive, Liz immediately confronts Lucky regarding his deception. While the two fight, Gia slips away and heads back to the stables. Liz and Lucky's argument ends with Liz storming upstairs. He immediately blasts Sara for telling Liz the truth about Helena. She apologizes for preventing Lucky from protecting Liz.

Luke demands that Mac call a press conference so that all of Port Charles can know Helena has escaped. Mac refuses. Nikolas approaches the two and asks to speak with Luke alone. They go up to the hospital roof where Nikolas reveals to Luke the riddle Helena posed to him in her hospital room. Luke is at a loss to explain what it means. Nikolas asks Luke if he sees Stavros in him. "No," Luke says and he tries to convince Nikolas that he is nothing like his father. Nikolas remains unconvinced. The two split up and continue to try to locate her.

Alan reports to AJ and Courtney that it will be hard for the two of them to escape GH as Sonny has stationed a couple men outside his door. AJ tells the two that he has a plan. After AJ reveals it, Alan leaves the room to start putting it into action. Alone with Courtney, AJ tells her to pick any place in the world and they will escape there. Courtney is beside herself with happiness. She admits to AJ that she thinks she may be falling in love with him. Outside the room, Alan has succeeded in moving the men away from AJ's door and into the lobby. He reenters the hospital room and tells the two that if they want their escape to be successful, they don't have much time.

In his penthouse, Carly tries to convince Sonny to give Mike another chance. She argues that if Sonny is nice to Mike, Courtney will see that and may be less inclined to think the worst of her big brother all of the time. Sonny isn't so sure. She again asks him to let her help him fight AJ "I'm going to fight him whether I'm with you or not..." she tells Sonny. Tell me what you would do, hypothetically speaking, if we would work together he says. Sonny is amused by the plans she has. The two relax and share some close moments. That atmosphere clearly chills, however, once Alexis arrives. Alexis asks Sonny why he wants Janine's bank records subpoenaed. Sonny explains that he feels AJ has involved Janine in his plans for Courtney. Alexis says she will get Sonny what he wants. The three argue over what should be done about AJ in the meantime. Alexis feels that they may get somewhere with AJ if they add Michael into the equation. "You want me to bargain with my son!" an incredulous Carly asks. In no uncertain terms, Sonny tells Alexis that no one will be using Michael for anything. He goes upstairs to take care of business, leaving Alexis and Carly alone together.

Kristina tries to convince Ned to step in and get AJ to stop conning Courtney. She is extremely vehement about it, which Ned quickly notices and comments on. Kristina reveals that she, like Courtney, was once involved with an older man who used her. He broke my heart she tells Ned.

Back at GH, Alan again confronts Sonny's men, this time in the lobby. As they argue, a doctor wheels what appears to be a dead patient to the elevator. The doctor turns out to be Courtney in disguise. As she prepares to wheel the bed into the elevator, one of Sonny's men approaches. Thankfully for her, he's only keeping the elevator doors from closing while she gets the bed inside. Once the doors shut, both breathe sighs of relief.

Luke decides to go above Mac's head and call a press conference, and Mac walks right into it. Ambushed, Mac faces off with the press.

Helena lets Gia know that she is aware of what Nikolas has done to protect her. She tells Gia that in order for her to protect Nikolas, she needs Gia to get $500,000 and deliver it to her tonight. Gia quickly returns to the house and tries to break into the Cassadine safe. She fumbles with the combination in the dark. Suddenly, the lights come on. Gia whirls around to find Nikolas staring at her. "What are you doing?" he asks.

While Carly and Alexis continue their argument, someone slips a note under Sonny's door. Carly picks it up. "The handwriting is AJ's," she says. Frantically, the two call for Sonny. Meanwhile, AJ and Courtney are up on the GH roof, waiting for a helicopter that is about to land.

Thursday, March 21, 2002

by Cindy Homant

Luke forces Mac into a press conference to announce the massive manhunt for Helena. Felicia tells a grateful Laura she's happy about her friend's reconciliation with Luke. After Nikolas catches her tinkering with the wall safe, Gia thinks fast and claims she needed money to help Lucky and Liz make a fast escape if Helena loomed near. Later, Helena corners Gia again and pressures the young woman to cough up more dough. While a wary Carly and Alexis hold their breath, Sonny maintains his composure as he reads AJ's note. Afterwards, Sonny issues some explicit instructions to Benny as the hunt for Courtney begins. Laura smells a familiar rat after discovering that an heirloom has vanished. Sonny decides to pay a call on Skye. Bobbie happily agrees to be the maid of honor at her brother's wedding.

Friday, March 22, 2002

by IRENE

Determined to help Sonny whether he wants her help or not, Carly arrives at Club 101 and implores Zander to help her 'put the screws to Skye Quartermaine.'

Meanwhile, Sonny has arrived at ELQ headquarters and tells Skye: "I'm about to make you an offer you can't refuse.'

As Jax and Alexis return to her apartment after investigating Sonny's open door, Jax angrily points out that Alexis is more concerned about Sonny's problems with Courtney than she is about her safety or the safety of her sister Kristina - now that Helena Cassadine has escaped.

At Wyndemere, Gia tries to move Helena quickly into the tunnels, but Helena doubles over in pain, causing Gia to panic. Laura arrives at Wyndemere and delays Nikolas and Luke as they enter the study, giving Gia enough time to hide her unwelcome guest.

Meanwhile, when Lucky tries to explain to Liz WHY he did not tell her that his sudden interest in an island getaway was because Helena had escaped, Liz only becomes angry and refuses to talk about it any more.

Meanwhile, Kristina arrives at Alexis' apartment and, during the course of the conversation about Sonny, Courtney and AJ, Kristina mentions that Skye was helping AJ all along - and Jax leaves abruptly.

Meanwhile, Carly is trying to convince Zander to do whatever it takes to force Skye to help them split up AJ and Courtney - bully - threaten - find some dirt and threaten to expose Skye - whatever it takes. Carly even suggests they should get access to Skye's safety deposit box to see what she is hiding there. As Carly addresses how desperately they NEED to put pressure on Skye, Zander tries to caution his friend that she is promoting an open invitation to trouble.

At ELQ, when Skye starts to ring for the Security Guards, Sonny reminds her that he IS an ELQ stockholder and the publicity would NOT be good if word got around that ELQ had ELQ stockholders escorted off the premises. Then Sonny hands AJ's note to Skye.

Meanwhile, at Wyndemere, when Sarah notices Lucky leaving Liz's room, Sarah goes in and surprises her sister by telling her that, whatever Lucky's hang-ups are, Lucky genuinely cares for Liz and that waiting for Lucky to get his personal bearings again may be well worth the wait.

Meanwhile, in the study, Luke, Laura, Nikolas and Lucky puzzle over the riddle Helena left with Nikolas, when Luke suddenly hears something in the tunnel and is surprised when he finds Gia there.

Meanwhile, Zander tries to point out to Carly that Sonny has NOT asked for her help and that, if Carly would just NOT butt into the whole business with Courtney - it would be a way of showing respect for Sonny. But Carly insists that, since AJ seems to actually care about Skye, the ONLY way to get Courtney back is to get to AJ through his genuine concern for Skye.

Meanwhile, at ELQ, as Skye reads AJ's note, announcing that he and Courtney have left together, Sonny tells Skye: 'AJ dishonors my sister - there are consequences for that. Unless, of course, you work with me to straighten out this misunderstanding.'SKYE: 'Work with you - how?'SONNY: 'Courtney gets returned immediately. A. J. stays out of her life - PERMANENTLY! You make that happen for me - you have my word - AJ walks away without a scratch.'SKYE: 'What if I can't do that? What if I don't have as much influence with AJ as you think I do?'SONNY: 'Then we have a problem.'SKYE: 'What are you telling me? You'll kill him? I don't care how much power you think you have! You lay one hand on my brother and I WILL make you pay! Now, I've had just about enough of this for one night. So just take your threats and get the hell out of here!'

Before Sonny can reply, Jax saunters in: 'You threatening her, Sonny? You make a move against Skye, I'll come after you!'

After Jax informs Sonny that Helena Cassadine has escaped and that, since Alexis seems to feel she needs to remain at Sonny's beck and call and Kristina believes she needs to remain with Alexis, Jax would appreciate it if Sonny would do something about protecting the sisters from Helena. Sonny agrees and then leaves.

However, as Skye watches Sonny leave, she implores Jax to go after Sonny and impress upon him that he can NOT make those kinds of threats against AJ But Jax just tells Skye that AJ is a big boy who knowingly and deliberately set out to provoke a dangerous man and that Jax is NOT concerned by the threats Sonny has made against AJ Jax points out that NOT ONLY did AJ run away with Sonny's sister - which is bad enough by itself. But the note AJ sent to Sonny was nothing more than bragging about it - and THAT action crossed the line, as far as Jax is concerned. Jax then informs Skye that he thinks she should take Sonny up on his offer and be grateful. When Skye asks WHY Jax happened to be at ELQ just as Sonny was making his threats, Jax tells her that, once he heard that AJ had taken off with Courtney, he presumed Sonny would head right for Skye to put pressure on her and he just wanted to be sure she was OK.

At Club 101, as Zander points out to Carly that MANY of the schemes she has proposed to use in going after Skye are the sort of actions that could get her locked up. When Zander asks if Carly loves Sonny SO much that even her own freedom means nothing to her, Carly admits that - yes - she STILL loves Sonny.

Meanwhile, across town, as Kristina and Alexis argue, Alexis also admits to Kristina that ALEXIS is in love with Sonny.

Back at Wyndemere, Gia tells everyone that she got lost in the tunnel. Gia tells Luke, Laura, Nikolas and Lucky that she thought she heard a noise, like footsteps in the tunnel, and went in to investigate, then lost her way and wandered around for what seemed like hours. When Nikolas points out that it was not smart for Gia to go after Helena alone, Gia admits that she did not think of that right away. When Luke, Lucky and Nikolas decide to investigate the tunnel - Gia says 'NO!' and then tells them that she is afraid that if they all go down in to the tunnels, someone is likely to get hurt or lost.

When Sonny arrives at Alexis' apartment and tells Kristina that he needs to see Alexis right away, Kristina jumps all over Sonny for expecting instant access to Alexis at all hours of the day or night. Kristina observes that 'It is no wonder your sister ran away,' and goes on to point out to Sonny that he makes people feel irrelevant, as if they were not important or intelligent enough to merit a reply.

But Sonny flashes back that he has NO use for Kristina and that he considers her a self-centered kid with nothing better to do than to butt into everybody else's business. As Sonny concludes: 'Do NOT EVER raise this subject with me again!' Alexis suddenly comes down the stairs. And Kristina storms off upstairs.

At Wyndemere, Gia admits that she is not a team player and that was one of the reasons she went off by herself. But Laura tells them all that, in her opinion, the ONLY way to truly defeat Helena is by all of them sticking together and working as a unit. As the others start again to investigate the tunnels, Gia insists that she must have searched all of them, but Laura points out that there are at least five miles of tunnels. This time, when Luke and Lucky start for the tunnel, Nikolas is the one who tells them to stop.

Outside ELQ, Jax stops beside a newsstand and, after getting a newspaper with a headline story about Skye's new position at ELQ, Jax makes a phone call offering a $5 million reward for anyone giving him information that will lead to Helena's capture.

In the meantime, when Skye arrives at Carly's club, looking for Jax, Skye is surprised when Carly smilingly invites her in.

Alexis insists that Sonny should go home and get some sleep and escorts him across the hall to his own apartment. However, Sonny seems to be in no hurry to go to bed.