General Hospital Recaps: The week of December 16, 1996 on GH

Jax and Miranda decided to divorce. Sonny was framed for a drug overdose. Stefan shot Katherine, but he assured Alexis that it had been an accident.

Monday, December 16, 1996

by Soap Central

Luke, Lucky, LuLu, Laura, and Leslie are reunited. The five drive away from Port Charles together, with everyone assuming that Laura is dead.

Katherine goes to Wyndemere to find Nikolas and lurks outside in the woodstrying to find her way to the house. Stefan, also in the woods, is holding the gunLuke held on him that Lucky had thrown into the brush, and ends up firing the guninto the night...the bullet hits Katherine. When he comes out of his daze, herealizes what he has done and that someone has been hurt. He rushes to Katherine'sside and feels for a pulse. In panic, he calls for Bobbie's help while one of the guards calls for paramedics. Bobbie rushes to the scene, realizes it is Katherine,and tries to help her as much as possible while waiting for the ambulance. Nikolasshows up at Wyndemere to find Stefan and Bobbie standing over a shot Katherine. He isfrantic and demands to know how this happened and at who's hands. Stefan replies thathe was outside and simply found her like that.

In Australia, Jax has found Miranda walking on the beach where they were marriedand takes her to a nearby hut. She is cold and asks what it is he wants from her andwhy he is there, since everything is over between them. Jax disagrees, telling herthat nothing is over between them and that he came to Australia seeking the truth sothat they can each move on. Miranda tells him she couldn't believe how much shestill loved him when she saw him again. She then recants and tells him she is justacting crazy since she is so confused. Jax attempts to touch her but is denied.She asks him to stop confusing her...but he tells her she is not a good lier and askswhat it is she is really thinking. She tells him she is thinking about the sea..theirwedding..and the vows they exchanged so long ago. He tells her that they cannot continue to find and lose each other over and over again, and despite her half hearted attempts to push him away, he grabs her and kesses her passionately.

At the emergency room at GH, Sonny fights for his life after being set up with alarge dose of heroin. Brenda remains by his side. Mike shows up in a panic over Sonny's condition. He remembers to Brenda that she knew Sonny was in trouble at thecemetary, after he didn't show up for the Laura's service. Brenda tells Mike she justhad a feeling in her gut that something was amiss...she tells him that Sonny doesn't dodrugs and that he told her that someone did this to him and set him up. In the ER, a half conscious Sonny remembers being called to GH because someone notified him that Brenda was in a car accident and requesting his presence. He was then drugged by someoneposing as a doctor and taken to his house..left to die. Brenda and Mike are told thatSonny is holding on. Mac shows up and Mike asks him if he is there for Sonny or onofficial police business..Mac tells him "both." Mike tells Mac that someone obviouslywanted Sonny dead. Mac walks away to call Katherine on his cell phone..he leaves amessage for her at his house. Brenda asks Mike if Mac believes that Sonny was framed.Mike is unsure. Brenda rushes to Sonny's side as he comes through. She holds his handand tells him she is there for him just like she promised. He opens his eyes, grabs herhand, and is pleased to see her.

In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Bobbie takes care of Katherine. Stefanand Nikolas follow behind. Nikolas asks Stefan if Laura's death was really an accident.Stefan swears to him that it was. Nikolas goes further to question Katherine's shooting,as to whether that was too an accident. Stefan tells him he was outside by the cliffswhen he heard a gun shot and then found Katherine lying there. He asks Nikolas how heknows her and why she would have been at Wyndemere. Nikolas responds angrily that itdoesn't matter why she came, just that they find out who shot her and that she is ok. Back in the ambulance, Katherine's pressure drops and the paramedics phone GH toprepare them for a trauma patient in unstable condition. As Katherine is rushed intoGH, Mac looks down, devastated to find her on the stretcher coming in.

Tuesday, December 17, 1996

by Soap Central

Jax and Miranda kiss passionately and continuously until it looks asthough they are about to make love..suddenly, Jax stops. He tells Miranda thathe is sorry..she asks him if he's sorry he stopped or just sorry that he wantsher. Jax tells her that wanting her isn't the issue, loving her is. Mirandais taken back by his use of the word "love." Miranda sings the same song of"things are different now", "there's no going back," and "you shouldn't havecome." She tells him that sometimes you need to walk away because some problemssimply have no solutions. She tells him she knows what it's like to live withouthim and though it hurts, it won't kill her. Jax insists that him showing uphas nothing to do with Brenda, but Miranda points out that it must or else hewouldn't have pulled away from her when they were about to make love. She tells him she would have if he hadn't stopped but in the long run he would have justfelt guilty and she abandoned again. She tells him once and for all that thingsare simply over between them. Jax explains that they cannot be over because hesuspects that they are still legally married and goes on to tells her of the deathcertificate etc. Jax calls Miranda's bluff and tells her that if she reallybelieves what she says, and that things are indeed over between them, them shewill come back to Port Charles with him and divorce him. Miranda proves sheis serious and agrees to do just that.

Meanwhile, back in Port Charles, Brenda sits by Sonny's side as he comes through.She smiles at him as he wakes and tells him she was so scared and thought shewas going to lose him. Sonny tells her "no such luck" and smiles as he clutchesher hand. He asks her how it is she knew something was wrong. She tells himthat it only made sense to her since he didn't show up at Laura's funneral andno one knew where he was..she goes on to explain the bad feeling she had in her gutand that it led her to his penthouse. Mike comes in and tells Sonny it's good tosee him awake and that they both have Brenda to thank for that. He tells Sonnythat whoever did this to him not only wanted him dead, but wanted him to lookreally bad in the process. Sonny admits that he is a little nervous at GH sincethat is where he was injected in the first place, but Brenda assures him it is safeand that she will not leave his side. Brenda tells him she doesn't know what shewould do without him. Sonny says he has many gaps in his memory, but that hewill never forget Brenda ordering him not to die. He tells her he hasn't felt this way in a long time, and the two joke about everything that went wrong intheir relationship being Brenda's fault. Mike pokes his head in again to seeis Sonny is still ok. When he leaves, Brenda tells Sonny that Mike is sincerelyworried for him and that she suspects he is trying to make up for lost time.Sonny tells Brenda that that's not always possible and that he needs to tell her something that may be hard for her to hear. She asks if he knows who may have donethis to him and whether or not they will give up. He tells her that it's no onewho wants to move in on his territory or business, but rather someone who is tryingto get to her.

Katherine arrives at GH in very unstable condition. Mac begins to question Stefanas to who did this to her, but Alan calls him away into the ER. He tells Mac thatthere is massive internal bleeding, he doesn't know what to expect, and that heneeds to operate immediately for there to be a chance. Mac is given a few momentswith her before she is taken upstairs and begs her to open her eyes. He tells herof how much he loves her and of all the things the two will do when she recovers.Meanwhile, a detective is questioning Stefan, Bobbie, Alexis, and Nikolas whoare in the waiting room, as to what really happened on Spoon Island. Stefan says he was outside when he heard a gun shot, he found Katherine, had a guard call911, yelled for Bobbie's help,a nd then followed the ambulance to GH. The detectiveinforms them all that two sets of prints were found on the gun and that they willknow soon who they belong to. He asks if the guards at Wyndemere carry guns andif they are 9mm. Stefan suggests that he not sure and Bobbie implies that theymight have thought Katherine was an intruder and that the whole thing was nothingmore than a terrible accident. Alexis and Nikolas point out the possibility ofLuke being the shooter since he paid a visit to the Cassadine's earlier that evening. Bobbie and Mike, who is standing close by, defend Luke. After, Nikolasis angry at Bobbie for standing up for Luke after everything he has done to her.He reminds her that she is a Cassadine now and stomps away. Bobbie commentsto Stefan about how much Nikolas really hates Luke. She then thanks Stefan for notbringing up to the detective that Luke was at Wyndemere earlier, for her sake. Hethanks her for being patient with Nikolas and comments on how he was unaware ofhis connection with Katherine. Felicia shows up to be with Mac. He tells her thatKatherine's condition is very bad and that he feels if he wasn't so self involved maybe he could have prevented it. Felicia assures him it is not his fault and tobe ready to greet Katherine when she wakes up from surgery. Alan comes back tothe ER and tells Mac that they were able to stop the bleeding but not able to getthe bullet out since it was too close to the spine. He tells Mac they willgo after the bullet once she is stronger and that they did the best they could.He later tells him that for some reason she is not stablizing and that things justdon't look good. He urges everyone to hope for the best. After getting a call fromheadquarters, the detective announces that Luke's prints were found on the gun andthat the gun was fired at close range so if Ms. Bell wakes up, she will no doubtbe able to identify her shooter.

Wednesday, December 18, 1996

by Soap Central

Sonny hints to Brenda that Jax may be behind his drugging but she insiststhat he is not a violent person and that he is dead wrong. Jason show up at GHand finds Mike who fills him in on what happened. He tells Jason that Brenda foundSonny and saved his life. Jason says he needs to see him right away and blows up atAlan who tries to give him information about Sonny's condition. Mike tells Alan thathe needs to accept Jason for who he is now. When Alan tells him he blames Sonny fora lot of Jason's current problems, Mike reminds him that it was Sonny who gave hima place to go when no one else did. Jason sees Sonny and tells him that the policeare at his house with a search warrant. Brenda tells Jason that she hid the heroinand needle under the cushion on the couch. Brenda leaves and Jason points out toSonny that the police are going to find everything. Sonny tells him that whoeverdid this used Brenda to get to him. After Jason leaves, Tom goes in to see Sonny.They talk of Laura's staged death and how it happened; Sonny's men set up the explosion, Luke and Tom were waiting for her inside the house to save her from theblast, Jason and Sonny set up the means of transportation for the Spencer's out oftown, and the identification of Laura and Leslie as the dead bodies. Tom tells Sonnythat there is a slight problem with the whole plan...the gun that Luke threatenedStefan with is the same gun that is now in evidence as the gun that was fired atKatherine. The police are now looking to track Luke down to arrest him. Outsideof Sonny's room, Jason and Brenda collide as he accuses her of not thinking andyells at her for not taking the drug evidence with her when she left Sonny's so thatthe police wouldn't have it as evidence against him. She says she is sorry for onceagain not knowing how to protect Sonny. Jason tells her he is sorry for being sucha jerk and he thanks her for saving Sonny's life. Before long, the detective, alongwith Dara, enter Sonny's room and read him his rights.

Carly brings home a Christmas tree for Tony and plans an evening of decorating. Unfortunately their fun is cut short with a phone call from Bobbie asking Tony tocome to the hospital on business concerning Lucas. He appologizes to Carly and leaves for GH telling her he will be back as soon as he can. When Tony shows up atthe hospital, Bobbie tells him of Katherine's shooting and that Lucas is at Wyndemere.She asks if he will pick him up and take care of him for a bit. He agrees happilyand tells her he is glad she called. Bobbie and Nikolas clash over Katherine's shootingbeing Luke's fault. She questions Nikolas as to why he feels a sense of responsibilityfor Katherine. He tells her that the night she was shot, they had a fight and that she was on the island because she was looking for him. Alan comes over and tells Bobbiethat Luke has left Port Charles and she is a bit peeved that he did not say goodbye.Alan tells her that the police will be looking for him. She tells Alan and Nikolas thatif Luke doesn't want to be found, then he won't. Nikolas assures all that Luke isnot God and that he will track him down if he is responsible for Katherine's death.

Alan tells Mac that there is limited response from Katherine due to the bullet inher spine which also might be causing paralysis. He lets Mac know that they need tosee some sort of improvement soon to maintain hope. Mac goes to Katherine's side andwills her back, telling her he didn't realize what a gap she filled in his life.Felicia shows up to lend support to Mac, as does Lucy and Kevin, who happen to run intoFelicia. Kevin and Felicia go their seperate ways peacefully. Mac tells them all tostick around if possible. Mac tells Kevin that he has been very distant from Katherinelately and is feeling very guilty. He goes on to say that he has no idea of who wouldwant to shoot her but that he feels it wasn't Luke. Lucy tells Felicia she feels weirdabout her and Kevin being around her at the same time. Felicia tells her that she isnot frightened of Kevin anymore, he doesn't scare her, and that he doesn't seem to posea threat to her. Lucy tells Felicia she admires her greatly and is very glad thatthey are friends. Felicia mentions to Lucy about Sonny and she is shocked by the news.

When Mac is out of the room, Stefan goes in to see Katherine as he continues to havevisions of shooting her in his head. In a vision, he sees her next to him in the hospital.He tells her that he is sorry for what happened and that it was an accident. He tellsher he saw a look in her eyes just before he fired that was very familiar...he tells herthat when he fired he was thinking about revenge on Luke and how Laura's death was aterrible mistake. He explains though he cared for Laura deeply, she always belongedto Luke and he envisioned himself pulling the trigger and making it look like Lukehad killed him...but it all went terribly wrong. Katherine says to Stefan that itwould be better for him if she just died and could never identify him as the shooter.Back into reality, Stefan grabs Katherine's hand and tells her he doesn't want herto die...she suddendly opens her eyes.

Thursday, December 19, 1996

by Soap Central

At Carly's, Jason tells her about Sonny and his pain and guilt over notbeing there for him when he needed him. He tells her that Sonny almost diedand that he wasn't there to protect him. Carly assures Jason that Sonny willbe ok. Jason tells her he needs to call Robin and assure her of that too. Hetells Robin that Sonny is in the hospital, he's fine, but that someone drugged himand tried to kill him. He convinces her that he is going to be ok and tells herhow much he loves her. When he hangs up, Carly comments on how Jason's whole facechanges when he talks to Robin and how happy he is. Jason tells her that she getsthe same look when she talks about Tony.

Sonny tells Dara and the detective that someone definitely set him up and thatthey can arrest him but he will sue for harrassment. Brenda tells her story tothem, and Dara is convinced that someone indeed tried to kill him. Brenda thanksher for believing what she and Sonny have said, but Dara tells her not to bothersince one day Sonny will make a mistake and she will be there to make sure hepays. Sonny helps a police artist draw a sketch of the woman who led him intothe ER the night he was drugged. When the detective show the drawing to Alan,he says he has never seen her before in his life. Sonny comments to Brenda thatthe police hate him so much that the detective probably just threw away the drawing. He says that he will have to find out who did this to him. Brenda notes that whoever it was knew about her and Sonny's past and knew that they wouldbe there for each other in case of an emergency. Jax, back in Port Charles,looks in on Brenda and Sonny from the glass door outside the room.

At the Quartermaines', Keesha tells Justus that she is starting the PoliceAcademy in the spring. She urges him to stop trying to make himself pay for what happened to Laura. She tells him he has to make up his mind, he has tolook at what's important and leave ELQ in order to let people admire and respect himagain. She tells him that only men in suits admire him now and not the kids whoare on the street who he should care about. She tells him he just doesn't fitin at ELQ and he should make some changes. Ned overhears and interrupts by askingJustus about a deal that had just gone through successfully. Keesha insults Nedtelling him she hates the fact that he thinks public service is such a joke job.Justus and Keesha leave together. Ned looks outside to the terrace to findEmily sitting outside, freezing, alone. He talks her back into the house where shetells him that she can't stop thinking about things..especially Lucky and how muchshe wants to talk to him and can't. Ned gives her the advice of trying to usedistractions to occupy her time and that eventually the pain will go away. Nedgets a phone call and only says that he has "no comment" on the situation, andthem rushes off to GH.

At GH, Katherine has awakened to find Stefan by her side. Alan comes in andexamines her and tells a waiting Mac that she is alert and in pain since thebullet is still close to her spine. Mac tells Felicia, Tom, Lucy and Kevin thegood news and then goes to be by her side. Mac tells Katherine he is so sorryfor leaving her when she needed him. He makes her promise that she will getbetter. Outside her room, Stefan questions Alan on Katherine's condition andprognosis. Alan tells him she in still in a lot of pain and that when Tonydetermines she is stable enough, they will have to go after the bullet. When Alanasks why Stefan is so concerned, he tells him he just wants to see her recoveras soon as possible. When Nikolas shows up, Stefan tells him the good news thatKatherine is alright. Stefan babbles to him about the choices he has made andhow their outcome is his responsibility. He tells him that he has wanted things for him and the paths he chose to get them may not always have been right, but thathe loves him very much. Confused, Nikolas asks Stefan if he is trying to tellhim that he was the one who killed Laura. Stefan insists not, and just tells himhe wants him to know how much he loves him and how sorry he is for any mistakeshe might have made. Mac emerges from Katherine's room and announces he would liketo informally question Stefan about the night Katherine was shot. Nikolas isoutraged and demands to know why Luke hasn't been found and arrested since heis the one who shot Katherine. Mac tells him to back off and that an APB has beenput out for him and he will be taken care of. In the meantime, Stefan asks thatAlexis be present during questioning. When Mac asks him simply what happened thatnight, Stefan recants his story of hearing the gun shot, running towards the noise,having the guard call 911, Bobbie administering medical care, and following the ambulance to GH. Mac goes in to see a waking Katherine and asks her if she knowswho shot her. She, however, does not. Still outside, Stefan tells Alexis thathe may need an attorney.

Friday, December 20, 1996

by Soap Central

Carly asks Jason if Robin seemed upset that he was at her house and asks ifit bothers him that she must have so many new friends/admires at college whono doubt think she is wonderful. Jason tells her Robin was fine with him beingat her house and that she knows he gets lonely. He asks Carly if she really thinks about other people taking Tony away from her. She tells him she worries about Tonyand is mad at Bobbie for remarrying so quickly because it seems now that her wholelife revolves around her. When she stops complaining, she tells Jason that he shereally likes him and appreciates his friendship. He tells her he likes her a lot tooespecially now that he doesn't have to sleep with her. The two laugh with each otheras Tony comes in. He seems only mildly angered and tells her he is just there to pick up a few things and that he needs to go be with Lucas. Jason leaves. Carlytells Tony half heartedly that she understands and then asks if he will be home forChristmas. He tells her he can't leave Lucas alone so he doesn't know when he willbe home but he will make it up to her. After making a cut at Bobbie, Carly lets Tonygo. He tells her he will call her later. Tony goes to the Quartermaine's to seeJustus before he goes to see Lucas. He asks Justus if he will represent him in acustody suit against Bobbie to get Lucas. Justus tells him he only practices corporatelaw now . Disappointed, Tony tells him he will look elsewhere and even though thisis something he doesn't want to put Lucas through, he feels he is not safe where he is.Justus tells Tony he may have to be willing to give up a few things before Lucas canbe his.

With Jax watching on through the glass, Brenda tell Sonny she just knew he wasin trouble when she went to his penthouse. Jax comes in and asks to be alone to talkwith Brenda. She tells him she needs to find Mike first to sit with Sonny since she doesn't want to leave him alone. Outside the room, Jax questions Brenda as to whyshe is with Sonny. Brenda tells Jax that someone tried to kill him and that she savedhis life. She tells him he was set up for a drug overdose, someone lured himto GH by saying she was in an accident, shot him up with heroin and took him to his placeto die. Jax asks if the police are buying his story and she defends Sonny to him. Jax tells her he isn't much interested so Brenda questions him about Miranda who shenow sees behind them at GH. Jax tells Brenda that things are over between him andMiranda and that they can go on with their lives now. Brenda asks why she is here thenand Jax tells her to grant him a divorce.

Inside his room, Mike tells Sonny that it is obvious that Brenda is still in lovewith him and him with her. Sonny tells him to butt out of it. When Sonny points outto him that she is married to Jax, Mike goes further to say that she is simply with Jaxbecause she is trying to correct the wrongs she made with him (Sonny). Jason comes tosee Sonny and bring him some clothes to leave the hospital. Sonny gives him the policesketch of the woman who drugged him and tells Jason to go find her. He leaves to takecare of business. The phone in the emergency room near Sonny rings and he picks up.On the other end, the woman who drugged him tells him she has some news he might beinterested in. On the other end, the woman is confronted and she drops the phone.Despite Sonny's yells into the phone, she never responds.

Stefan tells Alexis that he shot Katherine and is convinced that she will identifyhim as the shooter when she recovers. Alexis asks why this happened. Stefan tellsher that it really was an accident. He summarizes to her that Luke came after him witha gun and threatened him after Laura's funneral. Lucky and Bobbie prevented Luke fromshooting and Lucky threw the gun into the woods. He tells her he found it later and was going to frame Luke for coming after him, but, he fired the gun and it was too late, hehad hit Katherine. Alexis asks if she saw him. Stefan tells her most definitely shedid. Alexis starts coming up with a defense for her cousin and then asks him whatexactly about Laura's death has him so rattled. Before he can respond, she says thatif his goal all along was to lure Laura away from Luke to have her for his own, howdid Bobbie get in the middle of the whole thing.

Still in the ER, Mac pressures a half conscious Katherine to help him in the identification of the shooter. She tells him she went to Spoon Island that night tocheck on Nikolas, she walked towards the house, heard a noise, walked through the woodsand then saw a man with very kind eyes looking at her. She tells Mac she can only seehis eyes and that they are incredible. Mac asks her to try to put a name with theface and provide more detail. Alan warns him not to be so hard on her and that memoryloss is common in cases of trauma. Mac backs off and goes out to see Miranda. Stefan goesin to see Katherine, she opens her eyes and recognizes his. She panics and asks thatsomeone call a doctor because she is in painRecap --->