Posted by Kim on 5/5/2002, 2:27 pm Three months later... The steam and hot water spraying on his back felt heavenly to Mac as his lingered a bit longer in the shower of the Port Charles Health and Racquetball club. Smiling to himself, Mac hummed a popular tune and experienced a feeling of unadulterated pleasure and he reflected over the events of the last few months. Felicia stopped her campaign to fight the divorce shortly in February and their divorce would be final any day now. Both he and Dara were doing well professionally recently with Moreno's conviction and several high-profile arrests of New York state criminals. And of their personal life, Mac knew he had never been happier than he was now with Dara. For the first time in a very long time Mac had a life outside of work that made him feel complete. Knowing that Kevin was probably already out of the shower and getting dressed, Mac shook himself from his pleasant musings and turned the water off and quickly dried himself, heading to the locker room. Kevin, bare-chested and stepping into a pair of brown dress pants, teased his friend, "I thought you had fallen asleep in there and I was ready to come looking for you." Mac tossed his wet towel at Kevin and responded, "I know, I know. I was thinking how great things are for me right now and I guess I lost track of time." Kevin smiled knowingly at Mac and was secretly thrilled that for the first time in a long time, he too could feel positive about his personal life. "You and Dara are doing great." "Yes, we are," Mac acknowledged with a beaming smile. "And I have to thank Ellen. You haven't been taking out your anxiety on the basketball or racquetball courts recently and my poor aging body appreciates it." Both men chuckled heartedly at the truthfulness of Mac's joke. As their laughter subsided, Mac asked in a more seriously tone of voice, "Really Kevin, you do seems happier and less brooding these days. How are things going with you and Ellen?" Buttoning his tailored crisp Oxford shirt, a slight frown creased Kevin's brow as he took his time to respond to Mac's query. "We are doing fine. We're spending a lot of time together and taking things slowly. If you're talking about only 'Ellen and me', we're doing fine. It's other people who are having problems." Mac wasn't surprised that Lucy Coe wasn't going to give up Kevin without a fight. "Lucy?" he asked. "Of course Lucy. That's to be expected. What's surprising me a bit more are the folks at GH and how they are treating Ellen. It's all very subtle and nebulous, but some of the staff members there have been somewhat aloof and standoffish with Ellen because she broke up with Matt to be with me. Which is pretty ridiculous when you think of the GH staff members who have bed-hopped from one person to another. But somehow they are holding Ellen to a higher standard and somehow see her action as more egregious." Kevin's blood started to simmer as he thought of the numerous slights and petty insults, primarily from the nursing staff and led by Grace Sullivan, made against Ellen in his presence. Ellen rarely spoke of the incidents but he could imagine what was going on outside of his earshot. Shaking his head in disbelief, Mac remarked, "Well, Ellen doesn't seem to me as the type of woman to take a lot of nonsense from anyone, especially from work." A crooked grin appeared on Kevin's face. "You're right about that. Ellen throws it right back at them." Then his expression became somber again as he continued, "But some of the remarks do hit home a bit because both Ellen and I know that Matt was hurt by us. But we're working through it." Interrupted by someone calling "Mac," the two men looked towards the door to see Scott Baldwin entering the locker room. For an instant Mac thought Scott must be the bearer of bad news if he had to track him down at the health club, but the look on Scott's face dispelled the notion from Mac's mind. Placing his briefcase on a bench and opening it to retrieve a sheath of thick legal papers, Scott looked at Mac and explained, "I was in the courthouse today talking to a clerk who was just getting ready to put these papers in the mail to you Mac. But she did me an unorthodox favor and allowed me to bring these papers to you personally. These are the final divorce papers Mac; it's official as of today. You and Felicia are no longer married." Ecstatic, Mac let out a whoop of joy and clasped Scott's hand into his, thanking him profusely for all of his help. Understanding Mac's desire to see Dara as soon as possible and give her the news, Kevin quickly agreed to cancel their plans for a drink at the Outback after their workout and urged Mac to go on and meet Dara now. Scott and Kevin watched with slightly amused grins as Mac fairly raced out of the locker room with the papers in hand. Upon Mac's departure, Scott asked Kevin if he'd like to still go to the Outback for a drink, but Kevin shook his head and declined the offer. "Another time, Scott. I just thought of a stop I need to make tonight." Kevin powered on his cellphone and asked for the number of the American Express travel agency. ***** At the nurse's station, Ellen huddled over the medical charts with Dr. Laura Jensen, a young pediatrician who joined GH late last year. The attractive redheaded Dr. Jensen was popular among the young patients and her medical diagnostic skills were excellent. Dr. Jensen was consulting Ellen about a seven-year-old boy who was admitted this morning after injuries in a massive car accident when Matt approached. Both women looked up and greeted Matt simultaneously. Stiffening slightly, Ellen's expression became blank when Matt quickly said, "Hi," to Ellen and settled his gaze with his expressive brown eyes on Dr. Jensen and asked, "Are you ready to leave now Laura?" "Oh my," exclaimed the doctor as she glanced at her watch. "Yes, I'm ready. I think that Ellen has given me all of the information I need." Laura Jensen gathered the documents from the counter and walked towards Matt, who grabbed Laura's free hand and pulled her towards him for a kiss. Blushing, Laura said goodbye to Ellen and the two nurses at the nurse station and she and Matt entered the elevator and left. Ellen noticed Matt never made eye contact with her again after he quickly said hello and looked only at Laura. This was typical of their behavior recently; other than brief acknowledgements and purely professional discussions, Matt and Ellen rarely spoke. In time Ellen hoped they could at least be able to talk to one another, but for now the pain was still to great for both of them. At least Matt seemed to have found some solace in his relationship with Laura and Ellen wished the best for them. Turning her gaze abruptly from the closed elevator door Ellen was slightly startled to see Grace Sullivan staring dead at her. After their breakup Ellen knew she had no right to care about who Matt dated, but she was mollified to see that Grace didn't benefit from her machinations that night at Luke's Valentine Day's party. Ellen decided to forgo her seemingly daily verbal swordplay with Grace and without a word left to finish some work in her office before meeting Kevin for dinner.
Chapter 40
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