General Hospital - DAILY UPDATES

Karpov seeks Carly out and asks if her husband has proven to be an obstacle for them. Carly coolly explains that she will be in touch as soon as she can. Jax has seen the exchange and walks over for an introduction. Karpov says that he is "charmed" with his accommodations and then leaves. Jax presses Carly for an answer and she comes clean about trying to play the Russian mobster to help Jason. When he objects, she says that he walked out on her and doesn't get to object about what she does while he's gone. Then she leaves to go visit Lulu.

At the DA's office, Claudia tells Alexis that standing behind a desk doesn't qualify as evidence tampering. Nikolas arrives and uses Alexis' questionable relationship with Jerry to get her to back off. When Alexis asks why he's defending a Zachhara he says that Claudia's brother sacrificed his freedom to get Lulu help and she deserves the benefit of the doubt. Against her better judgment, Alexis lets her leave.

Anthony is visiting Johnny at the PCPD. He suggests that the jury needs to believe that Lulu is a whack job for him to get acquitted. He says that the plan is to plead self defense because Lulu pitted her two boy toys against one another. Johnny orders his father to leave Lulu alone, but Anthony says that he does not take orders.

"Yes honey, I am here. It's okay. Whatever's wrong, we're gonna make it right," Laura whispers to a very surprised Lulu out at Shadybrook. Lulu wants to rush to get the doctors, but Laura groggily explains that the doctors were with her when she woke up. She says that she didn't want her family to be disappointed if she relapsed, that's all. Then she asks Lulu what has her so upset. Lulu says that she's a patient here too and is worried that she's going crazy like her. Laura tells her that she is far stronger than she ever was because every generation gets a little better. Lulu can tell that she's fading and Laura says that she just needs to rest a little bit.

The scene in Spinelli's hospital room is tense. Maxie doesn't like allowing Matt to do the surgery, but Spinelli's pain level is increasing. So, in spite of Nadine's protests, she consents to the spleen removal. On his way to surgery, Spinelli tells Maxie to let Jason know that someone tried to run them down. Maxie promises to tell the whole world that he saved her life but only after she's sure that he's going to be okay. He promises to try not to "wander into the void" and she says if he does he should tell Georgie to send him back!

Jerry returns to Alexis's office to invite her back to his room for another kind of picnic. She's far too busy and asks if he's trying to divert her attention for some reason. He says that he's simply trying to spend time with her but she's clearly avoiding him. On his way out he tells her that he'll call her tomorrow.

In the OR, Matt has removed Spinelli's spleen and Nadine is full of questions about whether or not he has checked the bowel, ruptured the diaphragm, etc. Finally Matt has had enough and asks her to leave his operating room. Epiphany echoes him and tells Nadine that she is "on report."

Sam goes home and tells Lucky that she's got to change clothes and then go run a shipment tonight. Lucky chastises her for not giving herself enough time to recover from her gunshot wound. Jerry shows up at the door, so Lucky hides. After Sam lets him in, Jerry wants to know why she is so obsessed with her mother's love life. She seductively tells him that nothing will happen between the two of them as long as he's involved with her mother. Jerry strokes her hair and asks Sweet Sam how far she is willing to take this. Lucky is fuming from his hiding spot.

Carly goes to visit Lulu and finds a much happier cousin. She's brought chocolate, tabloids, a silk pillow and some hoodies. Lulu is excited about everything and Carly tells her that she doesn't have to pretend to be okay on her account. Lulu says that she's a lot stronger than she thought she was and will be okay. Carly looks doubtful.

Nik pays Johnny a visit and explains that he is going to help him because it's in Lulu's best interest. He asks Johnny what he needs and Johnny tells him to do whatever he can to prevent Lulu from testifying. He says that no matter what happens to him, Lulu needs to get well.

Jerry is summoned to The Metro Court to talk to Jax. When he hears that Jax wants to know more about Karpov because Carly is flirting with him, he simply says, "Stop her immediately." He adds that women who spend time with Karpov end up dead. When Carly returns, Jax tells her that Jerry went pale when he heard that she was spending time with Karpov. As he starts to yell at her, Carly asks if they can please not fight right now. She tells Jax about her visit with Lulu and expresses her fear that her cousin is delusional and will end up trapped inside her own body, like Michael.

Maxie and Nadine are eagerly waiting for Epiphany's assessment of how Spinelli is doing after surgery. Epiphany tells them both that Dr. Hunter is arrogant, but he did a fine job and deserves their respect. Maxie goes into Spinelli's room and holds his hand while he sleeps. Liz comes in, checks his vitals and then brings Matt into the room. She reports that Spinelli's fever is spiking, so Matt orders a bunch of tests. Maxie smacks him in the face and announces that if anything happens to Spinelli she will ruin his life.

Claudia has slipped off to Manhattan and right into Ric's hotel room. He's in bed with a woman and they both snap to attention. Ric orders Claudia to leave, but Claudia says that Johnny has been caught and Ric needs to come back to Port Charles. She glances down at Ric's body and reminds him that he can have whatever he wants from her if he gets her brother off. Clair, a partner in a big NYC law firm, gets dressed and tells Ric that whatever Claudia is paying him isn't enough.

Lulu goes back to Laura's room and finds her asleep. She talks to her anyway and soon Laura opens her eyes. She smiles and says that she can feel herself getting stronger. Lulu says that she feels herself getting stronger too and they will show everybody how strong they are. Lulu curls up on her mother's lap and Laura says, "May angles on the wings of night watch over you until the morning light."

Next on General Hospital:

When Patrick finds out that Matt performed surgery, he's furious.

Matt claims that Spinelli's infection is due to bum medication.

Ric is able to prevent Johnny from being sent to Pentonville.

Scott declares that he will be Johnny's prosecutor.

Jax humiliates Kate by saying he knows that she set Carly up.

Kate informs Sonny that Carly and Jax will be invited to their wedding.

Sam explains her plan for Jerry to Lucky.

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