I don’t have cooties
Jason: What — what are you doing?
Claudia: Just trying to make you more comfy. How do you feel?
Jason: What? Don’t touch me.
Claudia: Would you relax? I don’t have cooties. I think your fever’s breaking. You’re going to live. You can thank me as soon as you let go of my arm.
Claudia: Your fever is way down. I think you’re past the worst of it.
Jason: Great.
Claudia: A simple thank you is too much to ask?
Jason: Thank you. You can go.
Spinelli: The Jackal apologizes for the interruption, but suddenly he feels most peculiar.
Spinelli: Did the fair Maximista witness the Jackal’s collapse? Oh, one more humiliation piled on so many. [Stammers] Why — why — why is Stone Cold’s couch in the Haunted Star?
Jason: Hey, hey, hey, look at me. You’re at home, okay? Just — just try to relax. Rest right now.
Claudia: Yeah, he’s conscious, but I think he might be delirious. I just did. It’s 102. Okay, thanks.
Jason: What did they say?
Claudia: Same thing they said with you — acetaminophen, rest, fluids. Hey, look, you’re just barely recovered yourself. Why don’t you go upstairs and lie down? I can take care of Spinelli.
Jason: I’m fine.
Spinelli: No, Stone Cold, he’s not fine. He struggles every day with terrible conflict, Oedipal in nature.
Spinelli: It is the most basic of conflicts, the foundation of dynastic politics. The young king must inevitably replace the old one. As one waxes, the other wanes. And despite sentiment, loyalty, and natural reticence, the king must die. Long live the king. It is time for Stone Cold to play his part in the epic struggle.
Jason: Your fever is spiking. You — you’re talking crazy right now. You know what? I got this from here, okay?
Claudia: No, you know, if I stuck around and took care of you, I’m not going to abandon a sweetheart like Spinelli.
Spinelli: Go — go easy on Stone Cold. He is in terrible turmoil.
Claudia: Is that right?
Spinelli: Stone Cold struggles daily with the dire reality of inevitable destiny. You must come to loggerheads with your true father.
Jason: Spinelli, my father’s dead.
Spinelli: Not your biological father, the late and deeply lamented Dr. Alan, but in every other way, the parental role in Stone Cold’s life has been Mr. Sir.
Claudia: Who’s Mr. Sir?
Spinelli: Mr. Corinthos, Sir.
Jason: Spinelli.
Spinelli: Mr. Corinthos sir is Stone Cold’s master in a way, at whose feet the young Jason Morgan learned the ways, the methods, the ethics of mob life. And Stone Cold learned his lessons well and is now, in the fullness of time, stepped in to wear the mantle, but power is insidious and Mr. Sir is held in its sway. He will wish to command again.
Jason: Okay, you know what? You need to rest.
Spinelli: Be forewarned, my friend and master, for it will come to be. Mr. Sir will die and by your hand.
Spinelli: You must somehow subvert your fate. Allow me to be your Tireses, your blind prophet as it were –
Jason: We’re going to talk about this is in the morning. Why are you still here?
Spinelli: No — the raven haired vixen must stay.
Claudia: Sweetie, don’t work yourself up. I’m not going anywhere.
Spinelli: Okay, your instincts will tell you to remain loyal to Mr. Sir, to back him no matter what, but that would be a mistake. You must find it in your stone coldness to stand up to Mr. Sir or else risk being the instrument of his destruction.
Jason: You, you’re not making any sense.
Claudia: I understand it perfectly.
Spinelli: Mr. Corinthos, Sir craves retribution for the physical devastation of little Michael, but not from another, from himself. He will use you to gain what he desires. He will come back the business and force your hand, but do not acquiesce. Please, stand up to Mr. –
Jason: Okay, whatever. I’ll stand up to Sonny, just lie down and get some rest.
Claudia: You realize that everything he just said is true.
Claudia: Your young friend is not only sick smart, he’s also very perceptive. Especially about the weird dynamic between you and Sonny.
Jason: You’re not one to talk about weird dynamics. He’s babbling. He’s got a fever.
Claudia: He was dead on. Sonny blames himself for what happened to Michael. He thinks he deserves to be punished, so he gives away the business that he spent his entire life building, just hands it over to you? That’s not enough pain for Sonny. He’s gonna convince himself that he wants it back, that he deserves it. You took it from him, so he will force your hand. He will get himself all worked up into a good mad, and then he’ll make a run for you. And he will maneuver himself into a situation where you’re forced to kill him, saving himself the pain and the mess. And then finally, the punishment fits the crime.
Jason: I don’t deal in made up situations.
Claudia: You don’t read a lot of Greek tragedies, do you? This couldn’t be more oedipal, unless you slept with your mother and gouged your eyes out.
Jason: Are you delirious?
Claudia: Okay, when everything that Spinelli just predicted comes true, I will try really hard not to remind you that you were warned.
[Spinelli moans]
Claudia: It’s time to get him to a hospital.
Paramedic: How long since your first exposure?
Jason: 24 hours.
Paramedic: The virus is only contagious for the first two to four hours, both of you past it.
Jason: What about Spinelli?
Paramedic: He’s not contagious, but his fever is in the danger zone and he’s not responding to medication. We need to get him to the E.R. stat.
Claudia: He’s going to be fine. We got them here in time. He’s — he’s going to be fine.
Jason: You don’t — you don’t know that. I mean, sometimes the worst really happens.
