Alex and Hope stopped laughing and looked at Liz standing in the doorway. "Liz!" Hope shouted. "Help me!"

"Oh, come on," Alex said looking hurt. "Was it really that bad?" Alex's mouth curved into a mischievious grin. "I was only doing this..." He leaned it and attacked again.

A nurse carrying a clip board came into the room. "Ms. Parker, Mr. Whitman, may I see you for a moment, please?"

"Sure," Alex spoke. He turned back to Hope. "Be right back, squirt."

In the hallway, the nurse explained the purpose of her visit. "There really is no need for Hope to remain checked in at the hospital. We would like to release her in Mr. Whitman's custody as directed by her mother's living will. However, we do have patient family rooms available and the two of you are welcome to check in to one of those throughout the duration of her mother's stay at the hospital."

"Okay," Alex said. "When does she need to check out?"

The nurse replied, "The staff would like to clean her room today for use with a patient checking in tomorrow morning."

"Oh," Alex said surprised. "So, right away?"

"Yes, sir. If you'd like, I can show you to the patient family room we have available and you can begin moving her." The nurse answered pointing up the hall to the bank of elevators.

"Sure," Alex answered. He poked his head in the door. "I'm going to go see our new room. Liz and I will be right back."

"K," Hope answered not looking up. She was content for the moment to brush the hair of her doll.

Liz and Alex followed the nurse to the bank of elevators.

"I was thinking," Liz began. "How have you managed to keep Maria and Isabel from meeting this whole time?" Liz asked.

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Alex asked raising his eyebrows.

"I was just wondering," Liz replied. She'd been thinking about it every since she and Alex agreed that Michael should not see her there. He would put two and two together. She then wondered why Isabel had not put two and two together.

"A lot of creative timing," Alex answered as they stood waiting for elevator 3 to open.

Just as the doors to elevator 3 opened, so did the doors to elevator 5. The nurse stepped into elevator 3 as Isabel stepped out of elevator 5. Alex turned his head and met Isabel's eyes. Without thinking, Alex extended his arm and pushed Liz into the elevator with the nurse. "Hey!" he shouted and lunged toward Isabel to keep her from coming close enough to witness the passengers about to leave behind the closing doors of elevator 3.

"Alex!" Isabel said surprised. "What's going on?"

"Just glad to see you. What did you bring me? I am totally starving. We're about to check Hope out of her room and move her into a patient family room," Alex spoke a mile a minute as his panic slowly subsided.

"We?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah....uh, me and you," Alex finsihed quickly.

"Oh," Isabel said handing a bag of takout to Alex. "Have you seen Max?"

"What!" Alex asked as his blood pressure began to rise again. "Max is here...at the hospital?"

"Yeah, we were meeting here this month," Isabel answered lowering her eyebrows and cocking her head. "Is anything wrong?"

"No!" Alex said smiling with wide eyes trying to look inconspicuous. He pushed the down button on elevator 5. "Can you just...wait right here...just a minute? I'll be right back. I...need to check on something real quick." He stepped into the elevator and quickly pushed the button to close the doors.

"Alex," Isabel stood with confusion. "What is going on?" she demanded to know.

"I'll explain when I get back," he said as the doors began to close. "Don't go anywhere!" he shouted.

Alex leaned back against the elevator wall and sighed. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He knew that if Max saw Liz at the hospital, then he would know that Marianna was Maria. He shook his head. "I've gotta get Liz out of here," he thought.

Isabel stood silently near the bank of elevators. She didn't understand what she had said that sent Alex running, but he'd promised to explain when he came back. And that was one explanation worth waiting on. She paced slowly before a large picture window overlooking the parking lot.

"Isabel," Michael called as he walked up the hallway.

"Hey!" Isabel said. "Sorry I missed our meeting. I just couldn't get away. The photographer was so tempermental," she said rolling her eyes. She leaned in to hug Michael as he got closer. "How have you been?"

Michael didn't hug her back or answer. He stood stiff and tense.

"Michael? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Isabel joked. When Michael didn't answer she immediatley thought the worst. She assumed he'd lost a patient.

"Well," he finally began after a long moment of silence. "Not a exactly a ghost...more like..." He looked around the hallway and lowered his head. He moved in closer to Isabel and finsihed, "an alien."

"Liz?" Isabel spoke.

"No, not Liz," Michael said annoyed.

"No, Michael. Look," Isabel said pointing out the window.

Michael and Isabel watched in silence as Liz and Alex made their way into the parking lot. Liz got into a car and drove away. Alex waved to her and walked back towards the hospital entrance.