General Hospital
January 26, 2006

Scene 1
Elizabeth: Hey, Dr. Drake. Welcome back. 
Noah: Thank you, Elizabeth. Have you seen my son around anywhere? 
Elizabeth: He went to the Metro Court for dinner. But how was your sabbatical? Was it nice and relaxing? 
Noah: Oh. Well, if you can call rehab relaxing, yeah. 
Elizabeth: Oh,  I didn't know. 
Noah: Oh, it's ok, it's ok. I've had a problem with alcohol ever since my wife passed away. I finally got it that crawling into a bottle isn't the right way to honor her memory, so..
Elizabeth: Well, I'm sure your son will be glad to know you got help. 
Noah: Actually, my son's responsible for me, you know, facing the whole thing -- that I'd been drinking for years just to numb the pain, so 
Elizabeth: Well, now you have a chance to rebuild your life. 
Noah: I hope so. 

Scene 2
Patrick: Technically, it was an emergency. My father was....  my father was the only one qualified to operate, which is exactly what my mother wanted. She had complete faith in him as a surgeon. She knew the odds were against her, but she convinced herself that she was wrong. The operation failed and he lost her on the table. 
Robin: Hmm. That must've been terrible for Noah. And for you. 
Patrick: My dad didn't know how to deal with it. He started drinking and never stopped. He trashed his career, which is the last thing my mother would've ever wanted. 
Noah: Sorry to interrupt, guys. Look, if you've got a minute, could I see you over there? 
Patrick: What are you doing back so soon? 
Noah: I'm sober.  I want to clean up my life. 
Robin: Well, you know, I should be heading home, anyway. 
Noah: No, no, no, no, I don't mean -- 
Robin: It's ok. I was going to leave, anyway. Good night, and thank you. 
Patrick: See you tomorrow. 
Robin: Mm-hmm. 
Noah: Look, I didn't,  I didn't mean to bust up your evening. I just,  I want to run something by you. 
Patrick: And it couldn't wait till tomorrow? 
Noah: No, no. I want to come back to general hospital. I know it's going to take a while for me to rebuild my career, but I want to try it, and I want to know if you're open to that. 
Patrick: No way in hell. 

Scene 3
Waitress: Your special, Dr. Drake. [she brings him his usual drink]
Patrick: Drink up. 
Noah: I told you,  I'm clean, I'm sober now. 
Patrick: For how long? 
Noah: One day at a time. 
Patrick: Well, I'll give you that,  got the lingo memorized. 
Noah: Look, I know the only way to honor your mom is to go back performing surgery again and maybe save some lives. 
Patrick: I built a career in the shadow of your spectacular flameout. It wasn't easy, but I worked hard, and now I'm considered one of the best. I'm not going to have you mess that up. I don't trust your sobriety, and I don't want you in my hospital. 
[Noah gets up and pours out the drink]

[approximately 03:18  of Noah content]

According to US

Noah walks up to Elizabeth. A little sound escaped my throat here, it was a reaction to seeing him in the brown leather coat. I'm grateful I watch GH when I'm by myself. My kids just wouldn't understand. (Or they'd report me to their father.) Anyway, they converse a bit about Noah being in rehab - which my mind is just not comprehending as I'm wondering when he found time to shop but not get a haircut?? Then I catch the little Rick Springfield fist pump...and I'm grinning like some kind of fool, so glad Rick has made his way back to Port Charles. I can get used to this.

Patrick & Robin are having dinner, and he is telling her about what happened with his parents. Considering that Noah lost his beloved wife while he was operating on her, I'm surprised he's not a druggie as well as an alcoholic. That's a lot to happen to someone and not expect them to spiral out of control. Noah walks up and interrupts, asking Patrick if he could have a moment with him. Robin bows out of the evening, and I think that's what ticked Patrick off - not the fact that Noah wants to come back to GH. I don't understand why Noah needs his son's approval, but I'm not writing this show. If I were....things would be a whole lot different for the doctors Drake. :-)

The waitress brings Noah a drink. What restaurant do you go to that automatically brings you a drink without ordering??? Yeah, I thought so. Patrick assumes his father is not ready to live a sober life. He yadda-yaddas on doing his "it's all about me" rant. Again ,multiple personalities - I tell you. Mark my words, this'll be a storyline for Patrick in the future. - Michelle P.

Noah comes back to GH looking for Patrick and Elizabeth is at the desk. {Their banter is basically the 30 second recap for those with short attention spans – rehab, wife died, son helped, now he’s back. Leather jacket is also back! Woo hoo! The fist pumping on the “I hope so” was a bit odd. Just a sudden burst of energy – perhaps to illustrate Noah’s on the mend and ready for action!}

Patrick is conveniently recapping Noah’s back story for Robin when Noah finds them. Noah asks if Patrick is open to him coming back to GH and Patrick turns him down flat. {Noah still appears to have a lot of nervous energy – quick movements, rubbing the hands, etc. He seems very energized and happy though – that is until Patrick responds ‘no way in hell’. OK, last time these two saw each other wasn’t the ultimatum to Noah to clean up his life and then they’d work on their relationship? Noah held up his end and Patrick is not doing a swell job on his side. Plus if they let him work at GH drunk wouldn’t they be thrilled to have him back now that he’s sober?}

After the waitress bring Noah his usual, Patrick and Noah continue their argument. Basically Patrick doesn’t trust him and doesn’t want to taint his own career. In the end Noah pours out the drink. {OK again where is the ‘let’s work on our relationship’ son? Is he annoyed that Noah actually took his advice and went to rehab? Was he hoping he’d just go away? It appears that way. And since when is this Patrick’s hospital? He gets to make the decisions about who is on staff and who is not? Wouldn’t that be Alan’s job? At the very least the blow up didn’t cause Noah to relapse…but I’d advise Noah to have a word with the waitress/bartenders – clue them in to his new favorite drink} - Jen H.

Whoa! Noah is back and he comes in out of nowhere in the hospital looking for Patrick.. He looks so refreshed and happy, talking with Elizabeth. I love his leather jacket, now that and the little throwing up of the fists, could only be Rick! I must have watched this scene a few times over and over, loving the way he did those fists. 

Next scene Patrick and Robin talking about his younger years and how Noah was when Patrick was a kid. Noah approaches them and Robin leaves, much to Patrick's dismay. He looks really peaved when she is gone. You would think he'd be happy to see his dad sober and in such good spirits. When Noah tells him he wants to come back to GH, he gets an attitude (again) from Patrick. Will he ever be satisfied? Then the waitress brings Noah a drink, to top all that off. I didn't see him order a drink here, did you? Well, once Patrick has his say and leaves Noah pours out the drink, and I was glad to see that Patrick witnessed that. - Amy L.

This is what I consider in my mind to be a "refreshing" Noah scene!! After all the pain & struggling with his addiction (and lots of suits & ties ;-) ) it seemed wonderful to see Rick come popping back onto the scene in a button down blue shirt and a brown leather sports jacket, with that adorable little closed-mouth smile Rick does…dimples and all! (I do believe the trip back home to see mum did Rick a world of good…LOL). He just looked so rested and happy. Of course that was the point, since Noah had been in rehab, so it worked out well. I found it odd for Noah to share such personal information with Elizabeth, a nurse I don't think he really knows very well. Unless of course, he was so proud of his accomplishments, he was bursting to tell the first person he encountered. LOVE that fist in the air thing he does…like he wanted to say "YES!!!" and then that charming smile. Welcome back Noah.

Next scene shows Patrick confiding to Robin over dinner, the story of why his dad went down a drunken path in life. Noah comes to the table wanting to speak privately to Patrick, so Robin leaves. Noah is obviously feeling better, looking better & is ready to start anew. He has the most intense eye contact in this scene! Patrick is not so receptive to Noah's enthusiasm. Noah wants to return to GH, but Patrick tells him "no way in hell." I was floored by this!! LOL Ok…when did Patrick become the head honcho of the hospital, deciding who comes & goes? "My hospital," Patrick called it. LOL I suppose I can see why he's so reluctant, but he by no means has that authority at GH. Didn't he just start on as a surgeon the same week Noah came back?? Of course, his reaction DID create some more drama for he and Noah. (ha…like they needed anymore drama!?) Patrick goes to leave, and sees Noah dumping his cocktail into the plant! (oh…the automatic drink that the waitress had brought out to Noah, without him placing an order!!! Is that a sign of a major sot or what?? The waitress just knows he will want one.) Bravo to Noah for dumping his drink…show Patrick you are serious. - Kelley Pearson