General Hospital (GH) spoilers tease that Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) has really been struggling with the ongoing demise of his dad Mike Corbin (Max Gail).
To say that Sonny has had a lot going on right now would be an understatement, since he’s had Mike’s decline, Wiley Quartermaine Corinthos’ (Erik and Theo Olson) kidnapping, and the whole Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober) situation going on.
Sonny even took out a little time to work at the Nurses’ Ball Telethon, in part to honor the caretakers who look after Mike on a daily basis.
Well, a new sneak peek for the episode to air on Monday, August 31, shows an emotional scene between Sonny and Mike. Of course, Mike’s level of lucidity fluctuates, and during the sneak peek scene, Mike seems completely catatonic while Sonny apologizes for judging him and not spending enough time together as adults.
“I hope you know that I’m happier than any words can say of the time that we spent together, and I know that it’s coming to an end,” Sonny says, nearly breaking down. Mike then squeezes Sonny’s hand, seemingly to acknowledge Sonny’s touching sentiment.
But what will Sonny take away from this moment?
As GH viewers know, Sonny has been really struggling with letting Mike go. And while Sonny had a major breakthrough when he ultimately decided not to put Mike on a feeding tube, it’s been a constant struggle for Sonny between keeping his dad alive and letting him go.
One wonders whether Sonny will get false hope from the hand squeeze, or whether he’ll take it simply as a sign that his father acknowledged what he was saying.
And at a more general level, we wonder what it’s going to take to make Sonny stop beating himself up over not doing everything he can to give his father more happy moments.
Sonny truly believes that there is some life left in Mike, and he doesn’t want to deprive Mike of any more moments. It’s a terrible situation that Sonny faces, but will Mike’s acknowledgement make Sonny more likely to let Mike go or to try to keep him around?
It’s truly a heartbreaking situation, and as Mike’s final days and hours approach, it’s only going to get more heartbreaking for Sonny and for viewers.
Of course, what everyone wants is for Mike to suddenly have a lucid moment and be able to cogently express his wishes to die peacefully. That would make things much easier and gentler for Sonny, but the reality of the situation is that Mike probably won’t be able to do that.
TPTB at GH have said that they want to honor the situation for Alzheimer’s patients and their families go through, which of course is not an easy path with a wonderful ending.
Sonny may still struggle to find peace with how Mike’s demise occurred after Mike’s gone, and there will probably be plenty of tears to come as the actors push through this story.
We’ll see what happens with Sonny and Mike on Monday, and what effect Mike’s hand squeeze ultimately has on Sonny, but one thing’s for sure – you’ll want to have your tissues ready!
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