General Hospital lament Monica, Leslie Charlson and Jane Elliott

All Saints Chapel does not have dry eyes on the “General Hospital” episodes on Thursday and Friday. Family, friends and colleagues gather to honor Dr. Monica Quartermaine, who passed away last week in sleep. The emotions on the screen were real. Leslie Charlson, who brought Monica back to life since 1977, passed away in January at 79, and these scenes bid farewell to both the character and the actress.

“It was very difficult for her to live when she was already alive when she was alive. It stretched mourning because she had to keep her alive when she wasn’t,” says Jane Elliott, who plays Monica’s step-sister, Tracy Quartermaine. “I had to mourn her death twice.”

Take out the tissues – you will need them. The additional service ceremony begins quietly. Raised by Monica, Jason (Steve Burton) waits to meet in the chapel, his sadness is written on his face. Looking at Monica’s photos, his eyes are filled with tears, and he has lived in the mansion over the past year and realizes that he and Monica are always important.

At the Quartermaine mansion, as seen in exclusive videos, Brook Lynn (Amanda Seton) tells Chase (Josh Swicker) that he understands his grandmother doesn’t want to show any sadness in public. Ned (Wally Kurth) flashes to his own complicated history with Monica, admitting to Olivia (Lisa Rosicero) that she still feels her presence everywhere in the house.

Slowly, the mourner arrives at the church, each recalling how Monica shaped her life. Tracy looks at Monica’s photos and struggles with her emotions. She is deeply moved when she learns the role of Jason by honoring the woman he called her mother.

As service began, all eyes turned to Tracy, worried that they would sneak up on her unable to cope with the reality of Monica’s death. Can Tracy make a brave face and share her deep feelings by speaking at Monica’s service?

“She’s adamant that she’s not going to do that, but there are a lot of people who really want her to do that,” Elliott says. “The problem is that someone will let her change her mind?”

“Leslie left two blanks in my life,” says Elliott. “She left the gap as an acting partner and friend. Leslie and I knew each other for 60 years. We met in 1965. I was 18 and 20, and she was dating a boy in a play in New York City. With shared experiences, we were hired in 1978 (in “GH”).

Elliott and Charlesson became very good friends, even though the “GH” characters were constantly quarreling. They traveled together, had a birthday party for each other, and when Elliot got married, Charlesson took her in the wedding shower. “She was an integral part of my life…it’s hard enough to mourn someone’s death once, but then it’s hard to do it again. One was clearly a person and the other a character, but at one point they fused together.

Monica’s death hits Tracy particularly hard. When Tracy was featured on the show, her brother Alan was already married to Monica. Monica thought Tracy was under him in her height and society. She laughed for years and fell. “And everyone died (in Tracy’s life) — Alan died, Lila died. Edward passed away. And Monica and Tracy were the last two,” she explains.

“Monica was the head of the hospital and Monica was a successful surgeon. Monica was on the board. Tracy began to look at her equally. Tracy evolved over the years and experienced the heartbreak of losing Luke twice.

And now Tracy is standing alone. “It’s a huge loss for her. Everything from her contemporaries is gone. Her mother, her father, her siblings, Luke, Gregory,” says Elliott. “I mean, Monica was that. They were standing side by side, the last two standings, so losing her was like losing her arm.”