Chapter 2
"Emily, please don't say that," Nikolas pled. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."
"That doesn't make what she said any less true," Emily said as she wiped the tears from her face. "You didn't deserve what I just did to you at the hospital. You didn't deserve to have me scream at you and hit you. But Nikolas, please believe me when I say that it was Connor I said all those things to, not you. You have been nothing but supportive of me through all of this, and I had no right to attack you like that. I'm so sorry if I hurt you or scared you."
"Emily," Nikolas whispered, "nothing you do could ever hurt me. You could never hurt me. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I just made my wife relive the worst experience of her life. What kind of husband does that to the woman he loves? I should have never forced you to do that. When you agreed to do it for me, I should have said no. Your recovery should be about you, not me. I hate seeing you hurting and suffering, and I only make it worse. I'll do whatever you need to feel safe again. And if that means a divorce, even though it's the last thing I want, I'll do it if it helps you. All I want is for you to be healthy again. I will do whatever it takes." He reached out as if to touch her face but stopped himself, not knowing how she would react. "I love you so much."
Emily smiled wearily through her tears. "I do hurt you, Nikolas. Every time you don't touch me because you're afraid of how I'll react, I hurt you, whether you want to admit it or not. And I just want you to know that I'm sorry for hurting you and I'm trying to get better it's just taking me awhile but I'm trying. I'm trying so hard…" she trailed off, her eyes dropping to the ground.
"Emily Cassadine!' Nikolas said forcefully, drawing her eyes up to his. "Don't ever apologize to me for something like that again, do you understand? I don't expect you to just magically get past everything that has happened. You were attacked and taken advantage of in the worst way possible, and I know it's going to take time for you to come to terms with that and be able to move past it. I just want you to know that I will do whatever it takes for that to happen."
"Nikolas, you already burnt a house down for me," Emily replied with a smile, reaching out and taking his hand. "Trust me, I believe you. I just don't want you to one day realize that you don't want to do it anymore, that you don't want to put up with me, that…that you don't want to be married to me anymore. I don't want to ruin what we have, and if you think that's what will happen, then it's not worth it. So I'm asking you: do you want out?"
Nikolas looked her square in the eyes, remembering when she had asked him the same thing when he helped her hide the cancer from Zander. All he had wanted to do then was spare her any pain, and that was all he wanted to do now, so he gave her the same answer. "If it's hurting you, yes."
Emily shook her head, also remembering her struggle with cancer. "You aren't. I can't do this without you. And I wish I could."
Nikolas reached out and took both of her hands in his. "For the record, I know you could do it without me." He placed a soft kiss to the palm of her left hand. "But I wouldn't let you."
"You have been so wonderful throughout all of this, Nikolas. You had every right to be angry and upset with me for keeping this from you, but instead you've been loving and supportive. And I was such a fool for having ever suggested a divorce, Nikolas. The therapy session helped so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me. I feel in control again for the first time since the…since the rape. I know I can beat this now, and it's all because of you, and your love for me. I don't want to divorce you. I don't want to ever lose you again. I'm just so afraid of hurting you, but I need you to get through this, and I feel selfish for taking advantage of your love like this. I know how much this is costing you."
"Baby, you've got to stop thinking like that," Nikolas replied, shaking his head. "I promised to stand by you for better or worse. This just happens to be the 'worse' part. But once we get through this, there's going to be so much of the 'better' stuff waiting for us. Besides, do you remember after the PC Hotel Fire when my grandmother told us that we would bring each other nothing but misery just like all the Cassadines before, and I said she was right? Do you remember what you told me?"
Emily nodded. "I told you that it wouldn't do you any good to push me away because I'd only follow you."
"That's right. And the same goes for you. No more trying to push me away to save me or trying to protect me, okay? I wouldn't leave, so don't even waste your time. You've told me that you need me, so I'm not going anywhere. You just focus on your recovery, okay? That's all I want." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you."
"I love you too," Emily whispered in response. "I'm so grateful that I have you."
"You've had me all along, baby, and you'll have me for the rest of our lives, all right?" He lowered her hand. "Come on, I'll walk you to your parent's house." Hand in hand, they walked toward the Quartermaine mansion.
"You really didn't have to walk me all the way here," Emily said as she and Nikolas ascended the steps to the Quartermaine's front door.
"Well I couldn't let my wife walk back into Hell in the dark, much less alone," Nikolas replied, holding the door open and then following Emily into the foyer. "It wouldn't have been very princely of me. Besides, I want to spend as much time with you as possible…and of course I wanted to visit all of my in-laws as well," Nikolas continued with a chuckle, hearing commotion and yelling coming from the living room.
"Yeah, and I'm sure that they are all just dying to see you, especially Tracy," Emily replied sarcastically. "I know how you and her get along so well."
"Well, Cassadine Industries did make a very generous gift of 15 million dollars to ELQ, so she should be at least civil to me."
"You're not going to fight to get the money back?"
"No. It's not worth it to me to stir up more trouble with your family. Besides, you are much more valuable to me than the money. I just want us to all get along and be at peace."
"If only my family could follow that philosophy too," Emily said. Just then there was a crescendo in the volume of the noise coming from the other room as the doors burst open and the Quartermaine's poured out into the entry way.
"Tracy, how could you have stolen money from your own niece?" Alan asked incredulously, following his sister. "That's low, even for you."
"Alan, Tracy was just trying to help ELQ, something you know precious little about," Edward scolded, trailing after his two children.
"Oh come on, Alan!" Tracy yelled, exasperated. "Your daughter doesn't have a clue about what's going on in Cassadine Industry finances, and her convict husband can't do anything about it."
"That wouldn't be me and Nikolas that you're talking about, would it Tracy?" Emily asked with feigned innocence.
"Smooth, Mom," Dillon muttered to his mother. "I'd say you really put your foot in your mouth this time."
"I couldn't agree with you more, little brother," chimed in Ned.
"Well, if the orange jumpsuit fits," Tracy said defiantly, smacking her son on the arm. Dillon only shook his head.
"You keep this up Tracy, and this time I will break a vase over your head," Emily replied angrily.
"Mister Nikolas, it's great to se you again," Alice said warmly, hoping to diffuse the tension in the room.
"Thank you, Alice," Nikolas replied. He turned to look at Emily. "I'll call you tomorrow baby," he promised. "Please don't forget what I told you."
"I won't," she said with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too." He squeezed her hand and turned to leave.
"Now wait just a minute," Edward protested. "Where are you going? You and my granddaughter made such a big stink about getting married even though you were going off to prison. You were joined at he hip. Now you're free and she's living at home. What's going on?"
"Grandfather," Skye warned. "Don't go there."
"What's the matter?" Tracy goaded. "Trouble in paradise already?"
"Tracy, shut up!" Skye yelled.
Nikolas turned and looked back at Emily. She was biting her lower lip and tears were forming in her eyes. She stared back at him and gave her head a slight shake. Nikolas knew immediately that she hadn't told her entire family about the rape.
"Emily and I are just as in love as we used to be," Nikolas said, walking back to Emily and taking her hand again. "Maybe even more so. We've just been through a lot these past few months and are taking some time to adjust and become comfortable with each other again."
"Yes, well, I would imagine that you being an ex-con would make things a little strained," Tracy commented acidly. "I wouldn't blame Emily for being nervous and scared around you."
Nikolas felt Emily tense beside him as Tracy's words struck a nerve. Skye stared daggers at Tracy's back. Nikolas started to respond, but stopped when Emily placed her hand on his arm.
"It's okay," she said softly. "I'm going to have to tell them at some point, so it might as well be now." She exhaled, turning to look at her family. "Um…this wasn't how I planned to tell you, and there's really no easy way to say it, so I'm not going to try." She took a breath, composing herself. "I was raped."
The reaction was immediate. Edward gasped and put a hand to his mouth. Alan and Monica both put hands to their hearts. Dillon's mouth dropped open and Ned looked stunned. Even Tracy looked saddened and remorseful.
"Emily…" Alan began, at a loss for words. "How? How did this happen? And why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't exactly want to make an announcement," Emily said. "After Nikolas was sent to prison, I went and found Connor Bishop in Canada. Luke had come up with a plan to draw Helena out of hiding and prove Nikolas's innocence. Connor would pretend to be Nikolas, and Helena would think Nikolas was out of prison and she'd come to see him, and then we could prove she was alive and Nikolas would be freed. But one night, Connor got drunk, and he-" Emily took a breath "-he raped me. When he tried to attack me again, we struggled and he ended up dead. It took me awhile before I could actually admit what happened to me. The only other people who knew were Jason, Liz, Lucky, Skye, and Nikolas."
Alan turned to his other adopted daughter. "You knew and you didn't tell me?" he asked furiously.
"It wasn't up to me to tell you," Skye responded evenly.
Monica stepped forward and embraced Emily. "Sweetheart, I am so sorry," she murmured in her ear.
"Emily, I'm really sorry honey," Ned said quietly. Dillon nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, Ned" Emily said with a smile.
"I'm sorry I was so insensitive, Emily" Tracy managed to choke out.
"I'd think there was something wrong with you if you weren't, Tracy," Emily replied. "No harm done."
Suddenly Edward, who up to this point had been silent, exploded in anger. "You!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Nikolas. "This is all your fault! The Cassadines are nothing but trouble and a bunch of lunatics! If you hadn't thrown your psychotic grandmother off a cliff, this would never have happened to Emily. All you've brought my granddaughter since you married her is grief and misery and heartache. You should have divorced her like I told you too!"
"Grandfather!" Emily intervened forcefully. "Enough! None of this is Nikolas's fault, okay? It was my decision to go to the safe house with Connor Bishop. It was my decision to stay even when I started to get uncomfortable. Even if Nikolas had tried to divorce me right when we got married, I still would have done whatever I could to get him released. Nikolas has been wonderful throughout all of this. He shouldn't be blamed for what happened."
Edward didn't say anything. He simply threw his hands in the air and left the room, the rest of the Quartermaine's following suit. Finally Nikolas and Emily were left alone again.
"I'm sorry my grandfather went off on you like that," Emily said softly, wiping the last tears from her eyes.
"Don't be," Nikolas replied, not meeting her eyes.
"Are you staying at the Metro Court again?" Emily asked, not sure why he was avoiding looking at her.
"Yeah. I'll call you tomorrow, Emily." Nikolas turned to walk out the door when Emily took his hand.
"I love you, Nikolas."
"I love you too, baby," Nikolas answered, trying to hide the pain in his eyes. Edward's attack had hit home. This was his fault. If he had been there, none of this would have happened. Giving Emily's hand a final squeeze, he left the house and headed to the Metro Court.
