Her entire life, Nadine had been the one to take care of people. It had been natural for to become a nurse, and when she stepped foot on the children's ward at General Hospital, she knew that she would make pediatrics her specialty. She had everything planned out from the very minute she arrived in Port Charles and until she met Nikolas Cassadine, everything had gone exactly as she had imagined. However, the minute she laid eyes on the dark handsome prince in the bleak aftermath of the horrific events at Wyndamere, her entire plan had been thrown out the window. No longer did she imagine long, lingering conversations with Spinelli over hot cups of coffee at Kelly's. Instead, she wondered what it would be like to be the woman sitting next to Nikolas on the dark couch in the sitting room of his castle, the beautiful Spencer tucked between them.
All girls fantasized about what it would be like to become a princess, but even now, she didn't think that it was actually a possibility. Nadine was quite aware that he was still nursing quite a heartache. There are some things that are nearly impossible to come back from, and she knew that losing Emily had been an unimaginable blow to Nikolas' entire world. She couldn't compete with the ghost of a soulmate. Even if she thought that she could, she didn't want to. She wanted this to be something entirely different, not better necessarily but something all their own. Still, with every step she took, she couldn't help but think that someone somewhere was watching her knowing that Emily would have done it better.
Tonight, sitting with him in the chapel, Nadine had a flash of what could be if she would only open her heart enough to give it a chance. He had made such a simple request, pleading her to stay until they had time to figure it out. It wasn't going to be easy between the complications of a grieving fiancée and a brain tumor that still connected him to her. However, something in her heart told her that if she could just be patient, this would all be worth it in the end. Nikolas was worth fighting for, but it was hard to fight something (or someone) that wasn't even there. She couldn't compete with the history that they had shared. She knew that wasn't what he would want her to do, but a simple girl like her couldn't help but feel like she was second rate in comparison into a rich, beautiful doctor who just happened to be the love of his life and a princess.
"Is he resting?" a soft, husky voice asked behind her. Nadine tore her eyes away from the window where she had peacefully been watching Nikolas sleep for the past hour since they'd returned from the hospital church. Turning around, she was surprised to see the petite host of a television show standing before her. Sam mustered a warm smile and looked past the nurse's shoulder to check on her sleeping cousin. "How's he been doing? I haven't been by to visit in a few days. I should have been here sooner."
Nadine returned the smile timidly. She knew that Sam McCall was related to Nikolas through his Aunt Alexis, a woman that he always spoke of so fondly. "He's doing better tonight than he has been," she answered honestly. "He just fell asleep awhile ago. We've been down in the chapel for awhile talking since he has so much trouble sleeping at night. He gets restless. I guess we both do."
Sam instantly picked up on something that the blonde wasn't saying but decided to leave her questions for Nikolas. She didn't feel right prying into the life of someone that she barely knew, and if she was connected to her cousin, he would let the family know in due time. But she could still sense that there was something going on between the two of them, and considering the winter Nikolas had, she thought he could use any happiness that he could get. "I know that it's late and past visiting hours, but I was hoping that I could see him anyhow," she requested. "I don't want to get you into any trouble, but his brother asked me to pass along some news. I hate to wake him, but it's really important."
"Lucky?" Nadine asked worriedly. Nikolas had talked about his brother and sister a lot during the time she had gotten to know him, and she knew that it had been awhile since either had stopped into visit him at the hospital. "If it's an emergency, of course you should wake him. I'm going to go down to the nurse's station to check on my other patients. If you need anything, just have them page me directly."
"Thanks," Sam replied before letting herself into Nikolas' room. She watched Nadine pause outside the window for a minute longer before ducking her head and walking out of view. Stepping to the side of her cousin's bed, she gently shook him. "Nikolas, it's Sam. I need you to wake up. I have something important to tell you."
It took a moment for Nikolas to become coherent and sit up. Wiping his eyes with the back of his tanned hand, he struggled to focus on Sam. "What's going on? It's the middle of the night. Is Alexis okay? Is it the girls?"
Sam shook her head calmly and pulled a chair to the railing of his bed. "Lucky sent me to talk to you. He called awhile ago. He would have told you himself, but he is unreachable. Lulu is missing."
"Lu?" he nearly shouted worriedly. His little sister had been missing, and he'd had no idea. "I have to get out of here and go help him."
"You can't do that," she insisted firmly. "That's not why I came here. Look, I don't know much because Lucky didn't want to risk endangering either of us. You can't tell anyone about this either. Lucky is looking for her right now, and he's not alone. We just have to trust your brother right now to take care of himself and your sister."
Turning away, Nikolas stared out at the black sky teasing him from his picture window. He could hear the words that Sam wasn't saying. She wasn't telling him that his brother was in danger. She wasn't telling him that Lucky didn't know how this was going to end. She wasn't telling him that Lulu's life was at risk. She wasn't telling him that they could lose both of them. She wasn't telling him that she was just as scared as he was.
He needed someone who would tell him the truth. He had to hear the absolute worst so that he could hope for the very best. Sam wasn't going to be that person, and even if she was, he wasn't sure that he could trust her right now. There was only one person that put his mind at ease, and that was the person that he needed more than anything in the world right now. Six months ago, it would have been an entirely different person, but life had changed. He was finding a way to move forward, to move on. "Get Nadine."
By the time the monks had returned from town with the medication, Lulu felt like she had been waiting for an eternity. She had never been more relieved to see another human being as when the two old men crept back into the infirmary with the vials. She knew that the guard was still waiting outside. Sitting alone in the room, she would have sworn that she could hear him breathing on the other side of the heavy door.
"It's just a placebo," the doctor informed her as he prepped the needle. His assistant stood by and watched as Lulu was injected with the clear liquid. "We need to wait a few minutes before you go into the seizure. Medication takes time to work its way through the bloodstream, and we need for this to be believable. One false step and we could all pay."
Lulu nodded obediently as she reclined against the uncomfortable examination table. She hated that she was asking these holy men to lie for her, but it was the only way she could ensure her safety. Lulu wasn't exactly sure what she thought in the way of religion, but she knew that there had to be someone out there watching over her. The Spencers had lived through too much to not have a few guardian angels up there. As she stared at the bright overhead lights, she silently prayed that her mother was one of them and that she was protecting her now. She just needed a sign that everything was going to be okay.
As if on cue, the clock chimed from the bookcase across the room. Lulu's eyes flew to the sterling silver piece, amazed at what her ears were hearing. She remembered the hymn from when she was a child. It had been one of her mother's favorites, a tune that she could remember hearing Laura hum as she cleaned on Saturday mornings. It also paid homage to her father's infamous nickname for his wife, Angel. The chimes were clearly playing "Ten Thousand Angels," and she was sure that her mother was with her now.
After a few more minutes of silence, Lulu looked to the doctor. He nodded silently, and she began to fake convulsions. She started out slowly, growing in intensity as time passed. The guard came in, and she did her best to block everything out. She allowed her eyes to roll back into her head. One of the monks spoke to the guard, using terms that she couldn't understand. He tried to argue, but eventually, perceived logic won out and an ambulance was called. She kept shaking as the monk spoke to the emergency personnel, carefully listening for Patrick's name. When the magic words were spoken, she began to slow down the convulsions before allowing her eyes to fall shut.
"We need to get her to the hospital immediately," the doctor informed the guard. "Another reaction like that could kill her. I will ride with her in the ambulance. You can ride with my assistant in the car behind us. Nothing will happen to the young girl as long as we get her help."
"I am holding you personally responsible for taking care of our dear Lulu," the guard mumbled, trying to sound sincere. "My boss would hate it if something happened to his niece. She is very important to him. She holds so much of his future in her hands, and he needs her to keep his family name going."
The monks told him that they understood and promised that he would take care of her. The guard left to make a phone call, giving them just a few minutes to put their plan into place. Lulu glanced at the clock again and glanced up toward the sky. I need both my angels, she told God. I don't know if it's possible, but if you could just have my mom and Dillon with me somehow, I know that I can get through this. She didn't even ask for a sign this time, she just trusted. The monks worked quickly to prepare her for transport, wheeling her table toward the front of the infirmary. The distant sound of sirens was approaching, and Lulu felt her pulse quicken involuntary. She could hear freedom, and nothing had ever sounded better.
They were waiting in the hallway when the guard returned, clearly livid. She didn't understand what was going on, but it was clear that he had discovered something that he didn't like. "Lulu is not going anywhere. There were some men spotted on the grounds some time ago. It's not safe for her to leave right now," he informed them. "I will allow the medical team to come in and work on Lulu. If they need to get supplies, we can have them sent here. Her safety is my prime concern, and she could be ambushed if we leave before the monastery has been secured."
Lulu tried to figure out who could be after her. She wanted to believe that someone in her family had picked up on her sudden disappearance, but as distant and all over the map as she had been lately, she doubted that they had figured it out yet. "Do you know who is after her?" the assistant asked, feigning genuine concern.
"I'm not sure if you have ever heard of him, but he goes by the name of Jason Morgan," the guard explained. He tried to make his tone seem more sinister to paint Jason in an evil light. Lulu was bursting inside knowing that he was looking for her. "He is a mobster, the right-hand man to Sonny Corinthos. He's a well-known enforcer and hitman. Their organization wants to kidnap Lulu and would use whatever means necessary to do so."
"Is he alone?" the doctor asked, matching his assistant's faux anxiety. "If there is only one of them, surely we can work together to take him out."
Her eyes still closed, Lulu took the rustling sound for the guard shaking his head. "There is believed to be three men total. One is man of similar height with dark hair. The other is a little shorter with spiked blonde hair. They must be new to the Corinthos organization"
Scanning the profiles of the various guards and workers Lulu had met over the past few years, she couldn't find anyone she knew in the organization that fit the descriptions. Their two most trusted guards, Max and Milo, were known throughout the mob world. These were clearly fresh recruits…except, what if they weren't recruits at all? Lucky was about the same height as Jason and definitely had the dark hair. As soon as she figured out that it was her brother, she knew who the other man had to be. It could only be one person. She wasn't sure why he wasn't in Toronto, but he had come to save her. Dillon was there.
She wanted to cry out to him immediately but decided against it. She needed to make it seem as though it was part of the reaction, like she was hallucinating or having a nightmare. Slowly, she began to let her body tremble so that she could work up to convulsions again. The shaking consumed her entire frame and felt so realistic that she could almost believe she was actually having a seizure. The monks tried to sooth her, but Lulu kept shaking. Finally, she opened her mouth and called out loudly, hoping against hope that he would somehow hear her. "Dillon!" she screamed, shaking violently. Her voice echoed as the doctor wiped a damp cloth over her brow. "Dillon! Dillon! Dillon!"
Lucky knew that they had been spotted some time ago, but the three men were determined to make it inside the monastery. They had split up a few minutes earlier. Dillon had filed at the end of a line of monks returning from dawn prayer while Jason headed off toward the underground tunnels. Lucky was positioned near the front exit so that he could keep watch on the approaching traffic. They needed any break they could, and at this point, Lucky would take any in that he could get.
He had been sitting alone for too long, even if it had only been less than ten minutes. The silence was eerily deafening, reminding him of those dark months he had been held hostage by Faison and Helena. He tried not to remember that bleak period in his life, but at times like this, it was hard not to. He had been in Lulu's place before when he was about her age. They had gone through too many similar situations for his liking. With the downfall of the former Cassadine empire, he had thought their danger would be gone. He had never thought that she could get mixed up with the mob thanks to Jason and Sonny.
Shaking his head, he refused to blame anyone. Jason was there helping him, and for that, Lucky was infinitely grateful. He heard a loud sound and for a moment, he would have sworn that it was screaming. However, a minute later, he was welcomed with the harmonic murmur of the monks chanting and giving thanks to God. Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been a beautiful sound. However, in that moment, it was an annoying distraction. He needed to be on high alert and couldn't be misguided by their song. Turning toward the monastery, he scanned the windows and exterior balconies. He just wanted a sign that Lulu was okay.
That sign never came as soon a roaring ambulance rushed through the gates and down the dusty driveway leading to the building. Lucky knew instantly that it was for his sister. Reaching into his pocket, he texted his observation to Jason and waited for a reply. When it didn't come immediately, Lucky took matters into his own hands. Stripping off his black overcoat and pinned his badge to the pocket of his denim shirt. Waiting until the ambulance was parked, he rushed to join the cluster of people emerging from the back doors. He was surprised to see Patrick Drake, a surgeon, working with the team.
"What are you doing hear?" Lucky asked, trying to figure out the explanation behind all of this. "You don't work emergency."
Patrick didn't know that Lulu was missing and had assumed that the policeman was here because of his sister. "Your sister told them to send me. They mentioned that Carly Jax's cousin had gone into a seizure. Isn't that why you are here?"
"Yes, but not for the reason that you think," Lucky retorted. He reached into the ambulance and pulled out a scrub top. He quickly discarded his shirt after pocketing his badge. Dressed in medical gear, he stood next to Patrick and listened to the paramedics barking directions. "Hold up."
The lead paramedic turned to him. "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Detective Lucky Spencer with the PCPD," Patrick answered for him. "I am commanding you to listen to whatever direction he gives."
Lucky turned to the doctor. "Lulu has been kidnapped. I'm not sure what is going on in there or if she is even sick. No matter what you find in there, you need to do what you can to get her out. Tell them that she is in danger and needs to be in a hospital. The guy who has her wants to keep her alive. Keep telling him that she will die if we don't get her to GH. I don't care what lies you have to tell or how bad you have to make it. We need to get Lu out."
"What if she really is sick?" the paramedic asked.
Patrick narrowed his eyes at the cop before speaking up. "We do what we have to do to stabilize her and then we get her out of there. I'm not going to lose my patient either way."
The team agreed and quickly headed toward the entrance of the monastery. Lucky positioned himself between Patrick and another paramedic, carefully taking in his surroundings as they were led to an emergency elevator. They were just about to step foot onto the lift when he heard the distinct sound of his sister's screams. Her voice was distorted and urgent, almost as if she was forcing herself to sound deranged. He knew what Lulu sounded like in distress and this wasn't it. This was a conscious Lulu, a Lulu that knew exactly what she was doing.
