After being sedated and kept in the hospital overnight, Aly was released into Spinelli's care. She had been given more literature about addictions than she cared to acknowledge. Once she got to Fox Hollow, she started up the stairs towards her bedroom.
"Where are you going? Don't you think we should talk about this?" Spinelli asked.
"I'm going to my room, and no, I don't think we should talk about this, or anything else," she said harshly.
She went to her room, closed the door behind her and locked it. She went to the vanity and stared at her reflection. She didn't recognize the person looking back at her. She began to cry uncontrollably. She frantically searched for some pills. There were none to be found. This made her very angry, so angry that she picked up a vase and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into a million pieces, much like her heart did when she found Logan with Sam.
Aly spent her first day back home staring out the window. She didn't know how she had gotten to this point. She wasn't sure if she could get through this, even though she knew she had a lot of people willing to help her. She wasn't going to let anyone in to help. She didn't believe she needed it. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted to be left alone.
Spinelli knocked at the door, "Noble Sister, I bring you a plate of nutrition."
"Go away, Spinelli," she barked.
"You need to eat something," he said solemnly.
"I said, go away!" she screamed.
"As you wish, Noble Sister, but I will leave your dinner at the door," Spinelli told her.
It was a restless night for Aly. She paced, too many things going through her mind. She lay in her bed, tossing and turning. She sat and cried. She continued to stare out the window. She kept wondering, why, why did Logan betray me? Why did I get in the car that night and drive like a maniac? How and why did I survive another accident that I shouldn't have? Why did I turn to those pills? She stopped staring out the window long enough to look around her room. Her eyes fixed on the picture of her and Logan. She just stared at it, and all of the hate and anger once again started to well up inside her. She knew she had to let it out.
"Why,why, WHY!?!?!?!??!" she screamed, throwing the frame across the room. She had no answers. She couldn't see past the darkness, there was no light at the end of the tunnel for her; she didn't want to see past it. She felt that this is where she belonged. She didn't believe she deserved more than this.
The next day was bright and sunny. Aly kept the curtains closed and sat in the dark. Spinelli brought her more food, but she refused to eat. He asked if she wanted to talk, but she refused to let him in.
"Aly, there is an N/A meeting in a half hour, I'd be happy to drive you," Spinelli offered.
"I'm not going," she said through the door.
"You must go, its part of your recovery, Noble Sister" Spinelli said trying to encourage her.
"I said, I'm not going," she retorted.
"But it's imperative that you get the help you need," he babbled.
"I'm NOT GOING!!!" she screamed.
"Aly, I'm just trying to help. I would do anything to help you get better," Spinelli informed her.
"I don't need your help, now leave me alone!" she yelled at him.
Spinelli's heart broke for his sister. He wanted nothing more in the world than for her to get well. Once again, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands.
He continued to bring Aly food and offered to talk with her or take her to a meeting for several days, hoping she would change her mind. Each day, she refused. He hadn't seen her since they had returned from the hospital; it was almost a week now. It was time to do something. His first stop -- Wyndemere, to see if Nikolas could help.
In the study, Nikolas was staring at Emily's picture. As he looked up, there she was once again, as beautiful as ever. "Emily…" he got up, hugged and kissed her. This was all the reality he needed. Nothing else mattered.
"Nikolas, please take care of yourself. Spencer needs you around. You need to be here for him, I can't be. I don't know how long I can be here with you, like this. You can see me because our love is strong, you would never hurt me, and we could conquer anything," Emily said. "Except for death."
"I can't let you go, I won't. I don't want to be without you. I am determined to do anything to keep you here with me. I don't want the surgery," he said, breaking down. He can't do this without her.
"You have to think about the future," she said and held him close. "The tumor is going to get worse. You will get worse, you won't have control, and once that happens, there is no turning back. I'm trying to spare you the pain that lies ahead if you choose not to have the surgery. It will be awful." She would have given anything to be back in the land of the living, with him and the future they had planned. Unfortunately, fate and Diego changed those plans in the blink of an eye. She needed to get through to him somehow. He needed to live – she needed to show him that, too.
She let him go and looked at him. "What about Aly? What's going on with her?" She didn't know if he saw Aly that way. But she needed to know that Nikolas had someone who would be here when she stopped appearing to him. Someone has to be here to help him through whatever lies ahead.
Nikolas said, "she reminds me of you. It makes me want to protect her and never let anything bad happen to her. She is so much like you that it hurts. I want to help her in any way I can. I don't see her in the same light as you." They sat down on the couch and held hands. "No one will replace you in my heart. I'm hurting and missing you, but at the same time, I can still be here with you like this. To me, this is real. I don't want to be here without you. There is no option, I will not get rid of the tumor -- it will make you disappear forever."
"Nikolas, you have such a wonderful heart. You got it from your mother. Aly is very lucky to have you as a friend. If she needs you, be there for her. But you need to figure out what to do for the future. I can't stay forever. You need to think about Spencer and your family. They love you and need you to be around…" she started to say.
Their conversation was interrupted when there was a knock at the door. Emily disappeared. Once again, Nikolas was all alone.
The door opened. "Mr. Cassadine, Mr. Spinelli to see you," Alfred said as he entered the room.
"Please show him in. Thank you, Alfred," Nikolas answered.
"Princely One, my Noble Sister is in need of your help."
"What can I do to help her?" he asked.
"She's been locked up in her room for almost a week, not eating, just staying there alone in the dark. I am trying to reach out to her but to no avail. Maybe you can impart some of your wisdom to get through to her."
"Thank you, Spinelli. I'm glad you let me know. I'll go and see what I can do. I need to tell her about my experience with Lucky during the low point in his life with the addiction. I hope that will help her, and how he has turned his life around."
"I look forward to hearing your report after meeting with my sister. Thank you," Spinelli said. With that, he turned and left the study, and Wyndemere. He was hoping this was the only stop to get her out of that darkness that she put herself in. If anyone knew about the darkness, Spinelli knew that it was Nikolas. He could help.
Nikolas drove over to Fox Hollow. He had to get through to Aly. He couldn't let her wallow in the darkness. It wasn't going to help; it would only make it worse. He knew first-hand how awful being alone in the dark really was. He wanted to spare her that pain again, and couldn't see her reliving the darkness she experienced when her parents died. No one should go through that once in their lives, let alone twice. He wanted to tell her about his experience with Lucky, and what Lucky went through with his addiction, and how the meetings were helping him.
He pulled up to the house. Carter answered the door and told him that Aly was upstairs in her room. She didn't want to be disturbed. He told Carter not to worry, he wouldn't stay long, but he needed to check on Aly anyway. Carter headed back to the living quarters.
Nikolas headed upstairs towards her room and knocked at the door. "Aly? It's Nikolas. How are you doing, my friend?"
"Go away. I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't need anyone's help, I'm doing ok," she managed to get out, not much more than a whisper. She was trying to hold her voice steady. It took all the strength she had to do it.
"I'm here because I'm worried about you. I don't want to see you drowning yourself in the darkness, unable to find your way out. This isn't Aly, the strong-willed woman I know, the one I've grown to cherish. Right now, you are scared because you have to take a step and try to live one day at a time without something you want so badly. It won't be easy, but I will be here for you, every step of the way. I care about you," Nikolas said. He was trying to get to her.
"The strong-willed woman you know is gone. I don't know if or when I'll be that woman again. It's hard to do without something that you want so badly." She took a breath and was getting mad. "I care about you too," she started to yell at him; "I want those pills as much as you want Emily back. I understand that, Nikolas. It's hard on both of us. You need the surgery to go on with your life and live for your son. I don't see you rushing to get the surgery because you don't want to lose what you have left of Emily. Does this sound familiar? I'M NOT READY YET!!" she lashed out at him.
At that, Nikolas felt like Diego killed Emily all over again. He was hurting and he wanted it all to go away. He wanted to be back at Wyndemere with Emily. But all he could say to Aly was, "I'm leaving. I'll be back in a day or two to check on you."
Once he left, Aly stared out the window again, with tears streaming down her face. She didn't like people telling her what to do, even if it was one of her closest friends. She needed to do what she thought was right for herself. This was what she had to do right now.
Once outside, Nikolas got back into his car. He sat and thought for a minute; he wasn't sure if a blackout was coming on so he needed to stay put. 'Not now,' he willed the blackout to stop. 'I need to find Spinelli and get back home.' He was feeling better and started the car. He headed over to Kelly's, where he knew Spinelli would be. He relayed what happened and told Spinelli that Aly threw him out before he could tell her about Lucky and the meetings.
When Spinelli's attempt to have Nikolas intervene didn't work, he had one last option. Jason had a way with Aly like no one else. Their relationship was hard to describe. Because Aly was close to Elizabeth and she had helped Jason and Elizabeth find their way to be together, he felt indebted to her. But, there was more to it than that. She was now the closest thing he had to a sister since Emily was gone.
Jason went to Fox Hollow. He told Carter that he needed to see Aly, and he wasn't taking no for an answer. Carter got out of his way, as Jason went upstairs to her bedroom.
"Aly, open up," Jason demanded as he knocked on the door. He knew he was going to have to play hardball with her.
"Go away, Jason. I want to be alone," she said.
"That's what I hear, that you've been locked up alone in there for days. Let me in, let's talk," he calmly said.
She still refused. Then she heard the sound of the lock. She had enough light to stare at Jason as he entered the dark room.
"How'd you get in here? Get out! I don't want to talk about anything, I just want to be alone!" she yelled at him.
"I'm not going anywhere. You are going to talk to me whether you like it or not. You have a lot of people who love you and want to help you," he told her. He wasn't about to get into a shouting match with her. He needed to be calm and rational, and the one in control. He was holding all the cards now. He wasn't going to let her give up.
"I don't want their help. I don't need help. I'm fine."
"You aren't fine. You are far from fine," he answered her as he crossed the room. "Spinelli told me you haven't eaten in days. I see you've been dealing with your anger, that's good," he said as he picked up a piece of the broken vase.
She said nothing, but gave Jason a glare.
"Aly, I'm not going to let you do this to yourself. You are too good of a person to let it all go to hell. You have something to fight for. If you don't get your act together, I will personally take you to a rehab facility," he warned her.
"Are you threatening me?" she snapped at him, but a bit calmer than before.
"No, I'm promising you. I promise you, Aly; I will take you to a facility, whether it's Shadybrook or somewhere else, if you continue to refuse help. You will start going to meetings, eating and not keeping yourself locked up in this room. If you do that, you won't have anything to worry about."
She realized he meant every single word. He was right. She couldn't fight back the tears any longer. Jason hugged her, and she just let him. It was time to let go, feel again, and try to get past this and get back to her life.
Finally she pulled herself together, "I'm so embarrassed Jason," she admitted.
"Aly, you have no reason to feel embarrassed, especially in front of me. You are a sister to me, and that's what brothers and sisters do, we share the good times and the bad times. We are there for each other, and that's the way it will always be," he said sweetly to her. She would always be a constant reminder of the sister he lost and would always love. He knew he needed to do all he could for Aly.
"After everything I just put you through, yelling and pitching a fit, you are still here for me. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."
"It's not just me. Spinelli, Nikolas, we all care about you and want to see the old Aly back. We love her and miss her."
"Now I'm a mess," she was crying and laughing at the same time. She smiled her big smile and looked up at him. He was smiling back at her.
He hugged her again to let her know that everything was going to be all right. "Let me take you to a meeting, there's one in an hour," he offered.
"Ok. Let me do something with myself. I don't want to go like this. I'll be down in a few minutes," she said.
He left and went downstairs to talk with Spinelli.
"Stone Cold, how is my sister?"
"I got through to her. She is getting ready to go to the N/A meeting at the hospital shortly. I wasn't about to give in to her. If she wasn't going to give in, I was going to bring her to a rehab facility if I had to. It was at that point, she finally gave up."
"Many gratitudes to you," Spinelli said. "I am grateful that someone was able to reach her. I couldn't do so and even asked the Princely One to try, but she also threw him out."
"I want to see her better, just like you and Nikolas. She means a lot to all of us. We want to make sure she knows just how important she is to us."
"Yes, absolutely," he said.
While Jason and Spinelli talked downstairs, Aly sat down at her vanity. She took a deep breath before trying to make herself look presentable. She wiped away the streaks of mascara on her face that her tears had left behind. If only it were that easy to wipe away all the hurt she felt inside. She applied some makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw a faint spark of the old Aly. It will take time, but she will come back, she thought. Finally, she was ready to come down and face the world again.
Spinelli looked at Aly as she came down the stairs. She looked pretty, and even put some makeup on. "You look beautiful, my sister. It is good to see you out again."
"Thank you, Spinelli," she walked over and hugged him. "I'm going to the hospital for the N/A meeting with Jason. I'll see you later."
Jason took her to the hospital for the N/A meeting. She wasn't sure what to expect but she was hoping it would be ok. "Don't worry about picking me up, I'll call my brother," she told him. He nodded and gave her a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He walked her to the door and wished her well. She entered the room and found a seat. She looked around to see if there was anyone she knew. All she saw were people who seemed to be perfectly normal. That made her feel at ease. Maybe Jason was right, she didn't need to be embarrassed. Bad things happen to good people. Her embarrassment came back to hit her like a ton of bricks when she saw Lucky walk into the room. He spotted her in a flash and smiled at her.
"Aly, it's so good to see you. I've been expecting to see you here for a few days now," Lucky said as he sat down next to her. Aly was suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment and nervousness. She didn't know Lucky very well but there was something about him that she was attracted to. She was trying not to show it.
"I didn't expect to see you," she said.
"Really? I figured Nikolas would have told you," he said.
"I…I remember him saying something about Maxie, you and drugs, but I guess I didn't put it all together. It didn't occur to me that you'd be at a meeting," she said nervously.
Before he could say anything, the meeting got underway.
There were a lot of people who got up and told their stories. With each new story, Aly grew more interested in their experiences. By the time the meeting was over, she felt more relaxed than she had in days….well, as relaxed as she could be with Lucky still sitting next to her, she smiled to herself. She realized that she had to come to the next meeting, as long as she needed to, to get better. With the help and support of her family, friends and this group of people, she started to believe she could see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
As soon as the meeting ended, Lucky turned to Aly. He was proud of her for taking the first step and coming to the meeting. He knew how hard it must have been for her. But he also knew there was something about her that pulled him towards her, to find out more about her.
"Aly, I am proud of you. This is a big step. You are a strong woman, I know it and have seen it, and in time, you will see it again, too."
"It was tough for me but someone pushed me so hard that I couldn't push back, and I finally got here. But back to your question before the meeting… no, Nikolas didn't tell me that you were coming to these meetings…" she trailed off. Then she realized why Nikolas hadn't told her – she threw him out of Fox Hollow before he could. She felt awful. She knew she had to make it up to him, and to Spinelli. She hadn't been very nice to them.
"Would you care to join me for a cup of coffee at Kelly's? We can sit and talk for a while if you'd like," Lucky asked her.
"Hmm, you know, I think I've had enough social interaction for one day, I'm still not really feeling like myself. Can I take a rain check?" she wanted to go but if she was going to really get to know Lucky, she wanted to me more upbeat and today was not the day.
"I understand completely. A rain check it is then. See you soon," he said and gave her a big smile. That smile alone was enough to make her heart skip a beat. 'I can't believe Jason tried to make me go to rehab, I have all the rehab I need,' she thought.
She started to dial Spinelli but decided to take a cab instead. She thought to herself, 'if I get to see Lucky every week, the meetings will be worth my time,' she smiled at herself. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had something to look forward to.