Chapter 20

When Nikolas regained consciousness, several sensations assaulted him at once. His left arm felt as though it weighed a ton, and it ached dully. His head felt fuzzy, and his mouth was incredibly dry, his tongue like sandpaper as he tried to produce enough saliva to swallow. But the one sensation that drowned out all the others was the warmth pressing against his chest. Glancing down, he saw Emily slumped in the chair next to his bed, fast asleep, her head resting on his chest. She wore green scrubs, her hair hastily pulled back into a ponytail. One of her arms was looped over his waist, the other tucked under her body.

With his good hand, Nikolas reached out and gently brushed his knuckles against Emily's cheek. "Emily…" he rasped, his throat still dry.

Emily's eyes fluttered open and met Nikolas's. A look of relief came to her face. "Nikolas," she whispered, a smile lighting her face. "You're awake." She sat up, reaching out and gently touching his face. "I'm going to go get Dr. Carter to examine you. I'll be right back." She left the room, returning moments later followed by a middle-aged doctor.

"Mr. Cassadine, I'm Doug Carter, the trauma surgeon who operated on you. You were very lucky. The bullet passed through your shoulder without causing severe damage to any muscles or tissues, and we were able to patch it up nicely. There won't even be much of a scar. Everything looks good to me, so with some physical therapy, you should make a complete recovery."

"Thank you," Nikolas said, shaking the man's hand.

"You're welcome," Dr. Carter replied. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go check on another patient. Get some rest, Agent Cassadine. You've earned it."

As he left the room, Emily, who had been standing next to his bed, turned to him and took his hand. "Your family is outside waiting to see you. They've all been worried about you. Do you want me to go get them?"

"In a minute," Nikolas replied, tugging on her hand until she sat on the edge of the bed. "I just want to look at you for a while," he continued with a small smile, his eyes tracing her face. "How are you doing?" he asked with quiet concern.

"Much better now that you're awake," Emily answered with a smile. "I was allowed to observe your surgery, and it was a little touch and go for a while. You'd lost so much blood…" she trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, baby," Nikolas whispered, reaching up to touch her face. "I'm going to be okay because of you. You saved my life, Em."

"You saved mine," Emily whispered in reply, brushing the tears from her eyes.

"Then I guess we're even," Nikolas said softly. His eyes darkened. "Listen, baby…I'm so sorry that I didn't protect you better. I promised you that I wouldn't let Sonny get to you, and I failed you. He could have killed you…and it would have been all my fault," he continued, tears seeping from his eyes. "And I'm so sorry, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life keeping you safe."

Emily shook her head adamantly. "No, Nikolas. You didn't fail me. You found me when no one else could. You survived and came back to me, Nikolas. I don't blame you for anything that happened. Please don't blame yourself."

Nikolas stared at her, his eyes filled with love. "I love you so much," he whispered. "Come here." Cupping the back of her neck in his hand, he drew her to him until their lips met. Emily immediately responded to his kiss, her hands coming to rest on either side of his face as her mouth opened to his. A small moan escaped as they simultaneously deepened the kiss, their tongues tangling together.

Finally the need for air became overwhelming, and they ended the kiss. Emily sat with her forehead resting against Nikolas's, their eyes locked as Nikolas stroked her hair. "I love you, too," she said breathlessly.

A knock at the door interrupted the moment. Nikolas and Emily looked over to see Alexis, Lucky and Lulu standing at the door. "Nikolas!" Lulu exclaimed, running over to embrace her brother. "Are you okay?" she asked, greatly concerned.

Nikolas smiled at his little sister. "I'm fine, Lulu," he assured her. "Just a scratch."

Lucky rolled his eyes as he shook his brother's hand. "That's right, play it off as if a bullet isn't a big deal." He chuckled. "What a noble, princely thing to do."

"What can I say? I was very well brought up."

"Well, you'll just have to pass those manners on to your nephew. Liz would have come but Eric wouldn't stop crying. She wants you to know how happy she is you both are all right, and that she's thinking of you," Lucky replied, giving Emily a hug as well.

"I'm so glad you're going to be okay," Alexis told her nephew, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

"That makes two of us," Nikolas joked wryly.

"And you, too," Alexis added, embracing Emily. "Thank goodness Sonny didn't hurt you."

"Thanks, Alexis," Emily replied warmly. "But I'm fine." She glanced at Nikolas. "Nikolas saved me before Sonny could hurt me."

Alexis looked at her nephew. "You know, it's a wonder you were able to find Emily as quickly as you did. How on earth did you know to go to Wyndemere?"

"I think we would all like to know the answer to that," came the voice of Mac Scorpio from the doorway, followed by Aaron Spurlock.

"Hey, Lulu, why don't we go get a snack in the cafeteria?" Lucky suggested.

"Right," Lulu replied. "That's my cue to leave." She leaned down and hugged her brother. "Bye, Nikolas. I'm glad you're okay."

After Lucky and Lulu left the room, Nikolas turned to Mac and Spurlock. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

"We need a statement from you about what happened earlier with Sonny. Let's start with when you escaped from the hospital in violation of a direct order," Spurlock suggested sternly.

Nikolas nodded. "First off, Officer Barrett shouldn't be held responsible for my escape. I persuaded him to let me escape. Once I was out of the hospital, I headed to the docks. I was trying to figure out where Sonny had taken Emily."

"What made you decide to go to Wyndemere?" Mac interjected.

Nikolas paused for a moment, debating whether or not to divulge how Emily had appeared to him and told him where she was. He still couldn't quite believe it himself. "It was just a hunch, I guess," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "A feeling. I knew Sonny would take Emily somewhere nobody would think to look for him, and Wyndemere seemed as good a place as any."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Spurlock asked next.

Nikolas shrugged. "Well, sir, you warned me not to contact the police. I figured if you didn't want me in the field, you wouldn't want me talking to the PCPD, either. Besides, I didn't want to waste valuable resources if my hunch turned out to be a dead end. Once I arrived at Spoon Island and realized Emily was in fact there, I called the police and told them my location."

"What happened next? How did you get into Wyndemere without being seen?" Spurlock questioned.

"I used to live there. I know all those tunnels and passageways blindfolded. I was able to move around undetected. Sonny was so confident nobody would look for them there that he had no extra security. When I found Emily, I was able to sneak in and release her without being seen."

"So you untie Ms. Quartermaine, start to escape, and then Sonny shows up?" Spurlock continued.

Nikolas nodded. "Emily's legs were weak from lack of circulation, so I was supporting her as we made our way to the tunnels. We were almost there when Sonny entered the room and pointed a gun at us. He made me drop my weapon and then started gloating about killing us, taunting us both."

"Taunting you about what?" Spurlock probed. "Your relationship with Ms. Quartermaine?"

Emily shifted uncomfortably as she stood next to Nikolas's bed, but Nikolas looked calmly at his superior. "Yes. Sonny asked us who was going to watch who die. He was so completely overconfident in his control that I was able to position myself in front of Emily and then get a shot off at him using a secondary weapon I had under my shirt before he tried to kill me."

"You fired only one shot at Sonny and still managed to kill him?" Mac asked incredulously. "How?"

"The Marines didn't train me to miss," Nikolas replied evenly. "Anyway, after Sonny shot me in the shoulder, I made sure he was dead and then Emily was trying to control my bleeding until the police arrived. Most of that part is a little hazy," he admitted. "I don't remember all of it."

Mac shook his head. "That's not necessary. Your version of events fits with Emily's." He turned to Alexis. "Am I right to assume that the District Attorney's office will not be pressing charges?"

Alexis nodded. "It will be ruled as a clean shooting. There will be no further investigation."

"Then I guess we're done here," Spurlock said, putting his notebook back in his breast pocket. "You will, of course, be facing further disciplinary actions from the Bureau for violating orders and breaking multiple protocols regarding relationships during an ongoing investigation," he told Nikolas. "Although, given the overall successful outcome, they might go easy on you."

"That's very kind of you, sir," Nikolas replied, "but I'm afraid it won't be necessary. I'm resigning from the FBI."

Emily stared at him in surprise, her eyes wide with shock. "Nikolas!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

Nikolas met her gaze. "I told you I wouldn't let my job get in the way, Emily. I'm not going to break that promise."

"We can discuss this further when you're out of the hospital," Spurlock said. "Until then, just focus on getting healthy again." He and Mac turned and left the room, leaving only Nikolas, Emily, and Alexis.

"Nikolas…" Emily began, but before she could continue, the door opened and Alan, Monica, AJ, Jason, Courtney, and Katie all entered the room.

"I'm very glad to see you're all right," Monica said, leaning down to give Nikolas a brief hug. "Thank you for bringing my daughter back to me," she whispered into his ear.

Alan shook Nikolas's hand. "Thank you," he said sincerely. Jason and AJ nodded in agreement.

Katie wiggled away form Courtney and ran to Nikolas's bedside, placing a handmade card on his lap. "I made you a get well soon card," she told him. "I hope it makes you feel better." She stretched up on tiptoe to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," Nikolas replied, seeing Emily smile at her niece. "I feel better already."

The group talked for a few more minutes before Nadine came in demanding, in a disturbingly perky way, that everyone leave because visiting hours were over and Nikolas needed rest. The assembled party said their goodbyes before Emily escorted them out of the room.

Minutes later, she returned to find Nikolas reading the card Katie had made for him. "Looks like you have an admirer," she observed with a smile. "Katie's pretty smitten with you."

"She's a cute kid," Nikolas agreed, setting the card down on the table next to his bed. He looked at Emily with a grin. "I thought visiting hours were over."

Emily continued to smile as she drew a chair close to his bed and sat. "One of the perks of having your father be Chief of Staff is that visiting hours don't apply to you."

Nikolas shook his head. "I'm not going to let you spend all night in that chair," he argued, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Well, I'm not going to leave you here by yourself," Emily countered. "You're stuck with me."

Nikolas smiled as he patted the mattress next to him. "I know. That's why, if you're going to stay, you're staying here." As Emily crawled onto the bed and situated herself in the crook of his arm, he leaned down and murmured, "And for the record, there's no one else I'd rather be stuck with for the rest of my life."

She looked at him. "Nikolas, about before…"

He cut her off by placing his fingers to her lips. "Shh…I told you that I wouldn't let anything stop us from being together, and I meant it."

"I just…I don't want you throwing your career away because of me," Emily whispered. "What will you do?"

"I don't know," Nikolas replied honestly. "Maybe I'll ask Mac for a job with the PCPD. Maybe I'll do something else entirely. All that matters is that we're together, Emily. After everything that's happened, being close to death, seeing you…I know our connection and our love is stronger than anything."

"What do you mean, 'seeing me?'" Emily asked curiously, looking up at him.

"I didn't tell Mac or Spurlock because I wasn't sure they would believe me, but when I was on the docks trying to figure out where Sonny had taken you, I swear I saw you, Em. You spoke to me and told me that you were at Wyndemere, and then you begged me to come find you. It was so real."

She looked at him, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I believe you, Nikolas. When I was all by myself, tied to that chair, I pictured you and tried to communicate with you. I thought those exact words," she admitted.

Nikolas kissed her forehead tenderly. "See, baby, that's how strong our connection is. We have to honor is above everything else." His lips moved to hers. "As long as we have each other, everything else will fall into place. I truly believe that."

"I do, too," Emily whispered in reply, snuggling closer into his side and draping an arm across his waist. She and Nikolas were alive and together, and that really was all that mattered. As she drifted off to sleep safe in her Prince's arms, she knew that they would face obstacles in the future, but as long as their love remained, it would see them through anything.

THE END