Note – I love this chapter. And thank you to everyone that's left me comments and sent me emails and PMs about how much they're enjoying this story. I really am, too. I can't believe it's about half over already.

The Right Girl 25

A week had passed and Nadine hadn't seen Johnny anywhere. In the back of her mind she considered it sort of a relief. His absence did her well and helped remind her of how things should be, and to not make things any more complicated than they had to be.

Now that she had time away from him, time to tamp down on anything 'complicated' that might threaten to arise, she had the time to miss him. There were no phone calls, no random run-ins at the hospital, no nights in front of the television, and no packages. She was coming off a shift with nothing to wait for her at home but a big bowl of her favorite cereal and her comfy couch. And maybe a ripped copy of Mr. Bean or something if she felt like it.

Elizabeth Webber had just started her shift when Nadine approached the hub. It was about the same time that the elevator doors opened and allowed Claudia Zacchara to enter the floor. Elizabeth looked up when she walked by the hub and glanced at Nadine. Claudia, too, turned to look at her.

Nadine opened her mouth, alarmingly close to asking about Johnny, then snapped it shut and stared blankly back. Claudia smirked and sauntered down the hall toward her father's suite.

Elizabeth's eyes were on her, and Nadine could tell she was concerned. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead managed a tight smile. Nikolas had asked her the same exact thing earlier this morning, and she'd even felt tempted to snap at him though he was the last person to possibly mean any harm by it. "I'm fine, really."

Elizabeth didn't appear convinced but she let it go either out of consideration for Nadine's feelings or the fact that Epiphany Johnson entered the hub just then and Elizabeth had to at least look like she was busy.

"Nurse Crowell, hand me the files for Mrs. Jeffries and Mr. Collins."

Nadine fumbled through the patient folders and finally managed to produce the requested ones as Epiphany frowned at her. "Uh, here we go. Oh, no, wait, that's not it. That's Mrs. Colins, not Mr. Collins. And…here. There you go."

Epiphany accepted the files but her stern look didn't soften. "Are you just finishing up a shift?"

"Yes."

"Maybe you should think twice about taking on the double-shift I saw you scheduled for," she replied, tucking the binders under her arm. "Go home, get some rest, and come back when you're better able to focus."

She would have argued and insisted that she was well enough to stay, but there was hardly any point in it. "I think I will. See you both tomorrow."

"Night, honey," Elizabeth called as Nadine hopped out of the hub. The friendly endearment surprised her, but her fellow nurse seemed to mean it in her concern. "Have a good night."

Leo had just finished showering and was standing in front of the mirror in nothing but his towel when she walked into the locker room. He noticed her as he spread gel through his curly hair and grinned lasciviously.

"Too bad I've already showered, otherwise I would have asked you to join me."

She grinned at that, more than used to his harmless innuendo and flirtation, and sat down on the bench to untie her shoes. "I'd scrub your back and you'd scrub my front, right? Isn't that how the line goes?"

Leo laughed and picked up his comb. "Something like that. So how are the ankle-biters these days?"

"Good. Leyla and I got to put on another puppet show today. Dr. Quartermaine even came and watched us with all the kids – she said we did a good job, so that was cute."

"That's good." He uncapped his deodorant and quickly applied it before tossing it back into his bag. "Say, I've been meaning to ask you…you been all right?"

God, if one more person asked her that, she was going to scream. "Yeah, why?"

"You've just seemed a little off-center lately, that's all. A little tired."

"I am tired," she insisted. "Just tired and tense. That's why I'm just going to go home and get some rest. Like everyone's been ordering me to," she added under her breath.

"Take a shower first," her friend suggested. "Seriously. You've got the time – take a hot, long shower and then change and get out of here. You'll feel much better for it."

He gave her one last smile and picked up his bag and scrubs to go change. "I'll see you later. I've got an arteriogram scheduled in twenty minutes."

"Night, Leo." She listened to him shuffle off and a few minutes later he was sprinting off to the OR. Her shoes were untied and sat on the floor in front of her, and Nadine couldn't help but eye the showers. The ones in the locker room really did get good pressure, and the hot water would probably help loosen her up. And there was certainly nothing wrong with taking a few minutes for herself now and then.

She felt much better by the time she climbed the stairs up to her apartment, her mail and her coat and her messenger bag in hand. Another quiet night at home with her cereal and her television and her thoughts.

She really ought to get a dog or something. Or maybe her Super would loan her one of his many cats.

She stepped onto the landing and jogged the rest of the way up, and that was when she saw it: a single envelope sticking out from under her door. It wasn't the normal box, but she had to hope that it was still something from him.

Nadine knelt on the floor, switching all of her possessions to the other hand, and pulled the envelope out. It bore only her name on the front, as always, and she tucked it in with the rest of her mail as she let herself into her apartment.

She dumped her coat and bag on one of her armchairs without switching on the lights and dropped the mail on her end table. Her affairs thus sorted, she left the lights off, decided to skip dinner, and poured herself a nice glass of wine instead. And with the moonlight streaming in through her large, bare windows, she settled down on her couch and reached for the plain envelope.

She inspected it for a few seconds, studying the way he wrote her name so neatly and evenly, then finally turned it over and pried it open. Inside she found a piece of paper – the note, obviously – folded around something else. When she shook it loose, she saw that it was a picture with a woman's neat cursive on the back: John, Maria, Claudia, Dominica.

Nadine turned the gray photograph over in her hands and found a very young Johnny staring solemnly back at her. His hair was as dark as ever and neatly parted, not arranged in his normal wind-tousled spikes. He wore dark shorts, a dress shirt with an ascot, and a little monogrammed jacket. He sat very close to a thin, gangly girl with two braids and big, thick glasses, their knees touching, and behind them stood two dark-haired women in elegantly understated dresses and matching dark eyes.

She stared at the picture for so long it was as if she expected the faces to come to life and talk to her. Finally, she reached for the note and gingerly unfolded it, not even brave enough to hazard a guess as to what he could possibly have to say to her this time.

This is one of very few pictures I have of the three most important women in my life: my mother Maria, my sister Claudia, and her mother Dominica. You seemed so certain that night on the bridge that there was good inside of me. If there is, it's because of these three women. But I'm also starting to think, and forgive me if this is too forward, that it's a little because of you, too.

JZ

She sat there, stunned, for longer than she realized. And it was only when she broke from her silent reverie that Nadine found her hand reaching, as if of its own volition, for the gilded box she always kept on her side table, always in sight.

She pulled it into her lap and coaxed it open, finding one of her own family photographs resting inside. She lifted it with trembling fingers and gazed down at the three smiling faces there. And then, for the first time in a long time since she'd let herself, Nadine Crowell dissolved into tears.

"What's going on?" Johnny walked into his sister's office, his eyes narrowed suspiciously when he found Claudia and Trevor standing by her desk. "Is this a meeting that I've been conveniently left out of?"

Claudia gritted her teeth as Trevor turned smoothly toward him. "Not at all, John. I wasn't telling your sister anything she doesn't already know."

"For the sake of argument, what exactly was it that you were telling her?"

His gray eyes darted back and forth between the siblings. "I was just telling her that her old friend Sonny Corinthos is still gunning for the waterfront properties and that things are going to get very dangerous soon if we don't act."

"I will act," Claudia informed, jabbing a finger at his chest. "Whatever needs to be done, John and I will take care of it. We don't need you sticking your nose in everything, Trevors. Now, get out."

"But I only thought-"

"If you only thought, you'd be a lot less annoying," she sniped, now pointing toward the door. "Get out before I throw you out."

The attorney grumbled under his breath, probably nothing too complimentary, and left the room. Claudia watched him go and rolled her eyes, sharing an exasperated look with her brother. "I should have had him shot months ago."

"Why haven't you?" Johnny asked dryly.

His sister made a face. "Listen to you, all death and gloom over here. But if you have to know, I haven't been able to shoot him yet because I'm still learning where he keeps everything. But don't worry." She tossed him a wink and moved behind her desk. "I'm a very quick learner."

"And are you hoping I'm not?"

She stopped, her back toward him. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you hoping that I'm not going to be able to learn this business well enough to take it over so that you'll have no choice but to remain in charge?"

When Claudia turned to face him, her bottomless eyes were sober and just a little sad. "Not at all, John. This business is yours. It's been yours since the moment you were born. I just want to make sure that it's free from Trevors's clutches so that you can run all of it the way you see fit."

She sat down on her leather chair and tented her fingers. "I don't know what it is, but you've been so damn mopey lately. So sullen and quiet. Are you – is there anything you want to talk about?"

He shook his head and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Not a thing."

"John…" She gripped the armrests of her chair and bit her lip. "The anniversary of your mom's death was just more than a week ago. I know it hit you hard, especially this year. If there's anything-"

"There's nothing," he repeated tightly.

Claudia snapped her mouth shut and, after staring at him in silence for a few seconds, reached for her right-hand drawer. "Well. In that case, I think I have something that might cheer you up."

She held out a letter with his name on it and waited for him to take it. "It came for you this morning. Trevors was prowling around, so I took it before he could see it and get curious."

Johnny took the letter from her without replying and turned it over in his hands, immediately recognizing her feminine scrawl. This was her reply to the picture he sent her, to the little note where he'd practically pored his heart out. Whatever this was, it had to be big.

Claudia watched him study the letter and without his noticing, came up behind him. "Can – Can I see it, too, John?"

He jumped a little at the sound of her voice and held the unopened letter to his chest, looking at her in surprise. Claudia swallowed and drew back a step, not wanting him to see how his reaction hurt her, and tried to give him some space.

"Never mind," she started, trying to smile. "It's okay, you don't have to share."

He cleared his throat gruffly, not having wanted to hurt her. "I, uh…"

Claudia looked up at him expectantly, hopeful that he might actually have something to say. "Yeah?"

"Nadine told me once that there was something good inside me, but I didn't really believe her. The only proof I had…" He tapped the envelope against his palm. "The only hope that there actually was something good inside me was a picture that I gave her."

She planted a hand on her hip and looked up at him. "What picture was it?"

"It was a picture of us and our mothers," Johnny replied softly.

Claudia's eyes softened, and she linked her fingers together at her waist and tipped her chin toward the unopened letter. "What did Nadine send you?"

He sucked in a deep breath and gently tore the envelope open, pulling out a photograph. Claudia leaned over his shoulder, her chin resting against his arm. Whereas she only recognized one blonde in the picture, Johnny knew the other two to be Jolene and the famous and pithy Aunt Rayleen.

He unfolded the note that came with it and began to read. "My Aunt Rayleen used to say that we're all created from God's goodness and when we form bonds with other people, we absorb their goodness and they ours, so that in the end we're all joined forever to those we're meant to be around and be with and we become seamless extensions of God's hopes for us."

Claudia couldn't help but smile. "Aunt Rayleen's a little verbose today."

Johnny's eyes glittered as he read on. "Being in medicine and seeing the things I see every day makes it hard for me to give my faith and trust over to a Supreme Being so willingly and easily; I'm told it comes with the territory. But sometimes, I can hear Aunt Rayleen's voice in my head saying all that, and it's just a little easier to believe."

"NC," Claudia finished. She looked up at her brother, who was still staring at the pictures in wonder, and rose on her toes to kiss his forehead before slowly walking out of the room.