"Nurse Miller?"
The nurse turned around from her spot at the Nurses Station and found
herself face to face with Carly Cassadine. Flustered, she dropped the
folder she was holding. She stooped down to picked it up. As she was
stuffing the papers back into the folder she stammered, "Oh! Uh, Miss
Cassadine, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes, Nurse Miller, there is." Carly smiled slyly. Carly glanced around
before saying, "I understand that you and Dr. Wexler share a stormy
relationship?" Carly had gotten this information from her file on Karen. It
was amazing how many people that woman had ticked off.
Nurse Miller gave her a guarded look. "Yes, that is true…"
"Relax Nurse Miller, I'm no fan of Dr. Wexler either."
"Well," The nurse smiled for the first time since the conversation began,
"Call me Lorraine then."
"I'm going to need your help, Lorraine."
Interested, she asked. "With what?"
"Taking down Karen Wexler."
"Okay." Lorraine readily accepted the challenge.
Carly was taken aback at how quickly Lorraine had agreed with absolutely no
reservations. "That was fast."
"I hate that woman." She said simply. "What do you need me to do?"
"We're going to set her up." Carly reached into her purse and pulled out a
pill bottle. She held it up for Lorraine to see. "I need you to plant these
on her. If you can get anything more, great, use those too."
Lorraine took the pills from her and studied it. "We're making it look like
she's using? I can find something a little more damaging than these but
they are a start. Anything else?"
"Just get the word around that you're 'worried' about her. That you think
something's wrong. Mention seeing the pills, mention that she messed up a
few patients' charts, do things like that. Change a few charts if you have
to but do not put too many people in danger."
"Wait, if I start talking about being concerned about Karen people are
bound to know that something's up."
"Do it casually to someone you trust. Say it in front of Amy Vining but act
like it's a secret. Amy will take care of the rest. You can change a few
details, whatever, but the outcome must be the same."
Lorraine nodded. "And what is that?"
"Karen's going to lose her job and her life will be, in a word, ruined."
"Remind me not to get your way, Carly."
"Call me Ms. Cassadine." Carly corrected her. "Remember, you tell anyone
about this and what will happen to you will much, much worse."
~*~*~
Nikolas picked up the phone and then put it back down again. He'd done this
several times already. He knew he had to make the call but he couldn't
bring himself to do it. He was ashamed that he let it go this long. The
last time he spoke to his adoptive mother was months ago. It was wrong; she
didn't deserve that kind of treatment after all that she and her family did
for him.
This time when he picked up the phone he started to dial. The phone was
answered after a few rings. "Hello?"
"Hello? Mama?" Nikolas lapsed into Greek.
"Nikolas? Is that you?" Irena cried.
"Yes, it's me. I'm sorry for not calling sooner."
"Don't *ever* do that to me again." Irena said sternly. "Do you have any
idea how worried I was? I had no idea if you were dead or hurt or
anything."
"I'm sorry." Nikolas said again but Irena wasn't through.
"If it weren't for Mr. Cassadine I'd still be going crazy with worry."
"Mr. Cassadine?" Nikolas repeated. "Stefan Cassadine talked to you?"
"Yes, he came to the island. He told me what you are doing in America." Her
tone was faintly disapproving. "I thought you went to find your mother."
"I did but Mama, I found more than that. Why didn't you tell me about the
Cassadines?"
"I wasn't supposed to. It's all very complicated." She told him with a
sigh.
Nikolas understood, it probably had to do with Helena. "Once I come into
the Cassadine fortune I'm sending for you and Papa, and the rest of the
family. I miss you all."
"Come to America?"
"Yes, it will be fun."
"Who are you talking to?" Helena asked from behind Nikolas. He hadn't heard
her enter.
He said over his shoulder, "My mother, Irena."
"Give me the phone Nikolas." Helena commanded.
Frowning, Nikolas gave it to her. Helena snapped into the phone. "Mrs.
Markopoulos, you are to no longer have contact with the Prince. Do you
understand me?"
"You can't do that." Nikolas protested. "You have no right."
"I have every right." Helena said as she hung up on Irena.
"You can't just cut me off from my family like that."
"I can and I will." Helena's tone softened as she stared at Nikolas. She
cupped his face in her hands. "Don't you understand? The Markopoulos were
never your true family. I'm your family and I'm all you need."
Nikolas took a step back. "You can talk all you want but when those DNA
tests come back I'll be making the decisions around here about who I can
and cannot see. Do *you* understand me?"
Allowing her hands to fall to her side, Helena regarded him with a
condescending smile. She murmured. "Of course, my prince."
Nikolas ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going out for a while."
"When will you return?"
Nikolas shrugged, "I don't know. When I feel like it?"
As Nikolas left the suite, Andreas entered. He immediately noted the look
on Helena's face. "Madam?"
"He grows more and more impudent." Helena fumed. "However once the results
come in, he will discover exactly who is under whose thumb."
~*~*~
"Geez, what happened to Karen?" Chris cracked that afternoon when he caught
up with Jason in GH. They were walking down the hall together. "She looks
like she got run over by a bus and then had to drive it all night to
Florida."
"I haven't seen her." Jason replied stiffly.
"Something bad must have happened. Go find out, she'll tell you." Chris
insisted.
"If you want to know what's wrong with her, ask her yourself." Jason
snapped.
Chris lifted his eyebrow. "Calm down, I was just saying—"
"I don't care what you were just saying," Jason said, "I don't want to talk
about Karen anymore."
"Okay, okay. So how's Carly handling this whole long lost Prince thing? I
heard about the DNA tests."
Jason clenched his jaw. Of course Chris would want to talk about the two
people Jason least wanted to discuss. "I wouldn't know."
"You guys fighting or something?"
"No, we, uh, we broke up."
"Really? Why?"
"None of your business, Chris." Jason said in a tone that warned Chris not
to push it.
"Sorry. Well, too bad about that." Chris said awkwardly.
Jason glanced at him. "You didn't even like her."
"Yeah but you did." Chris shrugged.
~*~*~
Carly was just returning from a meeting when she saw Emily waiting for her
outside her office. "Emily, hi, come on in."
"I'm sorry for dropping in like this but…"
"No, it's fine. Go inside and take a seat. I'll be right with you." Carly
waved her in. Then she turned to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, I need you to call
my wedding coordinator and have her cancel everything. Tell her that she
will be paid for her services so far. Get a hold of a real estate agent. I
want to move out of the hotel. I'm not looking for a house, just an
apartment somewhere. With a good view."
Elizabeth nodded along as she made herself notes. "Is that it?"
"For now. If I remember anything else, I'll let you know." Carly walked
into her office and closed the door behind her. Emily was already seated
in front of the desk. "I think I know why you're here."
"Jason called Mom and she broke the news to us over dinner last night."
Emily told her. "Is it true?"
"I'm sorry, Emily but yes. Jason and I aren't getting married and we
decided to end our relationship."
"Maybe this is like a case of cold feet? You guys can't be breaking up."
"Emily, it's over." Carly shrugged.
She frowned. "You're being kind of cold about this."
"I'm not going to sit around and cry about this, Emily, you know that's not
my style. I accept this and you should too."
"I was looking forward to you being my sister-in-law. You guys seemed so
right for each other." Emily smiled weakly. "So there's no chance of
reconciliation?"
Carly shook her head. "I'm pretty sure Jason wouldn't be up for that."
"This is Jason's fault?" Emily's eyes widened.
"It was no one's fault." Carly told her. No one but Karen Wexler. Carly
allowed a small frown before smiling gently at Emily. "Sometimes these
things happen."
"I guess…" Emily stared at the floor. "I told Lucky about Nikolas."
Not bothered by the rapid switch in topics, Carly said, "He didn't take it
well?"
"He hates me!" Emily cried.
"I doubt that he *hates* you." Carly said.
"Lucky has this thing about trust, okay, and I broke his trust. As soon as
I told him about Nikolas he left and when I try to call him, he won't
answer the phone. I don't think he ever wants to see me again."
"He probably needs some time to calm down and take stock of the situation.
Once he does everything will be all right. And if isn't I'll kick his butt
for you." Carly offered with a smile.
~*~*~
"Okay, you two, we need to talk." Laura stood in front of Luke and Lucky.
She'd just come back from dropping Lulu off at Lesley's place. She placed
her hands on her hips and glared at them.
Luke glanced at Lucky before saying, "Something wrong darlin'?"
"You know exactly what's wrong. I want both of you to stop it."
"Stop want, Mom?" Lucky asked innocently.
"I want you guys to stop telling Lulu that Nikolas is the enemy. He is
not." She fumed. "He is my son."
Luke groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not this again."
"Yes, this again. I just got a lecture from my *daughter* on trusting the
family and only the family. Stop filling her head with that nonsense,
Luke."
"It's the truth. You want to let the Cassadines play with your head? Fine.
But our daughter is going to be protected."
"You're not protecting her, you're confusing her." Laura told him.
Seeing the look in his mother eye's Lucky tried to warn him, "Dad…"
But Luke didn't need a warning. He threw his hands up in the air, "You want
me to stop, fine! But I'm not going to tell her that he's her brother. I'm
not going to support this."
Luke jerked open the door. "I'm going to the club." He tossed over his
shoulder before the slammed after him. Laura groaned and ran her hands
through her hair, struggling for patience.
"Mom, I'm sorry for what's been going on."
Laura sighed. "No, I understand. It's your father's way but…"
"He's just looking out for Lulu."
"I know that."
Lucky continued. "I shouldn't have gone along with it but…"
"Lucky, stop, it's okay." Laura scowled. "I don't know why I'm letting this
bother me so much. I know I'm right and when the results come back so will
everyone else."
Lucky wisely didn't say anything. He just nodded.
"Oh and before I forget, Emily called looking for you. She sounded
worried."
"Thanks." Lucky muttered.
"Is there something wrong between you two?" Laura asked in concern.
"Yeah, you could say that." Lucky muttered. "She told something that…it was
about Nikolas."
Laura lifted an eyebrow. "Oh she finally told you?"
"You knew also?" Lucky exclaimed.
Laura glanced at him guiltily. She hadn't meant to tell him that. "Yes, I
saw them together once before the press conference."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"At the time I didn't think there was anything *to* tell. But once we found
out about Nikolas, I urged Emily to tell you."
Lucky frowned. "You pressured Emily into telling me?"
Laura shrugged. "I told her if she didn't, I would."
"And that's the only reason she told me anything. She didn't want me to
hear it from you." Lucky murmured.
"I'm sorry about this whole thing, Lucky."
"Forget it." Lucky told her.
"I didn't want to cause trouble for you and Emily."
"You didn't do anything, Mom. Thanks for looking out for me." Lucky told
her. He started for the door. "I have to get to Kelly's. I'll talk to you
later."
~*~*~
"Emily!" Nikolas called out. He couldn't believe he could be so lucky. He'd
been walking through the park when he spotted her. Forgetting his promise
to stay away from her he quickly went to her.
Once he was close enough, Emily pulled her fist back and punched him in the
stomach. He doubled over in pain. He didn't know she could hit so hard.
"What," he wheezed, "was that for?"
"It's because of you, Lucky will never trust me again. He probably wants to
call off the engagement and everything!"
Not bothering to hide his smile, Nikolas looked at her. "What happened?"
"This is not funny so stop smiling." Emily's lower lip began to tremble. "I
wish I had never met you."
Nikolas realized that Emily was very upset. He stopped smiling and touched
her on arm. "What happened?"
"You." She pointed at him. "You happened. If you hadn't…confused me I
wouldn't have lied to Lucky."
"I didn't make you lie to Lucky." Nikolas said gently. "That was all you."
"But it was because of you." Emily said lamely. She wanted to shift all the
blame on Nikolas in order to ease her guilt. She stared at the ground.
"Okay, it was all my fault but you played a big part in it…somewhere."
His curiosity getting to him, Nikolas had to ask, "So Lucky knows…"
"About you and me. Well, about the fact that there was no you and me."
Emily quickly said. "Anyway, Lucky is mad at me because I kept you a
secret."
"Mad enough to break up with you?" Nikolas asked hopefully.
Emily narrowed her eyes. "That would make you very happy, wouldn't it?"
Nikolas caressed her cheek with one finger and said softly. "Ecstatic."
Emily brushed away his hand. "Stop. I told you that I couldn't see you
again."
"I know that."
"And yet you still…" Emily looked away.
"Emily, you know I can't stay away."
"You didn't even try!" She cried. "I saw you first and I was walking away
when you called out to me."
Nikolas buried the hurt he felt at that. "Yeah but you still stopped and
waited for me."
"That's not the point."
"That *is* the point." Nikolas grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.
Emily didn't try to stop him. "If Lucky doesn't want to be with you anymore
because of a little secret then maybe—"
"You don't understand about Lucky."
"That's right." Nikolas said softly. "I don't and right now I don't really
care."
"Nikolas…"
"Why put yourself through this, Emily?" Nikolas asked. "If he's foolish
enough to let you go then let him. You don't need him."
Emily arched an eyebrow. "But I need you?"
He shook his head and smiled. "I doubt that. It's the other way around,
Emily, I need you." He toyed with a strand of her hair. He leaned forward
until their faces were inches apart. He stared into her eyes. "Things are
just so… the wait for the results is being intolerable. And Helena…that
woman is driving me nuts."
"I don't want to hear about you and Helena." Emily murmured.
Encouraged by this, Nikolas nodded. "We don't have to talk about her. Let's
forget about everything else but you and me."
"There is no you and me." Emily stressed. She felt like she going around in
circles with him.
"But there could be." Nikolas told her. He took her hand and placed it over
his heart. "Do you feel that? You do that to me, Emily. Let everything go
and take a chance. Forget about Lucky, forget about the DNA test and who I
am and just concentrate on this feeling. I'm not the only one feeling
this."
Emily couldn't look him in the eye. He was so passionate about this, so
sure of himself… She let her fingers curl into his shirt. "I should go."
"No." Nikolas said strongly. He let her walk out on him once; he wasn't
going to do it again. He cupped her face in his hand and bent his head. The
kiss was soft and tentative. Nikolas closed his eyes as he let himself
become accustomed to her taste. And then he felt the tears.
He slowly opened his eyes. Emily was staring up at him, tears slipping down
her cheeks. He raised his head. "Emily…"
"I have to…I have to go." Emily managed to squeak out before breaking away
from him and running away.
~*~*~
Carly knew she would find Lucky at Kelly's so once again she was running
over there on her lunch break. Lucky was behind the counter handing a
customer her change. He briefly glanced in Carly's direction then continued
to tell the woman to have a nice day. He picked up a rag and started to
wipe down the counter as Carly came over.
Carly sat down on a stool and stared at Lucky expectantly. "Hello cousin."
"Emily sent you?" Lucky said without looking up from the counter.
Sensing that Lucky wasn't in the mood to exchange pleasantries Carly
plunged ahead. "Emily didn't send me. She'd be really upset with me if she
knew I was even talking to you about this."
Lucky stopped wiping the counter and stared at her. "Then why are you
here?"
"Because you are being an idiot." Carly said cheerfully.
Lucky scowled and started wiping the counter again, this time furiously.
"You don't what the hell you're talking about, Carly, so stay out of this."
"Emily lied, I get that. You're hurt, I get that too. But don't cut her out
of your life over this."
"I haven't 'cut her out of my life'." Lucky said. "I just needed some space
to think."
"Well you're driving her nuts." Carly told him. "She thinks you're going to
break up with her. Stop and think about her feelings Lucky."
"Her feelings?" Lucky repeated, "Her feelings? We made a promise to each
other after…we said no more secrets. And now you want me to think about her
feelings after she was running around with some other guy?"
"She wasn't running around with him." Carly said. "And you have to admit
she got a raw deal out of all this."
Lucky looked at her warily, "What do you mean?"
"I mean first she can't stop running into the guy and then she finds out
that it was on purpose because he was using her and then she tells you
about it and you turn your back on her."
"Wait a second, back up." Lucky narrowed his eyes. "He was using her?"
"Emily, didn't tell you?" Carly frowned. Why wouldn't Emily tell him
something like that?
"No, she didn't. Why don't you tell me what really went on?"
"From what Emily told me, he deliberately went after her. He was going to
use her as a way to get at my family and yours. But then he changed the
plan." Carly shrugged.
"He went after Emily." Lucky said slowly.
"Yes." Carly pulled out a business card and a pen. She started to scribble
something on the back.
Lucky threw down the rag and started around the counter. "He is a dead
man."
"Wait! You might need this." Carly gave him the card.
Lucky didn't even look at it. "What's this?"
"The hotel where he's staying at and his room number." Carly smiled.
~*~*~
Nikolas slowly made his way down the hall towards his suite. He was
thinking about Emily and how he messed things up.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." He muttered. "Why did you push her? You were so
close and now—stupid!"
Nikolas was so intent on criticizing himself that he didn't even see Lucky
come up behind him. Lucky launched himself at Nikolas, throwing him up
against the wall.
"Hey!" Nikolas cried out. He tried to move but Lucky had him pined against
the wall. He had no idea Lucky was so strong.
"Shut up, just shut up!" Lucky gritted out. "You couldn't be content with
wrecking just my family's life you just had to go after Emily."
"What? What are you talking about?" Nikolas said confused.
"I said shut up! I know all about what you did to Emily."
Nikolas frowned. She told him? Lucky knew about the kiss in the park? "She
told you already?"
"She told me about you but for some reason she didn't anything about you
trying to use her. I had to hear about that from Carly."
"Oh." Nikolas said, momentarily relieved. "Look, I wasn't going to—"
"Don't bother. Just stay the hell away from Emily or so help me…" Lucky
released him.
Nikolas turned around, straightening his clothes. "Lucky—"
Lucky cut him off. He pointed and glared at him. "Stay away from her."
"The way you're staying away from her and hurting her? I saw her today and
she's all broken up over you. You don't give a damn about her because if
you did, you wouldn't be throwing her away."
"You don't know anything about Emily and me."
"I know she deserves better than you." Nikolas said arrogantly.
Lucky narrowed his eyes. Nikolas couldn't be… Lucky shook his head, no,
that was ridiculous. "Just…just leave her alone." He said before walking
away.
~*~*~
Karen had the distinct feeling that she was being watched but by whom she
didn't know. She was standing outside a patient's room filling out a chart.
There it was again, the feeling. She slowly started to turn her head and
then at the last minute whipped around. But there was no one there. She was
alone.
She shrugged, maybe it was nothing. She went back to the chart. The feeling
came again. She tried the head thing again and this time when she whirled
around she shouted, "A-ha!"
Alan Quartermaine stared at her. "Are you okay?"
"Dr. Quartermaine! I'm sorry, I thought… Did you see anyone just now?"
Karen looked around him and then over her shoulder.
"No…" Alan said slowly. "You don't look okay. I think you should go get
some rest."
"Rest." Karen repeated. She rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, I could use some
rest."
Ever since she made a total fool of herself over Jason, Karen hadn't been
sleeping well. She stayed up at night berating herself for letting Jason
use her the way he did. How could she have been so stupid to believe that
he would fall for her, just like that. She should have let a little time go
by before making her move. Well that was a mistake she wouldn't repeat.
She also worried about what Carly was going to do to her. Carly Cassadine
didn't make idle threats. Carly's threat was making her jumpy. It would
explain why she thought she was being watched, Karen reasoned.
Alan took her by the arm. "Why don't we go get you a cup of coffee?"
"That would be…that would nice." Karen nodded. Even as Alan was leading
her down the hall, Karen glanced over her shoulder.
"Did you see that?" Lorraine asked another nurse as they came from out of
their hiding spot. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amy coming down the
hall. Perfect timing, she thought.
"I thought she was going to attack Dr. Quartermaine." The nurse laughed.
"What is up with her?"
"I don't know. Karen's been looking horrible." Lorraine said. "And Sally, I
bet she didn't fill out that form correctly. The other day I had to go
behind her twice and correct her mistakes."
Sally frowned. "This is kind of serious."
"Yeah and um, "Lorraine began reluctantly, "I know this will sound bad
coming from me, knowing my history with her but…I think she's using."
"What? Ok, Lorraine, you are making that up."
Lorraine raised her hands in innocence. "I didn't want to say anything for
the longest time because of that reaction but Sally, you know me. I
wouldn't spread false rumors around about something so serious."
Sally lowered her voice, "So you really think she's using?"
Not bothering to lower her own voice, Lorraine said, "I don't think so, I
know so. Have seen the way she's been acting lately? All jumpy and she
looks like she doesn't get any sleep at night."
"Oh that could be anything…"
"And what about the fact that I saw her take a bottle of pills from the
hospital? She took a handful here and then put the rest in her pocket."
Lorraine could hear a small gasp from behind them. She fought back a smile.
Oh yeah, Amy was going take this and run with it.
"That could have been aspirin." Sally said though it was clear that even
she was having tough time believing her own excuse.
"*And* the other day, I saw her meeting with this really scruffy guy right
here in the hospital. He gave her something, she gave him a wad of cash."
Lorraine wiggled her eyebrows in suggestion.
"Oh my God." Sally gasped. "Karen Wexler *is* on drugs!"
The nurse turned around from her spot at the Nurses Station and found
herself face to face with Carly Cassadine. Flustered, she dropped the
folder she was holding. She stooped down to picked it up. As she was
stuffing the papers back into the folder she stammered, "Oh! Uh, Miss
Cassadine, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes, Nurse Miller, there is." Carly smiled slyly. Carly glanced around
before saying, "I understand that you and Dr. Wexler share a stormy
relationship?" Carly had gotten this information from her file on Karen. It
was amazing how many people that woman had ticked off.
Nurse Miller gave her a guarded look. "Yes, that is true…"
"Relax Nurse Miller, I'm no fan of Dr. Wexler either."
"Well," The nurse smiled for the first time since the conversation began,
"Call me Lorraine then."
"I'm going to need your help, Lorraine."
Interested, she asked. "With what?"
"Taking down Karen Wexler."
"Okay." Lorraine readily accepted the challenge.
Carly was taken aback at how quickly Lorraine had agreed with absolutely no
reservations. "That was fast."
"I hate that woman." She said simply. "What do you need me to do?"
"We're going to set her up." Carly reached into her purse and pulled out a
pill bottle. She held it up for Lorraine to see. "I need you to plant these
on her. If you can get anything more, great, use those too."
Lorraine took the pills from her and studied it. "We're making it look like
she's using? I can find something a little more damaging than these but
they are a start. Anything else?"
"Just get the word around that you're 'worried' about her. That you think
something's wrong. Mention seeing the pills, mention that she messed up a
few patients' charts, do things like that. Change a few charts if you have
to but do not put too many people in danger."
"Wait, if I start talking about being concerned about Karen people are
bound to know that something's up."
"Do it casually to someone you trust. Say it in front of Amy Vining but act
like it's a secret. Amy will take care of the rest. You can change a few
details, whatever, but the outcome must be the same."
Lorraine nodded. "And what is that?"
"Karen's going to lose her job and her life will be, in a word, ruined."
"Remind me not to get your way, Carly."
"Call me Ms. Cassadine." Carly corrected her. "Remember, you tell anyone
about this and what will happen to you will much, much worse."
~*~*~
Nikolas picked up the phone and then put it back down again. He'd done this
several times already. He knew he had to make the call but he couldn't
bring himself to do it. He was ashamed that he let it go this long. The
last time he spoke to his adoptive mother was months ago. It was wrong; she
didn't deserve that kind of treatment after all that she and her family did
for him.
This time when he picked up the phone he started to dial. The phone was
answered after a few rings. "Hello?"
"Hello? Mama?" Nikolas lapsed into Greek.
"Nikolas? Is that you?" Irena cried.
"Yes, it's me. I'm sorry for not calling sooner."
"Don't *ever* do that to me again." Irena said sternly. "Do you have any
idea how worried I was? I had no idea if you were dead or hurt or
anything."
"I'm sorry." Nikolas said again but Irena wasn't through.
"If it weren't for Mr. Cassadine I'd still be going crazy with worry."
"Mr. Cassadine?" Nikolas repeated. "Stefan Cassadine talked to you?"
"Yes, he came to the island. He told me what you are doing in America." Her
tone was faintly disapproving. "I thought you went to find your mother."
"I did but Mama, I found more than that. Why didn't you tell me about the
Cassadines?"
"I wasn't supposed to. It's all very complicated." She told him with a
sigh.
Nikolas understood, it probably had to do with Helena. "Once I come into
the Cassadine fortune I'm sending for you and Papa, and the rest of the
family. I miss you all."
"Come to America?"
"Yes, it will be fun."
"Who are you talking to?" Helena asked from behind Nikolas. He hadn't heard
her enter.
He said over his shoulder, "My mother, Irena."
"Give me the phone Nikolas." Helena commanded.
Frowning, Nikolas gave it to her. Helena snapped into the phone. "Mrs.
Markopoulos, you are to no longer have contact with the Prince. Do you
understand me?"
"You can't do that." Nikolas protested. "You have no right."
"I have every right." Helena said as she hung up on Irena.
"You can't just cut me off from my family like that."
"I can and I will." Helena's tone softened as she stared at Nikolas. She
cupped his face in her hands. "Don't you understand? The Markopoulos were
never your true family. I'm your family and I'm all you need."
Nikolas took a step back. "You can talk all you want but when those DNA
tests come back I'll be making the decisions around here about who I can
and cannot see. Do *you* understand me?"
Allowing her hands to fall to her side, Helena regarded him with a
condescending smile. She murmured. "Of course, my prince."
Nikolas ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going out for a while."
"When will you return?"
Nikolas shrugged, "I don't know. When I feel like it?"
As Nikolas left the suite, Andreas entered. He immediately noted the look
on Helena's face. "Madam?"
"He grows more and more impudent." Helena fumed. "However once the results
come in, he will discover exactly who is under whose thumb."
~*~*~
"Geez, what happened to Karen?" Chris cracked that afternoon when he caught
up with Jason in GH. They were walking down the hall together. "She looks
like she got run over by a bus and then had to drive it all night to
Florida."
"I haven't seen her." Jason replied stiffly.
"Something bad must have happened. Go find out, she'll tell you." Chris
insisted.
"If you want to know what's wrong with her, ask her yourself." Jason
snapped.
Chris lifted his eyebrow. "Calm down, I was just saying—"
"I don't care what you were just saying," Jason said, "I don't want to talk
about Karen anymore."
"Okay, okay. So how's Carly handling this whole long lost Prince thing? I
heard about the DNA tests."
Jason clenched his jaw. Of course Chris would want to talk about the two
people Jason least wanted to discuss. "I wouldn't know."
"You guys fighting or something?"
"No, we, uh, we broke up."
"Really? Why?"
"None of your business, Chris." Jason said in a tone that warned Chris not
to push it.
"Sorry. Well, too bad about that." Chris said awkwardly.
Jason glanced at him. "You didn't even like her."
"Yeah but you did." Chris shrugged.
~*~*~
Carly was just returning from a meeting when she saw Emily waiting for her
outside her office. "Emily, hi, come on in."
"I'm sorry for dropping in like this but…"
"No, it's fine. Go inside and take a seat. I'll be right with you." Carly
waved her in. Then she turned to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, I need you to call
my wedding coordinator and have her cancel everything. Tell her that she
will be paid for her services so far. Get a hold of a real estate agent. I
want to move out of the hotel. I'm not looking for a house, just an
apartment somewhere. With a good view."
Elizabeth nodded along as she made herself notes. "Is that it?"
"For now. If I remember anything else, I'll let you know." Carly walked
into her office and closed the door behind her. Emily was already seated
in front of the desk. "I think I know why you're here."
"Jason called Mom and she broke the news to us over dinner last night."
Emily told her. "Is it true?"
"I'm sorry, Emily but yes. Jason and I aren't getting married and we
decided to end our relationship."
"Maybe this is like a case of cold feet? You guys can't be breaking up."
"Emily, it's over." Carly shrugged.
She frowned. "You're being kind of cold about this."
"I'm not going to sit around and cry about this, Emily, you know that's not
my style. I accept this and you should too."
"I was looking forward to you being my sister-in-law. You guys seemed so
right for each other." Emily smiled weakly. "So there's no chance of
reconciliation?"
Carly shook her head. "I'm pretty sure Jason wouldn't be up for that."
"This is Jason's fault?" Emily's eyes widened.
"It was no one's fault." Carly told her. No one but Karen Wexler. Carly
allowed a small frown before smiling gently at Emily. "Sometimes these
things happen."
"I guess…" Emily stared at the floor. "I told Lucky about Nikolas."
Not bothered by the rapid switch in topics, Carly said, "He didn't take it
well?"
"He hates me!" Emily cried.
"I doubt that he *hates* you." Carly said.
"Lucky has this thing about trust, okay, and I broke his trust. As soon as
I told him about Nikolas he left and when I try to call him, he won't
answer the phone. I don't think he ever wants to see me again."
"He probably needs some time to calm down and take stock of the situation.
Once he does everything will be all right. And if isn't I'll kick his butt
for you." Carly offered with a smile.
~*~*~
"Okay, you two, we need to talk." Laura stood in front of Luke and Lucky.
She'd just come back from dropping Lulu off at Lesley's place. She placed
her hands on her hips and glared at them.
Luke glanced at Lucky before saying, "Something wrong darlin'?"
"You know exactly what's wrong. I want both of you to stop it."
"Stop want, Mom?" Lucky asked innocently.
"I want you guys to stop telling Lulu that Nikolas is the enemy. He is
not." She fumed. "He is my son."
Luke groaned and rolled his eyes. "Not this again."
"Yes, this again. I just got a lecture from my *daughter* on trusting the
family and only the family. Stop filling her head with that nonsense,
Luke."
"It's the truth. You want to let the Cassadines play with your head? Fine.
But our daughter is going to be protected."
"You're not protecting her, you're confusing her." Laura told him.
Seeing the look in his mother eye's Lucky tried to warn him, "Dad…"
But Luke didn't need a warning. He threw his hands up in the air, "You want
me to stop, fine! But I'm not going to tell her that he's her brother. I'm
not going to support this."
Luke jerked open the door. "I'm going to the club." He tossed over his
shoulder before the slammed after him. Laura groaned and ran her hands
through her hair, struggling for patience.
"Mom, I'm sorry for what's been going on."
Laura sighed. "No, I understand. It's your father's way but…"
"He's just looking out for Lulu."
"I know that."
Lucky continued. "I shouldn't have gone along with it but…"
"Lucky, stop, it's okay." Laura scowled. "I don't know why I'm letting this
bother me so much. I know I'm right and when the results come back so will
everyone else."
Lucky wisely didn't say anything. He just nodded.
"Oh and before I forget, Emily called looking for you. She sounded
worried."
"Thanks." Lucky muttered.
"Is there something wrong between you two?" Laura asked in concern.
"Yeah, you could say that." Lucky muttered. "She told something that…it was
about Nikolas."
Laura lifted an eyebrow. "Oh she finally told you?"
"You knew also?" Lucky exclaimed.
Laura glanced at him guiltily. She hadn't meant to tell him that. "Yes, I
saw them together once before the press conference."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"At the time I didn't think there was anything *to* tell. But once we found
out about Nikolas, I urged Emily to tell you."
Lucky frowned. "You pressured Emily into telling me?"
Laura shrugged. "I told her if she didn't, I would."
"And that's the only reason she told me anything. She didn't want me to
hear it from you." Lucky murmured.
"I'm sorry about this whole thing, Lucky."
"Forget it." Lucky told her.
"I didn't want to cause trouble for you and Emily."
"You didn't do anything, Mom. Thanks for looking out for me." Lucky told
her. He started for the door. "I have to get to Kelly's. I'll talk to you
later."
~*~*~
"Emily!" Nikolas called out. He couldn't believe he could be so lucky. He'd
been walking through the park when he spotted her. Forgetting his promise
to stay away from her he quickly went to her.
Once he was close enough, Emily pulled her fist back and punched him in the
stomach. He doubled over in pain. He didn't know she could hit so hard.
"What," he wheezed, "was that for?"
"It's because of you, Lucky will never trust me again. He probably wants to
call off the engagement and everything!"
Not bothering to hide his smile, Nikolas looked at her. "What happened?"
"This is not funny so stop smiling." Emily's lower lip began to tremble. "I
wish I had never met you."
Nikolas realized that Emily was very upset. He stopped smiling and touched
her on arm. "What happened?"
"You." She pointed at him. "You happened. If you hadn't…confused me I
wouldn't have lied to Lucky."
"I didn't make you lie to Lucky." Nikolas said gently. "That was all you."
"But it was because of you." Emily said lamely. She wanted to shift all the
blame on Nikolas in order to ease her guilt. She stared at the ground.
"Okay, it was all my fault but you played a big part in it…somewhere."
His curiosity getting to him, Nikolas had to ask, "So Lucky knows…"
"About you and me. Well, about the fact that there was no you and me."
Emily quickly said. "Anyway, Lucky is mad at me because I kept you a
secret."
"Mad enough to break up with you?" Nikolas asked hopefully.
Emily narrowed her eyes. "That would make you very happy, wouldn't it?"
Nikolas caressed her cheek with one finger and said softly. "Ecstatic."
Emily brushed away his hand. "Stop. I told you that I couldn't see you
again."
"I know that."
"And yet you still…" Emily looked away.
"Emily, you know I can't stay away."
"You didn't even try!" She cried. "I saw you first and I was walking away
when you called out to me."
Nikolas buried the hurt he felt at that. "Yeah but you still stopped and
waited for me."
"That's not the point."
"That *is* the point." Nikolas grabbed her hand and pulled her to him.
Emily didn't try to stop him. "If Lucky doesn't want to be with you anymore
because of a little secret then maybe—"
"You don't understand about Lucky."
"That's right." Nikolas said softly. "I don't and right now I don't really
care."
"Nikolas…"
"Why put yourself through this, Emily?" Nikolas asked. "If he's foolish
enough to let you go then let him. You don't need him."
Emily arched an eyebrow. "But I need you?"
He shook his head and smiled. "I doubt that. It's the other way around,
Emily, I need you." He toyed with a strand of her hair. He leaned forward
until their faces were inches apart. He stared into her eyes. "Things are
just so… the wait for the results is being intolerable. And Helena…that
woman is driving me nuts."
"I don't want to hear about you and Helena." Emily murmured.
Encouraged by this, Nikolas nodded. "We don't have to talk about her. Let's
forget about everything else but you and me."
"There is no you and me." Emily stressed. She felt like she going around in
circles with him.
"But there could be." Nikolas told her. He took her hand and placed it over
his heart. "Do you feel that? You do that to me, Emily. Let everything go
and take a chance. Forget about Lucky, forget about the DNA test and who I
am and just concentrate on this feeling. I'm not the only one feeling
this."
Emily couldn't look him in the eye. He was so passionate about this, so
sure of himself… She let her fingers curl into his shirt. "I should go."
"No." Nikolas said strongly. He let her walk out on him once; he wasn't
going to do it again. He cupped her face in his hand and bent his head. The
kiss was soft and tentative. Nikolas closed his eyes as he let himself
become accustomed to her taste. And then he felt the tears.
He slowly opened his eyes. Emily was staring up at him, tears slipping down
her cheeks. He raised his head. "Emily…"
"I have to…I have to go." Emily managed to squeak out before breaking away
from him and running away.
~*~*~
Carly knew she would find Lucky at Kelly's so once again she was running
over there on her lunch break. Lucky was behind the counter handing a
customer her change. He briefly glanced in Carly's direction then continued
to tell the woman to have a nice day. He picked up a rag and started to
wipe down the counter as Carly came over.
Carly sat down on a stool and stared at Lucky expectantly. "Hello cousin."
"Emily sent you?" Lucky said without looking up from the counter.
Sensing that Lucky wasn't in the mood to exchange pleasantries Carly
plunged ahead. "Emily didn't send me. She'd be really upset with me if she
knew I was even talking to you about this."
Lucky stopped wiping the counter and stared at her. "Then why are you
here?"
"Because you are being an idiot." Carly said cheerfully.
Lucky scowled and started wiping the counter again, this time furiously.
"You don't what the hell you're talking about, Carly, so stay out of this."
"Emily lied, I get that. You're hurt, I get that too. But don't cut her out
of your life over this."
"I haven't 'cut her out of my life'." Lucky said. "I just needed some space
to think."
"Well you're driving her nuts." Carly told him. "She thinks you're going to
break up with her. Stop and think about her feelings Lucky."
"Her feelings?" Lucky repeated, "Her feelings? We made a promise to each
other after…we said no more secrets. And now you want me to think about her
feelings after she was running around with some other guy?"
"She wasn't running around with him." Carly said. "And you have to admit
she got a raw deal out of all this."
Lucky looked at her warily, "What do you mean?"
"I mean first she can't stop running into the guy and then she finds out
that it was on purpose because he was using her and then she tells you
about it and you turn your back on her."
"Wait a second, back up." Lucky narrowed his eyes. "He was using her?"
"Emily, didn't tell you?" Carly frowned. Why wouldn't Emily tell him
something like that?
"No, she didn't. Why don't you tell me what really went on?"
"From what Emily told me, he deliberately went after her. He was going to
use her as a way to get at my family and yours. But then he changed the
plan." Carly shrugged.
"He went after Emily." Lucky said slowly.
"Yes." Carly pulled out a business card and a pen. She started to scribble
something on the back.
Lucky threw down the rag and started around the counter. "He is a dead
man."
"Wait! You might need this." Carly gave him the card.
Lucky didn't even look at it. "What's this?"
"The hotel where he's staying at and his room number." Carly smiled.
~*~*~
Nikolas slowly made his way down the hall towards his suite. He was
thinking about Emily and how he messed things up.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." He muttered. "Why did you push her? You were so
close and now—stupid!"
Nikolas was so intent on criticizing himself that he didn't even see Lucky
come up behind him. Lucky launched himself at Nikolas, throwing him up
against the wall.
"Hey!" Nikolas cried out. He tried to move but Lucky had him pined against
the wall. He had no idea Lucky was so strong.
"Shut up, just shut up!" Lucky gritted out. "You couldn't be content with
wrecking just my family's life you just had to go after Emily."
"What? What are you talking about?" Nikolas said confused.
"I said shut up! I know all about what you did to Emily."
Nikolas frowned. She told him? Lucky knew about the kiss in the park? "She
told you already?"
"She told me about you but for some reason she didn't anything about you
trying to use her. I had to hear about that from Carly."
"Oh." Nikolas said, momentarily relieved. "Look, I wasn't going to—"
"Don't bother. Just stay the hell away from Emily or so help me…" Lucky
released him.
Nikolas turned around, straightening his clothes. "Lucky—"
Lucky cut him off. He pointed and glared at him. "Stay away from her."
"The way you're staying away from her and hurting her? I saw her today and
she's all broken up over you. You don't give a damn about her because if
you did, you wouldn't be throwing her away."
"You don't know anything about Emily and me."
"I know she deserves better than you." Nikolas said arrogantly.
Lucky narrowed his eyes. Nikolas couldn't be… Lucky shook his head, no,
that was ridiculous. "Just…just leave her alone." He said before walking
away.
~*~*~
Karen had the distinct feeling that she was being watched but by whom she
didn't know. She was standing outside a patient's room filling out a chart.
There it was again, the feeling. She slowly started to turn her head and
then at the last minute whipped around. But there was no one there. She was
alone.
She shrugged, maybe it was nothing. She went back to the chart. The feeling
came again. She tried the head thing again and this time when she whirled
around she shouted, "A-ha!"
Alan Quartermaine stared at her. "Are you okay?"
"Dr. Quartermaine! I'm sorry, I thought… Did you see anyone just now?"
Karen looked around him and then over her shoulder.
"No…" Alan said slowly. "You don't look okay. I think you should go get
some rest."
"Rest." Karen repeated. She rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, I could use some
rest."
Ever since she made a total fool of herself over Jason, Karen hadn't been
sleeping well. She stayed up at night berating herself for letting Jason
use her the way he did. How could she have been so stupid to believe that
he would fall for her, just like that. She should have let a little time go
by before making her move. Well that was a mistake she wouldn't repeat.
She also worried about what Carly was going to do to her. Carly Cassadine
didn't make idle threats. Carly's threat was making her jumpy. It would
explain why she thought she was being watched, Karen reasoned.
Alan took her by the arm. "Why don't we go get you a cup of coffee?"
"That would be…that would nice." Karen nodded. Even as Alan was leading
her down the hall, Karen glanced over her shoulder.
"Did you see that?" Lorraine asked another nurse as they came from out of
their hiding spot. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amy coming down the
hall. Perfect timing, she thought.
"I thought she was going to attack Dr. Quartermaine." The nurse laughed.
"What is up with her?"
"I don't know. Karen's been looking horrible." Lorraine said. "And Sally, I
bet she didn't fill out that form correctly. The other day I had to go
behind her twice and correct her mistakes."
Sally frowned. "This is kind of serious."
"Yeah and um, "Lorraine began reluctantly, "I know this will sound bad
coming from me, knowing my history with her but…I think she's using."
"What? Ok, Lorraine, you are making that up."
Lorraine raised her hands in innocence. "I didn't want to say anything for
the longest time because of that reaction but Sally, you know me. I
wouldn't spread false rumors around about something so serious."
Sally lowered her voice, "So you really think she's using?"
Not bothering to lower her own voice, Lorraine said, "I don't think so, I
know so. Have seen the way she's been acting lately? All jumpy and she
looks like she doesn't get any sleep at night."
"Oh that could be anything…"
"And what about the fact that I saw her take a bottle of pills from the
hospital? She took a handful here and then put the rest in her pocket."
Lorraine could hear a small gasp from behind them. She fought back a smile.
Oh yeah, Amy was going take this and run with it.
"That could have been aspirin." Sally said though it was clear that even
she was having tough time believing her own excuse.
"*And* the other day, I saw her meeting with this really scruffy guy right
here in the hospital. He gave her something, she gave him a wad of cash."
Lorraine wiggled her eyebrows in suggestion.
"Oh my God." Sally gasped. "Karen Wexler *is* on drugs!"