"He's getting worse." Emily looked at Stefan, then to Alexis. "And so is she." She shook her head and sighed. "Everybody in this entire freaking hospital is getting worse, and nothing is being done about it. And you-- you get to just stay here, and you don't have to run around and look after people and-- You just keep staring at me!"

Screaming didn't get her anywhere, Emily knew that, but it felt good. She was able to release some of the tension that was threatening to rip her apart at the seams. She was filled with fear, dread, trepidation, remorse, despair—Every word that she had ever read written in any poem was within her right at that moment, and they all wanted a way out.

"I'm not watching someone else die." Emily straightened her back and strode forward, heading towards the door. "I will not stand here and watch anyone else die! I've seen it! I felt it! Haven't I been through enough already!"

Emily stormed out of the room, and was just beside the door when she collapsed against the wall. She knew she sounded horribly selfish, and had expected Stefan to say something to her, to accuse her of being an insolent child or any number of the things he'd called her in recent years. But, no, he'd just stood there and watched it all with a blank expression. No surprise. No fear. No anger. Just that same callous and cold Cassadine masked that, at one time, Nikolas had also been perfect at maintaining.

He probably blamed that on her, too. Most of the recent Cassadine family ills were somehow her fault, but maybe this time, she didn't mind the blame. She didn't mind being the reason that Nikolas had melted his heart. It allowed her entrance, it allowed her to be more than the little girl that followed him around. So yeah, she'd take the blame for that. But not the rest of it, because that was just ridiculous. How could one lowly girl be the cause of a family nearly going broke? And anyway, he should have been glad she was there, at all. She was the one that forced Nikolas to pay more attention to his family's businesses than to her.

And that fact made it all the more evident that the selfishness she'd shown inside the room was not something she usually possessed. She had been living every little girl's dream. She was actually dating a prince. A true, blue blood, honest to God PRINCE was in love with her, and what did she do? She told him to stop showering her with attention and do what needed to be done. His family's well-being, the Cassadine standing and legacy, had to be more important than her.

And yet, there she was, being selfish at a time when she was supposed to be selfless. This wasn't happening to Nikolas or Alexis or AJ or anyone else that she knew in that hospital. This was happening to her. It was stressing her out. It was making her tired.

Emily felt horrible that there was that much selfishness within her. She was ashamed that the good heart that Paige raised her to hold was becoming dark and withered. Her mom was a good person, and she raised Emily to be a good person. Why was she being so selfish when there were so many others that were worse off than her?

And suddenly, Emily's mind floated to other people. To Sam and Danny forced to weather this storm without Jason while he and Carly chased down that chimp. To poor Elizabeth who still managed to stand on her feet even though her child and the man she loved were both ill, yet she still saw every single patient that she was assigned to, and some that she wasn't. Molly and Kristina were without their parents, and poor Kristina had been the one to find them unconscious. Ric and Alexis didn't know if they'd be able to raise their children. And Nikolas could die.

Emily shook her head, trying to chase the thoughts away, but all she did was bring back the selfishness. Why did life have to be so hard on her? She watched her mother die. She watched her brother taken away from his family. She watched her brother's soon get taken away from him. People had died. People had destroyed relationships. She had destroyed relationships.

Emily had Nikolas because she'd hurt Zander, and she would never forgive herself for that. Thinking about Zander, her part in his death, everything that she had done to reach them to the point they currently dwelled in—It all came rushing back and compounded her guilt as she tottered between selfishness and self-hating disgust.

"Emily." She looked up confused, not because someone was talking to her, but because of who was talking to her. She watched as Stefan squatted in front of her, hands dangling between his knees. Stefan Cassadine? Squatting? She had to be delusional. "Nikolas is awake and asking for you."

"I'm surprised you didn't tell him that I went away." She rolled her eyes and groaned. "That's what you want, isn't it? For me to leave so Nikolas can find somone worthy? And what the hell is worth to you, anyway, huh? I mean, honestly? I don't think anybody is ever gonna be good enough for him as far as you're concerned, so why even bother. What's the point, right? Just tell Nikolas that I got the point, that I'm a flake, whatever. Just tell him I'm gone."

Stefan took in a shallow breath and his body slightly drooped. "The only thing I want right now is for my sister and my nephew to survive this debacle." For a second, Emily thought she saw his mask drop. She thought that maybe she saw an actual ounce of fear, but quickly changed her mind. Stefan Cassadine? Afraid? The hell, you say. "As for concocting a story of your disappearance, I fear that Nikolas would not believe me. My nephew believes that you love him, and that you would stay by his side forever."

"I would! Why can't you see that!" Emily pushed herself up the wall so fast that Stefan was rocked backwards. He was able to catch himself before falling completely down, then stood up. He straightened his suit, the perfection of grace and social upbringing, and he just looked at her. That damned Cassadine mask! "Why can't you understand that I love him? That I've loved him for so long, and now that I finally have him, I won't just give him up! Why can't you just let us be in love!"

"Because love has a nasty habit of destroyine one's heart. Make no mistake, Ms. Quartermaine—" When had they gone back to a formal association? No, wait… When had they even become informal to go back to formalities? "…I love my nephew, and I have made it my duty in life to protect him from everything."

"You can't protect Nikolas from a broken heart, especially one that won't be broken. I'm not marrying him to divorce him. I'm marrying him to live the rest of our lives together. To make each other happy. I'm marrying him because I love him, and that's why he's marrying me."

"Thus, am I to take it, that any actions I might take to put an end to your engagement will only serve to alienate me from Nikolas once again?"

"Yeah." Emily shrugged. "And I know that neither of you want that. You hide behind your silly little Cassadine iron mask, but it has to hurt when Nikolas turns against you. And I've seen Nikolas cry when he thought I wasn't looking because of some loss he thinks he's had. You're more than his uncle. For all intents and purposes, you are Nikolas's father as much as Alan is my father. So, please, don't hurt either of you, anymore. Just—let it go."

Stefan watched her stoically, and if she didn't know any better, Emily would swear that he were a zombie. He didn't move. He didn't blink. He didn't even seem to be breathing. He only barely came to life when he nodded minutely and said, "Nikolas has been asking for you."

Emily opened her mouth, started to speak, then shook her head. No point in it. Why screw up the one thing that wasn't coming back to bite her in the ass? This time, she took her own selfishness with a little pride, turned around, and walked back into the room.