Emily was there when he woke up. The bed across from him stood stripped and empty. AJ wasn't quite sure what to make of the latter, how he truly felt. But the former brought a smile to his face, until he caught sight of the tears on the girl's cheeks.

"Emily?" AJ reached out towards her, and though his movements were slow, he still felt stronger than he could remember being in over a day.

She blinked at him and paused for a moment with her mouth hung open. "I hated him, AJ." She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes closed. "I hated him so much, and I was so mean to him. He died, and I was so mean to him."

AJ sighed. That was the perfect example of how good his sister could actually be. How pure and sweet was her soul. A man who had done so much to hurt the people she loved… He was dead, and she was wracked with guilt because she'd said mean things to him. Emily was too good of a person to have been brought into the Quartermaine loony bin. But, at least…. He sighed. At least she hadn't been tainted by it.

"I'm sorry." His voice was little more than a croak. AJ coughed to clear it, but there was nothing to push out of the way. He was just exhausted, and though he was getting better, he was still pretty bad. He pushed himself up in the bed and groaned. "Come here…"

"AJ…" She stared at him for a second, crying silently, then her eyes went suddenly wide. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God, you're moving and you're talking and I'm not even—God, I'm so selfish!"

"Em, you've got to be the least selfish person I know." AJ's head lolled to the side and he looked at her from beneath drooping eyelids. "If I know you, you've been to everybody's room to make sure that they're okay. You've made the rounds. You've let people cry on your shoulder. I even think you talked to Michael after—" He sighed. "You're not selfish, Em."

"Yeah, I am, and worse than that, I'm being selfish to you. I'm the one person in the world that's always on your side and all I can do is think about how awful I was to him before he died."

"Em, come on." He reached out to her again. "I don't have the strength to hold my arm up here forever, ya know."

AJ tried to give her a weak smile. It either didn't make it or it didn't work. Though she came, she was still sad. Her tears had stopped falling, but her eyes were still very sad. She didn't deserve any of this. She had to be the sweetest, most caring person that he had ever known. Hell, to put up with him, she had to be a freaking saint. She deserved better than to have all of this raining down on her.

"It's like his whole family's just gone, ya know?" She sighed and looked down at AJ. "I… I didn't want to tell you before, because you were so sick. And, me being selfish again, I really didn't wanna have to say something to someone else that might hurt them. I didn't' wanna watch again. I told Nikolas…"

She stopped and AJ urged her on. "Em, just say it."

"No." She shook her head. "I shouldn't be putting this on you. I can do this."

"Em, you do everything yourself. You help everybody else, but you don't let anyone help you. I swear, it's like you and Elizabeth Webber are trying to carry the world on your shoulders, but you can't. Sometimes, you've got to talk to people."

"AJ…" She sighed. "Lucky died. And it was so hard for me, because he was the first person outside of the Quartermaines that I met when I came here, but… AJ, I had to tell Nikolas, and he looked so distraught. It was like, I thought he'd cry, ya know? But instead, he just went into this shell and he won't talk to me. This is twice that he's lost his brother, and this time it's for real. And now… Now, I have to tell you something, and you might do the same thing."

"Is it Mom? Did Mom get sick? Emily, if it's Mom."

"No! No, it's not Mom. I just…" She wiped fresh tears from her cheeks. "You were one of the people that slipped into a coma, AJ. Luckily, it was right before Jason and Carly came back, so it wasn't for too long, but still… I don't even know if I should be telling you this."

"Emily, please, just tell me what it is."

She took a deep breath and said, "AJ, Courtney died, too."

He stared at her. Courtney? AJ hadn't had a good thing to say about Courtney in years. He had loved her so much at one time, but as he watched her brother die, it never even occurred to her that she might have been affected by it. He didn't even know that she was sick, but now he knew that she was dead.

"Did you tell Jason?"

Emily looked at him in shock. "I…" She shook her head. "Robintold him. She told him about Courtney and Sonny. I… I don't understand. I mean, you're not…"

"What? I'm not crying?"

"Well… I mean, you were in love with her once, weren't you?"

"Em… I don't know." He sighed and shook his head. "Maybe later, when everything hits, I might cry over it. I'm not saying good riddance or anything. I'm not jumping for joy. Hell, I'm not about to throw any parties soon, and I despised Sonny. I just… there's nothing in me for her right now. If I cry, it's going to be for you."

"For me? But… why?"

"Look at everything you've been through. Nikolas was sick. Cameron was sick. People that you cared about were here and could have died. Lucky did die, and you have to deal with that. You've been back and forth, defending me to the point of exhaustion, and yet here you are. You're sitting here with me, trying to make it all better. Trying to make sure that I'm alright."

"AJ…"

"Emily, you're the only person in the world other than Grandmother that I ever felt really loved me. You didn't love me because you had to. You loved me because that's who you are. With Grandmother gone, you're all I have left."

"That's not true, AJ. Mom and Dad were in here, and Mom even cried. They love you, AJ. Ned even said he was sorry. That he'd never forgive himself if you died. People love you, AJ."

"Not like you do." He reached up and lightly touched her cheek with his fingertips. "You… I don't know, Em. You're the family that I never had, that I never deserved, and we aren't even blood related. But, you're more a sister to me now than Jason was a brother even before the accident. He helped me because he had to. You help me because you want to. So, if I shed any tears right now, it's because you finally need some help and all I can be is a burden to you."

"AJ, you're not…"

"Yeah," he said, "I am. But, it's fine. When this is over, when I'm back on my feet, I'll make it up to you. Whatever you need, I'll get it. And if that includes kicking Cassadine ass because he shut you out, then I"ll just have to do that. You're my sister, Emily, and you know what I think?"

She gave him a bitter smile and wiped away fresh tears from AJ"s cheek as she asked, "What?"

"I think that it's time someone cried for you."