Note: I screwed up with the numbering last time, so this chapter is really chapter 15 and the last was fourteen. That being said, I have reworked this entire story for the third time and am very satisfied with how it turned out. I'm finally going somewhere folks, and I humbly thank those of you that are still along for the ride. My goal is to finish this story (and others) before September, which is when I start school again. I hope you guys enjoy this update, and the many more to come. This story is going to be told – I've got my "mind set" on it. I have a feeling you're all going to like this chapter – that is, any of you folks that are still left after my many hiati.

Chapter Fifteen

He didn't know how long he sat in the chapel, just staring out blindly at the tiny blinking candles and seeing nothing. Elizabeth had woken up with no memory of who she was, of who they were, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. His parents – who remained remarkably close to Elizabeth throughout his own tumultuous relationship with her – were devastated, as were her friends and the Spencer family. The Quartermaines had dealt with this before, but there was no telling if they would be able to do it again. The Spencers and Nikolas had faced this before, when Lucky came back from the dead and couldn't remember anything.

And his sister – she had dealt with this twice already. First it was him, waking up angry and confused in a sterilized hospital room. And now it was her best friend, the woman that was for all intents and purposes her sister. Having to deal with all that in conjunction with her own cancer…it was heartbreaking. For everyone.

The guards had crept in on him numerous times, each one reluctant to disturb him but feeling the need to check up on him. He appreciated their concern even if he didn't acknowledge it, but right now he just wanted to be alone.

"I'm going to go see her," Lucky announced bravely, standing up in the crowded hospital room and attracting the attention of all its inhabitants. "If she's awake, I mean."

Alan and Monica exchanged melancholy glances. "Lucky…" The blonde doctor tucked her hair behind her ear and studied her fingernails. "She won't remember who you are. It might aggravate her further."

"I can't just sit here," Lucky hissed, "knowing that she's in this hospital afraid and alone – I have to see her."

"I'm coming with you," Nikolas said gravely, slowly pushing himself up from his seat. "Come on, we'll go together."

Lucky nodded at him, grateful for the support, and the two brothers exited the room. The walk over to Elizabeth's room was silent, each one hoping that the little brunette was awake and receptive to visitors. It was utterly inconceivable for either man to imagine walking in that room only to find that their close friend had absolutely no idea who they were. They had known each other for years – they all knew each other better than they knew themselves – and it was just impossible for her not to recognize them.

Lucky's hand was sweating as he grasped the door handle. His eyes met his brother's and Nikolas nodded slowly, nervously, and the blonde pushed the door open quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible in case Elizabeth was awake.

A pale, frail figure lay in the hospital bed in the center of the large room. Elizabeth. She looked as if she were drowning in the monstrous bed under the sheets that almost matched her complexion. Her dark hair stood out in stark contrast from the white, white, deathly white that surrounded her, and Lucky could barely force a breath into himself as he watched her. Peering over his shoulder, Nikolas was just as affected by the sight. This couldn't be Elizabeth – it just couldn't. Their friend – their Elizabeth – was always so full of life, so full of love and laughter. Seeing her lying motionless in a sterilized hospital bed was something from the realm of the surreal.

"Come on," Nikolas urged him solemnly, and the two brothers slowly stepped into the room and let the door close softly behind them. They were a few paces away from the bed, fully intent on simply claiming the two uncomfortable plastic chairs and sitting with her while she slept, when the brunette turned her face and stared stoically at them.

For a moment, Lucky and Nikolas were entirely at a loss for words. Fortunately for them, Elizabeth wasn't.

"Who the heck are you two supposed to be?" she groused, pursing her lips at the stunned young men.

A light shone in Lucky's pale blue eyes and the blonde took two hesitant steps toward her. "Elizabeth…"

She rolled her eyes at his overjoyed whisper. "Yeah, that's who I'm told I am – who the hell are you two?"

Nikolas stared hard at her, completely unable to believe what he was just hearing. "What? Liz-"

"Elizabeth," she corrected, raising one finger sternly at him. The young Prince's dark eyes darted to her bandaged wrist and the bruises on her pale and slender arm as she scowled at him. "Didn't you catch it the first time? Not Liz – Elizabeth."

The dark haired man swallowed roughly. "All right, Elizabeth. I-"

"How are you feeling?" Lucky interrupted in a hushed, almost reverent voice. "We thought we'd never see you again – it's so good to-"

"I'm doing peachy," she frowned. "Just fucking peachy. I've got enough drugs in me to keep Columbia in business for the next ten years, I'm covered in bandages, and I can't remember a goddamn thing. Now you tell me – isn't that just fucking peachy?"

Lucky stared at her in blatant surprise. "E-Elizabeth-"

"You never answered my question," the young woman bristled, getting more agitated now. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"L-Lucky," he choked out. "Lucky Spencer."

She snorted. "That's a messed up name. What's your real name?"

"Lucas."

Elizabeth shrugged, sinking back down into the covers. "Lucas. Lucky. Whatever floats your boat, Cowboy."

Nikolas and Lucky's eyes twinkled with immediate excitement. "Say that again," the blonde urged her eagerly, drawing up closer to the bed.

She squirmed away from him, wincing with pain as she did so. "Say what?"

"That – what you just said!"

"Why?" the brunette asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "You have some sort of crazy fetish or something?"

"You called him Cowboy, Elizabeth," Nikolas pointed out excitedly. "Don't you see? Only his dad calls him that-"

"He's called me that since I was a kid," Lucky interrupted with a grin. "You used to make fun of me for it. See? I knew it! I knew you'd remember! Oh, Elizabeth, you remember!"

"I don't remember shit, asswipe," she yelled back, tugging the covers up to her chin. "And I don't-"

"Then why'd you say Cowboy?" Lucky inquired, his hands curling into fists at his side. "You-"

"I don't know!" she cried, her eyes blazing. "I just said Cowboy – what, you got a fucking monopoly on the word or something? It doesn't mean anything!"

"No!" he yelled back, unable to control himself as Nikolas scrubbed a hand over his face. "You're wrong, Elizabeth – you do remember! And it's only a matter of time before you remember everything-"

"You don't listen very well, do you, Tiger?" she screamed back. "Don't tell me what I will and will not remember! I've been awake for two entire fucking days, coming in and out of it for forty-eight hours, and I don't remember shit! So don't tell me that I'll get all better – that I'll go back to being the real Elizabeth soon. Not when I was just told by several doctors that I suffered selective amnesia and may not ever remember! Don't you dare tell me that I'll get better soon, you fucking shitpot!"

"Elizabeth-" Nikolas tried, easing forward in an attempt to ease the situation. "If-"

"And don't you try to get in on this moron's act!" she yelled at him, her hands clenched tightly into fists. "And you know what – get the hell out of my room! Go! Get out before I call security! I don't want you here!"

Lucky's blue eyes pleaded with her. "But Elizabeth-"

"Get out!" she shrieked, her face contorted with fury. "Get the hell out of here! Just leave me alone!"

Swallowing thickly and making no move to hide the tears in his eyes, Lucky slowly backed away, his hands held up slightly in the air. Nikolas quietly pulled the door open and cast a mournful glance at Elizabeth before the two of them disappeared, closing the door firmly as they did so.

"I wish I could see her," Emily sobbed quietly, blowing her nose on the tissue Zander offered her. "I just…I really want to see her."

Nikolas' eyes were red and swollen. "It won't do any good, Em. She won't remember you."

The little redhead stared daggers at him as Zander soothingly rubbed her arms. "Don't say that – don't. She will remember, Nikolas, she will."

"Don't tell her that," the Prince sighed sadly. "She'll only get angry. I…I don't know. We…We tried. We tried to talk to her."

"But we only made her angry," Lucky added dejectedly, glancing at Monica. "You and Mr. Quartermaine were right."

The blonde doctor ducked her head. "I wish there was something we could do," she sighed tiredly. "Something we could give her, something we could say to her or do for her. But there's nothing that'll make this easier – not for her, not for us. We…We just have to wait it out. The thing with selective amnesia is that…"

"Yeah, Mom?" Emily's eyes were wide and trained on her mother. "What were you going to say?"

"I don't want to get anyone's hopes up," Monica sighed. "Most likely, she won't recover. I've seen the scans. But…there have been documented cases where memory was restored gradually, in bits and pieces."

"Gradually?" Zander parroted. "Really?"

She nodded once. "Yes. Patients were showing signs of recovering partial memory – a recent excursion with loved ones before the memory-erasing accident, a birthday or milestone, or something as simple as what they ordered for breakfast. Slowly, other memories returned."

"W-Were there any cases of full recovery?" Nikolas barely wanted to know the answer.

In the end, he shouldn't have worried because Monica was nodding emphatically. "In seventy percent of the cases of memory restoration documented, the patients made a full recovery."

"Wow," Lucky breathed, closing his eyes and turning his face toward the ceiling.

The doctor was nodding. "We can only pray that Elizabeth's so lucky. But we'll just have to wait and see. We'll have to wait and keep prompting her with memories to see if she's been able to recollect anything. And if she does…there may be a chance for full recovery."

Lucky was still staring up at the ceiling but with his eyes closed, and a single tear raced down from the corner of his eye. "She's got to. Because I don't think I could handle it if she didn't."

Nothing had quite horrified him in his entire life like the scene that had played out a couple hours ago. Elizabeth, seething with confused fury, blurting out that she didn't know him and didn't give a damn, kicking him out of the room. He knew that under the anger, she was confused and hurt and lonely, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to hold her in his arms like he used to and assure her that no matter what, she'd always have her friends to hold her up.

"She acted like I was some perverted old man," Luke sighed. "Normally, I'd applaud that sort of intuition, but…"

Bobbie nodded slowly, resting her cup of lukewarm coffee on her knee as she twined her fingers with those of her older brother's. "I know, Luke. It's so strange to see her like this."

"She's a daughter to me," he muttered softly. "Even though she and Cowboy didn't get hitched…I used to tell him that he could go live with the wolves for all I cared – but I was hangin' onto Elizabeth."

His sister laughed softly. "Yeah, she used to remind him of that as often as she could, I remember."

"Did I ever tell you she brought me brownies?"

There was a far-off gleam in his pale eyes, and Bobbie watched him wistfully as he tented his fingers and stared hard at the floor without even seeing it. "Really?"

He nodded slowly. "She showed up at the club in her little red coat and white mittens with a big plate of brownies just for me, and then she hugged me. I damn near cried in her arms, Barbara. That little girl…always so full of love. She loved everyone, whether it was good for her or not. She didn't give a damn. She had so much love to give and she'd be damned if she didn't share it."

Luke's lips twisted downward as he tried to suppress a sob and Bobbie wrapped her arms around him as he rested his head in his hands and choked on the tears. "And now she doesn't even have a clue who I am. I'd give anything to give her a hug right now – to make her feel as warm and loved and safe as I felt that day when she hugged me."

"How's it going down there?"

Johnny O'Brien braced one strong shoulder against the wall and frowned wearily into his telephone. "Not good, Boss. Not…good."

"What's happening?"

"Lucky and Nikolas saw her this morning."

"And?"

He could easily hear the anticipation and hope in Sonny's eager voice. "She had no clue who they were and worked herself into a tantrum. She kicked them out." His boss swore on the other end but Johnny wasn't done. "Luke went in a bit later."

"What happened?"

"Same thing. She kicked him out. She doesn't want to see anyone and the doctors seem to agree – it only makes her upset because she can't figure out who they are and she hates them for trying to remind her of stuff. No one knows what to do."

"How are her injuries healing?"

"The internal bleeding was taken care of pretty easily," Johnny replied with a sigh. There were at least a few things that had gone well. "She had a lot of cuts and scrapes, and everything was disinfected and bandaged up. She sprained her left wrist and didn't break anything else, thank God."

"Now that's a miracle."

"No shit." He shifted his stance when his shoulder began to hurt. "She should be healing up just fine. She's got stitches in her head – tons of them – but other than that, everything's looking good. Well, except, you know…"

Sonny didn't want to hear any more. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

There was a brief pause before the moblord spoke up again. "Have you seen Jason?"

"He's been camped out here for a while," the Irishman replied wearily. "I think he slept in the chapel last night."

"Do me a favor – you and Max and Francis – just…look out for him, okay? Make sure he eats and doesn't shut down."

"Will do, Boss."

"Tell him if he asks that I don't need him for business right now – I can get Benny to take care of most of the stuff. He should take it easy, and I'll try to come down and see Elizabeth later today."

"Not sure if that's a good idea," Johnny shrugged, "but, hey, you can try. If she doesn't have you kicked out on your ass."

"I'll take my chances, John."

"Anything else, Sir?"

"Watch out for Elizabeth, too. I know Francis used to guard her and he seems to like her a lot-"

"Francis has been making rounds outside her room for a while now," Johnny interrupted. "We switch off, just in case anything should happen. She's protected, Sir."

"Thank you."

"Sure, Boss."

There was a long pause before Sonny spoke again. "Has…Has there been any talk about what she'll do after she gets out?"

"I'm not sure, Sir," the guard replied truthfully. "I can only assume that the Quartermaines or the Spencers will want to take her in – hell, that Cassidine kid will probably clean out a whole wing for her at that castle of his. I just don't know how inclined she'll be to accept, especially given what I saw this morning."

The kingpin sighed into the phone. "I was afraid of that. If she needs anything, John…let me know. I want her taken care of, and I'm sure Jason agrees. If she needs us, we'll get her a suitable home and make sure she's protected."

"I'm sure they'll both appreciate that, Boss," Johnny nodded, thinking of the recovering brunette and his other employer. "I'll make sure she knows when the time comes."

"Thank you, Johnny. You, Max, and Francis are relieved of all your other duties and I'm asking that you stay at the hospital for now. Just…look out for Jason and Elizabeth."

"Not a problem, Boss."

Lulu Spencer sat pressed up between her two biggest brothers, a small Superball in her grubby hands as she looked from one man to the other.

"Lucky? Nik?"

"Yeah, Lu?"

"When can I see Elizabeth? Aunt Bobbie said she was here and that's why I came. How come I can't see her?"

Nikolas turned slightly in his seat, exchanging apprehensive glances with his younger brother as he tried to come up with a way to explain the situation to their little sister. Gently, he grasped her small, pale hands in his larger, tanner ones. "Sweetheart, I need you to listen to me, okay?"

The little girl nodded solemnly as the Prince tried to form his next sentence.

"Elizabeth…she's not doing so well."

Lulu's eyes widened. "Is she dying?"

The Prince shook his head immediately. "Oh, no, no, sweetheart, she's not dying."

"Then what's wrong with her?" Lulu asked, switching her pink Superball to the other hand and clasping her fist around it. "What happened?"

"Elizabeth can't remember very well right now," Lucky tried to explain in a soft voice as he gently tucked the six-year-old's dark hair behind her little ear. "She's got something called amnesia."

Lulu's dark brows furrowed in confusion. "Is she gonna get better?"

Nikolas and Lucky exchanged glances again before the Prince spoke. "The doctors don't know, kiddo. But we all hope so."

It was a lot of information for a child to take in all at once, and the brothers watched their youngest sibling grapple with it. "What doesn't she remember?"

Lucky closed his eyes briefly, trying to ward off the memory of his first venture into Elizabeth's room. "She doesn't remember who we are, Lu."

The little girl's eyes widened. "What? But – she has to!"

"She doesn't even know who she is, sweetheart," Nikolas informed her gently. "She doesn't know where she is or who anyone here is. That's what happens when you get amnesia."

She was frowning, her dark eyes troubled. "Nothing? She don't remember nothing?"

"Nothing," Lucky replied with a sad shake of his head.

Lulu was still thinking and the little girl brought the pink Superball up to her lips, nibbling on it absently while she thought until Nikolas pulled her little hand away from her mouth. "So, if I went up to her and said, 'hi, Elizabeth', what would happen?"

"Well, it might take her a minute to remember that her name is Elizabeth," Lucky guessed. "And even when she did, she wouldn't know who you were."

"She wouldn't remember making a picture with me at Kelly's last week?" she asked with wide eyes showcasing a hint of tears. "What about the time we-"

"She wouldn't remember, sweetheart," Nikolas informed her softly, stroking her cheek with his long finger. "It's not her fault – she just doesn't remember."

The little girl sank back into her seat, looking crestfallen. "Just like Lucky."

Her big brother exchanged confused glances with Nikolas and then reached down to wrap an arm around her narrow shoulders. "What, Lu?"

"Just lie you," she answered, staring sorrowfully into his eyes. "You came back, and you didn't remember who me or Mommy or Daddy were. You didn't like us very much."

Lucky's heart nearly broke in two for the second time that day, and he quickly hugged his little sister tightly to his side as her first tears started to fall. "I came back to visit you, though, Lu – remember?" He should have known that this would be hard for her – she had dealt with it before when it was her own brother, and now it had happened to a woman who was for all intents and purposes her big sister. He should have known – but then again, he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly ever since Emily had been brought into General Hospital. "You were my special little friend – I'd sneak in to see you all the time. You helped me so much, Lu – you helped me remember again."

Her tears were lost in his cotton t-shirt, and the little girl snuffled lightly with her Superball still clenched in one small fist. "I h-hope Elizabeth has someone like that – someone who helps her remember."

He didn't know how he had managed to leave the little chapel where he had cloistered himself, but somehow, he found himself at her room.

The black numbers winked cruelly back at him under the harsh fluorescent lighting. Blinking his red and stinging eyes, Jason tried to control his breathing. She was behind this door, this flimsy piece of wood. She was waiting there, waiting for some semblance of reality, something that made sense, anything – she was waiting just like he had once been waiting.

He knew he couldn't put it off any longer. He had shut down from the minute he had seen her on the operating table, even going so far as to break down in his grandfather's arms. The old buzzard must have loved that.

With a sigh, Jason lifted his hand and pressed it to the rough wood. One good push and he'd be with her. She was calling out for him from behind the door – he never used to believe in foolish things like that, but he could actually feel it. She was calling out for something that made sense, and he would give it to her. He would give her anything she needed.

He latched onto the handle and twisted it silently before pushing it open. His blood was roaring through his ears, his heart pounding painfully in his chest, and Jason almost forgot to breathe. The door swung open easily to reveal her delicate form on the hospital bed. He thought for a moment that she was asleep but the second he stepped into the room, his motorcycle boots creaking slightly, those vivid blue eyes snapped up and arrested his.

"Get out."

He winced at the sound of her voice, harsh and angry and bitter, conveying a brave façade he knew she was desperate to hang onto in this confusing spot. And yet he couldn't obey her terse command and instead stood rooted to the floor.

"Didn't you hear me?" She got out through clenched teeth, those intense sapphire eyes blazing with barely restrained anger. "I told you to leave. There's nothing for you here – your precious Elizabeth doesn't exist, pal. So just save us both some heartache and leave."

"I can't," he choked out, leaning against the threshold of the door and blinking rapidly when his vision clouded with tears.

She didn't like the way he was watching her. "Why not?"

He swallowed past his heart that had suddenly found new lodging in his throat. "Because…"

"Because what, buddy?" she scowled, growing more agitated as each second ticked by. "To tell me that I have to remember, that I have to be myself again? Because you're wasting your breath and my time. Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Because I'm the only one that remembers being where you are," he got out, furiously holding the tears at bay.

That peaked her ire. "Nowhere?" she snorted sardonically. "You know what it's like to be absolutely nowhere?"

With that one simple word, the dam burst and a single tear raced down Jason's rough cheek. "Yeah," he whispered in a thick voice so filled with emotion that it took the edge out of Elizabeth's shoulders. "That's pretty much where I live."