"Look at the two of them, those are two of the most incredible men in the entire world," Elizabeth murmured as she stood beside Nadine just outside Lulu's private room at Shadybrook. Her eyes were fixed on Nikolas and Lucky as they sat tiredly in chairs on each side of their sister's bed, standing duty in a way that only two older brothers could. They had been at the psychiatric hospital for a few hours now. Lulu had been problematic for the first few minutes until the sedatives had kicked in. Since then, she had alternated between sleeping and tearfully begging her brothers to take her to see Johnny. Neither of them knew what to do for her, and as nurses, Elizabeth and Nadine both understood that there was nothing they could do. They could only make sure that she got the best medical attention Nikolas' money could buy and wait. The waiting seemed to be the hardest part.

Nadine looked thoughtfully at the three siblings inside, wondering if anyone had watched her in such a way as she tried to take care of Jolene last fall. She doubted that anyone had sympathized with her after the horrible things her sister had done, but Nadine had managed to overcome the reputation anyhow. She had built a life for herself in Port Charles complete with a job that she looked forward to every morning, a group of girlfriends who made her laugh and a certain man that made her stomach drop through her toes. As she watched Lulu struggling to hold onto her life inside that tiny room, Nadine thanked God not for the first time for the incredible blessings that had been bestowed on her life. She just wished that she could cash in some of her good karma to help out the youngest Spencer.

Turning slowly to her friend, Nadine smiled and nodded. "I've gotten to know Lucky a little bit better over the past couple months. I can definitely see why you fell for him," she acknowledged. Nadine knew that their relationship was one that was over and that Elizabeth harbored feelings for a certain mysterious mobster. Still, she couldn't help but think that the love Lucky and Liz had shared was still there. She may have never seen their happy times, but she had heard about them through Nikolas' story. They were just another Port Charles fairytale come true. "As for the other one in there, we both know how I feel about him. I thought that I was doing a good job of hiding it until Leyla informed me that everyone knew."

A small giggle escaped past Elizabeth's pursed lips. It had been a long time since she had gossiped with a girlfriend, probably since Emily had died. Elizabeth knew that there was no replacing her best friend, she would forever be the fourth Musketeer. However, she knew that Emily would want them all to move on. She would want Elizabeth to find another confidant and Nikolas to find someone else to give his heart to. "I've wanted to tell you something, and since we're going to be here for awhile, it looks like now is as good a time as any."

Sudden nervousness pulsed through Nadine's veins. She had worried about how the people close to Nikolas would react to her presence in his life, especially Elizabeth and Lucky. "Why don't we go grab a cup of coffee in the cafeteria?" she offered. Liz agreed with a nod and the two women headed toward the sunny commons area. There were a few tired nurses in the corner grumbling about one patient or another. A doctor in a pristine white coat rushed by as his pager buzzed. Elizabeth went to the coffee machine to retrieve two cups while Nadine paid the surly cashier. When they were finally seated at a semi-private table in the corner opposite of the nurses, Nadine looked up at her fellow nurse expectantly. "Alright, give it to me straight."

Elizabeth hugged her hands around the porcelain mug and shifted in her chair. "Nadine, you can relax. We're happy that Nikolas has let you in," she confessed with a reassuring grin. "Emily was my best friend. She was also Lucky's best friend. She was the glue that held the three of us together, and after she died, a part of me worried that we would lose the friendship we had shared for so many years. However, losing her almost brought us closer in a way. It forced Lucky and I to put aside our differences. It brought Nikolas and Lucky closer as brothers. It reignited a bond with Nikolas that we somehow lost over the years. It was like Emily was pushing us together, reminding us that we needed each other to get through losing her."

"Yet, as much as I cared about Nikolas, nothing we could do would make him better. We could talk to him about Emily, we could sympathize in his loss, we could try to assure him that everything was going to work. It wasn't until you came along that he actually started to believe that," Liz continued. "You made him see something worth living for. You refused to give up when he was stubborn, and we both know how stubborn Nikolas can be! I know that you didn't really know Emily all that long, but she would be glad you found him."

"For so long, I've been afraid that people were going to look at me and think, 'Emily would have done a better job.' It's a lot like the guilt my aunt felt after my parents died," Nadine confided. "I didn't want people to think that I was trying to replace Emily. I know that I can't do that. Nikolas and I have talked about it at length. She's a hard person to live up to."

Shaking her head, Elizabeth wanted to shake the blonde and make her realize how Nikolas saw her. "He doesn't want you to live up to her. I don't think that you know this, but the night after you kissed for the first time, I went to see Nikolas. He was clearly freaked out about the situation – a state that Nikolas does not get in very often or very easily. Kissing you scared him. It made all the feelings in his heart that he had been trying to ignore become real. After we lost Em, I don't think he ever thought he would feel anything for anyone again. You changed that."

A notable crimson crept up Nadine's neck. She had known many of these things but to have them reiterated back to her made it so much more real. He had talked to other people about her. He had thought about her. "So much is going on with him right now that I don't want to stress him out about us. Lulu needs to be his first priority. I will be by his side as his friend as long as he needs me to be," she vowed.

"Somehow, I don't think that Nikolas needs you to be just his friend," Elizabeth countered skeptically. "I've seen the way he looks at you. When things started getting hectic in there, he looked for you immediately. You bring this sense of calm to him that I've never really seen with Nikolas. He reacts to you in a different way than he has anyone else ever."

"She's right you know." Nadine's jaw dropped as she turned around and met the amused gaze of Nikolas. His body language was tired and tense, but a flirtatious daring look danced in his dark eyes. She covered her face embarrassedly as he flopped down into the chair next to her and slung his arm across the back of her chair. Lucky sat down in the other empty chair next to Elizabeth opposite of his brother. "You definitely bring out a different side of me."

"Well, I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing," she declared as Nikolas reached for her cup of coffee with his free hand. Without even asking, he took a long sip of the hot brew before returning it to the Formica table. "You know, let's just pretend that you didn't hear any of that. How's your sister?"

Lucky grumbled across the table as he raked his fingers through is chestnut locks. His blue eyes were filled with concerned exhaustion. "She just woke up. She's in with Lainey going over her medical history and some other things," he informed the two women. "I had no idea how bad it was until I got her. She's having hallucinations, which sets of these screaming fits where there is no getting to her. It's getting to be all too familiar."

A sad look passed over Elizabeth's face as she remembered those months when Laura was losing touch with reality. Her episodes had gone from sporadic to constant very quickly. She thought of Lulu as a younger sister and hated what this was doing to the promising young woman. She also hated how it was hurting Lucky and Nikolas. "I'm sure it helps knowing you are here," she offered, resting her hand over Lucky's. He smiled up at her, wanting to believe that she was right. "What can we do?"

"There's nothing to do really," Nikolas answered as he took another drink of Nadine's coffee. "I had thought about sending to her to Switzerland, but now that she is here and the doctors are already working on her case, I think it'll help to have her family nearby. I don't want to move her too far away from Mom. She said that talking to her helps. Besides, the last thing she is going to want is to be further away from Johnny. It's bad enough as it is."

The four were silent for a few moments until Lucky's cell phone rang and Elizabeth's pager went off. "I have to take this," Lucky mumbled as Elizabeth excused herself to call the hospital. They both returned a minute later, apologetically explaining that they had to get back to work. After promising to check in later, they hugged Nikolas and waved to Nadine before leaving the cafeteria together.

"Do you want me to wait here with you until her session is over?"

"Lainey said that she is going to give Lulu a few more sedatives to help her sleep, so I'm probably not going to be able to talk to her coherently until the morning. She said that I should go ahead and just leave," he retorted. "I think I am going to take her advice and head back to Wyndamere. The best thing I could do right now is spend some quality time with my son. Watching Lulu go through all of this reminds me once again how fragile life can be."

Nadine beamed as she listened to Nikolas talk about his son. His devotion to Spencer was one of his sexiest attributes, she thought. "Well, that sounds like a perfect day for the two of you," she commented. "I think that I will just catch a cab back to my apartment and veg out in bed. I have a stack of magazines that I have been meaning to tackle, and there is this carton of ice cream waiting in the freezer with my name written all over it."

Nikolas laughed as he imagined her surrounded by piles of pillows, a sappy chick flick on TV and a clay mask painted on her beautiful face. "While that does sound like quite an exhilarating evening, I was actually hoping that you would join us at the house," he professed. "I haven't been on a ride for all week, and Spencer loves it when you come riding with us. We could have a quiet dinner just the three of us and maybe watch a movie or something after he goes to bed."

It sounded like a perfect evening, the kind of night she had dreamed of sharing since she was a little girl. Some girls grew up wanting to be ballerinas, others wanted to be teachers. Nadine had always wanted to have a family. "If you're sure that would be okay with Spencer, I would love to. I think that's the best offer for an evening I've ever gotten."

Handing Nadine the coffee mug so that she could finish the rest of the coffee, he stood up and pulled out her chair. He pulled her to her feet, his hand lingering in hers as they stood close to each other, staring into each other's eyes. He thought about kissing her, but she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly instead. "It's going to be alright," she promised in his ear as he held onto her. He believed her when she said those words. He felt like she could make everything okay if she would just love him. "We're all going to get through this."

Brushing a kiss over her forehead, he tangled their fingers together and guided her out of the cafeteria. They both turned in their visitors' passes at the front desk before exiting the hospital into the late summer afternoon. The sky was a brilliant shade of gold, the horizon just starting to show traces of blush and indigo. "Thanks for coming with me today," he told her as they pulled out of the parking lot. "As hard it was, it would have been a million times harder if you hadn't been there with me."

She smiled at him kindly before looking out the window. All of this was so surreal that Nadine couldn't help but want to pinch herself. She was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Up until now, his protests toward her had been minimal. Still, a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that they still had a few more battles they were going to have to fight before she could claim him as being all hers. "You know that I would do anything to help you."

Nikolas pulled up behind a delivery truck at a stop sign. She would do anything for him. He had managed to find two women in this lifetime that were willing to do anything not only for him but also for his son. He didn't deserve Emily then, and he doesn't deserve Nadine now. Reaching across the seat, he cupped the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss. It clearly surprised her because she muttered something before submitting herself wholly to the moment. He could hear cars honking behind him but he didn't care. "I…" It was too early to say that he loved her. That wasn't exactly how he felt, not yet, but he cared about her. He wanted to give her something to understand what was going on in his heart. A gift would have to come later. All he had for now was his words. "I really like you."

Okay, so it wasn't the grand declaration Nadine was secretly hoping for but she knew what it took for Nikolas to say those words to her. The rest of it would come later if she could just be patient and trust the situation. Looking into those incredible eyes, she saw forever in Nikolas. She saw long lingering kisses in the supply closet at the clinic, holding his hand under the table at Kelly's, the first night they made love. She saw walks in the park, lazy afternoons, more children. She saw trips around the world, sitting together on a porch swing when they were grey, living room forts with their grandkids. She saw all her dreams coming true, but she would never tell him that. Not yet, anyhow.

"I like you, too."