Twelve hours later, Nikolas found himself doubled over in a hard plastic chair with a paper thin blanket spread over her body, trying to doze while he waited for Nadine to wake up. The doctors had been cautious to give him any optimism after her surgery, offering only that they would know more once she regained consciousness. They had tried to convince him to go home in the meantime, but he refused to leave her side. Until he knew for certain that she was going to be fine, he wasn't going to leave General Hospital.
Now, as he readjusted his long legs against the railing of her bed, his eyes widened with pleasure as her eyes met his. "Hey," she whispered softly, a genuinely happy smile illuminating her face. Nikolas reached for her hand immediately as he stood up, reaching down to tuck her hair from her face. Leaning down, he framed her cheeks in his hand and covered her mouth was his. "You waited for me."
"I told you that I would," he murmured in response as he pulled away from her slightly, wanting into her cornflower orbs again just to prove to himself that this moment was real and that she was really awake. "You really had me scared there for awhile. What do you say that we don't do that again? You mean so much to me. I don't think I could handle having to relive the past week."
Her fingers slowly sought out his on top of the blue wool blanket. She clasped his hand as tightly as she could manage in her weakened state, just wanting to have some kind of definitive connection to him after being away for so long. Nadine still couldn't believe that she was with Nikolas sometimes, but if there had been any doubt about how he felt for, his constant care while she was in a coma more than proved it. Even if he hadn't said those words to her, she knew that he loved her just as much as she knew that she loved him. She wanted to tell him in that moment but wanted to wait until she was released from the hospital. The first time she fully confessed her love for him would not be in this drab room, no matter what he had tried to do to brighten it up. She wanted it to be somewhere special, a place that meant something to them.
"I don't want to miss another week with you either," she responded as she moved over slightly on the bed to make room for him. She knew that any minute he would come to his senses and page the doctors, stealing away the intimacy of being alone with him. In the mean time, she just wanted to be near him. Nikolas leaned back against the mattress and carefully maneuvered his arm behind her. The nurse in her knew that this was a bad idea, but the woman in her needed this. "I can't wait to go home."
"Well, about that, I was hoping that you wouldn't go home. You're not going to be able to stay alone for quite some time. I'd like for you to come out to Wyndamere and stay with me. I can hire a nurse to take care of everything that you need," he suggested. "It'll save me trips into town to see you constantly, and it will be nice for Spencer to have you around. He misses you."
Nadine smiled at the thought of his little boy. "If I had been awake for the past few days, I'm pretty sure that I would miss him too. I know that I missed you," she confessed as he gently pulled her against him. "Nikolas, in all seriousness, we can't live together. It's too fast. I can stay with Leyla or Lainey or another one of the girls. You don't need to have to worry about me all the time. It would completely disrupt your life."
He looked down at her incredulously, clearly surprised about what he was hearing. No one refused Nikolas Cassadine if he had anything to say about it. "First of all, I am going to worry about you whether you are with me or not. I would just rather have you with me," he argued. "Now then, you are not disrupting my life by staying at Wyndamere. You're letting me help you. I feel like there isn't anything I can do. It took us going through this for me to realize what you mean to me – really mean to me. Just let me take care of you."
A soft sigh rushed past Nadine's lips as she considered his words. "No one has ever made me feel as important as you have," she confided as she curled into his side. It seemed so strange to be like this with him here. It was really the first time they had held each other since spending the night with Spencer in his bed. "If you want me there, I would love to stay with you until I am feeling better. I can't wait to see Spencer. Tell me something that I've missed."
Nikolas looked at her skeptically for a moment. "Maybe I should go get the doctors first," he proposed as he glanced toward the door. "I'm pretty sure that they'll already be livid that I didn't come get one of them immediately, let alone the fact that I crawled into bed with you. There are probably tests they need to do or something. I don't want to risk anything with you just because I feel the selfish need to be near you right now."
"Please don't," she pleaded as she wrapped her arms around his torso in quiet defiance. "Not yet, at least. I promise that I won't argue if you wait just a few more minutes. I don't want to see anyone else yet. I just want to sit here with you like this for a little bit longer. I want to hear about the days I lost in your life and pretend that we are just two normal people hanging out."
"I'm not really sure that I do 'normal' or 'hanging out,' but I guess I could try for you," he obliged. Nikolas had meant what he said when he didn't want to risk her health by waiting to seek out a doctor but he was also glad for this time alone together. Once everyone else found out that she was awake, he was sure that her room would be flooded with visitors again. For now, he just wanted her to be all his. He would share her with the world later. "Well, Spencer spent a lot of time with Elizabeth and Bobbie this week while I stayed here with you. We went out riding one afternoon and had lunch at Kelly's another. I didn't want to bring him here and let him see you like this. I was afraid that it might scare him."
She smiled knowingly and rested her head against his sturdy shoulder. "And how is your sister? Tell me all about the rest of the trial and Lulu's progress. I'm sure that they reached a verdict by now."
"Something has changed in Lulu. She is doing so much better. I'm not sure if it's because Johnny was found not guilty or what, but things seem to be improving. Finding out that she was the one that actually killed Logan made all of this make sense to me. The only thing I don't really get is the quick turnaround. I want to believe that it was just Johnny's love being strong enough to save her, but I feel like it's something more. There's something else here that she isn't telling Lucky or me."
"Maybe she just doesn't want the two of you to fight anymore over her," Nadine ventured. "You know how hard it is for her to be stuck in the middle when it comes to her brothers. It might be easier for her to just kind of play it safe and keep things private if you and Lucky are on opposite sides when it comes to her relationship with him. It's also possible that she feels like keeping a few things secret. Going through something like this, it must feel like your entire life is on display. Why not let her keep her secrets as long as she seems better? She'll share them when she is ready. Trust your sister to know what is best for her. She trusted you when you were dealing with your illness."
Neither of them said anything for a few minutes until Nadine finally reached across Nikolas and pushed the call button on the console next to her bed. "You might want to get out of this bed in case Epiphany is the attending nurse," she suggested. "It won't matter to her how much money you give this place or my place on the staff. If you're breaking the rules, she is going to go after you."
"Well, thankfully for you, I am on duty this afternoon," Elizabeth announced as she appeared in the doorway, a clipboard on her hip. Nadine smiled past a slightly disheveled Nikolas at her fellow nurse and friend. "It's good to finally see you awake. I'd ask if you just regained consciousness, but something tells me it has been at least a few minutes. How are you feeling?"
"Stir crazy and tired of being in this bed already," she admitted with a bright smile. "Other than that, I guess I feel pretty good all things considered. How did the surgery go?"
"It was a complete success. Patrick did an amazing job and you should heal perfectly. You'll have to stay in a few days for observation, but I think you'd be able to go home by the end of the week provided that you have someone to help take care of you," Elizabeth explained as she glanced at Nikolas in amusement. Lucky had told her that afternoon that his brother planned on asking Nadine to stay with him. "I am going to go down and get Patrick. He's asleep in the on-call room but wanted to do a few tests once you woke up. They'll probably take awhile."
Nadine grumbled good-naturedly while Elizabeth made notations on her chart. She told them that she would be gone five minutes before leaving the room to find Patrick. "I want you to go home and spend some time with Spencer once they take me down to do the tests," she told Nikolas. "I am going to be tired and will probably just go back to sleep. You go take advantage of this beautiful day and hang out with your son. Take the horses out for me and ride around the lake. Bring me back flowers from the garden when you both come here tomorrow."
"I don't want to leave you," he started to protest but quickly relented when he saw the mischievous glint in her blue eyes. He had come to know that look, the same one that had defied him when he had tried to shut her out of his life and when she had refused to back down to his orders to leave Matt Hunter alone. "Alright, but I will be here the first thing in the morning. Before the sun is even up, if they will let me in here."
"Fine," she agreed with a satisfied grin. Elizabeth returned to the room with Patrick in toe. Nikolas watched while they prepared to take her downstairs for the test. He wanted to stay and hold her hand or at least wait until she had her results. However, the only thing she had asked of him was to spend time with Spencer. She knew as well as he did that he was missing his son. This was the least amount of time he'd spent with him since he was sick last spring. Once you get used to spending time with someone like that, it's hard when it stops all of a sudden. It was like not being able to talk to Nadine these past few days. He'd missed it. "Alright, Cassadine, you go home and hug that son of yours for me."
"I will," he promised. "Elizabeth, you take care of her for me. If she needs anything or if there is something I should know, please call me. I will be by in the morning with Spencer. I'll call you later before I go to bed." Then, he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss on her forehead before heading toward the door.
"Oh, hell no," Nadine muttered as she reached out and grabbed his wrist, yanking him back toward her. Mustering what little strength she had, she pulled his face down to hers and forcefully captured his lips with hers. It was unlike her to take charge like that, but it wasn't the first time she had been in control with Nikolas. There was no way she was going to let him walk out the door with a pathetic kiss like that, one worthy only for a grandmother. Licking her lips proudly when he pulled away, she looked up at him and winked. "That's more like it."
Patrick cleared his throat and Elizabeth stifled an embarrassed giggle over his shoulder to remind them that they weren't alone. "Yes, well, goodbye then," Nikolas announced formally before leaning down to kiss her once again. This kiss was brief and less passionate but sweet and soulful all the same.
Over the next several hours, Nadine was subjected to test after a test, each providing results that she had already known. She was a nurse and knew her own body well enough to know that she was getting better. Maybe it was a miracle, maybe it was the excellent care, maybe it was the love of a good man – it didn't really matter. She knew that she had healed exceptionally quickly and was glad for that blessing. After she had been returned to her room, she had been excited to find the girls waiting for her. Elizabeth, Lainey, Kelly, Robin and Leyla had all managed to negotiate breaks at the same time so that they could throw her an impromptu surprise party in her room. They all told her stories of Nikolas' time in her room between eating various flavors of gelatin and sipping sparkling water. When they finally had to return to work or leave for home, Leyla stayed behind to catch her up on the latest gossip. The two girlfriends sat side by side in her big bed and talked about Nikolas and how Leyla was now being pursued by Jasper Jacks. It felt nice to be so normal again.
Somewhere after dark, Nadine had fallen asleep listening to Leyla talk in her soothing English accent despite her best efforts to stay awake. Her best friend had pulled the blanket up around her, turned off the light and left her to get some much-needed rest. Nadine enjoyed the fitful sleep, dreaming about the perfect waltz she had imagined with Nikolas the first night they had danced together on the terrace at Wyndamere.
In the mean time at Wyndamere, Nikolas had fulfilled his promise to Nadine. He and Spencer had ridden for hours all over the property, racing at reasonable speeds through the woods and practicing jumping in the ring near the barn. They ate junk food, a special treat for the little boy, in his new tree house and even played a few video games in his playroom. Lucky and Elizabeth had brought the boys by for dinner and afterward, they had all gone over to Shadybrook together to visit Lulu. It was the first time she'd seen any of her nephews since being admitted, and Nikolas knew how much it meant to her to be with her family again.
When they had gotten home, it was already dark, and Nikolas had brought Spencer upstairs for a bath and bedtime story. Long after he had fallen asleep, Nikolas had sat in a rocking chair in the corner of his room, just watching him breathe in and out. It was these quiet moments that Nikolas cherished most as a father. Finally, he had crept down the hallway to his own bedroom and tried to fall asleep beneath his thousand-thread sheets. At midnight, when he still wasn't asleep, he crawled from his bed and went downstairs to leave a note for Alfred. He would return before dawn to get Spencer up. The nanny was next door if he needed anything in the mean time and what Nikolas needed was across town.
Nadine tossed in her sleep, a soft noise stirring her slightly. She blinked her eyes open a few times, trying to make out the faint outline approaching her in the dark room. Even before she could see his face, she knew it was him by his scent. "What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't sleep," he admitted as he threw his coat absently over his customary chair and shoving his hands in his pockets. He could just see her face in the soft moonlight shining through her partially drawn shades. He scuffled his feet as he stood by her bedside, feeling much like a sheepish adolescent about to confess his feelings to a girl.
However, before Nikolas could say anything else, Nadine yawned loudly. Reaching over, she peeled back the covers and moved over in the bed. "Get in," she ordered. Hospital rules be damned, she wanted him in her bed. Actually, on second thought… "You have to be out of here before morning rounds."
"Okay," he agreed with a chuckle. He kissed the top of her head she turned on her side and pulled his arms around her midsection. His breath tickled as they lay pressed together. Her feet found his beneath the sheets and entwined their legs together. His fingers sought hers on her abdomen. Nikolas brushed another kiss to the back of her neck before moving his chin to rest on her shoulder. They were completely tangled in each other, and he finally felt at peace again. All the restlessness was gone that he had felt at Wyndamere without her there. It was like coming home.
"Good night, Cassadine."
"Good night, Nadine."