"Nikolas, can we speak with you a moment?"

Looking up from Brook Lynn, Nikolas turned his gaze toward the doorway where Patrick and Robin were standing with Tracey. He leaned down to kiss her forehead and promised that he'd be back soon. It was the next morning, and there still wasn't any sign of her waking up. With two hours of sleep under his belt and six cups of coffee later, Nikolas was hanging in that delicate balance between sanity and completely losing his mind.

He followed Tracey down the hallway toward the private offices sometimes used by board members when they were at the hospital. The Quartermaine matriarch looked as prim as ever but the signs of weariness and exhaustion were there below the surface. Nikolas pulled out a chair for her, earning a thankful but tired smile. He smiled in return and slipped into the seat next to her. Patrick and Robin took the chairs opposite them. For the first time, it felt like more than two of his friends telling him about Brook Lynn's condition. They were the doctors updating the family on the patient's prognosis. It felt cold and disconnected, a far cry from all of the earlier conversations.

"Alright, you insisted that I come down here early this morning so that you could update me," Tracey grumbled. Nikolas smirked privately to himself, knowing full well that she would have been here even earlier had Robin not called her. Tracey had sent Nikolas intermitten emails throughout the night for the latest updates. "What can you tell me about my granddaughter?"

"Unforutnately, not a lot," Patrick admitted. "There isn't any real reason Brook Lynn shouldn't be awake by now. As time goes on, I am growing more concerned. She should have regained consciousness some time during the night. We've continued to monitor her vital signs, and everything appears to be going just as it should. While I am going to recommend doing another MRI so that we can monitor her brain activity, I truly believe that she is progressing normally for her current status."

Nikolas wrinkled his brow in confusion at the conflicting messages. "If she is progressing as she should, then why is she still in a coma? That doesn't seem to make sense to me, Patrick," he pointed out. Sure, the surgeon was the expert, but he was failing to communicate in a way that made sense. "What am I missing here? Is there something you are not telling us?"

Robin looked down at her hands. Nikolas knew then that they were holding something back. "Brook Lynn should be awake by now," she reiterated. "That is the part that has us concerned. While everything else appears normal, the time frame is not. We are still trying to figure out the implications this could have on her recovery. We are going to slowly cut back on her pain medication to see if that induces any sort of stimuli reaction."

"Is she going to be in pain?" Tracey asked. Her voice was soft and vulnerable, a far cry from the usually strong woman that she presented to the world. "I don't want Brook to be in any pain."

Patrick shook his head. "We are going to slowly decrease the meds to see if she reacts at all. If we don't notice any, we will gradually increase it back up just in case. It's possible that her body is still taking time to let itself heal. However, it is also possible that her brain is preventing her from waking up," he said. "In the mean time, her vocal specialists are due to arrive this afternoon. Robin will be working closely with them to get them up to speed on these latest developments. I am going to work with a physical therapist who will care for Brook to prevent her muscles from going into atrophy."

Nikolas nodded once resolutely before standing up. "Tracey, I take it that you would like to visit with Brook this morning?" Tracey told him that she would be there for a few hours. "Alright, I am going to go home to see my son and change my clothes. If there are any changes while I am gone, please call me. I will be back in time to meet with the specialists." He headed for the door before turning around. "If Tracey agrees, I would like to move Brook to a regular room once you think she can. There are some things that aren't allowed back here that I think could actually really help Brook."

"We could probably move her this afternoon since she is in stable condition," Robin offered. "Tracey?"

"Whatever is best for Brook," she consented. "Just make sure that she gets the best of everything. We can certainly afford it. Put our money to good use, Dr. Drake."

Patrick patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I promise to do the best that I can for your granddaughter," he pledged. "Her mother means a lot to my wife, and we will do everything that we can to make sure that she comes out better on the other end. It's not going to be an easy road, but we have every confidence that things are going to work out." He took a breath before looking up at Nikolas. "Your cousin woke up about an hour ago. You might want to check with her before you leave."

"I will," he said before looking over at Tracey. "Please call me if you need anything." With that, he disappeared back toward Brook's room to bid her a brief goodbye. She was as still and silent as she had been when he had left, not that he had really expected much of a change. "I'm going to go check on Kristina and see Spencer. I'll be back soon, I promise. I love you."

The only response back was the steady beat of her heart monitor. Nikolas frowned, biting down hard on his bottom lip to keep from tearing up. With one last look back at his sleeping beauty, he headed over a few rooms to find Alexis sitting next to her daughter's bedside, clutching her hand tightly. "I heard that someone woke up," he called into the room. Kristina's face lit up as Alexis turned around to wave him in. He came over and kissed his cousin's forehead tenderly. "I am so glad to see you sitting up and smiling. How are you feeling?"

"Tired and not all that great, but Matt hooked me up with some really great pain killers," she explained, holding up the button to her morphine drip. "Besides, all things considered, I could be in a lot worse shape. How's Brook Lynn? Any changes?"

The hope in her voice nearly broke his heart. "Unfortunately, no," he told her honestly. "But Robin and Patrick are working hard to make sure that we know everything we need to about her condition. You need to focus on your own recovery for now. Your mom and your sisters were pretty upset, not to mention Ethan."

Her pretty face lit up at the mention of Ethan Lovett. "I know, he told me," she gushed. A slight blush spread over her cheeks, and Nikolas knew that his cousin was done for. Her teenaged crush had transformed into full-blown love. It only made the Cassadine-Spencer tug-of-war that much more interesting.

"For a girl who spent a day in a coma, you sure are cheerful," he teased her. It felt strange that they were talking like this, as if nothing had happened. It almost felt nice to focus on something so silly given the seriousness of everything else right now. "I am going to go home to take a shower and see Spencer for a few hours. Is there anything that I can bring you back? I don't mind running by the house if you guys need something."

"Actually, do you think you could get Molly from school for me?" Alexis asked. "I promised that I would let her come see Kristina this afternoon if she took her math test this morning. I will call the school to give them permission."

"No problem," he promised before hugging his cousin. "I really am glad to see that you are doing better." Kristina smiled as he leaned over to hug Alexis. "I'll see you guys in a few hours with Molly in tow. I might even bring Spencer if they get Brook moved out of ICU."

Once mother and daughter were alone, Alexis took the opportunity to lean back in her seat and just watch her daughter. Her heart was filled with so much joy right now after a long and trying night. "Jax is going to come by after he gets done with a phone call this morning. He was going to come over right away, but I told him I wanted some time alone with my daughter." Ethan wasn't the only Aussie in the Davis' girls lives. Jax had recently admitted to Alexis some very heavy feelings, and Kristina was happy to see her mother so happy with her best friend. "Speaking of which, it nearly took a crowbar to pry Ethan out of here."

Kristina giggled, sounding very much like the eighteen-year-old high school student that she was. "Yeah, he's pretty adamant about being around me a lot right now," she agreed. "Mom, I am so happy. It sounds crazy because all this happened like an hour ago, but it just feels different. I was a whole different person with this whole different life before the accident. I don't know what happened to change everything exactly. It just feels amazing. I am so happy. I'm a little scared that this is a dream and I'm going to wake up. If it is, don't pinch me. I don't want to wake up."

Alexis had to smile at her daughter's somewhat innocent approach to love. She knew that Kristina had been through a lot and knew what it meant to truly care about someone. "Well, my little one, you are awake and this is definitely real life," Alexis assured her. "We are going to have some big conversations once you are back on your feet about your relationship with Ethan. I don't want you to consider even seeing him until the divorce is final. I don't care what that piece of paper says and what he thinks it means. You are still a high school student. I have to lay some ground rules."

Rolling her eyes at her mother, she let out an extended sigh that said that she knew what she was doing. "I know, Mom," she exhaled. The truth was that she didn't really know what to think or do or feel. She just knew that for the first time in a long time, she felt hope.

"Hi, Kristina," Elizabeth Spencer greeted her as she came into the room with a clipboard on her hip. "We're glad to see you awake this morning! I just talked to Dr. Hunter, and he wanted me to do another check of your vital signs. We're also going to get you up to go to the bathroom just as a check. That is the only time you can be on your feet, okay?"

Kristina nodded and held up her arm for Elizabeth to attach the blood pressure cuff. After a few minor tests, Elizabeth slid down the rail on her bed. Kristina slowly swung her legs over the edge of the mattress, holding onto the nurse and her mother for support. The two of them managed to get her out of the bed and halfway across the floor before things fell apart. Kristina caught a glimpse of her reflection just as they were passing by the mirror over the medical sink outside the bathroom.

"Oh, God!" The exclamation came as a shrill cry, and just as her legs were about to give up, she felt a strong pair of arms wrapping around her torso. She fell to the ground in Ethan's embrace, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. "My face, Ethan!" The words were stunted by her deep breaths. "What happened to my face?"

Ethan wrapped her shaking frame in his arms, stroking her hair and speaking in low and soothing tones. "You are still the most beautiful girl in the world, Krissy," he promised her. She pulled back and peered up at him with hooded eyes of disbelief. "You are absolutely stunning. Every time I look at you, you take my breath away."

"It looks like…"

"I know, I know," he whispered before softly kissing her forehead. "I got you, Krissy, nothing else is going to happen to you. You are so beautiful, Love. You know it and I know it. I just need you to believe me."