Brook Lynn was vaguely aware of her surroundings as she came out of a foggy haze. She could see the bright lights of the surgical room overhead and could still feel the numbing effects of the anesthesia as it wore off. There were people around her, talking softly as upbeat rock music played in the background. Her throat still felt sore as it had before the procedure, and she really didn't seem to have improved at all. She didn't have a great feeling about this.

"Brook, can you hear me?" She moved her gaze slowly over to Robin, who was standing to her left. The petite doctor was a little fuzzy around the edges as she tried hard to focus. She managed to nod slightly before closing her eyes again. "We are going to take you back down to your room. Patrick is going to administer a sedative to help you sleep. We'll continue to monitor you and come in to talk about our discoveries once you're awake again. Do you understand?" She managed another nod and whispered a quick acknowledgement before she felt her bed on the move again.

Nikolas was waiting just outside her room when Brook was brought back downstairs. The orderlies moved efficiently in transferring her back to her bed. Robin urged him to give her time to rest and asked him if he'd like to grab a quick cup of evening tea with her. He knew that there were things that they needed to tell him, and Robin had been sent in to smooth things over. It frightened him because he didn't want to have to tell Brook Lynn any more bad news. He just wanted this entire nightmare to be over for both of them.

"Robin, you didn't have to distract me," he told her. He was a Cassadine, trained from birth to be unemotional and detached when it came to certain affairs. He was a professional at taking bad news, much practiced after years of devastating events. "I know that they sent you in as the ringer. Just give it to me straight. What did they find out?"

Hugging her cup of tea tightly in her small hands, Robin couldn't find the courage to meet her old friend's eyes. There was a lot going on at the hospital right now, and he seemed to be stuck in the middle of it. Between his girlfriend and his cousin, few people had more invested in the two patients than he did. However, he seemed as cool and calm as ever. Things had been a little bumpy when he'd first arrived, but since then, he'd slipped into his usual approach at dealing with these kinds of things.

"It didn't go as well as we had hoped," she finally admitted. "Patrick had hoped to find that there wasn't any deep tissue damage sustained from the cuts, but unfortunately, he found the opposite. There are two vocal chords that endured extensive damage, one nearly sliced all the way through. I could use all this medical terminology but I won't. I'll just say that it's bad."

"But…?"

"But the specialists that you brought in are the best that are out there. They both feel confident that after quite an extensive surgery, they can use synthetic material and her natural muscle tissue to actually repair both of them," Robin explained. "It's a risky surgery with serious repercussions if it goes wrong. It's really going to be up to Brook Lynn on whether or not to proceed. We've given her a sedative to help her get some sleep. This process is going to be stressful on her."

Nikolas nodded thoughtfully, weighing out the options in his head. "I would like you and Patrick to talk to her, not the specialists. They can be on standby if she has questions, but I think it'll be better coming from people she knows and trusts," he said. "And I think it's best if you tell her alone, without me in the room. This decision needs to be hers and hers alone. I don't want my presence to influence her one way or the other. I love her so much, Robin, and I know that losing her ability to sing would kill her. That said, I can't be there to sway her. She needs to do what is best for her. I can't have her blaming me if it doesn't work out."

Robin reached across the table and patted his hand comfortingly. "While I don't think that Brook Lynn could ever hate you, I will do whatever you need me to do."

"Then can you also explain this to Tracey?" he asked. "I have some things that I would like to take care of before Brook Lynn wakes up." He had this plan in his mind before she went into the surgery, and his resolve was only stronger now that he knew the outcome. "And can you stop by and tell Kristina that Brook came through just fine? I know that she was worried."

Once Robin had agreed to talk to Tracey and Kristina for him, he paid their tab and left with a promise to be back before Brook woke up. It was a quick trip down to the parking garage where his car had been brought so that he could get around Port Charles more easily. It wasn't too often that he drove on his own, preferring the chauffeured car that he had grown up with. A few minutes later, he pulled into a small private parking lot reserved for some of Port Charles Bank's top customers.

"Hello, Mr. Cassadine," a perky and pretty blonde greeted him as soon as he walked in the door. They always knew his name, but he rarely knew theirs. He nodded and smiled politely before walking over to another reception desk to check in. He scanned the lobby and noticed that his usual bank officer, the actual president of the bank, was already occupied with another client. Once the older gentleman noticed him standing there, looking svelte in his dark, very expensive suit, it only took a few minutes for the customer to get ushered out the door and Nikolas to be escorted into the private office.

"What can we do for you, Mr. Cassadine?"

"I'd like to access my vault," he told the man. There were a few private vaults in the bank that belonged only to the richest of Port Charles citizens. Sonny, Edward Quartermaine and Jax were among the few that own rights along with Nikolas. "There is something I need to retrieve."

Gaining access to the vault was typically by appointment only as the bank preferred to have an extra security guard on hand whenever they opened it. Getting through required having one of the top bank officials with you because of the extraneous measures they'd gone through to protect their clients' assets. However, such precautions weren't a hurdle when someone like Nikolas Cassadine was asking for access. In fact, no less than five minutes later, Nikolas was seated in a private room, waiting for some nameless security guard to bring in his requested items. The man promptly delivered the locked box in front of him before pulling the door shut behind him and throwing a deadbolt that could only be unlocked from the inside without a key.

While Nikolas' vault contained antiques and old coins, stacks of money and family documents, there was only one thing that he was after today. Tucked carefully between layers of rich velvet from Russia, he found a small silver box engraved with the Cassadine family crest. His breath caught slightly in his throat. It had been years since the box had even seen the light of day. He opened it up to find a small ring sitting on a bed of blue velvet. The ring was a perfect platinum band with a generous and top quality four-carat, emerald cut diamond. It had been in his family for centuries, last worn by Princess Katarina two generations before his grandparents.

He tucked it into his jacket pocket and thanked the banker before making his way back out to his car. His personal jeweler was standing by and had already been instructed about Kristina's finger size. The ring would be delivered the next morning to the hospital where Nikolas could move onto the next step in his plan. He probably should have been nervous but he wasn't. He was confident and sure that this was the right thing. The one good thing that he knew would come out of this was that he was finally going to marry the woman that he intended to spend the rest of his life with.

The rest of Ethan's life, however, wasn't as clear. He had already endured a line of question from both of Kristina's parents in the past several hours, and now, he was about to make good on his word to end his marriage. Maya was in the middle of a manic split shift and didn't really look like she was up for talking. However, with the way her schedule was and his obligations to Kristina, they didn't really have any other time to meet up.

She was already waiting for him at Kelly's when he showed up, her hair going every which way and her scrubs stained. She was half reading a newspaper and half eating a turkey sandwich all while Spinelli blabbered on in her ear about something. Ethan cleared his throat as he came up to the table to announce his presence, causing the computer hacker to duck sheepishly and turn back towards the counter to visit with Mike.

"Hello, Maya," he greeted her warmly as he slipped into the chair across from her. There had been a time when he had been fond of the blossoming doctor, and he still considered her a good friend. They had a certain kind of chemistry, but that connection had quickly fizzled when their busy schedules had gotten the better of them. She had thrown herself into her work, and in turn, Ethan had thrown himself into his friendship with Kristina. It was too late before either of them realized how that decision had cost them both dearly. "Thanks for meeting me, I know you're busy."

"A girl has to eat," she shrugged. "I assume that this is about the divorce." Ethan nodded his answer. "I've already talked to Edward. He said that he would help me get things taken care of if that's what I want but expressed his disappointment. I told him that you were still part of the Quartermaine family by extension through Tracey and that he could still groom you for ELQ if that's what you choose."

Ethan looked across the table and smiled at his wife. She was generous and kind to a fault. "Thank you," he replied. "I want you to know that I have ended my role in Johnny's business. The money had been kept offshore and hasn't been touched. I am going to turn that over to you in lieu of your payout that you were supposed to get from our marriage."

"Ethan, really, you don't have to do that. I can't take your money."

"It's yours," he assured her. "You are entitled to half of everything I earned while we were married. I'll keep what I earned working at the Haunted Star, and you can have that half. You could use it to pay off school, move out of the Q mansion and take care of your sister."

She thought for a moment, combing her fingers through her curly hair. She was still as beautiful as she was the first day he saw her but seemed much older and mature. They had been through a lot together in a very short time, and it made Ethan a little sad that they would have to part ways. However, his heart was with someone else, and Maya deserved the chance to find a good man who was going to love her like he loved Kristina.

"Well, thank you," she retorted appreciatively. She reached into her pocket and held out the wedding set he had given her all those months ago. "You should take this back. I can't keep it."

He reached into his own coat pocket and handed over his wedding band. She had paid for it with one of her measly checks from the hospital. "You can resell it or melt it down into something else. I don't want your set back either. Make some new jewelry or pawn it. Use the money to do something nice for yourself. Take a trip with your sister."

Maya looked like she was about to argue with him but quickly thought better of it. She glanced down at her watch and caught wind of the time. "Wow, it's that late already?" she sighed before tucking the pair of rings into her oversized tote bag. "I have to get back to the hospital. Mike, can I get my bill?"

"Sure thing, honey," Mike called from behind the counter.

"You go on and get to work; I'll take care of it."

"You sure?"

"Least I can do," he said as he stood up. He tucked her bag onto her shoulder and hugged her briefly. "Thank you for everything, Maya. I really do appreciate it."

"No big deal, right?" she shrugged. "Take care of her, Ethan. She's still young with a pure heart."

"I will," he promised, kissing her on the cheek for the final time. "I'll see you around?"

"It's inevitable," she grinned. "Goodbye, Ethan."

As Ethan watched Maya go, he knew that he was that much closer to being the man that was going to be good enough for Kristina. He had parted ways professionally with Johnny, though the two of them would remain friends. He had effectively ended his marriage and was in the middle of looking for somewhere to live. He knew he'd still have to talk to Edward about possibly working at ELQ or even Carly about getting on staff at the Metrocourt. Everything wasn't quite perfect yet, but it was definitely getting there.