The night passed with a lot of anxiety as they waited for Aaron's surgery to finish and for an update on the little boy's health.

Everyone was in the waiting room, talking amongst themselves in an attempt to pass the time.

Chase and Willow were seated close together, Willow leaning into him while he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head in reassurance. Nina and Obrecht were together, Nina nervously drumming her nails against the skin of her arm while her aunt read a magazine. Britt and Anneliese were near their mother; Britt was staring up at the ceiling, counting the lines, while Anneliese was checking in on her daughter Cordy through text.

Michael and Sasha were in the same position as Chase and Willow across from them, only Michael's hand was on Sasha's stomach, carefully cradling it. He felt like he wasn't protecting his son enough and he didn't want to make the same mistake with his unborn child. Sasha threaded her fingers through his and smiled up at him. He kissed her head in response.

Carly and Lena were alternating between sympathetic glances towards Michael and angry glares towards Nelle, who was beside Emily. LJ had left to check on the younger kids at home.

Nelle's hands were up to her mouth, her teeth anxiously chewing on her nails as her head was filled with all kinds of scenarios: Aaron on the operating table with a tube down his throat as his doctors made cuts into his chest, Aaron awake and crying in pain for her, Monica coming out to tell them that the surgery didn't work and to say goodbye, Monica coming out to tell them that his heart failed and he died right there on the table, his life cruelly cut short all because of an elective procedure….

Emily knew where her new friend's head was at and she placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. It caught Nelle's attention and she stopped chewing on her nails to look at her.

"He'll be okay," she said softly. "You did the right thing when you signed that form, Nelle."

Nelle sighed shakily. "I hope so," she replied.

"You should be proud, Nelle," Carly commented in a deceptively kind voice. "You acted like a caring mother."

"It's nice that you can care about someone besides yourself," Lena added in the same tone, only hers was a bit cooler than her mother's. "You might actually convince someone that you have a heart after all."

Nelle's eyes slid from Emily's to the mother/daughter pair. Her jaw clenched and her fearful, teary eyes turned stormy with anger. She desperately wanted to tell them exactly what they could do with their backhanded compliments when Monica came out from the direction of the OR.

Everyone was on their feet in an instant, all waiting anxiously for news about Aaron.

"It's good to see that you're all still here," Monica commented. "Most of you, at least," she amended when she noticed that LJ was missing. "I have an update on Aaron."

Before Monica could get another word in, Nelle instantly began firing question after worried question at her: "Is he okay? I mean what happened, is he…is he gone? Did he not make it? Can you tell me something?"

"Can you stop?" Carly admonished loudly, her voice practically an echo in the room. "Nelle!"

"Quit jumping to conclusions," Lena snapped.

Emily placed a gentle hand on Nelle's shoulder, just like she did earlier. "What they mean to say," she began, shooting her best friend's mother and older sister a reprimanding look, a look to which they stared back at her in surprise. "Is that we can't automatically assume that the worst happened. Monica hasn't had a chance to tell us yet, so why don't we just let her speak, okay?"

Nelle nodded and took a deep breath in and out. Keeping silent now, she stared back at her son's great-grandmother.

"Aaron's surgeon, Dr. Bedlow, said that the procedure went just fine," Monica reassured all of them. "Aaron came through with flying colors and now he's in recovery."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and Nelle ran a hand through her already messy blonde hair before placing it on her chest. "Thank God," she said, nearly overcome with emotion as she closed her eyes. Nelle had a difficult time believing that anything good could ever happen to her, or that she had anyone watching out for her, ever since she woke up with a scar where her kidney should be and her father happily admiring his new stack of money instead of comforting or apologizing to her for bringing her to that sham of a doctor's office. It just never seemed possible to her that anything good could happen, but this…her son having a surgery and surviving when he's so young…that made her believe just a bit more than she did before.

There were similar exclamations from everyone else present. Michael and Sasha embraced and Willow leaned against Chase with her hand on her chest.

"So he's okay, right?" Nelle asked Monica after she opened her eyes. "He's fine?"

"For the time being, yes," Monica answered.

Everyone's relief turned into confusion at those words.

"What does that mean?" Michael asked, staring at his grandmother. He had his arm around Sasha's waist while she leaned on his shoulder, their smiles faltering.

"Well, uh, his case was a little more severe than we'd anticipated," Monica said.

"Okay, so the surgery didn't work?" Nelle asked her, the same fear that had been plaguing her since she found out about Aaron's condition returning.

"No, he's a lot more comfortable than he was," Monica reassured her and everyone else who was just as concerned about the toddler. "It's just that in about six months he's going to need an occluder installed."

"And that is?" Carly prompted her.

"It's a device that's implanted in the heart to stimulate tissue growth and help repair all of the weaknesses in the heart," Monica explained.

"His condition was that bad?" Nelle inquired.

Monica nodded at her. "Yes," she answered. "The surgery helped him for now until he can get the second surgery for the occluder. He can breathe better and isn't in any immediate danger, but without the surgery today…it's very possible that in six months the occluder wouldn't be able to repair the damages that his defect did."

"So…" Nelle began, her mind swimming. "If I hadn't signed it today, in six months, my son could have…" She swallowed past the lump in her throat and finished in a whisper: "Died?"

The sadness and resignation in Monica's eyes said everything, but knowing that the young mother needed to hear a confirmation, the doctor told her: "Yes…either that or the damages to his heart wall could have become irreparable."

Nelle felt nauseated. "I think I'm going to be sick," she whispered, heading for the chairs so she could sit down. As soon as she made contact with the cushion beneath her, her body went slack as the full weight of what could have happened to her son fell upon her.

Her little boy would have died without this surgery and she nearly kept him from that. Maybe everyone was right when they said that she was a horrible mother….

"Nelle," Emily said softly as she sat beside her. "I know this sounds like a silly question, but are you okay?"

Nelle shook her head. "It's not a silly question," she murmured. "I'm not okay. I feel like I could have killed my son if you hadn't convinced me to sign that form."

"Nelle, you wouldn't have killed him."

"Yes, I would have," Nelle looked up at Emily with tears in her eyes. "You heard what Monica said. Aaron's case was more severe than anyone thought and there's a good chance that he would have died if he hadn't gotten that surgery last night. It would have been my fault because I was fighting so hard for it not to happen."

"You were a mother terrified for her son's life," Emily told her. "You were remembering your past trauma and you didn't want Aaron to experience the same thing."

Nelle remained silent, just staring at her for a while. Then, she finally said: "Thank you."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows. "For what?" She asked.

"You were there for me when no one else was," Nelle answered. "You listened to my fears, you got second and third opinions from your mom and aunt, and you pretty much defended me to Carly and Lena earlier when they were getting on me about asking Monica about Aaron."

Emily smiled, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "I just knew that you were struggling with the news," she replied. "I didn't want you to be alone."

Nelle felt incredibly touched by Emily's compassion. She didn't have to show her any kindness or understanding, especially after hearing everything that she's done, yet she was. The more time that Nelle spent with her, the less she wanted to use her as a tool to get her son back; she just wanted Emily in her corner.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Emily told her, gently patting Nelle's knee. "I need to call Joss and Trina and let them know how Aaron is doing. They wanted to come, but they had their ACTs today and couldn't leave."

With that, the teen rose from her seat and went to find a quiet corridor so she could update her friends, one of them being Aaron's aunt.

As soon as Emily was out of sight and earshot, Carly and Lena occupied the seats on either side of Nelle.

Nelle sighed heavily when she noticed them and, voice filled with frustration and exhaustion, asked them: "What do you two want?"

"I think you know," Carly answered, glaring at her.

"No, Carly, I don't," Nelle replied, returning the older blonde's glare with one of her own. "If this is about Aaron—"

"It's not about Aaron," Lena interrupted her. "It's about Emily."

Nelle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'Here we go,' she thought.

Lena continued without her input: "We don't want you around Emily. You're selfish, manipulative, psychotic, and you hurt my baby sister with your special brand of crazy. I don't want that for Emily; she and Trina are as close to me as Joss is."

"Emily is one of Josslyn's best friends, Nelle," Carly added. "We all know that the only reason why you want to be her friend is so you can use her to worm your way back into this family, but it's not going to work. She's a sweet, innocent girl and she doesn't deserve any of the pain that you put my daughter through when you came to town."

Nelle was enraged by the accusations. While it was true that her initial plan was to work Emily's kind nature to her advantage, she realized today that she really didn't want to go through with that. She genuinely liked Josslyn in the beginning until she turned into Carly 3.0 and abandoned her. She liked having that bond and she needed to feel that again. These bitches didn't have a right to prevent that….

"Emily's the one you need to talk to about this, not me. I don't control what she does and neither should the two of you," Nelle said, forcing herself to remain calm despite her anger.

"We're warning you, Nelle," Lena began, leaning forward so only her mother and Nelle could hear her. "Stay away from Emily." The venom in her voice would make anyone flinch.

Nelle wasn't just anyone, though. She'd been through too much in her life to let Lena Jacks intimidate her. Leaning forward and meeting her halfway, Nelle challenged her, "Or what?"

Lena's eyes darkened. "Or my dad will make you. If he can buy your kidney on the black market and keep it a secret, then he can keep you from being Emily's friend. He knows how much Emily means to us and he won't let you hurt her."

Nelle glared at her. She didn't want to lose Emily, but she knew that though he wasn't a criminal like his brother Jerry, Jax was a powerful man who had money and connections; if he wanted to keep her away from Emily, he'd have no shortage of methods for how.

"Just think about it, Nelle," Carly said as she and Lena began to rise from their seats. It was masked as a piece of friendly advice, but Nelle knew that it was anything but that. It was an order.

"Come on, sweetheart," Carly told Lena, her voice regaining warmth as she addressed her oldest daughter. "Let's go visit Aaron."

"Right behind you, Mom."

As Nelle watched the Spencer women walk away, she felt that familiar hatred bubbling in her stomach. For just one moment she considered dropping the custody battle as a show of goodwill after Michael expressed his gratitude towards her after she signed the consent form, of showing him and his family that Aaron mattered more to her than they believed, but now, because of Carly and Lena….

She'd give them all Hell.

General Hospital — Twin Flames

"How are you feeling?" Michael asked Sasha as they visited Aaron.

The little boy was sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling with much more ease than before. His face was no longer pinched with discomfort and pain; instead it was smooth and serene as he rested.

"I'm okay," Sasha answered.

Michael nodded. "And the baby?" He gently touched her belly.

Sasha smiled. "She's fine," she said.

Michael's eyebrows rose. "She?" He asked.

Sasha's smile turned from reassuring to mischievous. "Mother's intuition," she replied with a shrug.

Michael laughed. "Mother's intuition, huh?" He said.

"It's a thing," Sasha laughed, too.

It was silent between them for a little while before Sasha asked, her voice quiet and her smile gone, "What do we do now? About Willow and Nelle being sisters? Do we tell her and Nina?"

Michael was silent, pondering her question. On one hand they both knew what it was like to keep a secret and have a secret kept from them that impacted their lives. It turned their worlds upside down and caused so much unnecessary pain and drama. Even though it was Nelle, Willow deserved to know her sister just like Nina deserved to know her other daughter.

On the other hand…Willow already had so much to deal with right now. Her traumatic past with Shiloh and Dawn of Day aside, she was trying to cope with the loss of her son, a tragedy she didn't even know happened because of Nelle, the very woman with whom she shared blood. Knowing that right now would cause her even more pain and suffering, and Michael refused to allow any more hurt to be inflicted on his friend.

"I don't think we should tell her or Nina," he finally said.

Sasha stared at him. "Are you sure, Michael?" She asked, lowering her voice to a near whisper as if Nina and Willow could hear them through the walls. "Nelle's not a good person, but she is Willow's sister…Nina's other daughter…do you really want to keep that from them?"

Michael nodded. "I do," he answered in the same almost whisper, staring into his girlfriend's eyes with a serious look in his own. "The way that Willow feels right now…I think telling her that Nelle is her sister would cause her more harm than good."

Sasha remembered that night at Charlie's where Willow slapped Nelle after the blonde callously told her that her son was dead when she called her out about wanting to change Aaron's name. She remembered seeing the agony and rage in her eyes, the devastation that Nelle's cruel words caused…she didn't want that for her best friend. Not again.

That's why she found herself nodding. "You're right," she finally responded. "They deserve to know, but not now. Not when Willow is so fragile."

The couple turned back to Aaron and although part of them still wondered if keeping this secret was really the best course of action, they couldn't dwell on it now. Instead, they chose to focus on Aaron and how relieved they were that their child would be able to meet her (according to Sasha's mother intuition) big brother after all.