|
|
“LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!” Emily screamed.
There was no response. She
frantically looked around for a
way down to the bottom. “There’s no way
down,” Robin surveyed, “I’m going
to go back to my car and call Luke
and the paramedics on my cell phone.”
Emily nodded at her, tears
filling her eyes. “Hurry!”
Nikolas looked sick as he stared down at his
brother, who lay far below, in
the mud and water. Robin cautiously
crossed the ledge and ran down
the corridors back to her car. Emily
held Nik’s hand as she whispered,
“What if he’s dead? Oh god, please let
him be alive.” Nikolas brushed
a tear out of his eye as he held Emily
close. The sunlight was shining
at the entrance of the catacombs,
casting a faint light into the
tunnel. Emily looked around, “I can’t
believe he’s been here this entire
time. If only I’d thought of this on
Saturday.” Nikolas shook
his head, “You didn’t know....not fault.”
She managed a feeble grin and the
two sat there, huddled together as
they waited for the paramedics.
~*~*~*~*
Bobbie’s hands shook as she hung
up the phone. “LUKE!!!!!!!” She
screamed up the stairs. “Robin,
Nikolas and Emily found
Lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Luke thundered down the stairs, “Where is
he?” Bobbie wiped her eyes,
“He’s in the catacombs. He must have gone
there Friday night, apparently
he’s fallen and they don’t know how badly
he’s hurt. Robin called the
paramedics. We’re to meet them at the
hospital.” Luke dashed out
the door, “Hurry up woman! I have to see my
son!” Bobbie grabbed her
purse and ran after him, as he jumped into the
car.
~*~*~*~*
Alexis was awakened by the jangle
of the phone. She picked it up and
said a sleepy hello. “Luke’s
son has been found. Nikolas will be at
the hospital shortly. I’d
like you to be there for him, until Stefan
can be reached. He needs
relatives right now Natasha. Don’t fail me.”
Helena’s brittle voice echoed in
Alexis ears. She dashed out of bed,
showered and dressed. Scrawling
a crude note, she kissed Ned on the
cheek and looked lovingly at his
form as he lay in the bed. Then she
turned on her heel and headed for
the hospital.
The ambulance sped up to the entrance
to the catacombs. Paramedics
climbed out of the back and ran
into the entrance of the tunnels.
Robin, Nikolas, and Emily sat around
the ledge, calling to Lucky, hoping
for a response. But there
was none. Nikolas’s head jerked up as he
heard footsteps come towards them.
“Here! Over here!” He called. The
paramedics rushed in. Emily
stood up tearfully, “He’s down there. I
don’t know how you’ll reach him.
But please hurry.” One of the
paramedics stepped forward, “Don’t
worry young lady. We’ll get him, I
promise. We’re going to be bringing
in a stretcher and a ladder. We’ll
reach him, don’t you worry.
Now let’s get you out of here.” Robin and
Nikolas began to walk away, but
Emily refused. “I have to stay here
with him, I want to be here if
he wakes up.” The paramedic smiled at
her, “Just be careful and try to
stay back from the workers.” Robin and
Nikolas left the catacombs and
left for the hospital, while more
paramedics entered the tunnel.
Dave, the friendly paramedic, and
several other men set up the ladder,
and began to lower the stretcher
down to the bottom of the tunnel. They
slowly climbed down, flashlights
lighting the way. As they approached
Lucky’s body, Dave lowered
the stretcher to the ground and knelt next
to Lucky. He laid a hand
on Lucky’s chest and examined his eyes. He
began talking into a radio hurriedly,
“Victim is suffering from extreme
hypothermia, temp is low.
Breathing is labored, suspected broken ribs
and severe concussion. ETA
to GH is 30 minutes.” The paramedics placed
an oxygen mask over Lucky’s mouth.
Warm blankets were wrapped around
him, and he was strapped into the
stretcher firmly and lifted carefully
up the ladder. The paramedics
rushed the boy out of the catacombs with
Emily following close and loaded
him into the ambulance. Within
minutes, the ambulance was speeding
towards General Hospital.
The doors of the ambulance whipped
open and the medics clambered out,
pulling the stretcher along with
them. As they hurriedly ran down the
emergency room hallway and into
a cubicle, Emily collapsed into a chair
in the waiting room. Luke
and Bobbie rushed towards her. Luke ran over
to Emily and took her chin in his
hands, “Thank you Em, for saving my
son’s life.” She smiled tearfully
at him, and he stood up and stood at
the window of the examining room.
Bobbie came back from the telephone
where she had been talking to Monica.
“Emily?” she approached the
shaky girl, “ Are you alright?
I’ve called your mother, she’s on her
way.” Emily smiled at her,
“Thank-you Bobbie. Is he going to be
alright?” Bobbie shook her
head, “I was just about to go in. I'll let
you know.” She stood up and
walked into the examining room, touching
Luke’s shoulder as she passed.
Luke was motionless at the window
staring at his son’s lifeless form
as doctors scurried around him.
Lucky lay on the stretcher, pale
except for a some bruises on his cheek
and dried blood. This is
all my fault, Luke thought to himself. He
slowly turned towards the phone.
It was time to tell Laura.
Bobbie entered the emergency room,
and spoke to Gloria, one of the
nurses, “How is he?” Gloria
looked up from her chart. “Lucky’s
temperature is dangerously low
and we’re having trouble bringing it back
up. Pulse is weak and respiration
is shallow. There are quite a few
broken ribs, and he has a severe
concussion. We’ll be sending him up to
x-ray as soon as we can stabilize
him.” Bobbie bit her lip, “Has he
woken up at all?” Gloria
shook her head, “Not responding to stimuli,
doctors are worried about the hypothermia
and head trauma.” Bobbie
nodded and went out to the waiting
room. She walked over the phone,
where Luke was hanging up the phone.
“Did you call Laura?” She asked
incredulously. Luke nodded,
“There was no answer, I left a message.”
Bobbie shook her head, “What did
you say? Come home, our son learned a
terrible truth , and is now lying
in a hospital bed??” Luke grimaced,
“Well, a little more tactful than
that. I know she’ll be mad, but she
will understand why I waited.
How is he?” Bobbie relayed Lucky’s
condition to Luke. He took
it hard, sitting down on one of the chairs
and holding his head in his hands.
Monica rushed through the doors
of the ER, “Emily!” Emily stood up,
“Mom.” Monica pulled Emily
into her arms and stroked her hair. “Oh
Emily, I’m so sorry. How
is he?” Emily shook her head, “He’s going up
to the ICU, he looked dead
.. I don't ... I ...” Monica silenced her
by pulling her into another hug.
“Let’s go to Alan’s office, you can
lie down.” Emily nodded,
and they slowly walked away. “Wait, can we
wait by the ICU, I have to be near
him, I have to know how he is.”
Monica looked long into Emily’s
tear filled eyes. She recognized the
symptoms of love in her young daughter.
She nodded and led her daughter
to the elevator.
Luke, Monica, Emily and Bobbie were
all gathered in the tiny room
adjacent to Lucky’s ICU room.
Worn out and tired the grown ups dozed
restlessly, while Emily stood in
front of the large window and stared at
Lucky lying in his hospital bed.
She took a quick glance around, the
night nurse had stepped out for
a moment. Emily quietly glanced around,
and silently snuck into Lucky’s
room. The eerie silence stopped her in
her tracks. The quiet was
suddenly punctuated by the hiss of the
respirator helping Lucky breathe.
Suddenly the subtle noises of the
room filled her ears, the beeping
of monitors and the hum of various
machines. She approached
the bed and sat in the stool beside it. She
rested her chin in her hands and
watched Lucky intently, awaiting any
signs of moments. She watched
his chest slowly rise and lower in rhythm
with the respirator. Lucky
lay pale on the bed, wires coming out of his
hospital gown. His cheek
was badly bruised and Emily could see another
dark bruise at his hairline.
She gently picked up Lucky’s hand and held
it in hers. It felt alien
and Emily began to cry. She started when she
felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned around to see Luke standing
behind her, tears running down
his face. He looked up at the ceiling,
“What are we gonna do my dear?”
He rubbed his face with his hands.
“I’ll tell you what you’re going
to do.” A crisp voice filled the air, “
You’re going to tell me why you
waited four days to tell me that my son
was missing.” Laura stepped
into the room and stared unforgivingly at
Luke.
Luke stood up in shock, “Laura,
you got my message?” She looked at him
coldly, “What message, I received
another surprise on my doorstep this
morning. It was an American
newspaper and it was covering the
disappearance of my son.
Now when exactly was my husband panning on
letting me know.” Emily stood
up, “Ummm, I’m gonna go get something to
eat.” She nervously hurried
out the door. Luke slumped into her chair,
“Laura I was going to tell you,
but we thought he was just running
away. I didn’t know he’d
be gone this long.” Laura sighed, “Why on
earth would Lucky want to run away?
He loves it in Port Charles.” Luke
rubbed his cheek, “Laura he knows,
about our past, what happened that
night. He overheard me talking
to Bobbie and he bolted, I didn’t know
where he was...I .... “ Laura
covered her mouth with her hand. “I
never wanted him to find out that
way. He must have been so upset.”
Luke nodded, “He took off like
a shot. Went to the catacombs and fell
down a shaft. We didn’t find
him till this morning. He’s real sick
Laura, and it’s all my fault.”
Laura began to cry, “My poor baby, he
must have been in such pain.
But.. Luke... it’s not your fault. We
both knew he would react badly,
it was just bad luck he went where he
did. I wish we had been able
to tell him together though. What will we
do when he wakes up?” “I
don’t think he should see me, it will only
upset him. He needs to talk
to you right now Laura, you’re the only one
who can help him understand.”
Laura shook her head, “We need to stay
strong, show him how it hasn’t
affected our love and our life. That’s
what will help him the most.”
*~*~*~*~*~
Helena smiled at Alexis as she entered
her den, “Well done, Natasha. I
have word that Laura is gracing
our fair state. The delivery went well
I assume?” Alexis nodded,
“Yes, she thought it was the morning
paper.” Helena smirked, “
I guess she never got Luke’s charming
message. Terrible about his
son though. This puts all their family in
a vulnerable state right now.
Like shooting fish in a barrel.”
*~*~*~*~*~
Sarah and Liz walked up to Nikolas
as he sat in the playroom of the
pediatrics ward, “Hi Nikolas,”
she said shyly, “How are you?” He
looked up and the girls gasped
at the dark circles under his eyes.
“What’s wrong?!” asked Liz, “You
look terrible!” Nikolas shook his head
wearily, “What are you doing here?”
“I had a little time before my
therapy, so Sarah and I decided
to stop in here and see if any of the
kids wanted to play.” Sarah
put her hand on Nik’s shoulder, “Nikolas,
what’s bothering you?” He
took a deep breath, “Robin and Emily and I
found Lucky last night.”
Liz gasped, “Where was he?” “In the
catacombs. He fell and was
unconscious this whole time. He’s ... he’s
very sick, I want to see
him, but Luke won’t let me in.” Both of the
girls mouths dropped open.
“Where is he?” Liz demanded, “I have to see
him.”