|
|
Nikolas, Sarah and Liz quietly tiptoed
around the corner of the ICU
ward. “What if a nurse sees
us?” Liz whispered. Sarah thought for a
moment, “We’ll just tell them we’re
lost.” Liz snorted, “What about
your volunteer id, I think
you’d know the hospital by now, plus the big
ol’ ICU sign would have tipped
you off anyway.” Sarah glared, “It was
just a thought.” Suddenly
the door of Lucky’s room flew open and Monica
and Bobbie walked out and headed
downstairs to the cafeteria. Emily
walked out and leaned against the
wall. “Em!” cried Liz. She hugged
Emily, “How are you? How is Lucky?
What happened?” Emily shook her
head, “Slow down Liz!” She
grinned at her ruefully, “I’m hanging in
there, don’t worry about me.
Lucky’s slowly getting better, or so
Monica tells me. But she
could be withholding stuff from me so I don’t
worry.” Nikolas reached for
her hand and squeezed it. Emily smiled
back at his gentle affection. “Thanks
Nikolas.” Sarah peered around the
window, “Is it family only?”
Em nodded, “Yeah, Luke let me in once, but
now Laura’s here and I feel funny
taking up her time with him. I just
want to be here when he wakes up.”
Liz nodded in agreement, “We will
check in every day, let us know
how he is. We want to see him when he
gets better.” Emily smiled,
“I will definitely keep you guys posted.”
The trio then quickly left, before
a nurse noticed their presence.
Emily walked back into the room,
it was strangely empty. “Luke and
Laura must have gone out for a
bit.” She decided. Leslie and Ruby had
been by earlier and Leslie had
left visibly shaken. Emily wondered
about poor Lulu, if she understood
the magnitude of her brother’s
condition, or if she’d even been
told. She went in beside Lucky. She
stared at him, “Why did you run
away Lucky? What was so terrible that
you couldn’t tell us that night,
you could have told me anything, I
don’t understand.”
Luke and Laura stepped onto the
patio of GH and breathed in the fresh
night air. Luke stared at
Laura, “I’m sorry you had to find out about
Lucky the way you did, I meant
to call. But someone got there first.”
Laura nodded, “It was Helena, she
must have many people watching me in
Switzerland, she had the
New York paper delivered to my house. I found
it on the doorstep.” Luke
shivered, “She’s too close, I'm glad you're
back with us.” Laura smiled
at him and leaned against his shoulder. “My
mother is so scared, I wish there
was something I could do for her. I’m
so thankful that Bobbie will be
staying with her and Leslie. I can’t
deal with the stress.” Luke
spun Laura around. “Lucky’s going to be
very upset when he wakes up, will
we be able to explain things to him?”
Laura ducked her head, “I don’t
know, he had your temper Luke. If he
still feels such strong anger,
maybe Bobbie would take him in for a
while. We can’t let him leave
Port Charles, otherwise I don’t think
he’d ever come back.”
Laura sat next to Lucky’s bedside,
exhausted from a sleepless night.
Lucky’s fever had risen during
the night and he was restless. Both of
his parents prayed he would soon
wake up, but there had been no signs of
life since he had been brought
in. Luke sat, asleep in the couch, with
Emily sprawled beside him, her
head using his leg as a pillow. A nurse
came in and quickly took Lucky’s
temperature. She left the room and
began speaking to Tony. He
nodded with her, and came into Lucky’s
room. He stood behind Laura
and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Laura? How are you holding
up?”. She smiled a small smile at him.
“We’re all hanging in there, what’s
up?” He checked his chart, “Well,
neurosurgery is my specialty as
you know, but I make it a priority to
check on Lucky each morning.
The nurse said they put him back on a
ventilator last night?” “That’s
right.” Bobbie said entering the room,
“His temperature kept climbing
and his breathing was shallow. It was a
precaution, but it seems to have
helped him. His pulse is stronger
every day.” Laura rubbed
her eyes, “Were there any signs of serious
head injury?” Tony shook
his head, “Just a severe concussion, no
fracture, he was very lucky.”
“Why hasn’t he woken up?” Laura
questioned him, anxious for answers.
“There’s no way to tell, of course
the severity of any internal injuries
he may have suffered, but I think
this is just Lucky’s body’s way
of dealing with the exhaustion, the
stress, malnutrition and hypothermia.
Those are all minor obstacles,
he’s most likely recovered from
them already. Our only concerns now are
the concussion and his persistent
fever.” Bobbie checked one of the
monitors surrounding the bed, “It’s
possible that he may be developing
pneumonia or a slight infection
as a result of the unhygienic and cold
state of the catacombs. But
he’s on antibiotics and improving every
day.” Tony leaned over Lucky,
checking his pupils and the dressings
over his ribs. “He’s healing
well Laura, it may be just as well that
he’s unconscious. He’s in
less pain this way.” Laura stood up, “But he
isn’t in any pain now is he?”
Bobbie shook her head, “He’s going to
wake up any hour now Laura just
you wait.” Laura smiled at her, “I
think I’m going to take a walk,
get some air. Let Luke know if he wakes
up will you Bobbie?” She
turned, placed a kiss on Lucky’s forehead, and
covered Emily and Luke with a blanket.
She left the room, and found
herself face to face with Helena.
Laura and Helena sat down at one
of the tables in the cafeteria. “My
my,” smirked Helena, “You’re accommodations
certainly have been sparse
these past few days.” Laura
rolled her eyes, “We’re not exactly here
for the cuisine or the luxury Helena.”
She stared curiously at
the older woman, “But you already
knew that. Why did you send me that
paper? What do you want?”
Helena chuckled, “I felt you had a right to
know, my dear, that your son was
ill. Your bumbling oaf of a husband
needed you, but was to stubborn
to give in and call. I was merely
trying to help.” She smiled
patronizingly at Laura. Laura pounded the
table in rage, “Knock off the act
Helena, what do you really want?” The
corners of Helena’s mouth turned
up in a slight smile, “How perceptive
of you. But if I told you
what I really wanted, the game would be over
now wouldn’t it?” Laura stood
up, “This is not a game Helena, this is
my son’s life.” Helena shook
her head, “Wait until he wakes up, foolish
woman, you’ll have twice as much
grief in your life, dealing with his
anger, than I could have ever offered
you.” And with that, she stood up
and regally walked out of the cafeteria.
Emily came back into Lucky’s hospital
room after going to visit Sarah up
in the pediatric ward. She
had gotten all her homework from her, and
luckily all the teachers were still
too tired to be giving long
assignments. She could finish
it in half an hour at least. She pulled
up a chair next to Lucky’s bed
and opened her english reading
assignment. She was very
glad that Tony had taken out the respirator
again. It frightened her.
Laura had told her that Lucky had developed
a slight case of pneumonia, but
was breathing easier. She began to read
quietly, as not to disturb Luke.
She looked up at Lucky and put the
book down. “Did I really
see that?” She asked herself. She peered at
Lucky intently. There.
He had done it again. His jaw moved ever so
slightly. “Lucky?” Emily
whispered frantically, “Can you hear me? Can
you open your eyes for me please?”
Lucky’s eyes twitched and then
remained still. He opened
his mouth lightly, and mumbled. “What was
that?” Lucky’s hand tightened
in hers, he opened his mouth and drew in
a hoarse breath, “Don’t stop reading.”
“Lucky!” hissed Emily, “You’re awake.
Open your eyes, please, please
look at me.” Lucky fluttered
his eyes, struggling to lift his heavy
lids. He opened his sore
eyes, looking straight at Emily. “Where am
I?” Emily was crying, she
brushed stray tears off her cheeks, “You’re
in the hospital. Nikolas
and Robin and I found you in the catacombs.
You had fallen.” Lucky shut
his eyes, painfully remembering the events
of the last week. He groaned
quietly, “How long have I been here?”
Emily thought for a moment, “About
three days, you’ve been unconscious
the whole time.” Lucky tried
tow swallow, “I feel terrible. My head is
pounding.” Emily nodded,
“Well, it’s no wonder. You’ve got a slight
case of pneumonia and broken ribs.”
Lucky sighed hoarsely, “That’s not
what my headache’s about Em.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Emily
asked, immediately concerned.
Lucky shook his head slightly. “Now’s
not the place, where are my parents.”
Emily pointed the couch in the
corner, “Luke is asleep over there,
Leslie and Lu are at Bobbie’s, and
your mom ...” Lucky sat up
straight, and then collapsed back into the
bed, wincing in pain, “Ahhh,” He
shut his eyes and tried to take deep
steady breaths. “How did my mom
get here.” “I guess your mom called
him, I really don’t know,
when she showed up she was real mad. I gave
them some privacy.” She gave
Lucky a long look, “You look exhausted,
why don’t you get back to sleep.”
Lucky squeezed Emily’s hand, he
stared at her in amazement.
“Thank-you for finding me Em, I owe you my
life.” He brought Emily’s
hand up and kissed it gently. Then he closed
he eyes and fell back asleep.
Emily broke into a wide grin, and she
stood up, breathless. “He’s
going to need you my dear. Promise me
you’ll be there for him.”
Luke stood up and stretched, “I’ll let Laura
know he’s woken up.” Emily
stared at Luke curiously, “Why didn’t you
talk to him?” Luke sighed,
“I’m not on his top ten list of people right
now, he’d only have gotten upset.”
“Why?” Emily asked, “Wait, sorry,
maybe it’s none of my business,
I’m sorry.” Luke shook his head, “Don’t
be, I’d tell you , but I think
Lucky would prefer to tell you on his
own.” Emily picked up her
purse, “I’m going to go home and take a
shower, if Lucky wakes up, will
you please tell him I’ll be back
tonight?” Luke nodded. Emily
leaned over and placed a small kiss on
Lucky’s cheek, “I’ll be right back.”
She whispered in his ear. She
smiled a small smile at Luke and
walked out the door.
Emily and Sarah walked into Kelly’s,
laughing and talking. “Thank-you
so much for calling me Sarah,”
Emily said to her friend, “I had a huge
nap when I got home from the hospital,
and I was wiped.” Sarah unwrapped
her scarf as she sat down, “Well
no wonder, you’ve been there for days.
Are you going to come back to school
now that Lucky’s awake?” Emily
grimaced, “I wish i didn’t have
to but I’ve missed two many days in a
row, I really don’t want to fall
behind. I’m going back to the hospital
after supper, but I’ll have to
go to school tomorrow.” Sarah nodded,
“I’m so happy Lucky woke up.
Liz was too.” Emily grinned, “It
definitely made my day.” she giggled.
Sarah looked curiously at her
friend, “Alright, tell me what’s
up? Did something happen between you
and Lucky?” Emily ducked
her head a bit. “I don’t know, it feel like
something is different between
us now, but .. it’s a good different, so
I’m not too worried. But
what about you, how goes it on the Nikolas
front?” Sarah’s eyes clouded
over, “Take a look for yourself.” She
pointed to the door, as Nikolas
and Robin walked in together, laughing.
Luke stood staring at Lucky, who
was still sleeping, worried about what
his son would do now that he was
awake. Would he bolt? Would he
forgive him? Would he never speak
to him? Luke did not like some of the
possibilities. He glanced
at Laura who was taking a small nap on the
couch. Lucky moaned quietly
and his mouth opened a little. “Laura,” Luke
said urgently, shaking his wife’s
shoulder. “He’s waking up.” Laura
rubbed her eyes as Luke’s words
hit her. She had been slightly upset
that she had not been there when
her son first woke up. She leaned over
Lucky, “Lucky, can you hear me?”
Luke quietly slipped out the door, as
Laura watched, she realized that
this was her chance to talk to Lucky
all alone. He slowly opened
his eyes and gazed at her, she squeezed his
hand as his eyes fluttered shut
again. “Lucky!” She said urgently, “We
need to talk, are you up for it.?”
He opened one eye and sighed, his
attempt to fool her into thinking
he had slipped back into sleep had not
worked. She was persistent
as ever, he thought to himself. “Can I get
some water?” He asked hoarsely,
his throat raw. “Of course sweetie.”
Laura brought Lucky a glass and
watched as he drank it down. “So?” Lucky
asked uncommittedly when he was
done. Laura sighed, he was going to be
difficult, she could tell.
“Lucky I understand why are you upset with
your father, but I think I need
to explain to you what happened all
those years ago.” Lucky’s
eyes darkened, “I don’t want to talk about
it.” “You’re not,” Laura
snapped, “I am. You need to hear this Lucky,
and you don’t have a choice about
it.”
Lucky sighed, “Fine.” Laura
took a deep breath. “I know you can’t
believe that I forgave your father
or that he deserves your
forgiveness. I’m not asking
you to forgive him right away. But I
forgave him, and we have forgotten
that terrible night and concentrated
on our life and our love right
now. I think you should do that too.
It’s in the past Lucky, we’ve dealt
with it, and you father is still the
same man he was before you knew
what happened. He’s still the wonderful
father he always was. You
adored him them, I know you can love him now
too.” Lucky shut his eyes
and rolled over, “Could I please be alone?”
Laura nodded and sadly left his
room.