Chapter 17

"I need a doctor!" Lucky shouted as he burst through the doors at GH,
carrying a limp Elizabeth in his arms. Her legs dangling over his arm, her
head pillowed by his chest. He shouted yet again, "Somebody get over here!"

A commotion ensued as a flurry of medical staff rushed towards them. Lucky
looked on in horror as Liz was lifted from his arms and on to a gurney. He
shook his head absently as questions he didn't have answers to were fired at
him from both sides. "Did she fall? Did she hit her head? How did she get
this bruise? Is she allergic to any medication?" His eyes never left her, as
he saw the oxygen mask being placed over her nose and mouth. He snapped out
of his reverie when he heard one question he could answer, "How long has she
been unconscious?"

"Uh...about 20 minutes,"he whispered, his throat dry. For the first time,
since he had spotted her on the docks he noticed things. Things that hadn't
been apparent to him before. He noticed her dress: black, short, very unlike
the Elizabeth he had come to know and love. He noticed the rip in her
stockings that seemed to transport his memory back to a place he didn't want
to go to. He noticed her smudged mascara. The heavy eye makeup, that he never
remembered seeing before. He had been so caught up in just being able to hold
her again, that none of these things had even registered.

He swallowed hard as he watched Liz being wheeled away. His feet began to
follow, when suddenly a gasp behind him and a wisper of his name turned him
around slowly. He had already recognized the voice.

His eyes came face to face with Bobbie's, as her's widened in disbelief. He
saw her begin to sway and he reached out, grabbing her by the elbows. "Don't
faint," he said, grinning weakly. As much as he knew he needed to explain
everything to her, he wanted to run away. He wanted nothing more than to be
with Elizabeth.

She remained silent, as she tried to bring herself back to reality, as she
tried to focus on the apparition in front of her. "This can't be," she said,
her voice hallow.

Lucky guided her slowly into a secluded area of the waiting room. Bobbie
continued to stare at his face.

"It's me Bobbie...it is...I was kidnapped...a man named Cesar Faison...yes,
he's alive too...." Lucky's voice trailed off. This was a shoddy explanation,
he knew. But he didn't have time for a lengthy monologue.

Bobbie swallowed against the forming lump in her throat. She had seen many
miracles in her life, but this, this was unbelievable. She reached out then,
clasping her hands around his neck and bringing him to her in an embrace. She
found her voice. "Do your parents know?" She asked, her head on his
shoulders. She still could barely believe he was in her arms. This couldn't
be real.

"Yeah," Lucky whispered. "My dad...found me."

'Found me?' Lucky thought. 'Is that right? Is that how it happened? Or did I
find him?' He quickly shook the feeling off. He didn't want to think about
that now.

"Bobbie," he began. "Elizabeth...she's sick...I don't know what's wrong with
her...she just collapsed."

Bobbie, tried desperately to shake off the shock that had cloaked her entire
body, and form a coherent sentence. "I was on my way," Bobbie said. "I got
the page...but..." She couldn't will herself to move from her spot.

Lucky stared at her for a long moment, but could no longer contain himself.
"Go!" He shouted, waking her from her reverie.

Bobbie shook her head. "I'll keep you posted Lucky," she said, backing away
then, her feet heavy as lead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucky paced the floor, looking down at the reflection of the bright hospital
lights shining backwards from the linoleum. He sighed loudly, and his parents
looked up, their eyes following his every move.

Bobbie had called them earlier, letting them know that Lucky had brought
Elizabeth into the hospital.

Suddenly he walked over to them as if stricken by a thought. "Is she sick?"
he asked  staring at his mother and then his father. Each sets of eyes glazed
over, one averted his glance, the other looked down. "I said," Lucky
repeated. "Is she sick?...Because nobody's telling me anything here! Nobody's
been out here...you guys aren't saying anything. You have to know something!"

Luke cleared his throat. "Listen Cowboy," he began slowly. "You're mother and
I....neither of us really know how Elizabeth is doing," he sighed.

Lucky ran a hand through his hair frustratedly, "What do you mean you don't
know how she's doing?! Didn't you...after I was taken...you guys didn't make
sure she was ok?" Lucky couldn't seem to get his thoughts out quick enough,
and their stoic silence was beginning to irritate him beyond words.

This time Laura spoke, "Lucky, it's not that simple. Elizabeth didn't want
anyone's help. She...she just sort of shut herself off from the both of us."

"And you let her!?" Lucky yelled. Various head shot up around the waiting
room. Some looking up from magazines, some woken from their slumber.

Laura looked down and Luke leaned back in his chair, both thinking that they
had failed their son once again.

Suddenly Bobbie emerged from a pair of double swinging doors. "Lucky?" she
called softly.

Both Luke and Laura stood up as Lucky walked towards her.

"The doctors have moved Elizabeth into her own room...it seems she has a
pretty bad concussion...she's been in and out of conciousness....Lucky, how
she walked to...wherever it was that you two met up tonight is beyond me. She
shouldn't have been able to walk anywhere in her condition."

Lucky shook his head. "Wait...how did she get a concussion...wh..." his voice
trailed off.

"She hasn't been coherent enough to tell us Lucky...between the blow to the
head and all that alcohol in her system, all we've been able to make out is
your name. She's been mumbling 'Lucky,' quite a lot."

"Alcohol?" Lucky asked, his voice hallow. 'What the Hell is going on?' he
thought.

Bobbie sighed. "Yeah...she was pretty inebriated. Lucky I really should wait
until Audrey gets here to go into more detail...I took the liberty of call - "

"Can I see her?" Lucky blurted.

Bobbie looked around and lowered her voice. "She's not really supposed to
have visitors yet...but....I think that could be arranged."

Chapter 18

Lucky took a deep breath upon seeing the sight before him. His beautiful
Elizabeth in a hospital bed, an IV pumping fluids into her body. He sat down
next to her, moving the chair as close to the bed as he could. He ran the
back of his hand across her smooth cheek, not quite understanding how
anything could be so soft. He'd missed that so much.

He then ran his fingers over the bandage covering her head. "What happened
angel?" he wispered. "I need you to wake up and tell me what happened. I just
wanna see those beautiful eyes of yours open up and look at me..."Lucky's
voice began to quiver, and he breathed deeply, trying to pull it together. He
grinned slightly at the irony of the situation. "Elizabeth this really isn't
fair," he began, his voice cracking involuntarily. "I come back from the dead
and...."

He brushed his fingers over her soft, pink lips, not finishing the rest of
his sentence. She was so pale, yet the color of her lips remained the same
and Lucky ached to kiss her again. He ached to hear her melodic voice. Once
was surely not enough to kiss her. Not by a long shot. He wanted her to be
awake for their next one though. He wanted her to know she wasn't dreaming.

A thought suddenly hit him, propelling him up and out of his chair.
'Flowers,' he thought. 'I'm gonna go get her flowers...white roses. He
sniffed back his impending tears, and no sooner had the thought crossed his
mind than he was on his way out. However, the door opened on it's own.

Nikolas gasped. His feet feeling as if someone had just pulled the ground out
from under them. His voice tryed to find it's way up and around a stomach
that had seemingly moved up into his throat. "Lu - Lucky?" He asked, his own
voice unfamiliar to him.

Lucky took a deep breath and grinned slightly. "Yeah...I take it you didn't
run into our mother out there...I mean, if you did it was pretty cruel of her
not to warn you."

Nikolas let out the breath he had been holding and grinned. Lucky's smile
widened, happy that his attempt at humor had not been lost. Happy that as of
yet his brother has not fallen to the ground in shock.

"Oh My God," Nikolas wispered. "How..."

"I was kidnapped," Lucky began flattly. "Compliments of a man named Cesar
Faison and of course....your beloved grandmother."

Nikolas' eyes widened in horror. "Oh My God Lucky...."

"You said that already," Lucky snapped. He quickly berated himself for being
short with Nikolas. 'Nikolas didn't know,' he thought. 'There's no need to be
mad at him...Hug him for God's sake.'

Lucky reached out doing just that as Nikolas' arm slapped his back a few
times before stilling. To Lucky's own suprise, he felt hot tears begin to
well up in his eyes. 'So much for never caring about a Cassadine,' he thought.

Nikolas stared over Lucky's shoulder. Her tiny form lieing helples in the
seemingly huge hospital bed. To his surprise, the joyous tears for his
brothers' return did not come. They didn't even hint at an appearance.

Nikolas pulled away abruptly, upset with himself for having the thoughts he
was having. Selfish thoughts. Hateful thoughts. He quickly started a
conversation.

"How is she?" He asked solemnly, moving towards the bed.

Lucky's eyes followed him as he made his way across the room, a bit taken
aback by his swift ending of their embrace. 'Jeez Cassidine,' he thought.
'Show a little love for your long lost brother.' Lucky quickly brushed off
the thought, chalking it up to the confusion of the moment. He was back from
the dead afterall. That wasn't an easy thing to just bounce back from.

"They say she's doing as well as can be expected...she's got a
concussion...Nikolas do you have any idea what could have happened to her
tonight?...I'm really at a loss here."

Nikolas sat down in the chair that Lucky had occupied only moments before and
gripped Liz's small hand in his. Lucky watched, as a feeling of queaziness
washed over him. The feeling, what ever it had been subsided quickly as he
asked his question again, not sure that Nikolas had heard him the first time.
"Nikolas do you know what migh - "

"I found her car," he said flattly, never turning to look at Lucky. "That's
when I rushed over here."

"What do you mean you found her car?" Lucky asked, moving closer to Liz and
where Nikolas sat perched at her bedside.

"I think she was in an accident...that would account for this concussion.
There was a huge dent in the hood of the car...a tree I think.," Nikolas said
brushing his hand lightly over the bandage. "I was so scared."

'There goes that feeling again,' Lucky thought, his stomach settling just as
quickly.

Nikolas continued to speak. "I knew she was in trouble...I followed her
but...she lost me somewhere out on the highway - "

"Nikolas what are you talking about?" Lucky asked, irratation beginning to
creep into his voice. "What happened? Why would Elizabeth be in trouble?"

Nikolas sighed, realizing he had already said too much. He finally looked at
Lucky. The brother who he'd missed so very much in the beginning. The brother
that presently made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Why did he
suddenly feel so threatened? He turned his head back toward Liz's sleeping
form. 'Because of her you idiot...because of her.'

"Lucky a lot of stuff went down tonight...but I helped her through it, don't
worry."

Lucky shoved his hands in his pockets and clenched them slightly. "What
Nikolas...what exactly did you help her through?" 'What the Hell is he being
so cryptic about?' Lucky thought but didn't say.

Nikolas shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Lucky I honestly think it's Liz's
place.....not mine, to tell you."

"Tell me wh - " Lucky's voice trailed off as a soft moan pierced through the
tension in the room.

Lucky pushed past Nikolas in his haste to get to her, nearly knocking him
over in his process. His hand replaced Nikolas' on hers.

"Lucky," she mumbled almost inaudibly, her eyes still closed, still in the
realm between sleep and awake. "Lucky...please come back to me....Lucky."

"I'm right here Elizabeth," Lucky said softly, placing kiss after kiss on her
hand and holding it to his lips. "I'm right here....I'm not goin'
anywhere...never again."

Lucky turned towards his brother, her hand still held in his. "Nikolas get a
doctor. I think she's waking up."

Nikolas stood for a moment. His feet stuck to the ground as she called out
his brothers' name over and over again. "Yeah," he said finally. "I'll get a
doctor."