Devolution TOC

Chapter 120

For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause:
thou hast broken the teeth of sinners.

Tony walked into Frisco's room carrying a green surgical scrub outfit. He sat down in a chair. "How would you like to wear real clothes?"

Frisco smiled weakly. "You're giving me back my pants? What a brother. Thanks, Tony."

Tony shrugged at the sarcasm and laid the scrubs at the foot of Frisco's bed. "I know it must be enough of an indignity for Mr. WSB Agent to be recovering from heart surgery and unable to jet off to your next mission."

Frisco's face reddened, and he purposefully turned his face away from Tony as he stared silently at the wall.

Tony frowned, picking up an uncomfortable vibe from his younger brother but unable to read his body language. "What's up, Frisco? Where's the big chill coming from?"

Frisco covered his face with his hand.

Tony grew more concerned. "It's not your heart, is it? Did they find anything new?"

Frisco shook his head in a silent reply. "It's worse," he choked out. "My heart's fine, but I wish I'd died on the operating table."

"What?" Tony exclaimed. "Your health is fine, and you wish it weren't? What's the matter with you?"

Frisco patted at the cardiac monitor by his bedside. His index finger went up and down with the rhythm while Tony watched with trepidation. What's wrong with him? Why can I never read my own brother?

Frisco's voice was slow and leaden when he finally spoke. "That's what the WSB wants to know - what's wrong with me. I just spoke to my supervisor." Frisco paused and clenched his jaw as tears pooled in his eyes. He halfheartedly wiped at them. "They're getting rid of me. I'm damaged goods, not good enough anymore for the elite."

"What are you saying?"

"They gave me a choice - early retirement with reduced benefits or a lower level desk job tucked away in a corner somewhere in boring, midwestern America. Guess which one I picked?"

Tony's heart gripped with compassion for Frisco. The job that was Frisco's entire life was casually stripped away with an official five minute phone call. He'd lost everything. "Oh, Frisco, I'm so sorry. Is there an appeals process or something you can do to fight this?"

"It's OVER!" Frisco shouted in outrage and pain as he kicked angrily at the blanket that covered his legs. "I'm officially retired from the WSB. They'll send me the personal contents of my office to the address of my choice. Goodbye, don't come back. Have a nice life, whatever life I have left that is. I gave up EVERYTHING for them. Oh God..." Frisco's face contorted with pain, matched in intensity by the cardiac monitor, which sounded like it was pounding in overdrive.

"Did you have your heart catheterization through an incision in your femoral artery?" Tony asked shortly. When Frisco nodded, Tony laid a hand on his lower leg. "Calm down for a sec," he said. "If you move your leg again, you might tear loose the incision, and then where would you be?"

"In a sea of my own blood?" Frisco replied smartly.

"Right." Tony hesitated as he was unsure of how to comfort his brother in what was the brutal reality of his dead career. He decided he'd try. "I can't imagine how painful it must be for you to have your career with the WSB to come to an end. I know how hard you've worked and how much you've achieved."

Frisco's face screwed up. "I made a swan dive on a failed mission. No, not a dive, more like a belly flop."

"I disagree with that. Lucky is alive, and Faison is in jail where he'll likely spend the rest of his miserable life. Lucky was hurt, sure, but maybe he'd be dead if we hadn't asked for your help. I think Faison's attack on Lucky was inevitable. Ian said your quick thinking saved Lucky's life. The boy received oxygen in time to rescue his cardiovascular system from a permanent shutdown."

Frisco regarded his brother with interest. "I know he's out of a coma. You told me that. But is Lucky okay now? Is he back with you and Bobbie?"

Tony shook his head. "No. He's in the psychiatric area of the hospital. Physically, he's struggling with pneumonia, and mentally, he's had another breakdown, a serious psychotic episode. His psychiatrist is hopeful, though." When Frisco remained silent, Tony sputtered, "Surely, you don't feel responsible for Lucky's mental status. That's Faison's doing."

"My supervisor mentioned that Faison is out of the states already and in international custody. They have the goods on him. He won't be seeing the light of day." Frisco looked intensely at his brother. "What am I going to do, Tony? My life is over. I feel like a dead man."

"Start a new life?" Tony suggested. "With your retirement, you'll have a modest income, enough to give you time to plan the second half of your life. Look at it as an opportunity to do something new and throw your imagination to the wind."

"Like, figuring out what I always wanted to be when I grew up?"

"Yeah."

"That's easy. A spy," Frisco answered abruptly as he crossly folded his arms.

~*~*~*~

Nikolas' eyes swept over his brother's face as he sought a reaction to his words. "I'm glad you're alive," he repeated.

Lucky slowly looked down the length of his arm inch by inch to the hand that rested on his forearm. "No!" he shouted as he pulled back harshly.

Nikolas swallowed and felt sick to his stomach when he looked again into his brother's eyes. Lucky's blue eyes were odd - as if he weren't fully present or his personality was suppressed by force. These were the eyes of someone who was capable of anything and might not remember what he'd done unless later told. "Did I say something wrong?" Nikolas asked carefully. "Can I help?"

Lucky frowned, and his eyes looked sad. "I'm dead," he whined. Lucky hit his legs with his fists. "Don't touch me or you'll be dead, too! Don't let the worms crawl on you. They won't stop."

Nikolas noticed that Lucky repeatedly brushed his hands over his arms and legs. Is this what they mean by hallucinations? Nikolas suddenly realized that he was looking at a person in the full throes of psychosis. He must have been like this when he retuned from his kidnapping while I was on the L&B tour in Europe and after his assault in GH. He was getting better by the time I started visiting regularly. What do I say to him? I wish Tony were here to give me advice.

"I broke my arm," Nikolas said, changing the subject. "You can touch the cast if you want. You won't touch my skin."

Lucky gazed at the cast first with hesitancy and then with curiosity. He reached out his right hand and knocked on it with his knuckles. "You broke it?"

Nikolas nodded.

"How?"

Nikolas cleared his throat and decided that honesty was the best policy. "I know martial arts - you remember?"

Lucky stared at him. "Tai chi?" he guessed.

"And kung fu," Nikolas added. "When we were on Spoon Island at Wyndemere, Faison tried to hurt you and kidnap me. I put up a good fight." Nikolas held up his cast. "This is the result. The man broke my arm, but I broke his face."

Lucky laughed nervously. "I'm dead. They killed me and stuck me in the ground."

Nikolas shook his head. "No. They told you they were going to do that, but it didn't happen. You and I fought them off. We won, Lucky. We're alive."

"Where is Faison?" his voice quivered. "I can't keep him away."

"Faison is in jail," Nikolas said. "He was arrested and carted off in handcuffs. Frisco arrested him. I was there. I saw it."

"He killed me!" Lucky insisted as his focus drifted away from Nikolas. "He poisoned me. I felt it go down. It hurt my stomach." Lucky took in a deep breath and coughed. His voice rose to a higher, more intense pitch. "He's going to do it again. People keep giving me poison. They think I'm stupid, but I'm not!" Lucky's hands curled into fists around his blanket.

Nikolas ran his hand wearily over his forehead as he was growing fatigued at the impenetrable, circular logic of his brother. "You're not stupid," he said shortly. "But you're also not reading this situation correctly. You insist that you're dead, but then claim that they're trying to kill you. You can't die more than once, Lucky. Once you do, that's it. You only do it one time." Nikolas fought tears of frustration. All he wanted to do was give Lucky a hug. Why was it so complicated?

Lucky shook his head slowly. "No, I've died a lot of times. I'll do it again."

Nikolas rose from his chair and walked away from Lucky, moving to the barred window to establish some much needed distance from his brother. I need more patience, Nikolas thought. He remained turned away from Lucky, unable to focus on Lucky's deranged eyes out of desire for his own emotional protection.

"You don't like me anymore because I'm dead," Lucky said. "I know because I don't like being dead either." His voice softened. "I'm trying to be alive, honestly I am. I don't know how. Can you help me?"

Nikolas heart broke at hearing Lucky's confession, as honest as Lucky was able to be. He walked back to his brother. "I'll help you," he said. "Let's pretend that you're alive. Maybe then, it'll slowly feel like it's happening. That's a good plan, isn't it?"

"Okay," he agreed readily as he pushed himself higher in his bed.

Nikolas crossed his leg and held his hands around his knee. "When you're alive, we like to talk about girls. You've given me some good advice in the past. I'd like your opinion now."

"Why?" Lucky asked with a blank look.

"Because I met a girl that I like," Nikolas explained, pointing at his cast. "I was in the hospital for two days, like you, for this broken arm. I met a nurse, Renée. I was attracted to her, so I tried to talk to her and ask her questions like you recommended. I asked her for a date, but what do I do now? When should we go and where should we go? And what do I say to her while we're actually on the date? What do you think?"

Lucky frowned. "If you like her, tell her you want to get to know her better. Ask her where you could go to talk. Have a coffee."

"Honesty," Nikolas replied with no enthusiasm. "Okay, I can see your point. I've told you to lay your cards out on the table with Emily, so why shouldn't I with a new person? It makes sense."

"Emily," Lucky whispered. "Where's Emily?"

"Emily is at home, where she's waiting for you to be released from the hospital so you can go on your date. You might as well look forward to it since you're pretending to be alive."

"Yeah," Lucky agreed as he pinched his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. "I want to see Emily."

~*~*~*~

"You'll be discharged from the hospital in two days," Tony stated. "You'll need somewhere to stay while you're recuperating. Bobbie and I talked about it, and we'd like to convert our parlor into a room for you until you can get on your feet again. Bobbie would be real disappointed if you didn't stay with us."

A bemused smile played on Frisco's lips. Bobbie my ass. You're the one who'd be disappointed, Tony. "That's very generous of you. I could use a place to clear my head - and some good cooking. Hotels stink."

"We're not going to wait on you hand and foot," Tony scoffed.

"Didn't ask you to! I can pull my own weight."

"Good."

"Good."

Frisco glanced at Tony and then looked away. "So am I as terrible as everyone seems to think I am?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Felicia read me the riot act about not seeing the girls often enough; you argue with me about not keeping in touch or taking care of myself; and Alexis told me today that I don't appreciate you like I should. Am I that bad?"

"Worse," Tony muttered. "So Alexis is on my side? She's a classy lady, Frisco."

"Agreed." Frisco shut down immediately when it seemed like Tony had caught wind of a budding romance. The last thing he needed was busybody Tony playing matchmaker.

"So when's your first date?" Tony probed. "I recall Alexis was quite concerned about you. In fact she camped outside of your exam room in Emergency the other night. She was mighty interested in how you were doing."

"Oh?" Frisco asked nonchalantly when inside he was dying to find out more about this beautiful woman and what her interest in him conveyed. She'd agreed to dinner, but what were her motivations?

~*~*~*~

"That Mike guy won't be bothering you anymore," Nikolas commented as he stroked his cast. "I killed him. It was self defense, but he's dead."

"Like me?" Lucky squeaked out. He seemed to grow more agitated by the second, and Nikolas quickly backtracked in his mind. What have I done? He doesn't seem to be able to handle talking about the guy. Oh no. I thought he'd feel better knowing this. "It's okay, Lucky."

Lucky shook his head so abruptly his bangs flew to the side. "No, it's not! He's following me. I'll never get away. Oh man, what am I going to do?" Lucky gulped repeatedly. "I said take me, but he wouldn't. He wanted you. I tried, Nikolas, I'm sorry."

Nikolas looked on in horror as Lucky's voice took on a pleading tone. "He...he followed me, and we're both dead, and I...uh...have to hide, but I can't, the room is too small and there's nowhere to go." Lucky's face turned distant and blank. "I've got to go, Let me go! Please don't hit me anymore. My ribs are broken, and I'm going to die with...the...blood in my mouth. I keep spitting it up. Oh, I'm dead, but why can I still breathe? I don't understand." Lucky took in deep breaths and coughed hard in response.

Nikolas held his breath, and his heart raced as he watched Lucky's face.

"It's not my fault!" Lucky protested in a panicky voice. He held his arms over his head and flinched as if he were being beat. "Mommy, he made me do it. I didn't want to. Don't put me in the closet, pleeeease. It's dark and I get thirsty. I'm afraid. Pleeeease, Mommy. No."

"Oh my God," Nikolas mouthed out. "Oh my God." She knew. And she blamed him for it. She punished him when it was her fault for allowing the man to harm him.  "No, no," Nikolas said abruptly as he shook Lucky's shoulder. "You said you'd pretend with me. You're alive, remember? Lucky? Lucky, come back!"

Lucky responded to Nikolas' urgent tone of voice and blinked slowly. "I'm alive?"

"Yes," Nikolas stated firmly.

"I don't have a spirit of fear," Lucky replied.

"That sounds religious."

"God said I could call on him. God help me." Lucky shivered and ran his hands over his blanket. "God help me," he said again in a softer tone.

Oh yes! Nikolas thought desperately. Please, God help him. Help my brother. He's suffering, and I can't help him. I think I made it worse.  Nikolas glanced at the nightstand and saw the small book of religious poems that had been salvaged from the terror on the island. Nikolas had brought it with him to give to Lucky. He picked it up and leafed through the pages.

"I'm going to read to you," he announced. "Why don't you lie back and let the oxygen help you to breathe? Close your eyes so you can hear me." Nikolas remembered Lucky telling him that Kevin had instructed him to read aloud if he were bothered by hallucinations or out of control emotions. It would help bring order to his mind. Maybe it would help Lucky to listen to reading as well.

Lucky complied with Nikolas' request and sighed as he closed his eyes and pulled the blanket up to his chin. Nikolas thought that Lucky's face appeared as tired as it ever had with his sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes. He glanced down at the book and selected a poem. "Hmm...Let's see..."

~*~*~*~

"Lulu! Wait up." Lucas ran after Lulu. "I had to leave a note," he declared with exasperation. "You couldn't wait for me?" Lucas finally matched Lulu's stride and looked hard at his determined cousin.

"I want to see Lucky," she said firmly. "No one is going to stop me this time. He needs me. I can tell."

Lucas shook his head. "No one's trying to stop you, Lulu, but mom and dad are going to be upset, not to mention Aunt Felicia."

Lulu's lower lip trembled as she nervously fingered the strap of her denim blue backpack. "It's only two miles away. Uncle Tony said so. I can see the buildings. We're headed that way."

"That's a long walk, and maybe not all the neighborhoods are safe from here to there," Lucas pointed out. "Besides, who knows where Lucky is. It's a big hospital."

"We'll ask," Lulu stated. "My daddy said if you don't give up, you can have anything you want. You just have to try."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Your dad is in prison."

Lulu turned and clenched her fists as she frowned at her cousin. "You shut up, Lucas! You think you're better because you're a Jones, but Spencers will always be the best."

Lucas tried hard not to laugh at his cousin's intensity on a subject that his dad had joked about for years. "Don't ever try to fight that Spencer temper," his dad had advised whenever Lucas had made his mother angry. "Give up while you're ahead."

Lucas placed a gentle hand on Lulu's shoulder. "Don't be upset," he said. "We're all good."

The two children walked together in silence as they entered a run-down neighborhood bordering their own tidy, well manicured world. Lucas was correct. Port Charles had the downtown area with its run down, absentee landlord cottages and nondescript four squares next to the gentrified, restored beauty of stately Victorian era homes. Over one century later, it was still money meets working class. Money kept up the homes that originally had cost a pretty penny to build in the 1800's, and lack of money had brought the workers' modest homes to a relative state of ruin.

The closer to General Hospital they walked, the more the homes deteriorated in appearance with boards missing from the sides of houses and rotting porches. Lucas looked warily at one house with a bale of hay stuffing a broken window and a used porcelain toilet lying at the curb waiting for who knows what. Would the trash man even pick it up or was it a permanent fixture at the side of the road? Lucas reached out a hand to steady Lulu when she stumbled on several pieces of broken concrete that had worked their way out of a crumbling sidewalk. The purely residential area featured the occasional boarded up house with bright, spray painted symbols on it advertising the local gangs.

Lucas gulped as he knew exactly what those marks signified. He'd learned about them in school.

"Why are all of the men not wearing any shirts?" Lulu asked loudly. "I don't understand, Lucas. Why aren't they at work?"

"Shhhh," Lucas cautioned as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings. "Be quiet," he whispered.

"Well, why?" Lulu demanded loudly.

"Because it's summertime?" Lucas guessed.

"Lucas..." Lulu whined.

"Lulu, if you don't be quiet, you're going to get us killed. Take a look around." Lucas pulled Lulu across the street by the arm when a man approached them, unsteady on his feet, yet with a perfect handgrip on the bottle in a brown paper bag.

~*~*~*~

"How are we going to get in there to see Lucky?" Lucas questioned. Lucas and Lulu were hiding behind a plaid tan couch in the psychiatric reception area, watching people come and go from the locked door. "You have to have a card to get in," he explained.

Lulu's voice quivered. "I want to see Lucky. Is he in prison like my daddy? The lady downstairs said he was in the locked ward. What does that mean?"

Lucas shrugged. "You have to have a card to get in? I don't know. Nothing is locked where my dad works. This is strange."

Lulu pointed toward a uniformed man who pressed a card into the reader by the door to the result of one large metal door opening to allow him entrance. "Maybe we can sneak in behind someone like him while no one's at the desk."

Lucas sighed. "Lulu, that could take all night. I'm tired. It was a long walk over here. It's close to suppertime, and I'm getting hungry. I missed my afternoon snack to follow you."

"Sissy," Lulu snapped, her nerves on edge as well.

"Do you want me to help you or not?" Lucas crabbed. "Be nice or I'm going to call Dad to come and pick us up."

"Okaaay," Lulu replied with a slight whine and a toss of her long, brown hair. "But we're still going to find a way in."

Spencers, Lucas thought. I'm glad I'm a Jones.

~*~*~*~

Nikolas closed the book and ran his finger over the gold engraved title. It worked. The first page of Milton's Paradise Lost had bored Lucky to sleep.

Nikolas glanced at his watch. Alexis said she'd pick me up at 5:30 and take me back to the hotel. I hope she called the servants to deliver my personal effects. I dread even calling Wyndemere again.

~*~*~*~

"Go, go!" Lucas whispered harshly as he prodded Lulu toward the door. By some stretch of luck, the nurse at the reception desk had wandered off in search of a copy machine, and no one else was in the lobby area when another uniformed man approached the locked metal door with an access card.

The two children ran toward the door and crouched behind a chair located nearby. The man with the uniform frowned at the sound of activity behind him but saw nothing and shrugged. As he entered, the metal door briefly remained open because of its extreme weight, and Lucas and Lulu scurried behind the man, heading for the cover of another piece of furniture within the room before he or anyone else could detect them. They both held their breaths. "What in the world?" the man muttered. "Do I have gremlins following me around? What was that?"

Lucas met Lulu's eyes, and they covered their mouths with their hands to avoid laughing out loud. Lulu's eyes danced as she regarded her partner in crime. Lulu crouched into a squat, and Lucas settled down on his rear as they prepared to wait again as long as it took for the nurse at the reception desk to be called away on an errand.

~*~*~*~

Tony reentered Frisco's room with a cup of coffee in hand and a twinkle in his eye. "There's someone out in the hall wanting to see you." Tony looked directly at his brother, taking in his puzzled look. "I told her I'd check to make sure you were decent. You're decent, aren't you, Frisco?" Tony took a corner of Frisco's gown and flipped it up to tease him.

"Stop it," Frisco gritted out as he reached for the gown to smooth it down. He drew his blanket over his bare, hairy legs and ran his fingers over his mussed hair as he cleared his throat.

"You look fine, Frisco."

"I know."

"Don't you want to know who is anxiously waiting to see you?"

"Spit it out, Tony. You're getting on my nerves."

"Can I come in?" Alexis poked her head in the doorway and smiled broadly so that her dimples showed. Frisco sat up higher in bed and patted his blankets in place.

"Time for me to go home," Tony sighed. "It's been a long day. I don't need to chaperone you two, do I?"

"Goodbye, Tony," Frisco and Alexis exclaimed simultaneously and then proceeded to laugh.

Tony waved his hand as he exited the door. I hope they get together. His pager vibrated, and he saw that it was Felicia's cell phone number.

~*~*~*~

"We still don't know what room he's in," Lucas complained in a low whisper. "How can we find him?"

Lulu gave Lucas a bemused look and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she whispered back.

"This is stupid. I vote we call Dad."

Both kids tensed when they heard a commotion sounding from far off down the hallway. There were sounds of scuffling, shouts and something metallic crashing. The nurse at the reception desk hurriedly picked up a phone and spoke into it before rounding the desk to swiftly to walk down the hallway in her white, crepe soled shoes.

Lulu and Lucas saw their opportunity and followed the nurse on tiptoe, but not close enough to be seen. Lucas whispered, "We should search in all of the rooms to make sure we don't miss him by accident." To their dismay, the rooms nearest to them were empty with no signs of Lucky or other life forms. Beds were made, and rooms were clean and waiting for the next round of patients. Their voices echoed when they lightly called out Lucky's name.

Lulu's eyes filled with tears of fear and frustration. "I'm scared," she whispered. "Where's Lucky?"

Lucas continued down the hallway, craning his neck to look around. "This place is creepy. It's not like the rest of the hospital. They don't have bars on the windows in the rooms downstairs."

"Maybe it is a prison," Lulu said. "My mommy told me Lucky was in prison like Daddy. I thought she was lying, but now I don't know."

"Shhh," Lucas said. "We're coming close to the people." Up ahead there were personnel entering and exiting from a room. Some of them looked like nurses, but other ones were big, scary looking men. They could hear the sound of someone crying dejectedly, and it made the goose bumps rise on the back of their arms. When the main hallway forked, Lucas directed Lulu away from the scene so they wouldn't be detected. Lucas felt sad at the sterile, gray atmosphere of this place. A weary, hopeless feeling welled up in him like he'd lost his best friend.

Finally, they stopped when they met a dead end at another large, metal door. Lulu's head whipped around. "There's no where left to go. What do we do? Maybe Lucky isn't here."

Lucas saw letters on the wall with an accompanying arrow pointing toward the metal door. "Secured Area," it read. "Authorized Access Only."

"I have a bad feeling about this, Lulu," Lucas said. "We'd better leave before somebody finds us. I don't want to get caught in here."

Lulu's face sank. "Me neither. This is a bad place."

Lucas continued with the weird vibe. "What if they catch us and won't let us go?"

Lucas jumped back, and Lulu let out a shriek when the metal door suddenly opened.

"What are you two doing here?" Nikolas demanded with a frown and right hand on his expensively trousered hip. "Do Tony and Bobbie know where you are?"

Lucas and Lulu wordlessly shook their heads. "I want to see Lucky," Lulu protested in a tearful voice. Her wide eyes met Nikolas'. "Is he okay?"

Nikolas was immediately drawn to his sad sister. He quickly knelt on one knee to give her a gentle hug and a pat on the back. "I just visited Lucky. He's doing fine, a lot better."

"What's wrong with him?" Lulu was sobbing now.

Nikolas glanced over at a solemn Lucas as he stroked Lulu's hair. "Lucky has pneumonia again, and he doesn't feel well. His mind and emotions are hurting him right now, too. He's upset and confused. You remember Bobbie and Tony explaining this to you?"

Lucas and Lulu nodded solemnly. "But he said he didn't want to leave me," Lulu said. "Lucky was trying to get better so he wouldn't go away again. What happened?"

"I don't know," Nikolas answered. "Have you ever had a day when you had too much to do and you felt upset? It's like that. Your mind can get overloaded and refuse to work right."

Nikolas rose from his kneeling position and brushed off his knee. "If you promise to be very, very quiet and not say anything, I'll take you to see him. Lucky is sleeping, and I don't want you to disturb him. If he does wake, remember he's been confused, so don't be scared. Can I count on you two to be brave for me and for Lucky?"

"Yes."

"Come on then," Nikolas said, brandishing his borrowed access card. "I'll call Tony when we're through here. He must be worried sick about you."

"We're in trouble," Lucas sighed as he followed Nikolas.

"I'd say that's correct," Nikolas agreed. "You're always to tell an adult anytime you go somewhere. What you've done is dangerous and not very smart."

Lulu made a face at her brother's back, and Lucas snickered.

Nikolas stopped in front of a room. "Wait here," he said. There were low tones of a murmured conversation within, and soon a man in a uniform exited the room, his large stature frightening Lulu and making her shrink against the wall.

"Hi little lady," he said warmly. Lulu hesitated and barely gave him a smile as she watched him walk away.

"Come on," Nikolas whispered as he motioned to the two children.

Lucky was obviously asleep, propped up in bed at an angle with his neck bent to one side, and his head leaning over the pillow. Lulu gulped when she saw her brother. "What's that?" she asked in a hushed voice as she pointed towards Lucky's IV.

"He's receiving his medicine through that tubing," Nikolas explained. "It doesn't hurt him."

"He's making noises when he breathes," Lucas observed. "Is that the pneumonia?"

Nikolas nodded. "Yes. It makes it hard to breathe sometimes. That's why he has oxygen to help him out."

Lucas nodded. "I'm going to be a doctor like Dad. Lucky is good practice."

Nikolas almost lost his composure and laughed out loud at Lucas' bold assertion. He knew that the boy wasn't being disrespectful, just observant of the continual medical drama that surrounded his beleaguered cousin. Nikolas reached out and hugged Lucas' shoulder.

"You broke your arm," Lucas continued in a puzzled voice as he frowned and pointed at Nikolas. "Does it hurt?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. My pain pills have worn off."

"Poor Nikky," Lulu sympathized as she patted his cast. "I'm sorry."

Lucky moaned and shook his head on his pillow. He coughed and curled up tightly on his side as he protectively wrapped his arms over his head. "Dark. It's so dark." Lucky made panting, wheezing noises, and Nikolas grew uneasy at what might happen next with the children in the room. "Mom. Mommy, no. It's not my fault."

When Lucky removed an arm from his face, there were thin, wet lines of tears that ran down his cheeks. "Mommy was mean to Lucky," Lulu said to Nikolas. "When Daddy was gone, Mommy hit him. I remember it a lot from when he came back from the angels."

Nikolas grew very attentive to Lulu as fear and revulsion mixed in his gut.

"Mommy used to slap me sometimes, but she didn't like Lucky, so she was meaner to him. She never made me stay in the closet or basement."

Nikolas cleared his throat as his mind raced a mile a minute and his emotions coiled up on him. I need to talk to Lulu about this some more and tell Tony and Bobbie. But for now I've got to get out of here or I'm going to lose it. "I think it's time to let Lucky sleep," he said. He guided his sister toward the door with a gentle push on her back.

Lulu looked disappointed. "Okay," she said. "Bye-bye, Lucky," she whispered. "I want you to come home and stay with me for a long, long time."

~*~*~*~

Tony was standing at a nurse's station with the phone gripped tightly in his hand. "You have police cruisers at the house?" Suddenly the floor felt like it had dropped out from under his feet, rocking his foundations as sure as an earthquake. First Lucky's poisoning, then Frisco's heart attack, and now the children were missing.

"Lucas left a note," Felicia said. "Lulu wanted to go to the hospital to see Lucky, and he was going with her to keep her safe. Mac has a few cruisers out patrolling the area between your house and the hospital. They haven't found them yet, but maybe they're at GH."

"That's where I am," Tony said.

"I am so sorry, Tony. I was out watering Bobbie's gardens, and I thought they were in the house playing a card game. They must have gotten a forty minute head start. I blame myself. I should have checked on them every few minutes."

"They're not that young, Felicia," Tony reminded her. "You didn't do anything wrong. They know they're not allowed to go running off like that. Where's Bobbie? Can I talk to her?"

Felicia hesitated. "Tony, she was nearly hysterical when she arrived home and saw the police cruiser parked outside of the house with the children missing. I gave her one of Lucky's tranquilizers and made her lie down on the bed. I was really worried about her. I'm sorry if I didn't do the right thing. I was operating off of instinct."

Tony rubbed his forehead. "Okay. It's okay, Felicia." He sighed deeply. "Are the police checking the hospital?"

"Hospital security is on the alert for them."

"I'm coming home," Tony said. His pager vibrated again, and he frowned at the unfamiliar number displayed. "I have another call, but I'll be there in a few minutes."

Tony felt something like hysteria rising up within him as well, and he fought off a round of tears. Dammit. Dammit. He pressed the numbers into the phone and waited.

"This is Tony Jones."

"Tony, thank God. It's Nikolas Cassadine. I'm in the hospital, and I have Lucas and Lulu with me."

Next...