Chapter Thirty-Eight
"I miss my uncle," Nikolas admitted after his seventh glass of wine. Teary eyed, he fumbled with the corkscrew and pulled out the cork with a swift jerk of his arm. Wine slopped up on his shirt, and he laughed. "Just spent $100," he joked at the worth of the quantity that he spilled. "Hey, you're better off than me, and you've had eight or nine glasses," protested Nikolas as he swayed and sloppily poured Lucky more wine.
Lucky took his wine glass and tipped it upwards, savoring the smooth feel of the aged wine rolling and tumbling over his tongue and coating his throat and stomach. He was buzzed and wanted to keep that feeling building and mellowing throughout his body.
Nikolas sat down on an antique chair with an ungainly thud. "He raised me, you know. My uncle gave me more than most fathers give their sons." Nikolas hugged the cool wineglass to his warm, flushed face and rolled it from side to side on his cheek. "He was everything to me and she took him away. She might as well have pulled the trigger." Nikolas started breathing heavily and tears dampened his cheeks. "I hate her. It's all her fault. The lying, conniving bitch."
"She's our mother, Nikolas," reminded Lucky sadly. "We can't change that."
"She's not my mother. She was never there for me. I don't need or want her," Nikolas stated resolutely. "As far as I'm concerned, she's dead, just like my uncle."
"Is that why you don't want to talk to me anymore," Lucky whispered quietly. "I remind you of her?"
"Maybe," Nikolas stated truthfully. "I don't know. I don't have many good memories of this town, and I'd rather forget it. Does that make any sense?"
"Yeah," Lucky said flatly. "What if some of us can't leave it behind?" he questioned. "I still love my dad even after what he did to Stefan. I don't know about mom. She's sort of a non-entity right now. I haven't seen her in almost two years. I miss Lulu."
"I do, too," Nikolas said tearfully. "But I need to cut my losses and move on. I can't dwell on all of this. I have too many responsibilities. It can't drag me down."
Lucky looked down at the wineglass dangling between his fingers. He said nothing, and the silence enveloped the room.
"Nik-kee!" Monique entered Wyndemere and called out in search of Nikolas.
Nikolas rose to meet Monique, and the two welded together in a hot embrace. Nikolas' hands started roaming under Monique's tight jacket, but the silence was interrupted by Lucky's voice.
"Get a room, you two," Lucky intoned wearily, rubbing his hand over his eyes. "You're going to rob me of my youthful innocence."
Nikolas broke away from Monique and laughed, "No, let me show you to your room, Lucky. After all you've drunk, you'd better stay the night." Nikolas looked into Monique's face and smiled while he played with and stroked her long blond hair. "Why don't you meet me in our room," he suggested to her with a breathy whisper as he nibbled on her ear. "Start the water in the tub," he added with a wagging eyebrow for emphasis.
Lucky roughly grabbed the half-empty bottle of wine by the neck and reluctantly followed Nikolas up the long, winding staircase. "And I'm sure the night's not over," Lucky muttered grumpily to himself.
~*~*~*~
Lucky had drunk the rest of the bottle of wine, but it didn't help him to ignore the noises coming from down the hall - giggles, squeals and water splashes followed by a deeper voice, moans and laughter. He placed his hands over his ears and swore. Don't these ~&@^#^ old houses have any soundproofing? he wondered to himself. They've been in there for over an hour. Oh, great, bad visual, don't go there, Lucky.
Lucky got up from his bed and padded into the hallway, careful not to make any noise. He walked toward the stairs, trying to avoid the inevitable squeaks and cracks of old floorboards. When he was finally on the main level of the house, he turned the corner and headed for the wine cellar. Lucky descended into the cool, dark den of rooms. He randomly grabbed at anything in a glass bottle and headed back up the stairs carrying all that his arms would hold.
~*~*~*~
Tony paced by the telephone and glanced again at the clock in the kitchen. It was 10:00 on Saturday morning, and the last time he had spoken to Lucky was yesterday morning before work. Lucky never called and didn't show up last night. Tony's fingers drummed on the phone while he wondered whom he should call. His first instinct was to call Taggert and report Lucky missing since it had been 24 hours, but he didn't want to involve the police if he could find him first. Damn, and everything had been going so well. It's been 24 hours since he's last had his meds. Tony stroked his chin and decided that it was late enough to call over to the Quartermaine mansion.
"Hello?" Emily's voice carried over the phone. "Emily, its Tony Jones." Tony deliberately tried for a nonchalant tone of voice. "I don't want to worry you, but I'm looking for Lucky. Have you seen him lately? Do you know where he might be?"
'I haven't seen him since the last time I was over at your house on Wednesday night. I talked to him on the phone Friday afternoon about 4:00 when he called to say hi."
"Did he sound different to you?" Tony questioned.
"No, he was just tired from working on a computer problem and wanted to rest his brain. That's what he said when he called. He was taking a break."
"He didn't mention going anywhere after work?"
"No. Like I said, we just talked for a minute. Tony? I'm worried. Is Lucky okay? What's gong on?" Emily's voice sounded tight and nervous.
Tony didn't want to worry Emily. "Our paths haven't crossed lately, and I need to talk to him."
Emily's breath suddenly rushed out into a delighted "aha!" She laughed and said, "I might know where he is. My parents were talking at breakfast this morning about how Nikolas Cassadine was going to sell General Hospital. I wonder if Nikolas is in town and Lucky is with him?"
I hope so, Tony thought. "I need to find Nikolas," said Tony firmly. "Do you know where he might be?"
"My guess is either Kelly's or Wyndemere at this time of day," said Emily decisively. "Why don't you meet me at Kelly's? I'd like to help and make sure Lucky's okay."
And what if he's not okay, thought Tony. "I can go by myself, Emily," Tony stated.
"No, you need me to run interference with Nikolas. I have years of practice," laughed Emily.
"You might have a point there," Tony agreed. "I'll meet you at Kelly's in an hour?"
"Right on!" Emily said heartily.
~*~*~*~
"And when were you planning on telling me you were back in town, Nikolas Cassadine?" Emily stood with an indignant hand on her hip in front of Nikolas and Monique. Nikolas dropped a fork beside his plate of French toast, and jumped up to hug Emily. "Emily!" he said excitedly. "It's great to see you. Lucky and I were just talking about you last night." Monique's blue eyes narrowed, and she sniffed as she gazed disapprovingly at Emily, her eyes looking her potential competitor up and down. Emily caught Monique's appraisal and shifted her feet, her hands reaching self-consciously to her jeans and sweatshirt, pulling the sweatshirt down a bit and dusting off the front of her jeans. Why was she wishing that she'd left the house in full makeup this morning?
"Do you know where Lucky is now?" asked Tony casually.
Nikolas chuckled. "I assume he's still at Wyndemere sleeping it off. He and I raided the wine cellar last night and probably drank about $5000 worth of wine. He had a lot more than me, and I'm still trying to break this hangover." Nikolas toasted Tony with his glass of orange juice, shook his head and gulped it down.
Tony's face got red, and he scowled. "Did your brother tell you that he's an alcoholic, and it's dangerous for him to have even one glass of wine?" he asked sharply.
Nikolas sputtered over his cup of coffee, looking up into Tony's enraged face. "No, he never said anything. He refused the wine a couple of times, but…."
"Dammit!" yelled Tony. "He'd been doing so well avoiding alcohol, and this had to happen." Emily looked concerned and tried to hold back her tears, sniffling and reaching into her purse for a tissue.
"Hey, I'm sorry," Nikolas said tersely. "But how was I to know. He never said anything."
Emily recovered enough to say, "Nikolas, do you mind if we go to Wyndemere and see if he's still there. It's important."
Nikolas nodded his assent. "I have a meeting to attend this morning, but you're welcome at Wyndemere. The front door is open. Lucky's room is on the second floor, four doors down on the right."
Tony took Emily's elbow and headed swiftly for the door. Emily looked over her shoulder with a sad smile and said, "Thanks, Nikolas."
Nikolas sat at the table with a stony face, cradling his coffee with both hands and wondering why he ever bothered returning to Port Charles.