Chapter Eighteen
Nikolas was never any good at track in school, but he is making up for lost time. He runs wildly through the halls of GH, crashing over carts and bowling over candy stripers. He has no real destination, as he is not thinking – that is the point of his running. He is running for his life, pumping his legs up and down as fast as they will go. When he reaches the end of a hall, he takes the stairs, then starts his laps on a new floor. On one stairwell, he stops to catch his breath and bends over his knees panting. Images of Lucky’s horrified, pale face in the coffin invade his consciousness, and he throws open the stairwell door and tries again to run away from the image of his dead, suffering brother. At this point, he is no longer a Cassadine, and he is no longer Nikolas. He is a running body, mindless and out of control.
~*~*~*~
When Nikolas runs out of the chapel like a bat out of hell with chief bat following behind him, Luke shakes his fear and grief and goes over to the coffin where his son’s body is held. The cold hand of hell grabs his heart and squeezes when Luke looks down at Lucky. Luke’s face falls, and he looks like he’s aged 10 years in two minutes. He extends a shaking hand to Lucky’s cheek. "Cowboy," he says softly and matter-of-factly. Luke quickly draws back his hand in shock. Cowboy’s cheek is warm. Dead people aren’t warm. "They’re alive!!" Luke shouts as he runs for the chapel door to find help.
~*~*~*~
Within two minutes of Luke’s discovery that Lucky and Todd are indeed alive, the chapel is swarming with medical personnel. Stefan returns to the chapel after losing Nikolas somewhere in the hospital. He is shocked to discover that the young men are not dead after all. Emily, Vicki, and Laura are huddled together on a pew, grateful that there might be hope for their loved ones. Stefan returns to the hallway in a desperate attempt to find Nikolas so that he can tell him the good news.
~*~*~*~
Nikolas has lost a shoe in the stairwell, but he keeps jogging as he pulls off the other shoe and his socks. He peels down the hallway in his bare feet past startled patients waiting for appointments and nurses checking charts. He flies past the nurse’s station as a stunned Amy stops gossiping on the phone for a minute to watch Nikolas gallop by.
A minute later, a shocked, gray-faced and out of breath Stefan rushes up to the nurse’s station. "Have you seen my nephew?" he asks the nurses. Amy nods yes. "He just flew by here in his bare feet. He didn’t stop to say ‘hi.’" Stefan takes off in the direction that Amy points and hurriedly speaks into his cell phone. Stefan calls security to ensure that Nikolas does not leave the building in his frantic state of mind.
Nikolas is tiring, but keeps up the pace. Just a few more steps and maybe he will forget the grotesque scenes that played out in the chapel. He flings off his shirt and pants because he is sweating, and they are flapping and clinging to him. They are slowing him down. Nikolas flies like the wind in his boxers down one more hallway past shocked grannies and amused toddlers. At the end of this hallway, he sees a startled Stefan who calls out his name. The sight of Stefan reminds Nikolas of the opened coffin in the chapel, and Nikolas turns abruptly and runs in the other direction straight into the waiting arms of two burly security guards. Nikolas struggles fiercely to break free of the guards and keep running. His legs are still pumping furiously as the guards hold his arms. The guards have a hard time holding his sweaty and slippery body. Nikolas keeps slipping out of their grasp and falling to the floor. Finally, they decide to restrain him on the floor as one guard sits on his legs and the other on his chest.
Stefan bends down to Nikolas and cups his face in his hands. "Nikolas, he says gently. Your brother is alive. Lucky is alive."
Nikolas, still panting from his exertion, looks at Stefan with wild, unbelieving eyes.
"Brephos, brephos," Stefan croons. Listen to me. Everything is all right. No one has died." As the words of his uncle finally register in his brain, Nikolas slowly closes his eyes. Stefan makes another call on his cell phone.
~*~*~*~
The medical personnel are having a difficult time removing Todd and Lucky from their coffins. Except for the upper lids, the rest of the coffins are sealed. Whatever Helena drugged them with has caused their bodies to become stiff and inflexible, almost like classic rigor mortis. They are essentially wedged into their coffins, not able to bend or move. Lucky’s eyes have been closed so that they will not be damaged in the extrication process, but every time he is pulled up and back, something catches within the coffin.
A decision is made to cut them out of the coffins in order not to cause the young men further injury. The wooden and metal boxes are sawed away, but the process has gone on for 30 minutes, and everyone’s nerves are shot. Vicki has recovered some and is now pacing back and forth in order to release nervous energy. Luke is hovering a bit too much and giving advice and orders. Laura is reclining on a pew, still faint and nauseous from the emotional ordeal. Emily is sitting next to Laura with her feet up on the pew, alternately biting her nails and picking at her nail polish. She is worried about Nikolas, too, because of his dramatic departure from the chapel and Stefan’s long absence.
The boxes are finally opened and peeled back from the bodies. Lucky is gently lifted from the padded white satin surface. His hand and foot cannot be separated from the cloth, and the fabric is snipped out of the coffin. Lucky is placed on a gurney and covered with a white blanket. He is rushed down to Emergency with Luke, Laura, and Emily following all the way.
Todd is lifted a bit easier from his coffin. The medical personnel are especially careful not to jar his head or dislocated shoulder because of the possibility of serious head or neck injury. His neck is carefully supported, and he is strapped onto a backboard. Vicki reaches out and holds his hand. "Todd," she whispers. "It’s Vicki. I love you. Hold on for me and for your daughter."
Dr. Ian Thornhart is on duty in Emergency, and he has been informed of the situation. After the gurneys arrive, he starts the medical evaluation process as he instructs two nurses to clean up the patients. Helena had painted their faces with white stage paint in order to make them look dead, and it is obvious that neither patient had been able to bathe in several days. Lucky has also had an accident that may compromise his injuries. Lucky’s jeans are cut away, and Ian makes a face and shakes his head as he looks at his wet, injured leg. "Compound torsion fracture of the tibia," he says. "Several days old from the looks of it, urine burns, and the wound has become dirty and infected." He orders an OR for surgery to repair and clean the injury. He picks up Lucky’s hands and notes the torn and bleeding fingers and missing fingernails as well as the cloth imbedded in the congealed blood. Ian shakes his head again.
Moving over to Todd, he notes his sluggish pupils and obvious head wound. He quickly orders a CAT scan and X-ray of the spine. Ian is nervous about the designer drug that his patients have been given, and he orders toxicology screens for both young men to avoid potentially fatal drug interactions. Ian continues his evaluations for 20 more minutes.
After he is finished, Dr. Ian Thornhart walks into the waiting room to speak to the concerned families.
Vicki gasps when she sees Ian. "Patrick?" she asks. "You died, you’re dead."
I’m Dr. Ian Thornhart," he replies. I’m a physician. My brother is the poet."
Vicki looks startled. She didn’t know that Patrick has a relative living in the US. She also notes that Ian refers to Patrick in the present tense. That’s very odd, she thinks as she furrows her brow and stares intently at Ian.
Ian explains his concerns about Helena’s designer drug and outlines the steps to identify and correct any problems. He also outlines the diagnosis and treatment of Lucky and Todd’s other injuries. Luke and Laura sign the consent form for Lucky, and Vicki signs for Todd.
Looking kindly at the families, Ian smiles and says, "They’re in good hands. I’m sure that they will make a complete recovery."
"From your mouth to God’s ears," says Luke as he rubs his head and sits down with a sigh.
Ever maternal, Vicki reaches for Emily’s hand and says, "Honey, let’s go find your parents and tell them you’re alright." Emily smiles gratefully as they go to find Alan and Monica.
Stefan declares annihilation
An Emily and Monica Kodak moment
Liz and Blair watch TV