General Hospital: Emergency Room

“Here.” Jason Morgan handed Nikolas Cassadine a steaming hot cup of coffee. “Did you get that arm looked at?”

“Yeah, Monica bandaged it.” Nikolas sighed. “Bobbie says Emily’s not awake yet but she’s only got a concussion and needed some stitches. She should be up soon.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Good. I’m glad you guys got out of here,” he told Nikolas. “A lot of people didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Nikolas replied. “I don’t…I’m dreading having to tell her about Elizabeth when she does wake up.”

Jason looked at him sharply. “What about Elizabeth?” he demanded.

“You mean you don’t know?” Nikolas responded, surprised. “She was there tonight–with Ric. They had a huge fight.”

Jason stepped towards him. “And?” he prompted.

“Well, she ran out and he followed her. There was the first explosion–look to make a long story short, Ric was killed when he pushed Elizabeth out from underneath some falling debris,” Nikolas reported.

“Is she okay? Did she make it out?”

“Yeah but she went into premature labor,” Nikolas replied. “She’s in the delivery room now. I thought you knew.”

“Oh…man…” Jason shook his head. “She’s not far along enough for the baby to be okay, is she?”

“She’s almost five months…” Nikolas sighed. “The pregnancy was normal and completely healthy. Maybe she’ll get a miracle.” He set his coffee down. “I’m going to go check in with Lucky about the scene down there and then go up to the maternity floor to see how she is. Will you stay with Emily and let her know what’s going on if she wakes up while I’m gone?”

“Yeah sure…” Jason caught Nikolas’s elbow. “If you get a chance to talk to Elizabeth…tell her I hope the baby’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure.”

General Hospital: Maternity Floor

“Where’s Ric?” Elizabeth panted. She gripped her grandmother’s hand harder. “Is he hurt? Gram? Where is he?”

“He’s…honey, just concentrate on the baby,” Audrey advised. She glanced at Dr. Meadows who was talking intently with a few other surgeons. “You’re going to be fine, sweetheart. Just fine.”

“Please don’t let me lose my baby,” Elizabeth whispered. “Please Gram–where’s Ric?”

“Honey…he pushed you out of the way from debris that would have killed you,” Audrey reported sadly.

Elizabeth sat up in a panic. “He’s hurt isn’t he, Gram? Is he in surgery? Where is he?”

“Darling…” Audrey smoothed Elizabeth’s sweaty hair from her forehead. “Ric died. On the scene. He was gone by the time they found the two of you. He saved your life, baby.”

With a loud wail, Elizabeth leaned back against the pillows as another contraction wracked her small body. She’d broken some ribs in her fall and the intense breathing she was doing caused more and more pain. “I hurt so bad, Gram,” she whimpered, tears rolling down her pale cheeks marred with soot and bruises. “So bad…it hurts to breathe.”

“Oh…” Audrey looked at Dr. Meadows. “Can’t we give her anything for the pain?” she asked desperately.

Dr. Meadows stepped towards them. “Elizabeth–we are doing everything we can to stop the labor but it doesn’t look like it’s working.”

“The baby’s barely five months…it’s too early!” Elizabeth shook her head. “No! I won’t do it!”

“Listen to me…listen to me, Elizabeth,” Dr. Meadows hardened her voice. “If you don’t deliver this baby, you could die.”

“I can’t lose my baby, please…Gram, I can’t…” She closed her eyes. “I lost Ric. I lost everything. Please don’t let me lose my baby.”

“There’s a slim chance that we can save the child,” Dr. Meadows told her softly. “If we perform a caesarian and get the baby into an incubator–there’s a chance for him, okay?”

“Do it,” Elizabeth said urgently. “Gram, will you be in the room with me?”

“Of course, darling. Just let me go get scrubbed up and ready to go in,” Audrey kissed her forehead and stepped into the hallway.

Nikolas was just stepped off the elevator. “Mrs. Hardy, how is she?” he asked immediately.

“The baby’s in distress,” Audrey said fretfully. “They can’t stop the labor. They have to deliver. Oh….I had to tell her about Ric. She kept asking and I just couldn’t lie to her. If she loses this baby, too…” Tears filled the elderly woman’s eyes. “I can’t lose her.”

“Hey, hey,” Surprising them both, Nikolas embraced Elizabeth’s grandmother. “Elizabeth is too strong and stubborn to die. This child has a set of parents who are more pig-headed than anyone else I know, okay? That’s going to help a lot.”

“Thank you, Nikolas. I know–I know you just wanted news so you could let Emily know.” Audrey pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I need to go get ready for surgery. They’re performing a Caesarian.”

“Tell Elizabeth that I’m praying for her,” Nikolas instructed. “We all are. Lucky, Luke, Skye–Brian Beck–he pulled her from the wreckage and got her to an ambulance, you know?”

“Thank God for him,” Audrey murmured.

“Tell her everyone is here for her. Emily will be as soon as she wakes up–Jason told me to tell her that he hopes the baby is okay, tell her all of that, okay?”

Audrey nodded. “Thank you. I should get going.”

General Hospital: Emily’s Room

Emily moaned and moved her head to the side. “Nikolas…where are you? Nikolas? We have to find Elizabeth…”

Jason took his sister’s hand in his own. “Shh…you found Nikolas and he’s okay. He’s okay, Em.”

“Jason…I have to find Elizabeth–she’s pregnant–I have to find her,” Emily whipped her head to the side, grimacing at the pain.

“You found her, too,” he told her softly. “She’s okay–she’s in surgery now.”

His voice started to register and Emily slowly blinked her eyes open. “J-Jason?”

“Hey…” Jason kissed her hand. “There you are.”

“What–what happened?” she asked. She slid up in the bed, grimacing at the sharp pain in her forehead.

“You have a concussion. You were hit with some falling boards while you were being evacuated from the ship,” Jason informed her. “The Haunted Star–parts of it exploded and it sank.”

“Nikolas is okay though right?” Emily asked urgently. “Elizabeth? Luke? Skye? Ric?”

“They’re all okay–” Jason hesitated. “Ric…he died though.”

“Jesus,” Emily breathed. “Elizabeth must be so devastated.” She flicked her brown eyes to the blue gaze of her brother. “Take me to see her right now. If she’s not in here, she’s in another room. I need to see her.”

“She’s going into surgery,” Nikolas stepped into the room and moved to her side. He kissed her forehead. “Hey, baby, thank God you’re okay.”

“Why is she in surgery?” Fear lit in her eyes. “The baby? Did she lose the baby?”

“No…but when Ric pushed her out of the way…she went into premature labor. If Brian Beck hadn’t found her and gotten her to an ambulance, she would have bled to death,” Nikolas told her bluntly.

“She can’t have the baby so early!” Emily gasped. “Nikolas–”

“It’s okay…Zander and Elizabeth are stubborn people–their baby will be too,” Nikolas repeated his words to Audrey. Zander. Nikolas closed his eyes. “Honey…Zander was on board tonight.”

Emily’s lower lip trembled. “No,” she whispered. “No…he didn’t die like that. He…please tell me…”

“They haven’t found his body,” Jason interjected. “So no one knows for sure, okay?”

“He was last seen with Elizabeth and Ric, though, so…” Nikolas trailed off. “I’m sure he got off the boat, though. I mean–he’s just one of those annoying people who refuses to die. Like Sonny,” Nikolas added helpfully.

“Right. I mean, how many times has someone tried to kill Sonny?” Jason assured her. “He’s still kicking.”

“Right, right.” Emily sat up and started to swing her legs over the side. Nikolas quickly stopped her.

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?”

“Up to surgery. I want to be there when Elizabeth comes out.” Emily narrowed her eyes at the two men. “You can either help me up there or get out of my way. Nothing is keeping me from her tonight, you understand?”

“I’ll get a wheel chair,” Jason sighed.

General Hospital: Surgery Waiting Room

Lucky Spencer blew through the doors, Brian Beck on his heels. “Nikolas! Emily!” he hurried over to them, kissing Emily on the forehead. “Good, you’re okay. Is she out of surgery yet?”

“No.” Emily sighed and rubbed her forehead before focusing on Brian behind Lucky. “Brian…Nikolas told me that you saved her life. Thank you so much…Elizabeth is like my sister–she means the world to me.”

Brian nodded. “I feel responsible,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was arguing with her husband and–I think I caused the fight between them that sent them both out on deck.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Nikolas assured him.

“Ric didn’t need anyone’s help to screw up with Elizabeth–he did well enough on his own,” Jason muttered, shifting in his hospital chair.

“Still–she loved him. Once this is over….and his death hits…” Emily sighed. “She’s going to be so destroyed.”

“She has you,” Jason told her. “And she’s strong. She made it through something like this before.”

All eyes hit Lucky and he shifted, slightly uncomfortable. “Right. Well…Brian and I were just coming here to question my dad and Skye. They’re in the ER, getting stitches and over seeing some of the other wounded people. We thought we’d come here first.”

“I’ll page you if she gets out of surgery,” Nikolas promised.

“Thanks.” He looked at Brian. “Come on, let’s get this over with so I can get back up here.”

An Hour Later

Audrey emerged from the delivery room, her eyes red and her hands trembling. Nikolas and Lucky both guided her to a seat. “She’s…she’s alive,” Audrey managed to tell them.

“The baby?” Emily asked softly.

“A little girl,” Audrey replied. “She’s alive. They’ve got her in an incubator but the next few days are critical.”

“And Elizabeth?” Nikolas prompted.

“She’s in recovery. Dr. Meadows says she’ll be fine now that she’s given birth. They can tape her ribs and give her the stitches and pain medication she needs. She should sleep through the night.”

Audrey stood. “I need to go home–go to her place and get a few things. There–there are arrangements to be made for Ric, I suppose,” she murmured softly.

Nikolas stood. “I’ll drive you,” he offered. “You’re in no shape to get behind the wheel.”

“Thank you,” Audrey said gratefully.

Jason stood. “I’ll take you back to your room, Em, so you can get some sleep. Because we both know you’ll crawl to Elizabeth’s room in the morning if you have to.”

“Damn right.”

“And I’ll go sit with Elizabeth in recovery,” Lucky replied. “The baby’s in the neonatal unit, right?”

“Yes,” Audrey said. “I–she’s so small…I can’t imagine how she’ll survive.”

“Did I ever tell you about the time that Elizabeth managed to talk me into getting into car with her?” Nikolas asked, guiding Audrey from the room. “Did you know that your granddaughter couldn’t drive a car to save her life…?”

Nikolas’s voice faded as they left the room. Emily touched Jason’s arm. “Can we stop buy the neonatal unit?”

“Sure.”

General Hospital: Neonatal Unit

Jason helped Emily to stand as they looked through the glass window where several incubators were located. Elizabeth’s daughter was closest to them, a little sign on the front proclaimed her to be “Baby Girl Lansing.”

“She looks like dolls I used to play with–only so much smaller,” Emily murmured. “How can something so small and innocent possibly survive?”

“With Elizabeth as a mother, how can she not?” Jason asked instead.

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