"Yeah. Thanks for the shirt," she said, pointing to the black T-shirt that she was swimming in.
"No problem, even if we're not exactly the same size."
She turned around. "You wouldn't happen to have a hair dryer, would you?"
Sly laughed. "I actually do. I needed some way to dry all that long hair quickly." He opened a drawer and gave it to Emily. "So," he asked hesitantly, "what's next?"
Emily's face was expressionless. "Juan."
"I'm coming with you."
"Are you sure that's such a good idea? 'Gee Juan, I'm breaking up with you, and by the way, I'm pregnant and Sly here is the father...'"
"I don't want to leave you alone with him," Sly said protectively.
"Juan would never hurt me."
"I don't know. I just have a really uneasy feeling about this, and I want to make sure I'm there."
"Fine," Emily sighed. "I just don't want you with me right away."
"I'll listen in another room. I seem to be getting pretty good at that."
Emily took the towel off of her hair. "Where do you think we should meet him?"
Sly paced and thought for a moment. "It should be neutral ground." He drummed his fingers on the dresser for a moment. "Wait. Why not L&B?"
"Yes. That will be good." Emily took a brush from her purse and combed her wet hair.
"Ok. Just let me take a quick shower, then we'll go over there." He moved towards the bathroom.
"I'll give him a call now." She watched Sly disappear into the bathroom, and then picked up the phone, which was shaped like a motorcycle. She dialed Juan's familiar phone number while silently praying that Taggert had not gotten to him first.
"Hello," Juan answered cheerfully.
"Hey, Juan. It's me," Emily said softly.
"Emily! I'm so glad to hear from you. I haven't seen you in days."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine." He paused. "Emily, is something wrong?"
Emily was determined not to get into it on the phone. "Juan, I want to see you. Can you meet me at L&B in about an hour?"
"Sure. I'll be there."
"See you soon," Emily said, and then hung up. She walked to the mirror and plugged in the hair dryer. She started it and set about drying her long brown hair. I'm going to destroy him, Emily thought. How can I tell him this? She studied her reflection in the mirror. A tear ran down her cheek, and she was glad that the hair dryer would muffle the sound of her crying.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Lucky awoke from a nap to see his mother sitting beside his bed.
"I hope I didn't wake you," Laura said.
Lucky rubbed his eyes. "No. How long have you been sitting there?"
"Only about a half an hour. I didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful. It reminded me of when you were a baby. You were always a sound sleeper. You never gave us any trouble."
Unlike now, Lucky thought. "So why are you here?"
Laura had a look of shock on her face. "I'm your mother, Lucky. I'm here for you, thick or thin."
Lucky moved slightly. "But you don't have to be. I mean, I'm ok by myself here."
Laura softly patted his hand. "I just thought you might be lonely."
Lucky shrugged his shoulders. "I'm used to being by myself."
Laura's heart ached at the sadness she heard in the comment. Just then, the door opened. Amy came rushing in.
"Oh Laura, I'm glad I finally found you. It's an emergency."
"What's wrong, Amy?" Laura said quickly.
"Nikolas was thrown from his horse, and he's hurt pretty badly. He's being brought to the ER."
Laura gasped. "Oh my God. My baby..." she trailed off.
Lucky was concerned. "Go see him, Mom," he said quickly.
Laura squeezed his hand. "I will." She and Amy quickly left the room.
"Be sure to let me know how he is!" Lucky called after them with a sigh. He silently prayed that Nikolas would be all right.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily positioned Sly in one of the rooms off the L&B lobby. "You should be able to hear everything from here."
"Fine. I'm sorry, Em, but I just have a bad feeling about this," Sly said with a nervous edge to his voice.
"Of course this is going to be a bad situation. How can it not be?" She heard movement outside. "Just stay in here."
Sly sighed as he moved away from the door. He wondered how much longer he would have to keep hiding in the shadows.
Juan walked into L&B with a smile on his face. "Emily," he said softly. "It has been too long."
Emily tried to smile for him. "Hi, Juan." She stayed a distance away from him.
Juan noticed immediately. "What's wrong Emily? You seem upset."
She motioned to the couches. "Why don't we sit down?"
Juan followed her.
Emily didn't know where to possibly begin. "We've had some good times together, right?"
Juan smiled. "Some of the best of my life. You were the only one who believed in me."
Emily smiled wistfully. "I guess I was your defender."
"The very best."
Emily sighed. "But do you feel that lately we've been drifting apart?"
Juan nodded. "I think so. But that's my fault. I mean, I know I haven't been the best boyfriend since my dad died..."
Emily took his hand. "Oh no, it's not that. You've been wonderful." She sighed. "It's me. I haven't been as involved as I should be in this relationship for a long time."
Juan's mind raced. "So we'll work on it. We'll try harder."
Emily squeezed her eyes shut as her voice became tearful. "It's not that simple, Juan."
"Yes it is, Emily. We've been together for over a year. We can't just throw it all away!"
"We wouldn't be throwing it away, we'd be putting it to rest."
"I don't want to believe what I just heard. Are you breaking up with me?"
Emily nodded. "I'm sorry, Juan."
"No. No. This is temporary. Whatever's wrong, we'll work it out. We'll fix it."
"Juan, we can't. There's more."
A sinking feeling filled Juan's chest. "What do you mean, more?"
Emily didn't bother to hide the tears anymore. "Juan, I'm pregnant."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Luke observed as Stefan stared out the car window. "You know, the brooding Cassadine look isn't very becoming."
"What do you expect me to do? My so..." Stefan paused for a moment, catching himself. "My nephew is seriously injured. I don't know what his condition is!"
Luke sighed. "Look, we waited in the woods and saw the paramedics put him in the ambulance. We can call the hospital later and check on him." Luke pulled the car to the side of the dirt road. "Plus that kid's got nine lives. He's fallen down the stairs, been shot in the neck, been pushed off the side of a mountain, and who knows what else. He'll be fine."
Stefan tried to believe him. "Where are we going?"
"We're taking a little walk in the woods," Luke sarcastically commented.
"How do I know you're not taking me out here to shoot me?"
"Oh, come on. We've been over this. You're of more use to me alive." Luke led the way through the heavy brush.
They arrived at the destination a few minutes later. It was a small cabin deep in the woods. Luke opened the door and walked in. Stefan followed. He looked all around the room. "Why did you bring me to an abandoned mill?" he asked.
Luke smiled impishly. "This is home sweet home, at least for the time being."
"And where will you be staying?" Stefan asked, observing the supplies stacked all around.
"Unfortunately for you, right here. I can't take the chance of you running away."
Stefan sighed. Maybe he really did die, because sharing a room with Luke Spencer had to be hell.
He saw Luke start to leave. "Where are you going?"
"I've got to go see my son," he said as he walked out the door.
"Aren't you afraid he will expose us?" Stefan called.
Luke turned to look at him. "Unlike the Cassadines, we Spencers can keep a secret." With that, he disappeared into the woods.
*-*-*-*-*-*
"Hey, Nikolas, are you still with me?" Frank Scanlon said as he wheeled Nikolas through the corridors of the emergency room.
Nikolas groaned. "Still here, unfortunately."
Frank and Emilio, his partner, brought Nikolas into one of the ER rooms. Emilio was calling out many things that sounded like complicated medical terminology to Nikolas. Was that all for him?
"Ok, Nikolas, we'll be leaving you in the capable hands of my brother here, and Dr. Wexler, of course," Frank said after they placed Nikolas on the exam table.
Joe and Karen examined Nikolas for several minutes. Finally, Joe spoke to Nikolas. "We still have to do some x-rays, but we're pretty certain that you've broken your leg."
"Isn't that fairly obvious?" Nikolas asked through gritted teeth.
Laura and Amy appeared outside the room, and Karen emerged to speak to them.
"What happened to my son?" Laura asked quickly.
"He fell from his horse, and it appears he has a broken leg, plus other bumps and bruises. He was really quite lucky he wasn't more badly hurt."
"Can I see him?" Laura asked.
"Just for a minute," Karen replied.
Amy gave Laura's shoulder a supportive squeeze before leaving to speak to Karen.
Laura walked into the room as Joe was bandaging a cut on Nikolas' arm. "We'll bring you down for x-rays in a few minutes," Joe said, then left the room.
"Oh Nikolas," Laura gasped as she saw his condition. "What happened?"
Nikolas felt a bit better when he saw his mother. He was not alone anymore. "Sheba stumbled, and I fell."
"How did you get here in this condition?" she asked. "You're usually alone when you ride."
Nikolas looked at his mother. He desperately wanted to tell her his secret, but he knew he had to trust Stefan, so he went along with the story. He sighed. "After I fell, I had to drag myself across the field to get to my home to call the paramedics."
"My poor baby," she sighed. She ran a hand across his forehead. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
"Yes, but I'm sure the doctors will give me something."
"I'm so sorry that you were alone when this happened," she said, tears shining in her eyes.
Nikolas smiled slightly. "It doesn't matter. You're here now. That's all that matters." Nikolas wasn't sure if he was saying that to make Laura feel better, or himself.
Joe and an orderly returned with a stretcher. "We'll take you to x-ray now."
Nikolas looked to his mother. "You'll be here when I get back, right?" he asked.
"I'll be waiting for you," Laura replied, and Nikolas was satisfied with the answer.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Juan blinked his eyes a few times as he attempted to process the information. "You're-you're pregnant? How? I mean, we never…" Juan stopped for a moment as the realization hit him. "You slept with another man," he said, his voice cracking.
Emily could barely stand his withering gaze. "Yes," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
"You went behind my back and cheated on me?" Juan asked, and he felt his temper rise. "After all we've been through? God, Emily, I would have died for you if you asked me to. Wasn't that enough?"
"I didn't mean to do this, Juan. It just sort of happened." Emily shook her head. "That sounds pathetic even to me."
"You're damn right it is! How could you do this to me, Emily? I love you." Juan squeezed his eyes shut. Don't fall apart, Juan, he thought. Don't let her see you cry.
Emily moved closer to him. "I never meant to hurt you, Juan. I never wanted that."
Juan turned around sharply. "Do you expect me to believe that? You slept with someone else after making such a big deal about waiting. Then you lied about it by not telling me." Juan didn't realize it, but he as he walked closer, Emily backed up further, and she was soon backed up against the wall. "You're just a slut."
A sharp pain suddenly shot through Juan's arm. It was pinned against his back. "No one speaks to the mother of my child that way." Juan turned around to see who his assailant was. "You," he said, his voice a mixture of pain and rage.
Sly jerked Juan backwards. "You will stay away from Emily, you hear me?" Juan nodded, so Sly let him go, and then he protectively crossed to Emily's side.
"Him? You slept with him?" Juan said disgustedly. "Just when I think it can't get any worse…"
Sly looked coldly at Juan. "You know what? You are never to see Emily again. If you so much as come near her, I will hurt you."
Juan gave Sly a steely gaze. "Is that a threat?"
Sly sneered. "No. It's a promise."
Juan laughed. "That's fine with me. I never want to see either one of you again." He looked at Emily. "Just remember something. I was that baby. You think long and hard before you do something to screw up its life like you've screwed up your own." With that, he disappeared out the front door.
Sly reached out to touch Emily, but she turned away. "Thanks a lot, Sly," she said sarcastically.
"What did I do?"
"You didn't have to come in here like that."
"Yes I did, he was going to hurt you."
"No, he wasn't. I could have handled it myself." She paced. "Instead the two of you fight over me like I'm your property."
"Whoa. That is not what happened. I reserve the right to protect you and my child."
"Now I'll never see Juan again because you decreed it." She walked towards the door.
"You want to see that jerk?" Sly asked incredulously.
"I don't know. All I do know is that I didn't want it to end like this." She opened the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sly asked.
"I'll walk home. I'd rather face them than deal with you when you're acting like this." She angrily walked away.
Sly massaged his temples. She just needed time to cool off. He sighed. It was time to pay a visit to some people that he'd been avoiding. He pushed open the door and faced the November chill.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Lucky was antsy as he waited for word on Nikolas. The door to his room was quietly pushed open. Another person coming to check on him. It was starting to annoy him. "Whatever it is, I don't want it," Lucky stated without looking up.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Lucky," the visitor said.
Lucky's head jerked up. "Dad!"