CHAPTER 8

"-What did I do now? Lucky asked, but feared the answer
-Why do you think that you did somethingg? Faison asked in a dull voice, moving his cigar slowly. Do you have a reason to feel guilty?
-No I don't, but I'm sure you'll find mee one
-Actually, I came to say my good-byes. -You're leaving? What will happen to mee?"
Lucky didn't like that he was at the mercy of this psycho, he didn't like that he would probably have to beg for Faison not to leave him alone with Helena, where she would be able to do what she wanted with him, when she wanted to do it.

"-I'm not leaving. You are. We are letting you out
-What's the catch? Lucky asked suspicioously
-There is no catch. Helena and I have ddecided that your father have suffered enough pain for thinking you were dead. But, there is one small condition
-Which is?
-You mustn't tell your father where you were, or who you were with, under no circumstances.
-What if I do?
-Then we won't save you next time I deciide to light a fire"

Luke was anxiously looking at the door. What was taking him so long? He was dying here. Finally, Nikolas opened the door and walked in. Luke's smile got wide and his eyes sparkled. "Did you get it?" He asked his son with anticipation in his voice. Nikolas smiled and opened his coat, revealing the Coca-cola bottle he was hiding. "I got it" the young man answered with a smile. Nikolas walked to the bed and helped Luke sit up, before he put some soda in a Styrofoam cup and handed it to Luke. The man took a mouthful and nearly moaned with pure pleasure. "Man, I never thought I would want to sell my soul to the devil for a glass of soda, especially since you refused to spike it with rum" Nikolas was about to say something but Luke cut him off "Oh, don't give me that look, I wasn't talking about you when I said devil, it was just a figure of speech. The truth is that I hate plain soda, but they won't give me anything but water and it makes me feel like Skillethead drinking out of the toilet. That transparent stuff taste awful"

Laura saw Stefan come from nearly a mile away. Where she was, she could see almost anyone approaching from the main road, which was easy to see if Helena was coming to them or not, and give them time to retreat. But now it was Stefan, and he looked concerned. Why? What happened?

Immediately, Laura started to panic. What happened to Nikolas? She couldn't bare it this time. If something had happened to Nikolas, how could she continue to live? How could she go on? She felt her legs weaken and she looked at Stefan, talking as soon as he was out of the car. "Please, don't tell me something happened to Nikolas" she said quietly.

Stefan moved to her and took her in his arms. "Nikolas is fine, Laura. It's Luke. I've been told if I was not the one informing you, that my ex-wife would do it herself. So I thought it would be preferable for you to hear it from me. Luke has been in a car accident, and, last I heard, they were still in great fear for his life"

"No" Laura said and finally felt her legs give under her. "Not Luke" She started to rock herself back and forth, nearly whimpering like a wounded animal. "Oh God, why? Why Lucky and now Luke? What have I done to deserve such punishment?" Her shoulders started to tremble as sobs were escaping her mouth. "Laura" Stefan said, kneeling down in front of her. "He needs a transplant. Nikolas has been tested but I have great doubts he's a match. If they do not find one, Luke will not survive. Do you wish for me to take you down to the hospital where you will be able to give your last good-bye?"

"Why, why was he in a car accident? Who hit him?" Laura asked quietly, as numbness washed over her. She was shutting down to keep from hurting.

"It was" Stefan took a deep breath. This would be the last draw to send her back to Luke, he knew it, but he didn't have a choice but answer. "Nikolas" He saw Laura close her eyes, and for a moment, for a split moment he thought she didn't care.

But she did care. And she wanted to die for the thought that entered her mind at the split second her son's name escaped Stefan's lips. She actually wished for Luke to die. Because she knew if he walked away alive from all of this, Nikolas would pay with his life. Accident or not, Luke would not care. When a Cassadine attempted for his life, he retaliated. And Luke was no amateur. He would only get one chance at Nikolas' life and he would not miss it. Unless..... ‘Oh God, please don't' she thought. But she knew it was already too late. If Nikolas had been tested they probably already knew the truth. Because Nikolas wasn't her blood types. He was Luke's. And now everyone would know Helena wasn't the one who changed with the paternity tests all those years ago. It was Laura.

Stefan thought she had calmed down when he sensed her relax in his arms. She wasn't relaxed. She was unconscious.

"Come on Nikolas, it's double or nothing. And I mean nothing. If I win this last hand, you have to go and get me the cheese fries on top of everything else you already have to get me. If I lose, you don't have to get me anything at all. Not just the cheese fries. If I lose this hand, we forget the travel size bottle of vodka, you making me tapes of my favorite blues albums and bringing them here with a brand new walkman, the call girl, the masseuse, you doing my books and giving me the grand tour of Windermere, even the rooms I wasn't able to get in." Luke and Nikolas had been playing poker for quite some time, and so far, Luke was winning by far. He won two hands for every one Nikolas did, and he always won the ones that mattered to him. They weren't playing for money, they were playing for things Luke wanted Nikolas to get him, as opposed to things Nikolas would never have to get him. Seeing that the young man was still hesitating about the cheese fries, after his doctor said Luke needed to eat healthy from now on, he cleared his throat and smiled. "Ok Nikolas, I'll even throw in that promise you made to me in the ambulance. If I lose this bet, you don't have to be my slave until I am back on my feet." Luke was sick of eating boiled and mashed food. He wanted something greasy and consistent for a change. "Even though I never agreed to the showing you Windermere part, Ok dad, you're on"

Luke dealt the cards and smiled. He was really enjoying Nikolas' company, something he never thought he would be doing. A part of his mind regretted that Lucky wasn't there to see it. The youngest son had always wanted them to get along, ever since Lucky found out Nikolas wasn't so bad himself, and Luke had always rejected the idea. Now, playing poker with the young man, hearing from his voice the word dad, was something Luke never thought he would enjoy. The truth was he was more than enjoying it. He was loving it. "Oh man, I think it's gonna cost you a plate of cheese fries my boy" Luke said with a grin when he saw the cards he had.

Nikolas nearly laughed out loud. Luke was bluffing. Every time he said something like that, it meant that he had nothing and only wanted Nikolas to grow nervous and change more cards to try and have a bigger sequence. Years of studying business tactics for the day he would take the head of Cassadine Industries had given him a thing or two about seeing when the other was bluffing, and how to pay attention to little details. When Luke had big cards, he was concentrated on his sequences and didn't say anything, waiting for Nikolas to change his cards. "I don't think so old man" Nikolas said and put his cards on the table. He had three queens and a pair of twos.

Something was off. Normally Luke threw his cards on the table when he realized that he had lost. Nikolas was so absorbed in the reading of Luke's body signals that he hadn't paid attention to the door. He hadn't heard it open. He saw in Luke's face that something was wrong though. The man was frozen and white as a sheet. "Nikolas?" Luke asked quietly. "What did you put in my drink?"

Nikolas raised an eyebrow but still didn't turn around. "What do you mean? I opened the bottle in front of you". Luke's eyes never once left the door. "I'm having hallucinations. I never had them when I wasn't alone". The tone in his father's voice made him concerned. Luke wasn't playing. He wasn't trying to get Nikolas to forget the cards on the table and the hand he just lost. He was serious about whatever he thought he was seeing. It was the tone in Luke's voice that made Nikolas turn around.

Only to see his brother. His dead brother, standing at the end of their father's bed.