"Oh, Lucky! Are you all right?" she asked, looking frantic.
"I'm fine. I told them I didn't need to come here," Lucky said softly.
"We just want you to get a more thorough checkup, son," a paramedic said.
They wheeled Lucky into a room, and Laura and Nikolas came in after.
"What happened?" Laura asked Lucky, intent on hearing his side of the story.
"I had a panic attack, I guess," he said, his eyes focused firmly on the ground.
Just then, Dr. Eve Lambert-Collins walked into the room. "Hello," she said, surveying the room. She recognized the family right away. "Lucky, do you feel well enough to sit on the exam table?" she asked slowly.
"Yeah, sure." He got out of the wheelchair and sat on the table.
"Ok, everybody, we'll need some privacy for a few minutes. Why don't you take a seat outside?" Eve asked, smiling.
Laura and Nikolas moved out of the room and into the hallway. They both sat down. "I am so glad you were there to take care of your brother, Nikolas," she said, putting her hand on top of his.
"I've never seen him like this, mother. He was so out of control."
Laura thought back to her breakdown. She felt for Lucky, having had been there herself. "But that doesn't mean that this wasn't a one time thing. I have read that panic attacks come and go," she said in an attempt to reassure her son.
"But you didn't see him. Yes, maybe he had a panic attack, but I saw him before. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Laura furrowed her brow. "Of course I'd believe you. What happened?"
"Lucky was beating up his cousin."
Laura looked puzzled. "Which one?"
"Sly. I thought maybe Sly did something to him, but Lucky is fine physically. Sly told me Lucky started it. He was so cold. I grabbed him, took him to Wyndemere, and the whole way over he didn't say a word. I expected him to explain or something, but it was like he was in some weird trance. I yelled at him, grabbed him by the shoulders. Then he finally came back to me. The scary thing was, he didn't remember a thing. I told him what happened, and that brought this attack on." Nikolas buried his head in his hands.
Laura leaned over and gave her son a hug. "Oh, Nikolas. This wasn't your fault." Laura's mind raced with worry. Why would Lucky do such a thing? What had set him off? "Whatever is wrong, Nikolas, we'll fix it. We'll help Lucky any way that we can."
Eve walked out a few minutes later. "Mrs. Spencer, your son is fine physically. I have diagnosed a panic attack. Has he had one of them before? Is that how he knew what it was?"
"No, not to my knowledge, anyway. I'm not sure how he knew what it was," Laura said.
"Charlie knew," Nikolas said quietly.
"Who's Charlie?" Laura asked.
Nikolas thought for a moment. "Well, I guess you could call her my girlfriend. She was there, and she calmed Lucky down. She's the one who figured it out."
Eve thought for a second. This must be the Charlie that Kevin is treating. Oh well, it didn't matter now. "I know my husband is working with Lucky, so I paged him, and he will be down in a few moments." As soon as she spoke the words, Kevin appeared from around the corner. "Never mind, here he is."
Kevin came as soon as Eve had paged him. He saw her with Laura and Nikolas, who appeared very distraught. "Hello, everyone." He approached Eve first. "Panic attack?"
Eve nodded. "Yes. I thought you would like to speak to him."
"I will in one moment." He approached Nikolas and Laura. "Eve tells me Lucky suffered a panic attack. Now that's not something to get very worried about. It's possible this was a one-time thing. But can I ask about the events that led up to it? Were either of you there?"
Nikolas nodded. "I was."
"Can you tell me about it?"
Nikolas recanted the whole story again. Kevin was growing concerned. "Thank you, Nikolas, for telling me the whole truth. I'm going to go speak to him now." Kevin got up and entered Lucky's room.
*-*-*-*-*-*
"Good morning star shine, the earth says hello…"
Sly stared up at the intercom in his room. He had fallen asleep, but now he was being rudely interrupted.
"Sly, are you there?"
"Yes, Aunt Jenny," he called towards the intercom.
"Well, come down and see us. We just got back from the airport."
"Sure," Sly sighed. He heard the intercom click off. He wasn't sure why he had agreed to let Jenny put those things in. She told him it was for safety purposes, but Sly was sure she called him half of the time just to annoy him. He got up off of the bed and took a quick look in the mirror. She wasn't going to like this. One good thing about Jenny, though, was that he knew he never had to hide anything from her, not anymore.
Sly walked down the stairs from his apartment to the kitchen door. Jenny had her back to the door when Sly opened it. "There's my favorite nephew," she said, her back to him.
"I'm your only nephew," Sly said. Oh boy, here it comes, he thought.
Jenny turned around, and the look of joy on her face quickly turned to one of horror. "Oh my God, Sly, what happened?"
Sly sighed, knowing he had to tell her the truth. "Well, it's been a rough day," he said almost jokingly. "I got into a car accident, and later got into a fight. And how have you been?"
"Always with the black humor. Are you alright?" she said, moving closer to him to get a better look.
"Yeah, I'm ok. I got a concussion and the black eye from the car accident, the rest is courtesy of Lucky."
"Lucky?" Jenny looked confused. "Wait, wait, maybe you better start from the beginning."
Sly sighed and took a seat at the kitchen counter. Jenny sat across from him. "Ok, so you know last night was the big show at the Boomtown Ranch."
"Of course. I'm sorry I missed it."
"Well, after the show was over, we were driving in the van, and a car ran us off the road."
Jenny gasped.
Sly continued. "So we hit a stone wall. Everybody's ok, we get out of the car, and then boom, I pass out. Next thing I know, I'm at GH. Like I said, I have a concussion and a black eye, but everything is ok."
"Well I'm glad that the guys are ok, but Sly, a concussion is a very serious thing, especially since you had your skull broken," Jenny stated, clearly concerned.
"I know. They told me I could have died."
"Oh my God, Sly. Why didn't you call me?"
Sly sighed again. "I knew you would be home the next day, so I didn't want to bother you. There was nothing you could do anyway."
"Still, a call might have been nice." She sighed. What was she going to do with this boy?
Sly thought about what came next, and decided to leave it out. "Anyway, the next morning, I'm out taking a walk, and I see Lucky. I started talking to him, and then all of a sudden, he decks me. Well, he mopped the floor with me, until his brother Nikolas came and dragged him away," Sly said lightly in an attempt to hide his feelings.
"What brought that on? I thought the two of you were becoming friends again."
"I don't know. It's like something I said triggered something else. It sure as hell wasn't the Lucky I know."
"Me neither. What is wrong with that kid, beating you up? I should go give him a piece of my mind," Jenny said angrily.
"Don't, Jenny. I don't think even Lucky knew what he was doing. I guess he's worse off than we thought."
"That's a shame, but nobody hurts you ever again," Jenny said with a fierce protectiveness.
Sly smiled. If there was one thing he learned from his experience with his grandfather, it was that he could trust Jenny completely. She was the one that was there for him at his worst. Before that, in some small way, Sly had always felt like he was an obligation. After that, he knew that he wasn't a duty- he was family.
"So anyway, guess who comes and scrapes me off the floor?"
"Who?"
"Everyone's favorite lawyer, Scott Baldwin."
"Oh, thank goodness. I'm glad he was there to help you."
"It was weird to see him after all of these years. Still has the same hair, though."
Jenny laughed in spite of herself. "And he took you to the doctor?"
"Our very own ex-cousin in-law, Tony Jones." Sly looked down. "Lucky bruised me pretty good, but that's about it. No permanent damage, and he didn't re-aggravate the concussion."
"Thank God." Jenny looked at her nephew, who she considered more like a son. "Sly, I know that must have been very hard for you."
"Yeah," he said softly.
Jenny lifted his chin and made him look her in the eyes. "I am amazed at the courage you are displaying right now. Did I ever tell you how much I admire you?"
Sly looked confused. "Admire me? For what?"
"For the way you live your life. Sly, you have had more to deal with than just about anybody. I think you have every right to complain, or to get wrapped up in yourself. But you don't do that. You just handle every situation that comes your way with grace. You don't dwell on your problems. You overcome them. And you help others along the way. To me, that is incredible. I admire you for that."
"Thank you," Sly said, genuinely touched.
"You look so tired. Why don't you go up and get some sleep?"
"I will." Sly got up, but Jenny stopped him. She gave him a very gentle hug.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go break his arm? I'd do anything to protect you, Sly."
Sly chuckled. "That's alright. I have a feeling Lucky's going to get what he deserves."
*-*-*-*-*-*
Kevin entered the exam room. Lucky was sitting on the table, looking very distraught. "Hello, Lucky."
Lucky turned. "Oh, hi, Dr. Collins."
"I told you, you can call me Kevin." He sat down on one of the chairs near the table.
Lucky said nothing.
"So, you had a panic attack today?"
"That's what they tell me." Lucky was not in the mood to talk. He felt incredibly guilty about what he did to Sly.
Kevin looked at Lucky's worried face. " Do you know what brought this on, Lucky?"
Lucky saw no reason to lie. "I beat up my cousin, and I don't even remember doing it."
Kevin sighed. That confirmed what Nikolas had told him. "Your brother told me. He was pretty worried about you."
"I don't even remember doing it. After he told me, well, I freaked out. I thought I was going to die."
"Yes, that is a symptom of a panic attack." Kevin was puzzled about why Lucky even got violent with his cousin, and was especially worried that Lucky didn't remember it at all.
"Lucky, what is the last thing you remember before you got to Wyndemere?"
"I was talking to Sly on the docks."
"Did he do something, say something unusual?"
"Not that I remember. I was talking to him, and…" Lucky closed his eyes in anger. "I don't remember what happens next! All of a sudden, I'm in Wyndemere with Nikolas, and I don't know how I got there!"
"Ok, Lucky, don't get upset all over again. We'll figure out what happened." He sighed. "Then you had the panic attack. Your chart says you weren't in distress when the paramedics arrived. Did it just run its course?"
"No. Nikolas' girlfriend, Charlie, calmed me down. She gets them herself, so she knew what to do."
Kevin was not surprised that Charlie was there. She had told him about how she was dating Nikolas. "What did she say to do?"
"She led me through some breathing exercises, and told me to think of the time I was most at peace. I was skeptical, but it worked."
"Ah, yes. Sounds like she was right on the mark."
Lucky looked up at Kevin. "It was so scary, Kevin. I was sure I was going to die. But the even scarier part is that I don't even remember hurting my own cousin."
Kevin looked sympathetically at Lucky. "Sometimes the mind blocks out things for its own protection. Don't worry. We'll figure it out."
"But Kevin, what if I do it again? What if I snap and lose control, and I don't even remember doing it?"
Kevin sighed. "Lucky, I think this was an isolated incident. True, it concerns me, but I don't think you're a danger to others. If you were, I would keep you here for your own protection, but I am letting you go home. If you remember anything, I want you to give me a call. We'll work on this during your session tomorrow."
"And if I have another panic attack?"
"You just remember what Charlie told you. I also have a couple of sheets here that might be helpful, too."
Lucky took the sheets. "Thanks, Kevin. I'm sorry to make everyone worry."
"Hey, that's what we're here for, to help you out when you need it, no questions asked."
Lucky sighed. "Yeah, but who's going to help Sly? I don't think he'll ever forgive me."