Chapter 13
Luke stood up to leave Mac and Felicia’s table and saw Elizabeth enter the restaurant. She smiled and waved at him. He had started to wave back when he realized that she was standing only a few feet away from Lucien. He hadn’t expected her back in town so soon, and had wanted to warn her about him before she could accidentally run into him. Remembering his own reaction to the man, he was scared to death what she would do. He could see the confusion on her face when she saw his expression change, and he started to walk quickly over to her. Maybe if he got to her in time, he could lead her out of the restaurant before Lucien turned around.
Before he could take more than a few steps, he heard Lucien laugh, and so did Liz. A look of distress crossed her face as she quickly scanned the room, whispering something that could only be his son’s name. Her eyes fell on Lucien, and Luke watched helplessly as the man turned around to look at her. Nikolas reached out to him, trying to stop him from turning.
“No, Lucien, don’t turn around!” Nikolas whispered, reaching for his arm. He had seen Elizabeth’s face when she heard his cousin laugh, and was terrified at how she would react to seeing him. Unfortunately, he was a second too late, because Lucien had already turned.
Liz saw all of this happen as though she were watching a movie. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke start to run over to her, but her eyes were fixed on Nikolas’s table. She watched him reach for his companion, as though to stop him from looking at her. Her eyes filled with tears as the stranger’s face slowly came into view. Their eyes met and she couldn’t breathe.
Luke rushed over to their table as soon as he realized what was happening, and managed to reach her just in time. He ran up behind her as she collapsed in his arms, and looked up helplessly at his stepson. “Nikolas, call GH, now!”
Nikolas grabbed his phone and quickly dialed the number. After a few seconds of talking to the emergency person, he hung up and nodded. “They’re on their way. Luke, if I had known she was coming home early, I would have warned him, I swear.”
Luke shook his head. “It’s too late for that now. What are you doing here with him, anyway?” he asked, laying Liz down on the floor and covering her with his jacket. Lucien just stared at the two men, trying to figure out what was going on.
“As you already know, he’s my cousin. Is there a law against having lunch with family?” Nikolas asked angrily.
Lucien interrupted their argument. “Just a minute. Will somebody please tell me who that girl is, and why no one wanted me to look at her?” He’d had an uneasy feeling in his stomach ever since their eyes had met, but she had fainted so quickly, he hadn’t had a chance to figure out what it was.
Nikolas sighed. “That’s Elizabeth Webber. She was Lucky’s girlfriend. She took his death really hard, but she’s been living in New York, so I didn’t think I needed to warn you about her. I was so worried about my mother seeing you, that I forgot that Liz was coming back to Port Charles.”
Lucien nodded slowly. “Well, that explains her reaction.” He looked back at the girl, studying her face. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her for some reason. She was so beautiful. He wondered if this was what they called ‘love at first sight.’
“We got a call that someone collapsed here,” Frank Scanlon said, rushing into the room. Luke nodded and led him to Liz. They loaded her onto a stretcher and rushed back out of the room with Luke right behind them.
“I don’t mean to cut our lunch short, but I should really go to the hospital. She’s a good friend of mine.” Nikolas got up from the table, leaving some money for the bill, and Lucien stood up as well.
“I’d like to go with you,” he said. He didn’t even know the girl, but he suddenly had this uncontrollable need to make sure she was okay.
Nikolas thought for a minute. “I don’t know if it would be a good idea. My mother will probably be there. Liz has become like a daughter to her and Luke.”
Lucien shook his head. “I’ll stay out of the way, I promise. I feel obligated to make sure she’s okay. After all, it’s my fault this happened.”
Nikolas sighed. He could tell Lucien wasn’t going to give in. “Fine, but stay hidden as much as you can. If Laura sees you....” he didn’t have a chance to finish his thought before Lucien cut in.
“I know, I know. Trust me, I’ll be careful. Let’s go.” They both left the restaurant and headed for Nikolas’s car.
“That was interesting,” Mac said to Felicia, still not sure what had happened.
She nodded. “Something tells me we need to dig a little more,” she said, opening one of the files they had brought along.
~*~
“Barbara, how is she?” Luke asked fearfully, as his sister entered the waiting room.
She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. “She’ll be fine, Luke. She just fainted, that’s all. She’s still out, but she should regain consciousness soon. What happened?”
“It’s a long story. Basically, there’s a new guy in town who’s claiming to be a long-lost Cassidine. Only problem is, he’s the spitting image of Lucky. Elizabeth came home from New York earlier than we expected, and she ran into him at the PC Grille. I think you can guess the rest of it.”
Bobbie looked her brother in shock. “Another Cassidine? Where did he come from? Why does he look like Lucky? Did Laura..”
He shook his head quickly before she could continue. “No, he’s not Laura’s. We’re looking into his background, but we haven’t found anything yet. Something’s fishy about the kid, that’s for sure. He was having lunch with Nikolas like they were old buddies today.” He sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands.
She sat down next to him. “How much does he look like Lucky? You said he was his spitting image, but I don’t see how that’s possible.”
He looked up at her. “He doesn’t really look like him at first glance, but he’s got his eyes. It’s creepy. He’s like the anti-Lucky. He looks just like him, but he’s a Cassidine. He looked at me like I was his mortal enemy the other day. He says he’s Helena’s grandson, so you know that she put all sorts of evil thoughts in his head. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be raised by her! The kid’s probably going to be warped for life.”
“Does this kid have a name?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, Lucien. Oh, and it gets better. He’s claiming to be Stavros’s son. You know what that means, right?”
“He’s the heir. Wait, did you say his name was Lucien? Does he have long hair and a goatee?”
Luke looked at her. “Yeah, why? Is he here?” He looked around the room, but didn’t see anyone.
“No, it’s just that I think I met him outside of Kelly’s the other day. Jerry was talking to him while I went in to see Tammy. He was very sweet and polite, but something about him had bothered me. Maybe I noticed the resemblance subconsciously.”
“Nurse Jacks? The girl’s waking up,” an orderly said, poking his head into the waiting room. Bobbie jumped out of her seat and headed out of the room. Luke was right behind her. They disappeared into the hallway just as Nikolas and Lucien got off the elevator.
Luke rushed to the side of her bed and took her hand while Bobbie looked over her chart. Liz was stirring, but she wasn’t fully awake yet, and was mumbling incoherently.
“It’s okay, darlin’, we’re right here,” Luke soothed, rubbing her hand. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Luke, what happened? Why am I in the hospital?” She looked around in confusion, trying to recall how she got there. She sat up suddenly and gripped his hand. “Lucky! I saw him, in the restaurant! Did you see him too? Is he really here?” Her eyes darted wildly around the room as she tried to get off the bed. Luke and Bobbie tried to get her to calm down and rest, but she wouldn’t stop struggling. Finally, Bobbie had to sedate her.
Luke shook his head sadly. “I was afraid that this would happen. Do you think she’ll be all right?”
Bobbie shook her head. “I really don’t know, Luke. She seemed very agitated just now. She may be having a breakdown.”
“You mean, like Laura did after the fire?” he asked hesitantly. Bobbie nodded and hugged him, knowing how much he had come to care for the girl.
Graphics Courtesy Of:
