Where Will All Come Home?

Chapter 23
Helena Cassadine frowned at the lily centered improperly in the splashy bouquet decorating the sideboard in her dining room. She adjusted it slightly before critically surveying the table. All was at it should be: gleaming silver, crystal finger bowls, and crisply folded napkins at the two places set for dinner. She hummed to herself and smiled. What an adventure! After several lonely years she had found a man who not only intrigued her, but also, as a special bonus, a man who apparently was of interest to both Luke and Stefan. Who could ask for more, she wondered. Her nerves hummed with anticipation. What would she do first? Savor him like a fine wine - allow herself to become acquainted with him over a period of many weeks - seduce him slowly and expertly as she had seduced many others before, or should she simply swallow him in one gulp?

She had been alone too long. Her first impulse was to enjoy this man and allow herself the pleasure of what she sensed might be a lengthy, highly charged sexual relationship. However, Luke and Stefan were somehow involved, and it never hurt to be one up on both of them. It would be wiser to drug him tonight, drain him of any useful information, and thus be forewarned of any little mischief her son and favorite enemy might have concocted. It would have to be the latter option she decided. She frowned again as she made her decision. Life required too much caution and left one too little room for spontaneity.

Satisfied with arrangements for dinner, she returned to her bedroom. It looked beautiful as, of course, was to be expected. Her dress, shoes, undergarments and hose were laid out. The earrings and necklace she wanted for tonight would be removed from her safe just before time for her guest to arrive.

She made a face at herself in the mirror. Chances were that she could drug this Mr. Gray, then convince him in the morning that they had been overcome with wine and passion the night before. Still, a one night stand after getting drunk was hardly what she wanted from this man. Somehow he was special. Even odder, she kept looking at him and thinking that he was not a stranger, but somehow familiar. She had racked her brain, but knew she had never met him before. But something about his gestures, his glance.... She couldn't put her finger on it, but whatever the link, she knew that the extraordinary sexual attraction she felt whenever he walked in a room was all his, hers, theirs. Not since the days of her youth, when she had first met Mikkos, had she felt an attraction of this strength, this immediacy. Her loss of autonomy to Mikkos had been disastrous, but this man would never gain the sort of power over her that her late husband had wielded. Her skillful drugging would force him to give up his secrets. After tonight he would be her tool, merely another man whose life she held in the palm of her hand: hers to enjoy, use, or destroy at her whim.

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Kevin Collins had had a long day, and it wasn't over yet. He checked his watch and headed down the hall toward Stefan Cassadine's office. Cassadine was far from his favorite character, but it was not the mark of an intelligent man to ignore an urgent summons from the hospital CEO.

Ushered into Cassadine's presence by his secretary, he was surprised to see how fatigued the man appeared to be. Despite his reputation for utter ruthlessness, his rumored love for his fragile wife must be quite real. Cassadine's shadowed eyes, slightly rumpled clothing, and the fact that he was shaving at his desk unselfconsciously, while a visitor entered his office, showed that his usual reserve had been completely breached by circumstance.

"Dr. Collins, thank you for coming. I am most appreciative of your making time to see me today. I need to discuss my wife with you."

"I'm happy to help you. Does this have something to do with Luke Spencer? He seemed pretty irritated, because you said he needed my permission before he saw Mrs. Cassadine."

"It is a very long and involved story. May I have your word that nothing I share will leave this room?"

"Yes, of course," Kevin said. He leaned forward, ready to listen. That was, after all, his job.

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David met Stu for a late lunch at the Port Charles Grill. He summarized Laura's medical condition tersely.

"We are remarkably fortunate that you sent for me," David told his brother, while he suspiciously turned a questionable lettuce leaf over with his fork. "Jones is not nearly so incompetent as I suspected. He might have found the aneurysm without me, but it would have taken him more time than Laura has to spare."

Stu rubbed his eyes with one hand and leaned forward propping an elbow on the table. "You're sure it's the exact same aneurysm that killed Mother?"

"Absolutely. Laura's a Gray genetically. Rotten luck that she missed out on the better parts of being a family member." He fidgeted with his napkin, took a sip of water, and added, "Fleming is on his way. I can't do the surgery."

Stu nodded. "I didn't expect you to. It wouldn't be fair."

"Jones commented on the oddity of it. All things being equal, I hope we can reveal the truth pretty soon. Jones also wondered aloud why Laura's mother hasn't been in to see her. Since I'm technically a stranger, I made no comment."

Stu shook his head. "Lesley has haunted the waiting room, but she's afraid that Laura will have another seizure if she sees her."

David snorted. "Lesley makes me want to have a seizure. He twisted his napkin violently before continuing. " I would like to see your daughter call you father, old man. And I've been told by the girls' daughters that I'm a pretty decent uncle. I'd like to have a shot at that too. It's our turn."

Stu smiled a little raggedly. "I have to believe that it's not too late. That we can't have come this far to lose her now."

"No, of course not. We won't let that happen. Now, let's change the subject. Are you ready for your dinner appointment tonight?"

Stu shook his head. "I've talked to Walter's people extensively. If I can avoid being poisoned myself and hung out to dry, they'll be well-pleased. It seems that his people have wanted to know Mrs. Cassadine more intimately for years. They seem to think that she could enlighten them on a number of unresolved situations."

David watched his brother's finger tips drumming the table, then shrugged. "Are you getting cold feet? It sounds as if she very much deserves whatever might happen to her."

"If you had seen her face - my daughter's face - when she spoke to Lesley about this woman, you would know that I have no compunctions about removing her. If I had only been there to protect the girl...."

"Past praying for," David responded crisply. "Don't drown in regrets. Get the job done right tonight, so that we'll all have a future together. One step at a time. No regrets. No anticipation. Just get the job done."

Stu nodded without speaking as the waiter arrived with their entrees.

"When you've finished with the Cassadine woman, come by the hospital early tomorrow," David said. "One way or another, I'll get you in to see Laura before surgery. We're in for the long haul," he added. "And she'll just have to get used to us." He grinned at his brother, and began to eat.

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"My sincere compliments to the chef." Stu laid his napkin down on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Dinner was marvelous."

Helena smiled graciously. "Let's move into the adjoining room for brandy," she suggested. "If you wish to smoke, I enjoy the scent of good tobacco as well."

"You're too kind," he responded, rising to escort her from the room, "But I gave up smoking years ago.

"Sit down, Dr. Gray, won't you?" Helena beckoned toward a sofa in her receiving room.

He sat down and watched her as she filled two brandy snifters from a decanter. She was in clear sight the whole time. There was no slight of hand. If she intended to drug him, then it would have been painted on the glass earlier or else the substance would be in the decanter. In that case she would have taken an antidote ahead of time. But which was it? Or did she plan something else altogether?

He forced a smile as she joined him on the sofa. At least she had no reason to suppose him suspicious. He spoke. "Please call me by my given name. My friends here call me Stuart or Stu."

"Stuart. I like it. Please call me Helena." Her fingers brushed his delicately as she handed him his drink. She swirled her brandy carefully and gazed at him with liquid blue eyes. "A toast?" she asked.

He raised his glass.

"To new beginnings." Their glasses touched.

"Would you enjoy some music?" she asked.

He agreed, and when she crossed the room to choose a CD, he took the opportunity to switch snifters. It seemed too easy to be believable. Luckily, he was being monitored by professionals, who presumably would retrieve him before he died. Presumably.

A haunting melody filled the room. She returned and sat down. They drank.

"I was curious," he began. "Yesterday you asked me if I knew how to hate. I found it a provocative comment."

Helena pause thoughtfully. "I believed for some reason that you might comprehend me. It was intuitive, I suppose. An odd feeling that we were - it sounds so trite - sympatico, as they say, on a deeper level."

He placed a hand over hers. "The oddest part was that I did understand you. Immediately."

She went on. "Have you ever loved deeply? So deeply, so completely that loss of your beloved would leave you bereft? Not for months or years, but eternally. Leave you to limp through life as if an arm or leg were severed, the raw wound gaping, unhealed. Crippled irrevocably, but invisibly. "

"Yes, I do know that pain," he answered honestly, unwillingly touched by her confession. "Does this have something to do with your son or your daughter in law?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes," she said. "Twice I have been mortally wounded, but still somehow, I maintain the appearance of life. Luke killed my husband, but Laura assisted him. Later she betrayed my son Stavros with his own brother, then lured him into a trap where her pawn, Luke, would again kill for her. I despise Stefan. Weak, wretched, envious cur that he is. But I hate Laura with a hate so pure, so intense, that it consumes me."

He could not trust himself to speak, but reached for her as gently as possible, and she came into his arms, melting against him like a raindrop into a river. Desire, terror, hatred roiled within him; he was astonished by his own violently contradictory emotions.

"Oh, my dear," he whispered, "What will I do with you now?" as Helena sighed gently, and lapsed into unconsciousness in his arms.

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Just before dawn broke over Spoon Island, Stefan returned from his night's vigil at the hospital. He showered and wearily changed into fresh clothes before waking Lesley Lu and helping her dress. When she was ready to go, he bundled his sleeping son up, and the three of them set off for the mainland.

By the time Stefan pushed the door to Laura's room open, Lucky and Nikolas had already snuck in and were sitting on each side of her bed, quietly talking with their mother. Laura was awake, but subdued. She cried out with pleasure when she saw Stefan bringing the younger children into the room. The boys made way for Lulu. She climbed up beside her mother and stretched out next to her mother at Laura's urging.

"Hospital regulations be damned," said Stefan, settling Sergei in the circle of Laura's free arm. He kissed her before sitting down next to Sergei, so that he could ensure the little one didn't lurch off the side of the bed.

"Don't worry," Laura whispered to Lulu, kissing the top of her head. "I'm going to be fine."

"I know," said Lulu frowning. "I....I'm not scared. I'm just impatient. Sergei and I miss you. It's lonely at Wyndemere."

"Well, if you were scared, it would be perfectly understandable," said Laura. "It's awful when someone you love is sick. Smart people are often scared. That's what makes them brave, you see. They know something awful could happen, but they put their chins up and keep going."

"Oh," said Lulu, burying her face on her mother's shoulder.

"I'm pretty scared right now," Laura confessed, "but I have so much to live for." She looked around the room at her husband and children. "So I'm going to be as brave as I can. Okay?" She kissed Lulu's head again, and felt the child's arms tighten around her.

All too soon, the nurses came into the room to prepare her for surgery. She kissed each of the children, including Sergei who apparently could sleep through anything. Lucky took Lulu's hand and Nik gently lifted his baby brother off the bed.

After the children left, Stefan cupped her face with his hand. "Do you remember the night we met?"

She nodded.

"I told Nikolas once that the night his father met his mother, the tides changed their course. I did not lie."

She captured his hand and kissed it.

"On my deathbed it will be your face I see, your touch I crave, your voice I hear. I regret nothing. Not deceiving my brother, not the pain, not the bitter years apart."

He bent closer and laid his face against her cheek. "All of it served to bring us here. Fight for us. Fight for our children. I am relying on you utterly. On you alone."

He stroked her hair. "Come back to me. I cannot go on without you."

The nurse returned and he exited the room after a last touch. He found himself in the hall with tears on his face. Whether they were his or hers, he could not say.

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Stuart Gray's hands shook as he slipped into the white coat his brother offered.

"That bad?" David asked.

"If Helena Cassadine were an animal, she would have been put down long ago. It would have been an act of mercy."

Stu's eyes were a hazy gray. He was on the verge of nervous exhaustion, David decided.

"Let's look in on Laura. Hold this clipboard. With any luck, the locals will think you're a member of my entourage. We're off.

"There's no danger; she's been sedated," he added as he opened the door. The two men strode down the corridor together. Shortly thereafter, they entered Laura's room.

"You should be pretty sleepy by now, Mrs. Cassadine," David said.

"Things are getting a little blurry," Laura smiled at Dr. Gray. She liked him. She squinted at the doctors. It must be the medicine she thought. They look a lot alike She idly wondered if she were seeing doubles.

Dr. Gray smiled back. "That's as it should be. The other doctor and I are going to sit beside you until you go to sleep."

"Thank you," she said. "Before I go to sleep, I remembered something I wanted to tell you."

"What was it, my dear?" David asked.

"Did you know that someone named Gray helped give me my life?" Laura's voice was trailing off.

David choked. "I believe I might have heard that."

"Don't you think it's right that today someone named Gray is going to help me keep it?" Laura asked. She drifted off to sleep before either man could answer her.