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Nikolas & Emily #4 February 24 - May 13, 2004 - 8 hour original edit Ric arrests Nikolas for the murder of Zander Smith, as Emily and Liz watch. Nikolas swears that he's innocent, and Emily demands to know why Ric is rushing to judgment. Alexis hears the news and rushes to the station. She tells Emily and Liz that she will find Nikolas the best attorney, and when they question her, she admits she's already representing Carly and can't do both. Emily is stunned, and wants to know why Alexis would pick Carly over her own nephew. Emily and Sam start to hit it
off while being stuck in the elevator at GH. Sam confides in Emily about her
affair with Sonny. Emily tells her that she thinks Sonny and Carly brought their
problems on themselves. Sam tells her that she is comfortable around Sonny
because he doesn't expect a lot from her and likes her for who she is. Emily and
Sam are rescued from the elevator. Sam wishes her luck and hopes Nikolas is
found innocent soon. Jen McNeil shows up and announces to Nikolas that she is his new lawyer. She asks him if he has any idea who could have killed Zander that night. Nikolas has no clue but knows it wasn't him. Emily shows up at the police station to see Nikolas. She meets his new lawyer. Ric comes into the visitor's room and offers a deal to Nikolas. He offers Nikolas a manslaughter charge to accept, a charge that would only keep him in prison for a minimum of 5 years. Nikolas rejects his deal and claims he is innocent. Ric tells him that he has a solid case against him for murder and tries to encourage him to take the deal. Emily tells Ric that Nikolas shouldn't go to prison for something he didn't do and asks Ric to investigate some more. Nikolas tells Emily and Jen that he wonders what Ric is up to since he seems to be working so hard to make a deal with him when he already has a solid case against him. Elizabeth goes home and reads her mail. She finds a letter addressed to her with Zander's name in the upper left hand corner. She quickly opens it to find a quick note inside the envelope. It says that if she got this letter it means that he is probably already dead and tells her that Ric was the one who killed him. She later Liz tells Nikolas that everything will be fine and she knows he is innocent. Nikolas makes bail. Lucky tells Nikolas that Ric is pushing for Nikolas to be found guilty, but he is still looking for the real killer. Emily informs Nikolas that she believes a new suspect will crop up soon in Zander's death. At Wyndemere, Lucky reports to Emily and Nikolas that Ric didn't seem surprised that Lucky found proof that Scott was at the court house when Zander was killed in the Hotel blaze. Emily suggests that Ric killed Zander. Later, Ric and Elizabeth arrive at Wyndemere to meet with Lucky, Nikolas and Emily. Ric suggests that Nikolas returned to the basement and fought with Zander after calling the police. When Ric tells Nikolas he can allow Nikolas to plead guilty to manslaughter but not to self-defense, Nikolas again denies that he killed Zander and suggests that Ric killed Zander to make sure that Zander could never change his mind about custody of Elizabeth's baby. Elizabeth insists that Lucky, Nikolas and Emily are wrong about Ric. Ric suddenly suggests that, since Emily was at the hotel, perhaps it was Emily who killed Zander after Zander made some obsessive demands of Emily. Elizabeth appeals to them all to quit accusing each other of Zander's death and search, instead, for the real culprit. Ric finally convinces Elizabeth to return home with him and get some rest. After Ric and Elizabeth leave, Lucky, Nikolas and Emily make plans to look for someone who might have seen Ric going to meet Zander in the basement or someone who let Ric know about Nikolas' call about finding Zander in the hotel basement. Emily confides to Nikolas that she does feel responsible for Zander's death, because she killed all of his hopes and dreams a little bit at a time. After Elizabeth goes to lie down, Ric receives a letter from Zander, accusing Elizabeth of being the one responsible for his death! Emily gets a letter from Zander saying he will always love her and that Nikolas killed him. Emily fears the worst and talks to Lucky about the letter, along with Nikolas' motive to kill Zander. Emily tells Nikolas they'll make it through this and she'll support him no matter what he does in life. Nikolas tells Emily that her love and support have helped him through this ordeal. Lucky and Emily meet and talk about having the letter/Zander's handwriting analyzed to see if he was under duress. Ric sees Elizabeth burning her letter from Zander and stops her. He admits to her that he received his own letter stating Elizabeth wanted Zander dead. She admits she killed Zander, but didn't realize he was dead when she left the hotel. She just grabbed the documents and ran out. Ric tries to get Elizabeth to believe that someone else might have killed Zander after she left, and she can't confess right now because of the stress to the baby. Emily shows Nikolas the note she was mailed from Zander, and the two try to figure out how to deal with it. Ric comes upon them and eavesdrops to hear what they are saying. He then rushes up to them and demands the note as evidence in a murder case, but Emily runs off with it and Lucky refuses to cooperate. Emily rushes back to Wyndemere where Nikolas is telling his lawyer that he wants his trial to begin as soon as possible. Emily tells Nik about her note, and Ric overhearing her discussion with Lucky. Nikolas shows Emily the note that he received from Zander and they realize that Zander was trying to pit them all against each other. Emily tells him they need to leave town. Liz walks in and says that won't be necessary. Ric rushes in and tries to stop her, but Liz admits to murdering Zander. Ric tells them he only wants to help his wife, and asks them to trust him, but Emily and Nikolas refuse to do that and suggest Liz turn herself in and they testify on her behalf. As they say this, Ric realizes that Liz has left to turn herself in. He rushes after her, but she's already on the road. She reaches in her purse for a tissue, and when she looks back through the windshield she sees something in her path and swerves the wheel and crashes. Lucky comes upon the scene, and Liz tells him that she was on her way to the police station to confess to murdering Zander. Lucky gets an ambulance to her, and notifies Ric who is still at Wyndemere. Ric, Emily, and Nikolas rush to GH where they encounter Lucky, who tells them of Liz's confession. Ric tells Lucky that Liz didn't really kill Zander, and confesses to the murder himself. Lucky doesn't necessarily buy it, and he, Nik, and Emily follow Ric to Elizabeth's room where she tells them not to let Ric cover for her. Nikolas comes up with the idea for Ric to use his favor with Sonny to pin Zander's murder on Capelli, so that none of them take the blame. Ric informs Emily and Nikolas that he believes it might be best for Emily to approach Jason and explain that Elizabeth plans to confess to Zander's murder rather than let Ric appeal to Sonny to order Jason to implicate Officer Capelli in Zander's death. Ric explains that they can say that Jason's general distrust of law enforcement was the reason why Jason did not come forward with what he knew sooner. Ric explains that Jason can say that Jason did not want Nikolas to be convicted of a crime that Nikolas had not committed. Nikolas and Emily meet with Jason outside the custody hearing and explain Elizabeth's involvement in Zander's death. Emily explains that they would like for Jason to state that, before Capelli died, Capelli bragged to Jason that it was Capelli who killed Zander. Jason reminds Nikolas and Emily that if he swears to something that is not true, it will be perjury and could be Ric's way of setting Jason up. Jason accompanies Nikolas and Emily to the PCPD, where Ric hands Jason a prepared statement to sign. Jason reminds Ric that Jason knows that Ric could come after Jason later on a perjury charge, but Ric assures Jason that Ric's only motivation is to protect Elizabeth and guarantee Elizabeth the life that she deserves. Ric appeals to Jason as Elizabeth's friend to help them all protect Elizabeth. Ric assures Jason that Ric, Nikolas, Emily and Lucky would never have any reason to contradict Jason's statement and, since Capelli and Zander are both dead, neither of them would be in any position to contradict Jason's statement. Nikolas and Emily assure Jason that they believe that, in this instance, Ric's only motivation is to rescue Elizabeth and that they all agree that they should protect Elizabeth. Jason reluctantly signs the statement and Ric announces that the case is now officially closed. Even as Emily thanks Jason for his help, Jason again warns Nikolas and Emily to remember that Ric is not their friend. As Nikolas and Emily head home, Emily confides that she feels sad that Zander's death was just something they all felt they needed to cover up. Nikolas assures Emily that that part of their lives in finally over and they can now truly begin making plans for their future together. Nikolas and Emily arrive at Kelly's to find an anxious Elizabeth waiting there. They ask her what is going on with the murder case. Ric shows up with flowers for Elizabeth and assures her that the murder case is officially closed and that Zander is now in their past. Emily defends Zander by reminding Elizabeth that Zander had some good in him and wonders if Elizabeth will ever tell her child about his/her biological father. Elizabeth understands that Emily wants to see the good in Zander but isn't sure she will tell her baby about him. Nikolas makes an excuse why they have to go do something. They go outside and Nikolas tells her he made up an excuse so that they could get away from Ric, who they can't stand. While they share a tender moment outside of Kelly's. Helena shows up. She tells Nikolas that she bought a big chunk of the treasure back from some scoundrel who hid it in a dumpster and sold it back to her. She informs him that she has put $25 million into a Swiss bank account for him and suggests that they go to Paris to celebrate together. Nikolas surprises her when he tells her that he is going to take half of the $25 million and give it to the victims of the hotel fire and the other half he is going to split with the Quartermaines. Helena is furious with him for even considering giving any of that money to the Quartermaines. Nikolas reminds her that the Quartermaines are one of the reasons they even found the treasure and they gave him Emily. Helena makes her usual threats but Nikolas warns her not to cross him or she will pay dearly. At GH, a bandaged man pulls off his bandages and is revealed that it is really Zander! Zander makes his escape by posing as a surgeon in mask and scrubs to escape in the elevator. Zander goes and breaks into some apartment and raids the refrigerator. He turns on the TV and gets angry when the local news comes on and it is reported that Nikolas has been exonerated for murder. Zander finds Nikolas and Emily at a church out in the country. Emily and Nikolas decide to do their own private vows in front of God without family. Zander doesn't look pleased to see them so happy and kissing. Zander spied on Emily and Nikolas at the church and saw them kiss after saying their spiritual marriage vows and declaring their love to each other. Nikolas told Emily that he thought half the money from the treasure should go to aid victims of the hotel fire, with the remaining half to be split evenly between the Cassadines and the Quartermaines. After the two left the church, Zander found a scarf that Emily had dropped. Zander picked it up and twisted it, as though ready to use it to strangle somebody. Zander returned to the cottage that he and Emily had shared as man and wife. He remembered their time there together. At Wyndemere, Zander hides as Emily and Elizabeth discuss their respective futures with Nikolas and Ric and the baby. He seethes as Emily speaks of her love for Nikolas, and Liz of her hope for the future Ric will give her child, but he finds a glimmer of hope when Emily admits that he'll always have a spot in her heart. The girls leave the room, and Emily returns later to look for Nikolas. She admires the picture of her and Nikolas on his desk, as Zander slowly comes up behind her. Nikolas interrupts Zander's attempt to touch Emily when he walks into the living room and forces Zander to hide still unseen. As Zander listens, Emily and Nikolas soak up the joy of their impromptu vows, and Nikolas decides to plan a honeymoon. Emily points out that they didn't really get married, but he says they are really married, they just need to make it official. Helena bursts into the living room and insults Emily. Although Nikolas demands that she apologize, she refuses and begins to rant further about how much better off Nikolas would be if Emily left him alone. Emily begins to worry, but Nikolas assures her that Helena will not come between them. Zander sneaks out and goes to the church where Emily and Nikolas said their vows. He remembers overhearing them, but a priest interrupts his thoughts. The priest senses that he's troubled, and offers him the advice that many are too quick to leave relationships. This proves to Zander that he can't give up on Emily, and he dreams of the two of them saying their own vows. Emily and Nikolas walk in the park. They sit at a bench and talk. Zander watches them from the woods. Nikolas goes to get her some popcorn from a street vendor while she waits near the bench. Emily hears a noise and turns her head towards the woods. She sees Zander there staring at her without saying a word. A young couple distracts Emily when they start chasing each other in fun. Emily turns around toward the woods but Zander is gone. Nikolas returns with her popcorn. Emily suggests they go home together. Nikolas tells her that he is supposed to meet with Lucky in the park to discuss the fire some more. Emily tells him to meet her at Kelly's later. Emily goes to Kelly's and calls Elizabeth to come right over. Elizabeth shows up at Kelly's as soon as she can. She asks Emily what is wrong. Emily tells her she thought she saw Zander standing in the park looking at her. Elizabeth tells Emily it is natural to think she saw Zander since he has been on her mind a lot lately and that she did the same thing when she thought Lucky had died in a fire years ago. Nikolas meets with Lucky at the park. Zander spies on them. Lucky asks him about the woman who filed a missing person's report on her brother, claiming he worked as a utility man at the hotel and that she thinks he could have been killed. Nikolas doesn't know of her and tells him she hasn't gotten in touch with him. Lucky thinks she is trying to con them into thinking her brother died in the fire to get money from Nikolas. Nikolas asks Lucky to be his best man at his wedding. Lucky agrees. Lucky mentions to Nikolas that something just isn't right about the missing utility man since he searched the apartment and found that someone had been there within hours. Emily awoke scared and said she had seen Zander in the park. Nikolas asked if it was a dream, but Emily said it had happened the night before. Nikolas tried to convince her it couldn't be real. After comforting her, they made love. Nik prepared to leave Port Charles for a business trip to Greece. Emily met Elizabeth at Kelly's and told her about the nightmare she had had that morning, where Zander shot Nikolas. Emily continued to feel guilt for hurting Zander in the past. Returning to the cottage she and Zander had shared, she tried to find closure, speaking aloud that she was sorry and that she had loved Zander. When she turned around, Zander was standing in the doorway! Emily says goodbye to the memory Zander at the cottage, and admits that he'll always have a place in her heart. As she turns to leave, she is shocked to actually see Zander standing in front of her. She rushes to him and hugs him, happy to see him alive. He vaguely explains the situation of the fire to her, and avoids her questions about the body that was found. Emily's happiness turns to fear as she slowly begins to realize that Zander is mentally not all there. He goes on about how they will have their life together, and when she says that she will not leave town with him because she loves Nikolas, he begins to get angry. Unbeknownst to Emily, Nikolas safely boards his plane for his business trip, but Zander tells her that he has intercepted Nikolas and is holding him. A terrified Emily tries to get through to Zander that hurting Nikolas will not change her feelings, but he refuses to listen. He grows increasingly agitated and delusional as Emily continues to refute his belief of them living happily ever after, and he finally demands that she make love with him if she wants to save Nikolas. Ric and Liz realize that Zander is alive that the person who died in the fire was a guy named Wally. His sister identifies a ring that was assumed to be Zander's. Ric and Liz realize that Zander is alive, and Ric immediately calls for another autopsy on the body to see if it is Wally. Liz leaves the hospital, wondering where Zander might be, as Ric privately puts out an APB on him. Thinking as Zander would, Liz goes to the cottage to see if he's there, and spots him with Emily through the window. Zander refuses to allow Emily to leave the cottage, but outside, Liz spies them and runs to Ric to get police to rescue Emily. Zander asks Emily to make love to him, and in order to spare Nikolas, she agrees. She makes it very clear, however, that it is only to save Nikolas, and that she has no feelings for Zander. She rips off her top and asks him if he's proud to turn her into a whore, because sex between them is nothing more than a business arrangement. Zander breaks down in tears, and covers her with a blanket. Meanwhile, Nikolas hears news of the hostage situation on his car radio, and speeds to rescue Emily. He reaches to get something on the floor at one point, and his car careens out of control. Having calmed down, Emily attempts again to get through to Zander, and suddenly the police show up and surround the cottage. Zander tries to get Emily to leave without him, but she refuses. Emily convinces Zander to give up his weapon and go with her to surrender to the police waiting outside. Emily promises that she will hold Zander's hand and no one will hurt him. She yells to Lucky that she and Zander will exit, unarmed, together. Zander thanks her again for all that she's done for him, and the two walk out of the cottage. However, as Zander and Emily step out on to the porch, Ric orders Zander to step away from Emily. Emily assures Ric that she is okay, and that Zander is surrendering. Ric orders Zander to kneel down and put his hands on top of his head. Instead, Zander shoves Emily out of the way. Telling Emily that he loves her, Zander puts his hands behind his back. The police believe that Zander is reaching for a gun and Ric gives the order to fire. Zander is hit by a hail of bullets and falls to the ground. Emily rushes to Zander and assures Zander that he will be fine, while blasting the police for firing on an unarmed man. Emily tearfully reminds Ric that she told them that Zander wasn't armed, but they didn't believe her. A devastated Emily cradles him in her arms one last time. Zander reminds Emily that this is the way they met, with the police all around, and perhaps it should have ended like this years ago. He tells her that she was his life and he dies in her arms. When Emily realizes that Zander is dead, she bitterly accuses Ric of killing Zander deliberately. As the paramedics take Zander's body away, Emily says one final good-bye and tells Zander that she is sorry for the way things turned out, because Zander deserved better. Later, Emily asks Lucky to check on Nikolas because Zander had told Emily that Zander had abducted Nikolas. Emily is offended when Ric declares that Zander's body will be taken to the morgue for an autopsy. As Emily again blames Ric for Zander's death, Lucky tries to explain that they were all following police procedures and that Zander appeared to be reaching for a gun. As Emily continues to accuse Ric of deliberately killing Zander to get Zander out of the way, Elizabeth tries to reason with Emily, but Emily refuses to listen. Emily bitterly asks Elizabeth if Elizabeth knew that Ric would make sure that Zander didn't live long enough to claim his child. Emily is shocked when Elizabeth admits that it was Liz who spotted Zander with Emily in the cottage and, believing that Zander was holding Emily hostage, Liz was the one who had called the police. Ric reminds Emily that the police believe that Zander killed an innocent bystander at the Port Charles Hotel and then set fire to the hotel to cover up the death. Ric reminds Emily that one of the people who almost died in the fire was Nikolas and suggests that Emily would not be yelling at the police for shooting Zander if Nikolas had been one of the victims of the fire. Ric insists that Zander deliberately made a move that Zander knew would be misinterpreted by the police because Zander wanted suicide by cop! Later, as Ric, Elizabeth, Emily and Lucky arrive at the PCPD to make their statements, Elizabeth asks Ric if there was any truth in Emily's accusation and Ric assures Liz that Emily was just upset and will see things differently once she has a chance to sort things out. Lucky tells Emily that he believes that Ric was right about Zander's death and that it also seemed to Lucky that Zander deliberately provoked the police because Zander wanted to die. In the woods, Nikolas regains consciousness near his wrecked car and staggers away as his On Star Emergency System asks if he needs help. Lucky receives a report that his brother's car was involved in an accident. Nikolas drags himself to the doorstep of a frightened woman, who loads a gun when she hears strange noises outside. The frightened woman goes out on her porch to investigate the strange noises and discovers Nikolas, unconscious, on her porch. Urging Nikolas not to die on her, the woman drags Nikolas inside, past a table covered with pictures of the woman with a serviceman and a folded flag. Nikolas wakes up in the strange woman's living room and demands to know who she is. Nikolas confides to the strange woman that he doesn't know who he is and the woman tells him that he is her husband! Lucky investigates the wreck of Nikolas's car and the other office suggests that it appears that Nikolas might have sustained a head wound in the accident and wandered away from the car in a dazed condition. The officer suggests that it would have been possible for Nikolas to wander toward the river in his dazed condition and fall in. Ric asks Emily if Zander mentioned anything about the death of a Hotel employee named Wally, but Emily insists that Zander said nothing. But, if Zander did have anything to do with Wally's death, Emily is convinced it would have been an accident. After Emily finishes signing her statement and is prepared to leave the PCPD, Ross informs Emily that Lucky went to investigate his brother's automobile accident. Emily arrives at the wreckage of Nikolas's car and learns from Lucky that Nikolas could have wandered around in a dazed condition and fallen into the river. Emily shows up at the accident scene. She finds Lucky and asks about Nikolas. Lucky tells her that it looks like Nikolas wandered off from the car and could have landed in the river which is only 200 yards away. Emily doesn't want to believe Nikolas may have drowned and insists on helping Lucky find Nikolas. Lucky persuades her to let him do his job without having to worry about her getting lost in the woods looking for Nikolas. Alexis shows up and is concerned about Nikolas. Ric gets a call from the police notifying him that Nikolas was in a car accident and shows up at the scene. He upsets Emily when he suggests that Nikolas could have drowned in the river if he was injured and wondered off. Emily slaps him across the face and accuses him of wanting Zander dead and not caring about Nikolas at all. Alexis accuses him of the same thing and wonders why he was even at the cottage in the first place when it was a police matter. Ric defends himself and claims he was just doing his job since Mac was severely injured and that there was no one but himself to help get things done at the police station. Meanwhile at a cottage in the woods, a woman named Mary tells a confused Nikolas that he is her husband Connor. She tells him that he was injured recently and just got out of the hospital. Nikolas starts to get agitated and tells her he doesn't remember her at all and asks her why he isn't wearing a wedding band when she is. She quickly covers her lie by telling him that he just got out of the hospital and they had kept his wedding band for him. Nikolas wonders about himself. Mary tells him that he was in the Marine Corps and that they were married for a few years. Nikolas passes out of exhaustion. Mary covers him with a blanket. She goes back into the living room and takes all the pictures of her late husband and takes them out of their frames and hides some of them. She takes some of the other picture frames and burns them. She hides the rest of the pictures in some book and puts the book in some armoire. A knock on the door startles her and she opens it hesitantly. It is Lucky who shows her a picture of Nikolas and informs her that he was in a car accident few hours ago and that he wondered off. Mary lies to Lucky and tells him she hasn't seen him. Lucky asks her to call 911 if she sees Nikolas. She goes back and takes Nikolas' leather jacket and walks out of the house after checking on Nikolas to make sure he was still asleep. She comes back without the leather jacket. She goes over to the place where she had her late husband's things and picks up his wedding band and touches it. Nikolas wakes up and comes out of the bedroom. He sees she is holding a wedding band and asks her if it is his. She tells him it is his. He puts it on his ring finger and comments that it is too loose. She tells him that he lost a lot of weight recently. He looks at her and senses something isn't right and asks her why this feels wrong to him and asks her what is going on. She tells him she has been lying to him about everything. Lucky combs the river looking for any sign of Nikolas. He picks some object up in his flashlight beam and goes to investigate. He finds Nikolas' leather jacket hanging near some branch and fears the worst, Nikolas drowned. Emily happens to follow Lucky and sees him looking at Nikolas' jacket and recognizes it. She goes over to ask him if it is Nikolas' jacket and he tells her where he found it. Emily sees what this may mean and starts to cry and deny that Nikolas could have drowned. Lucky holds her back and tries to comfort her. Ric and Det. Duncan tried to convince Emily that survival was unlikely, but she refused to believe that. At the site of the crashed car, Emily found a gift bag containing wedding rings Nik had bought for them. Mary told "Connor" that the police were looking for him and that the Marines were looking for him because he was a deserter. Even without his memory, he did not believe he would do such a thing. He instinctively knew that he would never betray his duty. She told him that he did it because she had begged him to do so and return to her, rather than risk his life again overseas. When alone in the bedroom, he sneaked out the window. Nikolas wandered back to the crash site, and Mary soon discovered his disappearance. Unknown to either of them, Nikolas and Emily were standing only a few feet from each other. Emily sits in the woods and worries for his safety. Lucky arrives at her side and breaks the news that the police have found no sign of Nikolas. Emily refuses to believe that he could be dead, but Lucky tells her that she has to prepare herself for the worst. She goes to the chapel, and prays for Nikolas's safety. Nikolas returns from the woods,
and encounters a frantic Mary in the cabin. He explains that he just went for a
walk to try and jog his memory, and she anxiously asks him if it helped. He says
no, and she begins to spin tales of their life together before he went to war,
in order to help give him false explanations for the questions that he has. She
manages to make him slightly more comfortable with her stories until she
suggests they move. Nikolas refuses, saying he wants to Nikolas pulls out of a kiss with Mary, unable to feign closeness toward her. She begins to cry, and he apologizes for his actions, but tells her again that he has no recollection of a life with her. Later, as he sleeps, the police stop by again. Mary lies and tells them she's not seen Nikolas. He overhears the police officer and emerges to help the search, but Mary manages to beg him off before he goes outside and is spotted. The two uncomfortably prepare to go to bed, and although she offers to stay on the couch, Nikolas tells her to sleep in the bed too. Having already gone head to head with Helena over Nikolas's fate, Emily rushes to the station and approaches Lucky, Liz and Ric. Even though Ric promises he's doing everything to look for Nikolas, Emily demands more. Edward shows up and lends his support to his granddaughter. The police spot something in the river and Emily and Lucky go with them to look, but find that it was only camping equipment. Despite the time, and the fact that no one during the house search claims to have seen him, Emily refuses to give up hope for Nikolas. Nikolas wakes up to find Mary is not in bed. He goes out to the living room. Mary is looking at a picture of herself and her real husband that she had hidden in a book of hers. She is contemplating burning it in the fire when Nikolas comes out to the living room and asks her what she is looking at. She quickly places the picture back inside the book and puts it away. She tells him she was just looking at things. He goes over and notices a wooden handmade box on the mantel and picks it up. He notices it has unique carvings as a decoration and touches it. Mary tells him that he carved that himself. Nikolas looks at the box more closely and starts to feel frustrated and upset again that he can't remember being able to carve wood. Mary tries to comfort him and suggests going to the market to buy some more food that he likes. After she leaves, Nikolas looks around in one of the cabinets and finds a tool box. He opens the tool box and finds a partially finished wood carving of a duck. He takes a tool out and tries to carve it to see if he will start remembering how to carve the rest of it. He becomes upset when he can't carve the rest of the duck without marring it. Mary comes home later to catch him throwing the tool across the room in frustration and telling her that he can't remember that he could ever carve after she tells him that he has been wood carving since he was a young boy and learned from his father. Nikolas tells her that it doesn't feel like this could be his life and gets upset more. Mary takes the tools and puts them away and tries to comfort him and reassure him that she will be there for him and help him through things. Emily goes back to Wyndemere to change her clothes that she has been wearing all day and night. Ric follows her home and tells her that after another 24 hours has passed, he will have no choice but to end the search for Nikolas since he can't invest anymore manpower since the other cases are suffering. Emily pleads with Ric not to give up on Nikolas yet and insists she is going to go back out to the search sight and keep looking for Nikolas. Elizabeth arrives at Wyndemere
to give Emily some emotional support. Emily refuses to let Elizabeth coddle her
and insists on going back out to search. Elizabeth persuades her to sit and have
some tea first since she has been outside in the cold for hours. Edward, Alan,
Monica, and Ned show up to help Emily and give their support. Emily thanks them
but insists on going back out and finding Nikolas and that she doesn't believe
he is dead. Emily was also angered to learn of that the search for Nik had been
downgraded. Lucky and Emily return to Mary's cabin to retrieve Emily's scarf. Nikolas is alone inside, and hears their knock, but Mary rushes back in time to greet them before Nikolas does. He hides in the bedroom as Emily explains to Lucky that Mary lost her husband in Iraq. Mary manages to get rid of them, but Nikolas bursts out into the living room to confront her lie. Mary tells him that she was told that her husband died, but it didn't turn out to be true. She manages to cry and cover in order to get Nikolas to back down, and then she recounts the story of how she was told her husband was killed. She changes the end so that Nikolas thinks it was about him, and he feels for her. He tells her that she doesn't have to worry about losing him again, because he's not going anywhere. Nikolas is surprised when he wakes up in bed with his arm around Mary. When Nikolas asks Mary to help him remember his past, he is surprised when Mary backs away from the subject and declares that she only wants to concentrate on the new memories they are making in the present. Nikolas promises Mary that they will work through the obstacles in front of them together. Nikolas gets comfortable with Mary in front of a cozy fire at the cottage, and they land back on the bed. Later, Nikolas suggests that Mary accompany him on a walk. As Nikolas and Mary walk in the woods, Mary spots the newly bloomed daffodils and picks them, while Nikolas compliments his beautiful "wife." Jason returns to his Penthouse apartment, and discovers Emily waiting there for him. Emily shocks Jason when she asks for Jason's help to believe that Nikolas is dead. Later, Sonny stops by Jason's Penthouse and offers his sympathy to Emily. Later, Jason accompanies Emily to the crash site and Emily is unnerved when she finds a bunch of daffodils blooming nearby. Emily confides that she believes that Nikolas did not fall into the river and may have found shelter somewhere. Jason observes that if Nikolas' jacket was found beside the water, it could mean either that Nikolas did fall in. Or that Nikolas deliberately planted the jacket near the water in the hope that it would be found and searchers would presume that Nikolas fell in because Nikolas had a reason for wanting to disappear! Jason suggests that perhaps Nikolas would have a reason for wanting to disappear in order to protect Emily. But Emily insists that Nikolas would never want Emily to believe that he was dead while he was alive so that must mean that Nikolas really is dead! The Q's are all surprised when Emily suddenly arrives at the mansion and announces that she has decided to call off the search for Nikolas. Emily declares that, since Nikolas is probably dead, there is no longer any reason for her to stay at Wyndemere, so she is moving back to the Quartermaine mansion. The family welcomes Emily home. After a passionate kiss with Nikolas, Mary made the excuse, because of the heavy rain, that she needed to head out for supplies, in case the roads flooded. Mary journeyed to Kelly's for food. There, she ran into Lucky and Emily and learned of Nik and Em's engagement. When Mary returned to the house, Nikolas surprised her with a room full of flowers, which led to another kiss. As Emily and Lucky remember Nikolas and lovingly decide to honor him with a memorial, Nikolas and Mary grow closer. As they kiss and grow more intimate, Mary stops Nikolas from going further. She explains that her husband was her only lover, and that she and Nikolas are strangers because he can't remember being her husband. She asks him to take things slow, and he agrees. They dance and continue to work their way toward each other, but Nikolas still has his loss of memory gnawing away at him. Alexis shows up at the Quartermaine mansion to see Emily to discuss a memorial service for Nikolas. Emily tells her and Lucky that she wants to have his memorial service in the church that she and Nikolas found and said their vows privately to each other in. Alan offers to go with her to the church. Emily tells him that she needs to go to the church alone and deal with her feelings. Mary shows Nikolas a church. It happens to be the same church that he and Emily exchanged vows alone to each other. He instantly reacts emotionally when he steps into the church. He starts to remember something about the church. Emily tells Alan and the family about the vows that Nikolas spoke to her in the church. Nikolas starts to hear those same words in his thoughts and starts to cry and feels confused. Mary manages to hide her panic over the idea that Nikolas may remember something. She tells him that they got married in a church in Virginia not in this church. Nikolas feels something strong there in the church and hopes he will someday remember why. They leave the church but Nikolas comes back later. He prays to God that he will help him get his memory back and remember why the church holds so much meaning for him and asks for a sign. Emily and Lucky show up outside the church and talk about Nikolas, unaware how close they are to seeing Nikolas. Emily and Lucky stood outside the church where Nikolas' memorial service was going to be held; unaware that Nikolas was inside, still with amnesia and praying for his memory to return. Nikolas exited through the side door as his brother and fiancée entered through the front door. Emily felt as if Nikolas was reaching out to her. Nearby, the cross necklace she had given him lay on the floor. Emily and Lucky traveled to the club to ask Luke to attend the memorial. Luke said he regretted that she had lost her boyfriend but that he would not be mourning the death of a Cassadine. Emily told him that he should do it for Laura's son and for Lucky and Lulu's brother. Luke was not moved and his only response was downing a drink. Later, Jason escorted Emily back to the church. Mary read about the memorial service in the newspaper and rushed home just in time to keep Nikolas from seeing the article; she succeeded, and Nikolas suggested they take a trip to an inn about an hour away. Mary said she had somewhere else she had to be, though. She was going to go to the memorial service because she knew what it was like to lose someone important. Nikolas stated he would go with her. Alexis gives a touching speech about Nikolas, and then hands the floor over to Emily for his eulogy. Emily speaks lovingly of Nikolas, but is interrupted by a venom-spitting Helena. Helena seeks revenge on everyone in the room for the loss of her grandson, and she begins to pick out people individually. Luke jumps to his feet to stop her, and shows that he does in fact have a caring heart toward his step-son. Helena flees, but continues to vow revenge. Nikolas, thinking he is Connor, stops her and suggests that Mary not go to a stranger's memorial. Saying she's been there and wants to support Emily, Mary insists, and suddenly Nikolas decides to go with her. Mary panics, and demands that he stay in the cottage and away from prying police eyes. Once Mary heads to the service, Nikolas follows her and witnesses Emily's eulogy. He is moved by her speech, and leaves the church unseen. He returns to the cottage to find Mary already back, and he tells her he understands that she really didn't want him to see Emily's pain, because she herself suffered the same pain when she thought he was dead. Relieved that Nikolas didn't discover her deception, Mary embraces him. Mary finds Nikolas at the church. She asks him not to come to the church anymore because she is afraid he will be seen. He snaps at her that he needs to be at the church so he can pray and ask for help from God. Mary runs into Emily at Kelly's. Emily invites her to sit down with her to talk. Mary tells her she came to buy herself a cookie. Emily tells her that she plans to go to the church often because she feels closer to Nikolas when she goes there and feels peace. Mary hides her panic since Nikolas has been hanging around the church as well and fears they will run into each other. Nikolas talks to the priest and tells him that Mary is always trying to take care of him and that he doesn't think he can handle being taken care of all the time and feels he needs to do something useful with his life. The priest suggests that he tell Mary what he wants to do and tell her how he feels instead of keeping his feelings to himself. Mary shows up at the church with a cookie for Nikolas. Nikolas apologizes to her for snapping at her like that. She tells him she feels bad that he doesn't have anything to do but be cooped up at the cottage. Nikolas tells her he talked to the priest and the priest advised him to share his feelings with her more. Nikolas hugs and kisses her and tells her that he wants to make her happy. He tells her that he got a job at the church and will be painting the church all spring and most of the summer. Mary panics at his news and blurts out that he can't take the job. Nikolas looks at her in surprise and becomes confused by her response. Mary didn't want Nikolas to work at the church, but amnesia-stricken Nikolas insisted that it was necessary because he had seen their credit card bills. Mary pitched in, helping to paint at the church, and realized how much Nikolas knew about finances. Mary continued to enjoy the charade she was living, pretending that Nikolas was her late husband Connor. While Mary showered, Nikolas joined her, and they started to kiss. Still grieving for Nikolas and also worried about Michael, Emily was comforted by Lucky. Emily tries to get comfort from Lucky as they wait for word on Michael (this is after he has fallen in the well and been seriously injured). Courtney comes upon them talking, and immediately assumes that Michael has gotten worse from their expressions. They assure her they are only waiting for news, and Courtney takes Lucky's place with Emily in the waiting room. Courtney is stung when Jason appears, but only addresses Emily. Emily assures Courtney that regardless of what Sonny feels, Michael will always love his aunt. Mary and Nikolas grow close in a shower, and begin to make love. Mary again abruptly halts things, and runs from the bathroom. Exercising the utmost patience, Nikolas tries to get through to her to reassure her that he isn't leaving again. Mary cries, terrified that she'll lose him and afraid to get closer to him, but he insists that he would never leave her. He makes them dinner, and they finally head to the bedroom. As they begin to make love, Emily knocking on the front door interrupts them. Despite Mary's efforts to get rid of her, Emily goes into the cabin and begins to discuss a job opportunity for Mary. Mary tries to sympathize with Emily's situation, and it isn't until Nikolas makes a noise in the bedroom that Emily realizes Mary isn't alone. Emily rushes out, and Nikolas enters the living room and asks why Mary was lying. Mary covers, saying she only wanted to help Emily along, and the couple soon picks up where they left off in the bedroom. Nikolas wakes up in bed next to Mary, and is surprised when Mary suddenly insists that they need to rush if they want to get to work on time. As Nikolas and Mary have breakfast together, Mary confides that she is excited about an interview at General Hospital. But Nikolas demands to know why Mary is talking her way around their night of passion, and acting like it was a one-night stand Mary assures Nikolas that she does not have any reservations about their night together and covers by saying that she might have been just a bit disappointed, because the had believe that, perhaps, resuming marital relations with "Connor" would reawaken her husband's memories of their life together. When Nikolas begins to kiss Mary again, she pulls away suddenly, reminding Nikolas about her job interview. Mary confides that she will list herself as a widow, observing that if she wants to keep Nikolas safe, she has to continue to pretend that he is gone! After Mary leaves, Nikolas returns to the church and resumes his painting. When the pastor informs Nikolas that he will need to travel out of town for a few days to officiate at a wedding, Nikolas reminds the pastor that they are running low on painting supplies. After Nikolas assures the priest that no one in the local town would recognize him, the priest gives Nikolas permission to take the caretaker's truck in to town to pick up more supplies. At the same time, Jason meets with Emily at the hospital and Emily updates Jason on Michael's progress. Later, Mary bumps into Jason and Emily on her way to her job interview. Mary is shocked when Emily gives Mary a frosty reception and curtly points Mary in the direction of Audrey's office. After Mary leaves, Jason quizzes Emily about her frosty manner with Mary. Emily confesses that, although Mary was also recently bereaved, the young widow already has a new man in her bed! Jason urges Emily to give Mary the benefit of the doubt and understand that Mary is just processing her grief in a way that is different from Emily's way of handling her loss. Emily decides to track Mary down to apologize to her. Emily locates Mary in the park. However, as Emily catches up to Mary and begins her apology, Nikolas happens to be passing through the park with his painting supplies and hides behind some bushes when he hears their voices. Nikolas listens appreciatively as Mary tries to comfort Emily. Nikolas slips away unnoticed as Mary apologizes if Emily finds it hard to understand Mary's decisions about a new man in her life. Mary confides that she believes that the new men who has come in to her life may be there because "Connor" is still looking after her and that she knows that "Connor" would not want Mary to grieve forever. Mary declares that she believes there is a purpose for the new man in her life arriving in her life just at that particular moment. Emily is puzzled, however, when Mary implies that the new man in Mary's life might be turn out to be providential for both of them! Nikolas returns to the church and tells a man waiting in the sanctuary that the church is closed for renovation. But, when the visitor lifts his head, it is Alcazar and he immediately recognizes Nikolas! Nikolas comes into the church with the paint he bought from the hardware store to finish painting the inside of the church. Lorenzo Alcazar happens to be inside the church praying and sees Nikolas, which shocks him when he recognizes who he is. Nikolas asks him if he knows him. Alcazar is surprised that Nikolas doesn't recognize him but doesn't let on how he knows him. Nikolas tells him that he suffered a head injury and doesn't remember who he is. Alcazar tells him that may be a blessing since that means he can't remember his past and so can't feel guilt about what he may have done in his life and can start with a clean slate. Nikolas introduces himself as Connor Bishop, which surprises Alcazar since he wouldn't think Nikolas would go by a specific name if he had amnesia. Alcazar is further bewildered when Nikolas tells him that his wife Mary has been a big help to him. Alcazar goes along with what Nikolas says and doesn't clue him in on who he really is. Alcazar does give him his business card and tells him to call him if he needs anything and that he may be able to hook him up with a job working for him someday. Nikolas thanks him. Mary shows up at the church. She panics when Nikolas tells her that he met a man today who was sitting in the church. She finds his business card and tells Nikolas that the name Alcazar is familiar but she doesn't know why. Nikolas tells her that Alcazar is a big businessman in town and is well known. Mary hides her panic and tells Nikolas that she is afraid the man may have recognized him as a deserter and called the police. Nikolas assures her the man didn't know him. Mary is further worried when Nikolas tells her he went to the hardware store to buy more paint since the priest is out of town. She tells him he should have waited and let her go to the store for him since she worries someone will recognized him and call the cops on him. Nikolas tells her he only went to the hardware store and that no one there seemed to recognize him. He gives her a wind chime as a gift. Mary is touched. Nikolas also catches her off guard when he mentions that he overheard her talking to the woman Emily and telling her more lies about grieving for him when she wasn't. He tells her that she shouldn't keep lying to Emily, since she is her friend and may meet him someday. Mary tells him he can't ever meet Emily since it is too risky for him to meet anymore people. She also makes a comment about how lies can bring people more comfort than the truth sometimes. Nikolas tells her that the man he met said some things that got him thinking that he should just live in the present and future and start over with a clean slate. Mary thinks that is a great idea and hopes that they can fall in love again as the people they are now. Emily sees Sam at an abortion clinic where we are told Emily has been volunteering. Sam bolts, and Emily learned of Sam's plans from a staff member. Sam returned to her boat. During a heart to heart, they were interrupted by Emily. After Sonny left, Emily tried to help Sam and reminded her of her options. Jason found an upset Emily on the waterfront. She said she was thinking about the baby she could never have with Nikolas and wondered how anyone could decide to purposely get rid of a baby. Jason wanted to know why she was thinking about the topic, and she told him that Sam was pregnant and planning to terminate the pregnancy. Emily runs into Mary. Emily
tells Mary that her best friend, Liz, had to leave town, and Mary says that
she'd like to be there for Emily. So when Emily asks Mary to dinner, Mary
hesitates. Despite her earlier concern at finding Nikolas with the military
guards, Mary can't say no, and reluctantly agrees. After dinner, the two girls
walk to the docks, and as they look out into the fog, Emily spies Nikolas. Emily
is stunned to see Nikolas through the fog on the docks. She grabs Mary and tells
her what she saw, alarming Mary into worry that Emily really did see Nikolas.
Emily rushes to where she saw him, but there is no one there. Mary tries to help
her, and claims that the fog is thick and can play tricks on a person. Emily
realizes she couldn't possibly have seen Nikolas, and Mary comforts her. Emily had run into Mary at the hospital while she was working. She invited Mary to join her at the Quartermaine engagement party as a favor to keep her family on their best behavior since Mary is a stranger to the family and the family is nice when a stranger is there. Mary is about to say no but Emily assures her that she won't be intruding. Mary accepts her invitation. Emily also asks Lucky to be her date for the evening. He tells her that he still hasn't found his mother and worries about her mental state and what kind of danger she is in being on the streets alone. Meanwhile, Mary had gone to the church while Nikolas was painting. She tells Nikolas that he wasn't a very good student in school and failed Spanish twice and almost didn't graduate. Nikolas is surprised by this news since he didn't think he would have been a bad student. Mary leaves for awhile. Alcazar shows up at the church. Alcazar receives an overseas call and starts talking in Spanish over the phone. Nikolas overhears the one-sided conversation in Spanish and is surprised to find he understands every word that Alcazar is saying. Alcazar gets off the phone. He realizes that Nikolas overheard his conversation and starts talking to him in Spanish. Nikolas automatically responds to the Spanish words and responds just as fluently in Spanish. Nikolas is surprised and confused and tells Alcazar that his wife told him that he failed Spanish twice in school. Alcazar disagrees with him and tells Nikolas that his Spanish is superb and that he must have learned it outside of going to high school or college and it must have been from private tutoring or life experience. Alcazar offers Nikolas a job as a currier since he speaks Spanish so fluently. Nikolas tells him that he will think about it seriously and get back to him. Mary shows up and panics when she sees Alcazar talking to Nikolas in Spanish and how Nikolas can speak it fluently. Mary approaches them. Nikolas introduces her to Alcazar. Nikolas waits until Alcazar leaves and asks her how he could have failed Spanish when he speaks it so well. Mary suggests he may have learned it when he was in the Marines. He is disturbed by her answers but doesn't question her further. Nikolas tells her about Alcazar's job offer and how he would be going to South America once and awhile to deliver documents. Mary speaks up and tells Nikolas that he can't go to South America or he will be spotted and put in jail as a deserter. Nikolas agrees that may not be a good idea. Mary tells him about going to dinner with Emily later. Nikolas stays at the church to finish for the day. He reads some of the bible in Latin and has a memory flash of kneeling at an altar as a little boy/usher. He remembers reading that passage as a boy. Alcazar shows up at the Quartermaine party with Sage. Sage isn't too happy to be there. Alcazar suggests she patch things up with Dillon at the party so they can be friends again. Tracy welcomes them to the party. Sage tells Tracy that she ruined her life. Tracy just laughs at her and tells Alcazar that teenagers are so dramatic these days. Alcazar goes into the party. Alcazar is introduces to Mary. He tells Emily that he already met Mary. When Alcazar is left alone with Mary, he asks her what she is planning to do when she is being friends with a woman who is mourning the death of a man she is pretending is her husband. Mary tells him that she is sorry but she can't lose Nikolas from her life right now. Alcazar's phone rings and he answers it while Mary is present. Nikolas tells him that he accepts his job offer. At Tracy's engagement party to Jax, Mary begged Alcazar not to tell that Nikolas and Connor are the same person. She explained that she had lost her husband in Iraq and that she had not planned on what had transpired with Nikolas but that he had filled a void in her life. Nikolas accepted a job from Alcazar. Mary returned to the church to see Nikolas, begging him not to take the job. They continued to disagree about the topic, but Nikolas insisted on taking the job so that they could one day have more of a life together. Emily met Jason at the church, shortly after Nikolas and Mary had left, and let him know that Jax was aware of Sam's pregnancy. After Jason left, the priest returned and left a check for the work Nikolas had done. Later, Nikolas returned for the check and found Emily asleep on one of the church pews! Nikolas watches a sleeping Emily in the church, but doesn't allow the priest to wake her. After he leaves, she wakes up and recounts her wonderful dream of her wedding to Nikolas. As she drives home, she sees him on the side of the road and loses control of her car. Nikolas runs to her, and she briefly glimpses him through fuzzy eyes before she loses consciousness. Nikolas carries her back to the cabin, where Mary orders him to hide while she tends to Emily. Emily awakens and tells Mary that she saw Nikolas, although she knows it couldn't be him. She has Mary call Jason, who is arguing with Jax over Sam's pregnancy and disappearance. Jason rushes to the cabin to make sure Emily is all right. He confronts Mary on her ability to carry Emily back to the cabin alone, but Mary covers. After he helps Emily out of the cabin, he shows her Alcazar's business card that he found inside. Jason warns Emily to be careful with Mary. Later Emily runs into Mary at the hospital. She hands Alcazar's card back to her, and Mary covers by saying he offered her a job when she met him at the Quartermaines'. Believing Mary's story, Emily warns her to stay away from Alcazar and tells her that he's an arms dealer and is not to be trusted. Nikolas meets with Alcazar at the cabin to discuss their business arrangement. Nikolas, thinking he is Connor, tells Alcazar about being a deserter. Alcazar assures him that he's fine with it, and commends him on his honesty. As the two shake on the deal, Mary bursts into the house and tells Alcazar that "Connor" will not be working for him. Mary reveals to "Connor" that Lorenzo is an arms dealer with shady connections. Alcazar protests that Mary must have been speaking to Emily, who is prejudiced against Lorenzo because of Lorenzo's affair with the wife of Emily's hit-man brother's mobster boss, Sonny Corinthos. "Connor" repeats his unwillingness to become involved in anything that might be illegal. Lorenzo assures Nikolas that "Connor" would only be acting as a courier and urges Nikolas to talk it over with his "wife" before coming to a final decision then Lorenzo leaves. After Lorenzo leaves, Mary says thank god she found out about him before Connor took the job. Connor's response is, "What makes you think I'm not taking the job?" **The End** |
