Luke ran towards Nikolas, covering him with his own body as the
gun was fired. Sonny came out of his hiding place and shot Peter
in the head, his body collapsing on top of Laura before she could run to
her husband and son. Stefan, Alexis, Tiffany, and Sean all came running
into the room, and in all of the commotion, Helena escaped through the
hidden passageway.
"What happened?" Sean asked, as he surveyed the room.
"The dead man over there fired at Nikolas. I can't really tell you anything after that because I was busy taking him out," Sonny said, as he jumped down.
Tiffany rushed over to Laura and pulled her out from under Peter's dead body. "Nikolas? Luke? Are they alright?" she asked, not taking in the entire situation yet.
Sean and Sonny walked rushed over to Luke and Nikolas, and noticed puddle of blood on the ground. "Oh my god. Are they alright?" Sean asked.
"Luke! Luke, wake up!" Sonny screamed, seeing the blood coming from Luke, and found a pulse.
Luke remained still and unconscious. His limp body was covering Nikolas, as he laid unconscious too. Laura ran over to the both of them, trying to shake them gently to wake them up. "Nikolas, wake up!" Laura screamed, hoping her son wasn't shot as well as her husband. "Luke? Come on, Sweetheart. We've just gotten back together. You're not going to blow our chance now, are you?" she said quietly to Luke, his face getting pale.
"Should we move him?" Alexis asked, as she stood back with Stefan, concerned that Luke was close to death. No matter what happened between the two of them, she didn't want him dead. Not after he had risked his life to save her nephew.
"I don't think we have much of a choice," Sean said, as he gently picked up Luke and placed him on the bed.
"Was there anyone else in this room besides this man?" Stefan asked.
"Helena was here too, but it looks like she disappeared again," Sonny said, as he watched Laura continue to try to wake up her son.
Stefan looked over towards the secret passage and found it open still. "She obviously escaped through there, which means she can be anywhere on this property at the moment," he said as he joined Laura next to Nikolas.
"Who cares about your mother right now! Luke is bleeding to death because he saved your son's life!" Tiffany screamed.
"My mother should still be a concern to all of us. She will suspect us to stay in this room and gather ourselves. That leaves us open for her men to kill," Stefan said calmly.
"And what do you expect us to do, Cassadine? Try to carry Luke out of here, hoping we don't kill him in the process? Hell, why don't we just carry him now and leave a trail of his blood for Helena to find," Sonny said angrily.
"If we leave now, we have a better opportunity to escape with minimal damage," Stefan responded. "I can carry my son on my own, which leaves enough of you to carry Spencer."
"Minimal damage?!" Laura screamed, as she turned towards Stefan. "My husband is lying there close to death and you call that minimal damage? Do you realize he saved Nikolas' life? Peter shot at Nikolas, not my husband! And Luke, despite everything, knocked Nikolas to the ground and covered him, taking the impact of the bullet himself!"
"Would you rather this happen to your son?" Stefan asked. "That is what will happen if we stay here and give Helena the opportunity to plan her attack."
"I hate to say it, but Mr. Cassadine has a point. We don't have enough guns here to hold off everyone on this island. We're going to have to try to make an escape, at least outside of this house," Sean said.
"What are the risks to Luke?" Laura asked, as she made her way towards her husband once she was satisfied that Stefan could take care of Nikolas.
"I'm not a doctor, Laura, but depending on what the bullet hit, it can be a great risk to him. But he'll definitely die, as well as the rest of us, if we stick around for much longer," Sean replied quietly.
Tiffany and Sean managed to control Luke's bleeding, and Sonny lifted him up carefully. Stefan took his son over his shoulder, struggling a little under the weight, but managing it. Everyone left through the passageway, Sean leading the group. Sean managed to find his way out of the house, shocked to see that there were no guards surrounding the house this time. After an hour of struggling to get through the trees, they arrived back to where they had started, Laura's hiding place. Once there, they decided to take a rest before nightfall where they would try their escape from the island.
Lucky ran through back streets and allies until he ended up at the Hardy house. Lulu had remained silent the entire time to Lucky's relief. Somehow they had managed to lose those men, but he didn't know for how long. He only hoped Elizabeth would take them in without alerting her grandmother.
Elizabeth answered the door and was surprised to see Lucky and his sister. But they didn't look like they were here for a visit. "What happened?" she asked.
"Can we come in quickly? I'll explain inside," Lucky said, as he ran inside without waiting for Elizabeth's okay. Lucky placed an exhausted Lulu on the couch and told her to fall asleep. "We need a place to hide."
"A place to hide? Why?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's a long story. There's some men after me and my sister. We luckily escaped, but we need some place to hide until my parents get back."
"Who's after you?"
"Helena Cassadine. She kidnapped Nikolas, and once my parents left to go after him, she came after me and my sister. I just hope my father takes care of that woman once and for all," Lucky said, a coldness forms in his eyes.
"Are you joking?" Elizabeth asked, having a hard time believing the story.
"Does it look like I am? Please, Elizabeth. I have nowhere else to turn. My parents should be back in a couple of days, and then everything will be alright. But until then, I need a place to hide out. Helena's men will never think of checking here."
"Of course. Anything I can do to help."
"I have one more favor. You can't tell Audrey. She'll go to the police right away, and that's the last thing I can have happen. Then the men will find us."
"Okay. My grandmother never goes up to the attic. You can hide out there, and while she's at the hospital, I'll send up food and anything else you'll need. She won't be back for a while, so if you want to take your sister up to my bedroom to sleep, it'll be fine."
"Thanks. I'll owe you for this one," Lucky said, as he gathered up a sleeping Lulu and went upstairs to put her into bed.
Nightfall came quickly on the island, as the group planned out there strategy. Luke and Nikolas still were unconscious, but Nikolas had started moving slightly. Laura and Stefan rushed to his side as he struggled to open his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked very quietly.
"You're on the island," Laura said, wiping the slight sweat that was forming on her son's face.
"What happened?"
"You were knocked out, Nikolas. You have a bump on your head, and a possible concussion."
"How? I remember falling and then a gun shot."
"You must have hit your head when Luke shoved you to the ground when he tried to cover you," Laura said, tears falling from her face as she looked over at her husband lying still.
"Luke?" Nikolas asked, still not understanding.
"Nikolas, do not trying speaking anymore, Son. Rest and recupperate from your wound," Stefan said.
"No," Nikolas said, shaking his head violently despite the pain it was causing him. "I need to know what happened. Did Luke..."
"Luke was shot. He's still unconscious. It's...," Laura began, but couldn't continue. She started crying hard at the thought that her husband could die before they got back. They had managed to close the wound with a thread from their clothes and a needle that Tiffany luckily had with her. But between the possible infection and the amount of blood he had lost already, the chances of his living were slim.
"He saved my life," Nikolas whispered, as he turned towards the direction his mother was looking and saw the pale Luke lying still.
"Yes, he did. And I'll always be grateful for that," Laura responded through her crying.
Sean got up from the group and walked over to Laura, Stefan, and Nikolas. "It's time to go. We have to get back to the mainland and get Luke to a hospital quickly," he said.
‘Hopefully we're not too late,' Laura thought, as the group headed towards the shore.
They arrived at the shore in record time, despite the fact that Sonny was carrying Luke. The boat was still offshore, and no one was in sight. Luke definitely knew enough about the island to know where they wouldn't be caught entering and leaving. Unfortunately he wasn't awake to see his accomplishment right now.
Sonny placed Luke down and prepared for the long swim toward the boat with Sean. The two of them agreed to bring the boat to shore so they could place Luke in it. It was a risk, but one they had to take under the circumstances. They jumped into the water, each betting the other who would arrive to the boat first. To their annoyance, they both arrived at the same time, but didn't have time to argue about who had really touched the boat first. They quickly brought the boat around, and placed Luke in first, everyone else squeezing in. Men were seen coming towards them, and Sonny began firing his gun to keep them away long enough for them to make their escape. Tiffany grabbed the wheel as Sean joined him, and they managed to get out of sight of the island quickly, and approached Greece.
Once they got back to the docks in Greece, an ambulance was waiting for them. Alexis had called ahead and they gathered Luke up carefully and placed him in. Laura followed him in the ambulance, and everyone's prayers were with them. Stefan suggested Nikolas get checked out by the hospital also, and Sean arranged for a car to pick the rest of them up.
They quickly arrived at the hospital and everyone ran to Laura in the waiting room.
"How is he?" Tiffany asked, as she gave her friend a hug.
"He's..." Laura said, but her crying became uncontrollable for her to deliver the news.
Everyone stood in shock, blaming themselves for not getting Luke to the hospital in time to save him.
