General Hospital - DAILY UPDATES

"1 hour earlier. 4 a.m."

Nikolas's voice says, "You can love someone forever, yet lose them in a heartbeat." Jason has come across Nikolas yelling at Emily in a corridor. The two men are fighting to the finish and Emily gets knocked down in the process. She gets up slowly as Jason beats Nikolas just enough so he will be temporarily out of commission. Then, he quickly ties him up. When Nikolas wakes up, he's delirious as he asks Emily if he hurt her. Em says that he didn't mean to. Nik tells Jason to take Emily away so that he can't hurt her again. He is terrified as Emily kisses him and then is taken away by her brother.

In Sonny and Kate's room, Kate has fallen asleep on the sofa. She's dreaming about a romantic dance with Sonny. A clap of thunder wakes her up and she asks Sonny if he'll take her dancing when all of this is over. He agrees to, even though he does "his best work" when he's not on his feet. He says that he is ready to walk and wants to go see what happened with Ric. Kate wants to go find the others because she feels that they would be safer in a group.

Jerry is in another room trying to convince Carly that he tried to save Jax. She assures him that her husband isn't dead. Just then Jax comes rushing into the room -- and into Carly's arms. He explains that he just lost his bearing for a while and needed to figure out which direction to swim. Jerry hugs Jax and says there would've been no consoling Carly if he had died. He is having a hard time breathing and when Jax says they need to get him to a doctor Jerry says that no one on the premises will treat the likes of him. He coughs some more and tries to hide the fact that he's coughing up blood.

AZ is trying to convince Johnny to shoot Lulu in the courtyard. Johnny spins around and places the barrel of the gun against his father's chest. He says, "This is for my mother," and then squeezes the trigger. But there is no bullet! AZ looks at his son and says, "Uh-oh!" He pulls out his own gun. He says that Maria was a fool for choosing a kid over him. He tells Johnny that he should've died instead of Maria and Johnny says that he should pay, not Lulu. AZ says that he can have the girl until the son comes up. Then, he'll kill her and they can both go home. After AZ leaves, Johnny assures Lulu that he'll keep her safe. Just then, Logan comes in and asks her what she's doing there?

Lucky brings Sam back to the stable "to guard Liz". Liz can't believe her ears and Sam tells Liz that tonight worked out great for her because now she can claim Jason. Liz doesn't miss a beat. She says that Sam ought to know all about agendas and uses the time that Sam "rescued" her and the boys as an example. The two women argue over who is worse until Sam tells Lucky that her staying with Liz is not a good idea. Lucky agrees and they go back out into the rain.

In still another room, Leyla has fallen asleep with Robin and Patrick looking on. Patrick admits that he thought he was going to die. He tells Robin that he hasn't stopped loving her and wants her to know how much he appreciates everything they had. Robin smiles and tells him that he was wonderful and he made her feel like anything is possible again. She says that she thinks she will always love him. But she has a feeling that tomorrow they'll both be back to their separate lives. Patrick isn't so sure. Robin tells him that she still wants kids and they won't be able to get past that…unless what happened tonight has changed his mind? Sadly, it didn't. He says that he doesn't think he'd be any good at fatherhood. Robin appreciates his honesty and says that she's really disappointed, but she'll never regret what they had together. She tells him that she'll always love him. Nearby on the sofa, Leyla has opened her eyes. Patrick notices that she's awake and they both rush to her side to see if she needs more pain medication. She does.

Skye and Trevor are sitting at Ric's bedside as he dozes. Trevor says that looking at Ric reminds him of Adele. He recalls that Adele was his secretary and he was in love with her although he was married at the time. He admits that the decision he forced her to make was impossible (between Sonny and unborn Ric). Skye tells Trevor that he could try to repair his relationship and Trevor says that he doubts Ric would be interested. "You could always try," Ric says as he wakes up. Before Trevor can decide how to react, Sonny and Kate walk in. Ric weakly asks why Sonny would voluntarily give him blood and Kate tells him just to say "thank you." Ric does, and then asks Sonny why he did it?

Jason brings Emily to the stables to be with Liz. Em begs him to keep Nikolas safe and he says that he will be once he finds Anthony Zacchara. He leaves, and Emily explains what's happened with Nik to Liz. "I can't stand the thought of him being alone, anything can happen," Em says. Liz asks Em if she'd like a distraction, and then tells her that Jason told Lucky that he is Jake's father. Em isn't surprised, and asks how Lucky took it. Liz says that he won't forgive her any time soon. The person she is really mad at is Sam. Em reminds Liz that it's Lucky's choice if he turns to Sam now. Liz promptly tells Em that Sam watched Jake get kidnapped and then hired two thugs to threaten her and her boys in the park. Em is stunned. Liz asks Em if she hates her for keeping this from her for so long. Em assures her that she loves her and is her best friend! Em asks what's next for her and Jason, and Liz says that they need to make it through the night and go from there. Em decides that she needs to go be with the man she loves. She says, "The sun's going to be up in a few hours. Everything's going to be back to normal! Nikolas will be treated and get well, and then you and I will go sit at Jake's. We'll drink tequila and make wedding plans." The two women are smiling through their tears as Em asks Liz to be her maid of honor.

Tied up alone in the ballroom, Nik hears someone enter. He calls out to Jason to see if Emily is safe. Only it's not Jason, it's Anthony…and his wire! He walks up behind Nik's chair and promptly wraps it around his royal neck. AZ pulls the wire away just as Nikolas is choking his last few breaths. He toys with him and asks who worked so hard to tie him up - his girlfriend? Just then, Lucky and Sam come in and Lucky points his gun at AZ, who is able to slip out of the room. Sam quickly UNTIES Nik. She tells Lucky that she may not be a cop, but she can cover him if he insists on running around the mansion trying to help people. As they turn to leave, they notice that Nik is gone. Sam asks Lucky what if Nik was tied up on purpose by someone other than AZ?

Johnny runs into Jason and reports that Lulu is safe for now. Jason tells him that his father isn't the only problem now - Nikolas is out! They decide to split up, but before they do Jason asks Johnny if he's going to be able to do "what needs to be done" if he finds his father. Johnny reports that he's already tried to kill him once -- he'll do it again.

After they've both headed off in different directions, Nikolas steps out from the shadows. He sees a white mask on the floor and bends down to touch it. As he does, he remembers Emily hours earlier as she was getting dressed. Just then, Emily rushes in and they give each other a hungry embrace. He tells her that HE is the one that she needs to be afraid of! He whispers a menacing message, "You can't stay here, you have to leave, do you understand me?" Emily tearfully assures him that he would never hurt her. Her last word is "Nikolas!" Unless you count the gurgling sound she makes right before her body hits the ground.

Next on General Hospital:

Lulu is alone as someone approaches her.

Nik sees what he's done and shrieks Emily's name.

Sonny finds a despondent Nikolas.

All recap photos are courtesy of Soaps.com.