"Q.E.D." Part 8
Laura flung open the front door and headed straight to the sofa, towhere Luke and Lesley were sitting. She smiled at her mother, who wasstill staring intently at the Faberge egg.
"What's happened Luke? Did she say anything else?"
Luke reached over and grabbed his wife's hand. "No, not since Icalled you." He motioned to the egg. "She's just been looking at that... thing ever since she spoke."
"Did you contact Tony?" she asked.
"Yeah, but he had to see a patient before he could get over here.He'll be a little while yet."
Laura knelt in front of her mother and reached up to touch her face.She gently guided Lesley's chin so Lesley would be looking directlyat her.
"I'm here mother," she said. "Please tell me your story."
Lesley grasped Laura's hand and looked at her daughter as if seeingher for the first time. "It is a very sad story, Laura."
Laura felt tears welling in her eyes, and she kissed her mother'shand. "That's all right, mother."
Lesley sighed and started her tale:
"There once was a prince who had no kingdom. He lived on an island...far, far away. The people who took care of him gave him everything hecould have ever wanted. But he was still sad.
"You see, more than anything in the world, he wanted to be with hissister, so one day, he asked his caretakers if he could go toher.
"'Yes,' they promised, 'if you will do everything we ask you to do,then you can see your sister.'
"And so he did everything they told him to do. He did not wander offalone in the woods, he did not climb the tall trees, and he did noteven ask to ride the horses. He studied hard for his teachers, he wasquiet at the dinner table, and he was always polite to guests.
"Each day he would ask, 'Will I ever see my sister?'
"And each day they would reply, 'Yes, if you do everything we ask youto do, then you can see your sister.'
"Years went by, and the boy became a man, and he grew tired ofwaiting to see his beloved sister.
"'For years, I have done everything you have asked me to,' he said,'and you still have not let me go to my sister. I demand to see hernow!'
"The prince's caretakers became angry and threatened to kill hissister if the prince did not cooperate. They demanded that the princegive them his kingdom.
"'But, I have no kingdom!' the prince said.
"'Ah, but you do,' they said. 'Your kingdom is very small right now,as small as that ring upon your finger. But someday, it will be oneof the largest in the world.'
"'Then take it!' the prince cried. And he removed his ring and gaveit to them. 'I don't want to be a prince anymore! I just want to bewith my sister!'
"And so they took his ring, but they never let the poor prince seehis sister again."
Lesley looked at Laura, and reached over to wipe a tear from herdaughter's face. With her other hand, she fingered the Cassadinemedallion.
"The ending..." she said, "has not yet been written." And then, itwas as if a light went out, and Lesley fell silent.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to reestablish the link, Laura ledher mother upstairs to her room. Seemingly oblivious to herdaughter's hands removing her clothing, Lesley sat on the edge of thebed and reached behind her neck to unclasp the chain bearing theCassadine medallion.
Laura hung her mother's clothes in the closet and retrieved hernightgown. When she turned around, she saw Lesley holding themedallion in the palm of her hand, in a gesture of endowment. Lauratook the necklace from her, and absently brushed her thumb over theraised surface of the medallion. It was, in all respects, an exactduplicate of her own.
As she helped her mother into her nightgown, she wondered why Lesleyhad chosen this moment to surrender the necklace. Luke had tried toremove it before, shortly after they had found her, but Lesleygrabbed his hand with the same vise-like grip a child would use on afavorite toy. And Luke, in a rare moment of acquiescence, left themedallion in place.
Laura returned to the living room and saw that Tony had arrived. Shecould almost feel her husband's glare boring into her back as shegreeted Tony with a warm hug. Tony was still like family to her,despite what he had done to Bobbie.
"So, how is Lesley doing?" he asked.
"She's... well, the same as she was before," replied Laura. "She toldme a story, and then she just... went back to wherever she was."
Tony turned to Luke. "You said that she saw something that triggeredher speech?"
"Yes," Luke said. "She was staring and pointing at that Faberge egg,and suddenly, the light went on in the attic."
Tony nodded. "She obviously associated the egg with the story. Andperhaps Laura's presence was a stimulus, too." He turned to faceLuke. "You said she didn't share her story until Laura got here."
"Yeah, that's true." Luke agreed.
Laura looked thoughtful. "Mother always said that she wished shewould have been able to tell me stories and read me fairy tales whenI was little."
Tony shrugged. "Well, maybe that's the connection. The stasis drugStefan gave her to mimic her death deprived her brain of oxygen anddid cause some physical damage. But, like a survivor of a cold-waterdrowning, the drug also slowed her body's metabolism to a point wherelittle oxygen was required, and prevented her death.
"I've seen similar cases before, where the patient spent months toyears in a semi-comatose state, only to awaken later, confused by thepassage of time. Hopefully, what's happening here is that her brainis trying to establish new connections to replace the ones that were'shorted out', so to speak, by the effects of anoxia."
"Are you saying that if she rebuilds enough of these connections,that she could come back to us?" asked Laura.
"It's possible," replied Tony. "I've just finished going through herrecords from Switzerland, and I concur with the treatment that herdoctor recommended."
"And what was that?" asked Luke.
"Well, aside from conventional medical treatment, she recommendedthat the staff and family read to her, show her works of art, playmusic, anything that might stimulate her brain activity."
Luke held up his hand. "Wait a minute, you said staff AND family? Whowas the family?"
"According to the nurses' notes, a man claiming to be her nephew cameby once a week and played music for her, read to her, and showed herphotographs of her family. He also had several works of art broughtinto her room, sculpture, paintings, flowers and the like. He was heronly visitor, outside of the hospital staff. He also took care of allof her bills."
"That must have been Stefan," said Laura. She looked over at Luke."Do you suppose he told my mother that story?"
"Well, it sounded like a Cassadine fairy tale. That story was grimmerthan the grimmest Grimm, if you ask me." He exhaled loudly. "I wonderwhat other crap he filled her head with..."
"Well, according to her records," Tony replied, "He read hereverything from Dr. Seuss to Shakespeare. Her doctor recommended awide range of literature, in hopes of evoking any emotionalresponse."
Luke shook his head. "Well, I dunno, it just seems mighty strangethat seeing the egg triggered that story.."
"Maybe he had it with him when he told her the story." saidLaura.
"Or maybe..." Luke added, "the story has something to do with thisegg." He picked up the egg and shook it. "I could hear something inthe base before and I tried to open it. But it's locked and there'sthree keyholes."
"Let me see it," said Laura. She rotated the egg, looking at thekeyholes from a variety of angles. "They all look the same... and..wait a minute." She searched her pocket for Lesley's medallion. Sheinserted it into the first keyhole and heard a click. "It's themedallions, Luke, they're the keys."
Luke took the egg from her and tried to open the base. "Well, itlooks like we'll need all three of them to open this thing." Helooked over at Laura. "You have one. Now all we have to do is get onemore." He sighed. "I guess I'll have to pay another visit to 'TheHouse of Seven Gargoyles' and see if I can find us another one. Ijust hope there aren't any more Cassadine cousins hiding in thebushes, waiting to whack me over the head." He rubbed the back of hishead, remembering his encounter with Alexis on Bobbie's weddingday.
"That might not be necessary," said Tony. His face tightened in anexpression of disgust. "I've seen that medallion before. It washanging on Bobbie's neck."
Laura reached over and squeezed Luke's arm. "I'm sure if you ask herLuke, she'd be happy to come over."
Luke put his head in his hands. "Oh, man! I'm not sure if I'm readyto welcome Barbara Jean Cassadine back into this house."
"Come on, Luke," pleaded Laura, "it might be the only way to find outwhat's in this thing."
"Oh, all right!" Luke sighed loudly and picked up the phone. "But ifit's just a loose screw rattling around in there, I'm gonna be veryupset!" He put the receiver to his ear and smiled weakly at Laura."You know how I hate to let go of a good grudge!"