Helena: Oh, go ahead. Defy my wishes. Marry. Embrace happiness when and where you can because your joy is fleeting. My curse is upon you, Nikolas and Emily. Your joy will bring nothing but pain and sorrow to you and yours for as long as you both shall live.
Thunder.
Dillon: Oh, no!
Emily: Um --
Monica: What is -- oh -- whew.
Georgie: Where'd she go?
Justus: You don't want to leave without talking to the cops, now, do you?
Ric: Hey. Nice work for a suspended officer. Why don't you bring Nurse Harris in for a statement? Congratulations. You may have gotten Emily off.
Nikolas: You okay?
Emily: Yeah, a little shaky. Yeah, not -- not that I believe in curses, but -- oh, my God.
Nikolas: Oh -- jeez!
Bobbie: Donna? Donna? Can we get some help over here?
Donna: Lucky.
Tracy: I think you can let me go of me now.
Justus: So, what, you can run out and meet Helena? I don't think so.
Tracy: Please! I hardly know her.
Nikolas: Obviously. Because if you truly knew my grandmother, you wouldn't be working with her.
Tracy: We decided to have a nice party for you, and this is the thanks that we get? Do you know how much work I put into this?
Emily: Wait, how much do you know about Cassadine parties?
Tracy: Well, obviously, they tend to be overwrought and melodramatic.
Nikolas: What's my grandmother planning next, Tracy?
Tracy: To bring the entree in, to raid the wine cellar, maybe to lead us all through the tunnels. How would I know? She didn't leave me a memo.
Justus: Yeah, well, she definitely left you holding the bag. If you and Helena are charged with bribing Donna Harris, you could be facing serious charges.
Tracy: I didn't bribe anyone.
Emily: Donna Harris disagrees.
Tracy: Don't you all think this is just a little convenient? Lucky, who was suspended from the force -- without pay, I might add -- finds a witness who can exonerate his little friend, and he's got her stashed so she can't change her mind. What do you call that, Mr. Lansing? Kidnapping?
Lucky: Whoa, whoa, whoa. You know what? Donna Harris is terrified, and I'm keeping her safe.
Tracy: And maybe she's terrified of you. Did you bully her into lying for you?
Lucky: You know what? She's telling the truth, all right? Nurse Harris didn't even see Emily near Mary's room.
Tracy: Okay, Quartermaines, which one of you chipped in for the bribe? My darling sons?
Dillon: Uh --
Tracy: Justus, surely not you. Oh, Monica, how about you and Alan? Did you cough up some money --
Monica: Oh, please, Tracy!
Tracy: So that I would be cut out of my mother's will and our brave little soldier would get away with murder?
Emily: Look, I didn't kill anyone, Tracy. Helena doesn't want me to marry Nikolas, and you don't want me to inherit, so you both, what, teamed up to frame me.
Tracy: Is she always this paranoid? Why didn't you get her some counseling?
Justus: You need counseling, Tracy, of the legal kind. You could be charged with obstruction of justice here.
Emily: You know, I guess I should be relieved. Your uncle tried to kill me at our last engagement party.
Nikolas: Oh, come on.
Emily: Now all we have to deal with is some stupid curse. Nikolas, don't tell me that you believe this has any actual power?
Ric: Lucky, your witness, nurse Donna Harris, just took an overdose of pills. She's at General Hospital. She's not expected to make it through the night.
Monitor beeps.
Bobbie: I've worked with Donna for years, and she has been under a lot of pressure, but a deliberate overdose?
Doctor: Well, that's what it looks like.
Bobbie: It just doesn't make any sense. Do we know what she took?
Doctor: Enough Beazodoazepine to kill her.
Bobbie: I don't believe it's attempted suicide.
Nikolas: We need to question nurse Harris while we still have time, Ric.
Ric: Okay, first of all, you're out on bail for attempted manslaughter.
Monica: I'll keep you posted.
Ric: You're out on bail for attempted murder. You both need to just step aside and let me handle this.
Nikolas: Alexis, can you give us a hand here, please?
Alexis: I hate to admit it, but he's right. If nurse Harris talks to you, it's not going to make it into court. If she talks to the D.A., It'll be part of the criminal investigation.
Ric: Okay.
Justus: We just need her to back up Lucky's story. If she admits that Helena and Tracy paid her off, that'll help exonerate Emily.
Elizabeth: All right, then go, hurry! What are we waiting for?
Nikolas: All right, this -- this shouldn't take long. I mean, the nurse already told Lucky she lied. All she has to do is say the same thing to Ric.
Emily: If she's strong enough.
Justus: Guys, you're getting ahead of yourselves here.
Alexis: If nurse Harris lives and she backs up Lucky's story, you'll be fine.
Emily: But if she doesn't?
Alexis: Let's just hope that she pulls through.
Bobbie: She's stable for now, but it doesn't look good. We're moving the drugs out of her system as fast as we can.
Monica: Has she said anything?
Bobbie: She asked for Lucky.
Monica: Okay, whatever you have to ask her, you do it fast.
Ric: Nurse Harris? Donna?
Donna: Hmm --
Ric: It's D.A. Lansing. I need for you to tell me what you told Lucky.
Lucky: Hey, I'm right here. You know what? Just tell me what you said.
Ric: I need for you to tell me the truth about what happened the night Mary Bishop died.
Donna: I -- I --
Lucky: You know what? It's okay.
Ric: It's all right.
Lucky: You're safe. You can do the right thing. Just tell D.A. Lansing what you told me.
Donna: I -- I lied.
Thunder.
Dillon: I think that's part of the problem.
Emily: If nurse Harris doesn't live to retract her story --
Nikolas: She will. She will. You're innocent. Just stick to the story.
Emily: Mom, is the nurse all right?
Monica: Well, she's trying to talk to Ric and Lucky at the moment.
Nikolas: All right, I'm going to go in.
Monica: All right.
Monitor beeps.
Ric: All right, you lied. That's okay. But I want you to tell me the truth now.
Lucky: Just tell Mr. Lansing what you told me. You can make this right.
Ric: Tell me -- tell me what you lied about, Ms. Harris.
Lucky: Emily Quartermaine is innocent. You can prove it. Just tell him what you told me!
Ric: It's all right.
Donna: I -- I --
Donna gasps and monitor alarm beeps.
Lucky: No, no -- Bobbie!
Ric: Dr. Quartermaine!
Elizabeth: That was some engagement party, huh?
Emily: Yeah. At least it wasn't boring, huh?
Elizabeth: Parts of it were romantic.
Emily: True.
Elizabeth: Of course, other parts were dreadful.
Emily: Yeah, well, I'm a Quartermaine, Nikolas is a Cassadine, it was a family occasion. What did we expect? Of course it was dreadful. It was so bad it was funny -- you know, especially that ridiculous curse of Helena's.
Elizabeth: You think that was funny?
Emily: In a goth sort of way, yeah.
Elizabeth: Oh, I don't.
Alexis: Neither do I. Curses are a regular tradition in the Cassadine family.
Justus: And I thought the Quartermaines were weird.
Elizabeth: Didn't Lucky ever tell you about the curse Helena put on Luke and Laura at their wedding?
Emily: Everybody knows about that, but, come on, nobody even really saw her do it.
Elizabeth: Yeah, but Helena told them about it later on.
Emily: Supposedly Helena stood in the shadows and said, "a curse on you, Luke and Laura."
Elizabeth: Mm-hmm.
Emily: I mean, it's ridiculous. She probably made the whole thing up to torment them.
Alexis: I doubt it.
Emily: I can't believe you're actually taking this seriously.
Elizabeth: Well, just look at what happened to Luke and Laura. I mean, they were meant to be. They survived terrible odds to be together.
Alexis: Like you and Nikolas.
Elizabeth: And on their wedding day, anything seemed possible. And then Helena placed the curse.
Alexis: Six months later, Laura disappeared.
Emily: Because the Cassadines kidnapped her. I mean, the curse had nothing to do with it.
Elizabeth: When Luke and Laura reunited, they were supposed to be happy, but they weren't. They were forced to go on the run, constantly looking over their shoulders, bringing up Lucky underground?
Emily: I mean, it was tough for all of them.
Elizabeth: All Laura ever wanted was to be with Luke and to live in a house and to raise a family. Instead, she went hopelessly insane, and now she's vanished without a trace, and so has Luke.
Emily: If you're trying to make me feel better, you aren't.
Alexis: I just don't think you should underestimate Helena or her curse.
Justus: Wait a second, you -- you actually believe this stuff, don't you?
Alexis: I believe that Helena will do anything to keep the two of them apart.
Elizabeth: Even commit murder.
Emily: The nurse is dead, isn't she?
Lucky: Harris said she lied. You just can't ignore that.
Ric: Who did she lie to?
Alexis: Lied about what? Did she make a deathbed confession?
Lucky: Well, she tried.
Ric: All she managed to say was that she was lying.
Justus: Then you're in worse shape than you were before. Nurse Harris may have said she lied to Lucky.
Lucky: All right, but Emily didn't kill Mary Bishop.
Ric: Yes, but, unfortunately, the only person who can prove that is dead.
Thunder.
Tracy: Oh! Last week, I went on a big vacation...
Nikolas: Come on, the nurse told Lucky that Helena and Tracy paid her off. Doesn't that count for anything?
Ric: No, it's hearsay, Nikolas, from a suspended cop with a clear bias.
Lucky: He's right.
Alexis: It won't stand up in court.
Monica: So, what do you plan to do?
Ric: Well, I think the first thing we should try to find out is how nurse Harris really died. I mean, did she really take that overdose? Did she try to commit suicide?
Justus: Apparently, she stepped off the elevator with a handful of pills.
Alexis: Maybe she tried to kill herself and changed her mind too late.
Lucky: Her sister's family was in desperate of need of her help. That's -- I mean, she was desperate for money. That's why she took the bribe from helena and tracy in the first place.
Nikolas: She did not commit suicide. Somebody wanted her quiet. Donna Harris was murdered.
Emily: By whoever framed me.
Tracy: You could have given me a heart attack, sneaking around, scaring me half to death. What, did you come through the tunnels? By the way, that curse -- ha-ha -- nice touch. Nonsense, but nice.
Helena: Thank you. Though I'm not surprised that you would disparage that which you do not understand.
Tracy: Which would be that?
Alexis: This is a book of curses.
Tracy: You can't be serious.
Helena: Oh, it contains instructions for removing the curse that I cast tonight. I can't leave it here.
Tracy: You people are so overdramatic!
Helena: Oh, the Cassadines don't waste time with trivial blackmail and squabbles and threats. No, they have more effective ways of dealing with recalcitrant family members.
Tracy: Right. Helena? Did you know that our little nursey harris tried to commit suicide tonight?
Helena: Oh, she's a very unhappy woman.
Tracy: Guess your bloody curse worked.
Helena: Technically, that was a fire curse. But this book contains plenty of bloody curses. Oh, they're dramatic and very effective. You'll see.
Justus: Let's go with the assumption that nurse Harris was murdered to stop her from retracting her statement.
Alexis: Which makes Helena the killer, which is almost going to be impossible to prove.
Lucky: Helena probably killed Mary, too.
Alexis: No, I don't think so. Nikolas shot Mary, and Helena wouldn't risk raising the charges he's facing from assault to manslaughter.
Elizabeth: Mary didn't die from anything Nikolas did.
Ric: No, but the injuries that he caused could be a contributing factor to Mary's death because she had to be hospitalized and she needed meds for her injuries.
Alexis: I still don't think Helena would expose Nikolas to that kind of risk.
Justus: Well, maybe somebody else killed Mary, and Helena and Tracy took advantage of the situation to frame Emily.
Ric: I don't suppose you have anything resembling proof?
Monica: Preliminary autopsy report. I can save you the trouble. Donna Harris had a hematoma on the back of her head -- blunt force. She had bruises and scratches inside of her mouth. Somebody forced pills down her throat.
Ric: Well, then, we're definitely looking at murder.
Tracy: Honestly, your servants are as peculiar as the rest of yours. Does that launch captain ever speak?
Helena: Unlike your family, the Cassadines prize discretion in their servants.
Nikolas: Nurse Harris is dead.
Emily: But you probably already know that.
Nikolas: Yeah, because you killed her.
Tracy: What? Are you serious?
Helena: No, no, Nikolas is right. That poor nurse was killed, but not by a person. By the curse that you, Nikolas, forced me to place on you. And if you marry Emily, others will suffer. Others will die.