Emily: Hey.
Nikolas: Hi. I brought this for you. It's pretty chilly outside.
Emily: What are you doing here?
Nikolas: I came to take you home.
Elizabeth: I fully understand that your relationship is none of my business.
Courtney: Do you?
Elizabeth: But by the same token, Nikolas and Emily are my oldest and dearest friends. I have watched their love take root, blossom, and grow. They belong together.
Courtney: Why? Because you say so?
Elizabeth: This is not my fantasy, Courtney. I'm only going off of what I saw. When Emily got hurt, Nikolas' total focus was on her, and Emily wanted and needed him by her side. Of course, they have had their mistakes and they have both pushed their marriage past its limits. But in spite of that, they are still deeply connected. Now, they can find their way back together if you just step out of the way and let love take its course. Assuming you don't want to be with a man who's still hung up on his wife. I know I wouldn’t.
Emily: I'm grateful for your concern, Nikolas, but you don't have to worry. I'm perfectly fine. My parents wouldn't allow me to be released if I weren't and, you know, as for going home, I'm still staying at Sonny’s. And Max is waiting for me outside, so I need to get going. It's Michael’s back-to-school night and --
Nikolas: Listen, Emily, haven't you done enough for Sonny's kids already? You just literally just put your life on the line for those people. I mean, Carly attacked you because she doesn't want you near her children, you understand?
Emily: Carly's not responsible for what she did. Nikolas, she's having a complete nervous breakdown, okay, and besides, she's not around. Sonny had Carly committed, so I'm not in any danger.
Nikolas: Yeah. Do you hear yourself right now? You're going to Sonny's house. That's where danger lives.
Emily: Don't ask me not to, Nikolas. Sonny's kids just lost their mother. I can't abandon them, too.
Nikolas: My heart goes out to Michael and Morgan. God knows they've been through more than their share. What I don't understand is why you got elected to take care of them.
Emily: I volunteered, Nikolas. I was a little younger than Michael when my birth mother was first diagnosed with cancer.
Nikolas: Carly's illness, it's not life threatening.
Emily: And Carly may not have cancer, Nikolas, but she's seriously ill. And I just want to be there for Michael and Morgan until she's better.
Nikolas: All right.
Lucky: I see you already have a ride home.
Emily: Yeah, and he's been waiting too long, so, see you.
Lucky: Wait -- what just happened?
Nikolas: Max is waiting to take Emily home. Yeah, home. That's what she's calling Sonny's house these days. My services were neither required nor wanted.
Lucky: Okay, okay, hey, just don't give up on her, all right? Emily may be caught up in some of Sonny's domestic issues at the moment, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep spending time with her.
Nikolas: This is fine. Emily, she's got other priorities right now. And the truth is so do I.
Emily: Hi.
Sonny: Hey.
Emily: Hmm.
Sonny: Should you be out of the hospital?
Emily: Oh, well, my doctors gave me the all-clear as long as I don't overexert myself.
Sonny: Well, I'll make sure that doesn't happen.
Emily: Oh, somehow I knew you were going to say that.
Sonny: Well, hey, glad you're back.
Emily: Oh. Me, too.
Sonny: Yeah.
Emily: Your cooking is so much better than hospital food.
Sonny: Right.
Emily: How's Carly?
Sonny: She's, you know -- she's getting better. At least that's what they keep telling me. I want to thank you for not pressing charges against her.
Emily: She wasn't in her right mind when she attacked me.
Sonny: You know, where she's staying in the hospital, Rose Lawn, I have to admit it's kind of -- it's a nice place. Apparently, I can't see Carly because I make it worse.
Emily: Well, it's a really crucial time for her, I think. And the doctors probably just want to keep everything as emotionally clean as possible.
Sonny: Yeah, that's what Lainey said, but you know what? It doesn't sit right with me, because I've, you know, broken my word too many times now and I can't even explain why.
Emily: Well, you know, you could write it down in a letter and the doctors could decide when Carly’s ready to read it, which might be sooner than when she's ready to see you.
Sonny: Yeah, yeah. But you know what? The most important thing right now is I got to make time for my kids.
Emily: Is -- is Michael getting ready?
Sonny: For what?
Emily: It's Michael’s back-to-school night, remember?
Sonny: Oh, no! I forgot. Okay. I was supposed to take Reese to dinner.
Emily: Hmm.
Sonny: Oh, no. If you hadn't shown up, I'd have blown this off completely. I don't know what I'm going to tell him.
Emily: Listen, don't start blaming yourself, Sonny. I mean, a lot's been going on and what matters is the --
Sonny: Shh, shh, shh. Hey, buddy.
Michael: Yo.
Sonny: Guess what.
Michael: What?
Sonny: You're going to be a tour guide because we're going to go see your school.
Michael: I don't want to go.
Sonny: Why not?
Michael: Because.
Sonny: "Because"? Because why not? Mom?
Michael: I haven't told any of the kids at school.
Sonny: Oh, you don't want anybody to know that Mommy went into a mental hospital?
Sonny: Your mama had a nervous breakdown. Some people don't know what that means. They act like it's the person's fault, they should have been stronger. They don't realize that your mind can get sick, just like your body.
Michael: How does it happen?
Sonny: Well, you know, it's a lot -- I mean, sometimes people's brains are wired differently, and they call that a chemical imbalance. Other times, it could be, you know, bad things keep happening to somebody, right? And they can't cope with it anymore, so they break. Okay? Or it could be a combination of both things. But what I want you to know is your mom didn't have a nervous breakdown on purpose. She has an illness in her head.
Michael: What if the kids find out?
Sonny: I wish I can guarantee you that, you know, they're not going to tease you, but I can’t. But you know what you need to do?
Michael: What?
Sonny: Don't let it get to you, hold your head up high, and remember what the truth is. And that is your mama did the right thing by getting help and your parents love you. And no one -- and I mean this -- no one could ever take that away from you.
Michael: Okay.
Sonny: Now, you get over here; give me a hug right now.
Courtney: Obviously, I can't keep the pregnancy a secret indefinitely, dad, but everywhere I look, there are land mines. You know, Jax and Elizabeth are still dealing with the aftereffects of the miscarriage, and Nikolas, he's already told me he has no desire to be a father. Besides, his feelings for Emily are so unresolved.
Mike: All right, I thought the marriage was over.
Courtney: Yeah, well, Elizabeth doesn’t. She was just here pointing out the obvious, like I don't have eyes in my head. Look, Nikolas and Emily are still connected. Okay, look, if they want to pick up the pieces of their lives together, I don't want the baby or my feelings for Nikolas to get in the way.
Mike: All right. It's your decision, honey. But we both know the truth is going to come out eventually, so why not tell it now? A father wants to know that he's going to have a child, so the sooner you tell Nikolas, the better.
Elizabeth: I marched over to Courtney’s, knocked on her door, and told her flat-out to break up with Nikolas so he can go back to Emily. How's that for meddling busybody behavior?
Lucky: Hmm.
Elizabeth: I'm sorry, I just can't keep quiet.
Lucky: No, it's good for you.
Elizabeth: Wait. You approve?
Lucky: I saw Nikolas and Emily at the hospital. They're still awkward, you know, still keeping -- making excuses to stay away from each other, but it's obvious they still love each other.
Elizabeth: Yes. Yes, I agree. So if Courtney would just stay out of the way, maybe Nikolas and Emily could find their way back to each other.
Courtney: Hey, thanks for coming over.
Nikolas: Yeah, of course. And, you know, if you hadn't have called, I would have called you anyway. It's just obviously things have been a little crazy lately, but they're starting to calm down. Emily, she was released from the hospital tonight.
Courtney: Oh, I'm glad. I mean, I know how worried you've been about her, so --
Nikolas: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'll -- I'll always care about her. Hey, come here. But I want you to know that I care about you, too, okay?
Courtney: Yeah.
Nikolas: What?
Courtney: No, I -- I mean, I believe that, and the feeling's mutual. You mean so much to me, Nikolas. But I've had a lot of time to think, and I've come to a decision.
Nikolas: Okay.
Courtney: You and I are over.
Max: Hey.
Reese: Hello, Max.
Sonny: And it had no legs.
Emily and Michael laugh.
Reese: Sounds like back-to-school night went well.
Max: Yeah, I think Michael enjoyed himself.
Sonny: Barely awake.
Michael: You are such a girl!
Sonny: Right?
Emily: I resent that.
Sonny: She was screaming at the top of her lungs, waving her hands like --
Michael: All because of a little teeny, tiny moth.
Emily: Hey, did you see the size of that thing? I thought it was a bat.
Sonny: A ba-- yeah, a bat? In the middle -- middle of a private school, a bat.
Michael: Where do you think I go, Hogwarts?
Sonny: "Hogwarts"? That's good.
Michael laughs.