1987 (#3) - The discovery about Nikki's health condition and concerns

Months after the day Casey discovered Nikki's illness, the woman still knows nothing about her condition. In fact, Victor, who keeps in constant contact with Casey, absolutely does not want his wife to know the truth, and so Casey is forced to administer the drugs to Nikki in secret, passing them off as vitamins. Soon, however, the secret comes out and Nikki finds out the whole truth when she went to the pharmacy herself to buy her vitamins which, she discovers, are nothing but powerful antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. Nikki, to see things more clearly, goes to Casey's office, absent since she went out of town for an important medical conference, and, with an excuse, starts searching through her papers until she finds her medical records. Nikki is shocked to learn that she has been seriously ill for a long time and, enraged, waits for her sister to return. Nikki then asks Casey for explanations, so she can finally vent and express all of her pain. Nikki blames her for having lied to her all this time, but Casey protests defending herself as she is only trying to protect her by relieving her pain and overburdening her. Casey also confesses that Victor knows all about the disease and he is the one who wanted to keep it a secret. Upset and convinced that she no longer has much time to live, Nikki's most immediate concern at this point becomes finding a suitable substitute to raise Victoria and stay with Victor at this time when she will have to undergo more demanding treatment and, above all, after she is probably gone. Casey assures Nikki that she will be treated with the best possible medication and the way she wants, but now Nikki seems to be resigned to death and is only interested in finding a mother for Victoria and a companion for Victor. The first candidate is obviously Casey, persuaded by her sister to change her hairstyle to one that looks like her. But when Victor, talking to Nikki, says that Casey could be the perfect companion for Matthew, who has confessed to him that he is interested in the woman, Nikki understands how Victor has no interest in Casey. Nikki thus decides to turn her attention to the second candidate, Julia, Victor's first wife. Recalled back to the city from Paris, however, Julia shows no interest in returning with Victor as she is now fully committed to her marriage to Charles, suggesting to Nikki, in agreement with Casey, to consider the most logical choice of all: Ashley. In the words of the two women, Nikki has a vision, and understands how there was a flirt between Victor and the woman that began with the discovery of the woman. Enraged with Ashley, but aware that she is the only substitute capable of making Victor happy, a desperate Nikki, having received confirmation from doctors that her illness shows no signs of improvement, promises to herself to find the woman and reunite her with her husband.