Dr. Christine’s General Hospital Diagnosis: Michael and Nelle’s Bad Romance

With Nelle laid up on General Hospital after her brutal mugging, Michael’s feelings for her have come full circle. But Nelle is struggling with her affection for him. The question here is: Is a potential romance the right thing for these two?

Unlucky in Love

Also: Laura Wright wowed fans at a recent GH fan event.

To begin my General Hospital Diagnosis for this week, I, Dr. Christine will start with Michael (Chad Duell). One has to have empathy for Michael Corinthos. He’s had a tough enough life, despite gowing up in wealth and privilege, without having to be constantly let down in the romance department. What starts off as promising ends up doomed or broken. A quick rundown: let’s start with his affection for ex-stripper-turned-ELQ associate Abby Haver (ex-Andrea Bogart). Then there were his short-lived romances with Starr Manning (ex-Kristen Alderson) and Kiki Jerome (Hayley Erin). The grim reaper came calling again when girlfriend Sabrina Santiago (ex-Teresa Castillo) was strangled at the hands of hospital killer and ex-District Attorney Paul Hornsby (ex-Richard Burgi).

Related: Chad Duell hopes to be at GH for a long time to come.

What’s a guy to do with all this romantic bad luck? Well, develop feelings (despite fighting them) for the gal who tried, and, in some ways, succeeded, to sabotage his parents’ lives with her misguided actions. Hello, Nelle Hayes/Benson (Chloe Lanier).

Bumps in the Romantic Road

Nelle has admitted her transgressions and, it seems, is sincere about atoning for them yet is intent on leaving Port Charles (much to Michael’s private chagrin). But then she was mugged and left critically injured. Of course, Michael, with his affection for her and his caring nature, sees this as an opportunity to not only help her regain her health but also act on his true feelings for her.

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Nelle, laid up in a hospital bed with her only kidney in precarious condition, doesn’t seem so sure. Of course, there has to be conflict to make this potential pairing interesting, especially since Carly (Laura Wright) doesn’t want her son to have anything to do with the former schemer.

Hold the phone and stop the proverbial presses right there. Michael jumping into a romance with Nelle somehow always seemed contrived, and that hasn’t changed now that she’s supposedly changed her ways. Not that he doesn’t deserve happiness afer Sabrina’s untimely death; indeed, if anyone has earned a romantic break it’s Michael. That said though, it’s as if these two were positioned to be together as a plot point to counter Sabrina’s absence, and there doesn’t seem to be much spark between them as say, between Michael and Sabrina or even between him and Abby.

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Actually, Abby and Michael’s pairing seemed the most genuine and real, as she was initially dispatched to Michael’s side by her friend Sam Morgan (Kelly Monaco) to help Michael with his inexperience with women. A true, deep affection developed between them which was tragically cut short. The same kind of parallel could also be drawn between Michael and Sabrina’s romance, in that it grew organically and ended on a sad note.

A Cure for Michael’s Romantic Woes, A New Life for Nelle

What, then would be a good fix for lovesick Michael? Well, for one thing, his feelings are his feelings, and there’s no denying that he’s on the road to pursuing Nelle. We’ve seen glimpses of her mutual affection for him, despite mitigating circumstances. However, if they embark on a romance, they should take into account that things probably will be very awkward for them for the forseeable future, given Nelle’s past actions and the flak that Michael would receive from Carly and Sonny (Maurice Benard).

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It might be a nice fling for them both, but Michael needs someone with less baggage; someone where he won’t even subconsciously be reminded of her misdeeds, however ill-conceived they were. And, in defense of Nelle, she needs to get out of the Corinthos orbit, find out what she really wants to do with her life, and get settled first before embarking on a romance. After all, being Charlotte Cassadine’s (Scarlett Fernandez) nanny is nice and has its perks, but her dream was to be a teacher–what happened to that? Let a new, fresh love find her, untainted by her past.

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