How General Hospital's Nina And Nathan Were Really Related

While Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) on "General Hospital" may have been tragically killed back in 2018 (via Soaps.com), his presence is still felt on the show today. After all, he is the father of Maxie Jones' (Kirsten Storms) middle child, son James West, and he is always remembered by Nina Reeves (first played by Michelle Stafford, now Cynthia Watros) who considers him her little brother.

In fact, as far as Nina knew, Nathan was her brother from the time she was a teen. Her mother, Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills), had another baby she named James, and Nina absolutely adored her baby brother. She even took care of him more than their mother did. However, James was without a sister when Nina, who was newly married and pregnant,  fell into a coma she didn't recover from for 20 years (via Soaps In Depth). After Nina woke up, the two people raised by Madeline learned how they were really related.

When Nathan West first arrived on the "General Hospital" scene, he was really in town because he believed Dr. Silas Clay (Michael Easton) was the reason Nina slipped into that seemingly-never-ending coma and wanted revenge. In fact, he revealed his real name was James Nathan Reeves, and he had taken his middle name and Madeline's maiden name as his last name to form a new identity (via Soap Central).

It turned out, he was very, very wrong about who put Nina in that coma. When Nina suddenly emerged from her slumber after two decades and made her way to Port Charles, she discovered that a lot had changed over the 20 years. First, Silas had moved on without her, and second, the little brother she called "Jay" was not so little anymore. Nina and Nathan also learned that it was Madeline who gave Nina an overdose of antidepressants to induce a miscarriage and instead it induced a coma (via Soaps In Depth). Despite making sure that Nina was cared for in her coma all those years, it turned out Madeline wasn't mother of the year after all.

After Madeline Reeves was arrested for what she did to her daughter, she ended up in a cell right across from a familiar face — Dr. Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati). Liesl was Madeline's younger sister and it was apparent from the start that there was no love lost between the two women. However, when Nathan West showed up to visit his mother, he got another shocker (via Soap Central).

Liesl was thrilled to see the man who was raised as her nephew because he was really her son. Liesl had allowed Madeline to raise him to keep him from his evil father, whose identity Liesl refused to reveal. It was also a good thing Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) had stopped Nathan earlier when he was hitting on Britt Westbourne because it turned out she was his sister instead of Nina Reeves. Nathan had a bit of an identity crisis for a while, but he eventually adjusted to knowing his entire life had been a lie. It's a good thing he had Maxie there as someone to romance and keep his mind off things (via Soaps In Depth).

Nathan West and Nina Reeves may have discovered they were cousins and not brother and sister, but that didn't stop them from thinking of one another as siblings. As Nina got over a bout with insanity that was a result of her 20 years in a coma and learning she'd never be the mother she dreamed of being (via Soaps In Depth), Nathan was there for her as a brother and a listening ear. He was also there when she would get herself in trouble with the law, as he remained a dedicated member of the PCPD. Eventually, Nathan also accepted Liesl Obrecht as his mother and she even attended his wedding to Maxie Jones (via Soaps.com).

Nathan later learned that Cesar Faison was his father, and it was Faison who accidentally shot him dead (via Soap Central). As a cop, Nathan was given a grand police funeral and Nina was there to deliver the eulogy. As Nina broke down in tears, she remembered the little brother who always had loose change in his pocket to give away. She said goodbye to Nathan by placing loose change in the pocket of his uniform as he laid in his coffin (via Soap Hub).