Kristina's abuse

Abusive relationship between Kristina Corinthos-Davis and Kiefer Bauer.

A 15-year-old Kristina returned to the canvas of General Hospital in June 2009, "diagnosed" with Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome after being absent for an 11 month period which had begun in August of 2008. Since her return, Kristina has proven to be very manipulative and out of control; her escapades have included dating an older boy, driving without a license, going to clubs, and even smoking marijuana, all because of Sonny's absence during her childhood and Alexis' overbearing attitude and high standards.

She reconnected with and helped her brother, Michael Corinthos, who had just woken up from a coma. She also starts spending more time with her father and his new wife, Claudia. Kristina discovers her mother's affair with the mayor and has to adjust with all the media's interference. She also helps her sister, Molly Lansing, understand and cope with the attention. Kristina's boyfriend, Kiefer, is abusing her and harasses Michael constantly. Kristina, who is unable to go against him, sides with him throughout most of his arguments.

After Kristina gets in a fight with Kiefer, Kristina illegally drives and causes an accident that kills her unborn sibling, carried by Claudia. Kristina then leaves for Veracruz, Mexico, taking Michael with her to get away from the stress. They are later brought home by her sister Sam and Michael's uncle Jason. After much pressure Kristina decides she is ready to have sex with Kiefer. Convincing Sam to take her to the free clinic, Kristina gets started on birth control. Kristina and Kiefer have sex on October 14, 2009, even though he still abuses her.

Kristina soon becomes flirtatious with a much older Ethan Lovett, causing friction in her relationship with Kiefer. On November 9, 2009, Kristina is with Kiefer when Michael walks in and the two of them attack each other verbally. Michael later sends his father's bodyguards to scare Kiefer. Kiefer believes that Kristina sent them, and in a rage, hits her. Kristina doesn't tell anyone about the incident. She later confronts Michael, and Michael retorts that he's just trying to protect her.

Kristina and Sonny's relationship starts to go downhill again when Kristina lashes out on Sonny for Sam's kidnapping. She calls Kiefer later to help her cope and the two end up having sex in his car. She returns home and finds out from her mom that Sam is safe and has been found. When Alexis tries to tell her that it's a good thing she wanted to spend time with her dad, Kristina tells her that she wants nothing more to do with Sonny ever again. This causes friction between her and Michael, who wants to be just like their dad.
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Kiefer keeps pressuring Kristina to have sex with him again, and she tells him that she doesn't want their relationship to be just about sex. She asks Sam for advice on a relationship, and Sam tells her that someone who puts her down is not worth being in a relationship with. Kristina, however, doesn't take this advice. At Josslyn Jacks's christening, The Corinthos family learn that Sonny shot Dominic an undercover cop who is Sonny's son and Kristina's half brother. When Morgan says that Dante will live and maybe Sonny will get off easy, Kristina retorts that even though Dante is alive, Claudia isn't, and their dad has to pay for killing Claudia. Michael, furious at these accusations, yells at Kristina that he killed Claudia, not Sonny, shocking Kristina.

Kristina, overwhelmed by everything Michael told her about Claudia's murder, calls Kiefer over. He takes advantage of her situation and tries to make her sleep with him. Kristina pushes him away, and he hits her again, but eventually promises not to abuse her again. After Keifer finds out Kristina ditched him for Ethan, he enters the house and brutally beats Kristina for ditching him for Ethan. Ethan finds a traumatized Kristina and brings her to the hospital. At the hospital, Kristina, fearing what Sonny would do to Kiefer, lies and insists that Ethan was the one who beat her up. Jason quickly realizes that Kristina is lying and convinces Dante and Lucky to investigate further.

Eventually, Dante and Lucky discover that Kiefer is the beater, and when he realizes this, Kiefer immediately beats Kristina again out of rage. This time, Alexis arrives home and catches Kiefer leaving the house right before finding a bruised and bloodied Kristina unconscious on the floor. Immediately realizing the truth, Alexis takes Kristina to the hospital. Dante comes to the hospital on April 5, 2010 and gets Kristina's statement, and she confesses that Kiefer is the one that's been abusing her. Later, Sam and Molly come in after finding out she was beat up again. They tell her that Kiefer was admitted to the ER after being hit by a car. Kiefer dies from his injuries, and Kristina blames herself.

Sam and Alexis try to convince Kristina that it's not her fault she got beaten or that Kiefer died. Kristina subsequently asks to see Jason, believing that Sonny had discovered the truth and ordered a hit on Kiefer, but Jason reassures her that he and Sonny had nothing to do with the incident and that Kiefer had no right to touch her either way. During this time, Kiefer's abusive nature and the truth about Kristina's attacks quickly become public knowledge, and Ethan is given a clean slate.

Kristina attends a therapy session while in the hospital. Alexis is waiting when she comes back to her room, and she admits to Kristina that she was the hit-and-run driver who hit Kiefer and that it was an accident. Kristina is able to forgive her, but Kiefer's parents are not, as both of them come by, accusing Alexis of deliberately running down their son and Kristina for ruining his life and falsely implicating their son in her beating. Kristina is emotionally overwrought by this, and blames herself for Kiefer's death. She is given a little reprieve, though, when Ethan stops by and apologizes for being rude to her when she needs to get better. She is discharged on April 14, 2010, still blaming herself for Kiefer's death, despite Alexis's constant reassurance that she is not accountable for that.

Kristina is in an emotional overload dealing with the trauma of her beating and her mother's upcoming trial. Her cousin, Nikolas Cassadine, decides to step in and help her. He brings her to Wyndemere, asking her to help him bond with his son, Spencer. He asks Kristina to be there for Spencer as someone he is able to play with and have fun with more easily. Thanks to Diane Miller's maneuvering, Alexis avoids jail time for Kiefer's death.

Timeline of abuse

 * Kiefer slaps Kristina on Jul 17th, 2009
 * Kiefer slaps Kristina again on Nov 10th, 2009
 * Kiefer slaps Kristina for the 3rd time on Feb 5th, 2010
 * Kiefer beats Kristina on Mar 12-15th, 2010
 * Kiefer beats Kristina again on Apr 2nd, 2010