Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) wasn’t counting on Chase (Josh Swickard) staying alive when she married him on his “deathbed” on General Hospital. Fortunately, thanks to Finn (Michael Easton) figuring out that Gregory (Gregory Harrison) was Chase’s biological dad, he was able to come up with another DNA-based treatment to save his brother’s life.

Will Chase have to be re-admitted if Willow breaks his heart? After all, she only married him because she thought he was going to die — her heart belongs to Michael (Chad Duell).

Today, Jordan (Briana Nicole Henry) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) throw Willow and Chase — who’s still in a wheelchair — an impromptu party to celebrate their marriage. Will Willow’s secret come out? TV Insider recently chatted with Swickard about his character’s near-death experience, how he feels about Chase’s true paternity, and shooting a sequel to last year’s Netflix movie A California Christmas opposite wife Lauren Swickard (who also served as the film’s producer and writer).

We actually didn’t know if Chase was going to make it or not!

Josh Swickard: We do our best to keep a story under wraps. That said, actors don’t know much more than the audience does. I know about three weeks out. I was getting scripts where Chase was having seizures. Then, Finn’s antidote didn’t work. I hadn’t gotten a talking to about being killed off but then, I read the script where Chase flatlines. I thought, ‘Oh, is this it?’

What was it like playing Chase’s condition worsening? He really thought he was checking out.

I was living in the moment with it and enjoying the process as an actor. It’s one of those love/hate things. I would come home and realize it had affected my body. I was spending 12 hours a day on set, working, playing someone who was sick, even dying. You chemically and emotionally put your body through that. By the end of the day, you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck. But that’s the stuff you get to bite into as an actor where it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I love the physicality of acting.

Playing those seizures looked very intense.

I think it’s a fun opportunity to commit and take all the way. I truly enjoyed the story. I feel blessed that the writers and Frank [Valentini, executive producer] gave that to me and let me play it.

Click here to read the full TV Insider interview!