Michael's been shot.
Hours later, the words echoed in Carly's mind as she sat huddled alone in a corner of the emergency room at General Hospital. She had been waiting all night for word on her oldest son, hoping against hope for yet another miracle when it came to the health and safety of her family. Every once in awhile, some one would muster enough courage to approach her, timidly asking if there was anything she wanted. The last thing on her mind was a cup of tepid coffee or the list of people yet to be called. There were already a group of people lining the hard plastic chairs on the other side of the room. Her mother, Lulu, Max, Milo, Jerry, Alexis…they were all there waiting with the family for word on Michael.
Ass he scanned the row of family and friends, her eyes fell upon Sonny. They had fought earlier, screaming at each other like they so often had. However, they had never been on opposite sides when it came to their children. She was angry at herself for blaming Sonny, but what was her alternative? She couldn't put a face or a name to the bastard who had shot her little boy, and she needed someone to hate. Carly had threatened to make sure that he would never put her children in danger, but right now, she was too exhausted to feel remorse for her words. They would deal with that later. Right now, her mind was wrapped up in her children, the redhead fighting for his life and the brunette at home oblivious to what was happening to his family.
Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the wall and said yet another prayer for something to happen. She could take whatever was thrown at her as long as she knew what was coming. Playing the waiting game had never been her strong suit, and this surgery was definitely the longest round of limbo she'd ever seen. Nurses and doctors shuffled in and out of the operating room, none of them able to give the answers she so desperately needed. There were only two things that could give her any solace right now, and until she received word on Michael, only one of them was remotely possible.
"Jax called a few minutes ago to say that there is still bad weather at the airport," Lulu reported as she came up to Carly. She peered down at her cousin with eyes full of anxiety and fear. She wanted to reassure Carly that everything was going to be fine, but she couldn't find the strength to lie right now. "He's trying to get here."
"I don't care," Carly snapped. She hadn't thought about her husband once since getting the news. Her first reaction hadn't been to call Jax at all. As soon as she had received word, she had immediately called Jason. Without another word, she stood up and disappeared, leaving a confused Lulu in her wake.
Instinctively, Carly turned down the empty corridor to find him. She knew exactly where he would be. They had always had a way of finding each other when they needed. He had found her the night the tunnel collapsed and the night of the hotel fire. They had always been able to find their way back to each other. Tonight, more than ever, she needed to know that they still would. Nothing in the world made sense right now except that connection. It was the only thing she knew for certain that she could count on.
She saw him before he knew that she was there, staying behind to watch him gazing through the glass window at her little boy. Their little boy, those had been her words when she had seen him. Carly started to say something, but as if sensing her presence, Jason turned around and met her stare. His icy blue eyes were brimming with tears as he started toward her. She ran toward him, meeting him halfway. Jason wrapped her into him tightly, murmuring something inaudibly into her blonde hair. "He's fighting, Carly," he whispered. "He's fighting like hell to come back to us. We just have to keep fighting for him. We can do this, you and me, as long as we stick together."
Carly nodded insistently as he led her over to the observation window. She knew that they weren't' supposed to be back here, but there was nowhere else they could be. She needed to be with Michael and Jason more than anything in the world. They were her beginning, the family that began the amazing life she had been blessed with over the last decade. "I don't know how to do this without him," she whispered as they stared through the glass. Jason reached up and touched the glass with his free hand, holding on tightly to her with the other arm. "Jase, we can't lose him."
Turning to her, she had never seen his eyes filled with more fire. "We are not going to lose our little boy," he promised. He didn't know how he could be so sure, but Jason knew that God was not going to take Michael from them. "He just needs to know that we are here, Carly. I need you to be strong right now. If you can't do it for yourself, then do it for me. I know that you would do anything for me, so I need you to prove it right now."
She didn't reply as she turned into his chest again, burying her face in the soft cotton of his faded t-shirt. She clung desperately to his leather jacket, her fingers finding their home in the worn fabric. Cradling her fragile frame close to him, he stared over her head at the little boy fighting for life just a few feet away. As he closed his eyes, he could recall the first moment he ever held Michael. He had felt so small in his palm, just a shock of flame red hair on top of his head. Between having a son and falling in love with his best friend, it was the first sense of family he could ever remember. That feeling was what had guided every single action over the last several years, and it wasn't something he was about to give up on.
Just a few hours before, he had been kissing Elizabeth in his living room, set on spending the rest of his life with her and his son. He had truly believed that he loved her, but the moment he heard Carly's eerily calm voice on the other end of the line, he knew that everything was about to change. His entire world shifted and he knew in an instant how quickly he could lose everything that he counted on. His first instinct was to be with her. He knew that he needed her just as much as she needed him. He could fight all the other emotions he had when it came to her, but there was no denying their mutual need for each other. Along with Jake, Carly and the boys were his entire life. He wanted to love Elizabeth, but he knew that he would never love the nurse like he loved her.
None of that seemed to matter now as he held Carly's hand in the hallway. She lifted her left hand to wipe away the tears falling down her face. The fluorescent light overhead caught her sizable diamond ring and cast a reflection on the wall. Huffing to herself, she yanked the ring and shoved it into her pocket. She didn't want to think about anyone or anything other than what was right in front of her. Seeing what she had done and knowing her better than anyone, Jason let go of her right hand and took the other. Reaching up, he wiped away the last remaining tears with the pad of his thumb. "I know."
"I know you do," she retorted, speaking a language in which they were the only two that were fluent. "I'm sorry that I screamed at Sonny. I know that you told me not to yell or throw things, but I couldn't listen to him do that. I don't really blame him, Jase, but I will not stand for him blaming you. You would give your life for the boys and me. If it wasn't for you, Sonny wouldn't even be a father to Michael. You were there in the beginning, just the three of us. Doesn't he know that you would be there if this was the end?"
"Don't even think about that right now. It doesn't matter what Sonny says," Jason assured her. "The only thing that matters is that the three of us are together right now. Michael knows that we're here, Car. When he wakes up, we're going to be together again. I promise you that we are going to be together."
She trusted Jason because he would never make a promise that he couldn't keep. He had never let her down and only lied to her once. He would never lie to her about her son, their son. Just as Carly was about to say something, Bobbie came rushing up to them. Turning around in Jason's embrace, she looked at her mother. "Jax is here. He's in the waiting room looking for you. Should I send him in?"
"No, she'll come out there when she's ready," Jason answered for her. He had always known what Carly needed even when she didn't. "For now, his place is out there. Please, Bobbie, I know he is going to be angry, but you have to keep everyone else out of here."
"I don't even want Sonny back here," Carly added. "I just need to be alone with Jason right now."
Bobbie knew better than to argue with her headstrong daughter. No one had ever been able to break the connection between Carly and Jason. Many had come and gone, trying to penetrate the relationship, but they had all failed. Not even Sonny, the man she had loved so completely and his best friend, had been a match for the undeniable force that was Carly and Jason together. They needed each other to get through this in a way that no one could comprehend. "I'll make sure that you're not disturbed until there is word on Michael," she vowed with a curt nod. "We're all out there pulling for you."
"Thanks, Mama," Carly whispered as the redhead disappeared in the opposite direction. The strawberry tint of her hair matched Michael's perfectly; he was very much a Spencer and a little bit of a Quartermaine. He was a Morgan and a Corinthos. He was everything to so many people. Her boys were the best of all of them. "I don't know how I am going to tell Morgan. Oh, God, Jase, I just want to see my little boy."
"Not right now, Carly, we can't," Jason reminded her. "When you are stronger, I will take you to see him. I'll make sure that Lulu and Spinelli go to stay with him. He loves Spinelli, so that will keep him occupied."
"They can't stay at the house," she declared suddenly. She hadn't even thought about his safety. "What if he is next? He might not be safe there. Everyone is here. I can't believe I didn't think about this before now."
"Max will take them to my penthouse where they will be safe. Once we know that Michael is stable, I will take you back there to sleep for awhile and then we will come back here. I am not going to leave you until everything is alright."
"You've never left me," she whispered. "You were the first person I had to call, Jase. I didn't think of my husband. The only person I needed was you. I had to know that you were going to be there waiting when I got to GH. I knew I couldn't get through this without you."
He nodded silently. "We can't get through this without each other, and we won't have to," he promised again. "Do you remember when I promised that I would always catch you? Well, we're going to have to catch each other, Car. We have to be strong for each other. You are the strongest person I know, and I wouldn't trust anyone else to get me through this. I know that I told you that this is the hardest thing you've ever been through, but I know that you're going to survive just like Michael is. He's just like his mother."
"You're the one who taught us to be strong," she reminded him. "Without you, I would have never even gotten to know Michael. You gave me my son. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for that first year of his life."
"You gave me a son," he replied. "Everything that I know about being a good father and a loving man is because of you, Carly. That year with Michael is still the best year of my life. The only thing that even begins to compare with holding Jake for the first time was that night in the hospital. I've made a lot of hard choices in my life, but my decision to save you when you were in labor stands out above all the rest. That moment has determined everything I have done sense. I don't know what my life would be like if Michael hadn't come along. No one has ever understood why I lied about being his father but it's because I knew. I knew that he was going to change my life."
Carly smiled dreamily, thinking about that time in her life that no one else could understand but her best friend. It was something that was completely theirs. "When he gets better, let's take him to Africa for a safari. I think it's time that we finally show him all those places that you read to him about," she decided. "Jake probably shouldn't go, but the four of us could go. We'd have an amazing time."
"Michael always loved the giraffes best," he reminisced.
"For Morgan, it was the elephants," she giggled through the tears.
"Now we have something to look forward to," Jason told her brightly, pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head. He didn't think that anything would bring a smile to his face but thoughts of the boys laughing danced in his mind and brought unexpected joy in a dark moment. They stood like that together for a moment, dreaming an alternate reality where they were already halfway across the world. "I can't wait."
"Excuse me," Epiphany announced from the doorway. "I'm sorry, but Dr. Drake is asking that you return to the waiting room. I promise that we will come get you both as soon as we know something."
Carly started to argue but Jason grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly. She nodded dutifully and allowed him to lead her out of view of the OR. "I don't want to go back in there and have everyone stare at me, Jase. I don't want to have to pretend with anyone right now. I don't want to talk to anyone else. I just want to be with you near Michael."
"I won't let them get to you," he proclaimed. "We will just go in there and sit in the corner. I've always protected you, Car, you just have to trust me to do that now." She nodded to indicate that she did. He wove his arm firmly around her waste and guided her back into the waiting room. Her family stood up, poised for news, but he shook his head quickly. Jax stepped forward but Jason held his hand out firmly. "Not now."
"Jason, they are my…" Jax started.
Jason whirled around and looked into his eyes icily. Carly flinched at his sudden reaction but proceeded silently to the corner. "Do not finish that sentence," Jason ordered. "You were not here. You left. She didn't call you. You are not the one she wanted to be with her here. You are not the one she needs. Don't pretend that this is something that it's not. Just do what I say and this will a hell of a lot easier on everyone."
Everyone was stunned by Jason's firm speech. Just as quickly as he had gone off, he returned to his reserved state and took the empty chair by Carly's side. She didn't look at anyone else as she curled into him, resting her head on his chest. "Thank you," she whispered. She had almost collapsed when Jax had started to say something, her knees wobbling frantically as she struggled for some kind of firm footing. She couldn't stand a battle, but she didn't want him to comfort her. She wouldn't believe it. The only thing she believed was Jason. "You know you're the one…"
He smiled and laid another kiss on top of her soft blonde hair. "I need you too," he whispered into her ear. That was the truth. He had never needed anyone, but he needed Carly. She was his clarity, his one true north. It shouldn't make sense given everything they had been through, but it did. If they got through this…no, when they got through this, he was going to make a lot of changes in his life. "Thank you for letting me be the one that you needed. Thank you for calling me."
It was second nature for her to call him. Even after she had married Jax, he was still the first person in her speed dial and on her in case of emergency list. He was also first on the boys' list. He was there constant, and amazingly enough, they were his. This thought was on her mind when she looked up and saw Patrick Drake standing in the doorway. She shot up instantly and turned to Jason. "Help me count to ten, Jase," she pleaded. It was his trick for helping her find peace. "I don't remember how, count for me."
Standing close to her, he counted the numbers into her ear, his voice barely above a whisper. Everyone watching wondered why they weren't approaching the doctor or what Jason was saying to her. It was understood that no one would ask questions until she was ready, not even Sonny. They all knew somehow that there place was behind Carly and Jason and that they needed to be the ones to take the lead. When he finally reached ten, she entangled her fingers in Jason's and stepped forward.
"I have bad news."