I Worked So Hard to Free You

I started this story a few years ago, and it was posted on the Jason and Courtney website " ". I decided that I wanted to do a small rewrite on the first chapters, and then continue the story on. If you are a Journey fan, I am so happy to see that is at least one more fan besides me still! If you aren't and feel the need to character bash/story bash, please don't! I really have no tolerance for bullies, trolls, or anyone who just wants to put a damper on my day! Anyways, onto the back story of "I Worked So Hard to Free You"…

Courtney and Jason were engaged back when he was a Quartermain. They met and began dating when they were in medical school and were a few years into their residencies when the accident happened (their wedding was supposed to be the next day- AJ got drunk at the rehearsal dinner). Courtney was absolutely devastated when Jason woke up and did not remember her, or at least that is what she thinks. Jason always knew that Courtney was someone important to him and felt connected to her, but since he could not remember their life together, he thought it was best to say that he did not remember her so she could move on. Well, Courtney became a different kind of "robot" than the "robot" Jason became. She focused all of her attention on her work and actually switched from pediatrics to trauma with a concentration in traumatic brain injury. She has very few friends: a few doctors at General Hospital (we will meet them along the way), Emily (they were close when Courtney and Jason were together and bonded over their "loss"), and Carly (when Courtney saw how close her and Jason were becoming she saw a way "in" so she could make sure he was okay, and the girls bonded over how much they care about Jason- although Courtney is very distant and somewhat abrasive to him when they are together). Courtney has been on one date since the accident that lasted an hour before she told her date (Lucky) that she just was not interested in dating or anything of that sort (the "It is not you; it is me" saying) because her heart would forever belong to someone that she never received it back from. Jason went on to work for Sonny (Courtney has been called many times to removed bullets from Jason and help him when he gets injured during his "battles"); also, he never dated Robin (or anyone else for that matter) since the accident, but he and Robin are friends. Courtney can't stand Sonny (they are not related) because she sees him as the reason Jason is always hurt and in constant danger, and even if she does not care much for this Jason- he still looks like and she knows that he still is the man who has her heart; Sonny does not mind Courtney (despite when she is extremely judgmental and a bit rude) because he knows that if anything ever happens to his best friend she would fight anything that came her way to save him.

I think that is all that you need to know currently; if not, I'll be sure to fill ya'll in on the history that I have changed or any missing character details I have decided to add. Of course, I do not own any characters that are on or have been on General Hospital; any person that I add that has not been featured on this show, I do own. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and comment if you feel like it (I would really like and appreciate that).

Chapter 1- It's All Coming Back to Me Now

"I love you and I always will. You know that. I honestly don't remember what life was like without you, and I don't care to ever remember. You are making me the luckiest man in the world tomorrow when you marry me. I can't wait until I hear you say 'I do,' and then after I get to kiss you we will officially be Dr. And Dr. Jason Allen Quartermain."

"Oh, Jason, I don't know how you come up with the sweetest things to say to me! You have a way with words, my love, and I don't know what I did to ever deserve you. I am certainly glad that I did whatever it was; you are my end all-be all, and I can't wait to be a Quartermain, even though that includes your crazy family."

"Hey now, they aren't that terrible; except that stumbling fool. I should probably get him home."

Courtney turned to see her soon-to-be brother-in-law downing what she was sure to be a strong "mixed" drink that was a combination of 99% alcohol and 1% mixer. She turned and smiled at her fiancée; she was constantly at awe at the great man he was. "You are such a good man, Jason Allen. I should probably get going soon to so I can get some sleep tonight after the "Slumber Party" your baby sister has planned for us, and I know that I'll have to be up bright and early to look gorgeous for you."

"You always look gorgeous, baby; you know that you never have to try! I love you so much, and can't wait to see you tomorrow."

"I can't wait, either! Text or call me when you get home so I know that you're both safe."

"I'm always safe, baby; plus, I got a big day planned for tomorrow that I'm certainly not going to miss for the world, if I have any control over it."

Jason kissed Courtney trying to convey how much that he loved her in that moment, when he heard a female clear her voice, "Ahem, big brother, you might want to save some of that for tomorrow night."

"Oh, little sister, don't you worry about that! There is plenty more where that comes from for tomorrow night."

"Oh, ewe gross, Jason!"

Jason began chuckling, "Why don't you just mind your own business then, buttercup?"

"I will gladly do just that after that answer, but I actually do need to be getting your beautiful bride-to-be back home because I have some serious girl time planned before we turn in so we can be well rested and ready for tomorrow."

"Well, I guess I'll let you have her since I need to get our brother home."

"Eh, sounds good because he is starting to embarrass mom and dad, and you know how that will turn out, and we don't need a huge Q fight on this night and in front of all of these people."

"Oh, yes, I do." Jason leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Courtney's lips before hugging Emily and kissing her on her cheek while saying goodbye to the both of them. He headed over to where his brother was stumbling around, and after a few choice words he got him out the door and into the parking lot. In the parking lot, an argument over who should drive took place.

"Listen, here's the deal, Mr. Groom. I am fine to drive home, but if you really don't believe that I am- you can ride with me to ensure that we both get home safely. If that doesn't work for you, you can walk home or wait for our parents."

Jason thought about his options, and figured that AJ would be more careful if he was in the car with him. They got in the car and AJ fired it up; before Jason could realize what was happening- the sports car was going at least 65+ mph and rising quickly. The last time he looked at the odometer it was near the 85 mark. He looked up just in time to see a dog in the middle of the road, and AJ swerved to miss the animal. Jason thought they were going to be okay before he realized that AJ was overcorrecting the car and he turned to look over his left shoulder just in time to see the tree.

Jason jumped out of his sleep while trying to remember what happened in his dream that caused him to become startled. After taking a few deep breaths, he lay back down and closed his eyes so he could try to recall his dream. All of the sudden, he remembered the beginning of the dream. 'So weird, why would I be thinking about marrying Courtney; I have not seen her in months, and yeah I know that we had a pretty serious history. I have never thought of her in those contexts before.' Then he started to recall the flashback of the accident, and he shot out of bed. 'No, this is certainly not happening after a decade! I am certainly not starting to recall my life as a Quartermain, but that dream was so real and vivid. Definitely explains why Courtney and I were talking about getting married.' Jason walked to the window and looked outside; he took a deep breath and closed his eyes- he could really see the look in Courtney's eyes that were so full of love and he started to replay their conversation in his mind. Those had to be the last moments that he had as a Quartermain; he knew the night of the accident was the night before his wedding to Courtney.

'Why, why are the memories coming back now? There was only one expert in the field of brain injuries that I trust, but I would hate to do this to her and cause her anymore pain; however, I am done lying to people saying that I don't remember any part of the old Jason's life, and I certainly can't keep this flashback inside. I need answers, especially any clues or pieces of whom I used to be- I deserve that. Plus, I know it isn't fair to Courtney to think that I didn't remember her in any way, shape, or form; I have always felt this weird, cosmic sort of pull to her. I only wanted to be fair to her when I told her that I didn't remember her, but I'm afraid that it did even more damage to her.' He looked at the clock and it read 2:38 a.m.; it was too late to call her, but he knew that he would not sleep if he did not speak to her. He, also, remembered that four shipments were arriving during the day tomorrow and dealing with that requires a decent night's sleep. He decided that he could sleep, hopefully peacefully, if he could just tell someone, her, about the memory flashback; he knew that he could wait for answers as to why he has apparently started to remember his life as a Quartermain, but he had to share that he was remembering with someone. He walked around to his side of the bed, picked up his phone, and dialed a number he never had to work to memorize after the accident; he assumed and wrote it off as muscle memory.

He tried to wait patiently as the phone rang. Luckily, he did not have to wait too long because on the third ring he heard a muffled and somewhat exhausted answer, "Hello. This is Dr. Courtney Matthews."

"Courtney, hi, this is Jason. Jason Morgan."

"Yes, Jason, believe it or not I do know what your voice sounds like. However, I worked 22 hours today and that included a multiple hour surgery, and I have no energy to take a bullet out of you or mend you up tonight. If you can survive until morning, I will be over in the morning- let's say 7ish?"

"No, Courtney, that's not it. I'm not hurt or injured at all, but thanks for being so willing to help."

"Well, then, Mr. Morgan what do I owe this extremely late phone call to?"

"I had a flashback; a memory in the form of a dream."

"I'm sorry. You had a what? Run that past me again."

"I had a flashback. I dreamed about the night of the accident; I remember the end of our rehearsal dinner and the accident." All Jason heard for the longest time was erratic breathing and silence on the other end. "Uh, Courtney?"

"Yeah, Jason I'm here. I'm so sorry, it's just that what you just told me wasn't something isn't I ever expected to hear. When you woke up and didn't remember anything and the memories didn't come back within a reasonable time, my field just assumes that all of those memories were lost. Anyways, I don't have your file with me or in my office, but I can stop by the hospital tomorrow morning and meet you sometime afterwards to hear about the memory so we can update your record and chart."

"NO! No, Courtney, I'm not asking for you to help me as a doctor; I'm asking for you to help as a friend. Well, I know we aren't friends; I guess that I'm asking you to help me because you are intrigued by the thought of finding out how many of Jason Quartermain's memories are locked in my brain, and because I think you know that I deserve to know and remember who I used to be. Gosh I haven't spoken this much on length in maybe ever. Sorry, I don't mean to ramble, but I never thought I would have these memories nor have to ask you to help me. And the flashback was so real as if I was watching it unfold right before my eyes, and it kind of unnerved me."

"Jason, you don't need to apologize; I'm sorry I didn't mean for my offer to help to come off as cold and doctorial. I hope you know that I will gladly help you in any way I can, and we can work on trying to figure out why the memories are coming back a decade later together. When would you like to meet?"

"Your earlier offer of 7ish tomorrow morning totally works for me? Plus, I don't have to be at the warehouse until 9."

"That sounds like a plan; I'll see you then. Try not to worry or stress about the memories or why they are happening, and definitely attempt to get some sleep, restful sleep if you can. I'm sure that it can be completely unnerving to watch your old life come back before your eyes as a movie, and I'm sure you are wondering and worried about the idea of even more memories coming back when you sleep and dream. Don't worry about that happening, and just think about it- who knows more memories may help us figure this out and give you your past back more quickly."

"I will try my hardest. Thank you for answering and helping. Night, Courtney."

"Your welcome and I will help you anytime; surely you've figured that out by now. Goodnight, Jason."

Jason hung up the phone, went to the bathroom to splash water on his face, and took a string of deep breaths before laying back down, only to fall back into a fitful sleep. Courtney on the other hand was a wreck. She kept pacing her room before going downstairs, hoping that a cold glass of water would calm her nerves. It was during her sipping and pacing that she decided to call the one person who could help her. Courtney knew that if this project with Jason was going to take a little while she would need inside information on what he was not telling her and the person he really was now, while she and Jason worked on figuring this whole thing out. She ran back up to her room and grabbed her cell phone. She, like Jason a short time before, nervously waited for the other person to answer.

"Courtney, its 3 o'clock in the morning, what's wrong or going on? You only phone at this hour when something is terribly wrong. Are you okay? I know that there is nothing wrong with those on my end since Sonny is snoring next to me uninjured, and I know that Jason was going to sleep when I left him a few hours ago."

"Nothing's wrong on my end; it actually is a problem on your end. He, Jason just called me. He remembered something, Carly! He remembered his last few moments as a Quartermain or at least that is what he thinks is happening and it sounds like it to me. He called me, and told me that he just had a flashback during a dream about the end of our rehearsal dinner and the accident. Oh, Carly, what do I do? What in the hell do I do?"

"Oh, Courtney, this has to have your stomachs in knots, and I honestly don't know what you should do. I can't even imagine what I would do if I was in your position. Oh, honey, my heart is hurting for you, and yet I want to be so happy for you because Jason could be remembering his old life, more importantly you and what you both had. I heard about that romance, Courtney, and from the little Sonny knew and relayed to me- it sounds absolutely magical. How are you going to deal with these memories coming back to him and everything that those flashbacks entail?"

"You're right I'm sick to my stomach and it is in knots, and it was definitely magical. Our relationship was true once-in-a-lifetime gift. You are right about that."

"God, I love you! You are the only person who tells me that I'm right when I am!"

Courtney chuckled and started to feel better, for some reason Carly had a way of putting her at ease with her crazy personality. "And you asked me what I'm going to do, and I guess since you have no ideas for me, I am going to keep my meeting with him around 7 this morning. We are going to talk about the memory, and from there decide on a plan to help him figure out why the memories are happening now and see if we can't unlock even more memories. I don't know how I'm going to do this, Carly. "

"You know what, Courtney; this may help and be therapeutic for you both. You'll get to hear that your Jason didn't lose all of your memories; they have just been kept locked it a safe place until their time to be released occurred. I know that he has wanted to remember his past, simply just to know who he was. I can't imagine not having a past or not being able to remember who you were for the first 25 years of your life. I, also, can't imagine remembering that past, but not being able to help him remember it because you can't transplant those memories to him. It is easy to see how much that you loved Jason because you have done everything you could to help him transition into this part of his life the best that you could, even knowing that this part of his life wasn't the way you two had planned it. Are you sure that you're okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; I'm just a little shaken up. I can honestly say that I just never expected to hear those words, especially when the year anniversary of the accident came and went, and he had no idea who he used to be. Everything that I have ever been taught and have seen for my entire tenure in traumatic brain injury, those memories are supposed to be entirely lost. It's as if my world has been turned upside down, yet again."

"I can only imagine. Are you sure that you don't want me to come over?"

"No, no, no, I'm really okay. I really appreciate the fact that you talked me down off of my crazy ledge and are offering to calm me down even more if I needed you too. I am so very thankful that I have you for a friend."

"You know I feel the same way about you. Please, call me after you two meet tomorrow, and you know that I'll tell you if I'm noticing any differences in him or hear something in passing."

"I would definitely appreciate that. Thank you, Carly, for everything you have done for me tonight and always. I'll call to you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Court."

After they hung up, Carly lay back down and started to think about all the ways their lives were beginning to change quickly and would continue to change as long as Jason was remembering his old life while bringing the good doctor along for the ride. She could only hope that this would bring Courtney and Jason back together, which would be fantastic because she adamantly believed that if there were ever two people who belonged together during either of his lives it would be those two, and plus it could give Jason some peace of mind about his life as a Q. She fell asleep and began to dream about big family celebrations during the holidays with her, Sonny, Michael, Jason, Courtney, Mike, and Bobbie; how great would that be? Across town, Courtney, futilely, lay back down to try and fall back to sleep. She quickly started to cry as soon as all of the memories of her past life with Jason began to flood her every thought. She never imagined that this would be her life at 34, but she knew that this is where she was all because Jason wanted to be a hero and AJ was a stubborn, alcoholic human being. 'How am I going to get through these next hours and my meeting with Jason? Is my Jason coming back to me or is this just going to make him repress the memories even more because it is confusing and unnerving to remember a life, your life, when you have become used to not having a past?

Only God knew how both of their lives were about to be turned upside down again, as more memories start to come back to Jason.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

Kate(: