Disclaimer: Anything remotely recognizable as being a part of the cannon General Hospital.
Claiming any artistic creativity thought up by yours truly. Copy Writers be fore shamed.
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ONE AND THE SAME
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Stepping back from the painting, Elizabeth smiles softly, staring at her masterpiece. It was beyond what she had envisioned and every part of her hopes that Lila would think the same thing. Resting against her easel is a very vibrant painting of Lila surrounded by her roses in her garden.
In all of Port Charles, there's no garden more beautiful than Lila's rose garden. Elizabeth has no idea how she does it, but Lila's roses are always vibrant and beautiful, even through the harshest of winters. No matter what kind of weather strikes the town, one thing you can always count on is Lila's garden looking beautiful. Just like the woman that grew them.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Pulling open the door, Elizabeth smiles slightly at the sight of AJ Quartermaine, the only Quartermaine - other than Lila and Edward - that still likes her. Inviting him in, she shuts the door behind him, walking over to the painting to show it to him.
"I'm just waiting for it to dry, but once it does I'm going to bring it to Lila." she says with a bright smile. "I can't wait for her to see it."
"Elizabeth." AJ's voice is low, his heart aching.
"What do you think?" she pulls him to stand in front of it. "Do you like it?"
"Elizabeth." he says again, turning to face her, unable to look at the painting at the moment. "Its Lila..."
"What about Lila?" she looks at him confusedly, finally noticing the tone in his voice. "AJ, what's going on?"
"She's in the hospital." AJ says in a hushed tone, meeting her eyes. "Its not looking too good."
"Wha..." she gasps, looking at him, finally seeing what he was trying to say. "She's dying?"
"They don't know how much longer she has..." he sighs, shaking his head. "She's been asking for you and...I'm here to take you to her."
"This isn't real." she whispers, fighting off the tears, moving to stand in front of the painting. "This can't be real."
"We don't have much time, Liz."
Taking the painting from the easel, she walks out of her makeshift studio with AJ, tears frozen in her eyes the whole way to the hospital. She could tell that AJ wanted to say something, but just couldn't find the words to help her, opting to saying nothing at all.
She could tell because she felt the same way, wanting to ease his pain, but not having the words. All she could think of was Lila and what kind of world they'll be living in once she's gone. The more she tried, the harder it was, she just couldn't imagine a world without that vibrant woman.
"Grandmother's in the hospital." his sister's words finally sink in, causing him to force the mask to grace his face. "She's not going to make it, Jase...not this time."
"Does...does she know?" he voices, unable to take a full breath in, the pain just too much.
"If by 'she' you mean Elizabeth..." she sighs, shaking her head. "AJ left the same time I did...he should be taking her to GH by now."
"Good." Jason takes in a shaky breath. "Lila would want her to be there."
"Of course." she says, unable to hide the distaste in her words. "Lets go...they don't know how much longer she has."
"There was a time when you two were best friends..."
"There was a time when you two were in love." Emily counters, eyeing him firmly. "Things change...people change."
Accepting that, Jason follows his sister out of the penthouse and out to her waiting car, getting into the passenger seat and enduring the ride to the hospital. In spite of himself, Jason couldn't help but remember the look on Elizabeth's face when she lost her grandmother.
That pained look, that heartbroken torture, displayed for all to see. Now she's losing Lila, the woman that took the place of her grandmother in her life, he knows that look will be back. Maybe even more vibrant that the last time and he couldn't help but hope she'd be okay.
"Its beautiful." Lila's weary voice compliments, looking at the painting Elizabeth had brought for her. "I knew you'd do it justice, my dear."
"Its nothing compared to your garden." she sighs, moving to sit back down, placing the painting against the side table. "This isn't fair...you were supposed to live forever."
"No one lives forever, sweetheart." Lila places her weak hand on hers, smiling slightly. "You'll be okay. I know it."
"You don't know that."
"My only regret, my dear, when it comes to you..." Lila takes in a shaky breath, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Is that I didn't live long enough to see you two find your way back to each other.""
"I don't understand..."
"Yes, you do." Lila gestures to the window, where Jason now stood. "True love, sweet girl, is a fire that cannot be put out. No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you try to run, its there."
"We're both married to other people...there's nothing there."
"Its there." Lila places her hand over Elizabeth's heart. "Life has masked it, keeping it hidden from the world, but its there."
They talk for a moment longer, saying what needed to be said, before Elizabeth forces herself up from the chair, taking the painting with her - at Lila's insistence. With one last look at Lila, she walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Once she's out of there, she takes in a shaky breath, forcing the tears to stay locked in her eyes, unable to take them falling now.
"Elizabeth." his voice is pained, but he keeps the tone, as always.
"Jason." she says, without looking at him, taking another deep breath before walking off. Headed for the rooftop.
Accepting it was his turn with his grandmother, he opens the door and walks in, schooling his features as she comes into full view. She never looked so frail, so unlike herself, like she did right then. He tried to talk, but he didn't trust his voice, not after seeing her like this. He could feel his throat closing up, his heart aching, and his legs buckling beneath him.
They don't talk, knowing no words needed to be spoken, simply accepting what's before them and spending the time they had together while they had it. He takes her hand in his, holding it softly, pained by how weak her pulse is. This was all just too real for him, seeing her like this, it'll be burnt in his memory forever.
"Jason, where are you going?" Emily asks when he walks out of the room.
"To check on her." he says plainly, jabbing the elevator button. "She shouldn't be alone right now."
"You don't owe her anything." Emily says seriously, grabbing his arm to stop him from walking onto the elevator. "You should be here with us...with grandmother."
"Zander's out of town." he states, the man's name feeling like acid on his tongue. "She needs someone."
"Someone, yes." she agrees, accepting that much. "But not you...not after everything. Its not fair."
"I decide what's fair to me." he says plainly, even though the thought of being alone with Elizabeth sends an even deeper kind of pain into his heart. "And I'm not going to let her deal with losing Lila on her own."
Accepting that there was nothing more she could say or do, Emily releases her hold on him, watching as he gets onto the elevator and rides it up to the top floor. Shaking her head, she turns away from the metal doors to walk back to her grandmother's room, wanting to be there for her family.
Making it up to the rooftop, he finds her staring out at the town, her arms tightly wrapped around herself. For a moment, he's taken back to the day she lost her grandmother, how tightly she held herself. It was like she was trying to hold herself together. That if she held herself tight enough, she wouldn't fall to shambles on the floor beneath her.
"Elizabeth." he says in that too familiar tone.
"Jason." she replies in the same tone.
Carefully reaching out his hand, in spite of the pain he'd feel by touching her, Jason uses a good amount of strength to turn her around. He didn't know why, but he had to look her in the eye. The moment her eyes met his, he regretted it, seeing the heartbroken torture shining vibrantly in her eyes. With just one look, he could tell that she was barely hanging in there, barely by a thread.
"Don't." she states, a clear warning, but he doesn't listen.
Like many times before they ended, Jason softly pulls her into his arms, wrapping her up in his warm embrace. The moment his arms secure themselves around her, the tears tear through her, breaking down whatever reserve she had left. Any strength she had, that was keeping her together, is shattered in his hold.
As much as it hurt to hold her, to have her in his arms that way, he refused to let her go. Not when she had that look in her eyes, that heartbroken tortured look that made him weak at the knees and tore a whole through him like nothing else possibly could.
In spite of all the pain he must endure, of all the memories that this was bringing to the front of his mind, Jason holds her close, letting her cry her heart out. Knowing that he was the only one that she could do that with. The only one she'd drop her guard long enough to feel what she was feeling. The only one she didn't have to be strong with.
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