In the hours after Michael arrived at General Hospital, his family and their friends had filled the waiting room to its capacity. However, as the hours wore on and evening turned to night, one by one they made their way home. Each of them left with promises of prayers and good thoughts, a look of sadness or condolence painted across their faces. Carly did her best to put on a brave, gracious front, thanking them for their support and promising to call if they received any news. Emotionally drained from the overwhelming stress of the day, she was going through the motions to get herself through the ordeal. Jason played the caretaker roll as he sat dutifully by her side, answering questions and taking care of any paperwork that needed to be filled out. He was strong in the places where she couldn't be and knew that it was his responsibility to keep her spirits lifted and her outlook optimistic.
In doing so, nearly everyone believed that he was holding up amazingly well, but Carly could see right through it. She could see the anxiety and weariness in his clear blue eyes as he completed yet another insurance form. On more than one occasion, she had tried to take the paperwork from him but he insisted on doing it. In true Jason fashion, he didn't want to worry her with the unnecessary details. Instead, he told her to try to get some sleep or to go check on Morgan. She elected to do neither as Spinelli and Lulu had went with him to Jason's penthouse make sure that her youngest was fairing well and she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep for hours.
"Carly, you really should at least eat something," Jason told her as Max returned with two cups of coffee. Carly smiled politely as she took one from the bodyguard, cupping it in her palms. She really wasn't interested in the hot brew, but she sipped it anyways to make her best friend happy. "Is there anything else you want me to get you? I can have someone run by the house to get you some clothes or something."
"I'm fine, Jase," she insisted. She could tell that he was growing more and more tired by the minute, but he was too stubborn to fall asleep before her. "Actually, there is something that you can do for me. I know that you have to be exhausted. Why don't you get some rest? I'll be fine here if you want to run home or even take a nap in one of the rooms."
Jason shook his head vehemently. "I am not leaving you," he informed her. Carly knew there was no point in arguing by his firm tone. "Max, can you run down to the car and bring up the black tote bag in the trunk? There should be some stuff in there to hold us over for awhile. Then, you can take the rest of the night off. You should probably go home and get some rest. I'm sure we're going to be spending a lot of time here."
"Thanks, Boss," Max retorted before heading back toward the elevator. Carly watched silently after the burly man, thankful that he was so loyal to her family. He had protected them through the good times and the bad times, proving to be a faithful confidant to her on more than one occasion. The boys adored him as well, and he had become somewhat of an uncle to both Michael and Morgan. As he slipped into the elevator, he turned back and smiled at Carly. She took great comfort in the reassurance in his bright eyes.
As she turned back to Jason, she felt at ease as the quietness of the hospital fell over their cozy waiting room. "I want to bring Morgan here tomorrow," she decided. "I know that it might not be the best idea, but he needs to see his brother. He's old enough to notice something is wrong, and it's only a matter of time before he starts asking questions."
"Whatever you want to do," he obliged as Max came back. He took the bag and nodded dismissively at his friend. Setting it on the empty chair to his left, he unzipped the top flap and pulled out its contents one by one. "Now, I know that these are going to be a little baggy on you, but I think they should be comfortable enough."
Carly smiled as she took the oversized hooded sweatshirt and matching sweatpants from Jason. Her satin blouse and trousers had become wrinkled from hours of shifting around in the uncomfortable plastic chairs, so the change in clothing was a welcomed reprieve. "I'll be back," she promised before heading off toward the bathroom. Quickly, she discarded her day attire and changed into the hoodie and pants. She could smell Jason on her as she snuggled against the soft material. They were far too big on her but with a little maneuvering, she managed to make the outfit decent before returning to the waiting room.
While she was gone, Jason had taken the opportunity to lean back against the wall for a few moments and rest his eyes. He would never admit to her just how tired he felt, but he was beyond exhausted. Still, if she insisted on staying up, he would remain awake with her. When he felt her sit down next to him, his eyes snapped open and refocused immediately on her. "Even in baggy sweats, you manage to make it look good," he complimented her. She blushed slightly before resting her head on his shoulder. "Why don't you get some sleep now?"
"Actually, why don't we both get some sleep," she suggested. Moving down a chair, she sprawled out her legs in front of her before beckoning him toward her. Unsure of himself, Jason allowed her to guide his head into her lap. Raking her fingers through his hair, she began to gently lull him into a relaxed state. "I like when you let me take care of you."
Jason groaned involuntarily as she massaged her fingertips over his scalp. Her touch certainly had a calming effect on him, a rarity for the notoriously cold man. Few made him feel vulnerable but in Carly's hands, he was clay to be molded. "I feel like I could sleep for a month," he admitted as he relaxed into her further. After holding her all night, it was nice to be held.
"Sleep, Jase," she ordered. He struggled to open his eyes, wanting to look up at her one last time, but she persisted by brushing his eyelids closed with the pad of her thumb. He didn't even attempt to fight it a second time, instead allowing the wave of exhaustion to wash over his body. Before he knew it, he had slipped into a state of unconsciousness, leaving Carly alone to watch him sleep. Her peaceful reverie lasted only for a few minutes before he shot up to full attention. "It's okay, I'm here."
He turned to her and smiled softly. "We both have to get some sleep," he proclaimed. Without another word, he left Carly to talk to one of the nurses. Carly watched as Jason spoke to the young woman. He pointed toward a corridor and then nodded toward his best friend before returning to where they had set up camp. "I just got us a room. They only have one bed left, so we're going to have to share. I know it's not ideal, but I need you to get some sleep. I know you won't do it unless I sleep, too."
"You're right," she agreed as he proceeded to gather up their things. The nurse took them to the lone empty room and promised to find them if anything should happen to change with Michael. With their first privacy of the night, Carly slipped out of her tennis shoes and padded heavily over to the bed. Jason watched in amusement as she crawled onto the mattress, looking as innocent as a five-year-old. He hung back for a moment, gazing at her from the doorway. Only when she was comfortable did she regard him again. "Come on in, Jase."
He chuckled at the invitation as he discarded his shoes and jacket. Carly peeled back the blanket to make room for him. "I hate these beds," he grumbled as he slid in next to her. He had spent hours upon hours in this place, first from the accident that had changed everything and then with his multiple work-related injuries. However, for the first time, he felt comfortable at General Hospital. It felt natural to have Carly in his bed. "Well, maybe I don't hate this bed."
Carly turned on her side automatically, resuming a pattern they had repeated in far too many years. She still remembered what it felt like to sleep with him, how his body fit to her curves perfectly. Jason turned behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her firmly against him. He knew that she was a married woman, but he needed to feel that connection to her. Their entire world was turned upside down, and nothing made sense but her. It felt right to hold her. It had always felt right to hold her. For once, he didn't have to convince himself otherwise.
She felt him fall asleep long before she managed to find her own tiredness. In the first quiet moment she had alone, she finally allowed her mind to turn to God. Carly hadn't found religion growing up in the backwoods slum of a Florida trailer park. It wasn't until she came to New York and married Sonny that she finally embraced a faith that had always lived deep within her soul. She had been set on bringing up her children with a belief in something, and with their father's roots curiously but firmly set in Catholicism, she had taken the faith as her own. Every Sunday, the Corinthos family was a picture of expected perfection at the Queen of Angels. Sonny, Carly, Jason and the boys were there every week no matter what was happening.
However, as she laid there next to Jason, she couldn't grasp her faith. She had a hard time believing in a God that would allow such a horrific thing to happen to her precious son. She couldn't comprehend a reason for this. She had always tried to believe that everything happened for a reason, but there couldn't be one for this. Nothing could justify the hell her son was going through. Nothing could make better the pain dwelling in the hearts of Carly, Jason and Sonny. She refused to accept that this was the way their life was supposed to be.
From his side of the bed, Jason could feel Carly turning and shifting beside him. It was clear that she wasn't going to be able to sleep any time soon. He knew her well enough to know that her mind was racing. When she was finally able to have a moment alone to think, he had known that she would grow angrier. He knew that she would curse the world for letting this happen. Jason didn't blame her, but he didn't want her to put herself through this either. "Carly, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" he asked into the dark. He saw her sit up and peer down at him.
"I never really had anything to believe in until I came to Port Charles," she tried to explain. "I was angry at the world for the life that I had been given. I never had enough in Florida, whether it was perceived or real. Virginia tried her best, but it was never what I needed. I always felt like I deserved so much more. When I came here, I was determined to make my mother's life hell and get back everything that I should have had. I would have done anything to make her pay or to get a leg up, and I guess that I did. But one night and a game of pool in a dive bar changed that."
Jason smiled mystically, remembering their first chance encounter at Jake's. Her eyes had been wild that night with determination, and he knew on sight that she was bound to wreck him. However, he knew that whatever damage she inflicted on him would be well worth it if he could only hold her for one night, one hour, one minute, one second. "You were exactly what I craved, this rare combination of danger and innocence," he remembered. "I had no idea how you would give me back my faith in the ability to feel."
There were no words that could express how deeply his sentiment touched her soul. "The first time I really knew that I believed in anything or anyone was that night I showed up at your door," she confessed. "Standing there in the rain, almost nine months pregnant, you saved me without thought or question. With your seemingly simple decision to be a father to my child, you made me believe in the good in someone. I knew then and there you would never forsake me. You never have."
"That's not entirely true," he pointed out, thinking about the lies he had told her over the past year. He had kept the most important part of his life from the most important person in his world, and nothing he could say or do would ever change that. However, in true Carly fashion, she could see past that for him. "But none of that matters right now. What matters is that we both believe in something, and above all else, we have believed in each other. I may not have always showed it or said it, but I know that you know that I always felt it."
"And right now, we have to believe in Michael," Carly said aloud. She needed to say it aloud again so that she could believe it. She had to hear it, have Jason hear it, to make it real. "He has to be okay, Jase, because we can't do this without him. We can't do this without."
"We're not going to have to," he promised her. A soft knock came at the door, breaking them both from the intimacy of the moment. Jason crawled from the best first to answer the door. Patrick and Robin were standing on the other side solemnly. He knew immediately that something was wrong when he looked into his ex-girlfriend's eyes. She was standing next to her new partner, her hands resting on her slightly swollen womb. "What's wrong with him, Robin?"
She looked at the floor, unable to meet his eyes. She didn't want to be the one to tell him the truth. She hated that she was going to have to break his heart. Rather than looking at him, she glanced up at Carly. The two women had long hated each other, mostly over the man that stood next to Carly's side. That had been the problem; he had always stood by her. Now, she felt nothing but compassion for the mother. Say what you wanted about her as a person, but Carly was a good mother. "We just got the test results back."
Patrick picked up where Robin left off, knowing that she wouldn't be capable of finishing. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm sorry, Carly," he apologized. "Michael's prognosis isn't good. The bullet caused a lot of tissue damage in his brain. It has significantly impacted the part of his brain that controls his motor skills. In fact, it is doubtful that he will ever regain consciousness. He will remain stable as long as he is at the hospital, but I don't really have much hope for much else."
Jason felt his legs give out immediately as he sank to the floor. Carly went to him immediately, wrapping her arms around him as she huddled with him. She could hear the doctors still speaking, but she was pushing the words out of her mind. There was no way she was going to accept what they were saying. "Don't you listen to them," she whispered into Jason's ear. "We never listened to the skeptics before, and we're not going to do that now. You have to listen to me. We have to hang in there for his sake. He wouldn't want us to give up. Michael wouldn't give up if it was you or me in there. You wouldn't give up on me, and I wouldn't give up on you. We can do this."
His body shook with tears, a rare vulnerable moment for him. He allowed the sobs to come for a few moments and let her comfort him publicly in front of two people who had just delivered the worst news imaginable. Then, with a deep sigh of resignation, he looked up at Robin. "You heard her," he shrugged. "We're not giving up on him. You do what you have to do to keep him alive. We'll just have to believe enough to take care of the rest."
Robin nodded as Patrick opened the door. She turned back to look at them both huddled together on the floor. "You don't have to pray for this alone," she whispered. "We're all pulling for him, Carly. Michael is loved by so many people, including me. I promise I will do everything I have to do to make sure he stays with us."
"Thank you," Carly murmured back, smiling at Robin for the first time in a long time. Even people who hated Carly still loved her son. It was a true testament to what an amazing soul he was. "Both of you, thank you."
When they were alone again, Carly reached up to wipe the tears away from Jason's face. He rested his cheek in her palm. "I am very proud of you," he murmured. "You are such a good mother. Just stay focused on putting him first, Car. That will sustain you long after the last person stops believing."
"Everything I know about being a good parent, I learned from you," she reminded him. "That will sustain us both long after everyone else has given up hope. We will still be there together, Jase, knowing that Michael is going to wake up. It's more than belief, it's complete and total faith."
"Let's go," he told her, helping her to her feet. They both headed down the hallway to Michael's room. Sonny was outside with Kate, watching through the large window as he slept. Jason kept his arm wrapped firmly around her to support her. They all stood silently together until a nurse came out to say that two people could come in to visit him. "Carly, you and Sonny should go in first."
"No," she insisted firmly. "That's not what Michael would want."
"I'm not letting him go in there before me," Sonny argued. "I'm his father."
"You're his father because Jason let you be his father," she said evenly and softly. "Jason was the first person that Michael ever saw. I want him to go in first, even before you and me. After that, I don't care who goes in and in what order. I just want our son to have all of the people that love him here. He is your son, he is my son, he is Jason's son."
Jason tried to convince her that she should go in first, but Carly was insistent. She knew in her bones that this was the right decision. Her heart was telling her how this needed to be handled, and she felt like if she could trust herself, maybe it would turn out the way that she needed it to be. "Please, Jase, go to him."
Looking to his partner, Jason was surprised to see Sonny nod his permission. "Tell him that we love him," Sonny implored. "Tell him that we all love our son."
