Part Three
When anger became all consuming, it could make a person so blind with the fury, a simple, logical thought was impossible.
Normally, Jason took a bike ride to rid himself of his thoughts. But on his ride back to his penthouse, he couldn't push his thoughts aside; no matter how illogical they ended up becoming. His anger was rising with each passing thought and Jason wanted nothing more than to turn his bike around, go back to General Hospital and kick the shit out of Manny Ruiz.
The bastard was trying to play some type of head game with him. That was how Manny operated. It didn't matter that everyone believed the man was transformed when he had his tumor removed from his brain. To Jason the man was still a ticking bomb that could explode at any moment. Even if what Manny told him was true, why would the reformed mobster offer up the crucial information to Jason so willingly?
Squeezing the handle bars on his bike harder than normal, Jason pushed his bike faster, wanting to get home as quick as possible.
He didn't believe Manny. The man was trying to pull something and Jason was going to find out what the hell Manny was up to.
After pulling into the parking garage, Jason parked his bike and entered the elevator, pushing the button for his floor. When his hands began to throb, it was then that Jason realized his hands were formed into tight fists. Loosening his grip and trying to focus on what he needed to, Jason stared down at his hands, pumping them in order to get blood circulating again. The ding of the elevator informed him that he was now on his floor. Stepping out of the elevator, Jason looked to his right before making his way to his penthouse door.
It was odd, but he was glad Sonny didn't live across from him anymore. With everything that was going on at the moment, he really couldn't deal with the ever present betrayal he felt as he harbored the feeling that his best friend and sister were lying to him about their relationship.
Walking into his penthouse, Jason didn't have to look far to find Sam. She was sitting on the couch, music blaring in the background as she flipped through one of her magazines. The music was so loud; she didn't even hear his entrance and continued to flip through her magazine as he walked over to the coffee table that held her portable boom-box, turning it off once he reached it.
Sam flinched when her music turned off; she closed her magazine, placed her hand over her chest and smiled up at Jason. "You scared me."
"Sorry."
After placing her magazine on the coffee table, Sam began to clear the seat cushion next to her that was full with other magazines. Her intent was to clear the area for Jason to sit next to her, but when she looked back towards him, she stopped her cleaning when she saw him already seated in their large chair that sat next to the couch.
She was smiling at him and Jason couldn't help but notice the drastic change in her from that morning. When he was walking out of the door she seemed almost frantic to keep him there. She even seemed angry with him for leaving. But now her attitude was completely different.
Sam couldn't take the silence or the way he was studying her anymore. Looking down at her hands, she made sure he could see her frown before she spoke. "How did everything go with Elizabeth?" She said Elizabeth's name with a slight sneer and regretted it when she looked back towards Jason and saw his eyes narrow a bit at her tone of voice.
"I didn't get a chance to see her."
Relief was visible on her face after he made that comment. Her relief was short lived, however, when he continued.
He braced his elbows on his knees and looked down at the floor between his feet before he glanced back at her. "I went to the hospital though." He wasn't going to give her any more information; he never really even planned on telling her that he went to the hospital. But at the last moment, he said it and held his breath as he waited for her reaction.
If he would have blinked, he would have missed the slight flash of emotion that passed through her eyes before a look of indifference took over. He couldn't quite name the emotion that passed through her and was trying to figure it out when she began to tell him about her day, changing the subject.
He wasn't really paying attention to her. His mind was set on trying to figure out everything that was placed before him. He looked up at Sam was she gestured wildly with her hands and smiled as she told him about an idea she had. He was in love with this woman and she wouldn't lie to him or hide something as big as killing Alexis from him—especially if an innocent person would take the blame for it. Manny had to be wrong. He was trying to cause trouble and Jason told himself that he wouldn't let the other man succeed.
"Anyway, I'm not too sure if I want to go through with the whole lawyer thing. It's just an idea I had." Standing up, Sam pulled her shirt down, only to have it rise back to rest over her navel, showing off a large portion of her stomach. "I have been cooped up her all day, what do you say we go out for a while. Get something to eat?"
Jason was still trying to process her comment about becoming a lawyer when she finished talking. Deciding to not question her on that just yet, Jason shook his head at her last suggestion. "I can't go out tonight. I have to go to the warehouse and solve a couple of problems. I was waiting until I could get a hold of Sonny, but I can't reach him at the island and I can't wait for him anymore."
Sam crossed her arms under her chest and pouted down at him as she plopped back down on the couch. "You never have time for me anymore." She sounded like a little girl pouting over being grounded. When she saw that Jason was about to speak, she held her hand up and sighed. "Don't worry about me, I'll find something to do."
Jason nodded his head and was about to get up and leave when he decided against it. Settling himself back into the chair, he ran his hand over his face before he looked back at Sam. "Are you really thinking about becoming a lawyer?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Is it because of Alexis?"
"Oh God, no." Her face took on a look of disgust as she ranted on and on about Alexis having nothing to do with her decision to want to become a lawyer. Sam claimed that it didn't matter to her that the woman ended up being her biological mother. Alexis was not her reason behind this sudden interest in becoming a lawyer. "I just figured that I'm good at arguing and I think I would be a good lawyer. Trust me Jason, that bitch had nothing to do with my decision to look into law school. As far as I am concerned, Alexis deserved everything that she got."
After she made that remark, Sam began to pick up her magazines again. Jason watched her with a thoughtful expression as she walked into the kitchen. Shaking his head against the thoughts that began to enter his mind, Jason stood and picked up his leather jacket, calling out to her as he made his way to the door. "I'm leaving; I don't know when I'll be back."
He heard her shout her acknowledgement from the kitchen as he closed the door behind him.
Sam hurried out of the kitchen to say goodbye to Jason. She shrugged her shoulders when she realized that he was already gone. She began to clean up the rest of the mess from the coffee table, swiping the crumbs from her cookies she had earlier off of the coffee table and onto the floor. As she made her way back into the kitchen, Sam allowed herself to think about the day she killed Alexis. She smiled to herself over the fact that the woman was dead. Alexis tried to do everything in her power to ruin Sam's life and Sam could only return the favor.
It was a sad thing that Elizabeth had to pay for Alexis' death, Sam thought, but as long as Alexis was dead and Sam was in the clear, she couldn't find it in herself to care.
She never wanted to spend another night in jail.
Ever again.
Threading her fingers through her hair over that fanciful thought, Elizabeth took a good look at her surroundings and thought about her situation. It was pretty likely that she was going to be spending a few more nights in jail. She just hoped she would be able to prove her innocence and get out of there as quickly as possible.
She spent all of her time the day before hoping and praying that her husband would show up. The PCPD weren't going to allow her any visitors, but she was glad that Luke was able to get in to see her, even if it was only for a short while. He was able to keep her spirits high and her faith intact.
She was going to get out of there and prove her innocence.
Elizabeth had just sat down on her cot again when she heard the giggle of keys and a gate opening as it scraped across the concrete floor. She frowned as she waited for whoever it was. She had just had a visitor not even twenty minutes before and didn't think that she would be allowed another one. She was just about to give into the hope that it could be her husband, but when she heard the familiar thud of motorcycle boots, she knew exactly who it was.
Odd, but knowing he was there seemed to calm her a bit.
Standing up from her cot, Elizabeth fixed her ponytail as she waited for Jason and the police officer to turn the corner to where her cell was. She couldn't contain it, relief washed over her when she saw him turn the corner and make eye contact with her. His eyes were sympathetic as they locked with hers.
Jason didn't say anything to Elizabeth when he stopped before her cell. He looked at the guard who escorted him to her and waited until the cop left. He was a younger man, probably new to the force and with one look from Jason Morgan; the young guard took a shaky step back before speaking. "You have ten minutes." With that, the guard turned around and walked with quick steps away from the pair.
Once Jason was sure that the guard was out of ear shot, he turned to Elizabeth and felt his stomach clench at the sight of her in the cell. "Are you ok?"
Never one to hold her feelings back when she was with Jason, Elizabeth gave him the only answer she could. The truth. "No." Swiping away a stray tear with an angry swipe of her hand, Elizabeth looked down at the concrete floor before she locked her dimmed blue eyes with his concerned ones. "I didn't do it."
"I know." Moving closer, Jason grabbed onto a bar with a death grip. "I tried to come and see you yesterday when I heard what happened, but they wouldn't let me see you. Can you tell me what happened?"
Sighing, Elizabeth walked closer to the bars that separated her from Jason and began to relate everything that she knew. "I was just walking by her hospital room when I decided to check on her. She looked really pale, but when I checked her forehead and her IV, everything else was fine."
"Where you wearing gloves?"
"No."
Closing his eyes at that fact, Jason nodded his head and waited for her to go on.
"I know what you're thinking. They now have my fingerprints in her room and I wasn't her nurse and I was the last one seen in her room before she died so that just makes it look worse for me." Placing her hands over her face, Elizabeth groaned. "They have so much evidence against me. What am I going to do? I can't even afford a lawyer."
Turning away from him, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her stomach as she walked back to her cot and sat down. She placed her elbows on her knees and buried her head in her hands.
"I'll get you a lawyer."
Her head shot up at his softened voice. She voiced her denial quickly. "No, Jason, I couldn't ask something like-"
A soft smile found its way to his grim face. "You didn't ask." When she gave a soft and small smile in return, Jason hedged on. "You need a really good lawyer and I happen to know one of the best. I know Justus will take this case."
"Thank you." Her soft words of gratitude made him shake his head as she stood back up and walk towards him again. She stopped right in front of the bars and placed her hand over his. "I don't know how long it will take me to pay you back, but I promise you that you'll get every single penny back."
Jason didn't feel the need to tell her that she wasn't going to be giving him a single penny in payment. "Let's just get you out of here first and then we'll worry about that, ok?"
"Ok." She dropped her hand away from his, but didn't step back. She was looking at the ground as she spoke again. "I just can't believe that people would actually believe that I would kill Alexis." Her confused eyes met his and the depth of pain that was radiating through her eyes was like a hard blow to his stomach. "Luke told me that they are saying I killed her because I was jealous. I just-"
"Luke told you that?" He didn't mean for his voice to sound so angry. But he couldn't help it. Luke shouldn't have told her what the papers were saying. She had too much to deal with as it was, she didn't need to hear the nasty rumors being spread about her.
She found herself reassuring him, and it helped to have to soothe him rather than being the one who was in need of the soothing. "Only because I begged him to tell me everything they were saying. I'm locked up in here for God only knows how long; I wanted to know what was going on." She smiled when the angry expression left Jason's face.
The smile slipped from her face when she felt the sudden need to get everything off of her chest. It was always so easy to talk to Jason. "Ric was here earlier. He is so devastated over Alexis' death he just doesn't know what to believe. He begged me to give him some answers, but I couldn't and that hurt so much to see him so lost." Tears gathered in her eyes, threatening to spill free. "He told me that he didn't want to believe that I killed Alexis and that he was sorry that he had to tell the police that he saw me leaving her room."
"Ric told you he didn't believe that you killed Alexis?"
"I don't think he believes I killed her. But he is just so confused right now. I'm worried that he is going to go back to the way he was when he first came to Port Charles."
"I know you're worried Elizabeth, but you have to think of yourself right now. I'll try to talk to Ric. He probably won't want to talk, but I'll try. It might help to have Ric on our side."
"I know."
Looking over his shoulder, Jason looked to see if the guard was coming yet. When he heard and saw nothing, he turned back to Elizabeth and stepped forward as he lowered his voice. "I talked to Patrick Drake yesterday; he's working to see if he can find out what really happened." Her eyes widened at the news. "I also don't think that Alexis fell into the water."
"What?" Her question was a breathless whisper.
"I think someone pushed her in. When she ended up alive, I think that same person went into her hospital room to finish the job."
"Who do you think would do that?"
Jason shook his head. "I'm not sure. Alexis has a lot of enemies. She was a lawyer and helped to put a lot of people away. It could be anybody." When she closed her eyes and two identical tears fell from both of her closed lids, Jason reached in-between the bars and gently cupped her face with one hand, wiping one tear away with his thumb.
"We will figure this out Elizabeth. I'm going to talk to Justus when I leave here. You just need to hang in there for a little while longer. You'll get out of here," he paused when he heard the guard making his way towards them. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He wiped her cheek with his thumb one more time before he pulled away.
"I promise."