Carly was being prepped for the surgery of her life, and the only thing that Jason could do was sit by idly and pray in a room full of people that he didn't want to talk to right now. He wanted to be at the penthouse sprawled out on the couch with Carly, watching mindless movies while they talk all night and drink beer. It had been months since they had done that, and depending on how tonight went, it could be months before they would do it again. He'd be perfectly happy sitting on a bench in the park with her while they watched Morgan play or laying on that beach she loved so much in Florida. Really, Jason just wanted for them to by anywhere but here.

Patrick came rushing through the door suddenly, the tails of his white coat trailing behind him as he sought out Jason in the packed waiting room. "Carly is awake," he announced, his eyes locking with Jason's. "She's asking for you."

Jax was the first to spring to his feet, Bobbie and Sonny close behind. "Thank you!" the three of them nearly called in unison before the neurosurgeon stepped in to stop them. Jason moved past them all wordlessly, moving as quickly as his feet could carry him. This was the only thing he had been praying for all day. He wanted one last chance to look into her beautiful blue eyes and know that the choice that he made was right. He wanted to be able to tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry that he had wasted all this time. More than anything, he just wanted to hear her say his name and promise him that she'll wake up to say it again.

"Jase," she greeted him hoarsely, turning slightly on her side as he came into the room. Jason was across the room in an instant, kneeling beside her bed as he held her hands tightly to his lips. He kissed each fingertip tenderly, savoring the comforting warmth her skin gave him. "Hey, Jase, look at me."

Carly was surprised to see tears shining in his eyes as he gazed at her intently. It was only then that she was truly scared for whatever was going to happen. Patrick had briefed her momentarily before she had pleaded for him to get Jason. Her best friend had been the only thing she had wanted to see when she had woken up. It was instinctive to call out for him, for her body to react so strongly the way it was now whenever she was near him. Jason was her strength, and as she prepared for the fight of her life, she needed him here.

"It's okay," she said finally, reaching for his hand and squeezing it tightly. She needed for him to know that, to understand that she understood why he'd done what he had done. "I get why you chose me. I don't really know how I feel about it, but Patrick says that it's the only way that we could both survive. I knew that you would do what was best for me, Jase. It's okay. You made the right choice."

Tears slipped from his intense blue eyes, ones usually known for their iciness but now filled so much warmth. "God, I love you, Carly," he murmured. "I'm sorry that I don't tell you that more often, but I know that you know. It's only when things get like this that I ever allow the words to be spoken, but you deserve to hear it all the time. You know what you meant to me, that you and the boys are the biggest part of my heart. That's why you have to be okay, alright? You have to come back to me. I don't care about Jax or your mom or Sonny. You have to come back to your family – our family."

She had waited more than a decade to hear Jason speak to that way again. As much as she had tried to love her husband and Sonny before him, no one would ever compare to Jason in her eyes. Anyone else in her life had always just had to accept coming in second. Jason would gladly come in second just to be in her life, she knew that. However, he had held her heart's first position since the first time they spectacularly crashed and burned that first night at Jake's. In the twelve years since that night, they had never stopped being that same beautiful disaster.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jase," she promised softly. Carly knew that things were going to be different when she woke up from this surgery, whether if it was for better or for worse. She had known it a month ago when she had shown up at the hospital and passed out in Jason's room in the emergency room. She forgot about everything, including her own health, when she found out that his life was on the line. He had stumbled down the hall in terrible pain to get to her that night. That was just how Carly and Jason were. She knew that she had to come back to him. She wouldn't accept anything else. "The baby and I are going to be fine. I am going to come back to you. Just believe in me like I always believe in you."

Jason reached up and tucked a golden ringlet behind her ear before pressing a kiss on her forehead. "I always believe in you," he promised. "You are the strongest woman I know. I know that if anyone can manage another miracle, it's you. I just don't want you to wake up and hate me."

She reached up and pressed a finger to his mouth. "You were the first person I wanted when I woke up. Not my husband, not my mother, not even my son," she pointed out. "Do you really think that I could ever hate you, Jase? You are the least selfish person I know. People always say that you're this cold and unfeeling mobster, but I know better. I know how much you love me and the boys and Jake. I see how the light in your eyes changes when you find me across a room. Even when you wanted to hide it, I always saw it. I'm not saying that I won't be upset if this doesn't go the way I want it to. If that happens. Jase, I'm going to need you more than ever. But I don't want to think like that. I need to be positive. I need you to believe with me. You always told me that I was unstoppable when I want something; well, I want this baby."

He wanted this baby for her too. Even if it wasn't his little girl or boy that she was carrying, Jason already loved the child as much as he loved Michael, Morgan and Jake. There was no difference in his love for any of the boys, and he would love this child with that same fervor and devotion. He loved anything that was apart of Carly. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Thanks," she smiled, hooking her arms around his neck to pull him down to her for a tight hug. Jason embraced her to him, praying that God wouldn't take this woman away from him. He pressed a kiss to her head again as he pulled away. Carly rested her forehead to his, looking into his eyes and seeing hope there for the first time in awhile. He was still afraid. He would always be afraid for her. However, he was also going to believe for her. "I love you, Jase."

"I love you, too," he retorted.

She nodded as Patrick knocked on the door. "You have five more minutes before we have to administer the anesthesia," he told them before closing it again for privacy.

"Alright, I have to tell you a few more things just in case something does happen to me," she stated, wiping at her eyes. She sat up with Jason on the bed beside her. "I've asked Patrick to leave all of my medical decisions to you, per my will. Everything else is accounted for in there, too. The most important thing is Morgan. Of course Sonny would be there as his father, but I need you to bridge the gap, Jason. Make sure that he keeps his ties with Jax. He's important to Morgan. And let him know my mother and brother. Morgan might be Sonny's son, but he has a lot of Spencer in him."

"You'll be here to take care of all that."

Carly nodded and managed a confident smile for his sake. She just had needed to say those words in case things didn't go her way. She had cheated death enough times to know that eventually her number would be up. "And when I do wake up, you are the first person that I want to see. I want to see you holding my son, you got me?"

"We'll be here," he promised. "Not sure that Jax will like that..."

"Jax has left me alone enough times. He'll just have to understand why I couldn't depend on him to be here if I needed these decisions made for me. Besides, Jax knows..."

"He knows what, Carly?"

She knew that she could save this, leave the words unspoken until she was sure that he would return the sentiment. It would be safer that way. Or she could be the brave girl he had fallen for all those years ago and just blurt it out. "He knows that I love you."

"Well, yeah, I'm you're best friend. It's something we've fought about on more than one occasion."

"No, Jase, he knows that I love you."

This time he understood what she was trying to tell him. It was an entirely different way of telling Jason that she loved him. "Carly, we don't need to do this now."

She laughed at him then, knowing how comfortable it was all making him. "If not now, Jase, when? C'mon, we've sat at each other's bedsides enough over the years to know that you only get one chance at last words. I don't want ours to be that we'll discuss how we feel later. I want my last words to you before I have this surgery to be that I love you. That I am in love with you. I almost died last year when I fell into the pier. You brought me back. Your love saved me. It's going to save me this time. Just don't deny it, okay? You don't have to reciprocate it or admit it, but don't deny it. Please."

"I could never lie to you, Carly," he said. "You're pregnant with another man's child, lying in a hospital bed fighting for both of your lives, and the only thing I can think about is how beautiful you are and how much I don't care about any of that other stuff. I loved you when you were married to A.J., Sonny, Alcazar and now Jax I'm used to all that part because I always knew that I had your heart."

"It's time," Patrick announced as he came into the room followed by the entire surgical team.

Jason moved to the side only long enough for the orderlies to lift the rails on the bed before retuning to take her hand as they headed down the hallway. They passed briefly through the waiting room where her entire family was waiting. Even as Jax and Sonny called out to Carly, her eyes remained on Jason. They stopped outside the operating room where Patrick told Jason to say his goodbyes. He leaned down and whispered in her ear so that only Carly could hear, "You have my heart, too."

Carly smiled affectionately as Jason squeezed her hand one final time before letting go. He watched Patrick roll the bed away and the door swing closed behind them. His final words were the ones that Jason knew would bring her back to him. It was his only comfort as he came back into the waiting room. He took his chair in the corner alone again. Now all he could do was wait for her to come back. He just had to wait for the rest of his life to begin.