Disclaimer- I don't own General Hospital or any of the characters.
Chapter Six
It was raining heavily when Jason stepped out of the car followed by Max, into the hospital. He hadn't slept much. Between the baby waking up and needing to be fed and his own nightmares, he opted to try and stay awake instead. Finally around four in the morning, he managed to fall asleep for a couple hours.
As they neared Brenda's room, Jason noticed a lot of activity. He handed the carrier off to Max and walked into the room. Patrick and Robin were standing on opposite sides of the bed.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked.
"Nothing's wrong," Robin told him. "It's good news."
"She triggered the ventilator, which means that she's starting to breath on her own," Patrick continued.
"Did she wake up?"
"Not yet. But that doesn't mean she won't. We're taking baby steps here," Patrick told him. "In a matter of time she will wake up, when her body is ready and healed. We were about to remove the tube and make sure she is breathing on her own."
"What if she isn't?"
"Then we put the tube back in and wait a little while longer. But trust me, Jason; we won't have to do that. Her body is getting stronger."
Robin smiled at him and he stood back silently as the worked to remove the tube. Then Patrick checked for even breath sounds and they watched the monitor for signs of complications. For a minute the numbers began to decrease, but almost as quickly they increased again.
"She's holding steady. We'll be creating on her more regularly for the next couple days in case there are any complications," Patrick told him. "In the meantime, keep talking to her. That always seems to work. And if anything happens, press this button," he instructed holding up an indicator with a button on top.
"Thank you, again," Jason said walking over to the bed.
"Jason, I know you wanted to wait a while before telling anyone she was here, but I called Lois. She would want to know," Robin told him.
Jason just nodded as they walked out of the room. He took a deep breath. He was relieved. Seeing both of them in there, nervous looks on their faces, he thought something bad would happen.
It made him wonder if the relief was because she was still alive, or because the future for the child was still in his care. If Brenda died, he could be stuck with a child that wasn't his in the slightest.
He wondered if Elizabeth was thinking about him. If Jake missed him or even knew him yet. She had to know he was out of jail, but she hadn't come to visit. She made a point to see him in Pentonville, why not take the extra trip to the penthouse. Maybe his being gone helped her move into the future with Lucky more than he expected.
Jason was leaning against the end of her bed, hands resting on the plastic frame. He was just looking at her face, the bruising down the left side, the cut on her forehead, and the purplish tint down her neck, disappearing beneath her hospital gown. He tried to convince himself that the car accident was responsible for this, but he'd been in enough fights to know when something was man made.
He felt the strange urge to find whoever did that to her and make him feel the same pain. When she was better, he'd find out, he'd do something about it. But until she was up and walking, the only thing he could do was sit and wait.
He needed to talk a walk. He left Max sitting with the baby and found some fresh air to clear his head. He was supposed to loath Brenda, not hope for her. Spending so much time with her child, and at her hospital bed, was starting to make him see her as Robin had described. A different person. He would never have expected her to sign over her child to him after so many years, or even at all.
Maybe being away from reminders of her for a little bit would clear his head.
---
Jason and Max were no where to be seen when Sonny walked up to Brenda's hospital room. Maybe Jason had second thoughts and was off distributing the kid with the Quartermaine's. This wasn't his battle. Except when he walked in he wasn't alone.
"What are you doing here?" Sonny asked.
Coop turned around. He was sitting on the edge of Brenda's bed, her hand in his. He slowly got off the bed and faced Sonny.
"Don't make me ask you again," Sonny demanded.
"I heard she was in the hospital. I wanted to make sure she was okay," Coop said.
"Who told you?" Sonny asked.
Coop didn't respond as he stepped back from the bed and headed towards the door.
"Let's talk outside," Sonny suggested.
They didn't get a chance to talk before the familiar Brooklyn accent filled Sonny's ears.
"Cuerllo, you always choose to show up out of nowhere don't you?" Sonny asked giving her a hug.
"Of course. I wouldn't be me without it," She said walking into the hospital room. Her bag and jacket were instantly discarded into a chair as she approached Brenda's bed. "What did you do to her?" Lois whispered to herself.
"What are you talking about?" Coop asked.
"Exactly," Sonny copied.
Lois looked at both of them.
"It was just a figure of speech," she said not looking at either of them. She brushed back a strand of her hair and sighed. "How long has she been like this?" Lois asked.
"Over a week," Jason said walking into the room.
Lois didn't wait for permission; she just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.
"I want to see her," Lois said softly. Jason just nodded and ushered Max in carrying the baby in her carrier. Lois instantly took it and within seconds she had the baby in her arms. "She looks just like Brenda, dark hair and everything."
"Blue eyes," Jason commented.
Lois looked at him and smiled. "Yeah. I would imagine so."
"She wanted to name her Emmy," Lois commented walking over to the bed.
"How do you know that?" Jason asked.
"Because she's my best friend and she told me," Lois said looking at him. "Hi Emmy," Lois cooed. "This is your mommy. I know she's sick right now but she's going to get better because she wanted to see you grow up so much."
"Who's the daddy?" Sonny asked suddenly.
Lois and Coop both looked at Sonny.
"The father is not in the picture," Lois told him looking back at the baby girl. "But she doesn't need him."
"Where is he? Wouldn't he want to see his baby?" Sonny asked.
"Why don't you just drop it, Sonny? I said it doesn't matter. So leave it alone," Lois said.
Sonny held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. It was just a question. I should get going anyways. You kids have fun," Sonny said before glancing at Coop and walking out.
"Listen, Jace, if you need anything, I'm staying at the Metro Court. All you have to do is call and I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Lois. You're more than welcome to come over to the penthouse too."
She smiled at him. She didn't think being in her best friend's hospital room was going to feel like this. To see her god daughter and feel the love she did, but someone had to be strong for Brenda, because with the crowd that was hanging out, it wasn't likely to happen without her help.