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One day when the girl was playing in her mother's garden, she heard loud yelling coming from a window. She crept over, careful not to make a sound. She heard her father, the evil man, yelling at the top of his lungs at another man. "I want her dead by tonight!" her father shouted, "and don't screw up again!"
"Emily calm down" Jason advised as Emily shook violently. "I found her in the park, she was lying in the snow for who knows how long."
"Why didn't you take her to the hospital Jason?" she asked concerned reaching for the first aid kit Jason was holding.
"She told me not to. She said that somebody was going to find her there and kill her. She made me promise."
Emily cut away the girls clothes.
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"Come on Em, I may not work for the mafia but I know that any criminal looking to 'finish the job' is going to set up camp around the police."
Emily grimaced looking at the side wound. "What's her name Jase?" The woman was pretty, young, and petite Emily observed. Her pale skin sort of looked luminescent in the poor lighting of the penthouse.
"I don't know, she sounded like she was worried about two guys named Garret and Johnny."
"Jason, I'm only in med school and this wound is beyond my current knowledge or experience." Emily said seriously, "she needs professional medical care immediately."
"But I promised her I wouldn't take her to the doctor."
"I know, you won't have too." Emily flipped open her phone and dialed a few numbers.
"Hello? Robin? I'm fine but listen I need you to come over to Jason's penthouse now- it's and emergency. Great! And one more thing, I need you to bring your med bag and you absolutely cannot tell anyone about this. Alright, see you in a few. Bye." Emily smiled looking up from her phone. "Well Robin's morbidly curious."
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Jason asked looking down, concern coloring his features.
"Well I might not be comfortable enough to get that bullet out of her, but I do know that she should- with the proper care- be fine. My main concern is that the bullet might of hit something serious, but other then that her issue will be with tearing her stitching and cheating death by avoiding a serious infection- I mean she was out in the park unconscious with an open wound, never mind the mild hypothermia she already has."
Jason nodded; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the unconscious figure lying on his couch. She was so beautiful, but her small frame made her look so fragile. He wondered what she did to get shot, or who she was, and why somebody would want someone as beautiful as her dead.
Fifteen minutes late Robin pounded on the door.
"It's me Robin!" She shouted, behind the heavy wood. Jason flung open the door, eager to get the woman some medical attention.
"Geeze" Robin said, walking in "I thought I would need a secret password to get in Jason."
Robin instantly focused when she saw the girl Emily was leaning over.
"Oh my gosh." She said quietly, "I know her!"
"What?" Jason and Emily asked simultaneously.
"Yeah, I met her at the mall- her name's Elizabeth" Robin rubbed her hands over her forehead and jumped into her doctor mode, speaking to Emily she began to ask questions. She new the young Quartermaine was in med school, and often advised her. They had become best friends when Emily volunteered at the hospital and Robin was beginning her residency.
"Where'd you find her?"
"Jason found her at the park."
"How long was she there?"
"He doesn't know."
"How are her vitals?"
"Surprisingly stable."
"Entry point of the bullet?"
"It appears to be from the side of her body, beside her lungs. Her breathing is stable, so I don't think the bullet punctured the lungs- I wasn't sure though."
"You're right" Robin had already donned gloves and was working on extracting the bullet with her sterilized forceps and retractors. "It's a rather lucky hit, generally a superficial one. She is suffering from mild hypothermia, along with stress and blood loss. It's no wonder she unconscious. Emily grab that small bowl from inside my bag."
Emily pulled it out and Robin dropped the bullet into it.
"I applied anesthesia to the wound, but you'll have to administer oral antibiotics and pain medication- which I'll give you a prescription for in a minute." Robin stitched up the wound, and cleaned up the area, bandaging her up. "Get her into new clothes and wrap her in blankets. You'll want to make sure she eats lots of hot liquids, and carbs. Rehydration is super important." She finally added going into the kitchen to clean up.
Twenty minutes later Elizabeth was wrapped in blankets in Jason's guest bedroom, fast asleep. Robin and Emily were sitting on the couch discussing the turn of events, while Jason went to the pharmacy.
As he drove Jason repeated Elizabeth's name in his heat, wondering about his new guest.
She was so pretty, and her name was perfect for her. He wondered how he got himself into this situation, but for some reason didn't regret it. He wondered if he was in danger, if maybe he was doing something illegal for harboring her in his penthouse. He didn't care, for some reason he didn't believe that Elizabeth was bad news- just that whoever shot her was. He wondered who Garret and Johnny were, and if she was married. He remembered her naked ring finger and smiled. No she wasn't. He wondered if she had a boyfriend. We'll, he reasoned, if she did then he was a lousy one, after all he didn't save her, Jason did. He wondered if he should have called the police or taken her to the hospital. He was glad that he didn't the thought of her in danger made his stomach turn.
Returning to the penthouse, Jason found Emily and Robin waiting for him.
"So what are you going to do?" Emily asked first.
"I guess I'll keep her here until she gets better."
"Then what?"
"Then that's it. Whatever she does after is her decision."
"Have you considered that she might be dangerous?" Robin asked.
"She doesn't seem dangerous" Jason responded easily.
"Hmm. Let me see. She's about twenty, wearing leather. And when me and Emily changed her into warmer clothes we found this stuff on her." Robin handed Jason a small gun, a roll of hundred dollar bills, and an untraceable cell phone. "Never mind the fact that someone thought that she needed to be 'taken out".
Jason laughed at Robin's cheesy mob term, pulled right out of some mob movie.
"I'm serious Jason!" Robin chuckled too, then formed a straight face.
"I know" Jason said. "But my business isn't crystal clear either, so I know a little about being "taken out" and threats. I'll just have my security team up their game."
"Speaking of which" Emily added, "Where is your security team?"
"I gave them the night off" Jason added simply.
"Jason!" Emily shouted.
"You don't have to worry about me" Jason smirked at his younger sisters concern, "I know how to handle a gun."
Emilr rolled her eyes, hoping that the young lady sleeping upstairs wouldn't cost her her brother's life.
Johnny had just ended a call with his friend who had been watching Garret at the hospital. Garret was in surgery to have the bullet that was lodged in his brain taken out. He was in critical condition.
After the attack Johnny had immediately gone looking for Elizabeth. Not finding her, he assumed that she had been either kidnapped or had gotten away. Then he had called one of his closest friends- Ethan Lovett- to take Garret to the hospital and to help him dispose of the body of their attacker. Leaving Ethan with Garret, Johnny disposed of the bodies and began to look for Elizabeth.
He had followed her tracks to the last boxcar at the far end of Port Charles park. He only found blood. He made repeated attempts to call her cell phone, but nobody answered. Finally, he decided to wait. If she had been kidnapped, he would get a call soon. If she was killed then he was sure he would've found out by now. He drove back to the hospital where Ethan was flipping through a magazine in the waiting room.
"How is he?" John asked sitting down in a heap.
"He just came out of surgery. They're getting him settled and all that. Did you find her?"
"No."
"Then she's probably alive out there, eh?"
"I guess. I'm pretty sure she was shot, I found blood."
"If she goes to the police or the hospital, my boys will be the first to know."
"Yeah, and so will whoever hired that guy to kill her. Besides, she's too smart to go to the hospital or police."
"Not the first time this has happened, I'm guessing?"
"Nope. She's been shot at since her father started moving her around."
"When did that start?"
"After he killed her mother. He had her strangled. She heard him order it, went to visit her mom, and saw the guy who did it crawl out the window."
"Helluva childhood."
"Yeah, well she tries to be strong. But when it comes to her old man, she doesn't fool anybody. Especially him."
Just then a doctor came over. He was tall, with black hair and blue eyes.
"Hi my name's doctor Drake. I operated on your father Garret O'Connell?"
"Yes." Johnny had told the hospital that Garret was his father so that they'd allow him full access.
"Well, your father pulled out fine. He should be expected to make a full recovery. However it was a long and complicated procedure, and sometimes these things are uncertain so we're keeping him on for observation. At this moment he's very weak, and unconscious, however would you like to go see him?"
Johnny nodded, leaving Ethan behind. As he entered the room he looked around at the various beeping machines, then at Garret who was asleep. It was hard for John to see him this way. Garret had always been like a father to him, and he always looked up to his uncle, following his advice in every and anything. Johnny wondered if he should say anything.
"So hey Uncle Garret. I was just thinking, you know that new tablet you wanted? Well I think I'm gonna get it for you for Christmas. How does that sound?" He stared at his unconscious uncle. Johnny felt suddenly alone. His mother was gone, he never knew about his father, and now his beloved uncle was laying there attached to machines. Never mind the fact that his best friend and the person he was supposed to protect was missing and maybe even dead.
"Garret" Johnny said, sitting on a chair next to the man's bed, he leaned in grabbing Garrets hand. "I need you now more than ever. I don't know what to do. Elizabeth's gone, I don't know where she is or if she's okay. You're lying in a hospital bed. And then person who did this is out there. And Anthony Zacharra is out there, and he's going to want an answer for his daughter's disappearance." Suddenly a thought occurred to Johnny. What if Anthony was the one who put out the hit? It would be perfect. After all Anthony's people were the ones who didn't show up on time. He would've known that Elizabeth, Garret, and him would be waiting.
Suddenly Johnny felt a squeeze in his hand. He looked up as Garrets eyes focused on him.
"Johnny" he whispered, "Johnny, my son. I love you." Then he flatlined.
A flurry of nurses and doctors immediately entered the room, shoving Johnny out and working to resuscitate Garret. A few minutes later and Dr. Drake appeared.
"The good news is that we restarted your father's heart, and he's alright. The bad news is that he seems to have slipped into a coma. While this is normal with patients with this amount of trauma, I want to warn you that in some cases patients do not come out of the coma, and that you should be aware."
Johnny's head was spinning. He heard everything that was being said to him but he wasn't listening. His son? He wondered. Am I his son?
