AN: Hi, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I'm having fun writing it. Thank you so much for the follows, reviews and for reading.
S/O: Punkie! Thank you so much for the kind reviews. They make me smile. I hope the next few chapters answer your questions. I think if you leave out the periods in the website addresses I'll be able to find them. :D I'm looking forward to reading those stories!
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to ABC and General Hospital. I'm just playing with the characters. :)
Chapter 8
Anthony wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as he stared out of the barely cracked window. He couldn't risk being seen and he didn't dare draw attention by cranking up the SUV for air conditioning. Tempting as it was, he had to be inconspicuous. The passenger door opened suddenly and he turned. Reaching for his gun he saw who it was. Sighing a breath of relief he said, "It's about damn time you showed up, Cookie. What in the hell took so long. I didn't think my ticker could withstand any more waiting and worrying. Hell, I even thought I was going to have a heat stroke if you didn't come out soon. It's hot out here! Enough about me, how's my Johnny boy doing?"
Slamming the passenger door as she slid into the seat, Elizabeth turned to look at the man. Glaring at him she said, "Hello to you too, Anthony." Tugging off the awful blonde wig and tossing it on the back seat, she shook her hair loose, letting her own auburn curls fall against her shoulders. Sighing at the feeling, she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes, taking a minute for herself. Phase one of Operation Free Johnny, as she called this crazy scheme, was over. She had gotten by the guards and she had managed to tell Johnny everything.
"Well, get on with it. Don't keep me waiting. Despite my good looks, I'm not getting any younger you know. Did you see him? Did he believe you? How did he look?"
Elizabeth looked at the anxious father beside her and her irritation faded. "I was able to see him and he looks well for someone who's in prison." Oh, he certainly looks fine… and he smells incredible too," she thought as she remembered sitting in Johnny's lap. Shivering despite the heat, she buckled her seat belt and continued. "As soon as I told him, he was a little shocked but he believed that you were alive. I guess me being there, certainly supported the fact. Anyways, we arranged a meeting tomorrow during lunch. He's going to meet me in the infirmary. Oh and Anthony, (Elizabeth smiled) he also told me to tell you that if you pull this off, he'll owe you one."
Starting the ignition and turning the air on full blast, Anthony grinned as he pulled out of the lot. His son was fine. As Pentonville began fading in the mirror, he glanced over at Elizabeth as she kicked off her heels. She looked tired. The girl had done well but this was far from being over. He was glad that John was doing fine but he'd feel a hell of a lot better as soon as he was out. Too many variables were unknown in this whole situation. He wasn't any closer to figuring out who was behind this whole set up. He may be up in age but Anthony was still capable of sniffing out a dead rat. And, his instincts were screaming that this one was a big fat dirty one.
Considering all things, the woman beside him was taking it well. He had to give her that much. The last week had been stressful with all the planning, preparing and arguing between the two. She seemed to be keeping a level head and he damn well knew she could out sass him or at least go toe to toe. She had done so on several occasions. The more time he spent with her the more he came to appreciate her. Most of the women he had known were unfaithful, scheming whores, never to be trusted. Sadly, even his daughter had fallen into the category. Elizabeth, he discovered, was special. The truth was that he liked her. A rare emotion when it came to females in his life. She had gumption.
Smirking, he thought that she would probably kill him if she ever realized that he had been bluffing about having her kids watched. He had known that it would take a powerful threat to get Elizabeth to cooperate. Her kids were her strength as well as her weakness and he was going to use that to his advantage. As long as she believed that he was a threat to her kids, she would do whatever he needed. Tomorrow he needed her in Pentonville to begin the next part of their plan. Establishing Elizabeth as a nurse on the inside not only allowed him a channel to communicate with John, but to have someone on the inside to help get him out. Whether she knew it or not the whole plan rested upon her shoulders. John's freedom depended on her and so did he.
Johnny walked into his cell and Aidan sat up, eager to hear of Johnny's visitor. Waiting for the door to close behind the guard, Johnny smirked before relaying his news. Things were looking up. He had contacted Ethan soon after watching Elizabeth leave and Ethan had assured him that everything was running smoothly. Making his way over to sit beside Aidan, Johnny broke into a wide grin. Aidan was going to love this sudden development because there was no way that he was going to leave him behind in this hell hole. His Pops and Elizabeth were going to be busting both of them out.
Charting the nursing notes about her last patient, Elizabeth reached up and flipped a lock of black hair over her shoulder. The wig felt itchy against her skin and she sighed. Since she was presumed missing and her real identity couldn't be risked, Anthony had made sure that Elizabeth would have a disguise as long as she worked in the prison. The disguise that he had given her for her first day of work at Pentonville, consisted of not only a black wig, but also contact lenses that transformed her blue eyes to green. She had taken the look a step further and added a pair of faux glasses that she had found among Claudia's things. Claudia's closet had proven to be a real treasure trove. After memorizing her new identity, Elizabeth had spent two hours going through all the clothes, shoes, bags and accessories last night hoping to find something that she would be able to use. In the week that they had been preparing for her first visit with Johnny and planning for his jailbreak, Anthony had managed to get her the job inside the infirmary, a new wardrobe and a new set of IDs. As long as she would be working at Pentonville, she would be known as Nurse Lizzie Johns.
Last night, Anthony had handed her a manila envelope and after pulling out her new driver's license, she had asked if having a name so similar to her own would be risky. Anthony had responded by telling her that he felt that it would be easier having a name that she could connect to when called and as for her new last name, well he was thinking of Johnny when he filled out the papers. Stuffing the ID back in with the rest of the papers, she had moved onto the shopping bags filled with clothes. Whereas yesterday's disguise had Elizabeth cringing, this one made her feel a little like herself. The red and black scrubs that she wore today resembled those of her own and the contacts weren't as uncomfortable as she had feared. She reasoned that if nothing else, she would get to see how she looked with different hair styles without the commitment.
Glancing at the time on the computer screen as she closed the charting program, she bit her lip. It was almost time for her meeting with Johnny. The doctor on staff would be leaving soon for his lunch break, allowing an inmate, who also happened to be a doctor, to take over the patients for the rest of her shift. Inwardly, she had been nervous about being alone with an inmate but the doctor had tried to convince her that the man was a decent guy who had botched his career in a drunken haze one night, also adding that he was an excellent doctor who should have been practicing on the outside. He said all of that hoping that it made her feel safe.
Deciding that she would just have to deal with her trepidation and rely on the guards to keep her safe, she had smiled politely and had assured the doctor that she would be able to handle things. She needed to do this and meet with Johnny otherwise Anthony would have given her hell when he picked her up this afternoon. Something she didn't wish to experience. The old man loved to rant and usually she could roll her eyes and endure but today she knew that she sure as hell wouldn't want to hear it, especially after pulling a long shift. She definitely would make use of Johnny's tub tonight. Thinking of tonight's upcoming bubble bath, she went to file some paperwork and glanced at the door. There was still no sign of Johnny or this mystery doctor. She didn't know how Johnny was going to get to the infirmary but she would be waiting for him. She also wondered if he would like today's disguise as much as yesterday's.
Thinking about how Johnny had looked at her in that outfit brought a blush to her cheeks. Just one meeting with him had her feeling things that she hadn't felt for a man in what seemed like forever. It had been a long time since she had been attracted to someone, as in really attracted. Jason had been the last man that she had been with and that was several years ago. She had put all of her energy into focusing on her two boys and working at the hospital. Eventually she had tried dating a doctor, Ewen, but that had been a disaster. Her heart just hadn't been in it and of course, it didn't help that she and Jason had been spending time together as friends. Ewen had been jealous of their breakfast dates and shooting pool at Jake's and Elizabeth had grown tired of trying to make herself feel something that she didn't. The two had parted ways and she had once again placed dating last on her list of things to do.
However, Johnny was a different story. He stirred something within her. Not one to indulge in fantasies often, she had certainly done her share the night before. While lying in the man's bed late last night, tossing and turning in his silk sheets and wearing the shirt that she had found upon her first visit to his room; her thoughts had drifted to the way it had felt to be in his arms, the way he smelled and at last his eyes—those gorgeous eyes. Elizabeth knew that she could easily lose herself in those warm brown eyes of his. She had also indulged in the possibilities of how it would feel to have his hands skimming slowly over her skin and how it would feel to have his lips upon her own. Would they be soft, rough or soft yet firm? Would he be impatient and kiss her as if he needed to breathe her in or would he make her knees weak with a slow seduction? Nibbling, tugging, and licking at her lips before devouring her mouth in need. She had spent the night caught between dreaming and waking, aching in need. To say that she was nervous but looking forward to seeing him again would be accurate. She was curious to see if it was just a reaction to the adrenaline rush or if she was truly attracted to the man. However, if she were being honest she knew the answer already. Now, she just hoped that he would be on time.
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