Jason was back in Sam's living room an hour later. Sam was upstairs getting the children occupied so they could talk further. Jason right now was checking his phone. He'd turned it on silent the night before, not wanting to hear anything from Elizabeth.

Checking his phone, he saw that he had numerous calls and messages from Elizabeth. Just seeing them made him angry. Scrolling down, he saw that he also got a few calls from Michael that morning. He cringed seeing those. It had slipped his mind to call Michael. He was supposed to be at ELQ for work that morning. He, Michael, and Sam were able to get control of ELQ from Nikolas and he went back to work for Michael.

Suddenly something hit Jason full force. Michael was his nephew. He hadn't had time to think about that with everything else. He had been too concerned with how his children would be affected and the pain of Elizabeth's betrayal that he didn't really think about anyone else, like Michael, Monica, Carly, and everyone else that loved him.

Jason sighed and dialed Michael's number. He wouldn't tell him the truth on the phone of course, but he needed to let him know everything was okay. He knew Michael had to be worried.

Sure enough, Michael's voice sounding very concerned when he picked up. "Jake, are you okay? I've been calling all morning."

"Hey, Michael. I'm really sorry. I should've called you this morning. I never even thought about it. Last night and today have been really hectic," Jason said.

"What's wrong? Is someone hurt? Are your kids okay?" Michael asked concerned.

"No, no one's hurt. Listen, I will come by in the next day or two to talk to you and Monica," Jason said.

"Okay, now that's scaring me a bit."

"No, it's okay. It's just really complicated and I can't get into it on the phone. Give me a day or two and I'll be there. I'm also going to need at least a week off to handle some things," Jason said.

"Of course. I'll see you soon," Michael said.

"Yeah. Bye, Michael," Jason said before hanging up.

Sam came down a second later. "The boys are in my bedroom. Danny and Aiden are watching a movie and I set Cam up on my laptop. Allie's napping in Danny's room and I have his old baby monitor," she said as she held it up.

"Thank you for being so kind to my kids, especially Cam. Thank you for what you said to him," Jason said. He had been really touched by the way Sam had treated Cameron. She'd hugged him and reassured him both that what happened wasn't his fault and that Jason would always love him. The scene glaringly reminded him how different Sam was to Elizabeth. Sam tried his kids with Elizabeth wonderfully even after knowing what Elizabeth had done, but Elizabeth couldn't do the same with Danny.

"Of course. I was horrified by his apology. I was not going to let him take the blame for it and I certainly wouldn't let him feel bad for having a father that loves him," Sam said.

"He's really messed up by this. I was right, he was scared I would take off on him. He's asked to live with me to ensure that I won't leave him," Jason said. Cam had told him that it wasn't the only reason, but he did think it was the biggest one.

"Elizabeth won't like that," Sam commented.

"I don't care. Elizabeth isn't my problem. I need to make things okay for my kids. If Cam needs to live with me, he will," Jason said firmly.

"Good for you," Sam said.

"So what happened with Hayden?" Jason asked.

Sam stiffened at the mention of her conversation with that woman. Hayden's accusation of Nikolas hit a nerve and only got worse the more she thought about it. It wasn't just keeping Jason away from her, although that was more than enough. Hayden accused Nikolas of putting a hit out on her to keep her quiet. Could her cousin really be that evil? Did he really want the truth about Jason kept quiet so much that he was willing to kill?

"What's wrong?" Jason asked concerned.

Sam sighed before walking over to the couch and sitting down. She waited for Jason to sit too before speaking. "Hayden says that Elizabeth isn't the only one who knew who you really were. Nikolas knew too."

Jason couldn't really say he was too surprised to hear that. Nikolas had proved to be a conniving bastard. He proved that by snaking ELQ away from Michael. "I can't say that shocks me. I know he's your cousin, but I haven't trusted him since what he did to Michael. I don't think anything would surprise me."

"Hold that thought. Hayden doesn't think that Shawn is the one who shot her. She thinks Nikolas did it to keep her quiet," Sam told him.

Now that stunned Jake. Keeping his identity was one thing, but they were talking about murder. Would Nikolas really try to murder someone to keep the truth from him? And did Elizabeth play any part in it? "What?"

"I don't know if it's true. It's really extreme. Nikolas had reason to not want your identity to come out. He would've lost his bid for ELQ if you turned out alive. He was still working on his takeover back then. This would've stopped it in its tracks. Not to mention he always had a soft spot for Elizabeth and would've kept the secret for her benefit. But I don't want to believe he'd actually kill," Sam said. If Nikolas even knew about it, she was done with him, but for the sake of her mother and sisters, who loved him very much, she didn't want to think he'd do this.

"If Nikolas did this, what are the odds that Elizabeth didn't know about it?" Jason asked.

"That's a pretty extreme step to take. Elizabeth did some awful things, but do you really believe she'd condone murder?" Sam said.

"I don't know. A couple of days ago, I wouldn't have thought she'd keep my identity a secret. I can't trust her anymore. I don't think I ever ever knew who she really was. I don't know if she's capable of this. But if she is, my kids aren't safe with her," Jason said. If Elizabeth was capable of being involved in a hit just to keep someone quiet about his life, who knew what else she was capable. The thought made his stomach twist in knots because she'd been left alone with Danny before. Had she ever considered harming his son? He didn't wanna think so, but he couldn't trust anything regarding her anymore.

"Okay, calm down. We don't even know if Nikolas really did do this. It could be a baseless accusation. Hayden could've said it just to rile us up. She's lied in the past.

Jason nodded and tried to calm down, but in his head, he was thinking of his kids and how to shield them. He was pretty clear on one thing. Until he knew for sure what part Elizabeth played in what happened to Hayden, he was not leaving her alone with his kids.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Elizabeth made her way through the hospital for her shift. She was of course in a really bad mood. Her husband wasn't answering his phone or calling her back. He'd taken off with Sam, just like she'd always feared. Even though they had three kids and memories together, he left with the bitch that had stolen him from her in the first place. But she would get him back. She would find a way to make him realize they belonged together.

Sam walked to the nurse's station and spotted Patrick. "Hey, Patrick."

"Elizabeth," Patrick said coldly as he searched for a file.

"Thanks for watching the kids. Alli's in the daycare center, right? I assume you dropped the boys off at school," Elizabeth said.

"No, I didn't. Aiden and Allie are with Sam and Danny and Cam is with Jake. Oh, no, I guess that would be Jason," he said.

"You let Sam take my kids?" Elizabeth asked annoyed.

"No, their father did. Jake seemed to wanna be alone with Cam, probably to explain everything to him," Patrick said.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, Jake wouldn't do that. He wouldn't tell him without me. He wouldn't make choices like that for our kids without me."

Patrick could've said something about that, but he chose not to. He didn't wanna get involved. "Whatever. I don't have your kids anymore and I have to get back to work. So do you."

"Patrick, are you mad at me?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm also appalled and horrified. I never would've thought you'd sink this low. What's wrong with you. Jake… Jason was a patient in this hospital and you are a freaking nurse! You are supposed help patients, but you took advantage of one! You kept a man away from his family," Patrick whispered harshly.

"I didn't know when he was a patient. I didn't find out until the night Carly exposed Hayden and Ric. By then, you and Sam were happy with together. I didn't want to…"

"Don't you dare use me to justify this!" Patrick exploded, causing several people to look in his direction. He quickly apologized to them and lowered his voice, though it was still quite cold. "You did not do this for me or Sam and I won't listen to you use us as an excuse! Sam as with me for the same reason I was with Sabrina when I thought Robin died. She couldn't be with the person she really loved."

"Jason and I belonged together. The fact that we made our way to each without knowing who the other was is proof," Elizabeth said, pleading with him to understand.

"If you really believed that, you would've told the truth and had faith that Jason would pick you. But you know what? That's not my problem. It sickens me, but it's between you and Jason. I'm more concerned with Robin, who you apparently thought nothing about."

"What are you talking about. Robin had nothing to do with any of this," Elizabeth said.

"Robin saved Jason. She knew he was alive, yet she told me he was dead. Why do you think she would do that? Because she was being threatened! I've spent every free moment thinking about what could've happened to her. Robin lied about Jason and she probably lied about why didn't come home. I've been on the phone with Anna, Mac, Maxie, and Robert. None of them have spoken with her. No one's heard anything from her since she last talked to me and Anna. That tells me one thing. She hasn't come home because she can't. She's a Goddamned hostage again! And because of you, it's lasted another three years!" Patrick said angrily.

"No, Patrick, that can't be true. I'm sure Robin's fine," Elizabeth said.

"No one involved in this situation is fine. You sacrificed everyone, including young kids to get your hands on Jason. You can go to hell. I have to get to work. Once I'm done, I have to try to find my wife. Excuse me," Patrick said before grabbing the file he'd been looking for and walking away.