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Chapter 10

When Audrey returned to the hospital in the morning the hall was a bit crowded. "Did all of you stay?" She asked surprised.

"I was the only one who stayed." Jason told her. Sonny was stopping by on the way to the warehouse and he had Johnny with him. Cody was on the door as Elizabeth's guard. Milo had taken the overnight guard shift and was talking with the guys. Audrey of course had Francis.

"Why did they throw you out?" Audrey could guess that being in the hall was not Jason's decision.

"Epiphany and Nadine are helping Elizabeth get a shower." Jason tried not to think too much on that. Standing in the hall with a hard on was not something he wanted to do.

"The bleeding stopped." Audrey said smiling.

"Yes." Jason was smiling too. "Monica checked during morning rounds." He'd been thrilled with the news. The last thing Elizabeth needed was to have to undergo surgery.

"She still needs to take it easy." Audrey cautioned. She knew her granddaughter. Elizabeth would be trying to do everything for herself now that the bleeding had stopped.

"I'll see that she does." Jason planned on sticking as close to her as she would allow. For as long as she would let him. If she was uncomfortable with that he'd hire a private nurse.

"Glad to hear it. That makes me feel better. Are you going home to shower?" He was in the same clothes as when she left. If that was the case Audrey would sit with Elizabeth while Jason was gone. If he wasn't then she would make herself scarce for a bit longer.

"I sent for some things." Jason was staying.

"Good. Are they bringing you a razor?" He had a light coating of stubble on his jaw.

"I don't think so." Jason wasn't overly concerned with shaving today. He was just going to be hanging around the hospital. Elizabeth had seen him scruffy before.

"Elizabeth has deep tissue bruising. Not only is it very unpleasant to look at, it's also very painful. It makes her skin very sensitive." All the guys were looking at her. "The slightest touch can hurt very badly. It's going to take her roughly three to four weeks to heal." Probably closer to four with how dark the bruises were.

"Four weeks for a bruise to go away?" Johnny asked amazed. It never took more than ten days for him to heal. How hard had that fucker hit Liz?

"Those bruises go all the way down to the bone." Audrey cleared up. Luckily Elizabeth wasn't showing any signs of complications. The older woman saw the guys wince. "So Jason you need to make sure you are shaving every day. Twice if you plan on doing any kissing." There was no way he was keeping his lips off her granddaughter for four more weeks.

Jason actually blushed. "I'm not going to push her."

"Kissing isn't pushing Jason." Audrey was enjoying watching him try not to fidget. "Sex would be a bad idea because it would hurt, but kissing I think Elizabeth would enjoy. Having her skin abraded by your stubble will not be enjoyable. Since I know you don't want to cause her pain you should shave."

"I need to send for my razor." Jason muttered walking away.

"That was mean." Francis said chuckling.

"But really funny." Johnny added. "Even his ears were pink."

"It needed to be said." Audrey smiled. Watching Jason blush was quite amusing. She would have to see if she could do it again. "Let's go get some coffee and give them more time alone."

Jason took his clothes and headed to Alan's office. Normally he was not one for accepting help from his parents but he wanted to be clean and back outside Elizabeth's room when she came out of the bathroom. So when Monica offered he accepted. He showered and then gave himself a thorough shave. He was rubbing his hands over his jaw to make sure he didn't miss any spots when his phone rang. "Morgan."

"This is Dr. Baldwin, would you please return to Elizabeth's room as quickly as you can?" The doctor asked.

"I'll be right there." Jason handed his dirty clothes off to the runner and went back downstairs. "What happened?" He asked the doctor who was waiting in the hall for him.

"She saw her reflection in the mirror when she got out of the shower. She looks really bad, which we can't do anything about. I think having you close by will help." This was part of healing. Learning to turn to Jason when she needed support.

"Can I go in?" Jason still thought she was beautiful. Her beauty shined from the inside out. No matter what he did Kiefer couldn't change that.

"That's why I called you." Gail told the younger man.

Since the door was closed Jason knocked before pushing it open. When he stepped inside the room Elizabeth was lying on her side with Audrey gentling rubbing circles on her back. He could see her shoulders shaking with the effort to keep from crying. That had to hurt like hell. He had noticed she didn't cry and he could guess why. "Would you excuse us?" He asked the older woman.

"Of course." Audrey stepped out into the hall with her friend. "He threw me out." She said smiling.

"Good." Gail smiled as well.

Once they were alone Jason toed off his boots and walked over to the bed. He lowered the rail and carefully stretched out behind Elizabeth. She instantly stiffened in his arms. He placed a gentle kiss to the back of her head trying calm her before he carefully put his arm around her.

"Jason, will you help me turn over?" Elizabeth's voice shook and was thick with her unshed tears.

"How about if I just come around to the other side?" He offered. She sounded scared and he wondered if he had done something to cause that reaction.

"Okay." Elizabeth stayed still while he moved. When he was in front of her she cuddled into him placing her head in the nook between his neck and shoulder. Her whole body relaxed with the contact. "I shouldn't have been so surprised. I could see it on everyone's faces when they walked in the room. He was hitting me really hard. I guess I'm lucky I don't look worse."

Jason was trying his best to stay calm. He noticed the second she could see him her breathing slowed some. "The bruises will fade. Your grandmother said it will take a while because they are deep, but they will fade."

"I feel stupid and ugly." She started, gripping his shirt hard with her fist.

"Ssh." Jason soothed. Normally he would encourage her to cry and get it out, but he knew once the damn finally broke it would be bad. He didn't want her to hurt. "You are neither. I don't say things to make people feel better and I don't lie. Don't let him win, not when you fought so hard to get free." He was happy to feel her calming further.

"I look like a raccoon." She said starting to feel somewhat better. He could always do that for her.

"Too bad it's not Halloween." Jason said and when she giggled he smiled.

"I love free chocolate." She sighed feeling comfortable in his embrace.

He would have to check to see if she could have a chocolate milkshake. "You love any type of chocolate." She always felt so good on the rare occasions he had her in his arms.

"What time do you leave for work?" Elizabeth asked him.

"I'm off, for a while. Maybe permanently." He still wasn't sure what he was going to do. Jason was hoping they could make that decision together.

"You don't want to work for Sonny anymore? I thought you liked your job." Elizabeth was surprised. The last time he'd walked away, after the Carly mess, he ended up leaving Port Charles she didn't want that.

"I do like my job." Jason started slow trying to gather his thoughts. "Maybe you don't. It's not exactly an upstanding profession."

"Warren Bauer is a corporate attorney and was at one time the D.A. He's beating his wife." Her hand involuntarily tightened on his shirt again. "What you do isn't who you are. You are a good man Jason. Don't stop doing something because you are worried about what other people think."

"What do you think?" Jason had never asked her that before.

"I think that you are one of the best people I know and I'm glad you are in my life. I hope you'll be in my life for a long time. You're important to me." That last part was said softly. "I don't care what you do, just so long as you stay as safe as possible."

"Thank you." He was glad to know she wasn't ashamed of him, but he still wanted to think about where his life was headed. If she agreed to be with him, what would happen if they had children? Would he want them to grow up in this life? He had a lot to think about, but he had time.

"I must say Jason did a wonderful job with the colors." Audrey was impressed. She would not have thought him capable of this.

"Jason has a lot of hidden talents." Sonny thought his partner had done great. "Everything come without a problem?"

"Yes. Thank you. The men who work for you are all very polite." Audrey had never heard so many ma'ams in her life.

"Good to know." Sonny liked the space and hoped Elizabeth would be happy here, for the short amount of time he expected her to stay. He was hoping that Jason would get her into his penthouse in short order. "So what's next?"

"Next?" Audrey said as a slow smile spread across her face. "What do you mean?"

"You have a plan, so I was wondering what you needed from us now." He was waiting to see what she did next.

"Your wife would be more helpful for the next part." Audrey told him.

"She's at work, but I can call her. What do you need?" Sonny asked pulling out his phone.

"Elizabeth walked away without any of her things. She told me that Kiefer bought her all new clothes when he moved her in." Audrey still wanted to know what he'd said to get her to agree. "So I need to get my granddaughter some clothes. I don't follow fashion so I was hoping that Brenda might be willing to tell me which store to shop at."

"Hold on a second." Sonny called Brenda. "Babe, Elizabeth doesn't have any clothes...okay." He hung up. "She's sending some things over." Knowing his wife Elizabeth wouldn't ever need to shop again.

"Sonny, that's very kind but I can buy Elizabeth some things. She's going to insist on paying anyway." Audrey knew there was only so much assistance her granddaughter would tolerate.

Sonny held up a finger as he made another call. "Jason." He started when the other man answered. "How is Elizabeth?"

"Getting a MRI they want to make sure her eyes are okay." Monica had assured him this was standard. "What did you need?"

"Me nothing, Elizabeth needs clothes. Brenda is sending some items over." Sonny told the younger man.

"Have her bill me." Jason told his partner. "Are you sending lunch?"

"Yes. That's why I came home." Sonny answered. "Did you want something specific?"

"A chocolate milkshake for Elizabeth. Have you seen the apartment?" Jason wanted Sonny's opinion.

"Yeah, looks good." The older man assured him.

"Great I have to go, Elizabeth is back." Without waiting for a reply he hung up.

Sonny turned to Audrey. "Jason will pay for the clothes and they can argue about it. He said Elizabeth was getting a MRI."

"For her eyes. She's seeing double, which considering she has two black eyes is not surprising." Audrey explained.

"I thought the black eyes were because of the broken nose." Sonny said frowning.

"They wouldn't be that dark. He hit her." Audrey wanted to get Kiefer Bauer alone for a few minutes. "I need to make up the bed."

"You get a king sized bed?" Sonny teased.

"California king. Jason is not a small man." Audrey responded. "There are no steps in this apartment unlike the penthouse. I'm guessing for the next six weeks they'll be sleeping here. I got three love seats so they are too short to sleep on and the bed in the guest bedroom has a full sized mattress. That should be too short for him to be comfortable sleeping on, which doesn't really matter at the moment since I'm staying there."

"Did you ever serve in the military?" Sonny said laughing. He would make note to not ever piss off Audrey Hardy. "How are you so good at this?"

Audrey looked at Sonny. "My first husband was not a very nice man."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sonny said shaking his head. "My step-father wasn't either."

"There are entirely too many not nice guys around." Audrey said thinking of Elizabeth's step-father. "I made a better choice with Steve, Elizabeth is making a better choice this time around as well."

"Yes she is. I need to go make lunch, I will send you something down." Sonny told her.

"Thank you." Audrey walked him to the door and set about getting the apartment ready for her granddaughter.

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