Disclaimer- I don't own General Hospital or any of the characters.

Chapter Nine

Brenda wiped her hand across the fogged bathroom mirror and stared at her image. There went her career. She sighed and turned around, looking over her shoulder at her back. There were multiple bruises up and down, one curving over her shoulder and across her chest.

Brenda wrapped the large white robe around her shoulders and tied the belt in a knot. A pair of slippers lay below the robe. She slipped those on before opening the bathroom door.

Jason was pacing the floor in her room.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked walking over to her and making a move to take her arm and drag her back to bed.

She recoiled from him faster than he'd ever seen her, and he saw pain wash across her face as she leaned against the closed bathroom door.

He stopped suddenly and took a couple steps back.

Patrick took that chance to walk back into the room with a wheel chair.

"What's going on?" he asked abandoning the chair and walking towards Brenda. "Why is your hair wet?"

"Robin let me take a shower."

"You shouldn't have taken a shower without supervision. Let me check your stitches," he said.

"I don't think so," she said. He looked at her. "I don't exactly have an extra set of clothes, Dr. Drake. And I'm not about to let you see me naked."

Patrick took a step back from her, choosing not to tell her that he'd already seen her naked. Damn.

"I need to take you for some tests. Do you think you can put on a pair of scrubs instead of the robe if you bring them to you?" he asked.

She nodded slowly.

"Stay away from her," Patrick told Jason as he left the room.

Jason couldn't take his eyes off her. She reacted like he was about to hurt her. It only furthered his suspicion that someone hit her and the bruises weren't caused from the accident.

"I think you should go," Brenda whispered. She couldn't look him in the eyes. He didn't respond, she just felt him disappear out the door.

--

Jason nearly punched the down button for the elevator when he walked up. How could he be so stupid as to react like that when he saw her, knowing how emotionally unstable she was? That was not the way he planned on gaining her trust and show her she was safe.

He pushed the button again. This time the doors opened and Jason came face to face with Carly and Jax.

"What are you doing here?" Carly asked.

"One of the guys at the warehouse cut his hand opening a shipment this morning. I was checking up on it," Jason quickly made up, moving to enter the elevator.

"Where have you been? Max said you went on vacation. Sonny keeps making up excuses."

"I've been working, Carly," Jason insisted.

"You don't have to get all moody with me. I'm your best friend. The boys really want to see you. When can we come visit?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jason said watching the elevator doors close between him and Carly.

"Was that a little strange?" Carly asked Jax.

"More than a little," Jax told her, taking her hand as they went to search for her mother.

"I wonder if he's seen Sam. That's where I'm guessing he went on vacation. That's why he's all bent out of shape."

"Sam told you she made it perfectly clear to him she didn't want to see him," Jax said.

"But that has never stopped Jason before. Maybe he was shacked up with Elizabeth, celebrating his release." Carly smiled at Jax.

"Maybe. Let's go find Bobbie," Jax said ushering her down the hall.

---

When Patrick wheeled Brenda back into your hospital room, Lois was pacing the room, gently talking.

"Your mommy is going to be so excited to see you. She's probably been driving everyone crazy," Lois told the little girl in her arms.

"Lo?" Brenda asked. She ignored Patrick's protest to stay seated, and stood up out of the wheel chair. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched Brenda approach Lois. She didn't have to ask, as Lois placed the tiny girl into Brenda's arms. "Hey baby," Brenda whispered. "I've missed you."

"She missed you too," Lois said, gently hugging her friend. "How's she doing?" Lois asked turning to Patrick as Brenda took a seat on the couch.

"Everything has checked out. It will be awhile before the incisions heal, but there's no reason why she can't be out of here in a few days."

"Why a few days? If I'm fine, then I'd like to go home today," Brenda responded.

"Because you're not a good liar, and I'd like to keep you under observation to make sure nothing shows up that you aren't tell us. Besides, where's home?" Patrick asked.

"I'm not lying to you. I'm fine. I feel fine. There's no pain."

"I'll be back later," Patrick said walking out of the room to avoid an argument. Robin did say she was stubborn.

"Bren, just let him do his job. I know you hate hospitals, but you'll be out soon enough. Have you thought about where you're going to stay?" Lois asked sitting down across from her on the couch.

Brenda shrugged. "I have a couple choices."

"Like?"

"California, London, New York, Argentina, the Q's," Brenda told her. She couldn't take her eyes off the baby. "Wherever you want to go Emmy, I'll take you."

"That's the thing Bren, you have a baby now. You need to think about what she needs."

"You did it Lois. You took Brooke around the world with you. Why can't I do it?"

"Because you have people who love you here."

"I'm not welcome in Port Charles anymore," she said looking at her friend. "There is too much history here. It's not my home."

"If you've forgotten, you left your home in Paris. You can't go back there."

"I don't want to go back. Paris is the last place I want to be right now. Lois, things were going great business wise before all of this. I'm not about to drop it all because of him."

"You don't have to make up your mind today. But think about it. Taking a break would not be that bad."

"Why are you trying to convince me to give up what I've worked so hard for?"

"I just think there are more important things in your life right now than the business," Lois told her standing up. Brenda slowly followed.

"Aside from this baby, that is the most important thing to me. We created that business together. After all these years I'm not giving up on it. I've fought too hard to have something that was mine." Brenda slowly placed the little girl into the carrier Lois had brought with her. Brenda ran a hand through her hair and looked at her best friend. "I'm tired. Can you take Emmy back to the Q's for awhile?"

"Of course. Listen, I'm not going to stop you from anything. I just don't want my best friend taking off in a sprint instead of a walk." Lois hugged Brenda one last time before squeezing her hand with a smile. "I love you, you know."

"I love you too. Don't leave me here too long by myself. I might go crazy," Brenda said.

"Word is spreading pretty quickly that you're back in PC. I'm sure you'll get plenty of visitors."

Lois picked up the carrier and with one last smile disappeared out of the room.

Brenda walked back over to the bed and laid her hands on the mattress, trying to catch her breath. She was surprised Lois didn't notice the color draining from her face. She just assumed that every time a wave of pain passed through her body, it came across her face, but Lois didn't seem to notice. Brenda laid one hand over her stomach where her incision was. If Patrick knew she was in pain, he'd keep her longer; he'd force meds on her. The last thing she wanted was to be drugged. Finally she got enough strength to climb back onto the bed and lay down. She took a deep breath, the pain stronger than ever, and closed her eyes.