A/N: I'm just going to come right out and say it. I have very little experience in the medical field. Please don't form a lynching mob if I get anything wrong, lol. But, if I do get something wrong, and any of you lovely people ARE medical professionals, please feel free to correct me and I'll make the appropriate changes. Also, things are about to drastically change for Sam and Jason in this next chapter.
Chapter 9: Memory
Jason nearly plowed into Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake as he led Sam down the hall to Hayden Barnes' room. The clipboard she was holding landed on the floor, papers scattering everywhere when she bounced off Jason's chest. "Robin! Are you okay?" Sam asked, letting go of Jason's hand and putting a steadying arm around the young doctor. Robin held her nose and blinked away the tears that sprang up from the minute pain. She laughed to herself, "I'm fine. I see you're still hard as a rock, Jason." Robin shook her head at them and bent down to pick up the papers with both of their help.
Once they were all standing again, Jason looked at her with a sheepish apology in his eyes. "I'm really sorry, Robin. We got here as fast as we could." Robin shook her head at his apology, "Stop. I'm fine, it happens more than I'd like to say." She laughed at her own joke, then rubbed her nose again with her palm. Yep, it was going to be sore for a while. Robin tucked the clipboard back into her arms and led the way to Hayden's door. She stopped them before the could go in, "I need to tell you guys, she remembers everything that happened, but the trauma to her brain is exstensive. I honestly didn't think she'd wake up so soon, so you need to take it easy on her. She could relapse at any minute if put under enough stress."
"Is it going to be too much if we both go in there?" Sam asked as she looked through the window at Hayden. The woman's eyes were closed and she still looked incredibly pale and weak. Robin shook her head, "Like I said, if you take it easy on her, she should be okay." Jason let out a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. "How long has she been awake?" He asked, wanting to believe she was well enough to answer his questions. Sam had asked Robin to keep watch over Hayden and to call them as soon as she woke up. But Hayden was proven to be a con-woman. She could have been faking the coma as well as she faked being Jason's wife. Then again, Jason just wasn't sure if someone could fake being in a coma well enough for the genius woman in front of him to be fooled.
Robin placed her hand on the door, "I was checking her vitals when she opened her eyes and asked for you and Sam. Don't take too long, though. I'll be back in a few minutes to check on her again." The couple nodded and Robin opened the door. Hayden's eyes popped open the moment they entered and she tried shifting to a sitting position. Sam rushed to the woman's side and helped her to sit up. "Thank you," Hayden said to Sam, her voice a little rough. Sam simply nodded and handed a cup of water to Hayden who took it gratefully and gulped down half the cup's content.
Robin was at the woman's other side flashing a tiny light into Hayden's eyes, then checking her pulse. "How are you feeling? Any pain?" Hayden winced when she would have nodded. "Yes, some pain. My brain feels like it's going to explode." Robin pushed a few buttons on the IV stand and Hayden sighed in relief as the pain medication washed through her. "That will help some. I gave you enough to take away the pain, but still keep you clear. Here's the button if you need more." Robin placed a small round object in Hayden's hand. "Call if you need anything. I'll leave you guys alone." After Hayden thanked her, Robin left the room to check on other patients.
The silence was awkward for a moment and she looked Jason and Sam up and down. She needed to tell them, but could she trust them enough. As fuddled as she felt, she could feel she was sure about them. Sam pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down on Hayden's left side, Jason standing tall behind his wife. "Robin said you wanted to see us?" He asked, the silence was starting to get to him. Hayden let out a sigh and looked at them again. "I was going to tell you who you are before I got shot. I still need to do that." Sam shook her head and took Hayden's hand into hers giving it a small squeeze. "We know, Hayden. Jason remembered everything on his own," she tried to explain, but Hayden wouldn't have it. "There's more. I-I think I know who shot me. It's a reach, but I've been thinking about it since I woke up and this is the only thing that makes sense."
Jason leaned in, trying to keep his face passive. If it weren't for Sam who was trying so desperately to comfort the woman who played a part in keeping him from her, he likely would have shaken the answers from Hayden. "That bullet was meant for me, not you," Jason started, but was stopped when Hayden shook her head again. "No, just hear me out, please. I want to make up for what I did to you. I should have never taken that deal. It was a lot of money and I really needed it. I hurt a lot of good people along the way. I can't apologize enough for what I did, but there are still things you need to know. This isn't over for you. For both of you." Hayden laid her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "I truly am sorry. Ric never told me who you really are. That you're married and have a kid. If I had known that, I wouldn't have done it."
Jason nodded to her apology, "Ric didn't know either. There's only one person who knew and she is no longer in the picture." Hayden let out a short laugh, then winced at the pain it caused her. "Elizabeth wasn't the only one. She couldn't have figured that out on her own if she tried." Sam's eyes went large at that. Jason didn't say Elizabeth's name, but Hayden knew exactly who he was talking about. Still holding her hand, Sam asked what Jason wanted to know, "How did you know he was talking about Elizabeth?" Hayden smiled, "I was staying with Nikolas Cassidine after the Nurse's Ball. I overheard him and Elizabeth talking about the infamous Jason Morgan," she looked pointedly at Jason before continuing. "They were saying that Jake was really Jason and they had to keep it quiet. I don't know why, but I used it to my advantage. I blackmailed him and Elizabeth. My silence for money. I was going to tell you regardless, but then I got into it with Elizabeth. I couldn't stand how high and mighty they were both acting about you, Jason. I threatened to tell you then and there and Nikolas told me to do it. To put them out of their misery. I thought maybe he was tired of the lies. But now I think he was just bluffing."
While she was talking Jason was putting everything together in his mind. Hayden really thought Nikolas tried to have her killed. The bullet that pierced her brain was Nikolas' doing. He knew it was a stretch, he remembered Nikolas being the charming, loving man to his little sister. Then again, the Prince had been acting peculiar lately. Rather hostile towards Sam, his own cousin. Not to mention to Jason. "Are you saying Nikolas had you shot?" he asked, still not sure if it were possible. Hayden nodded, "I don't have any proof, but I think so. Why else would it happen? The minute I start telling you who you are a bullet finds a nice home in my brain?"
Neither Jason or Sam had made the connection before. They had assumed the bullet was meant for Jason. Shawn Butler had been arrested, claiming he had missed Jason and hit Hayden. He was sitting in jail for something he possibly had nothing to do with. "Hayden, if what you're saying is true, Nikolas is willing to kill to keep this quiet. If he finds out you're awake and talking, he's going to try again," Jason said as he began to pace, trying to form a plan. It was Sam who took over for him, "I'm about to ask you to do something for us, and I hope you say yes since you think you owe us." Hayden let go of Sam's hand and tucked her red-brown hair behind her ear. "I'm listening," she said, ushering Sam's idea on. It couldn't be any worse than the mess she was in now.
Sam looked at Jason, hoping he would agree to this as well. They needed Hayden alive if everything she said was true and she wasn't playing them. Jason shrugged, he didn't know what Sam's plan was, but he trusted her with everything in him. She would never put them in danger willingly. Sam looked back at Hayden, "In order to keep you safe, you need to have amnesia. It can easily be faked. We'll tell Robin that once you saw us, you didn't remember anything. You didn't know who we were, or how you came to Port Charles. You just remembered our names and you needed to talk to us." Hayden's eyes went wide at the suggestion. It made sense, though. She pulled off being Jake Barnes' wife, she could pull of faking amnesia. "What about Nikolas? I was staying with him-" Sam shook her head, stopping Hayden. "You can't remember him, Elizabeth, or their secret. If I know my cousin, and he's behind this, he'll be checking up on you daily. He's probably already been told you're awake and talking to us. Can you do this, Hayden?" Sam looked at her, her eyes pleading with the other woman.
Hayden thought about it for a minute. If she wanted to live, she could stay quiet. It wasn't as if Sam was asking a whole lot from her, and truth be told, she really would like to forget everything that's happened since she came to this city. When Hayden nodded, both Sam and Jason let out a sigh of relief. The feel of the room became less strenuous. The tension dissipating. "Okay, I'll do it. Just... Can you protect me in here?" For the first time since they came in Jason smiled and rubbed his thumb over his eyebrow. "Yeah, I can do that," he told her.
Sam smiled as well, taking Hayden's hand, "If we play our cards right, Nikolas will take you to live with him again when you get out of here. The closer you can stay to him, the better off you'll be. But you can't let him suspect anything. If he even thinks you remember one little thing, he'll try to kill you again." Hayden just nodded, the smile on her face small and unsure. She was willing to do this for the people whose lives she nearly ruined. Sam stood, still holding Hayden's hand. "We're here if you need anything," she said softly, then raised her voice a touch when Jason lightly brushed her arm warning her Robin was coming back into the room. "If you remember anything, Hayden, let us know." Sam squeezed once more, then let go of Hayden's hand and sadly walked out of the room, Jason following her.
As Robin checked Hayden's vitals one more time, Jason and Sam made the display of comforting each other just outside the room. They waited there until Robin came back out. They explained to the young doctor how Hayden didn't remember anything once she saw them. Robin shook her head sadly, the brain was so mysterious. Even to her husband, the neurosurgeon. No one could ever make a guess at the outcome when it came to the brain. Robin apologized for making Sam and Jason come all the way out here for nothing. She sighed, needing to call Nikolas again with that news. No one thought to see if Hayden remembered anything, they assumed she did since she asked for Jason and Sam. Poor Hayden. At least she had spoken to someone who knew what it was like to forget your entire life. She decided to keep the two informed about Hayden's recovery, thinking that Jason could possibly help the woman despite what she had done.
As Robin led them back to the elevators, Sam took a second to look through the window at Hayden who simply smiled and nodded to her. Sam nodded back wondering what in the hell her cousin was up to. None of this was like him. The attitude, the cruelty, the secrets. It just was not the Nikolas she knew.
A/N: I know some of you may not, but I really like Hayden on the show and love the way she's manipulating Nikolas right now since he's been such a jerk lately. I wanted to redeem her in my own eyes and this was how I could see that happening.