Chapter 14

R.A.D

A/N: Sorry folks, had to re update this one for you!

Elizabeth tried not to let Jason's kiss affect her but it was pointless as she was sucked back into feeling his arms around her. Breaking the kiss, she steadied herself.

"Jason, what was that?"

"That was me wanting to kiss you. So I did." Jason too was breathless, she could effect him like no one else.

"This has to stop. Jason, you can't do this to me. We just agreed to being friends. This isn't healthy."

"Are you saying you didn't enjoy that?" Jason asked as he smirked at her, and his smirk grew wider as she tried not to smile.

"Of course not, but let's be serious for a minute. We are in the Doctor's office waiting to talk about Jake. Our focus has to be on him, not..." She waved her hands between the two of them.

"Us?" He supplied helpfully

"Jason," she sighed. "There is no us, at least there can't be an us right now. Our son has to come first. I know that you haven't been around as much these last few months, but he is in trouble. One minute I think I have Jake back and the other minute, he's just downright scary to be around. He breaks things and I can't say for certain but he is bullying Cameron and Aiden. I just don't know how bad it is."

He thought about what she was saying. Of course he agreed about his son, but he didn't agree about the two of them. There would always be a Jason and Elizabeth, hopefully until the day he died. However Jason could see that his actions didn't make her feel better, in fact it spooked her. He was so used to just putting his feelings into action. In fact the old him used to do that too, however it wasn't working.

"You're right, Jake needs to be our main focus. What do you want to do?"

"Well for starters, I want you to agree to the individual therapy."

Jason groaned, "please Elizabeth anything but that."

"No Jason, Jake needs to see his parents as a united front. You know, like we talked about earlier? In order to help him, we need to do this. You need to do this." Elizabeth was adamant. Their son needed them, both of them by his side.

"Alright, I'll try….for Jake." Jason looked at Elizabeth and tried to smile. This was going to be anything but easy.

"Elizabeth, Jason" The door opened and Dr. Monroe and Jake walked into the office.

Jake was quiet, his head hung down as he sat down against the wall and refused to make eye contact with either his mom or dad.

"Jake honey, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked but Jake refused to respond.

"Why don't you two sit down so we can talk?" Dr. Monroe suggested as he found his way behind his desk.

"So Doctor, what's wrong with my son?" Jason asked

"Well for starters Jake is obviously suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has a lot of the symptoms, anxiety for one. The minute you guys left the room he kept asking why you had to leave and stared at the door for a few minutes until I started talking.

"What did you two talk about?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can't tell you that Nurse Webber. You remember the doctor-patient confidentiality rules right?"

So is that it? My son has PTSD? That's not all that bad" Jason breathed a sigh of relief. He understood Post Traumatic Stress Disorder very well. Almost everyone in Port Charles had probably suffered from PTSD at one point or another.

"I wish it were that simple Jason but unfortunately it isn't. My conversation with Jake also led me to believe that he is suffering from R.A.D as well."

Seeing the disbelief and confusion on the parent's faces, Griffin racked his brain to come up with the easiest explanation.

"R.A.D or Reactive Attachment Disorder occurs in children usually before age five that don't form an attachment with their mother or primary caregiver."

"Wait, but Jake did have an attachment to me." Elizabeth said.

"Yes, but that was interrupted. You said that Jake was presumed dead for almost three years when he was really being held captive by this Cassadine woman?"

"Yes" Elizabeth responded softly as she looked over to where Jake was happily coloring. He seemed content to sit as far away from his parents and that hurt her.

Sensing her emotional turmoil, Jason covered her hand with his. "We really don't know what happened to him while he was there so you can understand why we might think the worst?"

"Your concern would be justified. Jake may not have said a lot, but the made it very clear that he was lonely on Cassadine Island. From what I could get out of him, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the may have been abused and neglected. Not to mention, seriously lacking for affection." Griffin empathized with the parent's concern. This poor kid had been through the ringer.

"I'm sorry. I still don't understand how this whole R.A.D affects Jake." Elizabeth was pissed off. Her son didn't deserve any of this.

"It's okay Elizabeth. The simplest way I can explain this is that Jake's development was interrupted by his disappearance, and because of that interruption it has caused Jake some major problems. Some of these can be fixed but there is the potential for more as Jake get's older."

"So where do we go from here? Can you help him?"

"Yes, Jason I think I can. I'm going to write up my action plans and I'll have Nurse Santiago give you both copies before you leave. In the meantime, I think the best thing that you can do for Jake is to continue with your life as you are. Make him feel safe so that he can establish a healthy relationship with both of you. Griffin grabbed his notepad and started jotting down some notes.

"We can do that."

"Does he seem to favor one of you more than the other right now?"

"Not really, I mean he's definitely protective of me but other than that he tends to gravitate towards Jason when he's around."

"Okay so that's where we will start. Do you two live together?"

"No"

"Not yet"

Griffin chuckled quietly to himself as he watched Elizabeth glare at Jason and he was even more amused when Jason just stare pointedly back at her. "For now, I want Jason to set aside time twice a week where it's just you and Jake okay?"

"Sure, no problem."

"In the meantime, Elizabeth try to keep his home life as consistent as possible. Try not to treat him any differently than you do your other two boys okay?"

"That shouldn't be too hard" she chuckled.

"You might find it difficult" Griffin cautioned. "I know that Jake has been giving you some trouble at home and getting into trouble at school; you can't let him get away with that behavior. Set boundaries. Make sure there are consequences in place. He is going to push the limits as far as he can. He needs stability. No matter what.

" We can do that." Jason spoke up as he shared a knowing look with Elizabeth. They could do this.

"Good, now have we given the idea of individual therapy some more thought?" Griffin looked pointedly in Jason's direction and Elizabeth smiled as Jason's expression darkened.

"I'll do it but I won't like it." Jason mumbled. He hated doctors, but he hated shrinks more. He didn't like people trying to get inside his head. If only he knew how much his son and him had that in common.

"Excellent, would you mind hanging out with Jake for a little longer while I chat with Elizabeth?"

"Sure, come on Jake" Jason stood up and waited at the door for Jake. He was looking forward to this one on one time with his son. Jake put down his coloring and walked over to where Jason stood and smiled. "Can we go up and down the elevator dad?" he asked. Jake liked riding the elevator. Everytime he went into it, he pressed all the buttons even though his mom told him not too."

"Just don't let him press all the buttons," Elizabeth grinned knowingly.

"But mom!"

"Jacob Martin" her voice was firm so Jake knew not to argue. He stuck out his bottom lip and crossed his arms. All three adults in the room laughed at him.

"Come on Jake, Elizabeth we will meet you outside" Jason picked up his son and carried him on his back out of the office.

"I guess it's just you and me now." Griffin smiled as soon as the door to his office closed.

"What else did you need to talk to me about?" Elizabeth crossed her legs in front of her as she leaned back into her chair getting more comfortable. She was nothing but professional. A character trait that Griffin appreciated.

"Well, to be honest...you" Griffin lightly tossed his notebook on to the desk in front of him as he too leaned back into his chair. If he was going to do individual therapy with Elizabeth and Jason as well as Jake, then he needed to get to know the parents.

Elizabeth swallowed, "Fair warning, I don't like to talk about myself." The way he was looking at her was unnerving.

"I think I'll take my chances." He could handle a challenge.

"Your funeral" Elizabeth retorted.

Griffin smiled. This was going to be fun.

A/N: I know...short and sweet but what did you think? R&R please!