A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad you guys like the drama. *Jynx0854 – I don't think I really thought about how much drama is in this one. It is pretty relentless, but then again, it is a soap. There will be some good stuff coming…..eventually…..

Chapter 20

Elizabeth followed Epiphany into a room. "What's going on?"

"I need to tell you something. It's going to be hard for me to get through it, so I need you to just listen. Okay?"

Liz bit her lip and nodded.

"I'm sick. I think you know that. It's pretty bad. I have a brain tumor and they told me that it's inoperable."

Liz tried to fight the tears building up, but she just couldn't.

"I know this is a lot of pressure, but I named you as my POA."

"Epiphany..."

"I needed someone who was strong and would do as I ask. I'm trusting that you will."

Liz broke down and Epiphany hugged her. After a few minutes, she calmed. "What about Patrick?"

"He wants to operate and I didn't want there to be a conflict."

"When did he find out?"

"He suspected, but just found out. He begged me to let him look at the scans and he and Amelia think they can save me."

"But you haven't said yes?"

She shook her head. "I'm scared I'll die on Patrick and I don't think he could handle that."

"I'm so sorry. What do you need from me?"

"If something happens and I make it out of the surgery and there's no hope for me, I need you to abide by my DNR and let me go."

Liz closed her eyes.

"I know you had to watch your child die and it haunts you. If this is too much for you…"

"No. I want to be there for you. I need to be. It will be hard to let you go, but I would do what is necessary. I can go on drugs and get therapy later."

Piph slightly smiled. "Thank you."

"Are you going to have the surgery?"

She blew out a breath. "I think so. I'm trying to get everything in order. I called Diane."

"I'll pay for it. It's the least I can do."

"I think the hardest part is saying goodbye to all of you."

"Then don't."

"We can't pretend that it might not happen."

"I just can't lose you right now."

"Talk to me."

Liz shook her head. "No. This is your time."

"I need something to take my mind off it. Please. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I went to my first therapy session, so that is good."

"I'm so proud of you."

"I can't be the walking wounded forever."

"Well you could, but I'm really glad that you don't want to be."

"I'm just tired," Liz said.

"I know how that feels."

Liz grasped her hand. "I always felt like you were like a big sister to me. You're family Epiphany and family takes care of each other."

"Does Jeff know that Andrea cheated on him with a brotha?"

Liz busted out laughing. "You let me tell him, although, you never know maybe he cheated on her with a sista."

Epiphany grinned. "I spoke to him recently."

"He's fighting with mom. Was he sad?"

"Yes. You should talk to him."

"I will see him tomorrow night. I'll try to get some time alone with him."

"I'm going to need a vacation after this is over."

"You and me both."

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Elizabeth walked into Kylie's room and was shocked to see Johnny.

"Hey."

Johnny took her in and could tell she had been crying. "What's wrong?"

"I had a therapy session and got some bad news afterwards. I'm fine."

He doubted that. "Katherine stepped out to get some coffee."

"I'm surprised to see you here."

"Katherine and I bonded the night of the accident. I told her to call if she needed a friend."

"That was nice of you. How is she?" Liz asked as her eyes perused Kylie's sleeping form.

"She's struggling."

"Do they know what is causing the seizures?"

"Not yet."

Liz touched Kylie's hand.

"We need to talk."

"I know."

"Can you come by in about an hour?"

Liz nodded.

"Thanks."

Katherine breezed into the room and could feel the tension. "Hello Elizabeth."

"Hi. I wanted to make sure Kylie was okay."

"She's having some trouble with seizures, but the doctors are hopeful. Do you know Amelia?"

"No, but I'm sure she's good. I have to go. Will you tell her that I stopped by?"

"Sure."

She left and Katherine sat next to Johnny. "You want to tell me why you two look so sad?"

"Not yet. I need to talk to her first."

"Okay. I'll listen when you're ready."

"Thanks."

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Steven walked into the locker room. "Hey Emily. How is it going?"

"Good. I'm learning a lot."

He looked at her phone which was buzzing on the bench. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

"Nope."

He smirked. "Why not?"

"Because I know that it's Dante and that ship has sailed."

"So you're back on the market?"'

"I never left."

"Good to know."

Emily shook her head. Steve was a huge flirt. "Tell me something. Why do men sleep with women who are in a relationship or married?"

Steven ripped off his shirt and Emily bit her lip. He had abs for days. "There's probably all kinds of different reasons, but I think it's mostly because they think with their penises."

She chuckled. "You would think there would be a cure for that by now."

"It would have to come from a female researcher, because I don't think men want one."

"You'd rather be sluts."

"Pretty much. Sex feels good and who doesn't want that?"

She shrugged. "So, you never see yourself settling down?"

"Nope."

She chuckled. "I can't wait to hold this conversation over your head when you're totally whipped and following a girl around like a puppy dog."

"Not going to happen."

"Uh—uh"

Steve pulled on a different shirt and put away his things. "Later."

"Bye."

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Liz nervously waited until Johnny texted her and then she went downstairs.

He opened his door. "Hi."

"Hi."

"You look like you've had a bad day."

"Yeah."

She sat and he took the chair across from her.

"Elizabeth…"

She bowed her head as tears flowed down her face. "I knew this was coming and I thought I could handle it. Today has just been an emotional day for me. I'm sorry."

He swallowed hard. "I don't want to hurt you." He understood that she was dealing with a lot, but he just couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel and he didn't think Elizabeth's heart was in the relationship anymore. At least it was early on and they still respected each other.

"I know. You're a good man and I have a lot going on. That has been one of our biggest problems."

"I think you're a good person too. I really wish it could have worked out. I really care a lot about you."

"Thank you. You are important to me too. I guess our timing was just off," she said swiping at her face.

"I feel like I'm walking away when you really need me."

"I'm not your responsibility. I have to do this on my own. I don't want to be broken anymore and it's not fair to ask you to wait around when there is no guarantee that we would make it anyway."

He stood and then then pulled her up and hugged her. "I don't want that either. You deserve to be happy."

"So do you."

"You did make me happy. I hope you feel the same way."

"I do."

"I know it's cliché to say this, but I want us to be friends no matter what. You can always talk to me."

She pulled back. "I'm so sorry if I hurt you. I'm just glad that you don't hate me."

"Never." He grabbed her key off of the coffee table and pressed it into her hand.

Her tears started again and Johnny kissed her forehead. It was brutal seeing how badly she was hurting.

"I'm so sorry. I have to go." She rushed out and when she burst into her apartment, she froze.

Jason, Lila, and Monica were staring at her.

"Elizabeth?"

She was mortified. "I'm sorry. I—" She hurried to her bedroom and ran into the bathroom and let it all out. After about five minutes, she opened the door and Jason was parked next to her bed.

"Talk to me."

"If I do, I won't be able to stop crying."

"Then I'll hold you."

Her shoulders slumped and she walked over to the bed and laid down so she was facing him. He took her hand. "I just had the worst day ever."

"I'm listening."

"I went to therapy and it was hard, but at least I'm trying to move forward. And then Epiphany pulled me aside and told me something horrible."

"Is she okay?"

"No. She wants me to be her power of attorney."

"I'm sorry."

"I can't tell you everything yet, but it's bad. I stopped by and saw Kylie on my way out and Johnny was there."

Jason made a face. "Why?"

"I guess he and Katherine are friends. They met the night of the collapse."

"Oh."

"He wanted to talk to me and I knew. I just left him and we broke up."

"I'm so sorry."

"I feel like I failed him."

Jason shook his head. "You didn't. You were doing the best you could. Is he mad at you?"

"No. He was wonderful."

"But you're still beating yourself up?"

"I guess. I feel so guilty for letting him down."

"You can't take it that way if he isn't. And crying isn't bad. Before, you would have just held it in."

"I don't think my body is giving me a choice. I'm not used to feeling so out of control."

"What can I do?"

"You're listening. That's all I can ask. How was your visit with Lila?"

"Fine. We were making plans."

She swallowed hard, realizing what that meant. "Oh. I guess it's time for me to stop leaning on you so much."

"I will still be there for you."

"I know."

Jason was really hoping that at the end of this process, that she would be ready to move forward with him. He could wait her out.

"Want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah. I'll sit in the living room with you. I've had enough of that bed to last me a lifetime."

"Okay."

He started to steer towards the door.

"Jason?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for being such a good friend."

"Always."

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The next morning, Diane went over the power of attorney with Elizabeth and talk turned towards the trial. To their surprise, Sonny knocked on her door.

"Hi ladies. May I come in?"

Diane looked at Liz who nodded.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I want to make you an offer."

Shouldn't your attorney be present?"

"She doesn't know that I'm here."

Diane pursed her lips.

"Look, I fired Ric for starters. I'm willing to pay a quarter of the cost of replacing the wing and my insurance will pay the rest. Considering that if the storm hadn't of occurred, Corelli & Co would have been able to fix the faulty beam and it would not have collapsed or at least if it did it would have totally been the fault of the storm."

"Go on." Diane would hear him out and then decide what she didn't like.

"Instead of paying you damages for your injuries, I thought that I could pay helicopter costs for needy families for transport for a year. It would save a ton of money for them."

Liz was surprised. "I'm not sure that Jason would agree to that. He is still suffering for his injuries."

"Did he have insurance?"

"Some, but it doesn't cover everything and I'm quite sure that they will probably make your insurance company pay."

"Fine. We'll let the insurance companies hash it out and I will pay for any additional costs as well as missed wages. If he wants to sue me for more, he can."

"So, you get a charity write off, a hefty boost in your insurance premiums, and walk away relatively unscathed. I know for a fact that business is booming due to the storm. A public trial would leave a bad taste your customer's mouths and hurt your bottom line. It's clear you just want to bury this."

"Of course that is part of it. I employ thousands of people. If I tank, it will bring everyone down. I didn't do this on purpose. It was partly a freak of nature. There hasn't been a tornado in this town since the fifties. Ric was an asshole. I would have never done what he did. My work up until this point has been impeccable. I hate that Elizabeth and Jason were hurt. I helped clean up the mess because I felt badly that her plans were derailed. I'm not a monster, Diane. I struggled to build my business up. I had nothing for years and finally, it's thriving. I get how wrong Ric was, but I can't go back and fix it. Taking everything away is not just hurting me. Can't we come to some kind of compromise?"

Liz closed her eyes. "I need time to discuss this with Diane and Jason."

"Okay. Thank you for listening and I am really glad that you're alright."

He shut the door behind him and ladies stared at each other for a long moment.

"I don't know what to do. Ric is the cause of all of this, yet he just gets fired. I'm probably willing to consider cutting a deal with Sonny. I still want to think about the details, but I want Ric to suffer. Not only did he take away some kid's miracle because of his arrogance, but he severely hurt Jason."

"I agree that he needs to be accountable for his actions, but that would require that Jason sue him. His injuries are in line with negligence and a judge would have to decide whether or not Ric would be tried. Sonny fired him which proves he was willing to take action regarding the negligence. If one of the other employees would come forward and testify against Ric and show that he knew about the beam being faulty and walked away, then that would be a slam dunk."

"And without it?"

"Ric could say that he didn't know about the beam. But there is also a reasonable standard of care associated when you are a skilled worker. He was supervising, which means he could be held to the standard regarding his business judgment and therefore could be found liable. I think Jason would have a good chance. It would help to have an ace in the hole though."

"Maybe Sonny would be willing to talk to his men and find out what went down."

"We can talk to him about it. You just need to make sure you want to go this route. I don't know what kind of training Ric had. If it's next to none, then Sonny might bare all the liability in this." There were so many ifs, ands and buts. Diane didn't like to lose, so she'd make sure all her bases were covered.

"Let me talk to Jason. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Good luck."

On the way out, Liz's phone rang. "Sarah! Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry. I've been off the grid."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Liz leaned against the wall. "You don't sound fine."

"Neither do you."

"Do you want to talk?"

"No. I just need some time to process."

"Are you coming to the dinner tomorrow night?"

"Probably." Sarah really didn't want to go, but she had already decided to see how this was going to play out before confronting them.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Tears stung Sarah's eyes. "I love you."

"Sarah!"

"Bye."

Liz growled. Why did everything have to be so out of control?