Chapter 21

Jason spent hours replaying the same thoughts. He knew that his mind probably would not play any more of the thoughts out but he just could not help himself. He had himself convinced that his latest brain injury had plagued him with something he'd never had before. He was now dreaming of Elizabeth… actually day dreaming about her. Now he was wondering what else had changed, if perhaps he'd be able to look at a painting and see it's true meaning. Of course, thinking about art he now began thinking about Elizabeth again.

Well he was thinking about her when he was interrupted by the nurse peeking in his room. Unfortunately it was not Elizabeth, it was the night shift nurse. His eyes glanced at the clock on the wall, it was after seven already so he knew Elizabeth should be arriving for her shift soon. "Good morning, I just thought I'd check in one last time before my shift ended. How are you feeling?"

Jason offered the middle aged woman a nod, "Fine."

"Just fine?" she asked as she recorded his blood pressure on his chart and shoved a thermometer in his ear.

"Good." He challenged.

She smiled, "Good. The physical therapist will be here around nine. I'm out of here now but I am on shift tonight so I will see you later."

Jason nodded his acknowledgement and groaned when she left the room. Physical therapy was not his thing and he'd made it clear to Patrick yesterday that he is more then capable to handle it himself, but Patrick insisted. The bright side was that since the night shift nurse was leaving, that meant that Elizabeth was likely starting her shift soon.

A while later the therapist was finally leaving. Jason was grateful it was finally over because if he had to lift one of those little two pound weights one more time he would have hurled it across the room. He'd had every muscle stretched and every joint bent… all of which he could have done without the help of a snot nosed, meat-head therapist.

"Hey" came a voice from the doorway.

Jason felt his body tense at her voice. "Hi." He mumbled.

Sam hesitantly entered the room, "I'm glad you finally woke up." She said in a chipper voice. "I was so worried about you."

Jason sighed, "I don't need you to worry about me Sam."

She ignored his comment, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He said plainly.

Her brows pulled together, "Are you mad at me?"

Jason shook his head. He really didn't think about her enough to be mad at her. "Should I be, did something happen before my accident that would cause me to be angry with you?" he asked.

Sam all too quickly answered, "No."

Jason shrugged, "I don't remember the accident or the few weeks leading up to it so its possible that I just don't remember."

"No, we talked a few times but we didn't fight."

Jason nodded, "Well I'm feeling fine." He said in a tone that he wanted the conversation to end… and the visit as well.

"Did you need to take a nap because I can come back later if you want."

"No, you don't have to come back." He said, hoping she realized he'd meant that he still wanted her to leave now and not come back either. There were no feelings there and he could tell by her demeanor that their situation had not changed in the weeks leading up to the accident. She still wanted him back and he still wanted none of it.

"I was hoping we could talk." She hesitantly said.

His eyes narrowed and he clasped his hands together, "About what?"

Sam's arms flopped against her sides, "Us Jason!" she whined.

"Sam… there is no us anymore."

"But Jason…" she started then followed his gaze to the door to his room that was again opening. All words escaped her when Ric walked in the door. Her entire body tensed and she felt a burning in the pit of her stomach. She combed her fingers nervously through her hair as Ric swaggered into the room.

"Well hello there Sam… Jason" He said snidely. "It seems like we had the same idea this morning."

"What do you want Ric?" Jason asked, frustration in his voice at his two unwanted visitors.

Ric smiled at Jason. "Well I came discuss the weekend before your accident." Ric said, his gaze moving to Sam in the middle of his sentence in an effort to make her fear that he'd tell Jason about their tryst at the lake house.

Jason threw his hands up, "Well ask whatever you want but I don't remember so I am not going to be much help. Anything else can go through my lawyer."

"Your lawyer huh? You may not remember if you did something but you must think you did."

Jason shook his head, "Did you just come here to goad me Ric?"

Ric laughed, "So this amnesia you conveniently have, is it permanent?"

Jason sighed, "Probably not."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Ric asked and Jason just glared at him, waiting for him to continue, not really wanting to hear what he had to say but he knew he had no choice. "I think that this amnesia is a little too convenient. See you don't have an alibi and memory loss give you an excuse to say you don't remember where you were… but the problem is..." Ric chuckled and continued, "Without an alibi you pretty much are going down for killing Lorenzo Alcazar."

"How do you figure?"

"I have enough evidence to get an indictment."

Jason shook his head, "It's all circumstantial Ric."

"But there is enough, I already have it on good authority that I would have been able to get an indictment in absentia had you remained in the coma any longer. This case will go to trial with you in or out of the hospital, in or out of jail… memory or no memory."

"Is that all you came here to say Ric?" Jason growled.

Ric looked over his shoulder at Sam who was standing in the corner of the room listening and watching the conversation quietly. "For now, that's all I want to say." Ric turned to leave but stopped at the door. "You look like you are getting better so I assume you'll be getting out of here soon. Don't get comfortable because as soon as you get out of here you will be booked for first degree murder." He said then continued out of the room.

Jason sucked in a deep breath and wiped his hand down his face. Unfortunately when he opened his eyes Sam was still in the room. "Sam…" he growled. "I don't know what else to say here."

Sam shrugged, "I should go."

Relief flooded through Jason when Sam left the room, passing Elizabeth on her way out. The two shared what looked like a hard glare as they passed each other. Jason noted the look exchanged between the two of them.

"Is everything ok?" Elizabeth asked, looking over her shoulder one last time to be sure Sam was gone.

Jason smiled, "It is now."

Sam walked across the hospital parking lot and stopped short when she saw Ric standing beside her car, leaning on the driver side door. She let out a grunt, "What? What now?"

"Ohhhh what do I want?" he mocked.

"What do you want? Obviously you want something or you wouldn't be out here waiting for me."

Ric tipped his head, "Did you have a nice visit with Jason?"

"Great." She answered in an annoyed voice and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

"Oh you are sexy when you are irritated."

She stood, glaring at him. "Are you going to tell him or just hold it over my head."

Ric shrugged, "I haven't decided. Maybe you can help me… you know I may be more apt to keep quiet if I'm… satisfied." He said raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Sam rolled her eyes and let out a grunt, "So you want to have sex with me again?"

"Oh no, no… I want you to want to have sex with me." he said, taking a step toward her. "I want you to want me so bad that you can't wait to rip my clothes off."

Sam pushed past him and quickly got into her car as Ric continued, "I'll see you tonight, perhaps… eight o'clock." He managed to get out before she slammed her door shut and sped off. A satisfied smile formed on his lips because he knew she'd be there tonight.