A/N: I'm really glad you all enjoyed the last update... here is a long one that I hope will help you forgive me for being so slow with updates. :p
- Chapter 27 -
Jason and Elizabeth drove away from Ric's house in complete silence for ten lengthy minutes. The enforcer was patiently waiting for his passenger to finally open up about what had just happened inside the lawyer's home but Elizabeth remained quiet. Shaky and quiet, forcing a worried Jason to fear the worse.
"What happened in there?" He finally asked, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove towards General Hospital.
Elizabeth looked at him in response, eyes wide and mouth tightly closed as if she couldn't find the words to recount her clash with Ric.
"Was it Ric, was he in there? Did you see something?" Jason insisted, hoping to get a reaction from her. "Elizabeth talk to me!"
The trembling brunette ran her free hand in her tussled curls as a heavy sigh escaped her. In her other hand the bottle of pills she had managed to steal from Ric.
"What is this in your hand?" Jason continued.
"Jason…" Elizabeth finally managed to say then paused not knowing where to start.
"What's going on? You know you can tell me." Jason offered his support.
"I thought he wasn't home, I thought he was at work." She said rubbing her sore neck.
"Ric was in there?" Jason hastily asked.
Elizabeth nodded, as she relived the man's devious grin and devilish chuckle in her mind. "He must have parked his car in the back… he never does, but maybe he knew I would come back and think he wasn't home, maybe he was waiting for me!" Her breathing was accelerating with each word.
"What happened in there? Did he try to hurt you?" Jason asked, his hands now fiercely grasping the wheel.
After a deep breath, Elizabeth at last began explaining. "I finished packing my bag, but I couldn't stop thinking about the bottle of pills I saw fall off Ric's jacket yesterday, so I thought about taking a quick look and see if I could find them."
Jason glanced at the orange container in his passenger's hands. "Is this what you're holding?"
Elizabeth nodded again. "I found the pills in his bedroom and I was about to get the hell out of there but then Ric appeared… out of nowhere." Elizabeth let out a heavy breath. "Jason I think he has completely lost it this time, he was talking about controlling me and this baby and about how I was his forever…"
"You know these are just words… he can't get to you."
"He tried… he grabbed me and tried to take me away but I managed to fight him off and run out."
"What? He attacked you? Elizabeth are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, I'm… fine." She hastily reassured Jason. "It all happened so fast, one minute Ric was grabbing me from behind and the next I was hitting him and running away."
Jason angrily hit the wheel with one hand. "I shouldn't have let you go in there by yourself."
"I told you I would be fine by myself, I told you I was sure he wasn't home… Jason I'm sorry I should have listened to you, but I really didn't think he would be there."
"You're sorry? He just attacked you and you're apologizing."
"I just can't believe I trusted him again, that I was naive enough to think he truly wanted to change. "Elizabeth's eyes lowered to stare at the pills in her hand. "Jason, what if those pills are something harmful for the baby. I would never forgive myself because I let him in, I believed him when he begged me to give him a second chance. I didn't even entertain the idea that he may have been drugging me when I was feeling so sick."
"You thought it was the pregnancy and maybe it is and we're just jumping to conclusion here."
"I really hope you're right and it's just fear talking and that these pills are nothing." Elizabeth then said. "My doctor would have seen something… unless… unless…" She paused mid sentence.
"Hey, I'm taking you to see Emily, she'll examine you and the baby and tell us if we have anything to worry about. Until then please try to stay positive. I know it's hard right now but you're in good hands. I won't let Ric get anywhere near you and your child ever again you have my word."
Elizabeth sent him a half smile while her eyes began fluttering.
"Elizabeth? Elizabeth are you ok?" Jason asked, seeing Elizabeth's struggle to stay awake.
"I'm… fine… I'm just feeling a little tired." The emotional rollercoaster she had just gone through was over and she slowly fell down from her adrenaline high.
Elizabeth's hand blindly reached Jason's arm that she grabbed before falling unconscious.
"Elizabeth!" Jason called again hoping to wake up the inactive young woman next to him, but in vain. The enforcer pushed on the accelerator, sending his SUV flying through the streets of Port Charles as fast as he could.
Courtney arrived at the Metro Court with a bright smile and her head full of hope. Carly truly saw a future for Jason and her and Courtney fully trusted the other woman's intuition. No one knew Sonny's enforcer better than she did and for this reason she was ready to follow the other woman's lead.
Sonny's sister quickly spotted Carly across the hotel restaurant and waved at her.
"Here you are!" Carly exclaimed walking up to meet her sister in law with a friendly hug.
"Of course I am, you mentioned discussing Sonny's gorgeous right hand man and I got here as fast as I could." Courtney confessed.
"That's exactly why I think you will be a great match for Jason… You have the right priorities." Carly said, her left eyebrow raised.
"But does he?" Courtney quickly asked, unable to discount his interest for a certain brunette.
"What do you mean?" Carly innocently asked.
"Carly, last time we spoke, which was actually just me unsuccessfully trying to have a conversation with him…" Courtney remarked. "He seemed preoccupied with something, or should I say someone else."
"We already talked about this Courtney, Jason's just too kindhearted. He put in his head this idea of rescuing charity case Elizabeth Webber, when she doesn't even need rescuing. She is simply getting on with her life and he needs to do the same."
"And how do we get her out of his mind?"
"Well, I have a plan, but first let's get a table." Carly declared.
The two women chose a table on the terrace and ordered two Nicoise Salads before finally getting back to the subject at hand.
"I am dying here Carly, you have got to tell me about your master plan." Courtney said then reached for her glass of sparkling water.
Carly leaned forward slightly. "Alright, this is what I am thinking… You are a beautiful girl and Jason can't stay insensitive to that, after all he's a man and we all know how men think."
"Okay… I'm not sure I'm following where you're getting at." Courtney let out, unable to read between Carly's cryptic lines.
"It's simple; we're going to put you in a situation where he won't be able to resist you, just the two of you, no distractions."
"No distractions? I like the sound of that." Courtney replied, now completely but blindly on board with Carly's plan.
A mischievous smile graced the matchmaker's lips. "Trust me, it's just a matter of time before he sees exactly what's in front of him."
"I see two gorgeous women in front of me." Jax suddenly said, interrupting the two blonds.
Carly chuckled before answering. "Well I wish someone else would have your sense of observation." Sonny's wife then turned to Courtney. "Jax this is Courtney, Sonny's sister."
"It is very nice to meet you Courtney, you look nothing like your brother… and I am saying this as a compliment" The gentleman offered with a bright smile then gave his attention back to his grimacing business partner. "Why do I have a feeling you are up to no good?"
"Me? Never." An unusually coy Carly replied.
"I just hope it has nothing to do with the hotel."
"Rest assured Jax, I'm simply helping a friend out." Carly replied, arms crossed over her chest.
"Courtney if I was you I would beware because Carly helping usually ends up in much more trouble." Jax warned the young woman.
Which Carly didn't appreciate."Oh really Jax? How many times have I come up with very creative ways to get the hotel out of a sticky situation."
"You are a great business woman Carly, no question about that, but you have put yourself in quite a few sticky situations in the process…" The businessman reminded her with a faint grin.
Courtney jumped in before a worked up Carly could say anything. "Don't worry Jax, it is with eyes wide opened that I accept Carly's help. I trust my sister in law's judgment."
"Alright… in this case I will leave you two ladies to your plotting. Courtney it was very nice to meet you and Carly I will see you for our two o'clock call with Montreal."
Jax smiled at the two women then disappeared as furtively as he had first appeared.
"Wow… Jasper Jax is simply…"
"A pain in the butt that's what he is." Carly finished her friend's sentence.
"I was about to say stunning but…" Courtney let her know.
"How dare he go on about how you shouldn't accept my help when I have time and time again saved this hotel from impossible situations."
"I don't think he was talking seriously Carly."
"He was just being a smart ass… anyway why don't we get back to you and Jason." Carly added.
Courtney placed her linked hands under her chin before answering. "I'm listening."
"Listen Cody, I want someone trailing Ric 24/7, I want to know his every move so find out what he is up to. If he tries to get anywhere near Elizabeth…"
"Jason?" Emily interrupted her brother's phone conversation.
"I'll call you back." Jason quickly wrapped up his phone call to turn his attention to his sister. "Hey Emily."
"How's Elizabeth?"
"She is in there." The enforcer said pointing towards the examination room behind them. "I'm not sure what's wrong with her she was fine and talking one minute and the next she was unconscious. "
"The nurse told me she is slowly waking up. I'm not sure what caused her to faint but it could just be the stress she's under."
"She had an altercation with Ric, he tried to snatch her but she managed to get away."
"What? Did she get hurt?"
"She told me she was fine but I don't know… she was very shaken up when she got out of his house."
"Poor thing…" Emily said shaking her head. "I'll examine her and make sure she is okay."
"Thanks Em… I really hope this is the end of it now that she knows exactly who Ric is." Jason said, tensely playing with the cell phone he was still holding.
"Well some people are really good at hiding their true nature."
"Ric Lansing is an expert at that…" Jason said before adding. "Elizabeth feels really guilty, she thinks that if anything happens to the baby it would be her fault because she gave Ric a second chance."
Emily offered a apologetic smile as felt for the incredible position Jason's friend was in then listened to her brother go on.
Jason reached for something in his leather jacket pocket. "Here, she found these pills at Ric's house… like I mentioned on the phone, she's afraid he might have been slipping her these without her knowing about it."
"Alright, I'll take them to the lab so we can find out exactly what they are." Emily said grabbing the bottle from her brother then gave a quick look at the pills in her hand as she spoke. "Do you really believe Ric could have stooped this low… I mean drugging a pregnant woman? What kind of person would even think of doing something so sick?"
"I really want to believe he wouldn't go there but after everything Ric has put Elizabeth through I can't put anything past him. He's been messing with her head for weeks and I wouldn't be surprised if he got help from some kind of substance."
"Jason if he indeed did hurt her and her baby, this man is more dangerous than we could ever have imagined and we need to take this to the police. She needs to press charges against him, get a restraining order!"
"No police… I'll take care of it."
"Jase…" Emily contested.
"Emily please just take care of Elizabeth and I will take care of Ric."
"Elizabeth, how are you feeling?" Emily asked a semi conscious Elizabeth.
"Where am I? Where is Jason?" Elizabeth mumbled still in a haze.
"You're at the hospital, Jason brought you here."
Elizabeth's back fell back on her hospital bed reassured as she listened to the doctor.
"I'm Emily, Jason's sister... remember me?"
"Yeah, of course. You listened to me when I needed someone to talk to, thanks again for that."
"I'm glad I was able to help; I know you're in quite an impossible situation."
Elizabeth lowered her eyes thinking impossible was the best word to describe her life.
"Jason gave me the pills you found at Ric's house. I sent them to the lab and we will very soon know exactly what they are. I'll also take a blood sample from you so we can see if anything is in your system."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Alright."
"Are you in any pain?" Emily continued. "Jason told me you were in a fight with Ric."
Elizabeth shook her head from side to side. "He tried to force me into going away with him but I managed to get away. I might have a couple bruises here and there but I'm fine."
"Well that's impressive Elizabeth, how you managed to fight him off; but I'm not surprised you're a spunky little thing."
Emily's comment forced a smile to appear on Elizabeth's preoccupied face.
"Don't worry." The doctor added. "Everything will be alright now, Jason is standing vigil in front of this room and he's not going anywhere."
"I don't know what I would do without him." The petite brunette said then ran both hands through her curls.
"My brother is great but don't underestimate your strength Elizabeth. You saved yourself today."
"Thanks Emily. But if it wasn't for Jason I don't even know where I would be today. He has been amazing to me from the beginning when he didn't owe me anything."
"Yeah Jason is one of a kind and I guess you guys met for a reason." Emily said offering a large beam to her patient before she went on. "Okay, let's take a look at you make sure everything is in order. I also paged Dr. Kelly, our obstetrician who will take a look at the baby."
The doctor examined Elizabeth closely noticing a lower than normal blood pressure that could have caused her to faint but Emily let her patient know that her blood work would provide more concrete answers.
Are you taking any sort of medication, anything for the pregnancy?
"Yes, prenatal vitamins, they're in my handbag." Elizabeth answered.
"Do you mind if I take a look at these also? Just to make sure."
"Of course not." Elizabeth said then reached inside her handbag to give the doctor the pills.
"Dr. Kelly will be here in a minute. I'll put a rush on these tests and will have results for you in no time."
"Thanks for everything Emily."
Dr. Lee suddenly entered the room. "You paged me?"
"Well perfect timing Kelly, I was just about to send a nurse for you." Emily then turned back to her patient. "Elizabeth, this is Dr. Kelly Lee."
"Nice to meet you!" Dr. Lee said with a large smile. "Now let's take a look at this little one."
"Alright, I'll be back." Emily grabbed Elizabeth's hand in support before leaving her with her colleague.
"So tell me Elizabeth, how far along are you?"
"8 weeks now."
Dr. Lee entered the information in a computer. "Have you taken an ultrasound before?"
"No… Not yet, I was scheduled for one on my next prenatal visit."
"Well why don't we take care of this today?"
Elizabeth opened her eyes wide as she the thought of seeing her baby for the first time reached her mind. "Now? Um… Sure."
"Alright, lay down and relax. We'll take a look and make sure the pregnancy is going the way it is supposed to."
Elizabeth bit her lower lip nervously as she tried to contain a smile. The young patient then lay back down and lifted her hospital gown to reveal her still flat belly to her doctor.
"Alright this is going to feel a little cold." Dr. Lee warned her patient before applying a conductive gel on Elizabeth's lower abdomen. She then gently began moving the transducer over her stomach to obtain an image.
The doctor scanned all areas of Elizabeth's abdomen once, then a second time but this time she was unable to hide a concerned look that didn't go unnoticed by her young patient.
"Is everything ok?" Elizabeth asked, alarmed by Dr. Lee's odd reaction.
"You know what I'll be right back." The doctor inexplicably replied then disappeared before Elizabeth was able to ask another question.
Dr. Lee hurriedly found Emily who was standing in the hospital hallway with her brother.
"Kelly! How are Elizabeth and the baby?"
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Dr. Lee said, her usual smile nowhere in sight.
"Sure." Emily responded then sent a half smile towards Jason who was already fearing the worse. "Give me a second okay?" She told him then followed Kelly a few steps away.
"What's going on?" Emily asked impatient to hear what Dr. Lee had to say.
Her friend and fellow doctor's face took on a troubled expression.
"Is the baby ok?" Emily raised, knowing that whatever Kelly had to say, it wouldn't be good news. Something must have been wrong with Elizabeth's baby.
"There is no baby." Dr. Lee finally blurred out.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I checked and rechecked, this woman is not pregnant Emily." Dr. Lee declared.
"But, how? How is that possible?"
"Sorry I don't have these answers, but she is not pregnant and it doesn't seem like she ever was." Kelly confidently let out. "All I can think of is pseudocyesis, or false pregnancy syndrome but I don't know if Elizabeth fits the profile. We will need a psych consult to determine that."
"False pregnancy? That doesn't make any sense, this usually happens to women with strong desires to experience a pregnancy and from what I know that wasn't really the case for Elizabeth."
"She might also be suffering from a rare hormonal imbalance that could have made it seem like she was pregnant and we'll know more when her labs come through." Kelly added.
"Hormonal imbalance?" Emily repeated wondering if any of the pills she had sent to the lab for testing could have caused this.
"I have another appointment in five minutes but talk to her and maybe you'll be able to figure out what is happening." Dr. Lee advised her.
"Thanks Kelly, I will."
"Good luck." The ob said then left a puzzled Emily behind. She was quickly joined by her brother who questioned her concerned frown.
"What's wrong? Is it Elizabeth, is she ok?"
"Oh… Jason…" Emily let out still puzzled. She hated the fact that she would have to give the already fragile young woman such terrible news. Elizabeth seemed to have grown so excited about becoming a mother that Emily could already anticipate the pain this information would cause.
"Is it the baby?" Jason then grimly asked, unable to bear his sister's silence.
"I am not sure what is happening here but I think I need to talk to Elizabeth first." Emily told him. She left her anxious brother outside Elizabeth's hospital room to talk to the young woman about her none pregnancy.
"Emily you're back!" Elizabeth exclaimed as soon as she saw the doctor reappear. "I don't know what's going on, Dr. Lee didn't say anything she just left… is the baby ok?" The young woman fretfully rambled, her heart uncontrollably racing.
Emily quietly sat on a stool by her side, unsure of where to start. "Elizabeth… Dr. Lee saw something during the ultrasound."
"What is it Emily, whatever it is please just tell me… I can take it." Elizabeth said, already on the verge of tears.
Emily took a deep breath and reached the sonogram tray that she spun around so her patient could see.
"Okay, you see this screen?" Emily pointed at the monitor whose last image showed Elizabeth's uterus.
"Yes?" Elizabeth answered distressed. "But I can't really make out anything on it."
"Precisely… Dr. Lee examined you and she found out that… um… there is no baby Elizabeth." Emily finally expressed.
"No baby? What do you mean no baby? It's impossible."
"You are not pregnant Elizabeth… I'm really sorry."
"Did I… did I lose the baby? Oh god…" Elizabeth began to panic.
"No, no Elizabeth there was never a baby. You're not pregnant." Emily quickly corrected her patient.
"No, that must be a mistake… I am pregnant, I took a pregnancy test, I even had a blood test done… I know I am pregnant!" The petite brunette added, in complete denial of what Emily was telling her.
"Mistakes can be made in some very rare cases…"
"Mistakes? I don't understand, then maybe there is something wrong with this machine."
"Unfortunately the machine is fine… I hate to be bringing you this sad news but you're not pregnant and it doesn't seem like you ever were."
"Wha… what?" Elizabeth managed to say as heavy tears began flowing down her face. She cried, unable to contain herself as the idea that there wasn't going to be a baby sunk in her mind.
Jason heard Elizabeth cries from the other side of the door and couldn't help but barge in. "What's wrong? Elizabeth what's wrong?"
"There is no baby! There was never a baby!" She cried out. And Jason rushed to take her in his arms where she completely lost it, mourning a child that never existed.
Emily watched the heart wrenching scene, her own heart aching at the pain she was witnessing. The doctor wondered how Elizabeth could have been lead into thinking she was pregnant when she wasn't and hoped for Ric Lansing's sake that the pills she was waiting results for had nothing to do with this deception or she would personally see that he pays for everything he had made Elizabeth endure.
