A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad you liked the Maxie stuff and their date! * kikimoo – John knows about Lucky too.
Chapter 36
Jason pulled Liz into his arms and rubbed her back. "I wasn't planning on rushing things with you. We can wait."
"I'm more worried about your arm."
"The sling comes off tomorrow. I've been careful."
"How about we make out and save the hardcore stuff for when you're healed."
He made a face and she laughed. Glumly, he sat on the couch and she carefully straddled him.
"I love kissing you," she said softly.
"You have the best lips."
She slightly smiled and leaned in as she palmed his cheeks. Her plump lips pressed against his and Jason lightly moaned. She licked and sucked and then slid her tongue into his mouth. Jason let her control the kiss and fisted her hair as she ravished his mouth. God, he wanted her so badly. It had been way too long since the last time she was in his bed. He stopped her movement and kissed down her neck. She sighed out his name. Suddenly, he pulled back and looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears. "I don't dream, but I've pictured this—finally being with you like this. There's no one coming between us. It's just you and me and our love. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen."
She kissed him on the forehead, touched by his words. "I've pictured it too. Thank you for forcing the issue. When you told me that you were taking yourself out of the race, it made me deal with my feelings and just go for it. I'm so glad we cleared the air. There is nothing stopping us now. We can finally have everything we always wanted."
They hugged tightly as Jason buried his face into her hair. He loved how she smelled. "I love you so much Elizabeth. I know we have a lot to deal with because of Jake, but you we're going to get married this time, right?"
She pulled back, her eyes sparkling with love. "Definitely!"
Jason grinned. "After he's settled in tomorrow, I'd like to take you for a ride."
"I would love that."
"Abbie will be here and she said she'd take care of dinner for Jake and Aidan."
Liz smiled. "Sounds good."
"I hope that I don't disappoint the boys. I want to be a good father to them."
"They already care about you."
"There will be times where I need to be the one to help them. You're used to being the sole parent, is that going to be hard for you?"
"A little. I'm trying to let you handle certain things. If I overstep, just pull me aside and we'll talk it out. Sometimes I react, so I'll just have to learn to bite my tongue."
"You get to have an opinion, but sometimes they'll need their dad's guidance and I don't want you to feel hurt."
She kissed him. "I'll be okay. You don't even know how happy it makes me to have this conversation. You're are going to be a great dad."
His phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket. "It's John. Hello?"
"Hey, we found a second doctor that was helping Helena. He was the one that caused Jake to collapse during the meeting."
"Where is he?" Jason asked angrily.
"Dead. When he heard us breach the house, he shot himself."
"Damn."
John understood Jason's need to punish anyone that hurt his son. "There's more."
"Let me put you on speaker."
He adjusted the phone.
"Hello Elizabeth."
"Hi John."
"We found lots of notes regarding Jake's brainwashing and what techniques were used. It was extensive. There were videos of torture and sleep deprivation. He was abused until he complied. It's a miracle that he even still has love for you."
Liz wiped a tear away. "That is because of you."
John closed his eyes. "I wish I could have done more."
"I will see if Kevin will be willing to work with him. If he says yes, then he'll need all the information you have."
"Won't it be dangerous because Jake might admit he killed someone?"
"He's smart. I don't think he'd slip," Jason said.
"Okay. I'll bring all the documentation over later on."
"Thank you John. I'm so happy you took care of him when we couldn't," Liz said emotionally.
"I love him like a brother."
"I hope you know that you are a part of our family."
John smiled. "So I'll be an honorary Morgan?"
"Definitely," Jason said. He would be forever indebted to the man.
"That sounds really nice." He never knew his dad's side of the family and his mother had passed away in an accident. She was an only child. The only person left on that side was his grandmother who he rarely saw. As far as he was concerned, Jake was his brother.
"So we'll see you later?"
"Yes."
They hung up and Liz hugged Jason. "Just from my experience with Lucky and what Helena did to him, we have a long road ahead of us. The only good thing is that John undermined it, but Lucky was never the same after what she did."
"Jake needs to find himself. He's been through a lot and all he knows is stress."
"Maybe he should see Kevin immediately, that way he can get all the brainwashing stuff over with and can then relax."
"We'll ask him tonight."
They sat with their bodies infused together for a long time and then headed to the hospital.
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Jake smiled when he saw them. "Hey."
Abbie stood and kissed him on the forehead. "I'm going to run home. I'll be back."
"Okay."
She left and Liz and sat down and held his hand. "How are you feeling?"
"A little better. Why do you look so serious?"
"John called us and he found the second doctor and some files regarding your brainwashing."
"Oh."
"Kevin Collins was able to reverse a lot of what Helena did to Lucky. We were thinking that maybe you should talk to him right away so that you can get started. You've been under so much stress for so long. Undoing all the psychological damage will take some time, but then it would be done and you could relax and live your life to the fullest."
"You have a point."
"So, will you consider it?" Liz asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll talk to him and make all the arrangements. I'm sure he'll want to wait until you're out of the hospital to start."
"That's fine, but if Patrick says it's okay, I'd rather just start sooner than later."
A few minutes later, Patrick walked in and they explained the situation.
"Wait a few days for the hardcore stuff, but maybe Kevin and you can have some conversations to lay the groundwork while you're here. He can slowly move into more intensive treatment. It looks like the surgery didn't do any serious damage, but it did do some. There was no way to avoid it."
"Okay."
"I'll go see if he's on duty. I would at least like to introduce you to him."
Elizabeth left and Patrick answered a few questions for Jake who was concerned about the damage.
"It's nothing like your father's, but you might have some lapses of memory at first. Things you knew how to do could become foreign to you and you'll have to relearn them. Other than that, you might have an occasional seizure because your nerve endings are growing together, but they shouldn't last much longer. If they do, then that would be another situation and mean your epileptic."
Jason squeezed Jake's hand.
"I'm not anticipating that because you are healing nicely. Your most recent seizure was very mild. I need you to let me know if anything strange happens or you're under any duress. That could mean panic attacks, vision problems, or dizziness."
"I will." He'd do anything to move forward.
"The most important thing is that you relax as much as possible."
"Can he play video games?" Jason asked.
Patrick smiled. "Yes. Try not to make them too violent though."
Jason had a television put in the room where he was staying and he'd have one of the guards grab some gamer equipment. "Jake, do you have a laptop?"
"Yeah, but it was one Helena gave me. Maybe I should start from scratch."
"I'll have Spinelli get one for you."
"Thanks."
Patrick left and they continued to talk.
"Have Abbie tell you what she likes to eat so I can stock up. I'll need a list for you too," Liz said.
"Can I have some pancakes tomorrow morning?"
Jason smiled. "Definitely." He was planning on spoiling his son.
"Thank you for ending Helena. I feel like I have a chance now."
Liz saw Epiphany walk by and went into the hallway.
"I couldn't let her hurt you anymore. Should I worry about Nikolas?" Jason asked.
"I can handle him. He wasn't really in her pocket. She was threatening him," Jake said.
"Would you tell me if he was a problem?"
"Yes. I'm not going to hide anything from you."
"I'm glad, because I have your back and if Nikolas needs to go, then I need you to let me do it. You haven't realized it yet, but taking that chip out is going to make you not only think differently, but behave differently. Your killing days are over."
"I hope yours are too. You're right. I don't feel so blood thirsty anymore."
"Good."
"Tell me about your recovery after the accident."
Jason took a deep breath and recounted it. He knew Jake needed to hear about what he went through and how he came out on the other side. Even though it was a different situation, he wanted his son to know that he completely understood what he was going through.
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Elizabeth knocked on Kevin's door.
"Come in."
She pushed it open and he smiled when he saw her.
"Elizabeth, it's good to see you. I had a feeling you'd come looking for me."
They hugged.
"I need you to help my son. Helena brainwashed him. We know her command to attack and to end it. We also have files that detail what she did. There was a guard that helped counteract some of it. He helped Jake to still have some love for his family."
"He must have been very conflicted."
"Very. Patrick operated on him and took out the chip. He's stable and is going home tomorrow."
"That's good. Can I meet him?"
"Yes."
"I'll work with Patrick regarding a timeline to get started and in the meantime, I can read up on what Helena did and start a plan."
"So you're all in?"
Kevin smiled. "Yes. Your family deserves some happiness. I want to help Jake. I can come to your house if need be to treat him until he can come to the office."
Her eyes filled with tears. "You don't know how much this means to me. I'll make sure you get all the documents today. Jason said he'd pay whatever it costs."
"I'll draw up a payment plan and we'll talk about it later. How are you doing?"
She let out a sharp breath. "It's been hard. Aidan has been seeing Tristan because he was having such a hard time. Lucky is dead and he's been struggling with that. Jason and I are back together, which is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. I have my family back and that means everything to me."
"What about your anger?"
"Frankly, I haven't had much time to go there. Jake coming back pretty much threw this family into a tail spin and I've been trying to hold us together."
"That can be exhausting."
"Yes, but everything is working out. I said my goodbyes to Lucky and aside from worrying about my boys, I actually feel stronger than I have in a long time."
"Explain."
"Well, I'm standing up for myself against people who have always tried to tear me down. I'm fighting to be with Jason. There is no way I'm willing to let him go again. We have a fight on our hands regarding him possibly leaving the mob, but I will do whatever it takes to make it work. For the first time, in a long time, I feel happy—like I have a future. It's nice to smile and mean it."
Kevin smiled. "I understand. I'm happy for you Elizabeth. If you do feel overwhelmed at any time, my door is always open to you. I'm proud of you and think you're on the right track."
She smiled back. "Thank you."
They stood and he followed her to Jake's room.
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Jason and Jake looked up as Kevin walked inside.
"Hello Jason."
"Hey." He stood and shook Kevin's hand.
Kevin looked at Jake. "You're a lot bigger now."
Jake smiled. "Yeah."
"I'm Kevin Collins. I just wanted to introduce myself."
"I kind of remember you from when I was younger."
"Good. Your mother has filled me in on what Helena did and I want to help you move forward. Will you let me?"
"Yes. I want to be free of her influence."
"Well, you've come to the right guy. I'm going to talk to Patrick and review your files to come up with a plan. I'd like to come to your house in the next few days and just talk. We won't be doing anything extreme. I just need to hear where your head is at and then we'll probably slowly move forward until your totally back on your feet."
"Okay."
"Jason, may I speak with you outside?"
Jason followed him.
"Eventually, we're going to have to test out the codes on him to see if he's still affected and to what degree."
Jason frowned.
"Think of it this way, she might still have some men out here who are doing her bidding. You don't want them to get the upper hand do you?"
"No. I have a recording of Helena's voice saying both commands."
"That is perfect. We won't do anything like that until he's strong enough."
"Okay."
"Congratulations on getting your family back."
Jason smiled. "It's the first time I've been truly happy in a long time."
"I know it's not something you're that comfortable with, but if you ever need to talk, my door is open to you."
Jason nodded. "If at some point you think that would be beneficial to Jake, then I'll do whatever it takes to help."
"I appreciate that. You've been through a lot too with losing Danny and dealing with what Helena did. You also found out you were a Cassadine."
"I don't care about that part. I'm dealing with losing Danny. I think it has helped that I've been so busy looking after Jake."
"Just don't push your emotions down. If you're not comfortable talking to me, than talk to Elizabeth or your mom. I know you're used to pushing things down and locking them away, but it's not healthy. If you're going to be a good example to your sons, you need to start dealing with it because even though you think it doesn't affect the choices you make, it does."
"I can't argue with that."
"Then try to talk things out with Elizabeth and make sure she knows she can talk to you about anything. You're a team now and will need to rely on each other."
"Okay."
Kevin smiled. "It was good seeing you. You're a walking miracle."
Jason looked down.
"You are because no one thought you would have the capacity to feel the way you do. That's a good thing."
"Thanks for saying that."
Kevin patted him on the shoulder. "Take care. I'll be in touch soon."
Jason stopped him and gave him the address to the penthouse and then went back into the room.