Chapter Thirty-Nine
Walking out of the hospital room, her brother still nowhere near waking up, Elizabeth stretches her body in an attempt to relieve the stress that's running through her. It seemed that her body just couldn't relieve the tenseness it has been feeling since Robin almost died.
Mostly because she had that same sick feeling Mac had, a sick feeling that their battle with the prophet wasn't over. No matter how dead the man was, it seems like he is still pulling someone's strings. Jason has tried to convince her that, whoever it is, they don't have the same resources that the prophet had. Seeing as he and the B.O.D. have dismantled the entire organization from the inside out. For some reason, though, she just didn't believe that it made any difference.
"Sonny." Elizabeth greets him as he walks off the elevator. "Here to see Robin?"
"Yeah." he admits, smiling slightly, holding up a bouquet of flowers. "I'm hoping these will help liven up her room."
"Its worth a shot." she says simply, never really understanding the idea of bringing flowers to a patient. It just seemed strange, like they were preparing for the event that the patient would die. "Jason's with her right now, but he should be leaving the room soon."
"Why is that?"
"Its just about the time that the loudmouth comes to visit Robin." Elizabeth shrugs, hitting the down button on for the elevator. "Can you just let him know that I'm waiting in the cafeteria?"
"Sure." Sonny shakes his head, watching as she walks onto the elevator. "How's...how are you doing? The pregnancy treating you okay?"
"If by okay you mean constantly wasting amazing meals, then, yeah...its treating me great." Elizabeth hits the button for the first floor. "See you later, Sonny."
"See you later, Elizabeth." he gets out before the doors close.
Staring at the elevator for a moment longer, Sonny turns on his heels and heads to Robin's room, finding Jason sitting by the bed. For a split second, Sonny felt a sense of dejavu, but he knew better. Jason's not Robin's anymore and, strangely, it didn't seem as wrong as he thought it would.
"Sonny." Jason greets, rising to his feet. "You okay?"
"Me?" Sonny shakes his head, putting down the bouquet of flowers. "Yeah, I'm good. What about her?"
"No changes, so far." Jason says simply, glancing over at Robin. "The doctors say that's a good thing."
"Look, we should talk business later." Sonny says carefully. "There's some stuff that you should know."
"Can you handle it?" Jason counters, looking at him seriously. "Its just that...with everything going on..."
"Yeah, no, I understand." Sonny concedes, smiling slightly. "I'll just handle it."
"You sure?" Jason looks at him curiously. "If you need me to step in, just let me know. I'm still the head of the organization."
"I'm sure...I'll handle it." Sonny says with more conviction than last time. "You just focus on this situation...I'll handle the business."
"Thanks." he takes a deep breath, reaching for his jacket. "I should get going. Its about time for Elizabeth to eat."
"She was heading to the cafeteria when I saw her earlier." Sonny says as Jason slides into his jacket. "She said that she'll be waiting for you there."
"Okay." Jason leans over to place a kiss on Robin's forehead before turning away from her. "Thanks, again, for stepping in for me. I owe you one."
"I think that's the other way around." Sonny counters, knowing that he could never repay Jason for all the things he has done for him over the years. "Go take care of your girl."
Granting Sonny a nod, Jason walks out of the room to head to the cafeteria, needing to see Elizabeth and remember that there was still a bright side to his day. Riding the elevator, Jason patiently waits for the bell to ding and for the doors to open up before making his way to the cafeteria. What he wasn't expecting, when he got there, was for Elizabeth to be nowhere in sight.
Pulling out his cellphone, he tries to call her up on hers, but it goes straight to voicemail. A sick feeling spreading through him, Jason tries to remain calm, forcing himself not to go into panic mode as he thinks of all the possible reasons why she wouldn't be where she said she'd be and why her phone's off. There had to be a simple, logical reason to explain it.
Calling the guards, Jason waits for an answer, knowing that if she left the hospital they'd be with her. Getting voicemail, Jason's reserve starts to crumble and his mind starts to go into the darkest possibilities. Rushing out of the cafeteria, he's jabbing at the button on the elevator when his phone rings. Its Johnny.
"Where is she?" Jason nearly shouts as he gets onto the elevator.
"An estate off Route 23." Johnny says, not failing to notice the urgency in his tone. "By the time we spotted her leaving the hospital, she was getting in a black Sedan and it was too late for us to stop her."
Ending the call abruptly, Jason rides the elevator down to the lobby before leaving the building and getting into his car. Starting up his SUV, Jason speeds the whole way to the estate that Johnny tells him about. He didn't care why she was there. All he cared about was the fact that she was there and not where she said she'd be. Something that she never does. Especially with everything going on.
Meanwhile, in the estate off of Route 23, Elizabeth stands across from the man that fathered her father. She waits for him to speak, having nothing to say and saying just that, nothing. From the looks of it, he's sizing her up, something she could understand, but didn't appreciate.
"I apologize for handling things the way I have." Joe Sr. apologizes, pouring a glass of water. "I really didn't know how else to get some face time with you."
"Here's a suggestion...call." Elizabeth counters, refusing the glass he holds out to her.
"Would you have agreed to see me had I called?" Joe Sr. counters, gesturing for her to sit, but she refuses that as well. "No, right?"
"What do you want from me?" Elizabeth states, eyeing him intently, wondering what his angle was in all this.
"Just to get to know you." Joe Sr. assures, setting the glass down. "We're family after all."
"We share the same blood." Elizabeth corrects, shaking her head. "That makes us relatives. It doesn't make us family."
"What's the difference?" Joe Sr. questions, intrigued by her line of thought.
"The difference being that I trust my family." Elizabeth says with conviction. "And I don't trust you."
Just then, Jason comes bursting through the door, assessing the situation before walking over to her, making her face him. For a moment, he simply takes her in, making sure she's okay before he takes a deep breath and wraps his arms around her.
"You okay?" he asks her when he pulls away.
"Yeah...I'm okay." she says softly, staring into his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to worry. I never want that."
"Its okay." Jason gently touches her face before dropping his hand. "What happened?"
"Well, Joe Sr. decided that now would be as good a time as any to force me into a meeting." Elizabeth gestures to the man across from them. "It doesn't matter. We're done."
"Give me a minute?" Jason asks her, meeting Joe Sr.'s eyes, handing her the keys. "I'll be right out."
"Jason..." she wasn't sure about leaving him alone with Joe Sr.
"Its okay." he smiles slightly, leaning in and kissing her softly. "Johnny and the guys are outside. I won't be long."
"Okay." she shakes her head, glancing at Joe Sr. before focusing on Jason. "Make it fast. I'm hungry."
Jason watches her walk out of the room, his anxiety dropping tremendously, thankful that this wasn't something more serious than what it was. Turning to Joe Sr. once the door shuts behind her, Jason makes his way over to him, meeting his eyes as he does.
"Is this where you threaten me?" Joe Sr. inquires, watching as the stone cold glare settles into his eyes. "You know, I taught Sonny everything he knows. Which, in turn, means that you only know what I taught Sonny."
"Keep thinking that." Jason says plainly. "I like it when people underestimate me."
"I bet you do."
"I'm only going to say this once. I don't care who you are." Jason states sternly, glaring at the old man. "I don't care if you taught Sonny all he knows or that you're Elizabeth's grandfather. Pull something like this again and the only thing people will remember about you is that you were too stupid to know when to back off."
"Is that so?" Joe Sr. counters, truly intrigued.
"Obviously you ran a background check on me and you think you know all you need to know." Jason smirks slightly. "One thing that background check won't tell you is how far I'll go when you mess with the people I love. She may be your granddaughter, but she's my family and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. Nothing."
Turning on his heels, Jason walks out of the room and right out of the house, meeting Elizabeth by the SUV. Wrapping his arms around her, he holds her for a moment before kissing her softly, truly thankful to have her back in his arms again.
"Ready to go eat?" she questions, smiling slightly at the look on his face.
"Yeah, come on." Jason smiles slightly, opening her door for her. "We'll stop by Kelly's on the way back to the hospital."