Chapter 53
The elevator opened and Elizabeth was not standing at the nurse's desk. Jason had made it to the hospital in less then ten minutes, luckily he did not run into any of Port Charles' finest on any of the roads he took into town. He immediately spotted big Sal standing alone at the far end of the hallway. Jason quickly approached him and Sal had a guilty expression on his face as he raised his hand.
"Johnny texted me. I'm sorry Jason. I was in the bathroom with Cameron when she was in the elevator."
Jason's hands fisted at his side, "Where is Elizabeth?" Jason asked, needing to see her himself.
Sal pointed to a door, "She is in seeing a patient. She has been in there for a while so I haven't had the chance to talk to her about it."
Needing to see for himself, Jason quickly crossed the hall and peeked through the small window in the door. Elizabeth was standing beside the elderly patient's bed and seemed to be having a nice conversation with the old woman. The old woman hesitantly reached out her hand and Elizabeth guided her hand to her belly. Both women smiled as the baby appeared to kick for her.
Turning back to Sal, Jason sighed, "Sal…"
Sal interrupted, raising his hands in defeat, "Jason, I know what you are going to say. What happened is completely my fault and if you want to fire or reassign me I completely understand."
"Tell me what happened." Jason ordered.
"Well, Elizabeth took Cameron to the park for her lunch break. They lost track of time and had to rush back. Epiphany was already giving Elizabeth trouble for being tired during her shift so she didn't want to add more fuel to the flame. When we got to the lobby Cam had to use the little boy's room. I made the wrong call. I told Elizabeth to go straight up and I'd take Cameron to the bathroom then back to daycare. I know she was alone for about five minutes and I made the wrong call."
Jason's hand rubbed across his forehead, "Francis and Jimmy are sweeping the hospital looking for clues. Spinelli is trying to tap into the surveillance system, most importantly the elevator controls…"
"I'll see you tomorrow Mrs. Mitchell, thank you." Elizabeth called over her shoulder as she walked out of the room. "Jason!" she squeaked and rushed over to hug him. "What are you here for?" she asked with a grin.
Jason tipped his head toward the waiting area and she took his hand, letting him lead her. "What's wrong?" she asked when she saw his serious expression but he didn't answer until they were standing in the waiting area.
Sal kept his distance quite a few feet from Jason and Elizabeth. Before Jason could begin speaking, the elevator opened and Jimmy and Francis walked over to Sal.
"Jason, what's wrong?' Elizabeth asked, looking over at the guards then back at him.
Jason wet his lips, "Earlier, when Sal took Cameron to daycare and your elevator got stuck… it was Manny. He stopped the elevator and sent me a video of you alone, unguarded and vulnerable to show me how easy it is to get to you."
Elizabeth's hand immediately covered her mouth, "Oh my god Jason." She looked back at Sal who was talking to Francis and Jimmy but glanced over at her and offered her apologetic eyes. "Oh Sal didn't - it's not his fault."
"I don't want to think about who is to blame right now. But I think we should get Cameron and head home. We're going to need to make some more security changes."
"May I ask what the hell is going on over here?" Epiphany spat as she approached the waiting area. "This hospital is for patients and those tending to and visiting those patients. Do you belong in any of the categories that I listed?" she asked looking from Jason then back at the other guards that surely heard her rant. "I didn't think so. Nurse Webber, these men are obviously here for you so how about we solve the situation now – you may leave early and tomorrow you'd better come in ready to work, with NO distractions." Epiphany growled and returned to the nurse's desk, shaking her head the entire time.
"I'll get my things." Elizabeth sighed in a defeated voice. She rushed over to the desk and grabbed her bag. She apologized to Epiphany and loaded onto the elevator Jason held for them. "Jason…" she said as soon as the doors closed.
"Wait." He said, pointing at the small camera in the corner of the ceiling.
Elizabeth released another sigh and when they reached the second floor she headed into the daycare while Jason stayed in the hall with the guards. Jimmy and Francis left to meet up with Marco and Eddie who were already out searching for Manny.
Of course for the car ride home Cameron was sitting in the back seat so they could not say much without alarming the small boy that something was wrong. So they were silent for the entire ride. Once they arrived at the house, Elizabeth took Cameron inside and Jason stayed on the porch making a few phone calls. It was over a half hour before Jason finally entered the house. She still had no idea what happened or how Jason even knew that the elevator was stuck. It was hard to believe that Manny was able to take over control of the elevator and stop it just to taunt her.
With Cameron relaxing in his bedroom with a box of crayons and some construction paper, Elizabeth made her way down the stairs to see if Jason had come inside yet. She was glad to see him standing in the Livingroom, a serious expression on his face as he stood waiting for her. "So what happened?"
"Manny sent a video to my phone. It was you in the elevator. I heard you asking for help when you hit the call button then complaining the Epiphany was going to be angry. Then I heard Manny's voice. He basically said that you are never safe and he can always get to you." He looked at her with a pained expression. She couldn't tell if he was worried, angry, disappointed or sad, perhaps a combination of all of them.
"Please don't be mad at Sal. He was trying to help." She pleaded.
Jason quickly shook his head, "I'm not worried about that right now. I mean, I am not happy he left you alone, but I understand and we will worry about that later." He took a few steps toward her and reached his arm to brush his fingertips across her cheeks. "This is what I didn't want happening."
Elizabeth frowned, she could see the change in his eyes and knew what he was going to say.
"Manny is using you to get to me." Jason said, his eyes closing out of fear she'd see the worry in them. "We are going to find him and aren't going to sleep until we do…" His eyes opened and briefly met hers before he looked away but she took her hands and placed them on the sides of his face, drawing his eyes back to hers.
"I trust you Jason. I know you will protect us."
For as long as Jason could remember, he had never felt so worried about protecting someone. This also was not just Elizabeth but Cameron and their unborn child as well. For the first time he was hesitant in his ability.
"Jason, don't doubt yourself or my faith in you." She whispered, reading his mind.
Her words were so confident but before he could reply they were interrupted by the annoying ring of his cell phone which was Johnny's cell phone. He quickly backed away and grabbed the phone from his pocket, "Yea."
"It's Jimmy, we got him."
"You got him?" Jason repeated back, shocked it happened so fast.
"Yea, me and Franny were heading toward those Catacomb things and we saw him heading in the same direction."
"Where?"
"Uh, I think we're at, what… uh…" Jimmy said as he was obviously looking for street signs. "Third and Harbor."
Jason's eyes widened at the irony. They were only a block away from Elizabeth's studio. "Ok, get him to the safe house we discussed. I'll meet you there as soon as I can." Jason closed his phone and turned back to Elizabeth.
"Found him?"
Jason nodded and fidgeted, eager to leave as the anger began to again boil inside.
"Jimmy and Francis found him, actually right near your studio." Jason said, knowing it was a coincidence but very ironic. He pointed over his shoulder toward the door, "I have to go."
"Wait!"
Jason didn't move despite every urge he had been feeling to rush to the safe house and break Manny's neck.
"I know you are angry and need to do what you need to do. But…" she took his hand. "Be safe please. I, we, need you to come back, safe." She didn't doubt his capability to handle Manny, whatever his meaning of handling was at the moment, she chose not to ask. She only worried about somebody seeing something and Jason being arrested again.
Slightly calmed by her words he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
"I love you." She mumbled against his lips.
After letting his lips linger over her a few moments longer, he pulled back and whispered, "I love you so much."
