Chapter 52

Milo had almost broke through, he had pushed and shoved at the door until he realized that it was opening up very slowly. And just when he was about to give one more final shove, he froze instantly at hearing an explosion rock the house. A sudden flash of his brother came to his mind and he quickly dropped what he was doing and ran out the door, he had to get to his brother, he had to make sure that he was safe. Growing up, Max and Milo constantly fought over everything, their clothes, their toys, the girls, everything, it was no wonder his father, a big crime boss in Italy, didn't shoot them when they were kids. But even though Milo had always fought and bickered with Max, he was still his brother, his flesh and blood, and Milo would forever be lost if he something bad ever happened to Max. They both knew working in this type of business was always risky, but Milo always thought that the bullet or bomb that would take out his brother, would take him out as well. Running at full speed and not watching where he was going, too blinded by fear of losing his brother, when he suddenly tripped and fell over a foot that was sticking out of the bushes. Regaining his composure, he studied the foot carefully and followed the connection to the body that was none other than his brother. "MAX!" Milo yelled out as he ran to him. "MAX! Come on Max, don't die on me man!" He carefully cradled his head in his lap and eyed his body for any external injuries. Satisfied when he found nothing there, he reached out and checked for a pulse, he let out a deep sigh of relief when he found his strong and steady heartbeat. He figured that he was just momentarily knocked out. He wasn't sure what to do at this point, and having watched people perform CPR he figured that that was his next step. Fear had taken over any function to the thinking part of his brain, so when he moved to kneel beside his brother, he tilted his head, pinched the bridge of his brothers nose, and leaned in to give him mouth to mouth when he was met with a loud ear popping smack on the side of face. Momentarily stunned, Milo held his face and looked down to see his brother wide eyed staring at him as if he was truly struck by the greatest fear of all, Max thought that his brother was trying to kiss him. "Owww, what the hell did you do that for? I was about to give you CPR!"

"I'm fine you idiot, and besides, you only give mouth to mouth to people who aren't breathing!" Max said to him as he was getting up.

"Sorry, I got freaked out!" Milo uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot as he stood up as well.

"What happened?" Max questioned as he tried to recall what had just happened, but before Milo answered, Max looked around at the wreckage and all their friends and companions trying to stand up all around him. Suddenly realizing what happened, he jumped into action. "We have to find Jason!" As both brothers ran from man to man, body to body to look for the other half of Corinthos and Morgan, he was relieved to see all of his friends where regaining consciousness and were participating in the search. Looking around frantic, he caught a glimpse of a leather boot that he knew belonged to Jason. Dodging a few trees that were in his sight, he ran over to him and stood there as he saw Cody trying to revive him.

"Jason? Jason can you hear me?" Cody asked as he lightly smacked the side of Jason's face. He checked his body for any external injuries and when he found none, he went back to revive him. "Jason! Wake up man!" Cody yelled out and let out a breath that he had been holding when he saw his boss and friend slowly wake up.

"Mmmmm" Jason groaned as he came to. "I'm alright…" He started as he slowly tried to sit up, moving every limb and every part of his part of his body to check for injuries. Satisfied that nothing was broken, he lifted his head and turned to see that his all of men, injured or not, were standing around him with concerned looks on their faces. He noticed that some of them were facing the back part of the house and some were advancing towards it, but when he followed their vision, everything that was fuzzy suddenly cleared up like a clear day. An image of Sam, trembling, shaking, crying, reaching out and walking towards him flashed in his mind, and the sudden impact of an explosion. "SAM!" He jumped to his feet and ran for the patio doors that used to stand erect. Sickness crept in at seeing the damage that had been caused, the stone wall was obliterated, the patio doors where smashed and almost disintegrated, the wall around them was crumbled to the ground and some had blown into the house. He realized that if the stone railing had not been there, than the damage would have been 10 times worse.

And in the midst of all that wreckage, Jason saw a lifeless body of his lover at the far end of the house, where the desk used to be. "SAM!" He yelled out recognizing her body. Not caring about the crumbling drywall, or the other two bodies that laid off to the side, because he could hear his men attending to them, he ran to her and threw himself down hovering over her. "Sam…" He softly called out to hear, not wanting to scare her. He quickly checked her body for any injuries and thanked God when he found that besides several cuts and bruises on her hands and arms, there was nothing else wrong with her. Shaking her lightly, Jason called again. "Sam… come on baby…wake up for me… please… Sam please…" He pleaded as he carefully gathered her up and rocked her in his arms. He pleaded and begged for her to be ok for what seemed like the hundredth time in just a few short weeks.

"Mmmmm…. Jason…" She moaned when she fluttered her chocolate brown eyes and focused on his bright blue ones, ones that were glazed over with tears. "I'm ok…" She softly reassured him as she tried to reach up to stroke his cheek, only to stop short at the sudden pain that shot from her hands and her arms. Looking down, she saw cuts from the glass that flew towards her from the blast.

"Are you in pain? Is the baby ok?" He asked as he held his breath and waited for his answer.

Pausing for a brief moment to evaluate her injuries, Sam was immediately please and smiled when she found that there was nothing wrong. Other then the cuts on her hands and arms, she felt fine. "I'm fine, the baby is fine." She whispered with delight as she nestled further into his embrace and reveled in hearing the beat of his heart and the sigh of relief that came from him. He was her salvation, he was her home. Suddenly Sam remembered what happened and almost jumped out of his embrace. "I killed him Jason, I killed Sandoval…." She said staring up at him.

"Shh, I know, it's over baby, it's finally over…"

Another thought jumped in. "Oh my God! SONNY!" She moved to stand on her feet with Jason holding her arms to make sure that she wouldn't fall.

"Careful. Are you sure you're ok?" He asked wanting to insure that she was safe. In truth he was really worried about Sonny and in a way he was also concerned for Ric, but Sam was his first priority and he needed to make sure that she and the baby were safe.

"Yes, I'm fine, we have to help him, Oh and Ric, we have to help Ric!" She pleaded as she tried to walk towards the other two lying on the floor only to be stopped by Jason's strong arms wrapping themselves around her in a comforting and loving embrace.

Looking behind him as he held Sam in his arms while he stroked her hair trying to soothe her, Jason was pleased to see that his men were tending to the other two. Richie was on the phone and by the sounds of it, he was talking to 911. Another one of his guards was behind them on the phone talking to someone to clean house. Max and Milo were huddled over Sonny trying to stop his bleeding from the gunshot wound, and Cody and Mike were huddled over Ric. He wasn't sure about the seriousness of their injuries but he knew it was bad from the blood that had pooled around their bodies. They needed to get to a hospital, and when he heard the sirens getting closer to the house, he prayed that they would get to the hospital on time and that everything would be ok.

Looking down at seeing Sandoval's dead body, he fought the urge to walk over there and pummel the man to the floor, to make sure that he beat his already dead up so bad that not even his own mother wouldn't recognize him, but he was stopped by the woman in his arms. She was more important and when he saw the EMTs and police flood through Sonny's doors that were now wide open, he had to make sure that he took her to the hospital as well to check her out. He was sure that she was fine, the trembling stopped, the panic feeling that racked her body seemed to disappear, but the little tiny life that was growing inside her was far more fragile than anything. And with her high risk pregnancy, he needed to make sure that she was checked out. Gathering her up and lifting her effortlessly in his arms, he stepped over all the debris that littered the floor and walked towards the doors. Quickly glancing at Lucky and Jagger that had walked in and froze at the sight of the wreckage, he spoke to them. "I have to get Sam to the hospital, we'll talk then." He quickly said and rushed out. He saw one ambulance already leaving with Sonny and he saw Ric being loaded up in the other one. He ran to his SUV, carefully placed Sam inside, jumped in the driver's seat, and took off following the emergency vehicles towards GH.

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Sitting next to Sam's bed and watching the nurse clean and bandage her hands, he looked around the room, seeing a familiar dent on the wall he realized then cursed that he had already been in this room once before. It's pretty said when he and Sam knew this hospital in and out intimately. But at the same time, he was relieved that nothing serious was happening this time, Sam was safe and the baby was perfectly fine. The strong heartbeat was proof that the precious life growing inside the woman he loved was fine, strong, and healthy. He sat mesmerized as he watched Sam unconsciously rub and stroke her belly soothing the tiny life. He looked up into her deep dark eyes and asked the same question for the hundredth time that day. "Are you ok?"

Letting out a frustrated breath at his insistent hovering, Sam took a deep calming breath before she snapped and bit Jason's head off. She knew that he was just worried but to ask the same question over and over again was starting to annoy the hell out of her, seriously. "Yes, Jason, I promise you, I'm fine. Dr. Lee even said that I get to go home today. The heartbeat is strong, the test results are clean and I feel perfectly fine. Everything is fine." She let out a breath and was relieved to see Jason nod and accept her answer. "I just wish that we could hear something about Sonny and Ric."

"They're both still in surgery, so far nobody has heard anything." He scratched the back of his head, nervous at wanting to ask her this question, but didn't want to upset her. "Sam, can you tell me what happened?"

"I'd like to hear that as well." Lucky announced to the couple as he stood at the hospital door. Nodding at them both, she motioned for Lucky to have a seat as she turned to speak to Jason.

Instantly her eyes met his and Jason almost kicked himself as he saw the fear in them just for a brief second and then just as another second passed, the fear was gone and in place was the same determination and courage that thrived in the Sam that he had grown to love and respect. He sat and carefully listened to her explain the events of the day since he left Sonny's to go and aid his men at the warehouse. She told about badgering Sonny about his phone call, about taking a relaxing bath only to come down and see Sandoval standing there, she talked about how Ric tried to save them and how Sandoval shot him, she told him about Sonny, about the guards, about how Max and Milo couldn't get in. Jason found that his fists would slowly clench and release every time she told him a new part of the story and when she talked about how Sandoval had almost forced himself on her, without even realizing what he was doing, he shot up from the chair next to her bed and paced her hospital room as Lucky sat there with a murderous look in his own eyes. He stopped pacing and looked upon her in awe as she told him how she basically beat the shit out of him to get away. And when she recounted Sandoval's final minutes and the fortunate meeting with the letter opener, Jason rushed to her side and sat next to her on the bed as he held her in his arms and carefully picked up one of her bandaged hands and lifted it to his lips so that he could place a soft kiss to the back of her hand. She wasn't crying, she wasn't scared, but he needed to insure that she was safe, that she and the baby were ok. "it's ok Sam, it's finally over, everything will be ok." He whispered to her just before he lightly brushed her lips with his own not caring that Lucky was in the room.

"Thanks Sam, as far as I can tell this was all in self defense and no charges will be filed against either you or Jason." Lucky told them than stood to leave the couple alone.

"Wait Lucky, is…" Sam briefly stopped her question and shot a nervous glance over at Jason. She knew that he wouldn't be thrilled with her next words but she had to ask. "Is Jagger with you?" She avoided the look in Jason's eyes, not wanting to see the hurt there, but she felt that she needed to explain to Jagger that she and Jason were now together and nothing would tear them apart.

"Actually he tried to stop by earlier but then he saw Jason here and decided that it was best that he left. Look Sam, I don't know what's going on with Jagger and his obvious feelings for you, but I think that he realized what this entire town knows without a doubt…. That you two were meant to be together." Lucky gave them an approving smile and left.

Completely overwhelmed with happiness that Sam wouldn't have to talk to Jagger, Jason leaned over and kissed her fully on the lips again. He needed this contact with her, she was imbedded in his very soul and without their connection, he would be lost.

A knock on the door disrupted their kiss before either one of them could deepen it. "Mrs. Corinthos…" The nurse started, missing the groan that Sam let out in disgust for her last name and for being interrupted. "A Mr. Lansing is asking for you." Sam looked up at Jason and back to the nurse wondering what the hell would Ric want from her. "I'm coming with you." She let out a relieved breath when she heard Jason say that he was coming with her. They carefully stood up and followed the nurse to Ric's room. On their way, the nurse told them that his surgery was rough at first, but he quickly turned for the better. The bullet missed all his vital organs and he only needed one set of blood transfusion to replace what he had lost. He was now in recovery and woke up asking to speak with her. Making their way into Ric's room, Sam let go of Jason's hand and walked to Ric's side as Jason stood protectively over her. She remained quiet as she watched Ric's eyes flutter and look up at her. She didn't know exactly what to feel about his man. He fed Sandoval information about her, Jason and Sonny, he helped him get into the house, but she couldn't ignore that he was Molly's father and that in the end he fought against Sandoval to protect his brother. "Sam…" He whispered as he reached up for her hand. She carefully grasped his hand in her bandaged ones and listened carefully as he said the last words that she would think would ever come out of his mouth. "I'm so so sorry Sam, please forgive me…" Tears filled her eyes at his plea and she knew that she could do nothing more than forgive him. She wanted to hate him, after everything that he had done to her, to Jason, to Sonny and Alexis, she wanted to hate him, but couldn't. The one thing that he had done right, the most important thing was that he loved his daughter, Molly. And that is what mattered. She couldn't do anything more but nod in acceptance of his apology. She watched as tears fell down his eyes as he picked up her hand and lightly kissed the back of it. "Thank you, thank you…" He whispered then let go. She backed out of the room with Jason behind her as she watched Ric close his eyes and fall back to sleep to regain his strength. She knew that he was slime, but she felt and heard the sincerity in his voice, now he just had to do the same to his brother.

Jason wasn't sure how to take the apology that Ric dished out to Sam, but he too could tell the sincerity behind it. He felt his blood start to boil when he watched Ric kiss her hand, wanting to rip his lips off, but he knew deep down inside that there was nothing malicious about it. It was innocent and it was gratitude that he felt at her acceptance. Now, they both sat in the waiting room to hear any word on Sonny. When they first had arrived, they had made Sam sign all kinds of papers about his health care since she was legally his wife. And as his wife, they would be the first to know if anything had happened to him. So here they sat as nurse after nurse would tell them that they were still working on him and that they didn't' have any news. The OR waiting room slowly filled up with their friends and loved ones. Carly brought over Michael and Morgan, Alexis brought Kristina and Molly, Max, Diane and Milo and half of Sonny's men filled the room, even Mike, Sonny's father, shut down Kelly's to wait word on his son. As soon as they left Ric's room, the nurse called Alexis over to see her ex- husband. After making sure that Sam and the baby were fine, she ushered her two distraught daughters to see him. Molly needed to see her father, and Kristina was anxious to hear about her own. Now the rest stood and sat waiting on word about Sonny.

Hearing Sam's breathing almost even out, Jason new that she was about to fall asleep, but before she could, they saw the OR doors open and Dr. Patrick Drake along with Robin come through. Almost everyone jumped up and bombarded the doctors with questions. Patrick held up his hands and quietly calmed them down. "Sonny is fine, he made it through surgery and will recover nicely, he's just resting now." Jason heard several sighs of relief around him, including his own. He was thankful at how this nightmare of a day turned out. Sam, the baby, and Sonny were safe and sound and he thanked God that his prayers had been answered. Looking down at Sam, he made his next list things that he needed to do. He needed to have Sam's and Sonny's marriage annulled, he needed to propose to Sam… again, he needed make that she and their baby along with Jake would always be safe, and most importantly he needed to finally make her his bride.

"Hey…" Everyone paused to hear what Max had to say. "If he needs CPR, I'm sure that Milo would be happy to give him mouth to mouth." Jason looked over to see that all of his men were laughing at the obvious inside joke that happened between them. Looking over at Milo, Jason took in his blushed red appearance and wondered what the hell was that about. "Do I want to know?" Jason carefully and slowly asked with a raised brow. Seeing Milo drop his head towards the floor and shake it back and forth, he couldn't help but laugh at how all of men along with Sam were now in mid laughter. Their laughter echoed through the waiting room and hers especially echoed through his ears. Music. Sweet, delicious, angelic music. Holding her tighter to him, he smiled down at her and brushed his lips over hers one more time. He chuckled at the joke that lightened up their solemn moods and he knew that soon he would hear all about Milo's account with mouth to mouth.