One of Sonny's men met her at the gate, "Miss Webber?"
Elizabeth smiled, "Hi Francis. I guess we'll be spending some more time together, huh?" She chuckled, remember the couple of weeks she spent under Francis' watch.
"You won't see much of me, I promise."
Elizabeth nodded, "Nope, I probably won't."
On the way to Sonny's place Elizabeth played over the events from the day before. Breaking up with Lucky was the hardest thing she had ever done. But bringing Jason back could prove to be harder.
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He could barely distinguish her outline as she stood on the beach, the wind ruffling her hair, waves crashing on the shore. As if she knew he was there, she turned to him and smiled. He waved as he started towards her. She waved back, but started to walk backwards, into the ocean. She laughed as her feet entered the water. "Wait up!" he yelled, but she didn't hear him. The water was up to her knees now as the skies started to darken. He tried to run to her, to stop her, but his legs just wouldn't cooperate. The water was up to her neck now, she was still laughing though, as the water churned around her. "Elizabeth!" he cried, trying to reach her. A wave came up from behind her, forcing Liz underneath the water. "Elizabeth!" he screamed, but she couldn't hear him, she never surfaced.
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She jerked awake at the sound of her name. Looking down at Jason, sweat pouring down his face, she didn't want to know what he was seeing. She took the bowl and washcloth from the table next to his bed. Filling it with cool water, she returned to his side, gently cooling him with the cloth. "I'm right here," she whispered in his ear, "I'm not going anywhere. Wake up Jason. I'm right here." He calmed down after a moment, and miraculously, opened his eyes. He tried to focus his eyes on her, "Liz?"
Elizabeth nodded, but he didn't see it, for he had slipped back into oblivion.
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For three days she stayed by his side. Worrying, hoping, praying that he would make it out. He had opened his eyes a few times, but only for a second. She wasn't sure if he knew for certain she was there or not, but she kept talking to him anyway. She knew he was dreaming about her, he called out to her many times. The pain in his voice was unmistakable.
Placing her hand on his, she sat back in the chair, quickly falling asleep. She dreamed about them, on the beach together. They were sitting in front of a fire, but the fire kept growing as it turned into the warehouse fire. She awoke when his hand stirred underneath hers.
"Jason?" she whispered as she sat up. She took his hand in hers, "Jason, wake up. It's me, Elizabeth. C'mon Jason, wake up."
"Elizabeth?" he whispered.
"Yes! Yes, I'm here! Wake up, open your eyes."
He blinked a few times, "Could you turn down the lights please?"
Liz chuckled as she reached for the switch. "Let me call the nurse, let her know you're up." She got up, but was stopped when he grabbed her wrist. "Wait. Let me have a minute." Jason groaned as he rubbed his face. "What happened? How long have I been here?" He looked at Elizabeth, "How long have you been here?"
"You were shot, twice. In the shoulder, and the abdomen. Luckily no organs were hit, but you developed an infection that caused you to slip in and out of consciousness. You'll have to ask Francis exactly what happened, I don't know anything about it. That was about six days ago. I've been here for four."
He started to ask how she knew, but she stopped him. "Let me get the nurse, then we can talk, ok?"
He nodded as she left. Trying to remember what happened was like trying to get blood from a stone. The nurse walked in, checking his vitals, but otherwise staying silent.
"Thank you," Liz said as the nurse left.
She sat back down as Jason adjusted himself into a sitting position. "Sonny called me. He said you were calling out for me, and asked me to come here, to try and bring you out of this. And I said yes."
Jason looked stunned. He hadn't realized he was actually talking out loud. But of course, how could he know? "You left everything just to take care of me?" He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he was jumping anyway.
"Of course I did. Jason, you were shot. I may have been able to turn my back on you after the fire, but not now. You needed me, so I came." She shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"Yeah, but-"
"No buts Jason. I'm here. That's that." She knew what he was trying to get at, but she wasn't ready to get into it just yet. Besides, he still look exhausted. She stood up, "You need to get some sleep. You look dreadful." He smiled as she leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You'll be here when I wake up?"
Elizabeth nodded.
Impulsively, he pulled her to him, putting his arm around her to bring her in for a kiss. She let herself kiss him back for a moment, but pulled away before it got too heated. "Jason," she whispered as she placed her hand over her lips.
He looked into her eyes, so she would see the truth, finally. "I've been wanting to do that for a very long time." He could see the tears well up in her eyes as he brought a hand up to her face. "Don't cry. Shh. It's ok." Gingerly, he moved over in the bed so she could lay down next to him. As she climbed in, she kissed him again, pulling away before it could get out of hand. "I should go to my own room," she said as she wrapped herself around him.
They both chuckled at that, and soon fell asleep.