As Kelly's boomed with the morning commuter trade, Monica curled both hands around the lukewarm cup and stared out the window ahead blankly.

"Hey you." The welcome was one Alan often hailed her down with - a cup of coffee in hand and a kiss to her cheek whenever she was dead on her feet after a relentless thirteen-hour shift in the O.R.. This time, it was another former husband who cautiously waved his hand in front of her face in an effort to attract her attention.

Monica finally returned to earth and locked eyes upon him. "Jeff, hi."

"Hi there," he flashed a small smile. "You looked like you were miles away."

"Anywhere but here," she muttered underneath her breath. The memories of her family were everywhere in Port Charles but anywhere was more bearable than the Quartermaine estate where the silence of her home reflected the emptiness in her heart. "Sorry," she winced, as if she heard herself for the first time.

"It's okay. You've had a difficult time lately," Jeff remarked in her defense. "I was sorry to hear about Alan and your daughter - - Emily," he paused, in an effort to remember her name. "From what Audrey told me, she was one of Elizabeth's first friends in town."

"Yeah," Monica swallowed the lump in her throat. A sudden vision of Emily behind the counter with a pot of coffee in her hand during her stint as a waitress at Kelly's while she served Elizabeth the latest update of Quartermaine drama winded Monica. "They were - - very close." Her whole body tensed with the very emotion she was desperate to escape. "Thank you, by the way, for your condolence card when Alan died. There were so many, I never found the time to reply to all of them." She expertly redirected the topic of conversation from the sadness that threatened to swallow her whole. "Please thank Carolyn for me, too."

"Actually, we separated earlier this year. We decided we're better off apart." Jeff concluded in the standoffish tone that conveyed his emotional detachment from his wife of over twenty years. "Now that I'm footloose and fancy-free, it means I have carte blanche to stay in Port Charles for the foreseeable future," he added in an upbeat tone that faded almost as quickly, "Or until Elizabeth sends me on my way."

"Oh, I doubt she would do that. She must be thrilled to have you around," Monica presumed.

"I don't think thrilled is the word Lizzie would use," Jeff admitted with a wry smile. He checked his watch as if he suddenly remembered a deadline. "I'm actually on my way to pick her up from the hospital, she's due to be discharged this morning."


Jason scoured the hospital corridor for any familiar faces and peered into Elizabeth's private room where she wearily packed her clothes into a duffle. "Elizabeth," he whispered her name as he stealthily entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"Jason," she launched herself into his embrace and inhaled the scent of leather from his black motorcycle jacket. His scent and arms around her were safety and protection personified.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you sooner." It seemed that every time he attempted to visit her in private, her room was always occupied by either Lucky, Audrey, Bobbie or another staff member at the hospital. He had even almost walked in on Monica as she checked Elizabeth's vitals but Jason wisely avoided the inevitable nasty encounter with the only mother he had ever known. She continued to blame him for Emily's death and he was determined to let her continue to do so, if it helped ease the loss. "How are you?"

"Better now that you're here," she released a heavy exhale, evidently relieved, "and I can finally be with my boys." She had been in the hospital for only a week but she worried for Cameron and Jake in her absence. Lucky was a wonderful father but they needed her all the same. "My dad's in town, so we'll be at the Metro Court with him until the construction is finished at my house."

"Your dad?" Jason unconsciously stiffened at the mention of her father. He didn't do well with parents - certainly not his own, and Alexis had never been his number one fan. "Why the Metro Court; why not with Lucky?"

"Because Sam's been there," she replied resentfully. At least Elizabeth could trust Lulu as a credible source to update her about the new resident in the Spencer household, even if Lucky wasn't prepared to be one-hundred percent upfront and honest with her. "With him and the boys."

Jason strained and stretched his neck from one side to the other. There was an eternal discomfort at Sam's continued presence in his life, and especially in Jake's. Yet, he didn't feel the Metro Court was entirely suitable either since Carly had been newly informed of Jake's true paternity. "Are you sure you'll be okay at the Metro Court?"

Elizabeth adamantly nodded her head. "It's only temporary." Lucky had assured her that it would only be a matter of weeks until her own home returned to a liveable standard before the renovations were complete. "I just wish we could be with you."

"So do I," Jason replied with the heaviest of hearts.