Part Nineteen
Gia rubbed her eyes and groaned a little. The ugly green ceiling looked a little familiar to her. At first she was confused but as she became more aware everything began to fall into place. She remembered sitting on the couch with Jason talking about their baby. She remembered Jason throwing out the photo of Liz. A small smile crept on her face. To her, that was a sign that Jason was getting over Liz…just like she was getting over Nikolas. She did love the Cassadine prince but now another person had taken over her life and she hadn't even met him or her yet. Her hand trailed to her stomach. "Hey you." She whispered, deciding to lounge in the bed for a few more moments. She felt so comfortable right now, trapped between the worlds of sleep and being fully awake. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"GIA!" A shrill voice said. "GIA ARE YOU HERE?"
Gia sat up in the bed. That was her mother…
"GIA!" A new voice called from the downstairs of Jason's penthouse.
"Marcus…" She trailed off, crawling out of bed. There was something about their voices. They were upset about something. Something was wrong. She made her way downstairs to see her family standing looking frantic. Jason was on the phone and he looked up when she appeared. He, too, had a look that told Gia that something was very wrong.
"Mom, Marcus." She said, looking confused. Before she could get any answers, her mother rushed towards her and pulled her into her arms. She held her daughter close, with the baby nestled between them. It took a few seconds for her to realize that Florence was crying.
Gia pulled away. "Someone tell me what's going on!" She demanded.
"Honey, I thought you were hurt or worse." Florence said touching her daughter's face.
Gia looked form the upset face of her mother to the grim face of her brother. "Marcus…tell me what happened."
"You're mother and I decided to visit your house today." Marcus began.
"We know you had the sonogram done." Florence told her. "We wanted to see it."
"When we got to your place…Gia, someone shoot up your house." Marcus finally said. He didn't know how else to say it.
"Someone shoot up my place." Gia repeated. She looked to Jason, who was still on the phone. He just nodded.
"Marcus called the police but I had to go in." Florence said, fresh tears coming to her face. "There was glass everywhere and I called for you…but you didn't answer. So I thought you were…"
"Mom." Gia said hugging her mother again. "I'm fine…I've been here all night."
"We didn't know that at first." Marcus said. "Until we found Rex…"
"REX!" Gia cried. "Is Rex alright?"
"He's at GH right now." Marcus said. "He wasn't shot but some of the flying glass cut him up real bad. He told us that you were here."
"We found him in the middle of the living room…he was covered in glass and there was a lot of blood." Florence choked back a sob. "I can't tell you how much relief I felt when I realized that you were here."
Jason hung up the phone. "Rex will be fine, Gia."
"Morgan, how could you let this happen?" Marcus asked through clenched teeth.
"What?" Gia cried.
"If my sister hadn't been here, she would have been killed. I thought you said that she was protected."
"Marcus, he couldn't have known that this was going to happen." Gia defended Jason.
"Gia, he's right." Florence said. "Jason told me once that he would keep you safe and he lied."
"MOM!" Gia cried. "I'm alright."
"You could have been killed." Florence reasoned. "It's obvious the set up he had in place wasn't working. It was so easy for someone to take a gun and shoot up your place."
"I did the best I could." Jason said.
"Well, it wasn't good enough." Marcus shot back. Within seconds he had Jason by the collar and slammed up against a wall. "You don't know what was going through my head when I saw the front windows broken out on Gia's place. There were bullets in the walls. I saw blood and I thought my sister's life had ended. All because she knows you!"
"MARCUS!" Gia cried. She watched as Jason threw her brother to the floor.
"I tried to keep her safe." Jason shot back, standing over Taggert with a wild look on his face. "What do you want me to do? Lock her in a room and keep the key? Gia is an independent woman."
Marcus was back on his feet now. He reached for Jason again. Jason side stepped him and Marcus went lurching against the wall. "The smart thing for you to do would be to leave her be!"
"I WON'T!" Jason cried. "She's carrying my child!"
"Stop it!" Gia's voice was low. She felt like she was planted to the ground as she watched her brother and Jason go at it. Things were going so well. Florence was accepting Jason…and now Gia could see she had the same look of hatred on her face. Marcus no longer bad mouthed Jason in front of her…but now he was ready to kill him. And her little house…the house she had worked so hard to make her own was riddled in bullets. "No." She repeated. It felt like everything she had done over the last few months was shattering. "…no no no no NO NO NO NO!" She screeched, each word getting louder than the last. Finally she let out a scream. "STOP IT!"
Florence looked over at her daughter, seeing that she was about to snap. "Gia, calm down." She said reaching out to touch her.
"NO!" Gia cried, with a wild look in her eyes. She swatted away her mother's hand and backed away. "You all just leave me alone!" She warned, looking at each person in the room. Jason and Marcus had stopped their fight and were looking over at her, concern in their eyes.
"Gia." Jason whispered.
"Just leave me alone!" Gia repeated. She was starting to shake now.
"Gia, the baby." Jason said.
His words fell on deaf ears. Gia was so shaken by the news of the shoot out. She could have been there…her little baby could have been there. And now to watch her brother and Jason fight…she was trying to shut it all out. Just think of her baby…
A sharp pain shot through her stomach. She cried out, and put her hand there, trying to sooth the pain. Another one, stronger than the first pulled her to the ground.
Her family was by her side within moments. Gia was mildly aware of her mother frantically calling her name. She was barely conscious when she heard Marcus calling for an ambulance. Her eyes connected with Jason's and she could read the fear in them. She wanted to say something to reassure him but inside she slipped into darkness.
She was away from the pain. Away from the thoughts of losing everything she had come to hold dear in her life. She was away from it all…
****
Carly leaned against Sonny and sighed. "I hope the baby is okay." She said. "I don't want Gia to go through…" She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't want to remind Sonny of the horrible day they had lost their son.
"I know." Sonny kissed her forehead and held her closer. Everyday he prayed that God would give them and child and so far his prayers were not answered. But like Carly, he too felt that the time was near. Sonny glanced over at his friend, who was sitting stiffly in the chair staring straight ahead. He hadn't said a word since he and Carly arrived and Sonny was beginning to worry about him. He really didn't know what to say to comfort Jason.
"Mrs. Campbell?" Dr. Meadows suddenly appeared around the corner.
Florence pulled away from her son and whirled around to face the doctor. "Is the baby alright?"
"The baby is fine." The doctor said as she watched the collective sigh of relief come from around the room. "Gia is resting comfortably in a bed. We want to keep her overnight just to make sure everything is alright."
Jason stood up. "Gia's alright too?"
"Yes. We gave her a mild sedative, so she should soon be going to sleep." Dr. Meadows looked around the room again. "It would help me to know what happened. Gia was under a lot of stress, which caused her to cramp. Yesterday everything was fine."
"There was a family argument." Marcus said shooting a glare at Jason. "Something which should have never happened."
"When Gia is released tomorrow I specifically want no more stress. Today proved that Gia can not handle it while she is pregnant." Dr. Meadows said.
"Can we see her?" Florence asked.
"Actually, Gia has made a request." Dr. Meadows began. "She does not wish to see anyone involved with this afternoon's situation…"
"But…" Florence was interrupted.
"And seeing is how I don't want anymore stress, I think that it is best that we oblige her wishes. She did, however, request that Mrs. Corinthos come to her room." The doctor looked at Carly. "Please don't stay long."
"I won't." Carly promised. She gave a reassuring look to Jason before disappearing down the hall with Dr. Meadows following her.
"I can't believe she doesn't want to see us." Florence said, feeling hurt.
"This is all your fault." Marcus said, feeling anger rise in him once again.
"I wasn't the only one who fought." Jason said.
"Would you both listen to yourselves?" Sonny spoke up. "This is what caused Gia to end up here in the first place. You both need to stop this. Gia is having Jason's baby. Gia is Taggert's sister. You two have to learn to put things behind you and you have to learn fast."
"For once we agree, Corinthos." Marcus said.
Sonny just nodded. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder to let him know that he had his support. "I'm going to make a few calls regarding the shooting." He said in a low voice, so Gia's family wouldn't here. "Find out which sick son of a bitch decided to do this. I'll be down the hall if you or Carly needs me." Sonny went down the hall away from Gia's room. He soon met up with Lucky Spencer.
"How's Gia?" His wife's cousin asked.
"She and the baby are fine." Sonny assured him. "She has asked for no visitors tonight except for Carly. But if you want to go down the hall, Jason and her family are there."
****
Gia smiled a little when the blonde entered the room. She motioned for her to sit down. "Hear that?" Gia asked, as they both fell silent. A faint beep could be heard echoing through the room. "That's my baby." She said, her hand stroking her belly. "That's my baby…and I almost lost it." Her other hand covered her face and tears streamed down between her fingers.
Carly leaned forward and pulled her friend into her arms. "Gia…Ssh." She said trying to calm her down. "But you didn't. That beat is all you need to know to prove it. He or she is still there, nestled in you tummy hoping that Mommy will be happy soon."
Gia lay back against the pillow. "I just lost it, you know." She wiped her face off. "Everything hit me at once. I saw Jason and Marcus fighting…two men I care about. I saw my mother looking at the father of my baby with hate. In my mind, I saw my beautiful little home ripped to shreds by bullets. I saw myself standing there in the middle of living room right before they hit. I could have been there Carly!"
"But you weren't."
"But I could have!" Gia said with more force. "I think there must be a guardian angel looking out for me because for some reason last night I did not want to go home."
"Gia, let's not even think about it anymore." Carly suggested. "I know Sonny is doing everything he can to make sure that the person who did this to you is caught. And Jason…"
"Jason…" Gia sighed. "He promised me that he wouldn't fight with Marcus anymore. He knew how much it meant to me to have my family at peace. I can't stand it they fight…which is almost every time they are in a room together. I am starting to have doubts."
"About what?" Carly asked.
"About this family Jason and I are trying to build. Us working together as friends, trying to raise a baby." Gia said. "If he and Marcus can't get along how long will it last? I made a resolution to put my baby first and I am going to keep it. I don't want to have them fighting in front of my child anymore. I don't want to worry about my baby growing up in a place where fighting is around."
"Gia…"
She looked up at the sound of the voice. Jason stood in the doorway, observing both his friend and the mother of his child. "Please leave." Gia asked. "I really don't want to see you right now."
"Gia." Jason said, pain stabbing at his heart.
"Just leave." She instructed.
Carly stood up and looked back at her best friend. He had been there through so much and even though she hated do it she crossed the room and put her hand on the door. "I think it's best that you leave right now." She said, closing it.
Jason stood on the other side, the wall a physical barrier between him and Gia. That was the least of his worries…because he felt like there was an invisible barrier between them as well.