Thank you for all the wonderful feedback it means so much to me, coming from people who have read it all along and from those of u just starting, it is really great to know I have people out there who appreciate my writing. I can't help but gush over what wonderful reader you girls are! Anyway, I know these past chapters have been really angsty (I'm such a drama queen) but there are brighter days ahead, plus for those of you waiting to know what happened to Liz you won't have to wait much longer. Here is a little clue it involves Cameron and something not really legal. Okay I'm gonna end all this talking and let u get to the newest chapter hoping you will like it and leave feedback, Please? 

Chapter 14:  Unrelenting 

Courtney was drenched in sweat, slowly waking to find herself immersed in black. Squinting through the darkness, she tried to see a figure but it remained as nothing more then a shadow to her eyes.

"You shouldn't have come back" A voice commented plainly, causing Courtney to desperately stagger to her feet, her head looking about wildly before the figure stepped into a patch of light. Familiar alabaster skin and ice-cold blue eyes illuminated, Courtney shrank back in fear realizing she was unprotected.

"Don't be afraid of me Courtney I'm harmless," The woman stated innocently fingering her velvet gown. Laughter filled the air unlike the sweet addictiveness of Courtney's', it was maniacal, evil.

"Leave me alone Elizabeth" The woman's laughter stopped abruptly, crimson lips slowly settling into a smirk.

"You remember me, it's been so long I wasn't sure" The mock concern was accentuated with pools of moisture invading the brunettes eyes.

Courtney could feel her heart begin to beat erratically causing her breath to come out in short bursts.

Elizabeth moved closer, each step seemed tentative until she was no more then an inch from where Courtney stood "Don't be afraid of me" The woman's hand reached out. Blood red nails scraping against Courtney's cheek lightly "I killed your baby, I thought you would learn from your mistake" With that Elizabeth plunged a knife into Courtney's abdomen, twisting it deeper to bring forth a guttural scream. Courtney looked up her eyes shining with fresh tears, blurring her attackers' form into liquid nothingness. She tried to grasp the woman to stay upright but was thrown to the ground with ease. Elizabeth stood smiling, pearly whites appearing beneath her thick lipstick; kneeling she grabbed the back of Courtney's head roughly.

"I killed your baby last time this time maybe I'll kill you both" She whispered within the blondes ear dissolving into nothingness. Courtney gasped for breath, her heart slowing each instant as more blood seeped from the wound.

"Help"

"Help" Brenda screamed from the hospital room, observing as all three men came running to her side diligently. Her small hands were attempting to pin down Courtney's trembling form, tears traveling freely down the sleeping blondes face as she tossed and turned violently. It shocked the new arrivals into action, each trying to hold the sobbing girl still.

"Courtney wake up" Brenda whispered placing both her hands on Courtney's shoulders and hoping for the best. Jason couldn't speak his mouth had gone dry, a sob narrowly being held in as his grip tightened on one of his wife's arms to stop them from flailing blindly. The movement abruptly stopped allowing the grips to ease, before the men moved back allowing Brenda full access.

"Come on Courtney, its okay, wake up" The brunette forgot her own tears at the sight of her friends eyes opening slowly as if with strain. Courtney could not see anything through the glaring yellow light that invaded her eyes forcing them closed once again. The voice, it was so quiet and willed her to once again try to see through the light. That is when Brenda's form finally pierced through the brightness, a watery smile welcoming Courtney back to consciousness. Only the blonde did not smile in return or even acknowledge the visitors, she just turned away to face the wall, curling into a ball and burying her head in a pillow to swallow her weeping. The room went deadly quiet at the action, Sonny's arms shooting out to hold back a desperate Jason.

"Let Brenda handle it" With that the men were gone leaving the petite brunette to stare sadly at her friends back, trembling with each sob.

She did not know what to do; Courtney was always the strong one never a tear to shed if someone else was in trouble. The woman lying in the bed was not someone Brenda recognized, she looked so tiny draped beneath the white cotton sheet. Drained of any color Courtney was broken, plagued in her dreams by something just outside of the brunettes reach. Sighing Brenda took a sharp intake of breath, her body climbing into the open space left by Courtney on the bed.

"Courtney" one tanned hand stroked back a wisp of loose platinum hair, the sobs hitching briefly while the blonde turned to face the voice. Within Courtney's crystal gaze, Brenda saw something that scared her more then bloody cuts could ever, fear. It was etched onto her features seemingly permanent; she was cowering near the edge of the bed in response to the brunettes soft prodding.

Swallowing back the rush of tears that invaded her eyes Brenda crossed her legs beneath her allowing a hand to reach for Courtney. The blonde hesitated unsure of the movement, as if threatened by the meaning behind it.

"Courtney it's okay, it's me Brenda" Something in the woman's voice quivered alerting Courtney to her harmlessness. For all her wasted time protesting, Courtney rested her head within Brenda's lap in seconds, tears drenching the denim material beneath her.

Jason could not tear his eyes off the scene, every moment playing through his mind like a horrible nightmare. Somewhere just beyond him Kevin stood stone cold staring at him like a murderer slowly breaking Courtney down until insanity swallowed her whole.

"How is Carly?" The request was absent minded, Jason's gaze still trained on the observation window before him.

"We don't know the doctors wont tell us anything" His eyes diverted briefly to Sonny's, for confirmation that all of what had been happening was real and not some demented part of his imagination. Only the silent stare was met with a tear-clouded gaze, both men falling back into the painful sadness that had abandoned them briefly.

"What did you do to her?" The inquiry was blunt and callous on Kevin's part but the seething anger could no longer be denied escape.

Jason calmly looked over the shorter man "I don't know what your talking about" He walked away feeling Kevin's furious footfalls follow him towards the door.

"Don't you see what your life did to her is doing to her, I won't stand by and watch you destroy what innocence she has left with your blood tainted hands" The rest of his rant was cut short by Jason's arm jamming directly over his throat, stopping any oxygen from continuing it's predestined path.

With ease, the mobster applied more pressure causing a desperate struggle to ensue, all through short gasps.

 " Don't talk about me like you know me or Courtney, she isn't destroyed, she will come through this and then you will run back to your mommy and ask for another bride" Sonny's hand came to rest on his best friends shoulder waiting until he eased off Kevin completely. Courtney's fiancée was left alone to grip the closest wall with desperate sweaty palms, hoping to catch his breath without tumbling onto the floor.

Monica glanced at the folder tucked beneath her arm, the information within playing through her mind. She came upon the lobby with the hope of passing by the men unnoticed; such was not the case for the doctor.

"How is Carly?" Sonny pounced like a lion on its prey.

Monica resisted letting out an exasperated sigh " There's still no news but like I said an hour ago you will be the first to know when her condition is revealed" He nodded dejectedly, allowing her to pass towards Courtney's room without issue.

It was not easy to step past the doorjamb without tearing up. Brenda's watery gaze registered the doctors entrance with a nod, her attention refocusing on the sobbing blonde whose head rested on her lap. If Monica strained her ears she could hear muffled half sentences spilling from Courtney's lips, too jumbled to piece together.

"Courtney, Monica's here to tell you what's wrong" Brenda's voice was weak, breaking to let her own tears fall soundlessly. Only then did the blonde look up, scurrying into a sitting position, knees drawn tightly against her chest, guarding her still shaking form. For a moment Monica stood speechless her grip tightening almost painfully on the papers within the folder, wondering if the news would do more harm then good.

Brenda slid to the edge of the bed looking between the doctor and her friend unsure of what Monica was preparing herself for, sitting a little taller the brunette urged the doctor to continue.

"Courtney, you're pregnant" The room fell eerily silent in that moment, as if it were a humid day lacking any wind, everything was still. Both women could not help but turn to focus on Courtney who had begun to stare emotionless at the wall, unmoving, the rise and fall of her chest slowing slightly. As quickly as she fell into the trance like state she shook it off looking directly at Monica with new determination " How far along am I?"

"Only a few weeks" Courtney nodded leaving nothing more to be said as she turned to pick her discarded clothes from the polished floor.

"Courtney…" Both women began rising to stop her when a glare silenced anymore protesting.

"My sisters sick and my brother needs me, I'm fine" Courtney felt sick the moment the last words tumbled from her lips, they had been said so much she felt like a liar. Pushing past the momentary nausea, she paused only to watch Monica sigh and leave the room in a swish of white lab coat.

Brenda did not give in as easily her feet planted securely on the ground she crossed her frail arms over her chest, teary gaze locating Courtney.

"Tell me what's wrong" The blonde stopped her desperate movements, swallowing back the tears that so easily came to her eyes and merely shaking her head.

"Nothing's wrong"

Brenda grabbed the taller women's arm pulling her around so they were face to face "So you decided to break down and cry because it's fun" Shrugging the hand from her arm Courtney felt like she couldn't move away her legs rooted in place. Seeing the slight surrendering motion Brenda continued, " Please, tell me what happened, did Jason hurt you?" It was a desperate question but when no answer came, Brenda could feel her stomach clench nervously.

"Did he hit you?" Courtney finally realized the words being spoken and shook her head in muted shock, the sound of Brenda's relieved breath breaking the intense silence.

"Jason would never…" Stopping short she started pacing, the motion causing her shoulders to tense, back rigid as an ironing board. Brenda stood by motionless her hands stuck to her sides pulling desperately at the hem of her blouse as a distraction.

"Courtney" She whipped around at the sound of her name, Elizabeth's body leaning casually against the doorjamb. The brunette moved closer causing Courtney to draw back, fear coursing through her veins as steadily as blood.

Tears began to fall rapidly, the blondes eyes focused solely on the approaching figure "Don't, stay away from me" Her voice was hoarse from screaming so loud, the pounding of feet down the hall making her more jittery. Elizabeth reached out, one pale hand lightly grabbing her arm.

"Please don't touch me, please" If it was possible she shrank back further sliding to the floor, back pressed firmly against the peach painted walls.

"Courtney it's me, Jason, Courtney" Brenda watched in utter confusion as Jason tried to calm his wife, every word and action drawing her further within herself. Something inside the brunette snapped, her hand jutting out to stop any further movement by the distraught enforcer.

"Please don't hurt me, Elizabeth" It was barely above a whisper but Jason turned to hear his wife's plea, head now buried between her knees, all to quiet the unrelenting sobs. Shocking him back to reality, he involuntarily stepped back, shaking slightly from the desperate fear he seemed to cause unknowingly.

"Please help her" Brenda nodded solemnly her attention focused solely on Courtney. As soon as he arrived, he was walking out again, shoulders slumped and eyes ablaze. Clenching his fists, he brushed past the worried men, ignoring their instantaneous questions, his hand reaching within his leather jacket, brushing against the heavy gun hidden beneath the thick leather.

"It's time to end this" Muttering those words he disappeared from the nurses sight and out into the pitch-black night.