Chapter Sixty Six
Jaime felt horrible. As she opened her eyes, it was like there was a weight sitting on her chest. What happened?
As she blinked a few times, Jaime realized that she was lying in an unfamiliar bed and an unfamiliar room. She tried to sit up but her head hurt and closing her eyes and gritting her teeth was all she could do to keep herself from throwing up. Jaime felt as if it would take an extraordinary masochist to cause someone this amount of pain.
"Jaime?" Jason's voice comforted her as she looked over the edge of the bed. He was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and as Jaime surveyed her surroundings, she was in a hospital.
"Jason?" Her voice croaked from not having had any liquids to drink. "What are you doing here?"
Jason reached over the bed railing and patted her hand. "Do you remember anything that happened last night?"
Jaime shook her head, but the seesawing motion made her dizzy. "No," she whispered, hoping the dull aching would stop. "But apparently something bad happened…because I'm lying in a hospital bed."
Jason sighed and smiled. "Do you remember being at the docks?"
The question seemed laborious on Jason's part. Jaime bet that she had been on the docks last night and…Rosco! Suddenly a flood of memories came rushing over her and Jaime heard a gunshot ring in her ears. Jaime winced at the memory as the pain in her shoulder convinced her that the images flashing before were real. She had been shot.
"Are you okay?" Jason asked anxiously, his eyes darting to the door. "Do you need a nurse or a doctor?"
Jaime laughed. "No, I just need to be not 'shot'," she joked, opening her eyes and giving Jason a reassuring smile.
"So you do remember?"
Jaime nodded. "Rosco and I were talking and my Dad came and things got out of control," she lamented. "And that's why, kids," Jaime wagged her finger a Jason, "playing with guns are dangerous!"
Jason rolled his eyes and slid back into his chair. "Leave it to you to start joking at a time like this!" Jaime stuck out her tongue and squinted. "Well, what else am I supposed to do? Cry like a baby?" Jaime retorted.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Elizabeth's head poked around the corner of the door and smiled. "Is it all right if I come in?" she asked uncertainly.
Jason got up quite quickly and strode anxiously to the door. Jaime frowned. Why was Jason so surprised to see her? As she watched Jason slide his arm around Elizabeth's waist, Jaime couldn't help but giggle. They would make such a cute old couple. But Jaime pushed those thoughts aside as she noticed Jason's worried expression. "What's wrong with Elizabeth?" she asked, pushing herself into almost a sitting position.
Elizabeth shook her head and waved her
hand dismissively. "Nothing," she said
exasperatedly.
Jason shook his head and glared at Elizabeth. "It's not nothing!" he exclaimed. Jason looked over at Jaime. "She passed out last night when you were in surgery."
Jaime frowned. "Why? I don't remember seeing Elizabeth there."
Jason sat Elizabeth down in the chair he once sat in. "She came after you were shot and knocked unconscious"
"Is that true?"
Elizabeth nodded. "You don't remember me telling you I'd be here when you woke up?" she asked curiously.
Jaime shook her head. "No. I remember getting shot and the moving lights above my head when I was in the hospital, but I don't remember seeing you."
She felt bad, but how could she help it? She had been shot?
Elizabeth smiled. "Are you feeling all right?"
"You mean after being shot and apparently operated on?" Jaime asked sarcastically. She shrugged. "Yeah!"
Elizabeth's face drooped and she furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry, it was a dumb question," Elizabeth apologized.
Jaime shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me?" she laughed. "C'mon Liz you can't have lost your humor already?"
Elizabeth looked at her with a confused expression on her face and then her tense body seemed to relax. She reached out and hit Jaime on the thigh. "That wasn't even funny!" Elizabeth growled, folding her arms across her chest.
"That's a matter of opinion," Jaime stated amusingly. "You should have seen the look on your face." Though Jaime hurt everywhere, as if she hadn't just been shot in the shoulder, but like someone had beaten the living daylights out of her.
"Well we should let you get some rest," Jason sighed.
Jaime frowned. "Aww, come on. I'm not even tired." She was lying. Jaime was sure if she closed her eyes, she'd be sound a sleep in a matter of minutes.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No. Jason's right. You should sleep a little more. Monica said you lost a lot of blood."
Jaime tilted her head and frowned. She had been in the hospital for a number of hours, and she was sure that Jason and Elizabeth had stayed the night…but where was her Father? "You guys, what happened after I got shot?"
Her question stopped Jason and Elizabeth in their tracks. Jason turned around and stared blankly at her. "What do you mean?"
Jaime hated evasive tactics. "You know exactly what I mean. I got shot and I'm sure the police got involved." As the words tumbled out of her mouth, Jaime couldn't help but feel a lump develop in her throat. Had her Father been arrested? Jaime couldn't even entertain the idea. He'd always been so careful and blame-free about his dealings with 'unreputible' sorts. "Did my Dad get arrested?"
Jason shook his head 'no'. "We pretty much told Taggert exactly what happened," Jason explained.
"But…" Jaime knew there was a 'but' coming.
Jason rubbed his cheek with his hand and shrugged. "But we told them that Lien's gun accidentally went off."
Jaime closed her eyes and tried to smooth her long matted hair. "But he was going to shoot Rosco on purpose!" she exclaimed tiredly. As she swallowed, trying to wet her dry mouth, Jaime opened her eyes and stared up at Jason. "What about Rosco?"
Jason seemed uneasy when she asked about Rosco. The tall muscular man's brow creased and he looked sternly at her. "Why do you care about what happens to Rosco?" Jason asked irritably.
Jaime thought about the question for a moment. She had been through a lot with Rosco. He had kidnapped her and put her through Hell. And as she thought more on the probing question Jason placed in front of her, the more Jaime knew she didn't have the full answer yet. Though she felt some attraction to the man, there was something else drawing her to him.
"Jaime?" Elizabeth rubbed her arm, drawing her from her thoughts. Jaime slowly smiled at Elizabeth and Jason. "I really don't know," Jaime muttered.
There was a knock at the door, and then a petite, older woman appeared from behind the beige door. She had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a white lab coat and held a clipboard in her hand. "So how's the patient this morning?"
Jaime smiled. "Okay I guess." She gently touched the thin blue gown, which hid the gauze pad that was taped over top of her wound. "I really feel ache-y," Jaime replied. She flinched as she tried to adjust her body into a more comfortable position. "Are you my doctor?"
The doctor nodded. "I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Dr. Quartermaine."
Jaime frowned. "Is this your Mom?" Jaime directed the question to Jason. He nodded stoically. "Yes. This is Monica," Jason answered.
Jaime smiled widely. "I never thought I'd get to meet Jason's mom. He's mentioned you from time to time."
The blonde surgeon blushed. "Well it's always nice to meet one of Jason's friends," Monica smiled, reaching out and shaking Jaime's outstretched hand. "Although I don't really like the circumstances to which you came in."
Jaime snorted. "Neither do I," she joked.
The older doctor laughed nervously and looked up at her son. "I think Jaime needs to rest you guys," Monica coaxed. "I need to check on her wound and then she needs to get some more sleep."
Jaime was about to protest, but Jason and Elizabeth glared at her, letting her know that there was no point in arguing. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "All right," Jaime pouted. "But you guys better come back with some sweets or a bag of junk food!"
Elizabeth and Jason headed out the door while Monica checked peeled the adhesive, which kept the bandage adhered to her shoulder. "So you must be glad to have Jason back in Port Charles?" Jaime quipped.
Monica's gaze remained focused on her shoulder, though she did respond to Jaime's question. "It would be even nicer if he stopped by our place more often," Monica sighed. She pulled off the blood-soaked bandage and replaced it with a fresh pad of gauze. "Your wound seems to have stopped bleeding. The nurse will come in every few hours to check on you. But other than that, you are well on your way to getting out of here in a couple of days."
Jaime was surprised. "You mean I can get out of this sterile, smelling room tomorrow?" She smiled hopefully at the woman who held her discharge papers at the tip of her fingers.
Monica laughed. "You don't like it in here either huh?" She shook her head, amused at Jaime's eagerness. "Well, I can't say for sure that you'll be out of here tomorrow, but what I can do is order you an extra bowl of chocolate pudding?"
Jaime slumped back into her pillow, wincing at the pain in her shoulder, her hopes dashed. She folded her arms across her chest, one arm moving slower than the other. "I suppose," she sighed. "But can you make it with a pudding with whip cream?"
Monica closed her chart and placed it back at the end of her bed. She waved goodbye and chuckled, "I'll see what I can do."
Jaime swallowed. She didn't know if she could fall asleep with the antiseptic smell filling her senses. As she licked her lips and tried to fall asleep, Jaime couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to Rosco. There must be some reason why she wanted to help him so much. There must be some reason she saw the good in him, when no one else could.
~~~
"So I'll drop you off at your studio?" Jason asked casually.
Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah, that would be great. I don't want to stay another minute in this hospital if I don't have to," she sighed. After seeing Jaime, Elizabeth was feeling a lot better about what was going on. Jaime was safe and Jason wasn't in jail. She looked over at Jason who was waiting for the elevator doors to open. "Do you have to talk with Sonny?" Elizabeth asked.
Jason looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah. I have to talk with him about what happened last night."
"He won't get mad will he?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.
"No." The elevator doors opened and Jason motioned for Elizabeth to get on. "I think we're in the clear when it comes to the shooting. It was an accident. But whether they arrest Rosco is another thing."
Elizabeth frowned. "Why wouldn't they? I mean Mr. Nam told the police about the kidnapping right?" Jason nodded but he had an anxious look on his face. "But they would need Jaime's testimony to even get him to court, and we all know what Jaime thinks about that."
As the elevator descended down to the basement parking, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel upset about Jaime's firm position about leaving Rosco alone. "Stupid Stockholm Syndrome," she mumbled. There must be a way for them to convince her that charging Rosco, for the crime he did commit after all, was the best thing for her. "I don't know. Maybe we could make her see it's safer for her to tell the police about what happened in Italy," Elizabeth suggested to Jason.
While they stepped off the elevator and walked to his bike, Jason shook his head. "I've seen that look in her eye before and I know that she won't be talked out of it," Jason explained.
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because it's the same look you get when you're determined to be stubborn about something," Jason teased.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "But this is different Jason," she protested. "I mean the man kidnapped her!"
"And he let her go," Jason added. "And for some reason, he got to Jaime. I don't know. Maybe she feels sorry for him, or maybe it's like what happened with Emily and she feels attached to him. Protective." He handed her the helmet he pulled off of the seat.
"No one knows," Jason sighed. "And we can't push her into anything. You know she would just fight us tooth and nail on it."
"Don't I know it?" Elizabeth laughed, pulling the chinstrap out of the helmet and placing the helmet on her head. She wrapped her arms around Jason's waist. Her body relaxed as it leaned against him in the familiar embrace.
Jason turned back and smiled. "Are you ready?"
Elizabeth nodded, the heavy helmet jostling, as it weighed her head down. She would never get tired of this. She would never grow tired of being with Jason.
~~~
Jason opened the door to Sonny's office at the warehouse. He had received a call on his cell phone and got over there as quickly as possible. "So how is Jaime?" Sonny asked, while flipping through the papers on his desk.
Jason nodded. "She's doing okay. I think she's out of danger. Which is more than I can say about Rosco."
The dark Latino looked up at Jason curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I stopped over at the station and asked about whether charges had been pressed against Rosco," Jason explained. "And they told me he got off scott free. Apparently there was no one to corroborate the kidnapping charges. How long did you guys stay?"
"Who me and Alexis?" Sonny asked. He shrugged and sighed out loud. "We left a few minutes after you did."
"Right. They don't know you know Nam," Jason said, the fact dawning on him.
"Now what do you mean there was no one to corroborate Nam's story? I thought Jaime was awake?"
"Well apparently she's too stubborn to realize the best place for him is in jail, and she told Taggert that Rosco didn't kidnap her."
"But that shoots a hole in the accident story doesn't it?" Sonny asked. His eyes darted around the room, pondering the blip in their story.
Jason shook his head. "No. Because Jaime told the police that her father did think that Rosco kidnapped and freaked out." He couldn't believe Jaime. He knew she was stubborn, but she hated lying and here she was willing to lie for Rosco. "Jaime covered all her bases," he explained tersely.
Sonny leaned back in the plush leather chair behind the desk and rubbed his chin, as he always did when he was thinking or upset. "Do you think they bought it?" Sonny asked. "Cause I don't want the cops…pressing on in the investigation and finding out that there was more to it."
Jason didn't think the police wanted to push the matter any further. They had enough bad press to last a lifetime and the DA wouldn't even considering pressing any charges without any firm evidence, of which they had none. So apparently Rosco again escaped unscathed. His fists clenched at the thought. "No. I don't think there's going to be anything coming back to haunt us. It was an accident."
His best friend peered up skeptically at him. "You never know Jas, for some reason I don't think we're getting rid of Rosco that easily."
~~~
He crept past the hospital security and hid around the corner across from Jaime's room. Nam had posted an around-the-clock guard to keep him away from Jaime. Early in the morning, when the PCPD deemed him a free man, Nam had pulled him aside, out the steps of the police station. Rosco gave him credit for having nerve, as Rosco was sure Nam was thinking the same thing about him.
"You may have escaped now Rosco, but I will assure you that if you ever come near my daughter again, there will be no mistake," Nam warned. "Now that you have the whole of the PCPD watching you, my arms may be tied, as to what I could do to you. But rest assured, something will be done."
Rosco frowned. "Do you really want to do that Nam? It's obvious that it still matters to you, what your daughter thinks of you, does it not?" he asked intently.
"And that is none of your business."
"Well," Rosco whispered worriedly. "What would your daughter think if you killed me now? I mean I've spoken to your daughter on occasions and she seems to hate this business. And therefore by association, she must hate you for being in it right?"
The dark Asian man's eyes narrowed. "Get to the point Rosco," he said menacingly.
"Well, you don't have any association with your daughter right now? Think of what would happen if you killed me. I know for a fact that she cares about me, and it would devastate her to know her own father killed me." Rosco was putting all of his eggs in one shallow basket as he carefully described this scenario. He was hoping that Nam was more intent on the respect and love of his daughter than his desire for revenge. "So I propose that I stay away from Jaime and you don't kill me," he finished.
The time it took for Nam to make a decision had him shaking in his $1000 suit. If the mob leader did not accept the proposition then Rosco was a dead man. From the dark and severe expression on Nam's face, Rosco didn't think he would stand a chance. But it was an offer he had to make.
And now he stood only a few feet away from Jaime's hospital room. It was pure idiocy for him to be in this hospital, but there was just something about leaving without saying good-bye – last time he left, her face haunted his dreams – now he would say good-bye face to face and that would be it. It would be the end to this nightmare of a dream.
All he had to do was say good-bye.