The Road To Happiness

by HGRache

Written a few months ago, a Liason romance that has nothing to do with the events of the show right now.

I don't own any of the characters; I'm just using them for sheer entertainment.

Rachel

Elizabeth Webber sat on a bench overlooking the docks, knees pulled up to her chest. There was a chill in the air, a chill that permeated her soul. She took a deep shuddering breath, turning her head ever so slightly to look out onto the water.

Today she ended her marriage. Or sham of a marriage, if you were inclined to call it that. Most were. She was not. She truly loved Ric, more than she ever thought she would. Maybe that was the problem. She wasn't ready to fall for him, and when she finally did, she fell hard. She'd just assumed that it had been the same for him. Obviously not.

She wiped away a stray tear, never really noticing it. She never noticed the footsteps, or the man who came across the docks, either. Not until he sat down beside her.

"Mrs. Lansing, how are you?" Lorenzo Alcazar, always the polite man. She turned to him, seeing a concerned look upon his face.

"Mr. Alcazar, is there something I can do for you this evening?" She would never show it, she would die before she showed it, but she was scared of him. He knew where Carly was, he knew how afraid both she and Sonny were, yet he sat back and did nothing until he stood to gain something from it. He prided himself on being compassionate, but she saw no compassion in a man like that.

"Mrs. Lansing, I assure you, there's no threat from me here. I'm just concerned about your well being. Faith Roscoe is after you, your husband is determined to get you back. You're in need of a friend right now, wouldn't you say?"

"Faith Roscoe is in jail, and so is my husband. There's nothing either one of them can do right now. As for needing a friend, Mr. Alcazar, don't take offense, but you are the last person I would choose for a friend."

Alcazar chuckled, obviously amused. "Now, now, Mrs. Lansing. You wouldn't want to make another enemy, would you?"

Elizabeth felt a chill go down her spine. "Is that a threat?"

"Sounded like one to me." Jason came down the docks, piercing Alcazar with a deadly stare. Alcazar chuckled again as Jason came to stand beside Elizabeth.

"A threat? No, Mr. Morgan, merely an observation. I was noticing how Mrs. Lansing has quite a few enemies these days, and I just didn't think she'd want another. Certainly no threat intended."

Jason continued to glare at Alcazar as he said his polite good-byes and walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, he turned to Elizabeth.

"Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? It's after dark and I find you on the docks alone with a very dangerous man? What were you thinking?"

Elizabeth stared at him in shock. "Are you serious? Are you really serious? You are! I can't believe you! You think you can just tell me what to do? Get a clue!"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Get a clue? What is that, Elizabeth? And yes, I'm serious! Alcazar will not hesitate in hurting you."

Elizabeth glared at him. "Yeah, well, neither do a lot of people. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself."

"Can you? Really, can you take care of yourself? Is that what you've been doing? Cause from where I stand, that's not what it looks like. You call that taking care of yourself? I call it turning a blind eye to the world and believing only what you want to believe." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jason wished he could take them back. The stricken look on her face was enough to make him want to crawl under a rock and die.

"How dare you," she hissed. "You think I wanted this? You think I wanted my husband to drug me, kidnap his brother's pregnant wife and keep her in our house? You think I wanted to be lied to over and over again? How dare you!"

"Elizabeth, I-"

"You know what I wanted, Jason?" she asked, turning away from him to stare across the water again. "I wanted.I wanted to believe in my husband. I wanted to believe that he had changed, that I was enough reason for him to change. I loved him so much, but the life that I created with him was a lie. One big lie after another. I just wanted a life with my husband. But I never, ever wanted any of this to happen. Don't you think that just for a minute I wanted this to happen, because I didn't."

"I know you didn't," Jason said softly, coming up behind her. "And there's nothing wrong with what you did. You love him, you're standing by him. That's what a wife does. No one can fault you for that, I guess."

Elizabeth scoffed at Jason's sudden attempt to be sensitive. "Yeah, well, from now on, Ric's on his own. I'm done protecting him. He can go to hell for all I care. Anyway, Jason, like I said, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. At least, as long as I stay away from men." She gave a hollow chuckle. "Thanks for the help tonight, but from now on, I can handle my own life. Let me handle my own life." She turned and started to walk away from him.

"Elizabeth," he called out. She turned and looked at him, waiting for him to speak. "Thank you."

"For what?" She looked bewildered.

"For what you did for Carly. I don't think anyone ever actually thanked you for that. I know it cost you a lot. I'm sorry for that."

Elizabeth looked into his eyes and saw that he truly was sorry. She spared him a sad smile. "You're welcome." She started to say something else, but decided against it and walked away.

It had been two weeks, and Jason hadn't seen Elizabeth since that night on the docks. He'd stopped in at Kelly's a few times, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, to reassure himself that she was all right. But as many times as he stopped by, she was never there. He discreetly asked around, but none of the other waitresses had seen her, Courtney included.

"It's just as well," the blonde concluded one evening. She and Jason were having dinner with Sonny and Carly when the topic of Elizabeth came up. "I mean, she married a monster. She let him run around doing whatever he wanted. Obviously she's feeling a little stupid right now."

Jason clenched his jaw. Courtney had been badmouthing Elizabeth since the night Carly had been found. He started to respond, but it was Carly who beat him to it.

"Courtney, give her a break. She's been through a really rough time. I saw how Ric was with her. Of course she believed him. He was good. Look how many people he had fooled before he took me. Everyone thought he was such a nice guy. It's not her fault that he's an excellent liar."

"Or a first class psychopath," Courtney giggled. Jason groaned under his breath. He loved Courtney, he really did, but her joy at the expense of another person's misery was really childish. Even Michael had some compassion for Elizabeth, and he was only seven.

"Actually, I have some news on Elizabeth," Sonny broke in, seeing Jason's frustration. "No one's seen her, and after her run-in with Alcazar, it was a little odd that she just disappeared. I did some checking, and I found her in Colorado. She's with her grandmother."

Jason sighed, partly relieved that she was all right, partly angry that she hadn't mentioned this to him. He chided himself silently. You're with Courtney now. Elizabeth has the right to do what she wants, when she wants, without telling someone. Especially someone she hasn't had a real conversation with in the past six months.

"She probably ran off to Colorado with Alcazar. You know, to show her grandmother. 'Look, I got rid of one bad guy, see my new one'?" Courtney laughed like this was the funniest thing in the world, not noticing that she was the only one who thought so. Jason clenched his fists under the table several times, then stood up.

"I'm going for a ride," he announced to Sonny and Carly. They gave him sympathetic looks as Courtney rose to join him.

"Just let me grab my coat and I'll go with you," she said, hooking her arm through his.

Jason pulled away slightly. "No, you stay here. I need to be by myself for a while. I'll see you later." She tilted her face up for a kiss, was disappointed when his lips barely grazed her cheek. "Don't wait up." With that, he was gone. She sighed dramatically and flopped back into her chair.

"Was it something I said?"

Jason sat in Jake's nursing a beer, his fourth in the one hour that he'd been there. He knew if he continued like this that he'd be too drunk to drive home. Maybe that's the point, he thought as he ordered another. Maybe I don't want to go home.

And he didn't. He drank so much that when he woke up in the morning, he couldn't tell you what he even ate for dinner the night before. He remembered only the bare minimum of details of the previous day. He was debating on whether to get dressed or roll over and fall back asleep when his cell phone rang. He fumbled through his clothes, finally finding it in his jacket pocket. "Morgan."

"Hey, it's me." Sonny. "Listen, Courtney called me at six o'clock this morning, hysterical because you hadn't come home. Listen, I don't care where you are or your reasons, just call her. She's called four times all ready and it's getting old real fast."

Jason sighed. "All right, I'll take care of it."

"Thanks," Sonny said. "Hey, man, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. A little hung over, but still a pretty good shot."

"I don't care how you are at shooting, damn it. Are you all right? Is something wrong?"

Jason scoffed. "Wrong? Everything seems wrong to me these days. My life is a mess.." Jason caught himself before he said anything more. After all, this was Courtney's brother. "I gotta call Courtney back."

"Yeah, OK, you do that. Take care of that hang over man."

"Yeah, I will."

Six months later saw Jason feeling much worse than that morning at Jake's. The wedding of Jason Morgan and Courtney Matthews had been postponed twice more, with the bride being none too happy about it, and Elizabeth was still MIA.

You could be blind and still notice the changes in Jason. Everyone in town noticed, including Courtney. Everyone in town stayed away, excluding Courtney.

"He's my fiancé. Of course I'm going to be with him," she told Carly when the mother of two suggested she give Jason a little space. "He's just got cold feet. We'll deal with it."

"Courtney, he's unnecessarily postponed your wedding twice now. There isn't even a definite date anymore. That's more than cold feet."

"No! He's just nervous. His other marriage ended in divorce and he's just afraid he'll end up there again."

"OK, first of all, he always knew his first marriage would end in divorce. And second of all, if he's afraid he'll end up divorced again, what does that say about your relationship with him? He's all ready thinking about divorce and you're not even married yet? You two have some major issues to work out."

"Jason and I love each other," Courtney told her companion haughtily. "We'll make this work."

Carly sighed. "Courtney, you shouldn't have to make it work. It should just work. Yeah, love takes effort, but not a lot. When was the last time you truly saw him happy?"

"A few nights ago," Courtney replied quickly. "He was very happy. He even smiled."

"A smile? Oh my God, Jason smiled?" Carly said in a sarcastic tone. "Courtney, he used to smile all the time. When he was around Elizabeth, he smiled everyday. He laughed everyday."

"No! Don't bring her into this! She's gone. She left. She chose to leave, and Jason chose to stay. He chose me."

"Maybe he shouldn't have," Carly said softly. Courtney stared at her, open mouthed. "Look, Jason's not happy. He hasn't been happy in a long time. The other night, when you said he was happy? He wasn't with you then, Courtney, he was with Michael. You were nowhere in sight."

"How could you?" Courtney shrieked. "I thought you were my friend! You're such a bitch! Wait til I tell Sonny how his wife really is."

"Oh, believe me, honey, Sonny knows how I am," Carly replied wryly. "And he knows when I'm right. And I'm right now."

"Jason loves me. ME. He wouldn't be with me if he didn't."

"Jason loves me too, Courtney. Him loving you doesn't make a difference, he loves a lot of people. But he's not in love with you. There's only one woman that Jason's in love with right now, and she's in Colorado."

Courtney slapped Carly across the face. "How dare you! You bitch!"

Sonny and Jason walked into the Penthouse to find the two women in an all-out brawl. Carly was pulling Courtney's hair, while Courtney was trying to twist around enough to use some of her kickboxing moves on the other woman. The two men quickly separated the two women.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sonny demanded, trying to hold his squirming wife.

"She started it!" Both women responded in unison. "I did not, she did!"

Both men looked weary. They led the women to the two couches, making sure to keep great distance between them.

"All right, Carly, what happened?" Sonny asked.

Courtney stood up, outraged. "You're going to let her talk first? I can't believe this! Of course you're going to believe everything she says!"

"Courtney, sit down," Jason said. "You'll get your turn. Go ahead Carly."

"We were talking, mostly about how unhappy you are, Jase. I told her how happy you used to be with Elizabeth. How you used to laugh and smile with her, not avoid her at all costs." Courtney glared at Carly, and shifted on the couch.

"And I told Carly that you're happy with me too," Courtney chimed in. "I told her how much you love me. And she said that you aren't in love with me. And I told her that you were. And she said that you weren't. And I said that you were. And she said-"

"I think we get the picture," Sonny interrupted. He rubbed his forehead. He could feel another headache coming on.

"Anyway, Jason, you can settle this right now by telling Carly that you are in love with me. And while you're at it, tell her to butt out," Courtney said indignantly.

Jason sighed. "Carly, I appreciate what you were trying to do. I really do. But I'll handle it now, all right?"

"Yeah, but will you handle it? Will you stick up for yourself, and make yourself happy?" Carly asked.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked. "Did I miss something here?"

Jason rolled his eyes as Carly and Sonny hid a grin. "Courtney, Carly is right. I'm not in love with you. I'm not really sure I ever was."

"How can you say that? After everything that happened, how can you say that?" Courtney demanded.

"Look, I was upset about Elizabeth. She walked out, I was mad. Maybe I just wanted to hurt her, I don't know. And I did hurt her. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for that."

"You told me that you loved me. Damn it, Jason, you love me!" Courtney yelled in disbelief.

"Yeah, Courtney, I love you. I love you, I love Michael, I love Carly. But I'm not in love. Not with you."

Courtney looked to Sonny, who was sitting quietly beside his wife, who looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Sonny, what are you gonna do about this? Are you just gonna let him do this?"

"Courtney, do you want to know the reason that I didn't want you and Jason together to begin with?" he asked.

"Because you didn't want me involved in the business. You all ready told us that, Sonny."

"Well, that was only a part of it. Of course I didn't want you involved in the business. You obviously can't handle this life. Not like other people can. But the real reason I didn't want you and Jason together was because I knew what would happen. I knew it wouldn't work. Anyone with two eyes can see that Jason loves Elizabeth, and she loved him right back. I knew that you were just a stand-in, just a temporary fix to a lifelong problem. He'll always be in love with her Courtney. Nothing can change that. Not you, not anyone."

"I can't believe this. My best friend turned against me, and now my brother has turned against me. How do you guys look at yourselves in the mirror in the morning?"

"You think we should have a guilty conscience over this?" Carly scoffed. "Yeah, right! Look, even though Elizabeth and I have had our creative differences, Sonny's right. She and Jason belong together. You and Jason belong in a pile labeled 'Big Mistakes'."

"Courtney, I never meant to hurt you. Please believe that," Jason said.

"Believe another word that comes out of your mouth? Never!" Courtney spat venomously.

"Courtney, make this as easy on yourself as you can, and have your bags packed. I'll have the boys take them wherever you want to go. Just don't make this harder on yourself by dragging it out," Sonny said.

Courtney glared at them all one more time before slamming out the door into the penthouse across the hall.

Carly sat back. "Well, that takes care of that."

It had been several months since the big blowup in the penthouse, and things in Port Charles had finally started to get back to normal. Courtney was gone, she had left town the day after she moved out. She called Janine, and they left together. Emily came clean about her breast cancer to the whole town, and the Quartermaines rallied around her in support, including Jason. Despite what she'd promised Gia, she told Zander about the cancer. As he professed his undying love and support, she had realized that she loved Nikolas, and always had. Zander was so heartbroken that he got drunk and ran off to Vegas to marry Gia. They never returned. Everything was back to normal. Except one thing.

Jason took the picture out of his desk drawer. It was an older picture of her, one taken when her hair was long and curly. Emily had given it to him. He traced his fingers around her jaw line, lost in his memories, when Michael came through the door.

"Uncle Jason, Daddy says it's time for dinner," he said, tugging on Jason's sleeve.

Jason put the picture back in the drawer. "OK, buddy," he said, following Michael back across the hall.

Carly was in the process of setting the table when Jason came in. She walked around the table, hugged him, and continued with her work. Michael pulled out his chair and sat down as Sonny came from the kitchen, carrying a platter of meat, still clad in his 'Kiss the Cook' apron. Carly laughed at the sight and went to kiss her husband. She winked at Jason.

"I love it when he wears that," she said. Michael and Jason shared a look, then laughed. Finally, Carly went to get their second son, James, nearly a year old. "He ate earlier, but he gets lonely all by himself," she said after Jason gave her a curious glance.

After dinner, Leticia took Michael and James upstairs and Sonny poured everyone coffee. Carly started a new conversation.

"So I was talking to Bobbie today. She told me the most interesting gossip. Not that it usually matters to me, but this serves a very good purpose. She told me that Mac is sending Maxie and Georgie to live with Felicia in Texas, on that ranch that her grandmother left her."

"Oh," Sonny said. He and Jason exchanged blank glances, not seeing the significance of this fact.

Carly sighed dramatically. "You two are hopeless. Felicia moved to Texas a few years ago to take care of her mother. Her mother died and left Felicia the horse ranch in her will. Anyway, Mac says the girls are getting too out of control so he's sending them to live with their mother."

Again, the men stared blankly at Carly. She looked at them in disbelief.

"Guys, a horse ranch. In Texas. Michael loves horses. It's been so long since we had a vacation."

"And you want to go," Sonny said, finally understanding where his wife was going with this. "You want to go to a horse ranch in Texas."

"Yes!" Carly clapped her hands excitedly. "I mean, I know you have the business, and everything, so it doesn't have to be right away. I'm giving you some notice here. I want to go. You just have to decide when we're free."

"What about the club?" Sonny asked.

"I can take care of it if you want," Jason said. "And the business too."

"Oh no you don't. I all ready mentioned this to Michael, and he wants you to go too. Don't worry about the club. Mama can watch it, or I'll find someone else. Maybe Emily, if she feels up to it. Or-"

"OK, OK, we'll go. Do we need to make some sort of reservations?" Sonny asked, smiling. His wife was so cute when she got ambitious.

"Well, according to Mama, we just show up. It's a ranch. We get our own room, like a hotel. They've got horses, a pool, plenty of things to do. Tours, trails to ride. There are plenty of towns around too, so we can go sightseeing."

"All right, Carly, we can go," Sonny said. "Jase, you in?"

"I don't know," Jason said. "Who'll run the business?"

"Oh, Johnny can handle it. Things have been so calm lately. If there are any problems, we can come back. You have to go. You can't disappoint Michael."

"Besides, you are in desperate need of a vacation," Carly chimed in. "You've been so down lately, Jase."

"All right," Jason sighed. "I'll go."

Author's Note: I don't know anything about Native American culture. I don't mean to offend anyone, I just made this up.

Carly stepped out of the limo, holding James. She looked around at her surroundings. They were finally at the ranch. It was beautiful, more beautiful than Bobbie had described it to be. The ranch was large, but its appearance on the outside made it welcoming. It was a two-story building with a wood finish, made to look like an old fashioned log cabin. There were trees everywhere, providing shade from the scorching afternoon heat.

Michael tumbled out of the limo after his mother, followed by Sonny and Jason. "Wow, Mommy, this is great! Look at the horses!"

Everyone turned where he was looking. About a hundred yards away, a young blonde woman sat on a large chestnut colored horse. Outside the fence, an older blonde woman stood watching her.

"Come on, Mommy. Let's go!" Michael took off running toward the paddock, leaving the adults behind.

Sonny chuckled and turned to Jason, who was surveying the place out of habit. "Relax, Jase, everything's fine. There's no danger here."

"I know there's no danger, but something feels.different. Familiar. I don't know, it's probably nothing." Jason followed Sonny toward the paddock, where Michael was talking to the older blonde woman.

"Hello!" Felicia said. "Welcome to the ranch! Glad you could make it."

"Well, Mama said that it was gorgeous here. And she was right," Carly said, gesturing to her surroundings. "It's amazing here. The kids will love it."

"Oh, this must be James. The girls told me that you had another baby. He's so adorable!" Felicia was full of energy, just like always. "Sonny, Jason, good to see you. Oh, Jason, I talked to Robin the other day."

"Really? How is she doing?" Jason asked politely.

"Actually, she's getting married. She finished law school, and found herself a fiancé. She seems very happy."

"Good for her," Jason replied. And he meant it. Even though Robin had hurt him horribly, he didn't want her to be unhappy, or unhealthy for that matter.

"Well, if you guys want to come on inside, I'll get you checked in and you can get settled in your rooms." When there was no objection from the guests, Felicia turned back to the paddock. "Maxie! We're going on in. When you finish, make sure she's taken care of for the night." The girl nodded stiffly in agreement, and Felicia turned back to the others. "Maxie's a little upset with me right now. Apparently, she fell head over heels for a boy back in New York. She's being a tad bit difficult."

"Yeah, kids can be that way, especially teenagers," Carly remarked. "Mama's having all kinds of trouble keeping Lucas out of trouble!"

"And this is the common room," Felicia said, leading her guests into the last room of the tour. "Oh, Georgie, look who's here."

Georgie Jones looked up from the couch, where she sat with a small infant dressed in pink. Carly's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything.

"Hey, everyone," Georgie said. They mumbled greetings in reply. "Have you seen your rooms yet?"

"Actually, I was just going to check and see if the rooms are ready," Felicia said. "Would you mind keeping them company?"

"No, of course not," Georgie said, shifting the infant. "I'm not going anywhere, anyway." Felicia went upstairs and Michael plopped himself down next to Georgie. He leaned in close and peered at the baby.

"She's pretty," he said. "What's her name?"

"Katherine," a voice said behind them. Everyone turned to look at the brunette descending the stairs. "Georgie, your mom needs you for a sec. I'll take her."

"Katherine? But that's a really big name, and she's so little," Michael said.

The girl chuckled at the simple logic of a child. "Yes. That's why we call her Katie."

"Katie," Michael repeated. "Can I hold Katie, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Of course you can, but you have to be careful." The boy situated himself on the couch and Elizabeth set a pillow on his lap before placing Katie on top. She knelt in front of them as Carly, Sonny, and Jason watched, stunned into silence. Sonny was the first to speak.

"Elizabeth? What are you doing here? Last time I checked, you were in Colorado."

Elizabeth gave them a patient smile. "Yeah, I was, but you know how family is. Especially my family. We got into it after a week. I heard Felicia was in Texas, so I came down here."

"You have a baby?" Carly asked. "I mean, obviously you have a baby. Is she.?"

"Ric's? No, she's not Ric's. When I got to Colorado, well, let's just say that old habits die hard. My parents ripped into me about Ric, and I kind of lost control one night. Went to a bar, had a little too much to drink, and 15 months later, here's Katie."

Carly did a quick calculation in her head. "So Katie's six months old?"

"Yeah. It's amazing, the time just goes so fast," Elizabeth replied, looking at Michael with Katie.

Jason opened his mouth to say something when Felicia and Georgie came back downstairs. "Oh, Elizabeth, you've met our guests."

"Guests? You mean, you guys are staying here?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, yeah. Mama said the horse ranch would be fun for the kids and- "

"Aha! I should have known it was Bobbie!" Elizabeth said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Sonny asked Elizabeth, looking at his wife.

"Well, Bobbie is one of the few people from Port Charles that know I'm here. Luke knows, Bobbie knows, Nik and Emily found out recently."

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Sonny asked, pulling Carly aside. "Carly. Why did you want to come all the way to Texas?"

"I all ready told you, Sonny. For a family vacation."

"Really? Or did you want to come because you knew Elizabeth would be here?"

Carly hesitated. "Well, that was a perk too. Come on, Sonny! Jason's been miserable since the girl walked out of his life! We owe it to him, and to her, to help them here."

"Help them? You mean push them together! No, Carly, I've all ready told you this before. I don't match-make, and neither should you. And what do you mean, we owe it to them?"

"Do you really want me to go into it? Fine! Jason is the most loyal person we know. He'll do anything for you, and he has, including putting his own life on hold. And Elizabeth? OK, so she and I have never gotten along. But Sonny, she makes him happy. You know she does. And when she lived with him, despite the fact that he hardly ever was home, I never saw him more anxious to get home. He had a life, a damn good one too. Did you know that you were one of the reasons that they didn't work out?"

"Me? Why? What did I ever do? I always liked Elizabeth, I never did anything to her-"

"Not intentionally, Sonny, but you ruined the best thing she ever had. She was so upset and hurt that Jason was never there. He spent more time out running around, doing things for you, than he spent back home with the woman he loved. The loyalty that you demanded he give to you ruined his chance at happiness. Now it's up to us to make sure he gets a second chance."

Sonny sighed. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?" Carly shook her head triumphantly. "All right, we'll fix this. But if Jason tells me to stop, then I'm stopping. And so are you." Carly let out a squeal and threw her arms around her husband.

"This is your room, Carly. There's even room for James, and his things. Jason and Michael will be across the hall," Elizabeth said, opening the door to a spacious room.

Carly followed her in. "Wow. This is beautiful. And that mural on the wall is gorgeous."

"Did you paint it?" Sonny asked, coming in behind them with some suitcases.

"Yeah, there's a different one in every room," Elizabeth said proudly. The mural was bright and colorful, but also realistic. There was a horse in the center, surrounded by trees. Behind the horse, a stream could be seen.

"Mommy!" Michael came bounding into the room. "Come see the painting in mine and Uncle Jason's room!"

Sonny, Carly, and Elizabeth followed Michael across the hall to find Jason sitting on one of the beds, staring at the painting. This mural contained pastel colors, bright and flowing.

"This one represents all the myths and folklore in Texas. Texans are very spirituals," Elizabeth explained. This mural contained various kinds of horses, only the horses seemed to be flying. There was also a Native American influence in the mural. Swirls of color could be seen around the edges, seemingly blowing leaves around the picture. "Some Native American cultures believe that horses are godly, and that they are far superior to humans."

"Is that the wind? Is that the wind blowing those leaves around?" Jason asked breathlessly.

"Uncle Jason, I thought you couldn't see paintings and stuff," Michael said.

"I only see the wind with Elizabeth, buddy," Jason replied quietly, turning to Elizabeth questioningly.

"Yes, it's the wind," she said softly. "I thought it was only fitting that you have this room, you know?"

Sonny and Carly exchanged a meaningful glance. Carly cleared her throat. "You said you painted a mural in every room. Is there one in yours?"

Elizabeth looked away from Jason, flustered. "Yeah, I put one in mine too. Every room at the ranch has one. The kitchen, Maxie and Georgie's rooms, Felicia's room. Every room."

"Can we see yours, Elizabeth?" Michael asked, excitedly. "Pretty please?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Sure, if your mom and dad say it's all right."

"Sure it is, I wouldn't mind seeing it myself," Carly said. They all followed Elizabeth down the hall, Jason's eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

"I stay on the same floor in case something happens," Elizabeth explained. "Georgie's room is next to mine, but Felicia and Maxie's rooms are on the main floor, off the kitchen." She stopped at a door that had her name scripted on it in bold colors. She opened the door, and Jason gasped.

While Elizabeth had done the murals in the guests' rooms on only a portion of one wall, the mural in her own room was given a full wall. As well it should be. There were so many bold colors that it stunned Jason. He squinted involuntarily, trying to make out the pictures. Elizabeth noticed.

"Oh, Jason! I forgot! Come here." She led him to the mural and placed his hand on an object near the edge. "This is your motorcycle. You're on the front, and I'm behind you-"

"Screaming into the wind," Jason finished for her. He could see it. Her arms were around his waist, her head was tilted back, and he could tell she was laughing.

"That's right. And this one," she moved his hand to another image," is Katie. She has several pictures in the mural, but this one is my favorite. I painted this from a picture of her. It was a lucky shot. I caught her laughing. Usually she stops if I have the camera out, but that day she just kept laughing." Jason could see that one too. He could see the way she looked like Elizabeth, especially the way her eyes lit up.

Again she moved his hand. "This is a portrait of Felicia and the girls. They've been like a second family to me since I've moved down here. And they've been wonderful to Katie." Again, Jason could see it. Elizabeth went on explaining to Jason the rest of the pictures, and their significance. Neither noticed the other three people in the room, or Felicia when she poked her head in to announce that dinner was ready. They didn't notice anything until Elizabeth finished explaining the pictures and they turned around to find the room empty.

The next morning, Jason awoke late, which was uncharacteristic of him. He went into the dining room to find the adults all ready up, including Elizabeth. Carly gave him an amused look. "Sleep well, Jase?"

He shot her a sarcastic glance. "I don't know what it was. Jet lag, maybe."

"Mm-hmm. Jet lag. Sure," Carly said, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Actually, a lot of our guests comment on how well they sleep when they come here. There's actually some scientific reason for it. Something like the change in the air or the atmosphere," Felicia said, taking pity on Jason.

Maxie and Georgie exchanged looks, then glanced at Elizabeth. She had been busying herself with whatever she could since Jason had come downstairs. She was currently reading the ingredients on the syrup bottle in front of her.

"Anything interesting in there, Liz?" Georgie asked.

Elizabeth looked up abruptly. "What?"

Georgie laughed. "I asked if there was anything interesting in the syrup that we should know about. You've been looking at that bottle like it held all the answers to the worlds' problems."

Elizabeth opened her mouth, flustered, but was saved from having to respond by the sounds of Katie stirring upstairs. She shot Georgie a withering look, then left without a word.

Georgie looked around innocently. "Was it something I said?"

Carly grimaced, remembering the last time that she'd heard that phrase. She glanced at Jason, but he didn't appear to have noticed. The adults sat in silence for awhile, until sounds started coming from the baby monitor sitting at the far end of the table.

"Well, Katie, you are certainly in a good mood this morning. Yes you are. Usually you have a good scream right away, but not today. Why is that, hmm?" The baby gurgled. "Oh yes, let's get you dressed."

Sonny watched Jason as Elizabeth talked to her daughter. The look on his face was a mixture of emotions: joy, pride, longing. Sonny could see now that Carly was right. Jason wanted this. And he deserved it. For years Jason had been putting his life on the back burner while Sonny pursued his own. And when Sonny finally gave Jason the opportunity to make a life for himself, it wasn't the kind of life Jason wanted. Sonny saw that now, and vowed that things would be different.

Jason and Sonny were finishing up their coffee, Leticia took Michael upstairs to get ready, and Carly was at the table feeding James, who was determined to make his breakfast last as long as possible. Felicia had gone into the kitchen, and Maxie and Georgie were washing the breakfast dishes when Elizabeth came back downstairs, carrying Katie.

"Well that didn't take long," Maxie commented, putting several plates away.

"Yes, well, I've learned that it's easier to give her a bath after she eats. Unless I want to give her two each morning," Elizabeth chuckled.

Carly nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. They are so messy. I wait until both the boys eat, then they can get dressed and get ready. It's so much easier that way."

"Oh, it is. Usually she's cranky when she wakes up. I found out real quick that she's happier after she eats. And now that she's used to this, if she doesn't eat first, she's extremely crabby. Isn't that right, Georgie?"

"Yeah, you're only laughing because it happened to me. You wouldn't be laughing if you had baby food stuck in your hair."

Carly laughed. "What?"

"Well, Elizabeth was.well, I don't know where Elizabeth was, but I was watching Katie. I heard her crying, so I got her up. Now, I wasn't aware that she had a routine. I'd only been here a few days. I gave her a bath and got her dressed. She wouldn't sit still; she kept squirming around in the bathtub. If she'd been able to walk, I would never have been able to catch her, she was so mad," Georgie said, wincing at the memory. "So I dry her off, get her dressed, and then take her downstairs for breakfast. We're sitting there and she suddenly grabs her spoon and throws it. Now, they don't have much strength at that age, so it didn't break anything. I got up to get another spoon. I was gone maybe ten seconds, tops."

Elizabeth started laughing. "It was so funny! You should have seen her."

Maxie started laughing too. "Now I know why I've never baby-sat for you!"

Georgie gave them both a brief glare before continuing. "I come back and I get a fistful of baby food in the face. It smelled so bad, and it took forever to get it out of my hair!"

Carly laughed voraciously, with Sonny slightly less enthusiastic. Even Jason had to chuckle at the image of Georgie encrusted with baby food.

Michael came down the stars with Leticia. "Mommy, I'm ready," he announced.

"OK, Mr. Man, just let me finish with your brother here," Carly said. She turned to Elizabeth. "Is it all right if we go explore the ranch?"

"Yeah, sure, although I wouldn't recommend going off on your own after dark," Elizabeth said, picking Katie up.

"Yeah, really," Maxie said. "We come here every summer, but I still almost got lost last week."

"Well, we're just going to walk around for awhile, check out the horses," Carly said. "It was all Michael could talk about last night."

"Well, maybe later we can get Michael on a horse," Elizabeth said. "If it's all right with you and Sonny, of course."

"Oh, he'd love that! You know, I think we should all try riding horses while we're down here," Carly said.

"Well, I'd give you lessons today, but I have to run into town and pick up a few things," Elizabeth said.

"Want some company?" Jason broke in. "I'm not much for horses anyway."

"Um, sure, if you want. There's not much to the town, though."

Elizabeth led Jason out to the garage after she had bathed Katie. "Sorry it took so long," she apologized. "She just wanted to play today."

"It's fine. I'm in no hurry," he replied. He watched as Elizabeth walked around to the passenger side of a Ford Explorer. She opened the door and set Katie in the car seat. She talked to Jason over her shoulder as she buckled Katie in.

"Usually Maxie or Georgie will watch her if I have to go into town, but they have stuff to do today. Maxie's planning on calling Kyle, which will turn into an all-day thing. And Georgie will spend all day down at the paddocks, with the horses. Then she'll come in tonight and call Dillon. The girl's obsessed."

She walked around to the driver's side while Jason got in the passenger seat. "You know, from what Georgie's told me, Dillon sounds a lot like you."

Jason fastened his seatbelt. "Yeah, well, he kind of reminds me of you. He's always getting himself into some mess. I caught him taking a job from Alcazar a few weeks back."

"Yeah, well, what do you expect? He asked you for a job, and you wouldn't give him one. What better way to piss you off?" Elizabeth shot back. "Which, I might add, is so totally like you."

"What? How?" Jason asked.

"Oh, come on! I've heard numerous accounts from Emily about how you once rode your motorcycle into the Quartermaine mansion, just to piss Edward off," Elizabeth said.

"Well, he deserved it," Jason defended.

Elizabeth laughed. "Dillon probably said the same thing about you."

"Yeah, well, when he wanted out, Alcazar wouldn't let him. I had to get involved, and that's the last thing the kid needs," Jason said.

"What, someone older to look out for him? Someone he can look up to? Yeah, that's really the last thing he needs," Elizabeth snorted.

"He needs to stay out of trouble. He doesn't need to get involved in this," Jason said quietly. An uncomfortable silence stretched out between them.

"Well, since it seems I've all ready made you mad, I guess it can't hurt to ask another question," Elizabeth said quietly. "I noticed that there was someone missing when you guys got here yesterday. A very important someone, if I remember correctly."

Jason took a minute before responding. "You mean Courtney." It was a statement, not a question.

Elizabeth nodded. "It's just that, when I left, you guys were going to get married. And then you guys show up in Texas, without her, and no one mentions her."

"We broke up," Jason stated.

Elizabeth waited a beat, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to say more. "Oh. Should I say I'm sorry?"

Jason sighed. "No. It was no one's fault. It couldn't have been avoided. I just realized that Courtney and I just weren't working anymore, you know?"

"Yeah."

After a few more moments of silence, Jason glanced at Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye. "So."

"So."

Jason chuckled. "This is ridiculous. We've never once been uncomfortable around each other, why start now?"

Elizabeth forced a laugh. "Except when I was holding a gun on you. You looked a little uncomfortable then."

"I knew you wouldn't shoot me," Jason replied automatically. "I was just surprised. You always said you didn't like guns."

"Just because I was holding one didn't mean I liked it," Elizabeth said. "I really didn't like holding it on you. Though I think a part of me knew that I wouldn't shoot you."

The silence lagged on a few more minutes, though this time it was more comfortable. "So, tell me what happened in Colorado."

Elizabeth whipped her head around. "What?"

Jason chuckled. "Well, if there were any tensions in here, they're gone now."

"Yeah, OK, no tensions. Why do you wanna know about Colorado?"

"Well, we got the abridged version last night, but.Well, you've always had problems with your family, and that's always bothered you. So what really happened?"

Elizabeth scoffed. "Oh, I got the lecture. 'Elizabeth, you're a horrible judge of character' and 'Elizabeth, you're still such a failure; first as a daughter, then as a sister, then as a girlfriend, and finally, as a wife'. You know, the usual ones."

Jason shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe they'd say that to you."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Believe it. It was mostly my parents. Grams knew Ric, so she understood, at least a little. Sarah didn't really care, she just threw her two cents in whenever she could. Steven was really the only one who didn't rag on me."

"I've never really heard you talk about your brother much," Jason said. "Is he like the rest of your family?"

"Steven? Well, he wasn't a real big part of my life growing up. He's 10 years older than I am, so he was gone for most of my childhood. He went away to college before we got the chance to be close. Apparently after I left, I was never mentioned again. He said that when he would call home and ask about me, my parents would say that I was fine. All he knew was that I went to live with Grams. He didn't know anything about my life in Port Charles, or what I had been through."

"You're kidding. They didn't tell him anything? None of it? The rape, Lucky, getting kidnapped? Ric? They just said you were fine?"

"Yep. When Steve found out, he was furious. They said that there was nothing he could have done and that they hadn't wanted to worry him," Elizabeth said wryly. "I always wrote him off as being like the rest of them, you know? He never seemed to care, but in reality, he never knew anything."

"So did you tell him everything?" Jason asked, intrigued.

"Oh, yeah. He was amazed. He couldn't believe it all. And he just kept apologizing. We talked for hours. He was away at school in Europe, met someone. He's married now. She's wonderful. Mom and Dad don't like her, and that's a definite plus," Elizabeth said. She stopped abruptly. "Sorry. I'm rambling."

Jason chuckled. "I've missed your ramblings," he said.

"And I've missed your motorcycle," Elizabeth retorted. "Did you bring it?"

"It took you long enough to bring it up! I was waiting for it last night," Jason said.

"Give me some credit!" Elizabeth said. "I at least waited 24 hours!"

"Actually," Jason said, teasing her," it hasn't even been 24 hours yet."

She shot him a withering glare. "Shove it."

Carly and Sonny looked up from the couch in the common room. It had been hours since breakfast, and Jason and Elizabeth were just now coming through the door, Elizabeth carrying Katie, Jason carrying grocery bags.

"Where do you want these?" he asked her, not noticing Sonny and Carly on the couch. She directed him toward the kitchen, then turned toward the older couple.

"Will you watch her for a minute? There are more groceries in the car, and Jason's such a big baby about carrying them all by himself." She plopped Katie in Carly's lap without waiting for an answer. "Thanks."

Carly gave Sonny a nudge, and he went out to help with the groceries too. Jason and Elizabeth were outside, teasing and joking around, obviously much closer than they were this morning.

He cleared his throat. "Anymore bags?" he asked.

"Nope," they answered in unison. Sonny took the bag that Elizabeth was holding, and the three went back into the house. Elizabeth sat down beside Carly while the boys took the other bags into the kitchen.

"Have fun in town?" Carly asked innocently.

Elizabeth nodded, not noticing that she was being baited. "Yeah, we went shopping."

"You got Jason to go shopping?" Carly was amazed.

Elizabeth laughed. "Well, it was grocery shopping, so I don't think that counts as real shopping. Although I must admit, it is quite a feat."

"I thought you said there wasn't much to do in town," Carly said.

"There's not. It's just a regular small town."

"You two have been gone for hours," Carly commented.

Elizabeth looked flustered. "Oh, well, we stopped and had lunch. And then I gave him a quick tour of the town. And these people; once you get into town with Katie, you can't leave until every single person there sees and has their own personal conversation with her."

Carly smiled. "Well, she is cute."

"Who's cute?" Jason said, following Sonny out of the kitchen. He smiled at Elizabeth.

"Katie's cute," Carly said, drawing Jason's attention back to the conversation at hand. Sonny sat down on the other side of his wife, while Jason perched on the arm by Elizabeth.

"So did you guys go riding at all today?" Elizabeth asked, trying not to notice how close she and Jason were.

"No, we just walked around, took in the scenery. It's so beautiful here," Carly said. "What about you, Elizabeth? Any plans for going riding?"

Elizabeth blushed crimson. "Uh, no. Tomorrow maybe." She picked up Katie and began playing with her, careful not to meet the eyes of anyone else in the room. Jason glared at Carly over Elizabeth's head. He opened his mouth to say something when Elizabeth cut him off.

"Well, I should take her upstairs. She needs a nap, and she won't get it if I'm playing with her," Elizabeth said. She excused herself and left the room.

Jason followed her with his eyes, then turned and offered Carly another glare. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, come on, Jase, I was just teasing," she said.

"Carly. I've told you not to push. That goes for me and for Elizabeth. I mean it," Jason said before getting up and going after Elizabeth.

Jason caught up to her in the nursery beside her room. She was talking to Felicia so he didn't go in.

"I thought things were going to be weird between us," Elizabeth said.

"And are they?" Felicia asked. "Because from where I stand, they don't seem to be."

"No, things are just the way they always were, before the whole Ric thing. It's like none of that ever happened."

"And the bad part about that is."

Elizabeth sighed. "I don't know. I just feel like it's the same old pattern. We get close, one of us can't handle it, and we end up hurting the other. We've both done it once, we're even now, so why start the pattern again?"

"To break the cycle," Felicia said softly. "Look, Elizabeth, they're here on vacation. They're not going to be here forever. Take the chance while you have it. And if things don't work, he goes back to his world and you go back to yours. No harm no foul."

"That would work, except for one thing," Elizabeth said. "I can't let go that easily. I hang onto the past, you know that. What if I fall back into that pattern again and he decided it's not what he wants? I can't do that again. It's not fair to me, to him or to Katie. She's getting attached to them, I can all ready see it. I'm not going to give her something, then rip it away from her. I won't do it."

"Well, you can't very well give them all the cold shoulder," Felicia stated reasonably.

"What am I going to do?" Elizabeth moaned.

Felicia patted her on the back. "Just be friendly. Maybe that's all Jason wants anyway."

Jason turned and walked away, thinking about the things he'd heard.

Elizabeth felt better the next morning. She woke up and went downstairs to make breakfast, only to find that Sonny had beaten her to it.

"I thought, well, since we're here and I'm up, I might as well cook," he explained.

Elizabeth gave him a look. "I wasn't born yesterday, Sonny. You miss cooking, don't you?"

He laughed. "All right, you caught me. I miss it. Plus, having all these extra people to cook for gives me a chance to try out some new recipes. You don't think anyone will mind, do you?"

"Mind someone else doing the cooking?" Elizabeth laughed. "Absolutely not!" She went and sat down at the table and watched Sonny. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said. He reached for the pepper and sprinkled some over the frying pan, followed by a smaller amount of salt.

"How long after I left did Jason and Courtney break up? Why did they break up?"

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" Sonny asked. "They broke up about six months after you left. I'm not really sure what changed. I think Jason did, although Courtney changed some too. Jason just wasn't happy. I don't think he ever really was happy with her, but he only admitted to himself that he wasn't after you left. That was the beginning of the end."

Elizabeth fiddled with the silverware in front of her. "I didn't mean to cause anyone any pain," she said. "That included you and Carly."

Sonny looked up from the stove. "Elizabeth, we know that. You are in no way responsible for what happened between Jason and Courtney. Nor are you responsible for what Ric did." Sonny's features darkened ever so slightly at the mention of his now-disowned brother.

Elizabeth noticed. "Sonny," she said as she went to stand by him. "Why did you let Ric live? Why is he in a jail cell instead of a cemetery?"

Sonny looked at her. "Are you sure you want to know?" When she nodded, he continued. "I wanted him dead, Elizabeth. So help me, I wanted him dead. My wife could have died because of him. And even though I had let him live before because he was my brother, I wasn't going to do it again. Until Jason came to me. He told me that Ric needed to be alive. He said it was because Ric would suffer more in prison than he would if he were dead, but that's not why he wanted him alive. You see, Elizabeth, as much as Jason hated Ric, he knew that you needed him to be alive."

"And I did," Elizabeth said softly. "I really did. I needed answers, and he's the only one that could give them to me. But sometimes I think it would have been better if he had just died, you know?"

Sonny gave her a surprised look. "I never thought you'd wish anyone dead, Elizabeth. Especially Ric."

Elizabeth gave a hollow laugh. "There are very few people in this world that I wish dead, but he is one of them. He lied to me. He poisoned me. He's the reason that I couldn't have a baby for so long. And he's the reason I left Port Charles."

"You left Port Charles because of Ric? Why?"

"Do you remember the night that Jason found me and Alcazar on the docks?" Sonny nodded. "I had just come from seeing Ric. I went and gave him the divorce papers in person, to make sure he signed them. He did, but not before he said what he wanted to say."

Sonny noticed the faraway look in her eyes and said," Elizabeth? What did Ric want to say to you?"

"You know what? It really doesn't matter now," Elizabeth said, snapping out of it. "It's over and done with. Everyone's moved on with their lives, including me. What Ric said or didn't say doesn't matter anymore." Before Sonny could contradict her, she turned and raced back upstairs.

It was late afternoon, and no one had seen Elizabeth since breakfast. After feeding Katie, Elizabeth had handed her to Georgie and walked out the door. Jason questioned Felicia about it.

"She's probably down at the stables," Felicia said. "The girl loves horses. Sometimes she spends all day down there. That's probably where she is."

Jason walked down to the stables, and sure enough, Elizabeth was there, grooming a large black stallion.

"Hey," he said, coming to stand beside her.

"Hey." She kept her eyes focused on the horse in front of her.

"So you've been here all day?" Jason asked, trying to maintain a conversation. "I mean, no one's seen you since this morning."

"Yeah, I had some work to do down here," Elizabeth said. She still wouldn't look at him.

Jason sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Elizabeth, would you look at me? Please?"

Something in his voice made her turn her head. His eyes looked tired, older than they really were. She shook her head. She wasn't going to get sucked back in, not after everything that had happened. "What?"

"What's going on?" he asked. "And don't tell me that everything's fine. We both know that's not true. We were getting so close the other night. We were on the road to getting our friendship back."

"Friendship?" Elizabeth asked. She sighed. "Yes, our friendship. Well, there really is no room or use for our friendship now, Jason. Because pretty soon you'll go back to your life in Port Charles and I'll go back to my life the way it was before you showed up with your little entourage. And that's how it should be."

"Elizabeth, what's going on? Why are you saying all these things? I know you don't mean them, I can see it."

"You know what, Jason, maybe I do mean them. Maybe these things that I'm saying are really what I feel. And maybe you should just accept that. Go be with your family. This is a family vacation, after all." She turned and walked the horse out into the paddock, leaving him speechless.

Jason walked back up to the house, wondering what had gone wrong and what he had done. When he got to the house, Sonny and Carly were in the kitchen, and Georgie was in the floor playing with Katie. He took a moment to study the small child. She was the spitting image of her mother. She had the sparkling blue eyes, the pouty lips, the alabaster skin. Every aspect of the child was Elizabeth. She'd also picked up on some of her mother's mannerisms. At the moment, she was chewing furiously at her lip while she was trying to escape Georgie.

Carly cleared her throat. She looked out the window. "Elizabeth decided to go riding after all?"

Jason followed her gaze. Elizabeth had mounted the large horse and was trotting it around in circles. "Looks that way."

Carly looked at her friend closely. "Something happen?"

Jason sighed. "I don't know, Carly. She's been distant ever since that little comment you made last night."

"Jase, I'm really sorry. I was just playing around." Carly said softly.

Jason sighed again. "I know, Carly. I don't think it was all you. I overheard a conversation last night, and something's off with her."

"I think it's Ric," Sonny said quietly. Both Carly and Jason turned to him with questioning looks. None of them noticed Georgie had perked her head up and was listening with quiet intensity.

"What does Ric have to do with anything?" Jason asked.

"We talked this morning and she said that she had just come from seeing Ric when you found her on the docks with Alcazar that night. She had served him with the divorce papers, and apparently he said something to her."

"What? What did he say?" Jason asked.

"She didn't say. She just said that he didn't sign the papers until he said what he wanted to say. She got a little upset. But she said it didn't matter anymore, and she took off."

Georgie cleared her throat. The three adults turned to her. "Elizabeth usually avoids any conversations about Ric and the things he did," she said quietly.

Carly, Sonny, and Jason exchanged glances. "Georgie," Carly said, approaching the girl. "Do you know what's really wrong with Elizabeth?"

Georgie gave them an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry," she said. "I promised Elizabeth that I wouldn't say anything to anyone."

Carly made a frustrated noise. "That's all right. We'll just ask Felicia. She'll know."

"Don't count on it," Georgie said. "Contrary to popular belief, and my mother's, Elizabeth doesn't tell her everything. I wasn't even supposed to know. But Elizabeth kind of lost it one night, and I was just there."

"Tell me one thing," Jason said. "Is she upset about something that Ric said to her?"

Georgie sighed. "Yes," she said quietly. Jason swore. He knew that bastard would hurt her.

There was a commotion outside and everyone rushed to the window, just in time to see the stallion rise onto its hind legs. Elizabeth clawed wildly for something to hang onto, but there was nothing. She hit the ground on her back and lay motionless.

"Call 911!" Jason barked before running to the paddock. Sonny was hot on his heels.

When Jason reached Elizabeth, her eyes were closed and her faced was scrunched up. He knelt by her side, while Sonny tried to get the horse under control.

"Elizabeth? Open your eyes, sweetheart," he said softly. "Please open your eyes."

She did as he asked. The once sparkling blue eyes were now glazed with pain. He gently stroked her face.

"Elizabeth, can you tell me where you are? Tell me what happened. Where does it hurt?"

She took a shallow breath, shuddering as if it took all her effort. "Snake," she whispered.

Jason furrowed his brow. "Snake?"

"The horse saw a snake and it got scared," she whispered painfully.

"OK, sweetheart, it's all right. Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere. It hurts to move, to breathe. Where's Katie?" She turned her head.

Jason was by her head in an instant, bracing it between his knees. "It's all right, Katie's fine. She's in the house with Georgie. Carly's calling an ambulance, so you just lie there, all right? Don't move."

Sonny came over with a grim look on his face. "How is she?"

"She's doing all right. She's conscious, breathing, and alert. But she's in a lot of pain," Jason said.

Carly came running out of the house followed by Felicia. "The ambulance is on its way. The girls are waiting out front for it."

"Elizabeth?" Her eyes fluttered closed. "Elizabeth! Hey, come on now. Stay with me here, Elizabeth." Her eyes fluttered open again. She looked up at Jason. "There you go, come on now, you have to stay awake for a little while, all right?" She murmured something in response.

Suddenly the sound of ambulance filled the air. The paramedics came around the side of the ranch house, followed by Maxie and Georgie. Leticia came out of the house with Michael, Katie, and James.

One paramedic squatted on each side of Elizabeth. "My name's Andy, and this is my partner John. Can you tell us your name?" he asked while putting the blood pressure cuff on her upper arm.

"Elizabeth," she gasped.

Andy squinted at her. "Elizabeth, are you having trouble breathing?" She gave a gasp of affirmation. He took an oxygen mask out of his bag and placed it over her face. "This should make it a little easier. We're gonna check you out for any broken bones before we move you, all right, Elizabeth?"

John and Andy started at her legs. After checking all the bones there, they worked their way up her body. John stopped after checking her ribs. "She might have a couple broken ones," he muttered to Andy.

Andy nodded as he attached a neck brace to prevent her head from moving. "She probably did some damage to her tailbone too. Let's get the backboard in here," he called. The backboard was brought in and Elizabeth was rolled painfully onto her side as the backboard was inserted underneath her. The paramedics picked her up and carried her toward the ambulance. Jason hurried to catch up.

"I want to go with her," he said.

"There's no room in the ambulance with the backboard, but you're welcome to follow in your car," Andy told him. Jason nodded in response.

He paused at Elizabeth's side before they loaded her into the ambulance. "It's all right, sweetheart. Felicia's going to take care of Katie and I'm coming to the hospital with you. Everything will be all right." She gave him a shadow of a smile before they closed the door and he rushed to his car.

As close as he tried to stay to the ambulance, it just wasn't possible for Jason to stay right behind it. The traffic was bad, and the ambulance was moving quickly. By the time Jason got to the hospital, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen. He went to the front desk, and the nurse there told him that she'd been taken into X-ray. Jason paced the waiting room for several hours before a doctor finally addressed him.

"Mr. Morgan?" Jason nodded. "Ms. Webber is doing better now." Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "She broke several of her ribs, causing a small puncture in her right lung. We did a chest X-ray, and the puncture isn't serious. She has a fractured tailbone, but she didn't break it, which is unusual for the type of fall she had. We also did a CAT scan, and we've found that she does not have a concussion, which is very lucky. I expect the puncture of her lung to heal on its own, and we've given her medication for the pain. We'd like to keep her overnight for observation."

Jason nodded his assent. "Whatever it takes," he said. "Can I see her now?"

The doctor nodded. "She's a little groggy form the medication," the doctor warned. He led the way down the hall and opened a door for Jason. "I'll check on her in a few hours."

Jason made his way to the bedside. She was sleeping, her eyes closed and her face peaceful. There was no trace of the pain that he'd seen earlier, and for that he was grateful.

He took her tiny hand into his and brushed his thumb over her fingers. She had bruises covering her entire body, at least all that he could see. He closed his eyes and let the relief flow through his body. His hand started shaking as he finally realized how close he came to losing her. He laid his head down next to her hands, simply breathing in her scent.

After a few moments, Elizabeth's eyelids fluttered and she stirred. Jason sat up and looked at her. She glanced around the room, unsure of her surroundings. Jason squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"It's all right," he said. "You're in the hospital." She glanced at the pitcher of water on the table by the bed. Jason poured her a glass and held it to her lips while she drank. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I fell off a horse," she said somewhat sarcastically. Jason gave her a look, and she continued. "There was a snake. I barely even saw it before the horse bucked. I couldn't control it."

Jason noticed the fear still in her eyes and took her other hand in his. "Did the doctors talk to you?"

"Yeah, they told me about my ribs, lung, and tailbone," she said. Both were silent for a few moments. Jason glanced at her and noticed that her eyes were slowly drooping closed.

"Why don't you rest, Elizabeth? I have to call and let everyone know how you're doing anyway," Jason said. He started to stand, but Elizabeth pulled him back down.

"Please stay," she whispered. Jason nodded and sat back down. He waited until she was asleep, then took out his cell phone and dialed Sonny's number.

"Yeah?" Sonny answered.

"It's me," Jason said.

Sonny relayed the message to the people in the room. "How is she? Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, she's all right. She has a few broken ribs, a bruised tailbone, and a collapsed lung. They're keeping her overnight for observation," Jason said.

"You going to stay with her?" Sonny asked, after telling the news to the room full of people gathered behind him.

"Yeah," Jason replied. "I was just going to let her rest, but she asked me to stay. Is Katie all right?"

"Yeah, Felicia put her to sleep an hour ago. She's in good hands, tell Elizabeth not to worry."

"All right, I will." Jason hung up the phone and looked at Elizabeth. She was still sleeping, but the look on her face was one of pain. She let out a moan of pain as she shifted. Jason laid his head back down on the bed. It was going to be a long night.

Jason woke up the next morning with a severe cramp. He had sat in the chair by Elizabeth's bedside all night long. He looked over at her to find that she was all ready wide-awake and watching him.

She smiled slightly. "Morning."

He grinned in response. "Morning."

The two just stared at each other, but were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. A few moments later, the doctor came in.

"Ms. Webber, we're going to release you today," he said. "There's not a whole lot we do to fix your ribs. We can't put a cast on them like we would with any other broken bone. You'll just have to be extremely careful while they're healing on their own. Is it still hard to breathe?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, it's fine now. It's just a little painful sometimes."

The doctor nodded. "Most likely you knocked the wind out of yourself when you fell. There shouldn't be any permanent damage to the lung either. That will also heal on its own. And your tailbone is just bruised, so it will be tender for a few days, but again, no permanent damage."

Jason nodded. "Is there anything we can do to help these things heal faster?"

The doctor gave a knowing look and a sly grin. "Yes, I do suppose you are in a hurry to get Ms. Webber up and around again. She can put ice on her ribs, up to 15 minutes a day, especially when they're sore. She can avoid getting on horses until her tailbone's healed."

"Oh, I fully plan on avoiding horses even when my tailbone is healed," Elizabeth piped in. Jason cast her an odd look, but the doctor cut off his words.

"All right, if you don't have any more questions, here's your release form. Oh, and I'm also going to give you a prescription for a mild pain medication. It's not nearly as powerful as some of the ones that I could have given you, but you're only going to need it for a few days anyway. Your body will be doing its job by then." Elizabeth signed the release and the doctor left.

"Elizabeth, what you said about horses-"

"Never mind that now, Jason," she cut him off. "I want to go home." She climbed slowly out of bed, the pained expression back on her face. Her feet hit the floor and she swayed a bit. Jason grabbed her arm to steady her. She gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks. Can you get my clothes? They're in that bag on the bathroom sink."

He came out with the bag and held up the clothes for Elizabeth to see. A white T-shirt, and a pair of jeans, which Jason remembered as being very tight on Elizabeth.

Apparently she remembered too, because she grimaced at the pants. "Um, OK." She grabbed the clothes and headed for the bathroom. Once the door was shut, Jason let out a quick sigh. The door quickly opened again, revealing a very frustrated Elizabeth on the other side. "I can't get the gown off."

"What?"

"I can't get the gown off," she said. "I can't get my arms high enough to get it over my head and I can't bend down enough to slide it down my legs."

Jason smiled. "Come here," he instructed. She did as she was told, and he turned her around so her back was to him. He undid the ties on the back on the gown and slowly slid it down her body, fingers brushing against her creamy skin in the process. He retrieved the gown off the floor only to find Elizabeth standing in front of him, clad only in her underwear. And he appreciated the feminine quality of those underwear, even if he was only seeing the back of them. He mentally smacked himself. Get a grip, Morgan. The girl just fell off a horse and here you are admiring her underwear. Snap out of it!

Elizabeth, meanwhile, was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. She was very well aware of the fact that she was only in her underwear. It wasn't Jason that made her uncomfortable, though, it was the fact that anyone could come through that door at any moment. And if they did, they were going to get an eyeful of Elizabeth. She turned toward Jason, arms crossed at her chest.

"OK, smart guy. So you got my clothes off. Now how about putting some of them back on?"

Jason picked up the shirt and the jeans. "Well, if you couldn't raise your arms to take the gown off, you're not going to be able to raise them to put the shirt on," he pointed out.

Elizabeth swore. He was right. She tried again, for good measure, not noticing that she was giving Jason a pretty good view of her assets right now, covered as they may be. Jason cleared his throat. Elizabeth met his eyes and dropped her arms to her sides quickly. She winced in pain. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Jason took her arm and led her to the bed. He perched her on the edge and held up the jeans. He slid them over her ankles, pausing to make sure he wasn't inflicting any pain. When she nodded for him to go on, he slid them up to her knees, again stopping to check for pain. He slid the pants as high on her legs as they would go while she was sitting. He gave her arms a gentle tug and pulled her into the standing position. He knelt in front of her and pulled the jeans up onto her thighs, pausing when he heard her hiss.

Elizabeth was between heaven and hell. On the one hand, she was in so much pain when Jason pulled the jeans closer to her tailbone. But on the other hand, the way he was touching her, the way he was looking at her.She looked at Jason kneeling in front of her on the floor, a position she had only dreamed about seeing him in. Her breathing started getting heavier.

Jason noticed. He stood abruptly. "Should I get the doctor?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just some mild pain, that's all." He nodded, an unsure look on his face. "Please, I just want to go home."

He knelt back down. He reached around behind Elizabeth, and found the jeans where they had stopped. He gripped the top and tugged gently. Elizabeth hissed again but told him to keep going. He moved around behind her, making sure he got the pants where they needed to be, fingers caressing her body all the way. The he went around to the front again. He pulled the jeans together, fingers grazing the soft skin on her stomach. No doubt about it, having a baby hadn't hurt her figure in the least. He again admonished himself. He pulled the jeans together again, not noticing how she pressed herself closer to him.

Elizabeth was grateful when the jeans were on her body. She didn't think she could stand Jason touching her anymore, not without her making some kind of noise or saying something. The intense pain being inflicted across her abdomen broke her thoughts. "Jason," she gasped.

He looked up instantly, a look of concern on his face. "What is it?"

She managed a small laugh. "Nothing much. Let's just keep the jeans unbuttoned for now, all right?"

He chuckled with her. "Sure, anything you want."

Elizabeth looked around. "Well, I'm half dressed anyway. I just need some kind of a shirt."

Jason walked to the chair that he'd spent the night in and picked something up. "Will a jacket do?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked. Jason was holding his leather jacket. She studied it. It had a zipper so she wouldn't have to put it over her head, but she would still be covered, it was Jason's.

Jason watched as Elizabeth looked the jacket over, trying to figure out if it would work, no doubt. He studied her quietly. She looked a lot better today than yesterday, although the bruises he'd seen while dressing her were the grim reminders that she still wasn't up to par.

"I'll take it!" Elizabeth snatched the jacket from Jason, breaking him out of his thoughts. He grinned at her as she tried to put it on, but struggled a bit.

Jason took the jacket from her. "Let me," he said. He turned her away from him and gently picked up one of her arms. He slipped it into the arm of the jacket and turned to do the other. He came in front of Elizabeth, trying not to notice that she was no longer covered.

Elizabeth sighed softly at how gentle he was. His hands were on her shoulder, her stomach, her waist, her-

"All done," Jason announced.

Elizabeth looked up at him, all the while turning a deep shade of crimson. "Um, thanks," she stuttered. The jacket was zipped and ready to go. "Let's go home."

It was early afternoon when Jason arrived home with Elizabeth. He got out of the car, and went to open her door. She smiled gratefully and allowed him to help her inside. They got to the common room, surprised to find no one there. Jason closed the door and led Elizabeth to the couch. Hearing the door slam, Georgie rushed out of the kitchen.

"Elizabeth! You're back!" she exclaimed. "Mom, Maxie, Elizabeth's back!" Felicia and Maxie came from the kitchen, followed by Sonny, Carly, James and Michael. Carly was holding Katie.

Felicia sat down on the couch beside Elizabeth. "How are you feeling? Is there much pain?"

Elizabeth chuckled slightly. "Only when I breathe." Noticing the alarmed looks she added, "Just kidding, guys. Come on now, Jason has more of a sense of humor than you guys do."

"Hey," Jason said. "You make it sound like a bad thing."

"Not a bad thing, Jase. Just a rare one," Carly chimed in. "Seriously, though, Muffin, next time I tell you to do something, ignore me, all right?" This brought a chuckle from everyone, the small boys included.

Elizabeth reached for Katie and winced. She looked at Jason expectantly. He raised his eyebrows. "Wait, now I'm waiting on you hand and foot? This time yesterday you wouldn't even speak to me," he said with a glint in his eye.

Elizabeth gave a small shrug. "Well, seeing as I'm totally incapable of even getting dressed, and you handled that so well, I've just appointed you my care taker."

"You couldn't get dressed by yourself?" Maxie asked. "But you're dressed. How." She paused for a moment. "Oh!" Carly raised her eyebrows, but after a stern look from Jason, she kept her mouth shut. Instead she exchanged a triumphant look with Sonny, who shook his head amusedly.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and looked toward Katie, then toward Jason, with a sly grin on her face. Jason sighed before taking Katie from Carly and placing her in her mother's lap. He received a grunt from Elizabeth, though whether it was of pain, acknowledgment, or thanks he didn't know. Jason told the others what the doctor had said while Elizabeth played with her daughter. Maxie went into the kitchen and brought him a cup of coffee. Jason took a few sips and set it on the coffee table in front of him.

"Well, after yesterday, I'm surprised Michael still wants to go riding," Carly commented. "But he does. I'm just not sure if I want him to go."

"Oh, Carly, all of our horses are entirely suitable for children," Felicia said. "Yes, once in a while we do have a stray snake wander into the paddocks, but the ranch hands usually catch them before they get that far. There's always a ranch hand that takes a horse to the paddocks when someone wants a ride. That way, they can check to see if there are any snakes in the area."

"But why did the snake get in the paddock yesterday?" Michael asked innocently.

Felicia smiled at him. "Well, sometimes the hands don't see them. Snakes are very fast, but I assure you, all our ranch hands have had experience handling snakes. We made sure of that."

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Um, well, the reason the snake wasn't caught was because of me. I was down in the stables and Will wanted to help me bring Buttercup into the paddock, so he could check it out. But I told him I'd be fine and I went by myself."

"Well, you've been riding a long time," Maxie pointed out.

"Yeah, but she always lets them go with her anyway," Georgie told her sister. "She's terrified of snakes."

"Why didn't you let Will go with you, Elizabeth?" Felicia asked.

Elizabeth gave her a sheepish look. "I was mad, so I decided to be stubborn. Look where that got me."

Jason stayed quiet and reached for his cup of coffee. He was surprised to find it gone. He turned his head and looked at Elizabeth, who was currently drinking all his coffee.

"What?" she asked. "It's not like you were drinking it." He shook his head and chuckled.

Elizabeth put Katie down for her nap in the late part of the afternoon. As she walked out of the nursery, Felicia met her in the hallway.

"So what happened at the hospital?" Felicia asked. "He dressed you?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Yeah, I couldn't lift my arms high enough to do anything. He had to take the gown off and put my pants on."

Georgie poked her head out of her room. "Sounds kinky," she said.

"Georgie!" Felicia said. She turned to Elizabeth. "It does sound kinky."

Elizabeth laughed. "Well, it was interesting." Georgie grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bedroom. Felicia followed.

"OK, spill," Georgie instructed. Felicia and Elizabeth gave her looks of disbelief. "Well, I don't have a sex life yet, and unless you want me to get one, I need to live vicariously through you."

"Living vicariously is good," Felicia mumbled.

Elizabeth smiled. "Well, you guys wouldn't believe how erotic getting dressed really is."

Georgie grinned. "Oh yes we would." She earned another look from Felicia. "I mean, when it's you and Jason, we would."

"Well, I doubt it was anywhere near as erotic for Jason. But any doubts I had about the way I feel for him are gone. He was so sweet and gentle. It was nice."

"I bet it was," Felicia said. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Too long. Not since Katie. But it didn't matter until now. I didn't really want it until now."

"That's because there was no Jason until now," Georgie said.

Felicia looked at her youngest daughter. "When did you get to be so smart?"

Georgie grinned. "I've always been smart."

"So, you dressed her?" Carly asked Jason. They were walking to the stables with Michael, who had begged to go. He was currently several steps in front of the two friends.

"Carly, don't start," Jason warned.

Carly put her hands up in a mock-surrender. "I'm not starting, I just want to know. You know Elizabeth will tell Felicia all about this. I want to know too. Is it so wrong to be in my best friend's life? Is that so wrong?"

"All right, Carly," Jason cut her off. He was so used to that speech by now that he could recite it backward. "I'll tell you." She squealed with delight. "Elizabeth was sore, obviously. She couldn't get dressed or undressed, so I helped her. That's all."

"Right," Carly said. "That's all. And did you enjoy this?"

"Carly! Come on, she was in pain. How could I enjoy it?"

"You did! You enjoyed it!"

"Maybe just a little," Jason admitted. "But I doubt she did."

"Well, maybe you didn't put enough effort into it," Carly said slyly.

"Carly! Come on, you can't expect me to seduce a woman who just fell off a horse."

"Why not? Was she protesting? Did she resist you touching her, or undressing her?"

"Carly, I know nothing about her life anymore. She could be seeing someone for all we know," Jason reasoned.

"Oh, yes," Carly said. "She's seeing someone. With the mural of you and her on your bike in her room, she's seeing someone." She rolled her eyes. "Don't be dense, Jase." She jogged ahead and caught up with Michael in the stables, again leaving Jason with his own thoughts.

Sonny, who had spent the whole day in the kitchen with Felicia and the ranch's chef Jose, made that night dinner. It was a full course Mexican meal and there was hardly any conversation. The only sounds were the quiet chewing of food and the occasional clatter of silverware.

"Sonny, that was delicious," Elizabeth commented, rising from the table with Jason's help. She put her plate in the sink.

"Well, it was a new recipe, so it could have gone either way," Sonny said.

Felicia laughed. "Well, thanks for telling us all that now."

Elizabeth laughed as she exited the kitchen with Jason in tow. She started the stairs to her room. Jason still followed.

"Elizabeth, can we talk?" Jason asked. She whirled around suddenly, losing her footing. Jason caught her as she fell, and she grunted in pain. He righted her and looked into her eyes. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yes," she said. "Just peachy. Been a wonderful day. Hell, it's been a wonderful week."

"Elizabeth." She ignored him and continued up the stairs. She went into her room, not bothering to close the door because she knew it would do no good.

She was right. No sooner had she sat on the bed and reached for her pain pills, Jason entered her room. He watched as she dumped several pills into her hand, then took them from her and gave her one.

She glared at him. "Who do you think you are?" she hissed.

Jason took a step back at her tone. "Excuse me?"

"I said who in the hell do you think you are?"

"Elizabeth, you can't take that many pills. It's dangerous."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother," she said sarcastically.

Jason gaped at her. "What happened to you?"

"Me? What happened to me? Nothing happened to me!" Elizabeth yelled. She threw her arms out, not even registering the pain that accompanied the gesture. "What happened to you?"

"What's going on?" Georgie said, sticking the head in the room. She glanced at the stand off with interest.

"That's what I'd like to know," Jason said, looking straight at Elizabeth.

She tossed him an angry look, then smiled at Georgie. "Nothing's wrong, I'm tired and I'm going to sleep for a little while."

"Oh, well then Jason and I will just leave you alone," Georgie said. She nudged Jason, who gave Elizabeth another look of disbelief. "Let's go, Jason." He left the room. Elizabeth gave Georgie a grateful look before she shut the door. Elizabeth collapsed in tears on the bed.

Elizabeth awoke several hours later. She walked to the bathroom, only to find herself stiff from not moving. She glanced in the mirror and discovered her eyes were puffy and swollen. She shook her head. It doesn't matter, she thought. It's better this way. Someone knocked on the door and Elizabeth hesitated.

"Elizabeth?" It was Carly. Elizabeth pasted the bored look on her face and went to open the door. Carly looked at her oddly before entering the room.

"What do you want, Carly?" Elizabeth asked.

"What happened? You look like hell," Carly commented.

"Gee, thanks," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "Now if you're just going to sit there and insult me, then get out."

"Geez, Muffin, I was just making conversation."

"Well, I really don't feel like making conversation right now, especially if it's with you," Elizabeth snapped.

Carly raised her eyebrows. "All right, then. If that's the way this is going to be. Fine."

"What are you talking about?"

"You do this with Jason too? Cause I can see where you would tell him to get out and he wouldn't want to. But Jason being the guy he is, he'll do what you say. And you know that."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Is there a point to this conversation, Carly?"

"Yes, and I'm about to get to it." Carly snapped. "Jason loves you. If you didn't know before, after the whole hospital incident, you should know now. And he comes in here, ready to tell you that, and what do you do? Bite his head off! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Now there's a question," Elizabeth said. "A question you've been asked before, many times, I'm sure."

Carly got right down in Elizabeth's face. "Listen, I don't care if you did fall off a horse. You hurt Jason, tonight. But hell, you always do. I don't know why I thought you might actually be good for him now, after all you've done to him."

Elizabeth pushed Carly, causing her to stagger backwards. "How dare you come into my room and lecture me about my life! Get out!" By now Elizabeth was full out screaming, and Sonny came rushing to the door with Jason at his heels. Carly lunged for Elizabeth.

"You want to push me now?" she screamed, reaching for Elizabeth's hair "Come on, Muffin, let's go."

Elizabeth again pushed her away. Jason and Sonny immediately separated the two girls. Elizabeth shoved Jason back as well. "Don't you get it?" she screamed. "Don't you get it?"

Jason stepping into her line of vision. "Get what, Elizabeth? Don't we get what?"

She looked at him a moment, confused, then resumed her glaring at the room's occupants. "Get out." Her voice was calm, but her eyes were the exact opposite: stormy and wild, out of control.

Sonny ushered Carly out the door before she could get another word in, but Jason stayed. He tried again, "What's going on, Elizabeth? What's wrong?"

She glared at him fiercely. "My life was perfectly fine before you showed up. I have friends, a family, and a baby. I was fine, I was finally forgetting. And then you showed up. Why did you have to come here?"

Jason saw she was near hysterics. He edged toward her, slowly but enough to stop her from hurting herself if necessary. "Elizabeth," he said softly. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

Elizabeth looked at him. "I'm not doing this. I'm not doing this anymore!"

Georgie came into the room and went straight to Elizabeth's side. She motioned for Jason to leave the room. He did, feeling more determined than ever to find out what was going on.

Georgie closed the door behind Jason and sat down on the bed beside Elizabeth. "Liz, you have to stop this. Come on, calm down."

It took several minutes, but Elizabeth did finally calm down. Georgie got her a glass of water and made Elizabeth drink it.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said.

Georgie shook her head. "Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong. But Elizabeth, you need to fix this. You can't keep doing this." Elizabeth raised her head. "Liz, they're not stupid. When you told Sonny that Ric said something to you, he told Carly and Jason. And they know that what you're going through has something to do with what he told you. They're going to figure it out."

Elizabeth sighed. "They shouldn't even be here."

"But they are. And they're going to know. Maybe they should."

"No! They can't know," Elizabeth said, getting up to pace the room. "I don't want them to know."

"Well, maybe Mom was right then. I mean, she doesn't even know about this, and she still thinks you should see someone. If she knew about this, she'd be dragging you to a doctor by your hair."

"Georgie, I've tried therapy before, for other things," Elizabeth said.

"And did it work?" Georgie asked.

"Well, yes," Elizabeth admitted. "But, if I go to therapy, this whole town's going to know about it."

"Not if we go to a doctor in another town," Georgie pointed out. "Tell you what, I'll make you an appointment and I'll go with you. I'll sit with Katie in the waiting room."

"Really?" Elizabeth asked.

"Liz, you're like my best friend, despite the age difference. You're like the mature older sister I never had. Hell, sometimes you're like a mother to me. Of course I'm going to help you if I can," Georgie said. "And you know what? That's what Jason's trying to do, too."

Elizabeth held up her hands. "I'm not ready to deal with Jason yet," she said.

Georgie nodded. "All right," she said. "We'll save him for therapy."

For the next several days, Elizabeth avoided everyone. She woke earlier than they did, and she went to bed later. No one got to speak to her, they only caught a glance of her now and then.

Four days after their fight, Jason awoke to find that Georgie, Elizabeth, and Katie were absent from breakfast. It wasn't unusual for Elizabeth to be absent, but Georgie was usually there, feeding Katie. He questioned Felicia, but all she would tell him was that they'd had some errands to run.

The errand the girls were on took all day. They came in later that night with grocery bags. Elizabeth looked exhausted. They put the groceries away, and Elizabeth went up to bed with Katie.

"At least she said good night," Sonny pointed out. Jason gave him a look and followed Elizabeth. Georgie started to follow him, but Carly stopped her.

"They need to have this out," she said.

Jason followed Elizabeth into the nursery and watched as she got her daughter ready for bed. "Elizabeth," he said.

She held up her hand and motioned for him to be quiet. She waved him out into the hallway. He went out the door, and she followed behind him.

"We need to talk," he said when it became apparent that she wasn't going to say anything. She nodded and he followed her into his bedroom. They situated themselves on the bed and she looked at him.

"Elizabeth, what's going on?" he asked. "Something's wrong, and I can tell. I can help you. Let me help you."

She looked down at her hands. "Jason, I don't want to do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"Keep hurting each other. This never-ending cycle of ours, it needs to stop. Neither one of us can afford to do it anymore."

"Elizabeth, listen to me," he said. He waited until she looked at him before continuing. "I care about you. More than friends, remember?"

"Jason, that was a long time ago. Things have changed. You and me will never be what we used to be."

"And why not?" he asked. "Elizabeth, we have this amazing connection. I know you see it too. Why can't you just let it happen?"

"Because I don't deserve this!" she yelled.

Jason looked at her steadily. "Is that really what you think?" he asked. "Or is that what Ric told you?" She looked away, giving Jason the answer that he needed.

"Elizabeth, why is it that you don't deserve to be happy?" Jason asked, taking one of her hands. "Don't you see what he's doing? He hurt you, and he's still hurting you, even from a prison cell."

"You hurt me too, Jason," she said quietly. "I'm tired of being hurt all the time."

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I know I hurt you. We hurt each other. But you said it yourself. Things are different now. My job-"

"Yeah, your job is to take care of Sonny and his family," Elizabeth cut in. "I know that. And believe it or not, Jason, I accept that. It's your job and you love it." She pointed to the nursery. "But that little girl in there, she's my job and I love her. I'm her mother. It's my job to protect her and keep her safe. It's my job to make sure that no one hurts her, even if that no one is you."

"Elizabeth, I would never hurt her," Jason said.

"Not intentionally," Elizabeth conceded. "But you said that about me too. She's getting attached to you. Too attached. And when you run, it's gonna kill her, just like it killed me. I'm not going to do that to her, Jason. I won't." She calmly got up and left his room.

The next few days were agonizing for Jason. Elizabeth was civil to her guests, but never overly friendly. Even when Carly baited her, she still managed to keep up her calm demeanor. The only one she was friendly with was Michael.

"Liz," he said at breakfast one morning. "Can you take me on the horses today? I still haven't got to ride one yet."

Elizabeth paled slightly. "Um, Michael, why don't you let Maxie or Georgie take you?

"But you promised that you would," he said.

"Michael," Sonny cut in. "Maybe Elizabeth has something that she needs to do today. Why don't you practice riding with Maxie."

"Yeah, and then you can show us all how good you are," Carly said.

Michael sighed. "All right," he said dejectedly.

"Hey, Michael, I'll see if I can come down and watch you later, OK?" Elizabeth said.

"Will you ride with me?" he asked hopefully.

"Um, we'll see, OK?"

"Yes!" He hurriedly finished his breakfast and followed Maxie to the stables. Carly was right behind him, reminding him to be careful.

Elizabeth and Georgie left the room to finish the dishes. Again, Jason followed them and pulled Elizabeth aside.

"You're afraid to get back on a horse." It was a statement, not a question.

Elizabeth shrugged nonchalantly. "So?"

"So? Elizabeth, you live on a ranch. You can't be afraid of the horses."

She snorted. "This from a man who refuses to get on a horse himself."

"I'll get on a horse if you will." It was an offer and a challenge all in one.

"I'm busy," she said, and went into the kitchen.

After two weeks at the ranch, the Corinthos family was ready to go home. Riding a horse all day and not being able to sit down for a few days proved more than they could take.

They were loading up the car when Michael asked Elizabeth if he could say goodbye to Katie. She brought her daughter out and Michael had a very in depth conversation with her. As they were saying their good-byes, Katie reached out and latched onto Jason.

Elizabeth reached for her. "Come here, Katie." She clung to Jason's neck, shrinking from her mother's outstretched hands. Jason held for a few moments, then reluctantly gave her back to Elizabeth. She started screaming and Elizabeth took her back inside.

"Well," Felicia said. "The ranch is always here, anytime you need a vacation."

"We'll probably be back," Sonny said. "Now that Michael knows about this place, we'll never hear the end of it."

"Yeah, despite the fact that I've never been so sore in my life, I actually had fun," Carly said. "How about you, Jase? Have a good time?"

"Yeah, it was nice," he said. "Felicia, if you hear from Robin again, tell her I'm happy for her."

Felicia nodded. "I'll do that." The girls said goodbye and ran for the house, yelling about the phone. Felicia rolled her eyes. "Boys," she said.

The departing guests laughed and climbed back into their limo. Within minutes, they were gone.

"You miss him," Georgie stated. It had been almost a week since Jason, Carly, and Sonny left, and Elizabeth was still moping.

"He's Jason," Elizabeth pointed out. "Of course I miss him."

"And you love him?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Of course I love him."

"And I know he loves you," Georgie said. "So what's the problem? Why aren't you guys together?"

"Sometimes it takes more than love to make things work, Georgie," Elizabeth said.

"But you two are perfect for each other. And yeah, sometimes it takes more than love. But you have to start somewhere, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"But nothing. Elizabeth, you and Jason belong together."

"Then where is he?" Elizabeth asked. "If we're so perfect together, and if we belong together, then where is he?"

Georgie's eyes widened in realization. "You're testing him?"

"No! Not testing him, exactly," Elizabeth said. "But if he wanted to be with me so badly, then where is he?"

"Elizabeth, -"

"I'll tell you where he is," Elizabeth cut her off. "Sonny said they're leaving, and he left. Sonny says jump, Jason asks how high. That's exactly how it was before."

"So he hasn't changed, then," Georgie said. "Maybe you're better off without him, then."

Elizabeth sighed. "Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that I still want him," she said. "And did you see Katie? She got so attached to them, and then they left. That's exactly what I was afraid of."

"She'll be all right. I doubt she'll even remember him."

"Unless he keeps coming around and then leaving," Elizabeth said wryly. "God, listen to me. All I do is bitch anymore."

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't get along with me so well if you didn't," Georgie laughed.

"So true."

The months flew by at the ranch, and before Elizabeth knew it, it was October. Katie was over a year old, and Elizabeth was looking forward to taking her tick-or-treating.

"What should you be, Katie? A pumpkin, an angel, or a tiger?" Katie giggled and pointed to one of the costumes. Elizabeth held it up. "A pumpkin it is!"

There was a knock on the front door. Elizabeth went to answer it, with Katie toddling after her. She opened the door, not expecting to see Jason on the other side.

"Jason. What are you doing here?" she asked him.

He motioned to the house. "Can I come in?" Elizabeth stepped aside and allowed him entry into the common room. He sat on the couch and Katie crawled into his lap.

"So what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked again, trying not to notice how good he was with Katie.

"Well, all the way home, something just didn't feel right," he said. "I couldn't figure out what it was."

Elizabeth watched him hold her daughter, all ready wondering how she was going to be able to lose him again. "And what was it?" she asked.

"I did it again," he said, looking directly into her eyes.

"Did what again?" Suddenly she was breathless.

"I lost you again. I left you."

"Jason, -"

"Let me finish," he cut her off. "I need you, Elizabeth. I need you in my life. I don't think I've ever told you that, and I should have."

"You had me in your life," Elizabeth said quietly.

Jason sighed. "I know. That was my biggest mistake, letting you walk out that door without even fighting for you. I'm so sorry."

"Jason, we've been through all this before."

"No, Elizabeth, we haven't. I've never told you what a mistake it was to just sit there and watch the best thing in my life leave. I hurt you when I told you that I wouldn't. I lied to you when I told you that I wouldn't."

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead. "What do you want from me, Jason?"

"I want you. Just you. I want a second chance to be the man that you deserve to have in your life. I want to give you everything that you deserve."

"And what if that's not what I want?" Elizabeth asked.

Jason stared at her for a moment before replying. "I think it is what you want. I think that when you were in the hospital, you and I were both feeling the same thing. But if it's not what you want, I'll leave you alone. Just please give me a chance."

Elizabeth sighed again and looked at her daughter, who was currently playing with Jason's watch. "Jason, please understand. If it were just me, I would take you back in a heartbeat." His eyes lit up. "But it's not just me. I have a child, a child that comes before anything else in my life. If things between us don't work out, she'll be the one to suffer the most."

"I would never hurt her, or you, intentionally, Elizabeth."

"I know that. I do. But you've hurt me before, however unintentional it might have been. I just don't want her to get hurt. Jason, what if you change your mind in a few months? What happens then? She's all ready attached to you, it would kill her. And me."

"Elizabeth, when I saw you fall off of that horse, I felt something I haven't felt in a long time. Fear. I was scared that something would happen to you, something I couldn't make better. I love you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth felt her eyes tearing up and her resolve crumbling. "I just don't want to get hurt again."

"It will be different this time. I promise. And I know that I don't usually make promises, but I'll make this one. You come first to me now. You and your daughter. My first, last, and always."

"I don't want to go back to Port Charles," Elizabeth said suddenly. "I love it down here and so does Katie."

"OK," Jason said, unsure of where she was going with this.

"What will Sonny say?"

"To hell with Sonny," Jason declared. "He's got his family, he's happy. Why shouldn't I be?"

Elizabeth's eyes were wide. "Does he know that you feel this way?"

"As of yesterday, yes, he does."

"And you're still breathing?"

Jason chuckled. "Well, it wasn't pretty, but Sonny and I had a little discussion. I think he realizes how ridiculous he was having me at his beck and call 24 hours of the day, 7 days a week."

"So.you're staying in Texas?" Elizabeth asked, almost afraid to get her hopes up.

Jason grinned. "As long as you do. Although Sonny said if there were a major emergency, like Carly or the kids disappearing, he would call me."

"That's fine," Elizabeth said quickly, accepting the unspoken compromise. "I would never ask you to ignore your family."

Jason reached for Elizabeth's hand and drew her to the couch. "From now on, you're my family."

Carly Corinthos hummed happily as she dug through her boxes of Christmas decorations. Michael would be home from school soon and she'd promised they would decorate the Penthouse when he did. She readjusted the pictures on the mantle, trying to make room for a miniature Santa Clause statuette. Her eyes found the recent picture of Jason, Elizabeth, and Katie, the picture from their wedding. Carly sighed remembering how beautiful it had been.

Jason and Elizabeth had been married in the spring of last year, about 7 months after Jason had gone back to Texas. Elizabeth had looked radiant in a simple white gown, Jason just as handsome in a tux. Carly chuckled. He may not have liked wearing tuxes before, but no one had had to convince him to put one on for his wedding. Elizabeth was turning Jason into a completely different person. Not that it was a bad thing. Jason wasn't even opposed to it. Carly had never seen him so romantic before. He had even told her about trying to rent a horse drawn carriage for after the wedding, but Elizabeth had talked him out of it. She still hadn't gotten over her fear of horses. At least they had gotten their trip to Italy. Carly patted her bulging stomach and smiled. In less than two weeks they would all be back in Texas for a New Year's celebration.

The Penthouse door opened and Michael came flying through the door in a mess of red hair. He went to put his bookbag away while Johnny followed him in and handed Carly the mail. She sorted through it while waiting for Michael. She pulled out a brightly colored red envelope. It read:

Merry Christmas from the Morgans.

On the front of the card was a picture of Jason sitting on a horse. Elizabeth was siting in front of him, with Katie in front of her. You could see Elizabeth's slightly protruding belly behind the little girl. Carly was still satring at the picture when Sonny walked in the front door.

He came up behind his wife. "Sweetheart, is everything all right?"

She handed him the card with tears in her eyes. "Everything's fine. Everything's just fine."

The End