Disclaimer: Read the litany on the first chapter it will make a lot more sense. And please leave me a reply.

Betrayal, Loyalty, and Love

Chapter 2

~Warehouse~

Sonny picked up the phone and began to dial. He had to let Jason make up his own mind, and for him to really do that, he needed all the information. He was punching in the last number when a knock sounded on the door. "Yeah?" He called without looking up.

Johnny opened the door slightly, "It's Carly."

Sonny sighed but before he could answer, Carly pushed by Johnny and into the room. The phone began to ring in his ear, while he looked at his wife.

"Sonny," Carly said with a small smile.

Sonny nodded wearily at Johnny and hung up the phone. "Did you get the test results back yet?"

"What no hello?" Carly asked grouchily sitting on the metal folding chair across from him.

Leaning back in the chair he studied his wife. She was still beautiful and abrasive, loud and neurotic, needy and stubborn. Once he had finally admitted to himself that he loved her, those traits of hers became frustratingly appealable to him. Now, however, they bothered him all over again.

"Sonny?" Carly snapped her fingers bringing his focus back to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Carly, I'm just waiting to hear what the Doctor told you." He pressed on, trying to quell that little bit of hope that sprung inside of him, while he awaited her response.

She was quiet for a very long time, while she studied him, finally her eyes filled with tears. "You know I walked in here, ready to lie to you. Ready to lie to save us," she took a breath. "But after seeing you in the nursery tonight, seeing the longing in your eyes, longing that you won't allow yourself to say aloud, I realized I can't lie to you. Not about this, it's too important. No I'm not pregnant."

Disappointment crashed into him like a wave, as soon as she spoke, it hit, and hit, like it was high tide, and each wave, hurt more and more. He wasn't aware how much he had let himself hope, until the possibility was taken from him. He wanted a child, and yet he didn't. He wanted a baby with her, and yet he didn't. He felt a loss so sharp the likes of which he hadn't felt in over a year.

"I really thought I was pregnant. I had all the symptoms I had with Michael and our baby. But it was more than that. I could feel a life that we had made inside of me. I wanted that life so much." Her teary brown eyes locked on his, begging him to understand.

"But you're not pregnant, and there is no life," he said roughly.

"There could be."

"Carly," Sonny interrupted her in warning. "Don't do this again," he got to his feet and moved to the small window.

"Do you know what last Tuesday would have been?" Carly asked. She went on when he made no reply. "According to the Doctor that was the day our baby was due, so our baby would have been a year old last week."

He knew that, of course he knew that, a day hadn't gone by that he hadn't thought about the children, he'd never been allowed to hold. First it was his and Lily's child, then his and Carly's little boy. When he closed his eyes and dreamed, sometimes he thought he could see the boys in a sunny garden with Lily. He liked the idea of her taking care of his boys. He clung to that idea because it was the only way it made the loss bearable to him.

"So I started feeling those things, I felt when I was pregnant, and I just knew that I was, that I was pregnant," Carly was saying. "But I'm not, and it hurts so much. I never even got to hold him Sonny, I miss him so much and I never even got to hold him." Her voice broke.

He couldn't fight the pain in her voice, crossing to her, he crouched down beside her, to hold her while she cried. "I never even got to hold him," she repeated, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I know baby," Sonny whispered running a hand over her hair. "I miss him too."

~Studio~

Elizabeth let herself in the darkened studio, yet made no effort to turn on the light, she pushed at the door, to close it and moved to her cluttered table. She was tired, so very tired. Glancing at her answering machine, she was relieved that the red light was solid, instead of blinking, she wasn't up to talking to anyone.

She pushed herself away from the table, not noticing that the door hadn't closed behind her, she let her purse fall to the floor, while she moved through the dark to the couch. Since Nikolas had "kicked" her and Lucky out of the cottage, she had been staying here, while Lucky had moved back to Kelly's. That was actually one part of this plan that she liked, she could finally be alone again, and free. Well not free, but she could breathe. Lucky wasn't happy that she chose to live here, yet he didn't press her on it, although Nikolas did, thankfully he kept getting interrupted whenever he tried to talk to her.

Collapsing wearily on the couch she kicked off her shoes. She didn't even have the energy to put on the shorts, that she normally slept in, even though her brain was telling her that she should. The studio was stifling. It had no air conditioning and the heat and humidity of early August was on Port Charles like the plague. She knew she should at least get up and turn on the fans, and open the windows, but movement seemed to be too hard for her at the moment.

Instead she curled in a ball on the couch, for once she didn't even notice the lumpy spring that jutted against her hip. She closed her eyes, hoping the numbness would stay and she could finally get some sleep, but it wasn't working, reality and conversations were seeping in again.

"I told you. I'm in love with him."

"I was talking about Jason."

"So was I."

So was I, the words echoed around and around in her head. How could she have said that to Sonny? She certainly hadn't planned on saying it to him. She had never planned on telling anyone that she loved Jason, not even Jason. In fact when she said it aloud tonight, it was the first time she had even came close to saying the words out loud.

She could tell by the stunned look on Sonny's face that she had surprised him, hell she had surprised herself. It was just she had felt so comfortable talking to him, even though he wasn't making it easy on her. The way he kept calling her on her treatment of Jason should have made her shut down, and instead it made her speak the truth. A little of the guilt she had been feeling eased inside of her, because someone finally called her on her behavior.

She hadn't gone to him to talk specifically about Jason, she had only wanted to apologize, and ask a favor.

"Admit it Elizabeth," her voice sounded harsh to her ears in the dark of the room. "Admit the truth."

Laughing mirthlessly she pulled a pillow to her chest, to hold. The truth was she had gone to Sonny to find out about Jason. The worry and fear she had been feeling for him, ever since he'd failed to return after Emily's accident, had become too much for her to ignore anymore, and so she went to Sonny. A part of her had been afraid that Lucky had done something to him. He had attacked Jason before, and Lucky was capable of anything these days. She hated to think that, but the way Jason had disappeared, she couldn't help but wonder.

She had never spoken truer words, then when she told Sonny she was selfish. She had proved it again tonight, by dropping the truth in Sonny's lap before she left. She knew Sonny was a good man, and he considered Jason his family, so there was a good chance he would tell Jason about her visit.

"Isn't that what you wanted Elizabeth?"

A big part of her wanted Jason back, so she could see him again, even if he was mad at her, so he could be her strength again. Somehow, during the course of their relationship, he had helped her regain her strength, without even trying too, and she needed that now. But another part of her knew that if he did come back, things would only get worse. She would only hurt him again, and she didn't think she could stand it if she hurt him again. So she couldn't let him come back no matter what.

Tomorrow she would go to Sonny and tell him… tell him…. She sighed, how was she supposed to fix this for everyone else, when she couldn't even fix it for herself?

"Be true to yourself." The words Lucky used to say to her went through her mind. "Stop thinking and feel." Jason's plea followed it.

She was just so tired, maybe it would be clearer in her head in the morning, maybe tomorrow when she woke up she would have an idea how to make this right for everyone, maybe she wouldn't hurt anymore, maybe… She closed her eyes, the tears that leaked from her closed eyelids, mixed with the perspiration on her face. Maybe…

~West Coast~

"You're still here."

Jason turned around from the window and smiled at her. "I said I would be."

Emily wheeled herself far enough in the room that the door swung closed behind her. "I know what you said, but I also know how much you hate hospitals."

Jason leaned against the windowsill. "This place isn't so bad."

"Tell me that after you've been here for three weeks," she muttered trying to angle her chair by the bed, but she kept catching it on the table by the bed. Swallowing a curse, she backed up and tried it again, and again and had the same result. Frustration grew inside of her, so did the anger that she was feeling a lot lately.

"Do you want some help?"

"No, I'm not a fucking cripple, I can do it. I don't need your pity," she yelled, backing the chair up to try again, and again it didn't work. She bent her head so he wouldn't see her tears. She tried so hard to be positive, to keep her spirits up, but sometimes she just couldn't. Sometimes the doubt and the fear got to be too much, and she lashed out. She had been here for almost a month and all she could do was wiggle her right foot, and flex the toes on her left foot. At this point she would dance with Zander again at her 80th birthday party.

She blinked when a box of Kleenex was shoved under her nose and couldn't help but smile when she took the box from his hand. "Thanks."

"No problem," he squatted down beside her chair. "Do you want some help now, or do you want to yell some more?"

She lifted her watery eyes to his but didn't say anything.

"It doesn't mean you're giving up, or that you can't do it on your own, if you let someone help you Emily," Jason said softly. "It just means you're tired."

"Will you help me?" She asked finally.

Jason got to his feet and picked her out of the wheelchair carefully, pushing the chair back from the bed with his foot, before setting her on the bed. "How close does this need to be for you to take your midnight stroll later on?" He asked moving back to the wheelchair.

"How did you know I did that?" She had been so careful, she thought no one knew.

He just looked at her. "How close?"

"It's easier when it's against the bed, on the left side," she told him reluctantly. "Don't forget to lock the wheels, I forgot one night, and the bruises still haven't faded."

Jason sighed but he didn't say anything. He moved the chair in position and locked the wheels. Then he moved over to the dresser and brought back a bag, with the most amazing smells coming out of it. "You're normally hungry after PT so I brought you some food." He sat the bag on the tray table over her bed, and rolled it up, so she could dig in the bags.

"Chinese." Emily practically squealed. "I have been dying for Chinese."

"I figured," he grinned then helped her open the cartons.

While they ate Emily used the time to study her brother. She had been surprised, and then again she hadn't been, when she came back from PT one day and he'd been waiting for her. That was two weeks ago, and he had been here several times a day since then. She had been so glad to see him at first, that she never even questioned it. She had been so alone here, and all of her sudden, her big brother, her hero, had shown up and she didn't feel so afraid anymore.

Frowning into her box of Moo Goo Gai Pan, she couldn't help but remember a discussion she'd had with Zander right before she left. It was when she was trying to convince him not to go after Sorel. She had brought up Jason, and the fact that he was someone who had killed, who was used too and very good at violence. Even though she loved him more than almost anyone in her life, she knew what he did was wrong.

It was easier for her to think things like that about him, when he wasn't here, face to face with her. When she did see him, it was easier to look past his job, because she knew his heart. But the truth was he was a killer, and as much as she loved him, she didn't want Zander to follow in his footsteps.

"Emily."

She blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Are you done?" He gestured to the box in her hands.

She looked down and realized she had been shredding the box, while she was thinking. "Oh yes," she set the box on the tray.

"Where did you go?" He asked clearing the table.

"Oh," Emily stalled for time. "I just was wondering how long you were going to be here."

"For as long as you need me," Jason settled at the foot of the bed, bringing his boots up to rest beside her waist, while he leaned against he piece of wood, at the end of the bed. "I told you that."

"Then you'll never leave." Emily was only half kidding.

"I got nowhere to be," he replied easily.

"Come on Jason, I know how much you hate hospitals, how trapped they make you feel, yet you're here for hours everyday."

"Emily this is different, I know I can walk out of here anytime I want to," his eyes went dark. "Should I not have said that?"

She shrugged. "I knew what you meant."

"Good," Jason moved the table so it was between them again. "So you ready to lose some more?"

"I'm not going to lose." Emily retorted haughtily, reaching for the deck of cards, and score sheet on the nightstand. "I've been toying with you."

Jason pulled the score sheet from her hand and glanced at it. "That's why you owe me enough that I could go to any Ivy League school."

"Anytime you want to raise the stakes," she told him with a grin.

"I don't need to take your trust fund away from you Emily, and if we raise the stakes, I will," he warned her, dealing out the cards.

Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to retort, when the chirp of Jason's cell phone sounded. He tensed for a second, then relaxed, it rang three times, before it stopped, yet he made no move to answer it.

"Your lead," he told her picking up his own hand of cards.

Emily picked up the cards and tried to sort them for a minute before closing them in her hand. "You know you could have answered that."

"If I wanted to answer it, I would have."

Her eyes turned serious, he looked tired and tense. His eyes were sad, the way they had been, when he'd first lost Michael. She knew him better than most people, and she knew him well enough to know that he was hurting. "You know you can talk to me, it's not like I can out run you."

"I do talk to you," he kept his attention on his cards.

"You know you once told me that I was the smartest person you knew, the most patient, and loving," she threw out a Jack. "So that means you can talk to me."

Jason shook his head. "Leave it alone Emily." He picked up the Jack and played a 7.

"Are you mad at Sonny?" she frowned at the seven before picking it up and trashing a 10. "Is that why you didn't answer the phone?"

Jason ignored her, drew a card, and trashed a 5.

"Because you shouldn't be mad at him, he didn't cause my bus to get hit by a train, neither did Sorel," she told him grabbing the 5 and trashing an Ace.

"Why were you running Emily?" Jason asked taking the Ace.

"Well…"

"Because Sorel was loose, after Zander, and you had no idea where or how to reach Sonny." The words were delivered briskly like they were shot out of a gun.

"Well I couldn't reach you either." Emily retorted picking up the 7 he discarded. "So don't get snotty with me."

"Snotty?" Jason repeated a look akin to shock on his face.

"Come to think of it, I'm the one who should be mad." Emily cried letting some of the anger she had been feeling out. "You're the one who left in the middle of the night, like usual. Only this time you didn't even bother to call to say goodbye. For as much as I seemed to matter to you then, I could have been A.J. or Grandfather. Because you left without a look back, at least that's what it felt like to me."

"I had to go…"

"You know what you say that a lot Jason. You tell me you'll always be there for me, and then you leave and I don't know when or if I'm ever going to see you again." Tears slipped from her eyes, and she brushed them away angrily. "Sporadic postcards don't make the grade Jason. So don't sit there and be a hypocrite towards Sonny just because he followed your lead and left in the middle of the night without a word to anyone."

"You're really mad," he reached for her hand.

"You know what I am mad. I'm mad at you, I'm mad at Sonny, I'm mad at Zander, Sorel and everyone else in my life. Does that shock you? Am I not supposed to care that you come and go as you please and never even think about the people you leave behind? Should I not care that my boyfriend, is so angry over what happened to me that he wants to pick up a gun and go after Sorel himself?" She gripped the cards tightly in her hands, she could see the surprise in Jason's face but didn't stop. "Should I not be terrified that he might end up like you? Someone who does horrendous things to other people, but because I love him, it shouldn't matter? The fact that I'm stuck in a wheelchair, in a bed, thousands of miles away from the people I love, shouldn't matter to me is that it?"

"Emily calm down, you're getting upset," Jason caught her hands.

"You know what maybe I will shut up, because if I keep going, I'll say something you don't want to hear, and maybe I'll become one of those people you cut out of your life," she yanked her hands out of his. "But maybe that would be a good thing, if you cut me out of your life, then it won't hurt so bad when you treat me like I don't even exist."

"I have never done that." Jason snapped.

She threw the cards at him, for once she wasn't going to censor herself, for once she was going to say what she was thinking, whether he wanted to hear it or not. "You know you haven't even asked about her. Not once since you've seen me, have you even said her name. What did she do that was so horrible that you act like she doesn't exist? Tell me so I know what not to do around you, or maybe what I should do, to push you away."

"Who…" He began shifting on the bed.

"Elizabeth," she yelled, frustration spurred her and she gave into the temptation. Without a conscious thought she kicked with her right foot, stunning them both into silence.

"J-jason," she whispered in shock.

"Do it again," Jason ordered. "Don't think about it just do it. Try to kick me like I know you're dying too."

Emily did as he said her right leg bent at the knee and her foot connected with his hip. "I did it."

Jason had tears in his eyes when he looked up at her. "Yeah you did."

Emily pulled him into a hug and let the tears fall. "I'm going to walk again."

~Warehouse~

Carly's tears had stopped but he hadn't let go of her yet. She tilted her head and he felt her lips press against his throat, then his jaw, giving into temptation he turned towards her and let his lips meet hers. The familiar desire was there like it always was, mixed with the longing that she awoke in him. But what was there too, was the taste of loss and betrayal and it was stronger than the need. He broke the kiss and stood up.

Carly let go reluctantly, and was quiet for once, when she looked up at him. He sighed and ran a hand softly over her cheek in farewell. And it was farewell. He couldn't forgive her this time. He knew deep in his soul that he would never be able too. Because this time her actions had almost destroyed not only him, but also the people he cared for, the people that trusted him, and the sad fact was she didn't seem to realize that was the issue. He lowered his hand, and moved behind the desk. "So that's it then."

"No it's not Sonny," Carly argued. "We can get past this and try again. You love me I know you do."

Sonny closed his eyes, hardening his heart against her plea. "Love isn't enough Carly, the love between you and I will never be enough to last."

"How can you say that? We made vows, before God Sonny, you can't throw that away."

"Yes and you broke them Carly, you broke them when you broke my trust. When you broke my trust for the hundredth time," he sighed wearily. "I can't keep doing this with you Carly, I can't keep letting you wreck my life."

"I only did that because I was scared, you know how I get when I'm scared, I don't think. I just wanted my family to be safe," she leaned across the desk trying to take his hand.

"I'm not Jason Carly, I won't sit by and forgive you every time you mess up," he snapped. "Did you even consider what would have happened to Jason if I had done what you asked?"

She sat back and began to fidget nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Carly the Feds wanted names, they wanted everybody's names. But the name they wanted most was Jason's," he leaned over the desk. "I always believed that you loved him in your own way, but you were willing to put him in jail, Johnny in jail, Francis, Max, Adam, Benny, all of them would have went to jail, and you didn't care." By the time he finished speaking the venom was all but pouring from his mouth.

She looked shocked at his words, and it caused him to realize that she had never even considered Jason or the others. Instead of making him madder, the realization drained the temper from him. They really were over, it wasn't even worth fighting with her anymore. "I'll have Alexis start the paperwork in the morning."

"Y-you can't mean that," she whispered. "You love me, I can fix this if you just give me some time. Please give me another chance to make this up to you."

"Carly it's done, there's nothing left anymore," he said coldly. "Johnny," he yelled at the door.

"Yes?" Johnny stuck his head in the door.

"Carly's leaving now, so make sure Max has the car ready."

Carly got to her feet, brushing back the tears while she glared at him. "This isn't over Sonny, you and me, will never be over," she said in warning before leaving.

~Studio~

Francis moved down the hallway, he had counted three burnt out light bulbs on the stairs and two more in the hallway leading to her door. He made a mental note to replace them in the morning. Glancing towards the door, he came to full alert when he saw the door was ajar, and the room was dark.

Pulling his gun from the shoulder holster he moved to the side of the door, he pressed on it lightly, exposing the darkened studio slowly. There was enough light coming from the windows, that he could see that there was no sign of violence in the room.

Stepping from the doorway into the room he immediately felt a blast of heat. The room was an oven, his attention was drawn to the couch, when a small sound caught his ear. He moved carefully through the room, until he was close enough to recognize Elizabeth asleep on the couch. Even in the pale moonlight he could see her face was flushed, no doubt because of the heat.

Francis thought about it for a minute before crossing to the windows and opening them quietly. The breeze was coming off the water, and felt refreshing on his face, and it slowly worked its way inside the room. He saw a fan pointed at the couch, and briefly entertained the idea of turning it on, but he was supposed to protect without her knowing about it, so he let it go.

He moved back through the room and out the door, making sure the door closed tightly behind him. The lock she had on the door, made it impossible for him to lock it from the inside and pull the door closed. He didn't have his lockpicks with him, so he moved to a spot down the hall and settled on the floor, to wait for his relief. There were a lot of changes he needed to make in the morning.

~West Coast~

Emily leaned wearily against the pillows, the last hour had been nothing but a frenzy of activity that had left her exhausted. The doctors had run so many tests that she had wanted to scream. It had been amusing at one point, when one of the doctors had suggested that Jason should leave for the night, Jason had just looked at the doctor, and the doctor had left instead.

She couldn't help but shift her leg every few minutes to make sure she still could. She had finally had a breakthrough, and all it took was her screaming at Jason. At that thought she came crashing back to earth with a thud.

"Are you tired?" Jason moved over and straddled a straight back chair by the bed.

"A little," she admitted, "and a little embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because of the way I went off on you. You didn't deserve it, I mean you're here, I shouldn't attack you for it."

He waited a minute before speaking. "It had obviously been building in you for a long time, you needed to say it, and you needed to say it to me."

"So you're not mad?"

"At you? Never," he told her with a grin, before turning serious. "About some of the stuff you said."

"You don't need to…" she tried to stop him, she didn't want him to feel like he owed her something.

"I want to," he rubbed at the back of his neck. "This last time, when I left, things had happened, things I can't tell you about, but things that gave me no choice but to leave immediately. I didn't even go back to Jake's to get my stuff. But you have to know that I never ever considered not telling you because you weren't important to me." His eyes locked on hers at that. "I needed a head start, to get out of town, before anyone realized I was gone. Emily you told me yourself that you get sad when I leave, if I had told you, and someone was watching you, they would know that I had left town, and I couldn't afford that."

It was the first time he had explained something to her, in a very long time, the mere fact that he was doing so, meant she had hurt him. She knew she should feel bad for hurting him, but she was relieved instead, because now that she knew why he left the way he did, it was much easier to understand. "I see."

"Does it really bother you that much when I leave?"

She turned her head away from his probing blue eyes and shrugged. "I don't know how to answer that without hurting you."

"I wish you would tell me the truth."

"I know you have your own life, that you're old enough to come and go as you please," she began haltingly. "And it's not fair to expect you to be there just because I need you. But I do. In a lot of ways you're my anchor." She looked at him then. "You know how Grandfather is, A.J. has so many problems of his own, Ned seems to distance himself further and further from the family every day. Mom and Dad argue all the time about Skye, and with her, I don't even want to turn my back on her. Reggie is with Grandmother, whom I love dearly, but I can't lay this on her. So that leaves you. Even though you've been gone more than you've been here the last few years, you're still the one I count on," she ran a hand through her hair. "If this were a normal situation, and you lived out of town, there would be a way for me to contact you. But this isn't a normal situation, I can't just pick up the phone and call you. I know you tell me to go to Sonny if I need something, but how am I supposed to tell him, that I just want to hear your voice, and know that you're okay?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to answer that." Jason said softly after a few minutes of silence. "I didn't realize what I was doing to you."

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to feel guilty," she said immediately. "It's not your fault I feel this way, I just have to learn not to count on you so much."

Jason flinched.

"I'm sorry," Emily sat up immediately in concern. "That didn't come out right."

"It's okay."

"Do you want to know about her?" She asked after a minute.

He didn't even try to pretend this time. "If you want to talk about Elizabeth go ahead, but you don't have to for me."

~Warehouse~

Sonny sat behind his desk for a long time after Carly left, his mind was running through the highlights and the lowlights of their tempestuous relationship. Losing her would be hard, but staying with her would be even harder. Promises or no, it would be healthier to end it now, before the feelings between them hardened into hate. He closed a file on his desk, and the light glinted off his wedding band.

"With this ring I thee wed."

He frowned at the ring for a long time, before slowly pulling it off his finger and dropping it in his desk, he reached for the phone, while he closed the drawer. "Alexis, I need you to draw up those papers we discussed, and serve Carly with them in the morning." He left the message on her machine and dropped the phone in the cradle.

Getting up from the desk he stretched, work was definitely out tonight, his eye was caught by a bright piece of fabric on the floor. Frowning he bent down and pulled out a blue scarf that was hidden partially by the desk. Carly had been in red, so it wasn't hers, but Elizabeth had been wearing blue.

"Jesus I forgot again," he cursed under his breath and reached for the phone. It was time to bring Jason home.

~Studio~

Elizabeth jerked upright running from something in her dream. She glanced around the darkened studio waiting for her heart to settle. The dreams were coming more frequently, sometimes several a night. She never remembered them, she only remembered the feeling they produced in her…terror.

The phone shrilled, eliciting a cry from her and sending her heart racing again. She looked at the phone, yet made no effort to pick it up. Her answering machine clicked on and she heard her own voice. Had she ever sounded that carefree? That full of life? The beep sounded and she listened for the message. The sound of breathing came through the machine, but no one spoke.

Closing her eyes she eased back on the cushions, she knew it was Lucky, she knew she should try to speak to him, to help him, but she couldn't. Tonight she was selfish, she just couldn't deal with him again, not tonight. She pulled a pillow over her head to block the sound when the breathing turned into tears.

~West Coast~

"I hadn't seen very much of her before the accident," Emily watched him closely, but as usual his face remained impassive. "I know you didn't want me to be mad at her but I was. I knew she had hurt you so I froze her out."

"Emily I told you Elizabeth gets to do what she wants to do."

"You're wrong Jason, I don't think she can do what she wants to do, not anymore," she countered. "She's shut down, she barely leaves Lucky's side, she even moved in with Nikolas and Gia when Lucky asked her too, and she hate's Gia." She'd had a lot of time to think while she tried to recover and she'd realized that she had missed a lot of things while she had been wrapped up in Zander. "Did you know her and Lucky got engaged?"

Jason got to his feet and moved to look out the window.

"That he was arrested for attacking Stefan Cassadine? That Dr. Collins thinks he's still being brainwashed?" Emily continued addressing his stiff back. "I did, and yet at the same time I didn't. The closeness I once had with Elizabeth, Lucky and Nikolas seemed to vanish. Before the accident, I couldn't even tell you the last time I saw her."

"She's been a good friend to you Emily, you shouldn't end it just because of what happened with me."

He finally admitted something had happened with Elizabeth, she wondered what else he would let slip out. "I was there, well actually, I'm the one who told her you left." She blew out a breath sending a strand of hair flying. "Actually I didn't tell her, I more or less blamed her for making you leave." When he turned to face her she went on. "Okay so maybe it was more, and maybe it was an attack when I did."

Jason frowned and rubbed at his eyes. "Emily…"

"I didn't know why you left, but I knew she played a role in it and it bothered me. It may seem like I don't see past the end of my nose, but I knew you had feelings for her, and I saw that she had feelings for you too. So when she got engaged to Lucky a few weeks after you left, I went off on her." Emily finished grumpily crossing her arms over her chest. "And you won't make me feel guilty about it."

"You can't change what happened, but I hope you know better now." He moved by the bed again. "She didn't deserve that Emily."

Emily averted her eyes, if he didn't like that he was going to hate what happened next. "There's more," she paused a beat while he settled in the chair again, then went on reluctantly. "One time after my accident I woke up and she was crying by my bed. I couldn't understand what she said at first but I gradually made out the words."

"I'm so sorry Em, this is all my fault," Elizabeth whispered through her tears. "If I could undo this or take your place in this bed I would."

"Why are you sorry?" Emily asked groggily.

Elizabeth jerked. "Em I didn't know you were awake. Do you need anything?"

"Why?" Emily blinked hard trying to make herself alert. "What's your fault?"

"Get out."

Elizabeth turned to face the door. "Zander she just woke up."

"Get out of here Elizabeth and don't come back." Zander ordered moving to the bed.

"Zander why are you saying that?" Emily asked in confusion. She hated the drugs that held the pain at bay, because they also confused her mind.

Elizabeth got to her feet. "I didn't want to cause trouble, I just wanted to see how she was doing."

"You wanted to check your handiwork?" Zander asked, flipping the covers down, exposing Emily's legs. "She's paralyzed no thanks to you. All those warnings you gave her about me being bad for her, and she's here because of you and her other so-called friends."

Elizabeth flinched at his words, her eyes filled with tears, but didn't fall. "Take care Emily, remember that I love you," she said before leaving.

"Why the hell did Zander go off on her like that?" Jason snapped.

Emily could all but feel the temper radiating off of him. "I don't really know. I fell asleep before I could find out, and then everything went haywire. I never saw her again before I left. Nikolas and Lucky never even bothered to come by at all," she shrugged, trying to show that it hadn't hurt, but failed. "So much for the four musketeers. The point is, she stood there and took it, both when I went off on her, and when Zander did, it was like she thought she deserved it, and that's not Elizabeth."

Jason frowned. "No it's not."

The chirp of Jason's cell brought them out of their thoughts. "Are you going to answer that?" Emily asked after the 4th ring.

"You're not supposed to use cell phones in hospitals." Jason said after a minute before turning it off.