Second Chances: Friends & Enemies
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonny could hear his wife and Dr. Meadows as they spoke yet his thoughts were wholly focused on his earlier conversation with Jason. The idea that he and Elizabeth had been in an accident while riding his motorcycle left Sonny dumbfounded. He couldn't wrap his mind around that idea. An accident of any kind involving Jason and a motorcycle made little sense to Sonny.
"Sonny.Sonny?" Carly's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Dr. Meadows wants to know if we want a video of our sonogram?"
"Huh?" Sonny was obviously distracted.
"Do you want a video of the sonogram? I think Michael would love it."
"Sure.yeah. That's fine."
"I'll have one for you in a few minutes." Dr. Meadows turned on her heel and headed back to her office.
"Sonny, what's wrong?" Carly laid her hand against his cheek. She saw her husband eyes clouded with a perplexity she couldn't quite understand. Their baby had just been given a clean bill of health, something that they both had been waiting to hear for weeks now. Carly couldn't conceive why Sonny's expression was far from the happy one she thought it should be at the news.
"Nothing," he said sounding less than convincing to her. He didn't want to concern her with what happened to Jason that evening even though Sonny knew she would be upset about being kept in the dark.
"Don't give me nothing. I know something is wrong. You don't have to worry, the baby is fine. You don't have to worry about the him," Carly had taken to calling their child him. She was confident that they would be having a son. "anymore. Dr. Meadows said everything is good." Carly reassured him as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him softly. "I love you."
Sonny took her hand in his own and lead her to the fifth floor elevator. "I love you too," he said with a slight smile.
"Sonny, what's going on?" She pressed as the elevator doors closed leaving them to the quiet inside. "Don't you dare tell me nothing!" Her eyes narrowed knowing that her husband was concealing something.
"It's business. You know I can't discuss it with you." Sonny spoke the truth. He did see what happened to Jason as business - in the form of Faith Roscoe and her never ending attempts at grabbing something that was never meant to be hers.
"It's more than business. What's going on?" The blonde wasn't letting go of her suspicions. Something in her gut told her there was more to it than Sonny was saying.
"Will you just drop it Carly?" Sonny's voice was a little harsher than he had intended. The wide-eyed look that that response elicited from his wife had him stepping back. "I'm sorry," he said quickly capturing her swollen form in his arms.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Carly knew this was much more than just normal business. She kissed his check gently to show she wasn't upset by his outburst. She had grown accustomed to his mood swings in their years of marriage.
Knowing that his wife wasn't about to let it drop, he turned and gazed at her sure she would over react in true Carly fashion. "Jason was..."
"Oh my god, Sonny is he hurt? What happened? Where is he?" Her alarm spilled forth in a rapid succession of questions.
"Breathe, Carly, breathe. Jason's fine. He wasn't badly hurt, a couple of cracked ribs.."
"I want to see him."
"It's not a good time," Sonny said. He knew that Jason wouldn't be leaving Elizabeth's side and the combination of Carly, Elizabeth and Jason tended to have explosive results.
"What do you mean it's not a good time?" She gave him a quizzical glance.
"Let's just go home Carly. Good report from Dr. Meadows or not you still need to rest," he said in an attempt to placate her.
"Sonny what aren't you telling me? Is Jason really okay?" Carly couldn't hide her growing concern. "You're scaring me."
"He's fine," he said as he thwarted her attempt at making the elevator take them back up to the hospital.
"I want to see for myself."
"Johnny bring the car around front." Sonny gave instructions to the guard.
"Right away Mr. Corinthos."
"Sonny.." Carly pouted like a child.
"We're going home Carly," he said firmly.
Carly sat in the limo with her arms cross against her chest keeping her distance from her husband. She hated when he kept something from her. Business was one thing but Jason was something entirely different.
They rode in silence back to the Harbor View Towers. She watched Sonny stare blankly out the blackened window lost in thought. She could see the wheels in his mind turning as he tried to make sense out of whatever was going on. Not knowing was eating her alive inside.
"Max?" Sonny questioned shocked to see the man he knew should have been guarding Elizabeth Webber about to get into his car.
"Yeah boss?" Max walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Corinthos.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the hospital? Why aren't you watching Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth?" Carly did little to disguise the surprise in her voice yet both men chose to ignore her.
"Jason told me to go home and get cleaned up. He was going to be staying with her tonight.."
"Jason?" Carly wasn't about to be disregarded a moment longer. "Elizabeth - Jason - Sonny what the hell's going on?"
Max wanted to back away. He could only imagine the fury that was about to erupt. Elizabeth Webber was a sore spot for Sonny's wife and when Jason Morgan was added it turned into a festering wound.
"Are you going back in the morning?" Sonny questioned still paying his wife's impending tirade no mind.
"Yeah. Jason said she should be released late morning. I should be there for that."
"SONNY!" Carly's voice sounded like fingernails scraping against a chalkboard to both men.
Max gave his boss a look as if to say 'hey sorry man' before he walked back to his car. This was one of many times that he was glad that he had been in charge of Elizabeth and not Carly.
"Are you ready to go upstairs?" Sonny asked his wife as though the entire exchange between he, she and Max hadn't taken place. That only served to fuel Carly's ire.
"NO! What the hell is going on? Why is Jason with Elizabeth? What are they doing together in the hospital?" Before Sonny could speak Carly continued. "Oh my god. they were together. That accident - they were together. That's why you wouldn't let me go see Jason cause he was with her!" Carly couldn't even bring herself to say Elizabeth's name in the same sentence as Jason's.
"Yes, Jason and Elizabeth were together tonight. And yes that's why I didn't let you go check in on Jason. None of us needed round eight hundred fifty between the two of you." Sonny said sarcastically.
"I can't believe you are defending her! After everything - you are still defending her!" Carly stood flabbergasted as she looked at her husband. "She lived in that house while I was Ric's prisoner, she never listened to anything anyone told her about her psycho husband.."
"Carly, enough, enough already. We have been over this a million times. Elizabeth isn't to blame. You know it and I know it. She's the one that got you out of that room of god sakes!"
Sonny had grown weary having this same tired argument with his wife. He had had a soft spot for Elizabeth Webber ever since she had nursed Jason back to health when he had wanted nothing to do with either Carly or himself. If it hadn't been for her his best friend would have surely died that day in the snow. For Sonny he would always be indebted to her even if his wife couldn't understand why.
Carly turned away from him and headed toward the elevator that would take her to their penthouse. Jason and Elizabeth - Jason and Elizabeth, it rang in her head like the clanging of a church bell. It wasn't like she hadn't seen it coming. It had always been there - the love they shared even when they tried to deny it, but that didn't mean that Carly had to accept it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric slammed the door and the house shook around him. He couldn't contain his wrath any longer. The fact that Elizabeth had all but thrown him out of her hospital room gnawed away at his very core. He closed his eyes but all he could see dancing against the dark canvas of his mind was the two of them holding one another. It sickened him.
Jason Morgan had perched himself in what should have been his rightful place at Elizabeth's side. He was the one providing her comfort and safety. Ric felt the tears attempting to nudge their way from his dark eyes. He wouldn't allow them release. He pushed them back with all his might. He wasn't defeated yet. This was but a minor set back. Elizabeth would come to her senses. She would see that he was the man for her not Jason Morgan, not Sonny's henchman. If she couldn't see it on her own, he would make her see it.
He picked up the remote control and pushed the button that allowed the hidden panel that lead to the panic room to slide open. He saw the baby mobile hanging from the shelf, the crib that was to hold the child he and Elizabeth were to be the parents of, the little bear that he had given her the day after they were married.
He looked back into the living room and recalled the day he had told Elizabeth about the gallery showing he had arranged for her. He smiled remembering how he felt when she threw her arms around him and held him close. He mused about making love in every room of this house. This was their dream. This was his chance at a better life.
"Reminiscing?" Faith's sultry voice came up from behind him.
"What the hell do you want?" he barked startled that he hadn't even heard her enter the house.
"You," Faith replied direct and to the point as she dropped her trench coat to the floor revealing a black lacy teddy and garter.
"Go away Faith. I love my wife!"
"And she loves Jason Morgan - or did that simple fact slip your mind?" Her tone was caustic.
Ric pushed her words from his brain. He couldn't, wouldn't let himself think about that.
"We could rock this town Ric. The five families - Sonny they wouldn't know what hit them. We can have it all you and me. Elizabeth can never give you want I can. She can't see you for the man that you really are. But I can. I can help you get everything you have ever wanted.."
At those words Ric had stopped listening to Faith even though she continued her banter. He was stuck at the statement that she could help him get everything he ever wanted. Maybe she could at that, he thought to himself.
He looked into her deep blue eyes and part of him knew exactly how to play her. And if he did it just right no one including Faith Roscoe would know what hit them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonny could hear his wife and Dr. Meadows as they spoke yet his thoughts were wholly focused on his earlier conversation with Jason. The idea that he and Elizabeth had been in an accident while riding his motorcycle left Sonny dumbfounded. He couldn't wrap his mind around that idea. An accident of any kind involving Jason and a motorcycle made little sense to Sonny.
"Sonny.Sonny?" Carly's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Dr. Meadows wants to know if we want a video of our sonogram?"
"Huh?" Sonny was obviously distracted.
"Do you want a video of the sonogram? I think Michael would love it."
"Sure.yeah. That's fine."
"I'll have one for you in a few minutes." Dr. Meadows turned on her heel and headed back to her office.
"Sonny, what's wrong?" Carly laid her hand against his cheek. She saw her husband eyes clouded with a perplexity she couldn't quite understand. Their baby had just been given a clean bill of health, something that they both had been waiting to hear for weeks now. Carly couldn't conceive why Sonny's expression was far from the happy one she thought it should be at the news.
"Nothing," he said sounding less than convincing to her. He didn't want to concern her with what happened to Jason that evening even though Sonny knew she would be upset about being kept in the dark.
"Don't give me nothing. I know something is wrong. You don't have to worry, the baby is fine. You don't have to worry about the him," Carly had taken to calling their child him. She was confident that they would be having a son. "anymore. Dr. Meadows said everything is good." Carly reassured him as she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him softly. "I love you."
Sonny took her hand in his own and lead her to the fifth floor elevator. "I love you too," he said with a slight smile.
"Sonny, what's going on?" She pressed as the elevator doors closed leaving them to the quiet inside. "Don't you dare tell me nothing!" Her eyes narrowed knowing that her husband was concealing something.
"It's business. You know I can't discuss it with you." Sonny spoke the truth. He did see what happened to Jason as business - in the form of Faith Roscoe and her never ending attempts at grabbing something that was never meant to be hers.
"It's more than business. What's going on?" The blonde wasn't letting go of her suspicions. Something in her gut told her there was more to it than Sonny was saying.
"Will you just drop it Carly?" Sonny's voice was a little harsher than he had intended. The wide-eyed look that that response elicited from his wife had him stepping back. "I'm sorry," he said quickly capturing her swollen form in his arms.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Carly knew this was much more than just normal business. She kissed his check gently to show she wasn't upset by his outburst. She had grown accustomed to his mood swings in their years of marriage.
Knowing that his wife wasn't about to let it drop, he turned and gazed at her sure she would over react in true Carly fashion. "Jason was..."
"Oh my god, Sonny is he hurt? What happened? Where is he?" Her alarm spilled forth in a rapid succession of questions.
"Breathe, Carly, breathe. Jason's fine. He wasn't badly hurt, a couple of cracked ribs.."
"I want to see him."
"It's not a good time," Sonny said. He knew that Jason wouldn't be leaving Elizabeth's side and the combination of Carly, Elizabeth and Jason tended to have explosive results.
"What do you mean it's not a good time?" She gave him a quizzical glance.
"Let's just go home Carly. Good report from Dr. Meadows or not you still need to rest," he said in an attempt to placate her.
"Sonny what aren't you telling me? Is Jason really okay?" Carly couldn't hide her growing concern. "You're scaring me."
"He's fine," he said as he thwarted her attempt at making the elevator take them back up to the hospital.
"I want to see for myself."
"Johnny bring the car around front." Sonny gave instructions to the guard.
"Right away Mr. Corinthos."
"Sonny.." Carly pouted like a child.
"We're going home Carly," he said firmly.
Carly sat in the limo with her arms cross against her chest keeping her distance from her husband. She hated when he kept something from her. Business was one thing but Jason was something entirely different.
They rode in silence back to the Harbor View Towers. She watched Sonny stare blankly out the blackened window lost in thought. She could see the wheels in his mind turning as he tried to make sense out of whatever was going on. Not knowing was eating her alive inside.
"Max?" Sonny questioned shocked to see the man he knew should have been guarding Elizabeth Webber about to get into his car.
"Yeah boss?" Max walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Corinthos.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the hospital? Why aren't you watching Elizabeth?"
"Elizabeth?" Carly did little to disguise the surprise in her voice yet both men chose to ignore her.
"Jason told me to go home and get cleaned up. He was going to be staying with her tonight.."
"Jason?" Carly wasn't about to be disregarded a moment longer. "Elizabeth - Jason - Sonny what the hell's going on?"
Max wanted to back away. He could only imagine the fury that was about to erupt. Elizabeth Webber was a sore spot for Sonny's wife and when Jason Morgan was added it turned into a festering wound.
"Are you going back in the morning?" Sonny questioned still paying his wife's impending tirade no mind.
"Yeah. Jason said she should be released late morning. I should be there for that."
"SONNY!" Carly's voice sounded like fingernails scraping against a chalkboard to both men.
Max gave his boss a look as if to say 'hey sorry man' before he walked back to his car. This was one of many times that he was glad that he had been in charge of Elizabeth and not Carly.
"Are you ready to go upstairs?" Sonny asked his wife as though the entire exchange between he, she and Max hadn't taken place. That only served to fuel Carly's ire.
"NO! What the hell is going on? Why is Jason with Elizabeth? What are they doing together in the hospital?" Before Sonny could speak Carly continued. "Oh my god. they were together. That accident - they were together. That's why you wouldn't let me go see Jason cause he was with her!" Carly couldn't even bring herself to say Elizabeth's name in the same sentence as Jason's.
"Yes, Jason and Elizabeth were together tonight. And yes that's why I didn't let you go check in on Jason. None of us needed round eight hundred fifty between the two of you." Sonny said sarcastically.
"I can't believe you are defending her! After everything - you are still defending her!" Carly stood flabbergasted as she looked at her husband. "She lived in that house while I was Ric's prisoner, she never listened to anything anyone told her about her psycho husband.."
"Carly, enough, enough already. We have been over this a million times. Elizabeth isn't to blame. You know it and I know it. She's the one that got you out of that room of god sakes!"
Sonny had grown weary having this same tired argument with his wife. He had had a soft spot for Elizabeth Webber ever since she had nursed Jason back to health when he had wanted nothing to do with either Carly or himself. If it hadn't been for her his best friend would have surely died that day in the snow. For Sonny he would always be indebted to her even if his wife couldn't understand why.
Carly turned away from him and headed toward the elevator that would take her to their penthouse. Jason and Elizabeth - Jason and Elizabeth, it rang in her head like the clanging of a church bell. It wasn't like she hadn't seen it coming. It had always been there - the love they shared even when they tried to deny it, but that didn't mean that Carly had to accept it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric slammed the door and the house shook around him. He couldn't contain his wrath any longer. The fact that Elizabeth had all but thrown him out of her hospital room gnawed away at his very core. He closed his eyes but all he could see dancing against the dark canvas of his mind was the two of them holding one another. It sickened him.
Jason Morgan had perched himself in what should have been his rightful place at Elizabeth's side. He was the one providing her comfort and safety. Ric felt the tears attempting to nudge their way from his dark eyes. He wouldn't allow them release. He pushed them back with all his might. He wasn't defeated yet. This was but a minor set back. Elizabeth would come to her senses. She would see that he was the man for her not Jason Morgan, not Sonny's henchman. If she couldn't see it on her own, he would make her see it.
He picked up the remote control and pushed the button that allowed the hidden panel that lead to the panic room to slide open. He saw the baby mobile hanging from the shelf, the crib that was to hold the child he and Elizabeth were to be the parents of, the little bear that he had given her the day after they were married.
He looked back into the living room and recalled the day he had told Elizabeth about the gallery showing he had arranged for her. He smiled remembering how he felt when she threw her arms around him and held him close. He mused about making love in every room of this house. This was their dream. This was his chance at a better life.
"Reminiscing?" Faith's sultry voice came up from behind him.
"What the hell do you want?" he barked startled that he hadn't even heard her enter the house.
"You," Faith replied direct and to the point as she dropped her trench coat to the floor revealing a black lacy teddy and garter.
"Go away Faith. I love my wife!"
"And she loves Jason Morgan - or did that simple fact slip your mind?" Her tone was caustic.
Ric pushed her words from his brain. He couldn't, wouldn't let himself think about that.
"We could rock this town Ric. The five families - Sonny they wouldn't know what hit them. We can have it all you and me. Elizabeth can never give you want I can. She can't see you for the man that you really are. But I can. I can help you get everything you have ever wanted.."
At those words Ric had stopped listening to Faith even though she continued her banter. He was stuck at the statement that she could help him get everything he ever wanted. Maybe she could at that, he thought to himself.
He looked into her deep blue eyes and part of him knew exactly how to play her. And if he did it just right no one including Faith Roscoe would know what hit them.