Disclaimer: I don't own the characters I just use and abuse them
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What If…
Chapter 26
~Room 617~
"Okay Emily you are going to sit down and tell me what is going on with you and you are not allowed to leave here until you do," Rory ordered when Emily came back in the room. She desperately needed a distraction and Emily was going to provide it.
"Are you always this bossy?" Emily asked Jason's request to keep Rory occupied was still ringing in her ears.
"No sometimes I can get downright bitchy if I don't get my way," Rory was busy wrapping the majority of her sandwich back up but she discovered it was kind of hard to wrap a sandwich using only one hand.
"Thanks for the warning but I'm not sure I'll be able to tell the difference," Emily pointed to the now mangled sandwich. "Are you finished with that or do you need a few minutes more?"
"I think I liked you better when you fainted at the sight of me," Rory grumbled shoving the sandwich in Emily's direction.
"You're not going to let me live that down are you?" Emily put the sandwich in the bag and set it on the dresser.
"Would you?" she questioned. "Seriously though I would like you to talk to me."
"Okay," Emily moved back to the chair. "I don't know where to start."
"The beginning is always a good place, or if not there, how about whenever the memory of what has you so spooked happened?"
Emily sighed heavily and collapsed in the chair. "It was two months ago, Zander and I really hadn't been getting along. I guess I was starting to realize that he wasn't the guy I thought he was."
"That's always a hard realization," Rory commiserated.
"Yeah especially when you have a whole town full of people just waiting to say I told you so," she sighed bitterly. "Maybe that's one of the reasons I fight so hard for Zander," her eyes widened in self-disgust. "God that makes me sound awful."
"Actually it makes you sound normal, a lot of people will cling to someone they already have because they are afraid to be alone, or to admit they were wrong about someone, believe me I know."
"You sound like you've been through it," Emily studied her new friend. "Was it bad?"
"Bad enough," Rory frowned, she hated to think about that time in her life. The time she affectionately referred to as her blonde phase. "I wasn't blind to him for very long, but it was long enough to hate myself, for taking so long to kick him to the curb," she shook her head. "I was supposed to be streetwise and could smell a con a mile off, but that little twerp played my like a violin."
"I find that hard to believe you seem so confident."
"Everyone has their weak spots Em," Rory corrected. "And sometimes a person will come along who knows how to exploit those weaknesses. No one is immune."
"What did you do when you found out the truth about him?"
"Oh I broke his nose, had his car stolen, and had him arrested south of the border, when he was with a minor who was also going south of the border on him," she grinned wickedly. "But I have a mean streak."
Emily laughed a bit uneasily, she had a feeling that Rory was telling the truth. "Remind me not to cross you."
"Anyway bad things happen Emily, how long you let them happen to you is the only thing that you can control."
"I suppose you're right," Emily sighed. "I had been pulling back from Zander and he knew it. So he kept up the pressure on me, he was cheating on me, but I never confronted him. If I did I knew he would deny it, or twist it around and make it my fault because I wasn't sleeping with him. He kept on pressuring me, so much so, that I went to a doctor and got on the pill just to make sure that if anything ever happened I would be protected."
Rory bit her tongue to keep from ripping Zander, she was here to listen to Emily not to offer to castrate her boyfriend, no matter how tempting the thought might be.
"I didn't tell Zander that though, he would take it to mean that I was ready to sleep with him, which I wasn't. One night I ended up at his place to watch a movie, and we started kissing. After a little bit I told him to stop, but he didn't. Finally I yelled at him to stop, and he let me go. But later on," her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath before going on. "I passed out."
"Were you drinking?"
"No," she met Rory's eyes. "I only had a soda. One that he gave me."
Rory closed her eyes recognizing the implications of that.
"When I woke up, I was on the bed, I was still dressed but some of my buttons were wrong. He told me that nothing happened, that when I fell asleep he moved me to the bed so I would be more comfortable."
"But?" Rory prompted.
"But I had that foggy head you get after taking drugs. Like I had that awful morning when I woke up next to Ted's dead body. I knew something had happened," she couldn't sit anymore, she got up and paced to the window. "I wasn't sore, I didn't have any bruises, so I should believe my boyfriend when he says nothing happened right?" She turned to look at Rory. "But I also haven't had my period since then, I don't feel good in the mornings, I feel weak at different times during the day. And maybe the most critical thing is Zander has backed away from pressuring me for sex. Like he knows that if I give in now, I'll know it's not my first time."
"God Emily," Rory pushed her anger down and instead tried to think what was best for Emily. "You know what you have to do. You need to take a pregnancy test."
"I know. I finally bought one last week, it was my birthday present to myself," she ran a hand through her hair. "Happy 18th Emily, you're gift may be a baby."
"Did you take it?"
"No. I'm afraid too. If I'm pregnant then Zander ra…" she couldn't say the word. This was the guy she had thought she was in love with.
"Then Zander raped you. He did that to you. You did nothing wrong, nothing to deserve this," Rory leaned forward and flinched at the pain she felt but didn't back down. "Emily if you never believe another word I say, I need you to believe this. No matter what the result is, you did nothing wrong."
"Then why do I feel so ashamed?" Emily moved back to the bed and sat on the edge. "Why do I feel so dirty? Why do I feel like I need to punish myself?"
"Guilt can be a disease Em, just a little bit can go a long way," Rory patted her hand. "But it can also be wrong," she tilted her head to look at Emily. "What aren't you telling me?"
"It's bad. I hate to say it, it's so bad." Emily whispered. "A part of me wants to be pregnant, because then I would be justified in thinking all of these bad things about Zander. Because if I'm not and he did nothing wrong, then I'm really awful for thinking any of this."
"You can live with that Emily, you might feel bad, but you can live with it. You can live with being wrong about him, a lot easier then you can live with being pregnant. What this has shown, though, is deep down you don't trust Zander. If you did, you never would have considered this. So that tells me that this relationship isn't going to last."
Emily was quiet.
"Em you seem pretty smart, the only dumb move you can make in this situation is to stay with Zander. And I mean that even if you aren't pregnant." She shifted slowly and stifled a groan of pain.
Emily groaned and rubbed a hand over her face. "I know that in my head most of the time. But then there are those times that I feel so guilty that I have to give him a break."
"Does your guilt button arrive on its own? Or does it have help from a certain guy?"
"Yes, he knows how to play me." Now that she had admitted her fears to Rory, the next step was easier, admitting the truth. And the truth was Zander and her didn't belong together, that their relationship was unhealthy.
"Emily you helped him out of the worse jam in his life. He didn't go to death row for something he didn't do thanks to your help. You even tried to have a relationship with him, but it just didn't work," she shifted again and finally gave into temptation and pressed the nurse's call button. "Zander might be upset at first, but he can't be too mad, you saved his life. Without you he would either be in jail, or dead."
"So you're saying I should end it?" She wanted someone she trusted to tell her what to do, to make the decision for her. She didn't want to act like an adult.
"Emily I can't tell you what to do, no one can. You need to do whatever you have too, to put yourself first. I know that sounds selfish, but until you do that, you will never have a healthy relationship with anyone," she paused and studied Emily. "I think you already know what you have to do about Zander. You just need to say the words and make it real."
"Hi Rory, I'm Melissa," a blonde nurse entered the room. She drummed up a smile for the girl on the bed, the guard at the door had unnerved her. With her history with her brother she could spot one of 'the boys' a mile off, and she hadn't expected to see one here. "Did you need something?"
Rory smiled weakly, she already liked this nurse better than the last one, she didn't have the 'we' obsession. "Yes, I can't fight it anymore," she looked apologetically at a confused Emily. "I need a pain shot."
Melissa looked up from the chart. "I'm not surprised, you should have had one a few hours ago," she put the chart down. "I'll be right back."
"You should have told me you were hurting," Emily complained. "Now I really feel bad, we could have done this another time."
"Emily I refused the shot, because I knew it would make me sleep and I didn't want to do that. And I ordered you to talk, so don't waste the guilt on me," Rory snapped grumpily.
"Is this the bitchy part that you warned me about?" Emily teased.
"Why don't we play a new game? It's called pick on the injured." Rory sniped jerking her head to glare at her, her head decided to react badly to that move. "God damn…."
Emily's eyes went wide when she heard the litany of curses come flying out of Rory's mouth. She concentrated hard trying to remember some of them, what was that bloody buggering what?
"Oops," Rory smiled when she wound down. "I tend to curse too."
"I'll say," Melissa commented making her presence known. "That was some of the best I've heard in a long time. You put the orderlies to shame let me tell you."
"I don't think I've even heard some of those words," Emily's voice was awed.
"Yeah well you spend enough time around Barkers and you pick things up," Rory explained. "How long before this kicks in?"
"Probably five minutes," Melissa withdrew the needle form the IV leading to her hand. "I'm afraid you'll probably be asleep not long after that."
"Figures," Rory groused.
Melissa noted her blood pressure and pulse rate on the chart, and with a final smile she left the room.
"What are Barkers?"
"A Barker," Rory repeated, had it been five minutes? Because she was starting to float. "Barkers, Hawkers, Ring Masters, Sellers, Carnies, Floaters, Gypsies, Roustabouts, Roundabouts, whatever name you choose it means the same. Their carnival or circus names."
"You were in a circus?" Emily questioned.
"Off and on, sometimes me and Uncle Gabe would travel with some," she smothered a yawn.
"What did you do?" Emily rested her chin on her hand in fascination.
"You name it I did it. Pitched tents, worked with the tigers, running the games, hawk the customers to the freakshow, clown rotation, high wire work, trapeze, knife throwing, elephant…"
"Wait," Emily interrupted her listing. "You threw knives?"
"No, I was normally the target," she grinned. "But Anatolyi taught me a few tricks. Basically I was a roundabout, wherever they needed a hand I was there, either performing or behind the scenes."
"What was your favorite job?" This was so fascinating to her, she had always wanted to travel with the circus.
"High wire. It's just you on a cable an 1" thick, you walk on it, juggle, spin, ride a bike, and your doing it all when your 40 feet off the ground," her words were slurring.
"It sounds scary," Emily spoke softly, watching Rory's eyes flutter.
"It can be, but that's part of the thrill. It's all about control, and keeping it," she explained groggily. "You have to control every inch of your body, because if you even breathe at the wrong time you can fall. I loved that feeling, you're right there, on the edge of going out of control. How long can you keep your balan…" her voice trailed off and her eyes drifted closed.
Emily leaned back in the chair. It was funny but the more time she spent with Rory the less she thought about Elizabeth. Elizabeth would never have done a high wire act, or thrown knives. But the way Rory's eyes lit when she talked about it, it was obvious that Rory had not only done it, but also loved it.
"Emily."
Emily jerked out of her thoughts when she heard Rory's voice. She turned to look at her face and the serious expression there got her attention. "What?"
"First thing in the morning take the test and find out for sure. Then come here and we'll discuss the next step," Rory ordered.
"Okay," she smiled relieved that she wasn't alone in this anymore.
"Was there anything else bothering you?" Rory wondered if she'd mention the exchange with the Prince.
Emily thought of Nikolas and then Monica, and then felt guilty because she hadn't done anything about her mother yet. "There is something but I need to talk to Jason about that."
"Okay he would love to talk to you about anything," her smile was weak. "I hope you know how much you mean to him."
"I think I do, sometimes anyway."
"Emily when he talks about you, he gets such a smile on his face. He'd do anything for you, he loves you."
"I love him too, and would do anything for him."
"I'm glad," she frowned. "But right now I want you to ignore what he told you to do, and leave."
"What?" That had come out of nowhere.
"I know that he told you to stay and baby-sit me until he comes back, but I would much rather be alone."
"Why? I'll be quiet."
"If you stay I will fight the drugs to stay awake," just like she was fighting them now. "If you sit and watch me sleep, which trust me isn't that entertaining, I will know you're here and it won't be restful for me. And Em, nothing personal but there is only one person who is allowed to watch me sleep, and sometimes when he does it, it still unnerves me. So for the sake of my sanity will you please leave."
"Are you sure?" Emily was already on her feet.
"Yes go, I release you from your vow, and I'll take the heat from Jason," her eyes were already closing.
"I'll be here in the morning then," Emily said before closing the door. "Goodbye Francis," she smiled at the guard. "I've been kicked out so she can sleep."
"I'll see she's not disturbed."
"Good," Emily hurried down the hall to the payphone and dialed a number from memory.
"Jason," she paused. "No nothing is wrong, Rory just kicked me out," she grinned. "Yes she warned me about her bitchiness. She got another shot for the pain and it knocked her out, she was probably going to sleep for a couple of hours and wanted to be alone while she did," she twisted the phone cord in her hand and listened. "Yeah she told me. Do you want me to wait? … I can? … Are you sure? … Okay I'll see you tomorrow."
She hung up the phone slowly, and turned around letting out an exclamation of surprise. "Zander you startled me."
"Sorry," he smiled at her. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Your phone has been off, I was beginning to wonder if you're avoiding me."
"No." Was she ready to do this now? "You can't use cell phones in the hospital, so I turned it off."
"Oh," he decided not to push her on that point. He needed to get back in her good graces and that meant no stupid fights. Now that she had finally turned 18 it was time to step up the plan, well that and the fact she was pulling away from him again. "Let's get out of her," he slipped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. "I've missed you."
Emily stepped away from him. "Actually I really do need to talk to you."
He frowned when she pulled away, then turned it into a smile. "Fine let's go," he put his hand on her arm to lead her to the elevator, but she didn't move. "Emily?"
"I would rather talk here," where there were lots of people around. She pulled her arm free and headed for the lounge.
Zander frowned after her, he didn't like the way she was acting. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he looked around to see who was giving him the evil eye. He spotted Francis down the hall giving him a cold look. Zander sneered in his direction and then followed Emily to the lounge.
~Cliff Road~
Jason closed the phone and tucked it back in his pocket. He was feeling strangely indecisive and that wasn't like him. The last of the crime scene vans had left the accident site about five minutes ago and he still hadn't moved closer. They had left the official site blocked off with the bright yellow crime scene tape, but that was easy enough to get around. No what was stalling him, was the bright red spray-painted X's he saw on the road. X's that marked the spots Rory traveled in her out of control drive down the hill.
A part of him had known that it had been rough, but seeing that jagged trail showed just showed how bad it was. He moved away from his bike and walked the route. The road was quiet, but then again it normally was. Sunset was almost gone, and the fair amber gold was beginning to fade making it dim.
He didn't know why he had come here, he didn't even have the report yet so he didn't know what he was looking for. He just knew he had to see it. He had reached the crime scene tape and ducked under it knowing it was safe to walk on the ground. Francis had once told him that the first thing the tech guys did was photograph the scene, including all the footprints, and if necessary make casts of them. Footprints were the hardest things to preserve in a crime scene so they were done first before the police contaminated the scene.
He paused by the old tree that she had obviously hit, the tree was strong, and it would no doubt survive the impact. He ran his hand over the spot and flicked off some of the bright red paint from her car off the bark. He saw the tire ruts leading to the edge and followed them.
He took a minute and then looked over the side. The daylight was almost gone, so the water below looked dark and murky. But there was still enough light reaching the water that it reflected off the metal undercarriage of her car as it rested, wheels up, underwater.
"She could have used someone when she was hanging on the side of the cliff, wondering if she would get out of the car, before it dropped 300 feet into the water below."
Taggert's words came back to him and he clenched his hands in anger. He hated the fact that Taggert was right, she had needed him then. He hoped that she never remembered the accident and how she must have felt hanging here. Even if it was harder for him to find out who had done this to her, he didn't want her to remember the pain and the fear.
The faint sounds of a truck coming up the hill spurred him into movement. Night had come to Port Charles, he took one last look at her car then moved quickly towards his bike. One more stop and then he could get back to her.
~Cottage~
"Hey," Gia called as she entered the cottage. "I'm sorry I'm late. Clive kept bitching about the lighting so we ran late."
"That's all right I haven't been here very long myself," Nikolas stayed on the couch but turned to look as she crossed to him.
"Good, I'm glad you're not mad, I hope you'll stay that way," she dropped down beside him. "I know I promised a special evening to make up for the guilt fest I laid on you last night, but Carly scheduled this cocktail party for some overseas distributors, their wooing and I have to make an appearance," she pouted. "Of course Carly can bail out at the last minute, like she just did, but Laura and I have to be there."
Nikolas kept quiet he had an idea why Carly had bailed on the party. He had seen her at the hospital with Sonny and Jason, he was pretty sure she didn't want to leave Sonny. "So you have to work, I understand that, I know how much your work means to you."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him. "That's why you are the best," she sighed and put her head on his shoulder.
At the moment he felt more like an ass. "I don't know about that I just know that you need to keep your obligations."
"You want to come with me? You know be Mr. Face for a night," she pulled back and saw his grimace. "I know how much you enjoyed it the last time," she teased.
"As enjoyable as that sounds, no."
"Well you can't say I didn't offer," her eyes moved past him to the clock on the wall. "Jesus its already 6:30 I need to book," she sprang from the couch and headed for the stairs, only to turn around and come back to him. She turned his head so he looked at her and kissed him passionately, "later." She smiled when she broke the kiss and hurried up the stairs.
Nikolas closed his eyes, and swallowed a groan. She had just kissed him the way she always had, and he hadn't felt a flicker of a response. Instead he felt uneasiness, because the kiss felt wrong to him. It had been confident and sexy like usual, and he found he was craving soft and sweet.
"God what am I doing?" He ran a hand over his face. He was comparing Gia's kisses, the woman he was supposed to be in love with, with Emily's. His best friend Emily, his younger friend, still in high school Emily, and the scary part was Emily's kisses were winning.
"What am I going to do?"
~Dr. Quartermaine's Office~
"I know that Ellen but I still need to reschedule the biopsy," Monica shifted the phone to her other ear. "My son is back in town with his girlfriend and she was injured today. I just want to be available for him and her. It's not forever it's just until next week."
"Monica you know that if the cancer has returned, the sooner we know, the sooner we can start treatment," Dr. Ellen Meadows argued.
"I know but I'm only talking a few days, I doubt it will make a difference."
"Monica…"
"Look its my decision," Monica interrupted her. "I said reschedule it." With that she hung up and immediately felt guilty. She was upset and scared but she shouldn't have taken it out on her friend. She knew it wouldn't bother Ellen, she was an Oncologist she was used to far worse, but she still shouldn't have snapped.
She turned her chair to look at the low brown file cabinet that sat behind her desk, and the photos that were on there. Photo's of her family, Edward, Lila, and Reginald, her and Alan, A.J., Jason, and Emily, Ned and Brook Lynn, and one of Dawn. She picked up the photo of Dawn, and longingly touched her face through the glass. Dawn had only been in her life a short time, but oh how she had loved her daughter. She set the picture down and picked up the one of the Quartermaine kids.
Her finger traced Jason Quartermaine's wide smile. Jason had been the baby that she had never wanted to love, the child of her husband's mistress, that she had banned from her house for the first 16 months of his life. God if she could go back, she would change so much. She would welcome Jason in her house the day he was born, she would never have sent him away to boarding school, she would have made sure she saw him every day. If she had only known, that she would only have him in her life for 20 years she would have done so many things differently.
She set the photo down and reached into her bottom desk drawer and pulled out another photo. A photo of her other son Jason. She had stolen the photograph from Emily, it was one of him in his leather jacket, he had a half smile on his face, and was leaning against his bike. She knew Emily had taken the photograph because he had been relaxed. She knew that Emily probably knew she had taken it but she had never said anything about it, she just had a reprint made, and replaced the photo.
She didn't display it the way she longed to, because she knew it would only set Alan off, if he saw it. Alan still couldn't get past the fact that his son was dead. He looked at the Jason of today and hated that he was here and his son wasn't, she had felt that for a little while, but she had mourned Jason Quartermaine and learned to embrace Jason Morgan. She looked at this photo everyday, she thought about him everyday, just like she thought of all her children. She had been blessed with five of them through the years, and she still had three of them around.
A tear splashed on Jason's face and she quickly wiped it off the glass. If the cancer was back it would be harder to get rid of then last time, and the last time the fight had nearly killed her. She didn't want to die, mostly because she didn't want to lose her children, especially when they needed her so.
Emily was just becoming an adult and she was already finding out what a minefield adulthood really was.
A.J. was slowly drinking himself into an early grave, and if he wasn't doing that, he was living a life of bitterness and blame. Sometimes though she could reach him, she needed to be able to reach him.
And Jason, she sighed and traced the photo again, he did need her after all. "Mom they won't tell me." That mom meant as much to her as the first time, any of her kids called her mom.
She wasn't going to give up her family up, not any of them. If the cancer wanted a fight, she'd give it one. She started to put the picture back in the drawer, then hesitated. It was time to fight, she turned and placed the photo of Jason Morgan on the cabinet next to the other pictures.
~Lounge~
When Zander entered the lounge he saw it was deserted other than Emily who was sitting in a chair closest to the door. Feeling a little uneasy he dropped onto the couch beside her. "Why did you want to stay here?"
"There are some things we need to talk about," Emily hedged. She suddenly realized that a part of her was afraid of her boyfriend. She was afraid of how he would react to the news.
"That sounds serious."
"It is," she straightened her coat in her lap and then began. "Zander you know that we haven't been getting along for quite awhile now. In fact all we seem to do is argue."
Warning sirens slammed into him, the little bitch was breaking up with him.
She kept her eyes on her hands so she missed it when he clenched his fists and glared at her. "We've grown apart and I think it's best if we stop seeing each other."
"But we love each other Emily, every couple has problems, we just need to work through them."
"It's more than that Zander," she looked at him then. "I don't love you."
"What?" He was trying desperately to hold onto his temper, but that about sent him over the edge.
"I'm sorry, but I need to be honest," she couldn't read his eyes, but his face looked calm. "Sometimes relationships don't work out."
"It was your friends, they finally got to you, or maybe your family," he snapped. "No wait it had to be the perfect older brother. You finally bought into their crap about me."
"No, it was my decision," she sighed and tried again. "Zander we haven't been happy."
"Speak for yourself I love you."
"Then why have you been sleeping with every girl you can?" Emily demanded feeling a little angry herself.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Emily," he tried to bluff his way around her accusation.
"How about what I see," She got angrily to her feet. "Can I believe it when I see you in bed with a blonde?"
He shot to his feet, "You were spying on me?"
"No, I just knocked on your door," she put her hands on her hips. "Here's a little tip for you Zander, if you want to have sex with someone and don't want anyone to know, make sure your door is closed."
Well he couldn't get out of that now, so he decided to try another way, the guilt that always worked with her. "Maybe I wouldn't have had that one single moment of weakness if my girlfriend, would actually sleep with me."
She took a step back from him and the anger in his eyes. "And that illustrates exactly why we are breaking up. If you really did care for me, you would never, ever demand for me to sleep with you. You wouldn't use sex as an ultimatum."
"Emily," he tried to backtrack. "Don't do this I love you."
"Save it Zander, were through," Emily picked up her coat and brushed by him heading for the elevator. She was actually kind of glad that he had went after her like that, it had made her angry enough that she had finally gotten to say some of the things she had wanted to say to him for months.
"Hold it," Zander grabbed her arm and jerked her around to face him. He had spent to many frustrating months setting this up for her to blow him out of the water now. "We are not over."
She tried to free her arm. "Let me go."
"Just let me talk to you, we can fix this," he reached past her and pressed the down button on the elevator.
"No Zander," Emily yanked hard trying to free her arm again. "I told you to let me go."
"Emily you're coming with me and we are working this out," Zander gripped her arm jerking her closer so her face was a few inches from his. "We just need to talk alone."
"No," Emily yelled and stomped on his foot the same time the elevator doors opened.
"You little bi…" Zander's words were stopped when Jason's fist connected with his jaw sending him to the ground.
Jason stepped the rest of the way off the elevator and moved to stand in between Emily and Zander when Zander started to get up.
"What is your problem?" Zander got to his feet rubbing on his jaw, god it felt like his teeth were going to fall out.
"You're my problem," Jason moved closer and lowered his voice. "I have a problem with people manhandling my sister. You will never touch her again, you will never talk to her again, you will never go near her again."
Jason never laid a hand on him, but Zander felt the threat of those icy words in his stomach, and a little fear entered his system, when he looked into the other mans cold blue eyes.
"I won't repeat myself Zander," Jason finished. "So you're leaving now."
Zander took a step back, he knew better than to try to talk to Emily now, and if he said anything to her brother while she was here, it would only make things worse. He looked at her for a minute longer then turned and headed for the stairs. But this wasn't over, not by a long shot.
Emily waited until he headed for the door before covering her eyes with her hands and groaning.
"Are you okay?" Jason turned around and took her arms lightly. "Did he hurt you?"
"No I'm fine," she dropped her hand. "Thanks."
"Is that the first time he was like that?" If it wasn't he would be finding Zander again and real soon.
She read the intent in his eyes and spoke up quickly. "Yes he's never laid a hand on me, this was the first and last time believe me."
He pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Because if he does it once, he'll do it again."
"I know," she hugged him back and fought back the tears. "He got like that because I broke up with him."
He pulled back to look at her. "Are you okay?"
"What? No I told you so?"
"Emily," he shook his head. "Are you okay?"
"I'm going to be," she was truly lucky to have him as her big brother.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I've had a little too much hospital today," she brushed a tear from her eye, pleased that it was the only one there.
"Come on," he took her hand and led her down the hall to an anxious Francis.
"I'm sorry Jason, I was calling you when you got off the elevator. I couldn't leave…"
"I know," Jason was glad to see Francis took his responsibility of guarding Rory seriously. He wasn't supposed to leave her unguarded and he hadn't.
"I'm sorry Ms. Quartermaine." And he really was, he had really wanted to go and pound that little thug Zander in the ground, but his first responsibility was to Rory. It was times like this that he hated what he did.
"I'm okay Francis," Emily smiled at him.
"You can make it up to her, by taking her home," Jason told him. "I'll be with Rory."
"Certainly," Francis stepped away from the door.
"Can you give us a minute?" Jason asked Emily.
"Sure," she gave him another hug. "Thanks for everything but especially for not telling me I told you so."
Jason smiled at her, but it faded when he turned to look at Francis after she left. "Keep an eye out for Zander, I don't want him near her. Is Sonny still looking after him?"
"A little, but Sonny has been getting tired of him. In fact I think the only reason he hasn't cut him loose is because of Emily," Francis admitted.
"I'll talk to Sonny then, but for tonight I don't want him near her."
"He won't be," he took a step away. "Before I called you, I called Stan, he was on his way up from the car, when you got off the elevator. I wasn't going to let him leave with her."
"I know," Jason jerked his head down the hall. "Now go."
~Kelly's~
Lucky frowned at his computer screen and the spreadsheet he had made there, comparing information he knew about Elizabeth, to information he was finding out about Rory. They both were allergic to raspberries, both had their appendix taken out, they had the same blood type, the same birthday, and according to the x-rays both of them in the past had broken their right arm. But there were a lot of things that were dissimilar as well and that concerned him.
He took another drink of his root beer, and tried to pretend that he wasn't craving a real beer. Rory had no tonsils, while Elizabeth did. Rory had a tattoo in the same spot as Elizabeth's birthmark, so maybe there was no birthmark. Rory had a surgical scar on her left knee, Elizabeth didn't. According to the x-rays that had been done, Rory had at one point several broken bones, in fact both her left arm and left leg had been broken, and she had a surgical pin in her left knee. Elizabeth had none of this.
If he was running an analysis he would have to say that he didn't have enough evidence to come to a conclusion yet, that the data he had collected was inconclusive. No matter what his gut might say, he needed more to convince others, and more importantly Rory that she was really Elizabeth.
His smirk turned into a grin, when he thought of a way he could get that proof. He set the root beer can down, stretched and popped his knuckles before putting his fingers on the keyboard. All he had to do was get around the next layer of security at the hospital. Cakewalk.
~Room 617~
"Hey," Rory spoke before she opened her eyes. "When did you get here?"
Jason straightened in the chair and took her hand. "A couple of hours ago."
She opened her eyes, fighting the unusual sleepiness the drugs gave her. "Did you find it?"
He pointed to the foot of the bed.
She pulled her hand free and rubbed at her eyes, before focusing on the table at the end of the bed. She smiled when she saw the photo sitting there. "Thank god."
He reached over and picked up the photo and handed it to her, knowing she would want to touch it. "I figured you would want to see it for yourself."
"You were right," she traced her parents faces. "I wish I could make you see how beautiful they were."
"I can see how beautiful they were. I see it every time I look at you. They had to be beautiful to make you."
Her eyes filled at that.
"Are you crying? Do you hurt?" Jason moved so he was sitting on the bed beside her.
"No its just these damn drugs," she answered, it didn't have anything to do with what he said.
"Okay," he smiled at her. "Why don't you rest some more?"
"Why don't you kiss me?" she countered.
"I could do that," he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"A little lower."
"Okay," he lowered his mouth and kissed her eyes closed softly, first her right eye and then her left.
"Keep going," her hand found his again, and she held on to it tightly.
"How's this?" he asked before pressing a kiss on her nose, "or this?" he moved to kiss her uninjured cheek, then placed a whisper kiss on her injured one.
"Getting warmer."
"Oh," he tilted her head up with his free hand, and placed a trail of kisses along her jawline. "Warmer?"
She moaned lightly, "Getting there." Between his kisses and the drugs she was on she was flying.
His mouth moved back and he nipped her chin before pulling back. "All done."
Her eyes flew open. "You little sh…"
His mouth swallowed the rest of her words, her eyes were open and locked on his, while his tongue gently outlined her lips. Her eyes drifted closed on a sigh, when he tilted his head and kissed her deeper, but at the same time, keeping the pressure on her lips light, making her want to beg for more. Her right arm went around his neck pulling him closer, when she tired of his teasing, her mouth opened under his, in an invitation for more intimacy.
He had wanted to keep it light and simple between them, but feeling her mouth under his, spurred a reaction in him, one born out of fear of losing her. His tongue teased hers in long dizzyingly sweeps until it tormented her into moaning again.
She felt her mind cloud again but this time it was not because of the drugs, she was high on the heady feeling of touching him, and having him touch her. Then the desperation came, the desperation she normally felt when he touched her. The desperation because he was never quite close enough, she shifted again, and the groan of pain caught her off guard, stilling his mouth on hers.
"I'm sorry," he pulled away. The passion between them had taken over again, and he had forgotten that she was injured, in a hospital bed, and in pain. "Are you okay?"
"Yes and no," she admitted honestly. "My spirit, my mind, I think even my soul wants you right now, the only problem is my body."
He rubbed his finger over her swollen lips. "Then we wait, it's always been more than the physical between us."
"Will you hold me tonight?" The room was dark only the light from the hall was visible so it was easier to say those things to him that she normally stopped herself from saying. "I need you to hold me."
He shifted so he was beside her, on her non-injured side, and she moved so she was lying on top of him again, her head on his heart. Holding her brought the relief he was searching for, as her breath evened out and she slid into sleep, he gradually found himself relaxing. The tension he had been carrying with him, that caused his muscles to lock eased, the knot that had formed in his stomach when he'd first heard she was missing finally vanished. She was here in his arms, she was safe, and he was finally home.