Show: General Hospital

Title: Las Vidas de los Corinthos' II: Chapter 20

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: I'm sorry about the delay between this chapter and the last. Needless to say that well life

and school interrupted, but I'm here now. Thank you for your wonderful comments, keep 'em

coming.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jason Morgan slowly surfaced from the final vestiges of sleep aware that someone nearby was

humming.

Off key.

Inwardly he smiled; that could only mean one thing.

He slowly opened his eyes and was not disappointed.

Less than three feet away from the side of the bed, Elizabeth was perched on a stool before a

large canvas painting. Jason's eyes widened in astonishment as he realized she was painting

naked.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to her unknowing model and started when she realized her

subject was wide-awake and staring at her. She grinned devilishly, "What can I say?" she asked,

sweeping her brush across the canvas as she boldly stared at him. "You inspire me, Morgan."

Intrigued as always whenever he was nearby as she painted he asked, "What are you painting?"

Elizabeth paused, dipping her brush into her palette before meeting his gaze. "You," she

answered seriously.

If he was surprised by her answer he didn't show it.

"Keep still, ok?" she requested, her eyes flitting back and forth between Jason and the canvas.

He nodded in reply and obediently complied with her will.

For another hour Elizabeth diligently laboured on the painting. She'd been at it since four thirty

that morning. It was only seven thirty when Jason had woken up, so she hadn't been at it long. An

hour later, she was only four hours into the painting, not long at all by an artist's standard, but

she'd worked fast.

Jason watched her as she worked, surprised that he didn't feel restless as time continued. Indeed

he could feel dreamland's tentacles wrapping themselves around him and his exhausted body

was beckoned back to sleep, lulled by her off-key humming.

Elizabeth set the brush in turpentine to clean and continued to stare. Her painting was finished in

a record four and half hours and he looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there, she didn't have

the heart to wake him.

For lack of better words, Jason Morgan was beautiful in repose. His face lost all it's harsh

angularity, but seemed lovingly molded by a sculptor. Her eyes skimmed past his high forehead

with his spiky dirty-blonde locks, straight nose that, heaven knows how, had escaped being

broken in his many fights, high cheekbones and settled on his mouth – his sinfully beautiful mouth

– with his perfectly molded lips – not too thin, not too thick. She could feel her breath quickening

as her eyes slid down the expanse of his body. His golden skin contrasted with the sky blue

cotton sheets that were tangled about his lean hips, and she could see the sleek expanse of a

muscular calf, well turned ankle and the long slender toes of his feet peeking out from the end of

the sheet at the bottom of the bed.

Her gaze slid back up the beloved body and she started in surprise to see Jason's glacier-blue

eyes staring at her. "Like what you see?" he asked huskily, propping his body up on an elbow.

Against her will, Elizabeth found herself blushing. "I'm finished," she said softly. "Do you want to

see it?"

Jason's eyes glinted. He did want to see the painting but he wanted her much more. Did she

have any idea what she was doing to him perched naked on that stool less than three feet from

him? "Come here," he commanded.

Liz's eyebrows skyrocketed.

"Come here," he commanded, his voice husky with need as he struggled not to drag her to bed.

Liz swallowed audibly, but stood and did as she was told.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The moment he caught sight of the tall brunette striding toward him, Detective Marcus Taggart

groaned. As if the day hadn't started out bad enough, Alexis Davis had to come make it worse.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Alexis greeted, setting her briefcase on the desk before him.

Taggart wiped the frustration from his face and leaned back in his chair and surveyed the

Corinthos Mouthpiece. "Ms. Davis," he replied. "What can I do for you? I swear, I didn't arrest

your 'Coffee Merchant' or Angerboy last night and deny them access to their lawyer."

Alexis smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "As much as I appreciate your attempt at humour,

Lieutenant, I'm here on a serious matter. Pertaining to the unexplained deaths surrounding two of

my client's employees. Have you made any headway?" she asked, surveying the bald-headed

Detective with a critical eye.

"The PCPD is doing its best, Ms. Davis. We're pursuing every possible lead."

Alexis bit her tongue, struggling not to brand each and every member of the force as incompetent

and narrow-minded and charge that PCPD's *best* simply wasn't good enough. Instead she said

pointedly, "I trust you'll keep my clients and I posted on any developments."

Taggart all but rolled his eyes. "I've promised you before, Counselor and I wouldn't dream of

doing anything but that."

"See that you don't. I see a trend here even if the PCPD doesn't. Innocent people's lives are at

stake here."

Taggart agreed but he couldn't seem to stop from muttering, "About as 'innocent' as one could

get from working for Corinthos."

Alexis's eyes narrowed. It was times like these that she really couldn't stand the self-righteous

bastard, but he had echoed the statement she had told Jason just the day before. "I trust you

won't let that slip of the tongue reach the victim's families."

Taggart's jaw clenched as she swept up her briefcase and sailed out of the PCPD. "Damn it!" he

cursed. Why did Alexis Davis always make him feel like an unfeeling bumbling idiot?

*~*~*~*~*~*

From his seat at the counter at Kelly's Lyle surreptitiously watched the redhead on the phone.

The moment she had said the name Courtney, he had perked up and listened to her side of the

conversation. He knew Courtney was the name of Sonny Corinthos' little sister. But he wasn't too

sure if that Courtney and this one were one and the same.

"Still not feeling well, Courtney?" Bobbie Spencer asked concerned. "Have you seen a doctor?"

Back at the loft, Courtney drew a blanket more securely about her. "No… it's nothing serious. I

just caught the flu," she lied, faking a cough. "I've got some pills and I'm drinking lots of liquids."

"Is Jason taking care of you?"

Lyle knew for sure that it couldn't be a coincidence and he subconsciously leaned closer as if he

could somehow hear what was being said on the other side of the line.

At the mere mention of Jason's name, Courtney's heart clenched and she could feel a fresh crop

of tears brimming. "He had to leave town for a bit but I'm being taken care of," she whispered in

reply.

On the other end, Bobbie frowned. She knew something was not quite right, but she couldn't

quite put her finger on it. "Are you sure you're ok, Court? I could send some chicken soup over

with Jason. Just tell him come in and it'll be waiting."

"No, no thanks, Bobbie," she replied, just barely able to keep her voice from getting hysterical.

"I've got some already."

"Ok," Bobbie relented. "Try to get some rest, sweetheart. And call me when you're ready to come

back to work, ok? Have fun will Jason as your nursemaid," she joked.

"Will do. And thanks a lot, Bobbie."

"Sure, no problem." Bobbie set the phone on the hook and took off her apron. "Courtney's still got

the flu," she explained to Tammy, "so, after my shift at the hospital today, I'll be back to help close

up…."

Lyle paid no more attention to the rest of the conversation. He tossed his money on the counter to

pay for his meal and left the diner, heading for the payphone on the corner.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the loft, Courtney was a mess. Since she'd thrown her engagement ring at Jason, she

hadn't left the apartment to go to work or anywhere else.

After Jason had walked out, she'd fallen to the floor, keening in her pain. Her eyes had landed on

the ring, still spinning with the momentum after dropping to the floor. Her body had hardened with

resolve and she had snatched up the ring and bounded up the stairs to their bathroom. She

tossed it. And, before she could think about all the memories the ring held or even how expensive

the diamonds and emerald must be, she flushed the toilet. Watching as the ring spun round and

round in the bowl until with a guttural groan, the toilet pumped fresh water up as it sucked the ring

down into the drain and it was gone.

Just like her relationship with Jason.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lyle cursed the long wait and hoped he would pick up his collect call.

Back in New York, the man picked up the phone.

"Collect call from Port Charles. Would you like to accept the charges?" asked the operator.

He hadn't been expecting this call, so he accepted the call quickly. "Yes?"

"Delano, it's me, Lyle."

"Oh."

Lyle frowned. "Expecting somebody else?"

"I don't believe that's any of your concern, Lyle. Why are you calling me? I hope nothing went

wrong."

"Nah, everything is dandy."

"Then why are you wasting my time? I don't have time for social calls, Lyle. You're only to call me

when you're finished your task or to report something important."

"It is… important, I think."

He gritted his teeth. "Well, hurry up. I'm not paying for you to sing me the song of silence."

Lyle looked around just to make sure no one was listening into his conversation. "Corinthos' sister

is sick. Morgan's probably gonna be playing nursemaid for a while."

"Unlikely," Delano muttered.

"Why not? You know something I don't?" Lyle curiously asked.

He bit his tongue. "Morgan's got more important things to do than play nursemaid to his

girlfriend," he fibbed to placate the other man.

"Think we should back off?" asked Lyle, needing to hear the next part of the plan.

"Not entirely. PCPD got any leads?"

Lyle snorted.

He couldn't help but return the sentiment. "Silly question," Delano admitted. "But I want you to

speed things up a little bit."

"What d'ya mean?"

"I want Rhys dead by tomorrow. I don't care how."

"So soon?" Lyle balked

"Just do it, Lyle! I want to be reading about his 'unfortunate accident' by nightfall tomorrow!"

Without waiting for a reply, he terminated the call.

Three hundred miles away, Lyle replaced the receiver with a sense of trepidation. Something had

gone wrong to piss off Delano, and was causing him to lash out. He only hoped it wouldn't get

them killed and set out towards the docks to set his plan in motion.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Perched at the edge of her bed, Elizabeth watched Jason fasten his belt and zip his fly. If the

sight of his Glock disturbed her she said nothing as he checked the safety and stuffed it into his

waistband at his back. Weapons used to be a bone of contention to her in the past, but she'd

learnt to appreciate them and the fact that they kept her and her family safe. "How're we gonna

do this?" she asked.

Jason pursed his lips in thought. "We just do."

She arched a brow. "Brilliant plan, Morgan."

Jason didn't even pretend to be insulted. He simply knelt before her and took her hand in his. "I

can't tell you what's going to happen, Elizabeth. I just know we have to get it over with. People

only get hurt from sneaking around; from lying and hiding what they're feeling. I don't want to

keep doing that. I'm tired of hiding."

She stroked his beloved face and smiled. "So am I… and I promise not to wear red at your

funeral after my mother kills you though," she added.

Jason could feel a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You know, that was *so* not funny,

Corinthos."

TBC…

A/N: I've decided to end it here, because I wanted you guys to sweat out till next chapter. Nah,

I'm kidding. The next part would make more sense separate, so I've decided to keep it separate. I

hope you enjoyed. Your comments will let me know what's up. R&R, please.

Cara