Chapter 1
Jax paced the ER waiting anxiously for word on Donna as Ned and Carly came in. "How is she? Have you heard anything?" Carly asked as she and Ned came up to him.
"No. They won't tell me anything," Jax admitted as he ran a hand through his hair. "What about things at the mansion? Have they at least arrested that drunken fool of a cousin of yours, Ashton?"
"I'm the fool, Jax," Ned said softly as he looked past the other man.
"Run that by me again?"
"I should never have set up that little talk. I damned sure shouldn't have taken her upstairs to do it. I knew AJ was drunk. Hell, we all knew he was harassing her. I knew he was capable of something like this."
"You couldn't have stopped him, Ned," Carly said softly as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"I could've prevented it."
"Maybe. Maybe not," she said with a shrug. "You know, I thought the same thing. What if I hadn't gone? Hadn't provoked him. Hell, until tonight I convinced myself that my fall 2 years ago was an accident. I guess I needed to. But now. . ." she let her words trail off.
"He'll pay for it Carly," Jax said.
"No, he won't," Ned sighed. "The family's going to close ranks again. They did to block her attempts at getting a restraining order. . ."
"You knew about that?" Carly asked in surprise.
"What restraining order?" Jax asked at the same time, surprise evident in his voice.
"Yeah, I knew. Grandfather wanted me to handle blocking it. Wouldn't look good for the assistant of a board member to have one against the former CEO. And before you asked, I didn't do anything except suggest reining Junior in a little more."
"He bought them off, didn't he?" Carly asked in exasperation. "D@mnit, is he ever going to pay for what he does?"
"I'll make him," Jax said angrily.
"How?" Ned asked. "It's not the money that keeps him out of trouble, it's the name. My family runs the biggest employers in this town. They in essence run the hospital. They're on every big committee, who's going to go up against that?" Ned asked.
"I'm not afraid of your family."
"No, but a lot of people are," a voice said, causing Jax to turn to where Dara Jensen and Marcus Taggart stood listening. Anger clear on their faces.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jax asked.
"Just that Eddie Q managed to get the DA to refuse to go forward with the case until Ms. Moss can give her 'version' of things," Taggart replied.
"Her version of things?" Ned asked incredulous. "He threw her down the stairs. I saw him. Jax saw him. Carly. Mac. You two, and a lot of others."
"What most of us saw, if pressed," Dara sighed playing devil's advocate, "was someone falling down the stairs. And even if Ms. Moss saids differently. . . I can tell by things that were said that the DA won't prosecute. He'll say the same things as he did about the restraining order. What a judge probably will."
"Which would be?" Jax asked.
"That Ms. Moss was coached to make her accusations after a tragic accident by the three of you," Taggart put in.
"That's ridiculous. Why would I want to put my family in that type of situation?" Ned demanded.
"It's what they'll claim," Dara looked down at her hands and then up at them. "I'm sorry. I wish it could be different. Hell, I would make it different myself if I could."
"You're just afraid of losing your job," Carly accused.
"Maybe. But remember if I do I can't be of any help to. . ." she shook her head. "If we could find more proof. Maybe. . ."
"Only maybe?" Jax asked.
"The Quartermains are all powerful," Taggart sighed. "I get less flack for trying to bring in a Cassidine than one of them with less evidence against them. I'm afraid that Dara's right, unless something changes. . .unless we find a lot more evidence and unless she has some powerful friends she hasn't told anyone about, AJ gets away with it."
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Twenty minutes passed after Taggart and Dara had left in silence as the three waited for word on Donna. They took turns pacing and watching the others pace as they waited for word. "Who's here for Ms. Moss?" Tony asked as he walked hurriedly out into the waiting room and earnedgroan from Carly.
"Carly, just remember he's one of the best," Jax said as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze and moved her over to sit next to Ned. "We are Tony."
Tony fought from rolling his eyes when he saw Carly and to gain the strength he needed to get through the next few minutes that were bound to lead to a confrontation. "How is she?" Carly asked as she held tight to Ned's hand.
"It's not good," Tony sighed tiredly. "Myself, Eve Lambert, and Chris Ramsey are consulting on her case. She's unconscious and we're pretty sure there's cause to be concerned about the possibility of a head and/or spinal injury. There doesn't seem to be any internal injuries."
"What do you mean? Pretty sure? Doesn't seem to be?" Carly asked. "Haven't you run tests or anything?"
"The hospital's dragging it's feet on it," Tony sighed.
"WHAT?!?!"
Tony took a deep breathe and ignored the outburst. "The position is that Ms. Moss is unable to tell us what she wants done. The measures to take. Usually in a situation like this we defer to a family member. There's none in Port Charles. They're. . ." he shook his head unable to find the words. This was a new decision from near the top---- supposedly Monica or Alan if the grapevine was working. He had never heard of this as being a problem before, but then again, most of the time there was family present.
"I called the person she listed as a contact on her paperwork. He'll be coming in in a few hours," Jax informed at his pause.
"Jax, I'm afraid if he doesn't have the paperwork, or know who does... Someone's gonna have to go to court. She's critical but stable. Aside from keeping an eye on her there's not much we can do. As it is we're fighting to keep her here. Her insurance paperwork hasn't gone through."
"We'll pay for it," Carly said without thinking.
"Carly, that's a nice offer. . ."
"She's right," Jax said, "tell billing to send the bills to me. I'm her boss, I'm responsible. And Tony, don't let her know. She's a proud women and would consider it charity. I don't want her to. Just get her into a private room as soon as possible"
Tony nodded, "understood, although the room will be in ICU for now," he said before turning and walking away.
"They're doing it already, aren't they?" Carly asked as Ned got up and walked over to a window. "And they're going to get away with it."
"I wish I knew what to do," Jax sighed. "The Cassidines are so much easier to take down."
"Are you going to call her. . ." she stopped not knowing what to call whoever it was Jax had contacted for Donna.
"No. Nothing to tell him. Nothing he can do. I'll fill him in when I pick him up in the morning."
"And V?"
"I left a message for her to meet me here when she gets in," Carly only nodded slightly as she looked over at Ned. "Go talk to him, I'll be OK."
She slowly walked over to where the other man stood and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You holding up OK?"
"I should be asking you that," Ned said as he turned. "It has to bring back memories."
"Watching her fall. Hearing Taggart and Dara did. This. . ." she shook her head as she took a deep breathe and fought back tears. Without a word Ned put out and arm and pulled her to his chest. "I was fine. Really I was. It's just. . ."
"We can't stop them. We've protected him so long it's second nature. They'll cover it up no matter who tries to stop it. You, me, Jax--- alone, together--- doesn't matter. We won't be able to take them on for her."
"It would take, as Donna's so found of saying--- an act of Congress," Carly said as looked up at him, earning a slight smile.
"More like an executive order," Jax muttered as he walked over to them. "So much for truth and justice for all. Guess if you have enough money, power, you can do anything and even people with money can't help you if you don't have the name."
"There's only a few names more powerful than Quartermain," Ned sighed.
"And none of them can help us. Sucks doesn't it? When it was Jason, you took the blame. When it was me, they were afraid of Sonny and of losing Michael even more. Hannah encouraged his stalking. So did Angel. It got them attention from Taggart and Sonny. But Donna. . . Donna never did. She did everything right, and now she's just another one of their--- his--- victims," Carly sighed as she leant her head on Ned's shoulder. "I just. . .We have to tell ourselves it doesn't matter."
"What?!?!?" Ned asked jarring her.
"If she's all right, that's all that matters," Carly said.
"Carly's right. If she's all right we can take care of the rest as it comes. Keep her safe from AJ."
"And what about the next person?" Ned asked, and not surprisingly, none of them could come up with an answer.