Chapter 33
Sonny was at a loss for words. He wasn't expecting Elizabeth to ask for that. "Jason is in a maximum security prison."
"I know that," she said deciding to sit down. "But I also know you are who you are. I'm sure you've been in constant contact with him."
He nodded. He wasn't going to lie to Elizabeth, especially when it's about Jason. "Yes, I have, but I haven't seen him. We communicate through a third party."
She thought for a moment. "This third party works inside the prison, right?"
Sonny didn't know how the respond. Unlike Carly, who wanted to involve herself in his business, Elizabeth already was. Grant it, she'd only been involved on the outer edges of the business, she knew more than he would like.
Elizabeth took his silence as a yes. Ideas started forming in her head. "Sonny, this third party can smuggle me into the prison."
"What?" Sonny needed to check his hearing. "You did not just ask me to smuggle you into a maximum security prison filled with rapists and murderers. You don't even know who this third party is. He could be another inmate."
She smiled as the idea took shape in her mind. "I know you would protect me. You wouldn't let anything happen to me. Besides, I'm pretty sure your third party isn't some inmate. I know you, Sonny, you have a lot of power. This person has got to be high up the prison system to be able to constantly talk to Jason without anyone questioning it." She stopped to think of possible candidates. "A doctor in the infirmary, perhaps or someone who works with the warden."
Sonny's face hardened at the last choice. Elizabeth didn't miss it. "That's it. You have someone working in the warden's office. He probably calls Jason in, in the guise of relaying info from Alexis or to take Alexis' call, when really it's you."
He almost swore. Had he lost his touch or was Elizabeth that good? "Elizabeth, you're letting your mind run away with you."
"You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone," she told him. "I just need to see Jason. I don't care how risky it is. I need to do this."
"Why? The trial begins next week. You'll be able to see him then."
"No, I won't. As a witness, I won't be allowed in the courtroom. And the DA is still restricting Jason's visits to Alexis." She stood and walked to him. "There is a lot I need to say to him before the trial starts."
He sighed. He didn't think this was a good idea. What if someone found out about Elizabeth visit? "I understand you need to talk to him, but ..."
"No, you don't understand," she insisted. "You don't know what it's like to wake up every day screaming because you dream the person you love is dying in front of you and you can't do a thing to stop it. I see Jason die every night. I need to see him alive. I need to touch him and know that the dreams aren't real."
Sonny wanted to refuse her but couldn't. He knew the dreams that plagued her. He had had similar dreams after Lily's death. In his case they were real. Lily had died in the car bomb, but Jason was still alive. She needed to see Jason to put those dreams to rest.
He looked at the woman in front of him. She had become more than just a friend. She was part of his family. "Okay, let me make some calls," he said walking to the stairs. "I'll see when it can be arranged."
Sonny climbed the stairs and headed for his study leaving Elizabeth alone to pace around the living room. She couldn't sit and wait for Sonny. There was too much nervous energy racing through her. Would Jason want to see her? Would he turn away from her and tell her to leave? What would she do if Jason didn't want to see her?
She had had more arguments with herself about this than she could remember. Both Emily and Alexis assured her that Jason loved her and wouldn't blame her for what happened. While she agreed, it didn't mean Jason would welcome seeing her. She knew him too well. He would refuse to see her for her own protection. He would use this as a reason to keep them apart. She remembered when Sorel had tried to bomb her studio. Jason ended their friendship to protect her, but all it did was hurt the two of them. She had convinced him then that their friendship was worth the risk, and she was sure she would have to do it again.
Only this time she wasn't sure she could. She wasn't even really sure she wanted to. There was so much standing between them. Jason was going on trial for killing Lucky. How could they get past that? She knew Jason didn't kill Lucky, but the didn't mean he would be acquitted. Elizabeth could see Alexis was worried. She tried to present a brave face in front of Elizabeth , but with the eye witness, she knew it didn't look good. She didn't want think about the possibility of Jason being convicted. It couldn't happen. He didn't kill Lucky, and he wouldn't spend the rest of his life behind bars.
But what about their life together when he was acquitted? Only Sonny and Emily were happy about their relationship. Were they strong enough to survive everyone else that wanted them apart? Carly hated her. There was no way she was going to accept Elizabeth in Jason's life. As much as she didn't understand it, Carly meant a lot to Jason. Jason would always be connected to Carly through Michael and Sonny. Would Carly prevent Jason from seeing Michael if he stayed with her? Elizabeth didn't want to be the reason Jason lost Michael again.
There was also Nikolas and her grandmother to consider. They both hated Jason and wanted her away from him. Right now Elizabeth didn't care about Nikolas. He had said enough at the cemetery for her to know their friendship was over, but her grandmother was different. Elizabeth knew Audrey wasn't happy with her past relationship with Jason. She had been so sure Jason was going to get her killed. Little did she know then that Elizabeth would almost die because of Lucky and not Jason. She knew Audrey would not accept Jason in Elizabeth's life. Was she willing to lose the only relationship she had with her family to be with Jason?
She didn't even want to think about Luke and Laura. Neither had come to see her in the hospital after she woke up. She didn't know if it was because they blamed her for Lucky's death, or if they felt guilty about Lucky shooting her. Either way, her surrogate family was falling apart. She knew they wouldn't be able to see her with Jason. It would be a constant reminder of what they had lost.
Was it worth losing everything and everyone in their lives to be together? As much as she wanted to say yes, she couldn't. On the other hand, could she go back to the pretence her life had been? Could she live without Jason and pretend she was happy? Because she knew she would be pretending. She was only happy with Jason. She couldn't see how her family could ask her to give up the one thing that made her truly happy just to make them happy.
She slumped back down on the couch. Why was everything so complicated? She wished she could just jump on the back on Jason's motorcycle and ride the cliff road as fast as they could. She just wanted to feel the wind on her face and forget everything and everyone.
"What are you doing in my home?"
She turned to see Carly at the top of the stairs. "I needed to talk to Sonny."
"No, what you need is to leave and stay away from my family," Carly commanded as she approached the younger woman.
"Carly, I didn't come here to fight with you," Elizabeth tried to appease her before things went too far.
"I don't care why you came here," she stated. "I don't want you here. You are the reason Jason is in prison right now as we speak. I always knew you weren't good enough for him and now I have proof. You have played him since the day he came back, pretending to care about him then breaking it off only to go running back to him when Lucky did something you didn't like. You have hurt Jason enough, and I am not going to let you get another chance."
"Don't talk about things you know nothing about." Elizabeth tried to move away from Carly, but Carly wouldn't let her.
"I do know what I'm talking about. I heard Jason tell Sonny that you wanted to be with Lucky. I heard the pain in his voice. I saw him bury himself in his work to try and forget what you had done to him. You couldn't stay away could you? You needed to make Lucky jealous so you went running to Jason. I'm sure you didn't expect Lucky to have a gun, but I do know you didn't care if Jason got hurt. You only wanted to punish Lucky for whatever crime you thought he had done to you."
Elizabeth refused to let Carly make her feel guilty. She blamed herself enough without having Carly point out all of her mistakes. "Do you really want to get into a who hurt Jason more contest? Because I didn't take his son away from him. I didn't try to run his girlfriend out of town and then marry his brother, the brother that almost killed him and hates everything about him. I didn't sleep with his best friend while he was shot and bleeding to death."
"Why you little bitch!" Carly raised her hand to slap Elizabeth, but Elizabeth caught her wrist before she could make contact.
"I may have just gotten out of the hospital, Carly, but I can still take you," she said shoving Carly aside, so Elizabeth could move away.
"What is going on here?" Sonny's booming voice came from the top of the stairs.
"Sonny, I want Elizabeth out of my house right now!"
Sonny sighed. "Carly, why don't you go back upstairs and let me finish my business with Elizabeth."
She shook her head. "No, Jason is my friend. I have a right to know what is going on and to stop you from making a big mistake. That woman is the reason Jason is in jail rather than here playing with Michael. Don't you care about that?"
"Carly, stop it. Elizabeth is not the reason Jason in jail. Someone is trying to frame him and using Lucky's death to do it."
"But Jason wouldn't even be involved if it wasn't for her," Carly insisted. "She has done nothing but hurt Jason and I am not going let her continue."
"That is not your decision to make," he replied. "Jason loves her. Do you think he would be happy about you trying to hit her the day she got out of the hospital?"
Carly thought of the last conversation she had with Jason. He'd threatened to end their friendship if she couldn't be nice to Elizabeth. She'd promised to be nice on the condition Elizabeth didn't hurt him. In her mind that promise became null and void when Jason was arrested for killing Lucky. Elizabeth was to blame. "Jason's not thinking clearly. He's going to come to his senses and realize Elizabeth is only using him. She was having trouble with Lucky and needed Jason to get her out of it. She doesn't love him."
"You don't have the right to speak for me," Elizabeth finally speaking since Sonny arrived. "You have no idea how I feel about Jason. You have never cared. The only thing you care about is yourself. You have used Jason more times than any of us can remember. You don't love Jason. You're just afraid if he's with me, he won't be at your beck and call anymore."
"Why you ...," she lunged for the younger woman again only to be stopped by Sonny.
"Carly, stop," he ordered. "Elizabeth, why don't we go in the hall to finish our discussion?"
Elizabeth nodded and followed Sonny out the room. She took a deep breath to calm down. "Sonny, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have provoked her."
He sighed. "It's not your fault. Carly just scared about the trial and needs to blame someone."
"It's more than that and you know it," she insisted. "Carly has hated me ever since I became friends with Jason. She's never going to accept him and me together."
Sonny took her hand. "Don't let Carly influence your relationship with Jason."
She gave him a weak smile. "How can I not? Except for you and Emily, no one thinks we are a good idea. How could any relationship we have survive all the opposition to it?"
Sonny could see her point. There were many people in Port Charles who wouldn't like to see Elizabeth and Jason together not just his wife. "Just listen to your heart. It will lead you in the right direction." He paused and checked the door before continuing. "Everything is set for tomorrow. I'll send a limo in the morning to pick you up."
She shook her head, "No, the press will be at the house. I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby, okay."
He nodded, "Okay. Are you sure you don't want me to do anything about the media hounding you?"
"No, Sonny, you've done enough for me already," she said pushing the button to bring the elevator. "Thank you so much." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and hugged him just as the elevator doors opened. With a final kiss, she entered the elevator. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Sonny stared at the closed elevator doors readying himself to face his wife. He took a deep breath and entered his home.
"I want to know what she wanted from you," she yelled as soon as he stepped into the room.
"Carly, you need to stop blaming Elizabeth for what we did to Jason."
Carly paused in her retort. She was stunned by Sonny's assessment of her. "I'm not doing that."
He took her hands and led her to the couch. "You have hated Elizabeth because Jason turned to her when we betrayed him. Elizabeth was not at fault, we were."
She shook her head not wanting to hear what he was saying. "No, I don't like Elizabeth Webber because she's not good enough for Jason."
"Only Jason can decide that, and Jason loves her," he said.
She yanked her hands away and crossed the room. She needed to separate herself from Sonny and his words. "He doesn't love her," she insisted.
Sonny stood. "Yes, he does. I don't know when he started, but I do know that he was in love with her when he left here the second time after he saved Emily. I think he came back to see if Elizabeth was ready to start a new relationship. It had been a year since Lucky's death. What he didn't know was Lucky had returned. Even though Elizabeth and Lucky were having problems, he didn't want to come between them."
"You see," she pointed her finger at him, "that just proves my point. She was stupid to want Lucky when Jason was there."
Sonny sighed. "This isn't about Elizabeth, Carly. This isn't even really about Jason. It's about you and your fear of losing Jason. You've hated Elizabeth from the beginning because you could see that Jason was falling for her. You were afraid Jason wouldn't want you in his life if he was with her. That's what drove you to me that night and that's what drives you today. You're afraid of losing Jason and you need to blame someone for that happening."
Tears began to form in her eyes, "He can't be convicted, Sonny."
He walked to her and took her in his arms. "He won't be."
"You don't know that," she said as she cried on his shoulder. "You don't know that Alexis will be able to get him off. He could spend the rest of his life in jail. Beside you, he's the only friend I have. I can't lose him."
He pulled back and took her face in his hands. "Listen to me. You not going to lose Jason. He's going to out of this, I promise. Jason didn't kill Lucky Spencer and the DA doesn't have enough evidence to say he did. This trial will be over before you know it , and Jason will be coming home. Do you want him to come home to you fighting with the woman he loves?"
She jerked her head away. Why did it always come back to that girl? What was so special about her? "She doesn't love him, Sonny."
"I don't know if she's in love with him or not, but I do know she loved him enough to step in front of a bullet for him. She saved his life, and almost lost her own. And he would do the same for her. Don't you think they deserve the chance to try and see what kind of relationship they could have?"
Carly couldn't reply. She didn't know what to think of Elizabeth protecting Jason. Could she really love him like he deserves to be loved? Jason meant so much to her. She looked around her and knew that she wouldn't have had any of this without him. She was happy with her husband and child, and she wanted the same thing for Jason. Elizabeth was right when she said Carly had hurt Jason more than anyone. She had done everything Elizabeth accused her of. That was why she hated Elizabeth so much. She didn't want Jason to hurt anymore. She wanted to make up for all the hurt she had put him through. She wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to have someone to love and be loved. She just didn't think Elizabeth was that someone.
"He deserves someone so much better than the would be artist and model," she said.
"That's his decision, Carly, not yours. If Elizabeth will make him happy, then you shouldn't get in the way of that. You need to accept Elizabeth in Jason's life."
"I don't think I can," she replied.
Sonny sighed. "You have to try because if you make Jason choose between you and Elizabeth, you might not like the outcome," he warned before going into the kitchen to start dinner.
Carly followed Sonny's exit with her eyes. She knew he was right. Jason had warned her already about his choice, she just wouldn't accept it. She and Elizabeth could never be good friends, she thought, not after everything she had done to the younger woman. But she had made a promise to Jason, and she needed to keep it. She needed to work with Elizabeth rather than against her. Then she could have the happy family she'd always wanted.