A/N: yay! i updated! yay!

Ch. 22 Barely Above

The mechanical transport traveled up the building carrying its two passengers with it. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable but neither of them broke it. She was glad to be getting out of the hospital, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to be going home. Simply because she didn't know what home was or what was waiting for her there.

It was a horrible feeling, looking at the people around and only seeing strangers. There was no significant difference to between the hospital staff and the people that came to see her. She felt the man's eyes on her but did not meet them. She didn't want to see the pity that she knew would be there. It was the same thing she saw on every nurse and doctor that she had to see in the past few days. It made her sick, she didn't want pity. She just wanted to feel normal; whatever that was.

Jason looked at her while she stared at the floor, he could tell she was intentionally avoiding his gaze. He also noticed that she had put as much distance between the two of them as the small elevator would allow. At the hospital he had seen how uncomfortable the place made her and how anxious she was to get out. But he could see that she was reluctant to go with or trust him. When he saw that, he wondered if it should have been Sonny to bring her home since he was the first person she'd seen, or remembered seeing; she might have trusted him the slightest. But that wasn't an option as Sonny had said he had work to do.

The small bell rang, slicing through the still air and the doors slid apart revealing the floor. Out of habit, Jason reached out and placed his hand on her lower back to usher her forward. He silently cursed himself for doing so when he felt her cringe and pull away from his touch. He shook his head slightly before stepping out after her, barely stopping in time when she stopped abruptly in the hallway. He wondered what made her stop so suddenly when he saw her looking back and forth between the two doors on the floor.

"It's this one." he said gently, before walking to the door and opening it. He stood in the hall and waited for her to go in first.

Slowly, Courtney entered and stood awkwardly in the room. This was her home. It was nice, not that she had much to compare it too besides the hospital, but it was nice; simple. A thougth popped into her head and she turned to him.

"We live here together?" she asked. Jason was surprised that he hadn't thought of mentioning it already to her.

"Yeah, for a little while."

"So...we're, like, together?" she asked shifting her weight from one leg to the other uncomfortably.

Jason opened his mouth to rely when he heard footsteps scamper excitedly through the hall and through the still open door. The redhead entered the penthouse and greeted his unlce with a wide grin.

"Hi." he said happily.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?"

"I can't find the book you gave me. I wanted to read it."

Courtney watched the interaction between Jason and the boy. It was obvious there was a special bond between the two of them. But it was their relationship that frightened her. What was the boy to Jason? A brother? A nephew? A son? The last one nearly sent her mind into panic. Was he Jason's son? With her? Did she have a child she didn't know about? Her fear subsided slightly when she heard the boy call him 'Uncle Jason.' She relaxed a little, releasing a breath she had apparently been holding. She saw the boy's eyes fall on her and widen in delight. He ran to her, closing the space between them in mere seconds. His small arms wraped around her waist in a vice grip.

"Aunt Courtney! Aunt Courtney! You're back!" he cheered happily, keeping his arms tightly wrapped around her bouncing up and down a few times. "Where did you go? Why did you leave? Did you miss us? How come you stayed away so long?"

"Uh-I-" she stuttered having no idea what to tell the boy. His questions flew out at a mile a minute. He kept his small arms latched to her, all the while inquiring her about so much.

"Hey Micheal, why don't you go tell you're mom and dad I'll be over to talk to them in a second?"

"Daddy's not home."

"Well, can you tell your mom then?"

"But, I want to stay."

"Michael, please."

"Oh, ok." he gave in and released the his hold on her. "I'm glad you're home Aunt Courtney."

After he left, Jason looked nervously to her and could see the affect their nephews visit had on her.

"So, we're his aunt and uncle? That-That means we're married?" she asked looking at her hands.

"No. I've known him since he was a baby, and he's Sonny's son." Jason explained. He caught hold of his words and tried to rectify himself. "Sonny's your-"

"Brother. Yeah, I know, I-I was told."

"I'm sorry about Michael. He's just-"

"It's fine. I'm just-I'm just kind of tired. Can I just lay down?"

Jason nodded and disputed over whether or not he should immediately tell her where the bedroom was. He felt like he had already slipped assuming he needed to tell her who Sonny was and he didn't want to do it again. He didn't want her to think that he assumed she was helpless.

"Umm...where should I..." she asked him, leaving the end off her question. She hated having to ask for directions in what was supposed to be her home.

"It's upstairs on the left." he answered. He watched her make her way to the stairs, his heart wrenched as he watched her climb them with slow uneasy steps. He continued to watch what, to anyone else would have been an everyday activity that took no thought at all. But he saw the focus that it took, making the small task appear equal to climbing a mountain. Once she finally disappeared up the stairs, he made his way across the hall.

He door opened and Carly stoodup as Jason entered. He had certainly looked better, she noticed, not for the first time, how the past days had affected him.

"Hey. Michael told me he saw Courtney. What happened?"

"Well, he came in looking for his book, saw her, hugged her, started asking all sorts of questions." he spoke placing his hands on his hips.

"What happened? I mean, how did she react?"

"She looked afraid, confused, you know, unsure what to do or say. She said it was fine, but..." he trailed off, knowing there was no need to continue. His friend gave him a quick comforting embrace before speaking again.

"Michael's going to want to spend time with her now that he knows she's back. I don't know how to tell him. I know he's smart and mature and understandingn when we have to tell him things, but this..." she shook her head slowly side to side. "How do you tell someone a person they love doesn't know who they are?"