Ch. 40 Welcome To Hell

He stood in the hallway, just outside the room, listening intently to the woman before him as she explained the reason for her urgent demand when she called him earlier. He hadn't known what to expect, all he knew was that he got to the hospital faster than he could ever remember getting anywhere.

"So I called you. I figured you would be the one who could calm her down." she finished.

"Ok." he nodded, unsure what else to say. "Thank you."

Carly placed her hand on his shoulder in a supportive gesture, and he thanked her with his eyes before he turned to enter the room. It looked the same as it did the last time he was in there. Jason sat down in the chair that remained next to the mattress and observed. He thought about the story Carly told him; that she had come back to the room to find Courtney trying to get out of the bed. Before she had been able to stop the escape attempt, she had already torn some stitches. Even then she wanted nothing to do with the doctors or the hospital.

She stirred for a moment before waking completely in front of him. Jason said nothing at first until he saw her attempt to pull the I.V. needle from her arm.

"Hey, hey." he said softly, taking hold of her hand in his and stopping her actions. "Don't do that."

"I have to get out of here." she spoke, and tried to pull her hand from his, but his grip held fast.

"You have to stay." he informed. " At least for a day or two. Monica wants to make sure you're ok. They're going to do some tests-"

"No!" she interrupted. "No more doctors, no more tests, no more questions. I can't be here. I need to go."

"Courtney, you have to calm down." he instructed.

Her eyes met with his and his breath caught for a moment. He saw the anger and determination dwelling in the deep orbs before him, that much he expected. What he hadn't expected was when those emotions vanished and only one was visible.

Fear.

"Do you-Do you remember what happened?" he asked her. In an instant, as quickly as it arrived, the fear disappeared and she was angry again. More so than before.

"Yes. I remember." she said spitefully. "I can remember just fine. The car went over a God damn hill. See, I remember!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" he trailed off. He hadn't meant to imply that he didn't think she would. He just wanted to make sure she knew why she was there. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Forget it." she suggested angrily and looked away from him.

An awkward silence settled upon them and Jason shifted uncomfortably in the seat. He had not done a good job of keeping her calm and convincing her staying was for the best. He really wasn't the right person for the job anyway. Who was he to tell someone to stay in a hospital or trust doctors? In fact, any and every time he ended up in the hospital, he had also made a point of getting out as soon as possible. Even if it was against the doctors orders.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered. "You can let me get the hell out of here"

" That's not up to me."

"Then find whoever it is 'up to!'" she shouted at him.

He nodded, and , after deciding he was doing more harm than good, got up to find Monica. He stood outside the door for a moment and heard her loud curse followed by the bang of the small food tray as it was thrown against no particular target within the room. He definitely hadn't done a good job at all.

She entered the well-sized room, and immediately saw him standing near the window looking down upon the city. Robin knew she owed him the largest the largest and most sincere thank you in human history. But she also knew that he did not stop Jason from killing her out of the goodness of his heart. He wanted something in return.

"Ms. Scorpio." he greeted. "I see you've, once again, gotten yourself into a mess that needed my intervention."

"Thank you for saving my life." she offered. "But.."

"But you want to know what I ask for in return." he finished.

He grinned as Robin only nodded. Emotion was a weakness. An effective and manipulative one at that. People led by their feelings were only that much easier to persuade.

"How far are you willing to go to get what you want?"he asked.

"As far as it takes." she answered honestly.

"Perfect."