"You bitch!" Carly screamed as she shoved Sam, sending her flying into Johnny. She was advancing on the woman when she felt strong arms around her and she started to struggle, looking up to see Lorenzo holding onto her, "Let me go! I will kill you, I will kill you!"
"It's because you know I'm right Carly," Sam said as she tried to pull away from Johnny, "He faked his death before and he's doing it again. He wants Jason's life and he wants Jason dead. That's what this is all about. He's not good like Jason, he's just a bastard who's trying to steal his best friends life and his best friends child."
"That's enough," Elizabeth said quietly as she stepped in front of Sam, "You're leaving, now, let's go. I'll walk with you."
"I'm not going anywhere with….ah," Sam winced when she felt Johnny's bruising grip on her wrist, "You know that I'm telling the truth Elizabeth, don't you? You knew that he was alive all along, you were just stringing Jason along, trying to get him back into town, back into your bed and it didn't work. Jason's with me, he's fucking me now and he wants no part of you. I'm sorry that your plan didn't work."
Elizabeth clenched her hands into tiny fists, struggling to contain herself, trying to remember that she was in the intensive care unit at General Hospital. This wasn't the park, she couldn't just haul off and hit her, she would simply have Johnny escort her out.
"How does it feel huh?" Sam laughed, "Sonny didn't want Carly and now Jason doesn't want you. Fate is such a bitch."
Elizabeth laughed, "And so am I. That I learned from Carly. Get her out of here, I don't want to see her," a light appeared in Elizabeth's eyes, "On second thought, do me a favor and take her to a safe house."
"What?" Sam asked startled as she struggled against Johnny and now Francis.
"You can yell out all the crazy theories you want, Sam," Elizabeth smiled as she walked towards the woman, "Because your going to be locked away in a nice little room until I say otherwise."
"When Jason wakes up…"
"I can handle Jason, I've been doing that for seven years," Elizabeth said quietly, "You need to make sure that you're still alive when Jason wakes up because Carly and I, we have quick tempers and you don't want to push our buttons. Go," she said motioning with her head.
Elizabeth turned back to a very pale Carly and a Lorenzo who was supporting her. She slowly walked towards the woman and placed a gentle hand on her arm.
"Lorenzo, can you give us a minute?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
Lorenzo nodded, "I'm going to see if I can find another chair."
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth whispered as she wrapped her arms around Carly and pulled her into a hug, "I have no idea how painful that must have been for you."
"It must have been painful for you too," Carly whispered, "Hearing her blame a man who's barely dead, its…" she broke off in tears, her lean body shuddering against Elizabeth's.
"It's okay," Elizabeth whispered as she smoothed Carly's hair, "I know how much you loved Sonny. I know how much he loved you and I'm sorry that I…"
"You understand," Carly said quietly as she pulled back, "You know what its like Elizabeth because you're here now, with Jason and you're experiencing the pain yourself."
"I'm not…"
"I'm going to tell him what I told you," Carly said quietly, "Don't waste this chance like Sonny and I wasted the last four years."
"You told Jason that?" Elizabeth asked.
Carly nodded, "I also told him that I hated you but that you were the lesser of two evils."
"Oh good," Elizabeth said relieved, "That sounds more like it."
Carly laughed softly as she brushed some hair out of Elizabeth's face, "He'll pull through. I know he will. He won't give up on JJ…or you."
"Everyone keeps telling me that," Elizabeth said rolling her eyes slightly before she turned serious again, "And just remember Carly, you were the one Sonny loved, you were it for him. He knew that you would've destroyed one another and he didn't want that."
"I know," Carly said quietly, "I just didn't want to believe it, I still don't. It's much easier to hate you than to realize that Sonny and I would've ended up in the same place whether or not you were in the picture. I just hate that the last words we said to each other," she laughed slightly as the tears fell from her eyes, "We were always saying to one another, were hateful."
"But he knew," Elizabeth said pulling Carly into another hug, "You both knew of the love you felt for one another."
Francis cleared his throat as he appeared in the hallway with Johnny and Lorenzo behind him, "We borrowed a few more chairs."
Carly laughed as she pulled back and saw Lorenzo struggling with two chairs while Francis and Johnny each carried one, "Nice, make the new guy work," she winked.
"Are you doing okay?" Lorenzo asked as he placed a chair down in front of her.
Carly snorted, "No two bit tramp is going to bring me down."
"That's the girl we know and hate," Johnny grinned as he adjusted the chairs against the wall and then reached for his coffee, "Did you get any cream and sugar? I can't drink it black."
"Jason loves it black," Elizabeth said with a small smile.
"Jason's weird," Johnny said, "I need some cream and sugar."
"Be a man, just drink it," Francis said taking a sip, "Oh, that's hot."
"That's mature," Carly said as Lorenzo handed her a cup of coffee, "Thank you. Start a fight in the hallway of a hospital."
"Us?" Francis asked with a raised eyebrow, "Do we need to review some of your past incidents…"
"Where's Elizabeth's hot chocolate?" Carly asked turning towards Lorenzo.
"That's what I thought," Johnny laughed.
Elizabeth sighed and smiled. She was so grateful that she had people here to support her. She didn't know what she would do without them. There were trying their best to ease her fears by being playfully and upbeat. She just wanted to sit down, enjoy her cocoa and imagine that Jason really was going to be okay. She was ready to take her first sip when she heard a loud buzzing noise over the laughter and she turned her head, curiously.
"What is…"
The doctors and nurses came running out of nowhere, one of them pulling a cart behind them and Jason's door was yanked open, the sounding coming from within.
He had flat lined.
"No," Elizabeth said as she dropped her hot chocolate, the hot liquid spilling all over the floor, "Jason, Jason!" she screamed as she rushed towards the door only to be pushed back by a nurse, held back by Francis, "Jason no!"
"You can't be in here," the nurse said, "Miss, please."
"Jason don't go!" Elizabeth screamed through her tears, "I need you, Jason, I need you!"
Jason opened his eyes and found himself in a large room, darkened, similar to a police interrogation room, minus the wanted posters and proclamations of how wonderful the Port Charles Police Department was.
He scanned the area around him and his eyes found a single metal table, two chairs and Sonny Corinthos sitting on top of it, a half smile on his face.
"Where the hell am I?" Jason asked.
"Purgatory," Sonny grinned, "God's trying to see if I'm really worthy enough to go to heaven," he waved his hand around the room, "I think this is His idea of a joke."
Jason closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, hoping that he would return to the last thing he remembered, being on the front steps of the Brownstone with Sam. When they fluttered back open Sonny was still sitting on the metal table, eyeing Jason curiously.
"It's a vision," Sonny said, "Your mind needed to clear some things up and that's why I'm here."
"Where am I?" Jason asked again waving his hands around.
Sonny stood up from the desk and shoved his hands in his pants pockets, "Doctors are trying to work on you right now, they're trying to save your life."
"What happened to me?" Jason asked advancing towards him, "I was on the steps with Sam, I heard Elizabeth calling me…where's Elizabeth?"
Sonny smiled again, "I'm glad we're on the same page, finally. Sam isn't the woman you are supposed to be with."
"I don't think you have any right to tell me who I'm suppose to be with," Jason said, "You were the one who told me that your death had to stay between us and I come back to town finding out that you are living with Elizabeth and my son."
Sonny's face looked pained, "I never meant for that to happen, Jason, neither of us did. Elizabeth and I just sort of fell into it, after two years you stop fighting it."
"You should've kept on fighting it," Jason said as he advance towards Sonny, shoving the man, "I told you why I left her, I told you that I didn't want her in this world Sonny, I told you I wanted her protected and what did you do?" Sonny stood there, frozen as Jason raised his fist and punched the man in the eye, sending him to the ground, "You fucking took advantage of her. You don't know a damn thing about Elizabeth Webber and I hate what you did to her. I hate you!"
"I was told that you couldn't touch me," Sonny said his eyes moving heavenward, "But if you need to kick my ass than I want you to do it. I want you to stop hating Elizabeth for what happened between us."
"Elizabeth kept my son from me…"
"Is that the whole purpose of Sam McCall?" Sonny laughed, "Because she's an idiot and if you're trying to make Elizabeth jealous you need to start doing a better job of it."
"What is it with you and Carly trying to…?"
"Carly," Sonny sighed, "Still causing trouble I hope."
"She misses you," Jason said, "And I don't know why."
Sonny smiled sadly, "Neither of us ever did, Jason. Elizabeth and I, we knew that we couldn't fill the void caused by you and Carly but we didn't want to suffer any longer so we turned to each other. Should we have done that?" he shrugged, "You can argue for it, against it, we were each others best friends, it happened naturally. I didn't pull her into this world I was protecting her. If this town found out she was carrying your child and you weren't around to…"
"She should've called me!" Jason screamed as he moved towards Sonny again.
"Should've, could've, would've," Sonny snapped, "She didn't Jason and what the hell are you going to do about it? You can't change the past and the two of you are doing the same dance you did four years ago when you left town. You need to decide, you can't keep running away."
"I'm not running…"
"I see everything up here that I want to see," Sonny smirked, "And I saw you pull up to that house, catch her hugging Lorenzo and you roared out of there like the damn devil was on your tail, Jason. Explanations, you need to hear them," he sighed and walked towards Jason again, "Elizabeth is very lonely and she needs a friend desperately. She screwed up, big time, and she hates that she caused you so much pain but she won't lean on you Jason. She wants to show you she's independent, she wants to show you that she can be strong for you and JJ. That's why she's talking to Alcazar. She's not trying to make you jealous, unlike you."
Jason glared at him, "She should've never been in this to begin with."
"Than you should never had slept with her," Sonny said quietly, "Elizabeth doesn't mind this world, she adjusted to it and Jason, she's happy. She has JJ and she has you back in her life. She's struggling to move on, struggling to still please you after all this time. She loves you so much."
"Elizabeth and I…"
Sonny held his hand up, "Don't try and explain it to me. I saw the pain on your face when you left, I helped her through hers and that's why I walked away from Carly, Jason. Elizabeth needed me and I had to be there for her, Carly couldn't accept that, nothing happened for a long time after that. I was never JJ's father."
"I know that," Jason said quietly, "I don't now if I can forgive this Sonny."
"I can't forgive myself," Sonny said, "And that's why I'm here. What I did to you and Carly was unforgivable. I should've been upfront and honest about it. My life has always been about protecting my territory and protecting the people I love and the Big Man, He can see that from my point of view, but the betrayal, taking Elizabeth, that was a line I never should have crossed," he was silent for a moment, "Do you want to hit me again?"
"Who did this to you?" Jason asked quietly.
"I don't know," Sonny said, "I know that something was happening, I knew I was a walking dead man. That was why I wanted you back here, for JJ, for Elizabeth."
"You deliberately went into that warehouse alone," Jason whispered, "Sonny, my God…"
"I wasn't taking Johnny off of Elizabeth," Sonny said quietly, "And Carly and I…" he grinned, "I love her, I love her more than I have ever loved any woman but we would've never made it, we would've killed each other. I would rather be the sacrifice than you Jason and I knew when you got back here you would've rushed into things head on. You need to be careful. I didn't see his face but I did…I heard a woman's laughter, along with Elizabeth's screams."
"Elizabeth…" Jason whispered as he turned towards a sound behind him that sounded like her.
"Jason, I need you. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you this, I'm sorry I've wasted so many years but I need you in my life, Jason, please come back to me. I need you."
"She knows that you know JJ needs you," Sonny said, "She's afraid that won't be enough. She's swallowing her fears of rejection, her pride; she's letting you know that she can't live without you, not again."
Jason turned back to Sonny, "It's not going to be easy. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to look at JJ and not be angry that I lost three years of his life because…"
"Because you were both so stubborn and foolish and wouldn't admit to loving one another," Sonny said, "She's not going to be able to forget that either Jason but you have to talk to her. You can't keep pushing things aside and hoping that they'll get better."
Jason sighed, "I know, it's just…"
"Trust her," Sonny said, "She has a plan, Elizabeth will keep you safe."
"But…"
"And keep Sam where she is."
"Where is she?" Jason asked with knitted eyebrows.
Sonny grinned, "Elizabeth has her locked up in a safe house and it's where she needs to be while you recover," he sighed as he closed his eyes, "It's time."
"Time for what?" Jason asked.
"Time for you to decide if it's worth fighting for," Sonny said moving away from Jason, slipping into the darkness, "Thank you for everything you've ever taught me my friend, our empire, is now yours. I love you, brother."
And then he was gone, disappearing before Jason's eyes. He looked around, trying to figure out how he could get out of this situation when he felt it, a warm liquid on his chest and he looked down, ran his fingers over the dampness in his shirt.
Elizabeth's tears.
He closed his eyes and sighed, "Elizabeth."
The nurse looked at the monitor with wide eyes as it started to beep, one right after the other, "He's back, he's alive."
Elizabeth twisted her fingers in his hospital gown as she pressed her face further against the right side of his chest. Francis and Johnny had to strong arm a doctor to allow her in the room to talk to Jason while they were working on him and she had to push a nurse aside but it worked. She would profess her need for him all over again, in front of these strangers, in front of her two guards if she had to, if it meant that Jason was going to fight for his life.
"Miss," a nurse said, "We need to get him stabilized, we're going to ask you to leave please."
"That's okay," Elizabeth said with a smile, "I can do that. He's going to keep fighting, I know it. Jason doesn't give up, not where his family is concerned."
She let Francis wrap his arm around her waist and lead her out of the room and into the hallway where Carly hugged her tightly and a maintenance worker was cleaning up the remaining hot chocolate that was still left on the floor.
"I'm sorry about that," she said to the man.
"I'm glad that your friend is okay," he smiled sadly.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said softly, "I don't know what happened," she said to Carly, "But he's okay, his heart started beating again."
"Now you've got something to brag about," Carly smiled, "You can tell him that you brought him back from the dead."
Elizabeth laughed softly, "And I will, just as soon as he opens his eyes."
Francis tried to stretch out in his bed and groaned when his elbow knocked into something hard. Opening his eyes he realized that he was still in the hospital hallway and that his boss, his friend, Jason was shot last night.
Looking around he noticed that the rest of the chairs they had set up were vacated. Carly said something last night about going home to check on the boys and Lorenzo offered to drive her. Johnny, not yet trusting the man no matter what Elizabeth said, followed in his car and told Francis he would be back to check on things in the morning.
Francis eyes searched for Elizabeth and he found her, standing outside Jason's hospital room, her palm and forehead pressed against the glass of the window. He stood up slowly, making sure all the kinks were out of his body and made his way quietly towards her.
"Did you get any sleep?" he asked softly.
Elizabeth blinked her eyes, two more tears sliding down her face, "I doze off for a few minutes here and there, I'm alright."
"You haven't eaten anything since early yesterday evening," Francis said quietly, "Let me take you down to the…"
"No, no," Elizabeth whispered, "I need to be here when he wakes up. Jason hates hospitals and he's not going to want to be in one and it'll make things a little better if I'm here to yell at."
Francis placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently, "Elizabeth…"
"He might die," she whispered as she closed her eyes, the tears continuing to fall, "And you know what? I don't care that we didn't fix things, I don't care that things were left hanging, that doesn't matter now Francis, what matters is that Jason might die and he only got to enjoy, what, one month with his son."
"Elizabeth, no." Francis said, knowing where this was leading.
"One month, Francis, one tiny little month and that's not enough to know everything there is to know about JJ," Elizabeth whispered, "That special way he giggles, the way his eyes light up around Christmas time or the way he demands that the Easter Bunny leaves his basket outside the door because he doesn't want him in the house. How about the jokes he gets from TV and the way he repeats them with his hands and all and the way he smiles, just like his father."
She took a shaky breath as she opened her eyes again, resting them on Jason's near lifeless form, "I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to let Jason have JJ. He can move into the cottage, I'll rent a room at the Port Charles Hotel until we can get another house built close by. He needs time with JJ. If something happens to him, no, even if he's alright I will never forgive myself for what I've done," she bit her lip hard, almost drawling blood before she released it, "I stole three years of Jason's life, three years he could have been spending with his son. How does one make up for that, Francis? I don't even know where to begin."