A/N: Okay, so this chapter is a bit longer. I know you've all been waiting to see what Monica's news is about Courtney, so, here it is. I hope it was worth the wait. it's anti-climactic at the moment, but something'll happen to shake things up. Hehe.

Disclaimer: you know the deal. I don't own it.

"I've got news about Courtney."

"Is she alright?'

"Well, 'Alright' is a matter of opinion, I suppose," Monica chuckled. "But she's conscious, groggy, but conscious, and that's a start."

"She's awake?" Jason just wanted to make sure he'd heard her right.

"Yes, Jason, she is. But she's very tired and she needs her rest, so I'll permit two people in to see her at first, then, if I think she's up to it, I'll consider letting another in. Oh, and those two people, one at a time. Speak softly and don't upset her. She's still in serious condition and we need to be gentle with her."

The others nodded in understanding. Nobody wanted to upset Courtney; they just wanted to know that she would be okay and this seemed to be a turn for the better.

"Sooo….who's gonna go?" Mike asked slowly, almost afraid that the tentative question would cause an argument. No one spoke for a long time. Monica's eyes shifted between them all.

"Carly." Jason said shortly, a no-argument tone to his soft voice. Carly eyed him as if she were about to protest, then though better of it upon seeing the look in his eyes. She nodded silently, and then glanced around, knowing the question that no one wanted to pose. Who would follow? The thing was, everyone knew the answer. Jason. It was that simple. If not for him, Courtney would probably have bled to death before Jax could've reached a phone. Jason would follow Carly. The words were never spoken but it was known by all who stood in that waiting room.

"Come on, Carly." Monica said at long last, breaking the tense silence that had fallen. She led the woman she wasn't exactly fond of into Courtney's room. "Remember, speak softly. Try not to make or let her move too much." Carly, again, nodded wordlessly as slipped into the silent and dark room.

"Court?" Carly whispered, sitting in the chair beside the bed. The blonde head on the pillow shifted to face her, eyes barely open. A tiny sound escaped chapped lips as she tried to speak. Carly shushed her gently and brushed wisps of hair off of her forehead. "Shh, you don't have to talk. Just relax. Everything's going to be okay."

"C-Carly," was her mumbled response.

"Shh, I told you not to try and talk. You have to rest now, more than ever." Tears formed in the corners of the older woman's eyes. "You've had us scared half to death, you know that? What'd you go and get shot for?" Carly sniffled as a droplet rolled from her eye to her chin and fell on the hand that she had over Courtney's. "Felt like I was losing my sister."

Carly smiled as Courtney weakly squeezed her hand. "What happened?" The blonde asked, blue eyes hazy with pain medication.

Carly hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. Jason'll know, I'm sure he'll tell you when he comes in." Courtney nodded, heart beating a bit quicker. Jason was there. Everything really was going to be alright. Carly stood, knowing that it was Jason whom Courtney wanted to see.

"I'll send him in," she promised, leaning down to kiss her sister's forehead before quietly leaving the room to retrieve the Enforcer. When she found him, she nodded in the hospital room's direction and he nodded back, striding forward, face unreadable as he walked through the doorway.

Jason slid into the room silently and hesitated. What if she didn't want him there? What if it was Jax that she truly wanted to see? The thought made his stomach twist into nauseating little knots. He squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and looked at the woman of the bed before him. Her eyes were closed, heavy lids covering startlingly blue eyes, long lashes gracing pale cheeks. Courtney; his heart ached at the sight of her. The steady beeping of the heart monitor serving only as a reminder of the shooting he hadn't been able to stop.

Suddenly, as if she could feel his eyes upon her, Courtney stirred. She had been trying to stay awake, knowing that Carly would be sending Jason in to her, but the drugs were working against her. "Jason…" She whispered, reaching a shaking hand out to him, and in that instant, Jason knew that his fears had been uncalled for, unnecessary. In an instant, his fears shriveled away and he went to her, taking her hand. Their fingers slid together as if they were always meant to be joined, as if he was always meant to be there to take her hand when she was too weak to get to him.

Jason sat on the edge of her bed, fighting away the moisture that came and prickled in the corners of his eyes. He leaned down and pressed his lips onto her forehead, thumb stroking the back of her hand as he pulled back to look at her. She smiled at him, it was feeble and lacked its usual warming brilliance, but it was a smile none-the-less, and that was enough for him. He smiled back, though it couldn't quite reach the lingering fears from that morning and the pain of guilt in his eyes.

"What happened, Jason?" She asked slowly. Jason hesitated, not sure if now was the right time to say that she'd been shot simply because she was Sonny Corintho's sister. In the end, he decided that she needed to know. She wanted to know.

"Someone shot you," He replied, equally as slow. She opened her mouth to ask her next question but he interrupted with the answer. "I don't know who. Not yet." At the last part, his voice and eyes grew hard with anger

"You will."

"I will." Courtney smiled slightly at his hardened response. It was a defense mechanism for him, this harsh exterior. He was afraid for her. She could see it in the way he looked at her; as if she would break if he touched her, or held her hand too hard. She reached up and touched his cheek with a slim, graceful hand.

"I'm okay Jase." His face snapped up to hers at this, eyes boring into hers. That simple statement broke down the barriers that he had spent the last several minutes in the waiting room building. She read him as though he were a book in a public library. The tears returned to his eyes, threatening to spill, despite his greatest efforts.

"I thought I'd lost you." He admitted; Jason mentally berated himself for letting his voice sound so fragile. "For good this time." She reached for his hand and pulled it up to touch her face.

"I'm right here." There was a pause as that realization finally descended upon him; touching her, hearing her speak, she would be alright after all. But it didn't stop his next words from sounding as shaky as they did when he spoke them.

"There was blood….everywhere…I got to your apartment and the blood was everywhere."

"Jase-."

"I couldn't tell, at first, where you'd been shot or even if you were still breathing. I felt like I'd died…" The last admission was almost inaudible, but Courtney heard, her big heart breaking for him as she reached her arms around his neck and he bent to hold her to him. They stayed like that for a long time; her arms around his shoulders, and his gentle holding her, fingers stroking her hair.

"I still love you." He admitted in a hesitant whisper and her shoulder's stiffened in his embrace. Jason's heart froze as he waited for her reaction.

TO BE CONTINUED...