Chapter 15- Back to Reality
"Serena. Serena come on. Serena…" said Emily
Serena opened her eyes and looked at Emily. And her face said everything. Serena couldn't believe it. Standing in front of her was Emily. But… she wasn't in the church. She was on the roof of the hospital. She was very disoriented, but she was still able to figure out what had happened. She had dreamed Jason's death. The funeral never happened. She was still sitting on the roof, and now she was staring at Emily.
"I was looking all over for you" said Emily. "My mom should be out with news on Jason any minute"
"So he's not dead?" she asked
"We don't know yet" said Emily, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Em, I had a terrible dream. Jason was gone. And it hurt so much" she said as she and Emily hugged.
"I know. I know" said Emily, mirroring what Kemen had said to her in her dream. She got the chills, hoping that that was the extent of her life mirroring her dream.
The two girls made it back into the waiting room just in time to see Monica emerge. Her face looked somber, and Serena tried to swallow a new round of tears.
"I have news on Jason" she said, although everyone already knew she did.
"How is he?" asked Nikolas, being the only one there who was able to speak
Monica sighed. "He doesn't look so good. He lost so much blood, and he had a lot of internal damage. I-I don't know if he's going to make it through the night. It'll be a miracle. He's unconscious now from the blood loss. I don't know if he'll wake up" said Monica as she cried for her son. She never stopped loving him, despite his efforts to push her away.
"Can we see him?" asked Serena quietly
"He's really not supposed to have visitors. But- go right in" said Monica whispering the last part.
The whole group snuck into Jason's hospital room. He was lying in the bed, very very pale. His face still had some blood on it, and he was hooked up to an incredible amount of machines. Serena got a damp cloth from the bathroom in his room and sat down at the stool next to his bed. She started cleaning his face, getting rid of the blood. She ignored the other people in the room. She ignored Emily and Carly staring at their rock lie so still, Sonny watching his brother in pain, and Nikolas just looking uncomfortable. They stood by the bed, allowing Serena to be the closest to him. She just brushed his hair off his forehead and washed his face. She felt his five o'clock shadow, and she sighed. Everyone stood there for a few minutes without saying anything.
"He looks like he's just asleep and going to wake up any second, doesn't he" said Carly softly
"Yeah" agreed Emily.
The rest of the night was like that. Everyone just stood around him, unsure of what to say. Finally, Monica came in and told them that they really had to leave. They all regretfully piled out of the room. That is, everyone except for Serena. She refused to leave his bedside. Of course, no one argued with her.
"Scoot over Morgan" she whispered once everyone was gone. She knew he couldn't 'scoot over', but she wasn't ready to accept that. She climbed into the bed with him, and rested her head on his shoulder. She looked under his hospital gown and sighed at the stitches she saw, accompanied by the bruises.
"And you were worried about me getting hurt" she said as she kissed his cheek.
"I love you" she said, as she fell asleep in his arms.
"What happened?" asked Sonny to Kemen as they arrived back at Sonny's penthouse.
"I'm not sure. All I know is I heard the gun shots, and I ran in to find the guard. I shot him, and got Jason out of there."
"Whose house was it anyway?" asked Sonny
"I'm not sure. I wasn't able to find anything out. The room I was looking in was worthless. There was a safe, but it was locked"
"We need to get into that safe" said Sonny
"I know" said Kemen.
"But right now, we need to focus on Jason" said Sonny
"I know" said Kemen again, worried sick about his little sister. She seemed so different now that Jason was in that hospital bed. She seemed weaker. She seemed destructible.
He didn't know what was going on. It hurt. It hurt so much. He wanted to moan, but he found no noise came out of his mouth. He felt something warm on his arm. But his other side felt cold. Something wasn't right. Was he being held somewhere? Was he kidnapped? He tried to open his eyes, but he found he was too tired. He tried again, and this time, it worked. He looked around at his surroundings. It was sterile and white. He was in the hospital. He recognized it as General Hospital. He ignored the pain and looked down at the warm thing on his arm. It was a girl. Specifically, his girl. His Serena. He smiled a little to see her there. He moved a little to get a better look at her, but let out a groan as pain shot through his body. The groan was enough to wake her, and she shot up.
"Oh my god" she said, one hand flying to her mouth. "Jason?" she questioned
"Hi" he said softly, unable to say more. His throat hurt too much, and even the one word had come out scratchy
"You're alive" she said as she let out a sigh of relief,
He smiled at her. He closed his eyes in comfort when he felt her hand on his cheek, and then brushing his spiky hair off of his forehead. She bent down and kissed his forehead and told him she'd be right back. The second she left he was cold again. He wanted her to be with him. A minute later she returned with Bobbi.
"Good morning Jason" said Bobbi with a smile as she looked at him.
He moaned and grabbed for Serena's hand. She went over to him and took his hand, holding it tightly. Bobbi checked him out and declared him a miracle. With some intensive healing, he would be ok. He had defied the odds by waking up. Serena briefly let go of his hand to get him some water. She held the cup to his lips and he gratefully drank in the cool liquid. She bent down and kissed his forehead again as she played with his hair. He smiled at her.
"I'm so glad you're ok" she mumbled
"Me too" he said looking into his eyes. "Serena, I need to tell you something" he said
"What is it?" she asked
"When we were in that house, I found something and-"
"Jason, I don't want to hear it" she said. "Don't worry about business"
"Serena, this is important. Do you have my jacket?" he asked
"Yeah, right here" she said holding up his leather coat.
"In the left pocket, there's a key. I don't know what it leads to, but it has to be important. It was very well hidden" he said.
But the talking was too much and he found it hard to breathe. He started coughing, and she ran to his side, sitting down on the bed and caressing his face.
"Shh, it's ok" she said, trying to calm him down
"Serena, I've got to get out of here"
"No, you need to rest" she said
"Serena, I can't stay here. You know I hate hospitals"
"Jason, you were shot 5 times. You were supposed to die. It's a miracle that you pulled through, so you're just going to have to deal with the hospital" she said stubbornly.
She was interrupted by the Corinthos family and Emily walking into the room, all happy to see Jason. Family bonding time lasted about an hour. Michael was upset to see his strong Uncle Jason like this, but Jason was able to assure him that he was ok. Finally, the family left, and it was just Serena and Jason again.
"Get some sleep" she whispered
"Only if you're with me" he said
"I'll be right here" she said sitting back down on the stool.
"You need sleep too. Come and lie down with me" he said moving over so there was room for her in the bed too.
"No, it's ok" said Serena
"What aren't you telling me?" he asked
"Nothing" she said, breaking the eye contact.
"Hey, it's me. You can tell me anything" he said
"Alright," she said sighing, "I had this really bad dream. And in it, you died, and you left me. And it was just too much to bear. And Jason, I don't want to have that dream again"
"You don't have to" he said as he played with a strand of her hair, "'cause I'm not going anywhere"
"How can you promise me that?" she asked him
"I can't. But you can't promise me you won't leave either. It's the risk of our job. But it's something we both need to accept, and move past"
"Your right" she whispered, climbing into the bed with him. "You're taking up too much room"
"I was shot 5 times; I'm allowed to take up as much room as I want"
"Nah-ah" she said
"Are you 6 years old?"
She rolled her eyes at him and smiled. She was so glad that he was ok. She positioned herself in the bed so that she was leaning on his less injured side. He pulled her in tighter to himself, and breathed in a sigh of relief that she was in his arms. She was perfect. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and understanding. He felt terrible for putting her through this whole ordeal.
"I'm sorry" he said, his eyes closed as he tried to make the scene go away. He wanted the stark white walls of the hospital to be gone, and instead be somewhere better with her. She deserved it.
"For what?" she asked softly, cuddling in deeper to his warm embrace.
"For everything. For putting you through this. For getting shot, and for scaring you. And making you worry so much about me. And for giving you another excuse not to live a better life. You deserve so much better than this. You're so much smarter than this. You could do anything you want, but you're tied down to me and this lifestyle. I've taken away any chance you have at a better life" he said sadly.
"Jase, what are you talking about?" she asked, touching his face. "I was in this business long before you came into my life, and I always will be. Don't let Kemen fill your head with crap about me being better than this. This is the life I chose. I didn't want to be in some stuffy office, miserable and hating my job. I wanna do something with a little excitement. And I am not tied down to anything. I choose to be with you because I love you. And the next time you give me this whole 'doubting myself feeling sorry for myself' attitude, I'm gonna take you down, bullet wounds or not. Got it?" she asked, turning into her tough self at the end of her speech.
"Got it" he said, looking at her with his love sick smile.
"Good" she said, bending down to kiss her. "Now go to sleep"
"But-"
"I don't wanna hear it" she ordered. "Not another word"
"But I just wanted to tell you that I love you" he mouthed at her.
"I love you too" she said, smiling at him.
"See, that didn't count as another word" he said proudly.
"Yes, but that just counted as a whole lot of –nother words. Go to sleep" she said, settling back down into his arms.
He pulled her back tightly to him, and focused on her spunk, beauty, and perfection, instead of the pain he had put her through.
"What's the legal definition for insanity?" Jason asked Emily as she sat by his bedside, reading a magazine.
"The inability to tell right from wrong" she answered, not looking up from her magazine
"So it's not being out of your mind?"
"That's the clinical definition" she answered.
"Ok. Emily?"
"Yes Jason"
"I think I've gone clinically insane"
"Jason, it's been a week. You have only been in bed for a week" she said throwing down her magazine
"It's been the longest week of my life" he moaned. "I'm fine you know" he said.
"Sure. Except your not" she answered, going back to Vogue.
"Look Em, just let me get out of this bed and take a little walk"
"And risk Serena cutting off my head? I don't think so?"
"Em…" he whined.
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Hey, you miss me?" asked Serena walking in to Jason's room and giving him a kiss.
Her hair was still wet from the shower she had gone home to take, as she didn't want to spend the time to dry it with Jason still in the hospital. Plus, she knew he had been trying to sneak out of bed.
"How is he?" she asked Emily, acting like Jason wasn't even there.
"Other then developing a mild case of cabin fever and the ability to whine, the patient is in top condition"
"Does that mean I can go home?" he asked, sitting up in the bed.
"Shh baby, let the adults talk" she said, easily pushing him back into bed without even turning around to look at him.
"You've gotten more sarcastic since I've been shot" he said.
"What does that tell you?" she asked, finally turning around to face him with a big smile on her face.
"I'm gonna take off. See you guys later" said Emily as she got up and left.
"Seriously, how do you feel?" asked Serena, her voice softening as she sat down on the bed next to him.
"I'm fine"
"Nothing hurts, no broken stitches?" she asked, pulling back the covers to look at his wounds.
"I'm on heavy painkillers- I cant feel anything"
"Explains the whining and pouting" she said, caressing his face again.
"You don't need to constantly be here you know. You can take the time to eat, and sleep, and wash all the shampoo out of your hair" he said, pulling a gloop of shampoo out of her hair.
"Eww, that's kinda gross" she said with a laugh. "But I'm not leaving your side. And I know if the positions were reversed, you wouldn't leave mine"
"You're so incredible and beautiful" he said, captivated by the sight of her as he ran a hand over her face.
"Even with shampoo in my hair?" she asked
"Even with shampoo in your hair" he said, sitting up to kiss her.
When they broke away, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in tight for a hug.
"Where do Sonny and Kemen stand on getting back into that house?" asked Jason
"No. No business"
"Serena, come on. Did they find out if that key definitely goes to that safe Kemen found?"
"Not yet. But they're looking into it. Don't worry"
Jason sighed. Serena tried to copy him with a sigh of her own, but instead a yawn came out.
"Your exhausted" he said, looking at her drooping eyelids.
"I'm fine" she said.
"Babe, come on. Go home and come back tomorrow. Take another shower, eat something, and get some sleep. I don't need you making yourself sick"
"I'm not making myself sick" she argued.
"Go home" he said.
"Love you too" she mocked, pressing her forehead to his.
"I do love you. Which is why I need you to go home" he answered.
"Alright, fine. But I don't like this" she said, getting out of the bed. "I'm gonna call Carly"
"What for?"
"Someone needs to sit with you"
"I'm a big boy. I can lie here all by myself. I'll just watch TV or something"
"You sure?" she asked.
"I'm sure" he answered.
"Fine, but don't you dare get out of this bed" she warned. "I'd hate to have to kick your ass"
"There will be no ass-kicking. I will stay in bed" he said.
"Your damn right you will, Sonny posted a guard outside of your door"
"Your kidding me"
"Nope, it's for your protection. This unnamed enemy or one of Herena's men could still try to kill you. And with you lying here out of order, you cant protect yourself"
"I don't need a guard" he said
"I'm gonna go now" she said, ignoring him. "I love you" she said, bending down to kiss him.
"I love you too. Goodnight" he said, deciding it was no use arguing with her.
"Goodnight" she replyed, turning around at the doorway to blow him another kiss
Once she was out of an ear shot, Jason sighed with relief.
"Sorry Serena, but I need to do this" he said, swinging his legs out of the bed.
A/N: haha. I got you all. You guys thought Jason was dead. Silly little readers. I love Jason and I wouldn't kill him off, I just torture him. Although, if I don't get my reviews I may be forced to have the man gunned down or something. I'm just saying...remember that I need 5 reviews.