They were arguing inside, and Sam didn't want to go in. It would have been hard enough if Jason were alone, but knowing that Sonny was just behind that door made it all the harder. She had no idea how long Sonny had been in there, or what he'd told him. From what she could hear, they were discussing Carly, which made her believe that Sonny hadn't told him about the final altercation at the mansion.

If Jason didn't already know, going into his room with her lip and cheek swollen wasn't going to make this easy. When she got out of the car, Sam had taken one last look at her face. It wasn't bad, not as bad as she'd seen it in the past. It could have been a lot worse. Her cheek was red and aching, but she didn't think it would bruise. The cut inside her lip stung, but it would heal. Overall, it felt worse than it looked, and she thought maybe that was something.

Sam swallowed hard and gripped the doorknob. The yelling grew louder, and if they didn't stop soon, someone would come inside. For a moment, Sam wondered if she should have called someone. Not Carly, because she'd been through enough. She deserved whatever downtime she was currently getting care of Alcazar. But, maybe an orderly would have been helpful, or maybe one of the doctors. Someone in this hospital had to be close enough to the Quartermaines to give a damn if Sam said Jason's room needed to be cleared.

But, then again, that could just lead to someone actually calling Monica, Alan, or any of a dozen Quartermaines. Jason would probably have preferred to just fight it out with Sonny as opposed to dealing with any of them. If she wasn't going to call Carly, there just wasn't anyone else for her to call. There was only Sam, and she had to get in there and "do the do," as she'd once heard in a movie.

Taking a deep breath, Sam pushed the door open and was instantly hit by a barrage of sound. "…you do, Sonny! You don't own the world!"

"You gave Carly and Michael to me. What is it you told me? You gave me your family to take care of them. So why won't you help me take care of them!"

"Because you hurt them! How many times do we have to go over this?" Jason groaned and eyes closed. He tried to lower his voice and said, "You're trying to turn this entire thing into betrayal against you. I sided with Sam, I sided with your enemy, I sided with everyone but you." As he spoke, his voice rose again. "But, you're the one that betrayed me, Sonny! You betrayed us all, and you keep doing it! You don't care!"

"Who have I betrayed, Jason? I was trying to fight for my daughter!"

"And in the process, you said the hell with the rest of us! I'll give you the stuff before. You were worried about Kristina, we all were. But dammit, Sonny, all I asked you to do was trust me! Listen to me! But, no. Of all people, I had to trust Alcazar because you wouldn't trust me! Sam and Carly risked their lives to find Kristina and all you could do is hurt Carly! I'm not going to help you do it, anymore! I'm not helping you…"

He stopped, not because he couldn't go on, but because his eyes caught Sam as she slid inside the room and walked far around Sonny. She could feel Jason's eyes on her, most specifically on her face. Her hand rose absently to her cheek and she winced. She crossed the room to Jason and took his outstretched hand.

"Sam…" His hand rose and he brushed her cheek. She winced again and his head whipped around to Sonny. "What the hell did you do to her?"

"Jason, it was an accident." Sonny twitched nervously. His movements reminded Sam of how he'd been when she was being interrogated about Kristina. He was lost, and if her cheek didn't sting, if she didn't remember the look on his face when he'd held Carly, when he'd slapped her, she would have felt sorry for him. "I was trying ot get Carly out of the house…"

"So you hit her?" This time, he didn't scream. His voice caught in his throat and his eyes glistened. He looked up at Sam with such apology in his eyes, such pain. "I can't believe you'd do this, Sonny. I've seen you…" He swallowed thickly and turned back to Sonny. "I've seen you throw women away, and it was never my place to say anything. No matter what I feel about any of them… You've thrown Carly away more times than I can count and expected her to wait for you. You threw Brenda away how many times? God, Sonny, you sent me into her wedding to tell her it's been a nice ride. You threw Sam away and then wanted to use her as an incubator. You even threw your own sister away."

"Jason, you don't have to say this," Sam told him. She tried to pull away, but he kept a tight grip on her arm. "Jason…"

"I let you do these things, because I didn't want to make a choice. I didn't want to make a decision that would hurt. You threw so many away, and others left you, but I wasn't turning away. We were like brothers. But, dammit, Sonny… Carly? Sam? Who are you going to hit next?"

"I didn't meant to do it, Jase." Sonny sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. "I apologized, and I tried to make them understand."

"Apologies won't make the bruises go away, Sonny." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Get out."

"Jason…"

"Get out!"

He kept his eyes closed and Sam turned her back on Sonny. Neither of them moved until they both heard the door close. Until they both knew they were alone. Sam brushed Jason's cheek and his eyes opened slowly. She smiled at him, glad to see him and glad to be near him. The relief of his arrival in Manhattan was nothing compared to the weight that was lifted off of her chest when he looked up at her. It was the first time they'd been alone since she left Alcazar's yacht, and even this moment was tainted.

"Tell me what happened, Sam." She took a step back, but again, he held her near. "Please, Sam. I just… I just threw away the first friendship that I can remember. A ten year friendship. I need to hear exactly why."

When put that way, Sam wished she hadn't gone to the hospital until the next day. By then, the puffiness would have resided. The sting would have been gone. Had Jason not seen her face, had they not been forced to explain what happened, he might have been able to salvage his friendship with Sonny. Jason loved her, and he loved Carly, but she knew how deeply he loved Sonny. He'd said it himself. They were brothers and now, after all of this, Sonny would be no better, if not worse, than she knew his biological brother to be in his eyes.

"Sam, please."

She sighed and her body shuddered. "Carly and I… We went to pick up the boys, and, as you can guess, Sonny wouldn't just give them up. He and Carly started arguing and, Jason, I just stood there watching. Maybe… I don't know. Maybe I was going to sneak past them and get upstairs and get the boys, but they moved to the stairs."

Sam paused and took in deep breaths. As she got closer and closer to the incident, her chest became heavier and heavier. She gripped Jason's hand with her free hand, and he let her arm go. She covered their hands with her other one and looked down at him. "I don't know, Jase. I mean, they were arguing and then he grabbed her, and it was just… I said something that, thinking back on it, I didn't mean, but right then, I really meant it."

"What did you say?"

"I said… I said that if he was what Lila had to look forward to, I was glad that she's gone." Tears dropped from her eyes and she rose one hand to wipe them away, then retook Jason's hands. "I'm not glad she's gone, Jason. Every day, I wish I had my little girl, but right then… I know him, I know his kind. I wouldn't want Lila to grow up with that as a father, and I knew that she would. Because he would fight us, ya know?"

"I'd have done whatever I could to protect her, Sam." Jason lifted his right hand to her cheek. It stung for only a second, then she rubbed her face in his palm. "I wouldn't have let him take her from us."

"I know," she said, her voice thick with tears. "I just… I said it, and he just… He hit me, and I fell and…" She sighed. "I had your gun, the one you keep in the glove box? I had the gun and before I knew it, I had it on him, and I just… I was ready to shoot him, Jason. I sent Carly to get the boys and if she hadn't come down when she did, I'd have shot him. She talked me down, without ever saying the word gun, because she had the boys, and…" She shook her head and barked a laugh that seemed close to a sob. "Can you believe it? Carly and I on some kind of psychic level? Carly and I needing each other?"

He smiled softly. "The most I was hoping for was that you two would pretend to get along when I was around."

"Yeah, well, I think we can handle that." She leaned down and brushed his lips with her own. Her eyelashes were wet and left minute damp lines on his cheekbones when her eyelids fluttered. Sam pulled back and rolled her lips. "I'm sorry, Jason. I know you don't want to hear it, and you say I don't have a reason to be sorry, but I got you into this. All of you, and I'm sorry for this."

"Don't be sorry," he told her. "If anybody should be sorry, it's Sonny. And me."

"Jase…"

"I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I wasn't there for any of you. I've always said that I wouldn't let the people I loved down, and that's exactly what I've done."

"Jason, you haven't let me down. If it weren't for you, I'd still be in jail and Durant would still have Kristina. You got me out of police custody, and that was asking more of you than I should have." Sam brushed her fingertips across his forehead. "This was something that you couldn't have taken care of, and in the end… I don't know. If Carly and I can keep up the level we've got now, then it was worth it for me. The question is, was it worth it for you?"

Jason continued to lightly run Sam's cheek. He pushed his fingers back into her hair, letting his fingers tap lightly against her scalp. She could still see the pain in his eyes, the ache of realization and choices made, but there was also love there. His eyes held enough love for her that his silence didn't make her afraid. Jason pulled her head down and lightly kissed her lips. Sam slid her hand from his forehead to his cheek as their lips lingered, her hair falling over both their faces.

Finally, they pulled apart, and Jason gave her the best smile that he could muster. It was small, but still genuine. "Yes," he said softly, "it was worth it."