Disclaimer: I don't own anything…
Last Train Home Ch. 14:
Jason slammed his phone shut with a look of rage grazing his strong facial features. Elizabeth? He knew that she was upset, but he had never once bared witness to her becoming violent. She wasn't the most stable woman, but something in his mind screamed that what Penny saw couldn't possibly true. Maybe it was his residual feelings that kept him from giving Liz sole blame. He didn't want to believe that someone he had once had romantic feelings for would go out of her way to hurt him or his ex wife.
"What was that about?" Sonny's low timber broke into his thoughts. Jason turned back around to see both Sonny and Carly looking at him with skeptical gazes. He wanted to tell them, but this was something he would have to handle on his own. He got him and Courtney into this mess and he would make sure that they both got of it, alive. Rather than lie to his friends, he chose to ignore their looks and marched over to his ex wife's room.
His stomach fluttered when he entered the pristine hospital room. He hated the rooms at General Hospital. They were all the same and represented everything in life he feared. Death, pain, and suffering were all homed in each one of the identical cubicles. Letting out a sigh, he forced himself over to Courtney's bedside. She looked so tiny and fragile, a state that he had never seen her in. Even in her worst moments, Courtney Matthews was strong and independent and now she wasn't. No, the woman who never wanted any help was stuck depending on machines to keep her alive. How is that for irony?
"Hey," he whispered trying hard to keep all emotion from his voice. "I'm going to fix this." It was a promise that he had made to himself and was now making to her. "And when I do, I don't want you to ever leave again. I need you, whether it's right or wrong." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her feverish forehead as a silent vow to return soon.
Jason found Sonny and Carly still in the waiting area when he exited Courtney's room. They were still questioning him with their stares but he chose to avoid both of their prying eyes.
"I have something I need to handle," he informed them and was about to leave when Carly's hand stopped him.
"Where are you going?" Silence. "Could you please tell me what's going on?"
"Call me if anything happens," was his only response as he walked away from his best friends.
The sun was bright in her eyes as she watched day break over the serene water of the harbor. A relay of what happened the night before was on loop in her unsteady mind. It wasn't suppose to happen like that. God, how had she let herself get swept up into this chaos? Oh yeah, overwhelming rage and jealousy. She had let her emotions get the better of her and looked what had happened. She hurt an innocent woman.
"Liz." She recognized his angry growl immediately. She wasn't surprise that he was here, just more surprise that it took him so long to catch up to her. She felt his strong arm turn her gruffly around. Her dark eyes averted to the floor of the dock, unable to hold his steady glare. She could feel the tears welling up already, but tried her best to stay strong. "How the hell could you do this?"
"I…um…" She was caught speechless as he lifted her chin up so she was forced to look deep into his steely blue eyes. She had never seen so much emotion in them. Anger, rage, and disgust were all represented and meant directly for her. "God, Jase…It wasn't suppose to happen like that."
"Happen like what?"
"Courtney wasn't even suppose to be there." Tears were now falling freely down her creamy white cheeks. "She promised that it wouldn't be real. She promised…"
"Who promised?"
"Sam."
Sonny's eyes settled on the elevator just as the sliding doors opened to reveal an aged man. He immediately rose from his position and went to cut him off before he could even set foot into the waiting area.
"Get out," he growled and watched as his father took a strong stance in front of him.
"She's my daughter, Sonny. I want to see her." His tone was confident, but was met with a shake of his son's head.
"Why? So you can hurt her more?"
"I need to speak with her. Two minutes and then I promise I'll leave." Mike's demeanor showed a mixture of remorse and worry. It caused the dark haired man to let his guard down slightly. What if it was his child lying in there? Would he really allow anyone to keep him away?
"Fine," he relented. "But I swear to God, if you upset her or anything…"
The elder man nodded and followed Sonny's pointing finger towards his daughter's room. He felt the pit of his stomach turn to ice as he entered the dim room. He had heard about the shooting while at Jake's. Flashes of their interactions at the wedding and Kelly's began to burn through his mind and he knew right then that he had to come and make his peace.
"Bet you're surprised to see me," his voice was clogged with tears, but he swallowed them down in determination. "Jesus Courtney, how could you get yourself into this mess? I know that apologies are beyond useless at this point. I've said some really horrible things to you lately and I do believe I owe you some sort of explanation. I was just so mad when you took off even though I knew that I had no right to be angry." He took in a deep breath in an effort to regain his composure. "I've never had anyone walk out on me before. I was always the one leaving and I guess when the tables turned it hurt more than I ever could imagine. So, I let all this pain fester within me and it turned to rage. God, when you came into Kelly's the other day all I could see was red. But at the same time, I wanted to wrap my arms around you and never let go. I guess I thought that I was more indispensable to you than I really was. I wanted to believe that you needed me just as much as you need Sonny." He watched his baby girl carefully, but she remained unchanged. His emotions were beginning to take hold of him and it was damn near impossible to control them. He let his shoulders sag while he wept by her bedside.
"How is Sam involved?" Jason pried as Liz continued to sob.
"It was just suppose to scare you," she began. "Sam approached me a few days ago. She promised that they would be blanks and that no one would get hurt. Oh God, what have I done? I'm so sorry." He watched as the petite brunette crumpled to the ground. His mind worked in overdrive trying to piece together the scheme. Obviously, Sam played on Liz's emotions to get her to do the dirty work. He had felt an overwhelming sense of pity and rage overcome him as he stared down at his ex girlfriend. Her hands were just as dirty at Sam's. Whether or not she went into knowingly was irrelevant to him, the fact of the matter is she was involved in the shooting that could possibly claim Courtney's life.
"Here's what you're going to do…" His tone was steady. "You are going to go to the police and tell them everything you just told me."
"I can't…"
"You can and will, Elizabeth."
"She would kill me."
"At this point, I could careless what happens to you." He saw a look of pain flash in her eyes and for the first time, he didn't care. "You are going to go straight to Ric and tell him everything." He wanted the cocky DA to choke on his words. Sonny would probably never agree with his decision, but he would rather watch Sam be subjected to public humiliation. After all, she would have suffer long and slowly which is exactly what she deserved.
"He's not going to believe me," Liz tried.
"He will and I'll make sure of it." His phone began ringing and the noise caused his stomach to churn. He felt as though he was going to pass out when he recognized Sonny's cell phone number. Please let it be good news, his mind begged, but his intuition told him it was something far worse. He flipped the device open and before he even had a chance to ask, Sonny was speaking.
"Jason, you need to get back to the hospital right away." It was the only sentence uttered before the dial tone signaled the end of the call. He looked by at Liz with abhorrence.
"You better pray to God that she makes it through this," was his final warning before rushing away.
Jason found Sonny pacing the hallway in front of Courtney's room when he made it back to the hospital. The solemn look of fear on his boss's face caused his blood to run cold.
"What happened?"
"She went into cardiac arrest." His voice was barely audible. "Monica was able to stabilize her, but she thinks that it might have caused even more damage. They had to put her on a respirator." Jason was almost positive that the ceiling was caving in on him.
"How?"
"I don't know. Mike was in there with her and all of a sudden all these buzzers started going off. I was watching from the window."
At the mention of the small viewing area, Jason turned his gaze to it. Courtney seemed the same as he had left her. Carly was sitting on the chair with her head in her hands. He wished nothing more to put both Sam and Elizabeth into body bags for all the havoc they had caused. Courtney didn't deserve to be lying in that bed for his actions, but yet she was paying the price once again. Carly should be in Greece right now enjoying the sparkling waters with her new husband, but instead she was praying that her matron of honor would pull through.
"Sam," he whispered catching to attention of the dark hair man at his side.
"What?"
"Sam orchestrated this whole fiasco." He explained. "She used Liz to do her dirty work, but everything else was her." Sonny let out a sigh.
"How sure are you?"
"100%."
"I'll have them both taken care of," Sonny assured, but was met with shake of the head from his counterpart.
"I'm handling it."
"Jase, it's too per---"
"I said I'm handling it," Jason growled cutting his friend off in mid-sentence. "Legally."
"You really think that's going to work? Ric will have both his ex and current girlfriend out within an hour." Sonny asked in annoyance.
"No he won't."
"How can you be sure?"
"Because if he does then I will take matters into my own hands and we both know that he wouldn't want that." Jason replied never once removing his gaze. "Courtney would want it done this way. You know as well as I do that she would never condone violence, especially if it's done in her name."
He didn't wait for a response before opening the door to her room. The soft clicking of his shoes broke Carly out of her silent reverie. She carefully stood up and squeezed his arm slightly before offering him an encouraging smile. The soft slam of the door signaled the skinny brunette's departure. Jason took the seat that Carly vacated and watched Courtney intently. There were so many things he wanted to say, but only one thing seemed appropriate.
"I love you," he whispered taking her hand in his own. There was nothing left to do but wait and he was nothing if not a patient man.
A/N: Hmm...I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but it had to be done to lay the groundwork for what comes next. As always, let me know what you think.
