Second Time Around Chapter 18: Here Without You, a general hospital fanfic

Thanks for all the feed you guys:blushes:
There's a lot in this chapter, I hope it's not too confusing...

Chapter 18- Here Without You

Sitting next to Antonio's bed was becoming very frustrating. If Jason had to guess, he would have said he'd been there maybe three hours. Just waiting for the man who knew where his wife was to wake up. The moment Antonio lifted up his head, Jason knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"Hey man," Jason said as Antonio opened up his eyes. Jason watched the man survey his surroundings, and once he grabbed hold of the fact that he was hospitalized, he turned to Jason.

"Morgan?" Antonio guessed as he reached his hand up to his head, feeling his bandages.

"Yeah, Jason Morgan," Jason said as he extended a hand.

"They take her?" Antonio said as he shook Jason's hand.

"Yeah, yeah they did," Jason said as he cast his eyes down toward the sheet. He didn't want this man to see him cry.

"Okay listen to me," Antonio said with a scratchy voice, "Tony Jones? Do you know him?"

"Yeah, the guy did a lot of terrible things to my family a few years back.. Why?" Jason asked, bringing his angry blues up to meet the man's chocolate ones.

"He's your wife's assigned doctor," Antonio said as he watched Jason's eyes go from angry, to what seemed like possessed. He could tell that Courtney's husband really loved her.

"So he's the doctor that would have treated her for labor pains if she wasn't faking them, and you refused to bring her to the hospital?" Jason questioned, staring at the man.

"Yeah. He's on Sandoval's payroll. Sandoval asked him to do this as a favor. Dr. Jones accepted because of his personal vendetta against a woman named Carly, and of course, because of his hatred of you," Antonio explained as Jason got up.

"So if I find Tony, he'll lead me to my wife?" Jason asked as he took out his cell phone and prepared to dial.

"He should know exactly where she is. I'm sure Sandoval called him to treat Courtney after the accident," Antonio said, watching the shock register on Jason's face. It seemed like he had forgotten that their car had rolled over, that she could be hurt, that the baby could be hurt…

"Do you think she's alright?" Jason winced at the thought of his pregnant wife involved in a car wreck.

"She had her seatbelt on," was all the information Antonio could give him.

Jason nodded and walked over to Antonio.

"I'm going to look for Tony. I'll keep you posted," Jason said as he again extended his hand.

"Good, your wife loves you very much. You're lucky that you have that," Antonio said as he watched Jason nod.

"Yeah, yeah I love her more than anything. I'll uhh, I'll just get Monica, your doctor, on my way out. Tell her to check up on you…" Jason said as he made his way towards the door.

"And uh, Antonio?" Jason said quickly, "Thank you."

"Watching your wife suffer was painful for me. I couldn't let Sandoval get away with it," Antonio said.

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same
And all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face.

Courtney hated Armando Sandoval, maybe even more than she hated Lorenzo Alcazar. Sandoval was twisted, she had found out in the last three hours.

"I have some serious plans for you," he had said.

"I have some serious plans to kick your ass when this is over," Courtney murmured under her breath, promising herself that once she was back with Jason, and their son was born, if he wasn't already dead, she'd kill him herself.

"Don't be smart with me," Sandoval said as he threatened to gag her with a handkerchief, twisting it around in his hands, letting her know that she wasn't to mess with him.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked, confused. It wasn't the same place she'd been in before.

"Telling you would be a mistake, you're not trustworthy," Sandoval said, placing the handkerchief down on the table beside him.

"Who am I gonna tell? My son? The couch? The walls?" Courtney laughed in his face. She had some serious plans to make this miserable for him. But not at the expense of her child, she'd tread carefully. Like Jason would want her to.

"If you get hold of a phone, you'd tell your husband. And I don't want that," Sandoval mumbled as he got mere inches away from her face.

"I'd get the hell away from me if I were you," Courtney warned. He was beginning to make her nervous.

"I'd smarten up if I were you. I've got control here. You can either be nice, and you'll be treated that way in return. Or you can be a smart ass, and trust me sweetheart, I'll do it right back," he enunciated the last words carefully, as if to warn her.

"Remember when I told you that I'll be the worst leverage you've ever had?" Courtney whispered sweetly into his ear.

Smiling to himself he said, "yes."

She spat in his face, something she'd been dying to do since he first spoke to her disrespectfully, the day in front of Kelly's. Jason had been there to save her then, but he wasn't now. The thought brought tears to her eyes as Armando stood up, stunned.

"You'll pay for that," he said, walking away.

Courtney began to cry, because she knew he was right.

She'd pay dearly for that mistake.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight, it's only you and me.

After hanging up the phone with Sonny, informing him of the Tony situation, Jason went in search of Bobbie.

He found her at the nurse's station on the fifth floor.

"Bobbie," he said, out of breath, as he ran up to her.

"Jason, I'm so glad you're here. There's something I think you should know about," Bobbie said, as she walked out to meet him.

"What?" Jason asked, knowing that it had something to do with his wife.

"Courtney's files are missing from the office, someone stole them," Bobbie whispered as Jason understood immediately what had happened.

"Tony Jones stole them," he said.

"What? Why? How do you…?"

"Courtney was kidnapped," Jason said as he put his hand on Bobbie's shoulder and led her down to the cafeteria. "We're not involving the cops, so you can't say anything."

"You're not saying that Tony's involved…?" Bobbie said, feeling the extreme need to sit down.

"One of Sonny's and mine's rivals took her. I got information, reliable information, that Tony Jones agreed to be her doctor. That he is on the payroll of our enemy. He has her files," Jason said to his best friend's mother.

Bobbie clamped a hand over her mouth, "What can I do?"

"We may have to set up Tony, get him to talk. Tell him that you saw Courtney a few hours ago, that she looked great… or something, I dunno…" Jason said, putting his head in his hands, thinking really hard. "That way he'll get in touch with Sandoval. I'll follow him, they'll most likely meet somewhere. If they don't, I'll watch him till he goes and checks on my wife," Jason finished, out of breath from talking so much. He normally didn't do that.

"Whatever you need Jason. Whatever I need to do to help bring Courtney and the baby home," Bobbie said as she wrapped the clearly broken man up into a motherly hug.

Stifling back tears Jason whispered, "Thank you."

The miles just keep rolling
As the people leave and wait to say hello
I've heard this life is overrated
But I hope that it gets better as we go.

It had been a few hours now, and nothing had happened. Courtney was expecting to be beaten, kicked, hit, something. But, nothing so far.

If Sandoval's men tried to go after her, she'd have to take the blows, anywhere, as long as they didn't reach her son. Protecting him was her number one priority, her only priority.

Not realizing how tired she had been, Courtney drifted off to sleep, for what must have been a long time, considering when she woke up, it was dark out, and she wasn't alone in the room.

"Sonny!" Courtney screamed as she jumped up and ran over to her older brother. "Sonny, Sonny, what happened?" Courtney asked, examining her brother's bruised face.

"They hit me a few times. I'm okay though, don't worry. How are you?" Sonny asked, lifting her shirt a little to reveal her ever-growing belly. He placed his hand on his nephew, and wasn't surprised when he felt a movement underneath.

Still frowning, Courtney replied, "We're okay. Sonny, why'd they take you?" Courtney asked, extremely confused as to why they'd take her brother hostage. They only needed one captive… but then something dawned on her.

Covering her mouth with her hand, and tears filling her sapphires, Courtney whispered, "They took you, because of me."

Needing to sit down, Courtney walked over to the cold, steel chair and slowly sank into its hardness. "I'm sorry Sonny, I'm so sorry," Courtney kept saying, over and over.

Sonny watched as his sister struggled with her revelation. It was true, they'd knocked him out and shoved him in a van, because they wanted to torture his sister.

"Payback's a bitch, your little sister's about to figure that out," Sandoval had said.

Shaking off the sick feeling, Sonny attempted to open his left eye. He found that it was impossible, it was swollen shut. He felt so weak, so powerless. He wanted to be able to protect Courtney, to save her from this…

"It's not your fault Courtney," Sonny said, getting up and walking towards her. He got down on his knees and held her face in his hands. "Don't be afraid. Antonio's alive, he and Jason will work together, and they'll find us. We'll get out of this, all three of us, I promise," Sonny said as he embraced his baby sister.

"They beat you up," Courtney stated as she touched his cheek. Sonny smiled weakly.

"A little, nothing I can't handle," Sonny said, not telling his sister about the pain he was feeling everywhere in his body. The last thing he wanted was for her to be afraid.

"I'm really sorry Sonny," Courtney whispered as she, again, pulled him into a hug.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Sonny said as he tightened his embrace on his sister as he heard the door creak open.

"Would you look at that?" Sandoval said as each of his footsteps made Courtney's stomach clench tighter. "Brother and sister reunited. Too bad it won't last long," Sandoval grabbed Sonny by the back of the neck and threw him across the room, to the other side.

"Leave him alone!" Courtney yelled as Sandoval's thugs tied her brother into a chair.

"You asked for this," Sandoval said as the two men began to punch her brother, while he was helpless to defend himself.

"Stop! You're killing him!" Courtney screamed as she ran over toward Sonny, but stopped at the sound of her brother's voice.

"Courtney, stay away!"

She couldn't. She ran toward the two men with all her might…. No one hurt her brother like that.

Carly entered her penthouse, back from the island. Sonny had sent her after Courtney's kidnapping to keep her safe. Too bad he couldn't keep himself safe, Carly thought as she wiped away a stray tear. Her sister in-law and her husband were gone. And there was nothing she could do.

Trying to control herself, Carly sank onto her couch, taking off her jacket. It wasn't like her to take these types of things lying down. She searched for that woman in her, the woman she was when she first came to Port Charles. Carlybabes.

Her boys were safe, at the island with Letica, so she didn't have to worry about putting them in danger…

Getting up, Carly decided that she wasn't going to take this lying down, oh no. Striding purposely over to the closet, Carly opened up a box that she knew Sonny kept a spare gun in. Taking it out and examining the metal murderer, she placed it in her purse, among her makeup bag and wallet.

Jason wouldn't approve of her doing this. So she wouldn't tell him. Carly knew how to get things done, she knew what she wanted. She'd get her family back. No matter who she had to kill to do it.

Giving her pocketbook a pat, she strode out of her home, determination written all over her face.

Everything I know
And anywhere I go
It gets hard but it won't take away my love
And when the last one falls
When it's all said and done
It gets hard but it wont take away my love.

Jason sighted the son of a bitch in the parking lot. Bobbie had done exactly what she wanted him to do. Strike up conversation. But now, Jason was underhanded. They had taken Sonny, he'd received the phone call. Courtney had caused trouble with Sandoval, he could only imagined what she had said to him, and they took Sonny to torture her.

Jason didn't want to know the means of torture they were using. It scared him to think about it.

Tony Jones got in his car, and sped out of the parking lot. Slowly, Jason eased his own car after him, following at a safe distance. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the bastards…

His mind drifted to Courtney and their son. He couldn't imagine how scared she was. He didn't want to imagine, he just wished it was him. He'd give anything to trade places with his wife.

Antonio was scheduled to be released tomorrow, Carly was at the island, Emily had extra protection… he ran everything he was responsible for through his head as he was driving. If he didn't concentrate on something else, he'd end up working himself up, and he couldn't afford that.
What seemed like hours later, Tony Jones finally pulled off the road he was on and started driving down a dirt road.

This was it, Jason thought, this was his chance.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
But tonight, it's only you and me.