Author's Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to tell you that I start working Monday, and school is Wednesday so I may not be updating as frequently. I thought I'd give you all fair warning. But I promise that I'll do my best! Thanks for all the reviews. They really made me smile.

The sunshine that had danced its way through the window had Jason squinting and rubbing at his eyes. The chair he'd moved to during the night wasn't very comfortable, but he'd made do.

Rubbing at his stiff neck, Jason looked at Courtney. She was still sleeping, and checking his watch, Jason understood why. It was only seven. Courtney hardly ever rose before eight, especially recently with the baby so close to being born.

Jason slid his chair closer to the bed and kissed Courtney's hand. Much to his delight, she began to stir slightly.

"Jason?" Courtney blinked open an eye and saw her husband sitting in a chair next to her bed.

"Good morning," Jason placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, heard her sigh.

"What happened?" Courtney's raspy voice became concerned. She placed her hands on her stomach and saw that it was as round as it had been when she'd last checked.

"You passed out in the Interrogation room. Dr. Meadows said that it was from anxiety. But you and the baby are going to be okay." Jason found that he couldn't stop touching her. Now that she was awake, not flailing around screaming in her sleep, he wanted to reassure her that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

"The last thing I remember is… you were holding me… I felt dizzy…" Courtney placed a hand to Jason's cheek. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Jason."

"Hey, it's all right. I was just glad that you and the baby were healthy."

Courtney asked the question that had been in her mind since she'd fired that gun, "Is Sandoval alive?"

"For now." Jason stated coldly. Sonny had come into the room last night to check in, and Jason had awoken at the sound of his footsteps. Sonny filled him in.

Jason was angry, to say the least.

"You can't go after him, Jason. I'm already in enough trouble as it is, when this baby is born, and if I get convicted… he's going to need you." Courtney felt her eyes tearing up at the thought of being sent to jail immediately after giving birth to her miracle son. She pictured him being taken out of her arms, never to see him again.

"You're not going to jail. I can promise you that." Jason pushed the stray hair behind her ear and smiled.

"We can't run away, Jason. I shot him, I need to face this." Courtney was determined not to get upset anymore. She'd been caught. At least she wasn't facing a murder charge, it was attempted murder now.

"Look, I don't want you to worry okay? Everything will be okay." Jason stood up and placed a chaste kiss on Courtney's lips. "Want some coffee?"

"Please."

"I'll be right back. Stay here, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

She smiled at her husband as he left the room. Once the door closed, her face crumpled. How the hell was she going to get out of this?

"Hi, could I please have two coffees? One black? One with extra cream, and extra sugar?"

"Coming right up. That'll be $1.87."

Jason handed the cafeteria worker a five and told her to keep the change. On his way back to Courtney's room, he ran into Ric.

"Need help with those coffees? I'm headed in your direction." Ric held his hand out, expecting a coffee to be placed in his hand. Jason just glared at him. And Ric realized that Jason wouldn't give him the time of day, let alone let him help.

"You're not going to interrogate Courtney this early in the morning, Ric." Jason said as he continued walking down the hallway.

"Look Jason, I don't want to do this anymore than you want me to. But it's my job. I saw Courtney fire that gun, lucky for her, Juan Sandoval survived."

"Lucky for her, she missed his heart. Lucky for her, she doesn't know the first thing about firing a gun." Jason said coldly as he stopped in front of Courtney's room, not yet entering. "Courtney isn't a criminal. She fired to protect herself, and to protect me. It was self-defense."

"You might have a hard time pulling that one in court," Ric said honestly. He didn't see any possible way that Courtney could avoid jail time.

"It's the truth, Ric. Sandoval threatened my wife. Lorenzo Alcazar was also present. Why don't you go ask him?" Jason leaned up against the wall and sighed.

"Lorenzo Alcazar has been unavailable since last night. He seemed to disappear right after the police got to the scene." Ric explained, knowing that it was suspicious.

"Courtney's under a lot of stress right now. Could you just give her a few hours to let everything settle in before you start in on her?" Jason asked, being as polite as he possibly could. Ric could be extremely useful to them; maybe they needed him on their side.

"Jason, listen." Ric lowered his voice, so the two officers standing outside the door wouldn't be able to hear. "I owe Courtney a lot after what I did to her. I kidnapped her, left her to die, and blackmailed her… and a whole lot more. I have more respect for your wife than you can understand. I want to help. I'm going to set up a meeting with Sonny later on today. I'd like it if you were there."

Jason didn't miss the look Ric sent him before he walked to the two cops. His face seemed to say, I'll do whatever it takes.

Ric nodded to the officers before entering Courtney's room, ready to interrogate her. He wasn't doing it to be a jerk, he had to do it. So no one would become suspicious.

"Courtney, good morning." Ric said as he sat in a chair next to her bed. "I'm going to help you," he whispered to her before looking at Jason take a seat on the edge of her bed opposite him.

Courtney looked to Jason, confused, but he just nodded and focused his attention back on Ric.

Ric flipped his tape recorder on and began to ask the necessary questions. He could always edit it later. "Courtney, I'm going to need you to answer a few questions as to what happened on the night of June 16th. Do you feel up to doing that?"

Courtney nodded, knowing that she'd have to give an official statement sooner or later. Best to just get it over with.

"Great," Ric smiled and called one of the officers in. "Oliviera? Would you be the witness to this interrogation?"

Oliviera nodded.

"What were you doing in the park on the previously specified evening?"

"I needed to get out of the house. Jason and I had been having an argument, and I just needed some fresh air."

"Simple enough," Ric stated and he urged her on. "What happened next?"

"I was sitting on a bench, when my cell phone rang. I heard a rustling in the bushes but I ignored it."

"Who was on the phone, Courtney?"

"Lorenzo Alcazar." Courtney felt Jason's hand tighten on hers. She forgot that he hadn't known that he called her.

"Why did he call you?"

"He wanted to warn me," Courtney explained, thinking back to the previous night. She felt like she was already on the stand… but she guessed that she'd have to retell her story more often than once during the next few days.

"Warn you? About what?"

Courtney's mind flashed back to the phone call…

Flashback

"Did you and your family forget that Sandoval has a brother? He's alive. Contacted me this morning. I figured that I should let you know. He's upset about your husband and how he killed Armando."

"Is he going to hurt Jason? Is Sandoval going to hurt my husband?"

"Where are you Courtney?"

"Why would I tell you that? Why are you acting this way?"

"Hang up the phone."

"This is ridi-" She was cut off by seeing the face of the man she had thought was dead. The man she prayed was gone from her life forever. "The park." she whispered to the man on the other line and slapped the phone shut.

End Flashback

It wasn't ridiculous now, Courtney thought with a sigh. She relayed the phone conversation to Ric, who listened patiently. Why did he want to help her?

"Okay, Courtney. What happened after you hung up?"

"I- I saw him. He was supposed to be dead, but he was right there. Standing in front of me." Jason slipped his arm around Courtney's shoulders and kissed the side of her head. Courtney drew strength from Jason. "He said that he'd gotten plastic surgery to look like his dead brother. To honor his memory or something…"

"Did the man threaten you?" Ric asked.

"He said that he was going to kill Jason. He said that he was going to have to kill him."

"Who was the man, Courtney? Who threatened Jason?"

"Juan Sandoval."

Courtney began to shake after saying the name. Images of the man's brother came flashing into her mind. The way they'd locked her up, tortured Sonny, beat her…

"That's enough, Ric." Jason said with finality as he gathered Courtney in his arms.

"I'll come back a little later," Ric said, as he motioned for Officer Oliviera to leave the room.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Jason asked as he smoothed his hands over her face.

"I'm just… remembering. He looked like Armando. The things he said… how he wouldn't have hit me… I just keep seeing the blows coming down, hitting me everywhere. I was only trying to protect the baby…"

"And you did." Jason reassured her, and he rocked her back and forth, praying that she'd find the strength to get through everything.

Then he looked at her, wiping away her tears and forcing a smile and Jason was surprised that he forgot. Courtney was the strongest woman he knew.