Chapter 4- The Truth About Charlie
"A complication?" Sonny repeated.
"Jason has a high fever and he seems unresponsive now. I think he may have sustained a bad infection" said Dr. Meaker.
"What can we do?" asked Sonny as he looked at Sam to make sure she was ok.
The girl wasn't. She couldn't speak and she was frozen in fear. She remembered the last time Jason had gotten shot. Reese Marshall's trigger happy finger had caused a lot of problems.
"The best thing we can do is get him to a hospital immediately" said the doctor.
"No, not happening" answered Sonny coolly.
"Alright, then just try to keep cool cloths on him and give him some painkillers with a fever reducer. I'm going to go and try to get the antibiotic"
"Whatever it costs, just let me know" said Sonny, showing the doctor that he would pay any amount of money necessary to save his friend.
"Sometimes, Mr. Corinthos, money can't by everything" said the doctor as he left.
"I'll get you some cool cloths and some Tylenol or something" said Sonny to Sam, ignoring the man's last comments.
Sonny also left the room, leaving Sam alone with Jason.
"Jase, can you hear me?" she questioned, moving over so that Jason's head was in her lap.
"Sam?" he questioned.
"I'm right here" she said taking his hand in hers.
"I'm dying" he mumbled a pained expression still on his face
"No, no you're not dying" she said determinedly, tears flowing freely down her soft cheeks.
"The pain…" he said, his eyes closing.
"I know baby, I know. But I'm here" she said, bending her head down to kiss the hand that she was holding.
"SAM!" he called out, his eyes still closed. "SAM!" he yelled again, sweating and thrashing around.
"Jason, Jason! It's ok, I'm right here" she said, trying to prevent him from moving around too much and possibly ripping out a stitch.
"No, I have to save her" he mumbled.
"Shh, I'm right here. I'm safe" she said, rubbing his shoulders and chest with her hands.
"I need to save SAM!" he called out again, and Sam thought that she saw tears running down his face.
"What's going on?" asked Sonny as he rushed in.
"I don't know, he just started yelling that he needed to save me" she said, fear gracing her otherwise perfect features.
"Jase, it's ok man" said Sonny, trying to calm Jason down as well.
"Sonny, I need to save Sam!" he yelled out, his eyes jerking open and his body giving a jolt. "Sam?" he questioned, looking around to see her.
"It's ok baby, I'm here" she comforted as she planted a short but sweet kiss on his lips.
"I thought…" he whispered.
"You were dreaming or something. I'm ok" she soothed.
"Here Jason, take this" said Sonny, passing him the Tylenol.
Jason swallowed the pills and took some of the water from the glass as well.
"I can't take the pain" he confessed, his brow furrowed in pain.
"It'll be ok" Sam soothed as Sonny passed her the bowl of water with the wash cloth inside.
Sam pulled the towel out and rung out the excess water. Putting it to his head, she relaxed a little as she saw him become slightly calmer.
"I'm going to see how far Dr. Meaker has gotten on tracking down the antibiotic" whispered Sonny as he left the room.
Jason felt himself slipping out of consciousness again. He felt burning flesh and a coolness on his forehead, a coolness that trailed down him as Sam moved the towel over his body.
"Jason, stay with me" she commanded, and his eyes flew open to grant her wish.
"I always will" he promised, prompting a smile from his lover.
Jason lifted his head to gently place a kiss on her lips. The kiss was tender and filled with the feelings that he could never put into words for her. As he reached up to run his hands through her hair, he pulled on his wound and started to groan in pain.
"Shh, it's ok baby. Lie back down" she said, helping him to get back into a comfortable position on the bed.
Sam put one caring hand on his forehead to feel for a fever. He was still burning up.
"Can you keep the thermometer under your tongue?" she asked him, and he gave a weak nod in return.
Sam gently placed the thermometer in his mouth and watched as the numbers shot up. Sam continued to keep the cool cloth on his head, hoping that it might bring down the fever. Finally, the thermometer beeped and Sam took it out of his mouth and looked at it. 103.1. A very high and very dangerous number.
Luckily, Sonny chose that moment to walk back in.
"Sonny, I don't care what Jason says. He has a very high fever, we need to get him to a hospital" she said, looking over at Jason whose eyes were once again closed.
"We need to respect his wishes. Especially until we find out who did this to him" said Sonny.
"I know who shot him" said Sam, looking down at her feet.
"What do you mean you know? Did one of our enemies contact you?"
"This wasn't one of your enemies Sonny. This was one of mine" she said as she broke and let a few tears cascade down her face.
"One of yours?" asked Sonny, his face turning dark as he looked at her in a way that Sam had always wished he wouldn't.
"Sonny, please, let me explain"
"Explain what? That one of your enemies is the reason that my best friend is lying there dying?"
"He is not dying" she said, gritting her teeth. "And he's my boyfriend. Or fiancé. Or whatever we are right now. But the point is, I love him. And the last thing I ever wanted was for him to be like this. For him to be shot, especially when it was my fault."
"Well Sam, the point is that Jason was shot, and he is fighting for his life. So you better start talking. I want to know everything about whoever it was that shot him" said Sonny bitterly.
"Me too" groaned Jason from the bed.
"Jason, you should be resting" scolded Sonny.
"I want to hear what Sam has to say" said Jason, but unlike Sonny, his face was filled with concern and comfort for her, not anger and frustration.
"Alright" said Sam sitting down on the bed next to Jason. "His name is Charlie Abdale. I knew him a long time ago. He was rich, powerful, handsome, and perfect. But he was dark; very dark. And, as much as I was attracted to him, I wouldn't let myself be with him. And he didn't like that. He wanted me, and Charlie has a way of always getting what he wants. He finally charmed me into forgetting about all of my hesitations and we started going out. But I was just one of his many girlfriends of course, Charlie used women. He wanted to have his own little storeroom of beautiful girls. And after awhile, I had enough. I was living in his house, under his lock and key, so I had to escape somehow. I tried every night, but I was always caught. Finally, I was able to get out one night, and I just ran like hell, from him and everything. I started over, new town, new life. And my big fear was that one day he would find me. And now he has" said Sam, worry etched in her facial expressions.
"Did he ever hit you?" asked Jason, trying to keep his emotions in check and trying to remain conscious all at the same time.
"Yes" said Sam sadly as she looked down. "It was weak, I know, to have been with him in the first place. But there was something about him. Something that made you think he was a good guy until you really get to know him"
"And now he's after you?" asked Sonny, although the man had softened a considerable bit as he heard Sam's story.
"Yes" said Sam softly.
"Is he the one who had you attacked on the docks?" asked Jason, but his eyes were closed again.
"Yes" said Sam. "And he came to me this morning and told me that he was going to kill you before tying me to a chair so that I couldn't warn you. I am so sorry Jase. This is all my fault" she sobbed.
"Sam, don't cry. I don't blame you. I blame that jerk" said Jason as he groped for her hand, holding it tightly in his.
"But it is my fault. I was the one who got involved with Charlie in the first place. It was so dumb" she sobbed.
Jason's heart broke as he saw her like that. Taking a deep breath, he ignored the physical pain that he was feeling and sat up in the bed, pulling her close to him and engulfing her in a hug. Sam let him do it and she sobbed into his bare chest, her arms wrapped around his neck. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back in an attempt to sooth her.
"I'll give you two a minute" said Sonny as he left the bedroom again.
"I am so sorry" she sobbed again.
"Don't be" he repeated. "I don't care that I was shot. I'll be alright once I get the medicine. But I do care that you are upset, and that this asshole is the reason. That he basically kept you prisoner. That he did whatever he wanted to you whenever he wanted to" said Jason as his eyes grew colder as he thought about just how abusive this Charlie guy was to her. "I love you, and I will protect you from him" said Jason as he held her even tighter in his arms.
"What about Courtney?" asked Sam.
"Courtney is moving to London with Jax. And even if she wasn't, it wouldn't make a difference. Because you're my girlfriend. And you are the only person that I care about. I know that I don't say it nearly enough, but I love you" said Jason.
"I love you too" said Sam. "I just can't help but feel like I will only be second best to her. She's Sonny's sister, Carly's best friend. And Sonny and Carly are the two people that matter to you most" said Sam. "And they both hate me"
"Sonny doesn't hate you. And Carly just needs to get used to you. But they don't matter the most to me. You do" he said, brushing back her hair.
Sam stopped and looked at him. His brow was still furrowed in pain, and his face was very pale with the exception of two flushed spots on his cheeks. His jaw was set defiantly as he struggled against the hurt he was feeling. The fever was still raging on, yet he didn't care. He was sitting up in bed, despite the fact that the world was rushing around him in his dizzy state, and that his side probably felt like it was splitting in two. In fact, that was exactly how Jason felt.
"Lie back down" she commanded, helping him get comfortable in the bed again. She picked up the wet cloth and ran it over his body again, keeping her own body very close to his. Finally, she settled the cloth on his forehead and let it balance there. Lying down on his chest, careful to avoid his wound, she suddenly felt comfortable and safe. Jason wrapped his arms around her and focused on getting to sleep.
Sam knew that something was wrong right away. That was when she felt him moving around underneath her. He was squirming and sweating and crying. Sam immediately put one hand to his forehead to feel for a fever. He was burning up. He was still asleep but his eyes were fluttering, letting her know that he was dreaming. And from his reaction, she could tell that it was not a good dream. Sam knew that she had to wake him up and then call Sonny to see if he managed to get his hands on the antibiotic. She gently placed her hands on him, trying to ease him awake. She planted little kisses all over his body, feeling his hot flesh under her lips, reminding her of just how sick he was. Finally, his eyes shot open and he looked at her, still shaking and crying.
"Sam?" he questioned, thankful that she was there.
"It's me" she said, bending down so that she was closer to him.
She gingerly wiped the tears and sweat off of his face.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"You're home, its ok. You were having more nightmares, so I woke you up. I'm going to call Sonny and see if he got the medicine. Try to rest, but don't fall back to sleep" she warned, worried that he would hurt himself more if the nightmares continued.
But Sonny hadn't been able to get the medicine. In fact, he was no closer to getting it than he was hours before.
"Sonny, we need to do something" hissed Sam as the two argued in the hallway outside of Jason and Sam's bedroom.
"We will do something, just give it time" said Sonny.
"We don't have time" she begged.
"I know" said Sonny, letting Sam see for the first time just how crestfallen he was.
"What do we do?" asked Sam. "He's in so much pain. He's shaking, and crying, and his fever's sky high"
"We need to get him to the hospital" said Sonny, finally giving in to defeat.
"I couldn't agree more" said Sam.
"I'll go call an ambulance. I don't think that we can move him without an expert anymore" said Sonny, and Sam saw the defeat in his eyes.
"You're helping out your best friend. There's nothing wrong with that" she said softly.
"He doesn't want to go to the hospital" said Sonny.
"I know. But he needs to" she answered.
Sonny just sighed and walked away, secretly glad that at least his friend would get a doctor's care, and not be left to die and suffer.
A/N: Remember to review people! I'm so glad that you're all enjoying it, and I hope you keep liking it! Oh, and BTW, I have to admit I 'borrowed' the title of the chapter from that Mark Wahlberg movie. So, I don't own it.