Finally! LOL I promised to have this chapter done sooner, but the editing process is a beast! Thanks to everyone that's sticking with the story, and giving feedback.

A/N: I have to give some disclaimers for this one...Alan's flashbacks are, in part, courtesy of TV and a clip from a Steve Burton fansite (sorry I forgot the name!) of Jason and Alan, post accident, circa 1996. Also, the montage at the end includes "Sleep Like A Child" from Joss Stone's Mind, Body, and Soul album.

Still don't own any of the characters from GH - wish I did, but Lucas' mystery girlis my creation ;) and I promise their story will be a good one! Enjoy - and R&R!

Chapter 10

Officer Murphy sat silently behind Mac, checking his gun. Neither of them could believe the call they got from Emily and raced to Wyndamere.

"Why couldn't they live somewhere within driving distance?" Mac said annoyed, as they listened to the MediVac hovering over the launch on Spoon Island.

Murphy shrugged as they stepped off onto the launch, and raced to the gothic mansion. Both men passed a frightened Mrs. Lansbury, who just whispered "Thank goodness" upon seeing them. They burst into the living room, guns drawn, but were surprised at the scene before them.

Luke was just coming to, grimacing and rubbing his head tenderly. "Damn, Bubba," he said acknowledging Mac, "I was just about to finish up here." Luke tried to stand, but nearly collapsed into Murphy, who moved him over to the couch.

"Yeah, bang up job, Luke," Mac said, and turned to Emily. He had never seen her so shaken and determined. She stood over Helena's body, never taking her eyes off her. "Emily, Emily, we'll take it from here. You should sit down." He tried to move her, but Emily violently shrugged him off.

"No, I'm not moving until I know she's in custody," Emily said. "Handcuff her, and get her the hell out of my house."

Mac sighed, and moved Helena's still unconscious figure gently. "Emily, she has to go to the hospital, and we have to make sure it's her." He hesitated, but moved Helena again, to clearly see her face. His eyes met Emily's incredulous stare, and he continued to speak. "Helena has had people impersonate her before, Emily. She had a known body double. I just want to make sure proper tests are done."

Helena stirred and reached her hand up to Mac's face. "Oh," she got out just before passing out again.

"And we have to make sure, if it is her, she doesn't die at your hands, instead of Nikolas'" Mac said sadly, as the paramedics took Helena out of his arms and laid her on the stretcher. Emily sat next to Luke, who took her hand in comfort, but they didn't stop shaking. She was too exhausted to fight his touch, and a single angry tear fell from her now closed eyes.

Alan walked back to his office and sat down slowly in his chair. He rubbed his sore hands together, looking at his swollen knuckled and age spots. His mild arthritis only flared up when he was stressed, but he never focused on it for too long. Now, alone in his office, he could only think about it: the pain in his hands, in his whole body. He had nothing to distract him, or keep the depressing thoughts about his children at bay.

I love you, AJ, but you're scaring me because until you take responsibility for what you've done, nothing will ever get any better.

Don't you get it? There is no better. Every time I think there is and I reach for it, I burn. I crash and burn. What the hell...at least I'm consistent.

Alan could picture the dejected look in AJ's eyes from that horrible night, and the memories kept flooding him.

You see...when Jason disappeared, that wasn't the only thing that left. A part of me – the very best part of me, went with him.

That's very sad, what you said. How you feel...how you hurt. But it means absolutely nothing to me.

His heart stopped, just as it had that day. He had become used to Jason's cold, calculating eyes, but remembering the first time he knew he had lost his perfect son made Alan cringe, and crumple a piece of paper in his still aching hands.

The phone rang softly, and Alan tried to stop his tears long enough to get out the standard greeting. "Alan Quartermaine," he said with a lump in his throat.

"Alan," Edward's voice was full with concern. "Why do you sound like that? Has something happened?" Edward wanted desperately to talk to his son, to tell him about Emily. "Have you talked to Emily?"

"No, no, Father – I thought she'd call you," Alan said, the pain getting stronger.

Edward sighed, as he realized he couldn't go through with it. "Oh, I... I just thought you sounded upset because of that. I... um... I'll let you know when I hear from her." He quickly hung up the phone before he told his son that everything would be all right. He didn't actually believe that himself.

Alan stared at the phone in his hand, and slammed it down.

You betrayed AJ, and you betrayed me. Thankfully, Jason doesn't care enough about you to subject himself to your kind of loyalty.

Alan's tears overflowed and he could barely catch his breath. "I didn't mean to," he gasped to himself.

"Skye," he said slowly, "how can you feel this way, and still be with Luke?"

Alan clutched his chest, as Skye's hurt and appalled expression faded away from his memory, overtaken by the headache, the heartache. He continued to gasp for air and sobbed. "God, I just want the pain to go away." He didn't even bother to wipe his face as he stormed out of his office to 9th floor – the pharmacy.

Monica banged on the door again, just as Sam and Reese stepped off the elevator on the penthouse floor.

"Monica, I am so sorry," Sam quickly straightened her demeanor, and put on a brave face.

"I was going to come earlier, but I got stuck at the hospital," Monica explained, looking at Reese. "Where's Jason?"

"He went to Sonny's, but he's fine Monica, really," Sam responded quickly, as she walked to the door. "I just came to get the rest of his medicine for the day, because we're probably going to spend the day there."

"Sam, I only agreed that Jason should be home because he said he'd be at home, resting – not working for Sonny while recovering from a gunshot wound."

"I understand, Monica, I do," Sam looked helplessly at Jason's mother, trying not to lie to her but not tell her the truth at the same time.

"Um, Dr. Quartermaine," Reese piped up from behind the women, and Monica turned to face her. "What Sam isn't telling you is that Jason wanted to be close to Sonny, since the kidnapping, and that he's resting there."

"Right," Sam sighed, "it's only for a day or two, and as soon as we come back you'll be the first person to see him, I swear it."

Monica looked between the two women suspiciously. "Fine, but Sam, I trusted you to take care of my son. I'm holding you to it." She walked to the elevator, and glanced menacingly at Reese as she got on.

"Thanks," Sam said, after Monica left. She opened the door, and stopped Reese from entering. "I'll only be a minute. You can wait here."

"Sam –" Reese started to apologize, for leaving her alone with Sonny, to ask if she was really ok, but was cut off by Sam slamming the door in her face. She sighed and turned toward Sonny's old penthouse, and rolled her eyes.

Sonny brought the fragile piece of cloth to his face and inhaled it deeply. "She was here." He moved to the mirror of the dresser, and replayed their wedding day in his head.

"Sonny, please," Carly's voice pleaded with him, but Jason just raised his hand to silence her. At that moment, her cell rang and she fumbled around in her purse to retrieve it. Looking at Jason, she mouthed "Michael" and he shook his head in defeat.

Carly walked out of the bedroom, and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mom!" Michael's bright voice came through loudly on the phone. "I finished all my homework and I ate everything Leticia fixed, too."

"And what do you expect in return?" She smiled – her son was just like her.

"Well...ok, see I want to play basketball, and since we don't have a court at this apartment building like the one at Dad's I want to know if I go there. I tried to tell Leticia you would let me, but she said I had to call first. So what time I can go over there? Are you at Dad's now?"

"Yeah, honey I am," Carly said, and looked back worried at Sonny's bedroom door. "Don't get all excited," she quickly stated when she heard Michael murmur a small "yes" into the phone, "and Mr. Man, it's just not a good time to come to your dad's, okay?"

"Why? You guys want to be alone or something?" Michael suggested. He had given up on them getting back together, but Kristina's kidnapping had thrown his family so close together he saw a little hope.

"No, Michael...your dad has something he has to take care of, that's all," Carly said, staring down at the floor. "It's really important, and I know he would love to play with you, but he just has to deal with this first. Why don't you go to the park instead, huh?"

"Alright," Michael said disappointed. "Can I talk to Dad?"

"Honey, he's meeting with Jason right now, but wait... they just told me to tell you they love you."

"Mom, Daddy and Jason don't say stuff like that," Michael laughed at her. "But it's cool. We'll be back before dinner – wait, can we order pizza tonight, instead of the frozen kind?"

"Sure, sweetie, anything you want," Carly said, smiling into the phone. "I love you, and be good for Leticia, please. Listen to everything she says."

"I will, thanks Mom," Michael said quickly. "I love you." He hung up the phone, and Carly looked thoughtfully at the phone, before walking back into Sonny's room.

"Yeah, she was really beautiful," Jason said to Sonny, who clutched Lily's handkerchief between his and Jason's hand. "Sonny, just get some rest now. We'll talk more in the morning."

"You don't believe me, Jason, but I know," Sonny said quietly, his intense eyes searching Jason's for some familiar acknowledgement. "I know she was here. She always is – she protected me and Sam…wait, wait, wait. Where's Sam? What happened to her Jason?"

"She's fine Sonny," Jason guided his friend toward the bed, trying to not look at Carly's worried face. "She had to go get my medicine, that's all."

"Good, good," Sonny laid his head back on the pillow, still grasping tightly at Jason's hand. "She's good for you Jason, she'll be good to you. Tell her she's safe, will ya? Let her know she's safe now."

"I will, just rest," Jason fought back the anxiety in his voice, but felt the lump forming in his throat. He had seen Sonny broken before, but it was out of anger or frustration, not total helplessness. He looked into his mentor, his brother's face now and saw a shell – hollow and empty, devoid of all pride and the comforting swagger he carried with him in business and friendship.

Carly looked at the two most important men in her life, and a strong wave of sadness came over her. She knew Jason was finally seeing the worst of Sonny, and it was breaking him as much as it was breaking Sonny. They were fighters – all three of them, but even Carly couldn't see how they would come out on top this time.

"What the hell have you done Rachel?"

"Nothing, what are you talking about Steven?" Rachel shook free of his firm grasp. "What does it matter to you anyway? I don't owe you any explanations about what I do. I stopped owing you anything a long time ago." She sneered hatefully and straightened her coat.

Steven stepped back, stung by her words, and walked off.

Rachel rubbed her arm and continued her packing. She jerked her head up and raced to the door when she heard footsteps. She rolled her eyes at Courtney's giggling coos and raced back to throw some of her clothes around the couch. She shook her head to muss up her hair, and began throwing clothes in the suitcase haphazardly.

"Jax, goodness!" Courtney blushed deeply as Jax kissed her passionately at the nape of her neck. They had made love in her office that afternoon, and he actually stayed after to discuss the colors of the wedding. She didn't want blue, and Jax insisted they discuss it some more.

"What? How many times do I have to tell you I can never get enough of you before you believe me?" Jax grinned and spun Courtney around to kiss her on the lips.

"I get it, I do, but can we get in the door?" Courtney teasingly pushed him off her, and swung the door open, just as Jax swept her up into his arms.

"OH!" Courtney giggled, and began kissing Jax behind his ear – his favorite spot.

"Going somewhere?" Jax called out, and Courtney looked up to find Rachel in the living room, her clothes strewn everywhere, and suitcase full. Jax put Courtney on the floor, but felt her body tense immediately.

"I didn't realize I had so much stuff," Rachel said, still throwing her clothes into her suitcase. She finally looked up to meet Courtney's suspiciously smug look. "I'm sorry to have been such an imposition, Courtney, really."

"Yeah, whatever," Courtney smirked, but straightened her expression as Jax looked at her. "I mean it wasn't a problem. So, are you going back to Atlantic City, or heading to Europe or something?"

"Nah, I can do most of my European business by phone anyway," Rachel winked at Jax, who nodded in agreement. "Actually, I wanted to say thank you to you, before I check into the Metro Court." Rachel said, smiling as she closed her suitcase.

"What for?" Courtney's voice was light, and confident. She didn't like that Alcazar had rid her of Rachel, but she couldn't complain with the results.

"Well, I mean, you put me up, and even though our deal didn't go as planned, you put me in touch with Lorenzo Alcazar. Seriously, you couldn't have given me a better partner for my project."

Courtney's face fell, and she was glad she was in front of Jax, who she felt tense behind her. "Well, I thought he would give you, um, the proper advice regarding your deal."

"Well, why didn't you tell me about your project? Maybe I could have been of some help," Jax said annoyed. "I mean, Rachel, you don't know what you're getting into with Lorenzo Alcazar."

"Aww, that's sweet of you, Jax, but I've worked with him before," Rachel said sweetly, further antagonizing Courtney. "He's actually very reasonable, and from what I hear, it's pretty great having him in your corner. Right Courtney?"

"I wouldn't know," Courtney replied stiffly, uncrossing her arms to rub her forehead furiously.

"Well, anyway, thanks again," Rachel said, lugging her suitcase toward the door. Jax quickly picked it up and carried it the rest of the way. "Jax you're so great, thank you."

"Are you sure you won't take me up on my offer to help? Rachel, I don't know if you're aware, but Lorenzo Alcazar is very dangerous."

"Jax, you know my portfolio well enough," Rachel said, shaking Jax's hand closely, "I can be pretty dangerous myself. See you around!" Rachel winked quickly and closed the door behind her.

Jax sighed, and turned accusingly at Courtney, who had thrown herself lazily onto the couch, brushing aside Rachel's shawl she left behind.

"Hmmm, alone at last," Courtney said relaxed, her head tilted back into the plush pillows.

"Is that really... really all you have to say?" Jax stood in front of Courtney's wide eyes, fuming.

Lucas sauntered through the hospital lobby, looking for his mom. Bobbie had asked him to meet her so they could go to dinner, "bonding time," she called it. He only agreed after she pestered him relentlessly for 20 minutes, but he promised himself not to get into any discussion about girls – especially her.

He wanted to call Georgie, ask her if she knew of any new girls playing sports, but he figured she was with Dillon. Lucas also wasn't sure if he wanted anyone else to know that he was looking for this mystery girl. He plopped down in the hub by the elevator, hoping his mom would stop by soon.

Maybe I'll see you around...

She had said it politely, but her head was turned from Lucas, so he couldn't read her expression. He had analyzed those few moments over and over again, even how she ran down the path, until he figured it had to mean something.

Lucas walked to the nurses' station, and almost ran into Alan. "Sorry, Dr. Quartermaine, I wasn't watching where I was going." Lucas caught Alan's arm and spun to face him. "Are you ok?"

Alan stumbled as he steadied himself with Lucas' help. His limbs felt numb, like they were moving on their own, but all the tension from the past few days and nights were far from him. "I'm fine," he finally replied and made himself focus on Lucas' concerned stare. "I'm heading to my office, if anyone needs me."

He sidestepped Lucas and walked with his head slightly higher than normal, feeling his spine completely extended, and his muscles relaxed.

Lucas looked after the elder man, and rushed to page his mother. He only knew a little of Alan Quartermaine's past, mostly gossip, but he could tell something was seriously wrong with him. Unfortunately, one of the janitors had beaten him to the phone and had their back to him, taking a personal call.

"What do you mean, she won't respond to you?" The janitor placed a hand on her hip defiantly, but lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry, but I can't come home now – I just got here, and if you want me to pay you I have to work."

"Hey, um, I need to use the phone," Lucas said behind the petite woman. "It's an emergency." He didn't want to be rude but he didn't want to follow after Alan himself.

"Look, I gotta go. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry... I'll call back as soon as I can," the janitor said again. "Hey, sorry about –" The janitor spun around, ready to apologize and beg whoever it was to not rat her out for using the phone, but stopped short when she faced Lucas, the boy she met so long ago, and in the park.

Lucas blushed immediately. "Hi." He refused to pull his stare from her eyes this time, thankful to complete the image of her face in his head with sparkling green eyes.

Luke and Emily followed the stretcher carrying Helena through the emergency room. Tony Jones approached one of the EMTs quickly. "What'd we got here?"

"Blunt trauma to the base of the skull, possible broken metacarpals in both hands, unconscious since we got her off Spoon Island. Her BP's relatively normal, no significant drops." The man reported, and wheeled the stretcher so Tony could get a clear view of her face.

"My God," Tony whispered, as he checked her eyes with a penlight. "Get her in trauma 1... you're going to have to wait out here," Tony said, turning to Luke, who had tried to follow him into the restricted area.

"Listen Tony, you know like I do, she makes Houdini look like an amateur chump," Luke said vehemently. He had recovered on the launch and was more determined to finish what he started.

"She's not going anywhere Luke, and you have to be checked out yourself," Tony said, pushing Luke toward a nurse. He turned to Emily, whose grim yet concerned face seemed made of stone. "What happened, Emily? Did she hurt you?"

"We fought, she knocked me unconscious for a minute, and I guess that's when Luke showed up," Emily's monotone voice came out flat. "When I came to, Luke had the best of her but I knocked her out before..." Emily finally looked up to Tony's eyes, and she just shook her head.

"Alright, I want you checked out, and I'm calling your parents," Tony started to rush off but Emily grabbed his arm forcefully.

"Don't do that," she said vehemently, but relaxed her grip. "I'll call home, I swear."

Tony just shook his head, and nodded at Mac and Officer Murphy, standing guard themselves at the door, before going to work on Helena.

Emily looked around at the emergency room bleakly. This was all she wanted – to be a doctor, like her parents, to save lives, but thinking about Helena one room away from her made her nauseous. She wanted her dead, just like Connor, and she knew she would never want to save the life of someone like them, not ever. Emily sank down in the waiting area for a moment, trying not to inhale the hospital from which she knew she was walking away for good.

Skye and Liz ran into the emergency room area, eyes searching for Emily and Luke. Liz got the page about someone being flown in from Spoon Island and grabbed Skye on her way down to the ER, promising Lucky to return with news.

"Emily, oh thank God!" Liz ran in front of where Emily was seated and pulled her into a tight embrace. "When they said someone was on a MediVac from Spoon Island, I was so worried." She pulled back to look at Emily, make sure she was ok, before embracing her again.

Emily hugged Elizabeth back for a second before pushing her away. "I'm fine. Helena came back, she attacked me and Luke and I got the best of her. You don't have to worry about me." Her biting tone came back, and Liz's eyes went from wide with excitement to disappointed.

"Well then, I guess you'll get Nikolas back," Liz answered somberly, "maybe you'll decide to trust him." Liz surprised herself with her harsh tone, but she was just as tired as Emily of this whole fiasco, and she wasn't going to hold a brave face to meet Emily's accusatory attitude. She went to Mac, and began talking quietly, leaving Emily to sit back in the chair, her head in her hands.

"I said I'm fine," Luke retorted, and jerked his arm away from the nurse. He whirled around to meet Skye, staring at him blankly. "Blaze," he said firmly gripping her shoulders, "I told ya it would work out. I can't believe the old bat made it so easy for us, but we nailed her. I can't believe it – and I'll tell you what, that Emily pulls no punches. I'm kinda proud of her." He pulled her to him, but realized she wasn't hugging him back. "What's up with you, Red?"

"How...," Skye let out a long breath, "how could you?"

"Catch Helena? I don't know, Blaze. I told you I was going to get her, so I went to Spoon Island for clues, and found her with Emily. We fought, but Emily stopped me from killing the Queen of the Damned...," he paused when he saw nothing he said had registered in Skye's expression. "I thought you'd be happy about this."

"I'm happy for them, and I'm miserable for us," Skye scoffed. "Us...," she shook her head, holding back the tears. "Emily and Nikolas will get years together now, because of you – years to be together, to love each other, and to be honest with each other," she said, meeting Luke's weary glance. "But there's no us anymore, Luke, because I can't love someone that was never honest with me."

Skye began to walk down the corridor to the exit, but Luke grabbed her back to him. "What the hell are you talking about, Skye? What did I do to catch hell from your moral sensibilities?"

"You lied, and I can't ever, ever be with someone that could lie to me like that." Skye set her eyes upon Luke, and wondered how her heart could suddenly feel so little for him in a span of hours.

"Blaze I haven't lied to you about anything important, so unless you want to clue me in on why I'm suddenly worthy of such contempt, I'm going to see Lucky and tell him the prince will be on his way home." Luke turned the opposite direction when Skye hesitated, and walked in the other direction.

"Does Lucky know, Luke?" Skye called out, her voice shaking. "Does he know you're no better than Connor Bishop?" She walked up behind Luke, who had frozen in his tracks at the venom from her voice. She got within a breath of him, and said lowly, "Does Lucky know you're a rapist?"

Luke and Skye both shed a tear simultaneously, but didn't even attempt to face one another in that moment, when their world stopped.

Courtney stood to face Jax, whose chastising look made her angry all over again. "What am I supposed to say, Jax?"

"For starters, what deal would you not go into with Rachel, but instead push her off on Lorenzo Alcazar, a man you hate with a passion?"

"Look, Jax," Courtney's mind raced, as she stared into Jax's blue eyes, "she wanted to do something illegal, alright! I didn't want any part of it, so I told her if she wanted to do something like that, go find help someplace else." She turned quickly away from her fiancé, hoping he would just let it drop.

"See, I don't buy that," Jax said, turning Courtney back to face him. "The Adair conglomerate has never been involved in any illegal activities – hell, one of their subsidiaries offered to buy me out of some lucrative holdings when my family got in trouble. Besides that, Rachel said you put her in touch with Alcazar. Why would you do that to a friend, Courtney?"

"She's no friend Jax, and why are you so quick to defend her? You're the one that's always telling me to stop bending over backwards to help the whole world, and now when I don't you get mad at me for it? You're unbelievable!" Courtney felt her face get hot, and she stepped away from Jax. "Did you even hear me? I said she wanted to do something illegal, and I don't care what her reputation or her company's reputation is, she's dangerous Jax."

"That may be, but I still don't understand why you would let her get involved with someone like Alcazar. Even if you two fell out about business or whatever she wanted you to do, you're ok with her endangering her life by getting into business with a man you despise, a man you call a murderer?" Jax walked around Courtney's couch and placed his hands on his hips. "You know, I did object to you helping everyone you meet, Courtney, but you fought me tooth and nail about it every time. It's also why I fell in love with you. I just don't understand how you can take in foster kids, facilitate adoptions, but turn your back on someone you've known since you were a kid over a shady business proposal. It's not like you Courtney."

Courtney looked incredulously at Jax, and went to meet him behind the couch. "You don't know what you're talking about Jax, and if you did you'd be thanking me right now for getting Rachel out of this house."

"Then tell me, tell me what it is she wanted you to do," Jax challenged Courtney. "You obviously didn't trust me enough to tell me before, but you say it's over, so tell me – right now."

"Don't make this about trust, Jax, not again!" Courtney retorted, deflecting his question. "I'm not telling you because it has nothing to do with you."

"No, it does Courtney," Jax looked at her, even more determined. "We're going to be married, so what happens to you happens to me. I'm coming to you with open arms, with my whole heart and soul, but I want the same thing. I don't want to be with someone that doesn't trust me with their secrets, with their fears and hopes, or their heart." Jax sighed, as Brenda's accusatory face came to mind, the day of their wedding. "I've been down that road, and it was hell on me. I'm not going back."

"No, what you mean is you won't be second best," Courtney spat out. "That little speech wasn't about me, and for your information – no, Jason doesn't know." She walked over to the chair and grabbed her coat. "I've been down some hellish roads myself, including one where the man in my life used me to make up for his past – and I'm not going back either." She draped her coat over her arm swiftly and slammed the door behind her.

Courtney leaned against the wall, staring at the door to her loft. She let each tear slip down her cheek, a silent prayer that Jax would come rushing out after her. After a minute, she wiped her tears, looked at her engagement ring, and walked off to clear her head.

Sam and Reese climbed into backseat of Jason's truck, while Marco got into the driver's side. Sam hadn't said a word since she brought Jason's medicine out the penthouse, but Reese could tell she was thinking about going back to Greystone. Reese glanced sympathetically at her, and noticed how small and fragile she looked. They were about the same build, but it was Sam's face that made her look like a lost child, scared with nowhere to go.

Tonight when the darkness comes

Why don't we treat it like a friend?

Sam notice the sky starting to cloud over, like Sonny's eyes had just before he grabbed the gun and shot past her. She felt Reese put her hand over hers, and Sam suddenly sank into her lap, sobbing. Reese motioned to Marco to keep driving, and simply smoothed Sam's hair away from her tears.

Then we'll both be glad to see the night

Alexis sighed happily into Ric's arms, as he continued to kiss her bare shoulders and back. She loved how they made love, how attentive Ric was to her. She laughed as he tickled her, but he kissed her adoringly before she could get out "I love you."

And we'll be hoping

It's never going to end

Georgie looked awkwardly up at Dillon, who stared into her eyes intently. She had never felt anything like that before, but she couldn't read Dillon's mind in that moment.

Dillon leaned in to kiss Georgie softly, murmuring as his tongue slipped in and out of her mouth and then down her neck. He whispered how beautiful she was, and she finally relaxed again, rolling on top of him and kissing his eyelids, the tip of his nose, before engulfing his mouth.

So don't be afraid of what the nighttime may bring

"You remember what you told me, about what you're mother said about prayers," Jason said to Sonny, as he eased Lily's handkerchief from his friend's hand.

"Yeah, all God really needed to hear was what's in your heart," Sonny whispered slowly, fatigue finally taking hold of him. He looked around to Carly, who came by his bed, and held his other hand.

You must understand that you can dream of anything

Courtney straightened her face quickly when she saw Michael run up to her with his basketball in hand. He grabbed her hand, leading her to the basketball court as she waved to Leticia playing with Morgan on the swings.

Michael kept trying to make a 3-point shot, and Courtney smiled, pushing back her tears and thoughts of Jax.

So fall into sleep

Peaceful and deep

Jason looked at Carly, placing his other hand on her shoulder. He heard Sonny mumble something under his breath, but he just patted his hand and wiped Carly's tear away before going downstairs to wait for Sam to come back.

And may this journey help you fly

Courtney chased Michael to the swings, where Morgan laughed at his brother's ducking around the swing set, and pointed to basketball that went flying toward the street.

When you can't hold out much longer

Don't you cry

Alan's eyes were dry as he drove along, but he couldn't feel his foot pressing into the gas pedal, or the pain pills he clutched in his hand.

When the darkness is getting stronger

Sonny finally closed his eyes, imagining his mother holding out their family bible, where she kept her antique rosary. She pointed to each bead, and Sonny slipped them between his fingers.

"Please God, be with me. Please God, be with me."

Sleep like a child

Peaceful and deep

Michael walked toward the curb, looking both ways as Courtney and Leticia called out to him to wait for them. He looked back, as they were struggling to get Morgan's foot out of the swing. He sighed with impatience, and turned back to see his ball rolling down the street, toward a huge car.

"Hurry, Aunt Courtney!" Michael called out weakly, though he wasn't worried about getting another ball. He squinted at the barreling car, which was swerving back and forth.

Alan slumped over, letting the pills fall, one by one from his hand, as he foot pressed harder down, his muscles suddenly tensing from the bottom up.

And when I lay you down

I pray your soul to keep

"MICHAEL!" Courtney and Leticia screamed as the car jumped the curb, and Michael's eyes flew open as he hit the front of the Mercedes, flipping his small body toward the flowers, until it rammed into a nearby tree.

And when I lay you down

I pray your soul to keep

"Please God, be with me." Sonny clutched Carly's hand tighter, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest as he finally fell asleep. Her last tear fell as slowly as Michael's blood down the side of his face.