Chapter Four- Will It Ever End?
"And there's your baby" said Dr. Meadows as she pointed to the screen. "Jack appears to be doing fine" she said with a big smile.
"Oh thank god" said Sam as she let out a few happy tears, and even Jason had to hold his own tears back.
"I'll give you two a few minutes alone" said Dr. Meadows as she left the room, leaving the relieved parents to themselves.
"I'm so happy that Jack's ok. I was so worried Jason. I couldn't lose him, not after everything"
"I know, I don't know what I'd do if I lost him either. Or if I lost you" he told her truthfully.
Sam gazed into her husband's beautiful blue eyes before reaching up to kiss him, holding his head carefully in her hands.
"I love you" she said.
"I love you too. But I'm going to get Dr. Meadows to wash that gel off of you and then you need to get more sleep. You're still sick, even if you don't feel as bad as you did last night"
"I know" she said. "Whatever you say baby. I'm just glad that everything's ok"
"Hey you!" said Reese as she walked into Sam's hospital room. "Where's Jason?"
"He's filling out some more paperwork. I'm not even kidding when I say that this is the first time that he has left my side since I got here. I can't even go to the bathroom without him trying to hold my hand. Well, figuratively at least. I mean, it was cute at first, but now it's just amazing that I don't punch him" grumbled Sam.
"I wonder if this is how Sonny is going to act with our baby" said Sam, a huge smile on her face.
"What? You're pregnant!" she exclaimed.
"Shh, keep it down! No one else knows yet" said Reese with a smile. "I just can't believe that I'm pregnant, and with Sonny's baby. This is like a dream come true"
"I felt like that when I found out Jason and I were having a baby. It was the greatest feeling in the world" said Sam dreamily. "Just watch what you eat, because it's not fun being pregnant and in this place" she said with a smile.
"I just hope this pregnancy goes smoother than my first. I had, like, all day sickness" said Reese quietly.
"You miss Jamie" stated Sam softly.
"Yeah, I do" said Reese as she sat down on the bed next to Sam and let a lone tear trickle down her face. "I just feel like I'm betraying him by being excited about this kid"
"Would you feel that way if he was still alive?" asked Sam.
"No…yes…I dunno" said Reese as she looked down at her feet.
"Reese, Jamie is looking down at you from heaven and he is smiling. Because you are his mother, and he wants you to be happy. He wouldn't want you to focus on the past; he'd want you to look towards the future. Be happy about this baby Reese, trust me. It'll all be ok. You are going to have a perfect son or daughter. And he or she is going to have a huge place in your heart, but it doesn't mean you love Jamie less"
"When did you get so wise?" asked Reese as she smiled through her tears.
"Lila" said Sam simply.
"Right, sorry" said Reese. "You probably don't want me dumping my troubles about this on you. You've been through the same thing, except it was much worse. You didn't even get to see your daughter" said Reese, regretting the words as soon as she said them. "Wait, that didn't come out right. I think I'm just going to leave it at sorry"
"It's ok, really. I think about Lila everyday. What she'd look like, how she'd act. But I have Jason and Jack now, and I need to move on with my life. I don't want to forget Lila, but I want to keep my life going too"
"You're going to be a great mother Sam, believe me" said Reese.
"Thanks" said Sam quietly as she and Reese hugged.
"Am I interrupting female bonding time?" asked Jason as he walked back into the room.
"No, we were just talking, its ok" said Sam as she and Reese pulled away.
"I should probably get going anyway, see you two later. And feel better Sam" she said as she walked out.
"Thanks" she said smiling at Reese before the woman disappeared.
"So, when do I get out of here?" she asked.
"In a few days" he told her as she pouted.
"A few days? I'm going stir crazy" she groaned.
"Well, you better find something to entertain yourself with" joked Jason, causing Sam to roll her eyes at him.
Two Weeks Later
Sam had been released from the hospital a week ago and she was doing much better. Now that Sonny was home, he assigned Jason a new job. To protect his wife and child. And Jason wasn't about to argue with Sonny, nor was Sam. They both loved getting to spend all of their time with each other. Sam loved waking up in the morning to hear Jason telling Jack exactly which of his body parts were developed at that point in her pregnancy. She loved him bringing her breakfast in bed everyday, and rubbing her feet, and going to sleep in his arms at night. It was all perfect.
Except for the looming threats hanging over their heads. They still had no idea just who was messing with them. Just who had scared Sam at the wedding and then poisoned her. He and Sonny had talked in depth about it. At first they thought it was an enemy of Sam's, because the attacks had both been on her. They even checked out Charlie Abdale again to make sure that none of his ex-cronies were trying to get revenge. But it was clean. Then it struck them that it probably wasn't an enemy of Sam's. Jason's enemies wouldn't want to directly hurt him; they'd want him to suffer. And what better way than torturing his wife and son before killing them. But Jason would be damned if he let that happen. He was going to protect his family at all costs, and Sonny was there to back him up.
The phone rang as Sam was taking an evening nap, and Jason rushed to answer it. Sam had been so tired lately and he didn't want it to wake her.
"Hello" he said, walking out of the room as to not disturb her. "Hello?" he said again when there was no answer. "Who the hell is this?" he demanded.
"Meet me down at the docks, one hour. Come alone. Your family's lives depend on it" said a distorted voice before the phone was hung up.
Jason had a big decision to make. He knew that it was stupid to go to a meeting that was set up like that one, but he felt as though he didn't have a choice. If he didn't go, he would just be putting his family in more danger. Sam and Jack were the two most important people to him and Jason would gladly risk his life if it meant protecting him. Once he realized this, he knew exactly what he had to do. He spent the next 45 minutes just watching Sam sleep, noticing that his son was kicking her, but she managed to sleep through it. Finally, it was time for goodbye. Leaning down, he placed a kiss on her stomach, and then a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you both" he said gently before reluctantly getting up and grabbing his gun and jacket and leaving after scribbling a quick note to Sam.
Sam woke up a few minutes later, getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach when she noticed the empty penthouse. Looking around, she saw Jason's note.
Sam-
I had to take care of something. I love you and Jack more than words can describe.
With all my love,
Jason
That note scared her. Why did it sound so foreboding? Sam knew something was wrong. She just didn't know how to fix it. Her fist instinct was to look for him herself, gun in hand. But she knew that she couldn't do that. Instead, she only had one option.
Jason approached the docks and silently waited for the caller to arrive. Finally, three men in all black and ski-masks approached.
"What do you want?" asked Jason coldly.
"Frisk him" said the man in the middle to the ones on his side.
They came over to Jason and he had no choice but to stand there and let them check him for weapons. Once they grabbed both his guns, they threw them to the man and then nodded at him to let him know that they were done. He nodded back and the men grabbed him tightly by the arms, twisting them back in odd, painful angles. But Jason was not about to cry out.
"Who the hell are you?" he spat, but the only answer he got was a fist to the mouth.
He felt his lip begin to bleed, but again, he didn't cry out. The man continued to hit him in the stomach and face, and Jason couldn't help but grunt with each punch. He kept punching the side of Jason's head, and he could feel a gash starting in on his head. He knew that he had to have a bloody nose based on the pain and the liquidy feeling that his face had. He figured that he had at least a handful of broken or cracked ribs, and the rest were bruised. But he still refused to cry out. Finally, the man got bored and stopped hitting him.
"This was just a warning" he sneered, motioning to the men to drop him, and they did just that.
Jason's legs felt like jelly, and he was unable to stand so instead he just kind of fell to the floor. The men walked past him and kicked him the gut a few times before walking away, leaving Jason half-conscious in the dirt. He groaned a few times and tried to get up, but it wasn't working. Finally, he just gave up and blacked out, praying with his last thoughts that Sam and Jack were ok.
"Sonny, this note means something bad" said Sam as she started to cry.
She had gone over to Sonny's and shared the note and her bad feeling with him. She was now sobbing on his couch as Reese held her and attempted to comfort her.
"We'll find him Sam, don't worry" said Sonny as he sighed. "Where are you Jase?" he whispered.
Half an hour later, there was still no word. Sonny's cell phone rang suddenly rang, and Sam jumped and looked at Sonny expectantly.
"Where? Yeah. How bad? Yeesh. Call her. Alright, um, back to the penthouse is fine. Thanks" said Sonny before hanging up the phone.
"Sonny, what happened to Jason, you have to tell me, Sonny Please?"
"Sam, all this stress is not good for the baby" warned Sonny.
"Neither is the stress of not knowing what happened to my husband"
Sonny let out a deep sigh before exchanging glances with Reese.
"Jason was found roughed up on the docks" admitted Sonny quietly.
"Oh my god!" said Sam, clamping one hand over her mouth as she sunk down into the couch. "Is he ok? Is he conscious?"
"Semi. Look, my men are calling Emily to see if she can take care of it without going to the hospital"
"I want to go see him. Sonny, I'm going, and nothing you say is going to stop me" said Sam determinedly.
Seeing that she was right, Sonny grabbed his coat, kissed Reese goodbye, and led Sam out of his house and back to her home with Jason.
When Sam walked into her bedroom, she almost burst into tears at seeing her usually strong husband in such bad shape. His bare chest was covered in bruises and painful looking cuts. He had two fat lips and a swollen bloody nose, along with two black eyes. He had a gash in the side of his head, and a long cut running up his cheek. His arms were badly bruised and he was dirty all over. After getting over her initial shock, Sam ran to him and started gently kissing his forehead, the only part of his body that didn't seem swollen or bloodied.
"Sam, what are you doing here?" he croaked out through his bloody lips.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" she asked him as though the question he had just asked her was the most ludicrous one ever.
"You shouldn't be here. I never want you to see me like this" he groaned before coughing, and to Sam's horror, she saw that he was coughing up blood.
"Jason, having a hand to hold was never a bad thing" said Emily as she quickly wiped away the new blood on his face before going back to bandaging his ribs.
"Thank you Emily" said Sam as she continued to hold his hand and kiss his forehead.
15 minutes later, Emily had done her best. He had quiet a few bandages on him, and she had given him a strong painkiller to help him through it.
"You'll be fine" she assured him. "If he continues to cough up blood, call me right away, or better yet, get to the hospital" she whispered in Sam's ear. "Rest Jason, it's important" she warned her brother before leaving them alone.
Sam sat down on the bed next to him and tenderly, brushed some hair off of his forehead.
"Kiss me" he commanded in a whisper.
She smiled and kissed his forehead.
"No, kiss my lips" he said, his tone almost begging, but still quiet.
"Jason… they're all swollen, I'm going to hurt you" she told him as she gently ran her finger over his lips, barely touching them.
"No, you can never hurt me. Please kiss my lips" he begged. "Please Sam" he said in a hoarse, strained voice.
Sam sighed before obliging, as she bent her head down and kissed his swollen lips. It hurt, but for Jason the pain was worth it. He lifted one extremely sore arm and placed his hand on her stomach as the two continued to kiss, forgetting for just a moment that their lives were in danger. All they knew was each other.