Note: Phar Fig Newton, my pink pony, has magical fic powers. I mean, that can be the only explanation for why I'm an updating fiend!
Chapter Twenty
"You sure you don't want to…wait?"
"What the hell would I wait for, Francis?" Elizabeth snapped, hurriedly scrawling her signature down on the appropriate line and handing the forms back to the nervous nurse. She watched as the young woman set the clipboard aside and hesitantly extended another one toward her, meekly asking her to sign on the dotted lines. The brunette rolled her eyes and obliged, wondering why all the nurses in the hospital seemed to be so afraid of her.
"I didn't mean a what," Francis replied witheringly, glancing at his watch. "I meant a…who."
The brunette looked up at him humorlessly. "A who."
The bodyguard fidgeted. "…Yes."
"A Jason kind of who?"
"…Maybe."
The tension lifted when the young woman smirked at him, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Honestly, Francis, why is everyone so scared of me? What – do I look like I'm going to start biting people's heads off or something? You can just say whatever's on your mind, you know."
"I know that," he replied defensively. "Fine, I'll try again. I was just wondering if you weren't going to wait for Jason to come before signing out of the hospital."
She shook her head, finishing up with the forms. "I don't want to bother him. He's been gone for the past two days – Emily Quartermaine said it looked like he had a lot of business things on his mind. He'd be here if he could, but I'm not going to call him up and tell him to drop everything just to walk me to the elevator. Besides," she smiled up at him, the picture of sardonic warmth and love. "What do I need crotchety old Morgan for when I've got you three strapping men around?"
Max and Johnny, who had just arrived and were standing behind Francis, blushed and shifted uncomfortably.
"Hello, boys," Elizabeth greeted them with a catty smile as she slid the forms across the counter to the wary nurse. "Miss me?"
"You know it, Elle," Johnny smirked back, using the nickname she seemed to prefer over her full first name. "You ready to blow this Popsicle stand?"
"More than ready," she sighed, tipping her head at the nurse behind the counter and leading the group to the elevators. She had already said goodbye to Emily, and with a little bit of luck she'd be able to get out of General Hospital without being spotted by the well-meaning but overbearing Drs. Quartermaine, the Spencer psycho, or the irritating and pretentious Dr. Mulrow.
"All right, boys," she grinned, sauntering into the elevator and waiting as they climbed aboard. "First things first – let's find me some new digs."
Sonny glanced up as Jason walked in through the penthouse door and gently set the phone back on its cradle. His enforcer had been out for the past two days working mainly with Benny and Enzo, and it was time for them to touch base on the problems with Alcazar. "Jason, good, I'm glad you're here. Don Ciccio-"
"Courtney did it."
The kingpin looked at him as if he had three heads. "…Did what?"
Jason tossed a worn manila file of wrinkled and some half-crumpled papers onto his best friend's desk. He stared wearily at the mobster, and Sonny suddenly noticed how exhausted he looked. "Courtney ran into Elizabeth with her car."
Sonny let out a strangled chuckle, certain that this was some kind of joke. "Jason-"
"While on drugs."
The mob lord's obsidian eyes widened at the accusation, and Jason watched him purse his lips into a thin line. "Jason-"
"Then she accepted AJ's help in covering it up."
"Enough!" Sonny looked more bewildered than angry as he held up his hand. "Jason…what are you saying?"
"Courtney ran into Elizabeth with her car while on drugs, then accepted AJ's help in covering it up," he repeated blandly. "It's all in the file on your desk."
Sonny didn't touch the folder. "And you know this because…"
Again, the enforcer's eyes revealed nothing. "I had Cortega's room tapped."
His boss' eyes widened at the mention of Alcazar's top aide. "You did what? Do you know how-"
"Benny arranged it and Enzo handled it," Jason continued as if Sonny hadn't spoken. "You said before that it was like Alcazar had evidence on us – now we know what it is."
"You want to spell it out for me?" Sonny growled, irritated, as he scrubbed a hand over his jaw. "What does Alcazar have on us, and how does it connect back to my sister and your fiancé?"
"After Courtney hit Elizabeth with her car, she kept on going," Jason replied in a cold, hard voice. "She let AJ help her – he took the car and hid it in an unused Quartermaine warehouse. Alcazar found out and had the car moved. Now he knows that his enemy's sister was driving under the influence and committed a hit and run, then fled the country because she had no intentions of owning up to it."
A stunned silence followed, and then Sonny exploded. "Why didn't you say anything about this sooner?"
"I couldn't!" Jason responded hotly, tempted to slam his fist down on the desk and upset his boss' precious fixtures. "I couldn't believe it myself!"
"And you expect me to believe-"
"I don't expect anything," he responded curtly, reining in his temper. There was a time and place for that, and it wasn't here – not with Carly and Michael upstairs. "Read the file. It's all there."
And with that, Jason Morgan turned square on his heel and stormed out of the penthouse with the full intention of going to Jake's and getting drunk.
"Another."
The rookie bartender that Jake had hired two weeks ago eyed him nervously, knowing that the man before him had had more than enough, but not about to refuse an enforcer's order. Wordlessly, he slid another bottle toward Jason and quickly drew his hand back when the enforcer immediately snatched it up and took a long pull.
It had been two days since he first read the contents of the report that Benny had handed him. He hadn't slept at all the first night; instead, he sat on the couch that his fiancé had picked out and pored over every single word of the transcribed conversations over and over again, trying to find some indication that it was all a lie. But the cold, stark words stared back at him from the crisp white page. It was no lie.
AJ had been right, and Jason had been too blind to see it.
The next day had been spent in a whirlwind of activity; he couldn't have stopped to contact Sonny about this even if he had wanted to. He had worked all through the night and the following morning and hightailed it straight to Benny and demanded that Enzo be present as well.
Once the men were assembled, he had lost his temper and fairly demanded that they tell him it was all a set-up. Benny and Enzo had apologetically informed him that they could do no such thing, and that was when Jason had first began to accept the unfortunate truth.
His fiancé, the woman he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with, had lied to him.
She had run over Elizabeth and hadn't even stopped to see that she was all right. She had been on drugs at the time and he hadn't even known. She had accepted help from his enemy, and now another enemy had control of the evidence and would use it against them at the drop of a hat.
And she had never once intended to come clean. Instead, she had run off to the island to sunbathe and swim while Elizabeth fought for her life under the knife and then woke up without a clue as to who she was. She had intended to stay away until this mess had blown over and everything was neat and tidy once more.
Jason scowled, his hand wrapping so tightly around the bottle that it was a wonder the glass didn't crack. He hadn't received a call from Sonny; most likely, the mob boss was still trying to process the information. He didn't know what Sonny would do, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was what he himself planned to do.
And at the moment, he had no clue. All he knew was that he couldn't go back to that penthouse, filled with her plants and her candles and her precious picture frames filled with awkward candid shots of them and their friends. He couldn't go back to it, otherwise he'd be tempted to shatter everything.
At least when he had suffered through a car accident, he hadn't been left alone in the snow as if he didn't matter to a soul in the world.
Tears stung his eyes and he took another long pull of his bottle. Jake's hummed and droned around him, and that annoying young bartender kept wiping the same spot over and over with his damn rag.
Jason stood on slightly wobbling legs and pitched his bottle into the trashcan, not bothering to acknowledge the bartender as he shuffled around the counter to get his own beer. The young man opened his mouth to protest, but wisely snapped it shut before he got his face kicked in. He might have been new to the dive, but he was no stranger to dangerous men in dangerous moods.
The enforcer collapsed onto the stool once more, fumbling for a minute with the top of his beer bottle. He got it off and stared at the carbonated beverage, his brows pulled low as he scowled at the liquid. Drinking wouldn't make things better – he'd have hell to pay in the morning – but for tonight, he just wanted to get good and drunk and pass out upstairs. It seemed like a fitting end to the day.
"None of this stuff is going to work," Elizabeth huffed, frowning at the clothes that Johnny, Max and Francis had piled atop her new bed. "I mean, look at this – flowery skirts, miniskirts, backless tanks, hot pants…and is this a pink hoodie? I did not have good taste in clothes."
Johnny shrugged. "I don't know, I thought you always looked nice. Very put together," he added quickly when she smirked lasciviously at him. "Shut up."
Max was chuckling as Francis helped Elizabeth dig through the mound of apparel. "You dressed like the other girls your age, Elle," he informed her, pulling the wooden chair out from the large desk in the room and plopping down wearily. He had spent all day helping the brunette move her stuff out of her old studio since the lease had recently expired and she wasn't too keen on returning there. And now, he'd let Johnny and Francis do most of the work. "You weren't overly-girly, if that's what you're asking."
"Grab me that garbage bag, will you, John?" the brunette asked, quickly opening it as soon as it was handed to her. "This stuff is going to the salvation army five minutes ago."
Francis exchanged glances with Johnny but helped her separate the clothes regardless. All three men wondered if the young woman's sudden philanthropic urges had more to do with the fact that she didn't want to wear Elizabeth's clothes and less to do with the flowers.
"I'm going to need all new stuff," she muttered, cramming the colorful sweaters and flirty silk camisoles into the bag. "God, I can't believe I wore this."
Before long, they managed to get all of the articles she deemed unworthy into multiple garbage bags, which they set out in the hall. After that, cleaning up was a breeze. Elizabeth organized her books on the provided bookshelf, packed her girly figurines and knick-knacks into a box – Francis had suggested that she might want to hang on to them instead of smashing them with a hammer, per her original plan – and hung up the few clothes that she had kept. The jeans and t-shirts and underwear went into the drawer of the old bureau in her room, and her long coat, sweaters, and shoes went into the surprisingly spacious closet.
"That ought to do it," she sighed, looking around the sparsely decorated room. "Yeah, that's not too bad."
"You want us to come with you to get clothes later on?" Johnny asked, earning bewildered looks from Max and Francis. "What? Mrs. Corinthos used to drag me shopping almost every day – I'm immune to it now."
But the brunette just shook her head. "That won't be necessary, Johnny."
The men nodded shortly, unsure of what to do next. They would have lingered on a bit longer – perhaps offered to bring up some food and rent a movie – but Elizabeth wasn't in to that anymore. She didn't ramble like she used to, and they could just picture the look on her face if they suggested renting one of her favorite musicals. Still, they stuck around, fidgeting awkwardly as she straightened the bedspread of her bed and fixed the blinds.
Finally, she turned around with her hands settled lightly on her hips and flashed the three men a ghost of a smile. "Thank you, guys, for doing this. I really appreciate it. I don't think I could have done it this fast on my own."
"It's no problem, Elle," Johnny assured her honestly. "We're happy to help out."
"Anytime you need anything," Francis added, "please – call us. We'll come right over."
"Well, I don't think I'll need to do that any time soon," the young woman smiled, "but thank you anyway. It's nice enough just to have you down the hall – I'm not going to end up bothering you twenty-four hours a day."
"You're not a bother, Elle," Max laughed. "You're much better than Mrs. C. In fact, you're probably the coolest girl we've ever had around. What can I say – occupational hazard."
His friends laughed at that, but Elizabeth barely smirked. "Thanks for everything," she repeated, folding her hands at her waist. "For getting me a room here, getting Jake to give me a job – everything. I won't forget it."
They nodded, uncomfortable with the praise. "Hey," Johnny started, gesturing toward the clock. "You wanna get some food or something? We can go downstairs and find something – or order in. Whatever you want to do."
Elizabeth punched his arm affectionately as she passed the desk, scooping up her wallet. "How about a rain check? I want to head out on my own for a bit."
"Where are you going?" Francis asked, concerned. "One of us can accompany you-"
"I wanted to go over to the hospital and see Emily Quartermaine again," she told him, lingering with her hand on the doorknob as Francis quickly grabbed his suit jacket and his keys. "I'm going to try to get in without being spotted. She just seemed a little under the weather today, compared to how she's been this week."
"Sounds fine," the bodyguard nodded, holding the door open for her. "Why not bring her some hot chili from Kelly's and have dinner together? I'm sure that would lift her spirits."
"Yeah, let's do that," the brunette agreed, waiting for Max and Johnny to clear out of her room before locking it. The men followed her as she led the way down the stairs to the main level, and Johnny and Max quickly slipped out toward the bar to get some drinks and check out the scene.
"I wonder if Tanya's here tonight," Johnny murmured, scanning the bar as he headed toward the counter. "We had a good time the other night…maybe she's up for another hook-up."
"Hey, John-" Max's dark eyes were trained on a blonde man a few paces away. "Is that…Jason?"
The Irishman stopped looking for his flavor of the week and turned in the direction his best friend pointed. "Yeah…damn, he looks like hell. Wonder what happened."
"Oh, shit, and…he saw us," Max muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Something tells me we'll only make his night worse if we tell him that-"
"Then we won't tell him," Johnny replied quietly, tipping his head at his boss. "Let him find out on his own…preferably when we're outside a ten-mile radius."
The clatter of boots on the wooden stairs behind them drew Jason's attention away from his two bumbling employees, and even in his drunken haze, the enforcer's eyes widened when he saw Elizabeth step down and almost collide with Jake who had just returned to the bar.
"Jake," he watched the young woman nod as she stuck her hand out, pumping the older woman's one firmly. "I just wanted to thank you again for the room and the job – you won't regret it."
Max and Johnny winced as Jason's lethal narrowed orbs fell on the two of them. "No," Johnny muttered, "but we might."