Michael was covered in blood, and not speaking. Carly was in surgery. And Sonny was dead. What the hell was going on?
"Michael?" Jason Morgan knelt before the small boy. He didn't touch him. The last time he tried, Michael had screamed and pulled back. He had drawn his feet up in his chair, wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked back and forth. Only small whimpers had come from his mouth, squeezing out of a throat that threatened to seize up at any minute. Now, though, he was silent. His legs were once again dangling, toes scraping the floor. His head was bowed, and he was blanched. He wasn't speaking, but at least he wasn't crying.
"Michael, look at me." Jason sighed and looked up to his left. Max watched them. His face was pale. He was in shock and no good to him at the moment. He turned to his right. Sam stared down in confusion and shock of her own. Shock that the boy was so silent, covered in gore. Whatever had happened, she hadn't been there. She didn't know what was going on, so at least her shock didn't leave her completely useless. "What do I do?"
"I-" Sam shook her head and snapped her mouth shut. She took in a breath deep enough to make her torso rise and fall. "I don't know," she finally said. "I don't know what happened."
Jason sighed and returned his attention to Michael. He had started rocking now, and muttering. Jason couldn't distinguish his words, but the tone was pitiful. Jason looked around again, and he saw Bobbie sitting in a chair across the hall. She held a similar look to Max. Had she seen what happened? Or had she just seen Carly when she was brought into the hospital? Whichever it might have been, she wasn't going to be of any use, either.
"Michael, please, look at me." Whether it was the please, or the begging tone in his voice, Michael rose his face. His eyes were dark and sunken, haunted by something. "What happened, Michael?"
Michael shook his head furiously. He squeezed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears. "Stop it," he mumbled. "Stop. Stop. Don't do that. Don't do it! Stop! Don't make me- Stop!"
Michael jumped from the chair, then scuttled beneath it. He curled himself into as tight a ball as possible. He whimpered beneath the chair, rocking to each side. Whatever happened, Michael wasn't going to say. Jason had to find another route.
He stood up and grabbed Max by the arm. The bodyguard looked at him as though he'd just seen him, just realized that he was there. Jason dragged him to the side and practically threw him against the wall. "What the hell happened, Max?"
Max's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, gasping for air. He looked down to the floor and Jason wanted to hit him. What the fuck good was a bodyguard who couldn't guard? What good was a guard who didn't have the ability to report back to his superiors? Jason had seen a lot of horrible things since coming to work for Sonny, but he'd always been able to report back. Even when he was shot, he was able to report back to Sonny and tell him what had happened. How in the hell could Max not even say a word?
Like a snake striking, Jason pulled a silver handgun from the inside of his leather jacket and pointed it at Max's head. "Tell me what happened right now, or Sonny won't be the only one dead."
There was too much going on that Jason couldn't understand. Too many people he loved were hurt, all at once. Maybe he could have handled them all one at a time, but together- It only served to leave him confused and bewildered. When Jason couldn't figure something out, he pulled his gun. His gun, he could understand. Violence, he had wrapped around his little finger.
"Jason, what are you doing?" Max snapped out of his catatonic state and tried to push Jason's hand down. "What if someone sees you?"
Jason snatched back from him and retrained his sights. "Then I guess I'll be going to jail. But, not before I get out of you what happened."
"I- I don't know." He shook his head. "Mrs. C- She came to get the boys, and she and Mr. C started arguing. They always argue, I didn't think anything of it."
"Go on." Jason didn't put the gun down.
"They were screaming, and then Michael started shouting at them to stop. At someone-" Max shook his head. "I don't know. It all went so fast. I- I came into the room, and Mr. C was on the floor. Mrs. C was on the floor. Michael was holding a bat-"
Slowly, Jason's arm started to lower. Michael- He shook his head. No, he couldn't believe it. Michael couldn't do something like that. But if Sonny- Again, he shook his head. No, Sonny wouldn't do that. Sonny wouldn't do something that would cause his own son to- He couldn't even think it.
But, if Sonny hadn't done anything to Carly, why would Michael have a bat?
"You're lying to me, Max. Tell me, you're lying to me."
"God, Jason, I wish I were." Max slumped against the wall. "I wish I'd gone in when they first started fighting. Or that I could have- I don't know. But, they always fight, Jason, it's what they do. You know that."
"Jason." His head snapped to the side as Sam came running up to him. Now, Jason's arm was down, the gun held loosely at his side. "Jason, Michael said something and- We can't let him say it to anyone else."
Jason looked down, and he thought that he might actually cry. Not for Carly. Not for Sonny. Maybe not even for Michael. He couldn't put a reason on his sudden need for tears, and because of that alone, he stopped them from falling. "Tell me he didn't do it, Sam."
"Jason-"
"Tell me he didn't do it!"
Sam took in a deep breath, and as her shoulders fell, Jason knew she couldn't tell him what he wanted to hear. She pulled him down to her level, so she could speak quietly enough for him to hear and no one else. "He's muttering, Jason. Muttering and crying. He's muttering that he killed Sonny."