Elizabeth nodded in the direction of the nurses' station as she approached Jake Russell's room with more suggestions for his physical therapy and rehabilitation. She had spoken with the cardiac surgeon who had performed his by-pass and was please to learn that while it was a difficult surgery that Mr. Russell had faired well and would make a full recovery. Elizabeth had a strange sensation of relief wash over her after that conversation with the doctor. It was almost as if Jake Russell was her relative and she had been waiting news of his surgery all night long. In some odd way she had been and that rattled her just a bit. Never before had she taken the outcome of a patient's operation so personally. She shook off those plaguing thoughts as she stepped inside Jake's room only to be bombarded with them once more when she realized that Jake's son Jason wasn't there. She felt her face fall and was oddly disappointed that Mr. Russell was alone. The feeling of disappointment disturbed her and she tried to explain it away in her head by telling herself that she only wanted to bring the young man up to speed on the recovery process for his father. Yet if Elizabeth really thought about it there was far more to that feeling than she was willing to admit.

She looked down at the older man lying in the bed with his eyes closed. Suddenly Elizabeth was thinking about her own father. The man before her wasn't much older than Pat Ryan and as much as Elizabeth hated to admit it she wasn't sure how she would react if anything like this happened to him. They had spent the better part of her life at odds but the idea of losing the only parent she ever knew frightened her more than she cared to concede. Again she let her eyes fall on Jake Russell as he slept. Elizabeth all of the sudden thought better of disturbing him. His body had been through so much in the past day and the logical voices in her brain told her that she didn't need to bombard him with her information. Waiting a day or so wouldn't matter so she pivoted on her thick black heel and reached for the door.

"Seems like I am scaring everyone away today," Jake said opening his eyes to see only the petite brunette's back.

"I'm sorry," she began. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. Who can sleep in a place like this? Every time I start to drift off one person or another comes in here to check some machine or poke at me," Jake said with a sigh.

Elizabeth smiled at his remark. It wasn't the first time she had heard something along those lines from one patient or another. "You're right. Who ever said hospitals were for resting must have never been in one. I'm Elizabeth Ryan by the way." She offered him her hand, which he awkwardly accepted.

Jake stared intently at the young woman before him and saw traces of her father in her features but the overwhelming resemblance Elizabeth had to her mother Colleen was uncanny.

"I'm one of the patient advocates here at the hospital… …"

"Are you any relation to Pat Ryan?" he interrupted her his gaze still trained on her.

"Yes. He's my father. Are you a NASCAR fan Mr. Russell?" Elizabeth was accustomed to having people grill her about her father once they made the connection between him and her. It was almost like she ceased to exist once whoever it was asking knew she was a stepping stone to 'The Great' Pat Ryan. She had grown up as a teenager questioning every boy who approached her intentions. Did they really want to date her or was she just the quickest way into her daddy's inner circle? Ultimately it hadn't been any different with Billy Weston either – except maybe she had forgotten to question his motives.

"You could say that," Jake answered.

"I'm sure I could get you my father's autograph if that interests you." Elizabeth heard the tone in her voice change without meaning for it to.

"That won't be necessary." Jake almost laughed at the thought of Pat Ryan's named sprawled across a piece of paper in his tiny script. "It's not worth the paper it'd be written on."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth was noticeably taken aback.

"Back in the early days I was part of your father's pit crew."

"What? I don't remember you," she said feeling suddenly out of sorts. Growing up she lived at the track with her father and thought she knew every one of his mechanics.

"I went to work for another driver when you were just a little thing. Maybe you had to be three years old when I left. You grew up to be a beautiful young lady," he commented. "Spitting image of your mama. I bet your father is proud."

Elizabeth choked on that comment. Her father proud of her – she wasn't even sure if most of the time he knew she even existed. "I look like my mom huh?"

"Exactly. Colleen was a beautiful woman and so are you."

"Thank you," she blushed.

Elizabeth examined Jake closely now that she knew the connection he had to her father. It was so strange how much more approachable a man she didn't even know was than her own father. Jake Russell said more about her mother to her than Pat Ryan ever had. Never once had he mentioned how much she looked her mother. In fact most of the photos of Colleen Ryan were locked away in a safe that she didn't know the combination to.

"So you worked for my dad?" She was still trying to grasp it all.

"More like I worked with him," Jake corrected. "He fancied me as his good luck charm and was none too happy when I decided to jump ship as he called it."

"I'll bet," Elizabeth agreed knowing the loyalty her father demanded. "Are you still working the circuit?"

"Yep – racing and being a mechanic is all this old man knows. When you think I might be able to get back to it?" he asked. Jake had a feeling it wouldn't be until the current season was over and if that was really the case he had his work cut out for him in getting Jason to see that he needed another crew chief.

"Honestly, Mr. Russell… …"

"Call me Jake, please. Mr. Russell makes me sound like an old geezer," he chuckled.

"Well, Jake, I really don't know if it will be all that soon. You have a lot of healing to do before you can ever begin to think about physical therapy. I'd say at least three or four months."

"Damn," he huffed. Jason's career would be in the toilet if he were out that long especially if the young driver was too stubborn to see that he couldn't wait on his recuperation.

"I'm sure that's not what you wanted to hear. But honestly you will make a full recovery in that time frame," Elizabeth attempted to reassure him.

"But it will be too late then," Jake spoke more to himself than to her.

"Too late? Too late for what?" she questioned.

"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud." Jake covered his face with his hands trying to figure out some way to convince Jason to continue racing without him.

"Mr. Russ, Jake I mean," she corrected herself. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he sighed. "You said you had some information on rehabilitation centers for me to look at."

"Why don't we talk about that later. You need to rest and I have already worn you out."

"I am a little tired," he agreed.

"I'll be sure to put a do not disturb sign on the door," she joked with a smile.

"You do that," he said closing his eyes.

Elizabeth closed the door softly behind her and went looking for Jake's son.

Alison wrenched her arm out of her son's tight grip when they finally stopped in the middle of the corridor. "What do you think you are doing?" she scuffed angrily.

"What does it look like?"

"Like you have forgotten who the parent is," Alison said as though that should carry any weight with her son but it didn't.

"Oh that's rich mom, especially coming from you," Jason retorted. Again he found himself staring into eyes that matched his own wondering what exactly his mother was hoping to accomplish by being there.

"Jason, I am still your mother."

"Don't you think you gave up that right the minute you walked out on me?" His words stung her. Alison looked away unable to meet his accusatory stare. "What the truth hurt, mom?" The sarcastic tone Jason placed on the word mom forced Alison to realize just how much anger her son held for her.

"You called me. I thought you wanted me here," she choked out.

"I called to tell you about Jake. I never imagined that you would actually show up here. Didn't you vow to never step foot on North Carolina soil again? Weren't those your very words mom?" Jason felt like he was reliving the day his mother left all over again. The memory was almost as intense as the one of his father's crash.

"I.., ah… I," she stammered.

"You what?" Jason prodded.

"I thought you might need me – that Jake might need me."

"The last thing Jake needs is another one of your tirades about the depraved world of NASCAR! He's been through enough you leaving him alone to take care of the son you could barely look at before you left."

"You make it sound like I abandoned an infant, Jason. You were twenty years old and made me well aware that you were man enough to make your own decisions – that you could take care of yourself. That's what you said!" Alison cried.

"And you didn't look any further than my words. You acted like you were the only one who lost someone you loved. I loved dad too!" Jason's voice quivered, as he looked away from the woman who had given birth to him unwilling to let her see the pain in his sky blue eyes.

Watching her son, the once little boy who used to curl up on her lap at night and fall asleep in her arms, Alison's chest tightened as tears clouded her vision. She reached out to him wanting so desperately to comfort him, as she once had been able to do so easily. For a split second Jason allowed her hand to stroked his tanned skin but then he pulled back again as though a hot iron had just seared him.

"You look exhausted, Jason," she whispered. "You should really get some rest. You aren't helping Jake by running yourself to a frazzle." Jason found himself laughing humorlessly at how easily Alison turned on the motherly concern. It was like she had some internal switch that she could turn on and off at will. "I can help if you will just let me." All at once she felt the need to be Jason's mother again. To be his protector – to make all right with his world again.

"You know what you can do mom? Just leave mom – cause isn't that what you do best?" he said caustically. He looked away only to find his eyes on a diminutive brunette staring at them with an awkward smile pasted on her face.

"If you'll excuse me," Alison said looking away as her son's hurtful statement brought tears to her crystal eyes. "I would like to see Jake now." She was gone before Jason could stop her.

Elizabeth looked on as the young man watched his mother walk down the hall and disappear into the room she recently vacated. She felt the tension that hung in his frame and wondered if she would ever get her timing right when it came to Jake Russell's son. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth. We met last night," she offered him her tiny hand.

"Uh huh," he acknowledged without really looking at her.

"I wanted to discuss the possibilities for your father's rehab and physical therapy."

"What? Father?"

"Mr. Russell," Elizabeth gave him a quizzical look.

"Jake isn't my dad."

"Oh I'm sorry. I was misinformed." Elizabeth suddenly felt overly self-conscious as the handsome man stared directly at her.

"No – no it's okay," Jason was immediately sorry he took his residual anger for his mother out on the woman standing in front of him with the deer in the head lights look on her face. "He's the closest thing I have to a dad anymore. My real father died years ago."

"I'm sorry." She wasn't sure if losing a parent when you were old enough to understand and miss them or that never getting the chance to know them as happened to her was any better or worse. Maybe it was just different.

"Thank you. So how's Jake?" Jason didn't want to spend too much time discussing the father he had lost. His mother being there was reminder enough.

"Doing remarkably well. Dr. Benson assured me that he would make a full recovery. It's just going to take a while for him to recuperate. Here are some of the best rehab centers that handle cases like this."

Elizabeth handed him several pamphlets, which he scanned but didn't really take a great deal of interest in. His mind drifted to the confines of Jake's room and what tale his mom was spinning when it came to her hatred of racing. There was no doubt in his mind that Alison blamed Jake for not backing her but rather him in his decision to slide into the driver's seat his father vacated. He was sure that was the last thing that Jake needed right now especially since Jason knew that he was already worried about what all of this would do to his career.

Jason finally took a good look at the pretty girl as she rambled on endlessly about Jake's surgery and subsequent rehab and physical therapy. He was sure that he should have been paying attention to what she was saying but he couldn't get his mind to focus on much of anything but the mass of jumbled thoughts that had only been complicated by his mother's presence. Yet he allowed himself a brief moment to study her. Her chestnut hair fell in soft curls framing her striking face. The deep hue of her hair was a stark contrast to her alabaster skin. She had ocean blue eyes that if things had been different maybe he would have gotten lost in their depths. But it was her gentle voice that he ended up centering on. It was oddly calming and reassuring and up until now no one but Jake had ever offered him reassurance.

"Really Jason," Elizabeth rested her hand gently on his arm. "Jake's going to make a full recovery. All he needs to do is follow the doctor's recommendations." She searched his sullen face for some expression of understanding. She resisted the urge to reach for his hand and hold it tightly in her own. "You don't have to make any decisions right now. Jake will be in the hospital for a few more days before he will need to be moved to another facility."

"Okay." He tore his gaze away from her lovely face and began to pace the floor as he had done the night before. He was suddenly a ball of nervous energy and he needed the movement to keep from coming unglued.

"I will be in my office if you have any questions or if you need me to explain anything." Elizabeth wanted him to ask her something – anything to give her a reason not to walk away. Yet he remained silent with his stare riveted towards Jake's room. Once more she was over come with a feeling of complete and utter helplessness. If only she could just let these feelings go. She had done her job. Offered support, as she would normally have done. It wasn't up to her to make his decision for him but she wanted to. She wanted to take the haunted look of despair from his eyes. "It's going to be okay," she said again touching his hand before she parted for the elevator.

Jason felt the lingering touch of Elizabeth's hand as he walked towards Jake's room. It was an odd sensation he couldn't place but part of him missed her contact. Those thoughts were fleeting as the sound of his mother's voice filtered into the corridor. He couldn't believe that she was really there. He never expected her to show up. Jason didn't know what to do with all of the emotions that were reeking havoc with his head and heart. It felt like he was being torn in two. One half wanting the mother he had lost and the other wanting to ship her back to Texas so he didn't have to deal with the pain her presence caused. Finally he pushed his warring emotions into their proper place and entered the room.

Elizabeth pressed the button and waited for the elevator to arrive. She was lost in her own consuming thoughts when the door slid open. "Hey, Elizabeth right?" a voice said catching her off guard.

"Yes?" She looked at him trying to place him. Then her memory kicked in. He was the one she talked to the night when Jake had been in surgery.

"I'm Tom Boudean. Jake's friend," he smiled. Standing there in the light of day he saw how beautiful she truly was. She was small in stature so much so that even in three inch heels she still only came up to his shoulder. Her slender figure was accentuated by the slim fitting dress that hugged her in all the right places. Tom's eyes trailed her body from head to toe.

"I remember," she returned suddenly feeling like she was under a microscope.

"How's he doing?"

"Pretty well considering the difficulty of the surgery. He's going to make a full recovery."

"That's great news. I'll bet Jason is relieved." Tom had spent the better part of the night wondering not only what this meant for his friend's future but his own.

"How can you tell?" Elizabeth found herself saying before she could stop the words.

"He's pretty quiet, I know. Not much into the show of emotions," Tom agreed. "But Jake is like a father to him." Tom searched his mind for other things to discuss as to not let Elizabeth walk away too quickly. He was enjoying basking in her beauty.

"Jake's in CCU if you were on your way to see him. Jason and I believe his mother are in there now."

"His mother? Alison is here?" Tom asked completely shocked. When he suggested Jason call her to tell her about Jake's condition he had never for a second thought that she would show up.

"Yes." Elizabeth was beginning to understand that the outburst between mother and son she had interrupted was far more complicated than just the stresses of the current medical situation. "Well I best be getting to my office. I'm sure there is a pile of work waiting for me on my desk," she smiled.

Tom stood watching as the elevator door closed leaving him to stare at the goofy grin on his own face which soon faded at the thought of Jason and his mother being in the same state let alone the same room.