Melanie saw red the minute her gaze fell on Theresa Kennedy thrusting herself on Jason once more. Instead of following her visibly distraught friend out the door, Melanie strode across the scarred bar floor hell bent on destruction.

"You really don't know when to give up do you!" Melanie whipped the buxom brunette forcefully by the arm causing her to momentarily lose her balance.

"What the hell?" Theresa uttered as she tried to catch herself reaching again for Jason's arm.

"Oh I don't think so!" Melanie slapped her hand away before one finger made contact sending Theresa tumbling onto the slick tabletop sandwiched between the ragged vinyl booth seats.

Momentarily stunned Theresa found herself starring up at the ceiling yet as soon as she got her bearings she lounged at the redhead smirking in front of her. "You bitch!" Theresa yelled.

"Takes one to know one," Melanie countered just as Theresa took a swing at her. Jason however quickly mitted her hand with his larger one before she was able to land her punch. He instantly put himself between the two warring factions stretching out his arms keeping both snarling women at a lengthy distance.

"Enough!" he growled scanning the room for some sort of assistance thankful to finally see Leo making his way through the growing crowd.

"Hey, hey, hey," Leo said reaching for Melanie's waist pulling her further away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she spat.

"Stopping you from doing something you will regret."

"Regret beating her ass? I don't think so!" Melanie huffed.

"Oh you wish!" Theresa sneered lunging forward once more throwing her arms in Melanie's direction.

"Bring it, BITCH!" Melanie growled.

Both Jason and Leo looked relieved when the bar's bouncer finally made his way to them. "Break it up ladies!" He announced monotoned.

"She pushed me," Theresa cooed turning her doe eyes toward the muscle bound man holding her firmly by the arm. "I was just defending myself," she announced her voice as sweet as honey.

"Do I look like I care?" the bouncer stated. "Play nice or get out."

"We were just leaving anyhow," Leo revealed. "Come on," he pulled Melanie by the arm. "We have to go talk to Liz."

"Elizabeth is here?" The mention of her name caught Jason's attention.

"Yeah, genius!" Melanie said in a snarky tone. While she knew that Theresa was the real issue, she wasn't about to let Jason off the hook so easily either. Yet it didn't seem to register with him as he was weaving his way through the crowd toward the door her and Leo hot on his heels.

"Elizabeth!" Jason yelled into the black night.

"Liz," Leo's voice echoed after his.

"Where is she?" Melanie questioned.

"Elizabeth!" Jason shouted again before he started crisscrossing his way through the parked cars in the lot.

"Liz!" Leo hollered as he sprinted off to the opposite side of the lot.

"Elizabeth Ryan, come on this isn't funny!" Melanie sounded like a mother scolding her child.

"She's not here," Leo declared resting his hands on his knees attempting to catch his breath.

"She has to be," Melanie proclaimed. "Where could she have gone?"

"Did you find her?" Jason asked rounding the corner rejoining them.

"Do you see her?" Melanie's attitude sarcastic.

"Hey easy," Leo reached for her hand. He could see the anger seething within the fiery red head and since she hadn't been able to take that out on its real target Leo figured she thought Jason would do nicely.

"Where is she?" Jason questioned turning his attention to Leo as thoughts run rampant through his mind.

"It looks like she's gone," Leo stated clearly concerned.

"Where could she have gone? We drove her," Melanie said to no one in particular.

Those words however clearly caught Jason's attention. "What? She didn't have her car? And she's gone?" He tried to hide the panic in his tone but failed miserably.

"I'm sure she's fine," Leo said eyes still scanning the dimly lit lot.

Theresa stood in the shadows watching as the threesome yelled and searched the parking lot for their precious Elizabeth as a smirk spread across her blood red lips. She wished she had seen the look on Princess Ryan's face as she walked through the door of the bar just now. Sure Jason had been giving her the brush off once again but from the reaction of Elizabeth's friends, she was definitely certain that's not what Pat Ryan's daughter saw. At this point, Theresa would take even the tiniest victory.

"Can you get me out of here?"

Those words skipped through Elizabeth's brain. She had been so hell bent on making a hasty exit that she didn't even contemplate whose car she was climbing into, but now there she sat in the passenger seat of Bill's Camaro staring straight ahead not daring to glance at him, not even out of the corner of her eye.

What the hell had she been thinking getting into Billy Weston's car? That's just it she hadn't been. All that she wanted was to get as far away as she could from the scene she had just witnessed between Jason and Theresa. But somehow she still ended up in a place that she still wasn't about to escape Theresa Kennedy!

"Let me out!"

"What?" Billy asked a bit bewildered.

"Let me out of this damn car!"

"You're kidding right? We are in the middle of nowhere."

"I don't care! Let me out!" Elizabeth's announced with a strangled tone.

"I will not." Billy's eyes scanned the desolate area around them knowing full well there was no way in hell he'd just drop Elizabeth off at the side of the highway in the middle of the night.

"The hell you won't!" Elizabeth declared vehemently, her hand reaching for the door handle not caring that the car was moving at speeds in excess of 70 mph.

"What the hell are you doing?" Billy yelled as he reached across the car wrenching her hand away forcefully. He instantly felt her tense under his tight embrace. Normally that action would have sent him reeling but at the moment Billy didn't have time for anything but stopping Elizabeth from jumping out of his speeding car.

"I want out of this car. Let me out!" Elizabeth heard the desperation in her tone and hated being at Billy's mercy.

Billy removed his hand from hers as he dropped his speed to a reasonable one since he couldn't be sure she wouldn't bolt at any moment. "I'll make you a deal."

Elizabeth finally turned and looked at him suspiciously. She knew any deal Billy was about to offer wouldn't be in her favor. "What?" she finally said.

"I'll let you out anywhere you want, except in the middle of this road in the dead of night."

"Fine," she relented.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"Take me to the hospital," she announced.

"Okay," he agreed as he swung the car around in the middle of the highway and headed toward town.

The pair rode in silence back to the hospital. Billy stole a sideways glance for the hundredth time unable to wrap his mind around the fact that Elizabeth was sitting next to him. Billy took a deep breath letting the unique scent of vanilla and lavender that was completely Elizabeth intoxicate him. It'd been such a long time since she'd been this close that he had almost forgot how delightful that fragrance was.

He wasn't sure what had happened causing Elizabeth to ask him, of all people, to get her out of there but he wasn't about to question his good fortune. After their previous encounter in her office a few weeks ago, he had thought he would have been the last person she would have turned to for help. Billy didn't allow himself to think that their chance meeting was just that, but rather he deluded himself with thoughts that Elizabeth needed him.

Elizabeth stared straight ahead into the darkness rushing in front of her refusing to allow the tears that burned her eyes exit. The last thing she intended to do was let Billy see her cry. Squaring her shoulders, she took slow deliberate breaths hoping to erase the vision of Theresa and Jason yet it skipped before her eyes like an old time movie reel. She couldn't stop it no matter how much she wanted to.

The conversation that she had had with Leo hours earlier meant very little now. All her anxieties took center stage all over again. There had just been too many times of Theresa finding her way into Jason's orbit for them to mere coincidences – no matter how much Leo and Melanie tried drilling that into her head.

Elizabeth could have kicked herself for allowing this to happen to her again. Why hadn't she listened to her good senses from the start and stayed as far away from Jason Morgan as she possibly could? She had no one but herself to blame for what was happening. She saw it coming from a mile away but let her friends talk her out of the truth that was right in front of her. Not anymore – this was the last time she'd be getting her heart broken. She was done.

Jason slammed his truck into park as it came to a screeching halt in the hospital employee lot. Immediately he recognized the tail end of Elizabeth's black Chevelle off in the distance and let out a heavy sigh not even realizing he had been holding his breath the entire time. The fact the Elizabeth had disappeared from the bar and him knowing she hadn't left there of her own volition scared the hell out of him. All that things that could have happened to her paraded through his mind each one worse than the last. The only way Jason would be able to squash his fears was to see Elizabeth for himself and know that she was alright.

Just as he was about to exit the truck, Leo and Melanie pulled in alongside of him. The pair looked as frazzled as Jason felt. "Well, her car is still here," Melanie said stating the obvious. "She must be in her office hiding, as usual," she added.

"Let's go!" Leo urged. His mind like Jason's was filled with all of the horrible things that could have happened to his friend.

The three of them slid through the emergency room exit beating a path to the bank of elevators none of them knowing what they planned to say when they found Elizabeth but wanted to find her just the same.

"Come on," Jason said anxiously repeatedly hitting the brightly lit button.

"Breaking it isn't going to make it come any faster," Melanie quipped sarcastically still quite pissed at the blonde man standing to her left. Deep down she knew that Theresa was the real culprit but somehow Melanie wasn't quite ready to let Jason off the hook just yet.

Before anything more could be said the silver elevator doors parted and they entered quickly riding the steel box to the 4th floor. The corridors were dimly lit at this time of the night as this floor was mainly administrative offices. The three of them made their way to Elizabeth's office. Jason reached for the handle but Melanie stopped him.

"Do you really think you should be the first person she sees right now?" Melanie knew her friend quite well and was almost certain Jason Morgan would have been the last person she would want to lay eyes on.

"I need to see her. I have to explain."

"Maybe, Melanie has a point," Leo chimed in much to Jason's shock. Leo had seen Elizabeth at her worst after Billy's infidelity and he could only begin to imagine this was going to be a whole lot worst. "I'll go in." he said.

"Neither of you are going in!" Melanie retorted. "Now back off and let me talk to her first." Melanie's hand reached for the doorknob but it was met with resistance. The door was locked. Softly she rapped on the solid oak slab before her. "Elizabeth, I know you are in there. Please let me in. I need to see that you are okay."

Melanie's words were met with resounding silence. "Elizabeth!" Melanie's voice got louder. "Elizabeth Ryan, let me in right now!" Still nothing. "Damn you," she cursed. "I'm not going anywhere until you let me in!"

"Let me try," Leo nudged himself closer to the door and let the side of his fist hit square against the door. "Liz, come on, you can't hide in there all night."

Finally Jason stepped forward not much caring that the pair with him thought he was the last thing Elizabeth needed to see. All he knew is he needed to see her. Gently placing his palms on the door he began to speak. "Elizabeth," he whispered. "Elizabeth, please open the door. I know what you think you saw…"

"Oh like that's going to help," Melanie quipped. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to find one of the janitors to open this damn door. Did you hear that Liz?" she shouted before spinning on her heel leaving the two men staring at the closed door.

As Melanie returned with a janitor in tow, Jason and Leo were still standing there pleading to the unopened door. "I'm not sure about doing this Ms. King. Ms. Ryan doesn't like when people are in her office without her knowledge," the man whose name tag read Jerry stated.

"It will be fine. Elizabeth knows I'm here. I forgot my cell phone in her office," Melanie fibbed.

"There you go," he announced as the door clicked open.

"Thank you so much."

"Be sure to lock up on your way out."

"We will," Melanie said.

The three of them entered the room as Melanie flipped the switch the white light from overhead flooding the room. "Where is she?" Jason asked. Leo and Melanie looked at one another stymied. This wasn't making any sense. "Where is she?" the panic in Jason's voice hadn't gone unnoticed by either of them.

"She has to be here, somewhere in the hospital," Leo tried to reassure him.

"And if she's not?" Jason countered dread consuming him suddenly.

"We'll find her." Leo rested his hand on his worried friend's shoulder not sure how convincing his words sounded even to him.

Jason turned towards Elizabeth's desk tears stinging his bright blue eyes. It was then that he saw the myriad of articles about him splayed across the desk. It wasn't lost on him that every photo that accompanied each article had Theresa Kennedy in them. He hadn't realized until they were staring him in the face just how much she had insinuated herself into his world. Suddenly he felt the caustic taste of bile sting his tongue. Without thinking he reached for the pieces of newsprint crushing them in his large hands not that changed their images or what he could only imagine Elizabeth had been thinking. "She kept these?" he asked not really needing an answer.

Melanie came forward to look at what Jason was speaking of. She had no clue her friend had any of this. Melanie shot daggers in Jason's direction. Instantly all she wanted to do was punch him no matter how irrational that feeling was.

"Yeah, apparently. She just showed them to me this evening," Leo said.

"I've got to find her. I have to talk to her," Jason announced heading for the door.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Melanie quipped.

"Mel, don't," Leo said reaching for her.

"Don't what?"

"I know you're mad and worried about Liz, but don't take that out on Jason. He's as much Theresa's victim as Elizabeth is."

Melanie looked at Leo then toward Jason. She clenched her fists at her sides and let out a heavy sigh. She was really worried and mad didn't quite capitalize on intense anger she was feeling at the moment, but Leo was right Theresa was the one she wanted to pummel not Jason. "Hey, man I'm sorry."

"It's fine. We just need to find Elizabeth." At that moment Jason could have cared less who was or wasn't mad at him. Elizabeth and her safety was all he cared about.

"Okay, let's go," Leo urged not sure where they should even begin to look.

"Let's split up. The minute any of us finds her let the others know," Melanie said to the men on either side of her as the all exited the hospital ER.

Just as they were about to go their separate ways, it was the site of Elizabeth getting out of Billy Weston's fire engine red Camaro that caused them all to stop short.