Jason rushed across the expanse of the garage at the shrill ring of his cellphone. Picking it up he was immediately disappointed when the caller ID revealed some random number. Why he had expected to see Elizabeth's number on the display this time he wasn't sure. It had been almost 2 weeks since he had seen or heard from her and it was killing him.

He replayed the events of that day over and over again. Jason still had no idea where Theresa had come from and before he could stop her she was on the podium arms wrapped around his waist kissing him square on the lips. It felt like a bad dream even though he was well aware of how real it had been.

The minute he pulled away from Theresa's clutches and saw Elizabeth's devastated expression and her tearing through the crowd his body went numb. It was like all the work they had done to put Theresa Kennedy behind them had ceased to exist. He could have kicked himself for not taking Leo's advice of watching his back when it came to Theresa more seriously.

He had considerably under estimated Theresa and the wrecking ball effect that she had had on Elizabeth's life, no matter how many times he had been told. He couldn't wrap his head around Elizabeth's lack of trust in him. He had made it perfectly clear over and over that he loved her and only her, yet it seemed as if those words held no meaning. He thought that the connection that they created would have been enough for her to know there was no other person in the world for him.

Jason was at a loss. He didn't know what to do or how to get through to her. The sudden knock at the door startled him. "You can't stay holed up in this garage forever," Leo said as the door swung open before him.

"I'm not."

"Yeah right," Leo countered. "Can I come in?" Jason stepped to the side as Leo crossed the threshold.

"Have you heard from her?" Jason asked as he handed his friend a beer from the mini fridge hidden under the work bench.

"Here and there," he answered taking a slow swig from the amber bottle.

"What about Melanie? What does she say?"

"Not much really. Liz has pretty much been avoiding her too."

"Damn!" Jason swore.

"I wish I had some magic words for you but I don't. Liz is a tough cookie and when she digs in her heals, well she's going to stand her ground even if it kills her."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that no matter what her heart may be telling her, she's not going to let that persuade her to change her mind." Jason had no words. What was he supposed to make of that remark? "I'm just saying give her some time."

"That's all I have been doing and you see how well that's worked out," Jason announced his frustration beginning to show.

"I have been looking all over for you!" Tom shouted as he threw the door to Jake's garage open wide. "What the hell are you doing," he abruptly stopped short as the sight of Jason and Leo leaning against the workbench sharing a beer came into view.

"Nothing," Jason answered. "Want a beer?" he offered.

Tom would have said yes but the fact that Leo was there had him rethinking his answer. "Don't you think we need to be prepping your car for tomorrow's race?" he said instead.

Jason hadn't thought much about the upcoming race actually. His focus had pretty much been completely on Elizabeth for the last few weeks. "What needs done really?"

Tom shot Jason a strange look at his comment. The man before him was not the Jason that he had come to know over the years. "Seriously man? You haven't even gone over the car once since the last race."

"You're my crew chief," Jason said apathetically.

Even Leo now did a double take at the remark that just left Jason's lips. This wasn't at all like the Jason he first met at the Ryan Racing compound, the driver that spent more time under the hood than his pit crew. He suddenly wanted to kick Elizabeth's ass. She hadn't a clue of the bedlam her actions were causing.

"You know, even if your car is ready, I could always use a little help with mine," Leo suggested. "I'd love to tweak the suspension a bit. You up for it?"

The thought of heading back to Ryan Racing wasn't one that appealed to him at the moment. Jason had purposely come to Jake's garage to escape the reminders of Elizabeth that assaulted him at every turn at the Ryan garage. "You really need my help?"

"You know I do."

"Fine. Let's go," Jason said reaching for his jacket.

Watching as Jason and Leo headed towards the door, Tom stood there seething at how Jason just blew him off but the minute Leo said something Jason instantly changed his tune and was walking out the door. He had enough. The Jason that was once his closest friend and partner in crime was no more. The loyalty Tom had always afforded Jason was no longer deserved. It was time that Tom start thinking about his own self-preservation.

Tom spent that morning going through the motions of preparing for the day's race. Charlotte Motor Speedway was bustling with race owners, drivers and a sea of pit crew personnel. He had barely seen Jason since yesterday at Jake's garage. Once the three of them had arrived at the Ryan Compound, Jason and Leo headed off to work on Leo's car leaving him to his own devices. Overhead the booming voice through the loud speaker calling for the drivers to meet on the track in 10 minutes for the driver's meeting signaled it was time for Tom to head towards the pits and give Jason's car the final once over.

Tom milled his way through the oncoming drivers as they headed for the infield. He saw Jason and Leo in the distance talking. Instantly he felt his temper spike at the sight. With all of his focus on them, Tom plowed into Billy Weston.

"Watch it!" Billy barked until he realized who was in front of him.

"Sorry," Tom said avoiding eye contact.

"We're good," Billy said, "We are good, right?" he asked pointedly.

Tom only nodded before he rushed off in the opposite direction.

Elizabeth looked at her watch knowing that the start of the race was quickly approaching. She had left her office fearing that she wouldn't have the strength to avoid turning on the radio and listen to the commentary of the race. She made her way through the hospital corridors looking for somewhere that she could avoid the many televisions knowing they would all be tuned to the race that day.

Turning the corner, she saw the brightly colored halls of pediatrics. She smiled at the sight of the cartoon character murals lining the walls. Elizabeth made her way through the wing stopping now and again to chat with a patient or two, or help out with a jig saw puzzle.

"Miss Elizabeth, Miss Elizabeth," she looked up at the sound of her name being called. She hadn't realized that Ronnie Wilson had been readmitted. She felt the lump grow in her throat fearing that he was on longer in remission. "Miss Elizabeth," he summoned again.

"Hi Ronnie," she said as she approached his room.

"Can you play checkers with me?' the young boy asked.

"Sure," Elizabeth replied thankful for the continued distraction.

She waited while Ronnie set up the checker board on the tray table making a mental note to review his chart. He had been in remission for nearly a year thanks to the clinical trail she had been able to get him into. She hated the thought that the remission had been so short lived. The wheels in her mind already turning thinking of other possible avenues she could explore for the little boy and his family.

"Do you want to red checkers or black?" Ronnie asked.

"Red of course," Elizbeth laughed.

"Can we switch sides?" he questioned. "I can't see the tv."

"Sure." It was then that Elizabeth realized Ronnie had the television tuned to the day's race. She had been so lost in thought about the idea of Ronnie's leukemia remission being cut short that she totally missed the fact that race was playing on the screen in front of her. So much for avoiding the race, she thought ruefully. There was no way she could duck out on Ronnie now, even though that's exactly what she wanted to do. "You go first," she told him doing what she could to avoid turning her head and watching the race.

"King me!" Ronnie cheered.

"Not again," Elizabeth frowned through her giggles. She loved watching the smile spread across the little boy's face.

'Jason Morgan has taken the lead,'

The announcer's statement caused Elizabeth to look towards the television, suddenly enthralled with watching Jason's bright blue metallic car dodge and weave through his competitors. While she wouldn't admit it out loud or to anyone for that matter, she had been keeping up with Jason's stats and she knew how important today's race was for him. A win today would put him one step closer to the Winston Cup.

Over the last weeks she had tried to talk herself out of loving Jason Morgan, but the deep feelings she had for him weren't going anywhere. Even when she reminded herself of all the times Theresa Kennedy had found her way in between the two of them, that hadn't made the love she felt go away, even if she was too stubborn to admit it.

"He's really good," Ronnie said as he pointed to Jason's car visibly several lengths beyond the nearest car.

"Yes, yes he is," she agreed.

"Do you think he's going to win?"

"He could," she answered.

"I don't want to play checkers anymore. I want to watch him win."

"You just don't want to play anymore cause you're afraid I might win," Elizabeth chided.

"NO!" Ronnie scoffed. "You know I ALWAYS win. I just want to watch the race."

Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh and turned to watch a race she had vowed to avoid.

Melanie checked her phone for updates on the race. As usual Jason was running circles around his competition. She scrolled through the list and found that Leo was at least in the top 10. That made her smile. She hoped that he would beat Weston again this week.

"Hi Mr. Holiday," Melanie said as she pushed the med cart through the doorway.

"Hi there," the older man smiled.

"Time for your meds."

Mr. Holiday opened his hand as Melanie emptied the contents of the cup and handed him a glass of water. "Thank you," he said.

"How many for laps to the checkered flag?" she asked before exiting the room.

"A little under 60. The leader's lapped the guy in second at least 3 times now."

Melanie turned and looked at the tv a grin filling her face. That guy in second Mr. Holiday was referring to was Billy Weston. How she wished that her and Liz were sitting in the stands right now watching Weston getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter. "I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

Melanie continued to push the med cart up and down the halls catching updates on the race when she could. Just as she was leaving the last room the announcer mentioned the red flag was out with less than 15 laps left in the race due to an accident on the track. Those words froze Melanie dead in her tracks. Thoughts of Leo's spin out from months ago and how scared she had been then were nothing compared to the reaction she was having now. Hesitantly she turned around to look at the television in the corner of the room hoping not to see Leo's car in pieces across the track but instead saw what she was almost certain was Jason's car on its roof skidding toward the infield.