Chapter 43- A Dream Come True

"Danny! Scout!" Leo ran down the stairs at Alexis' house and jumped the last three steps.

Alexis jolted. "Leo! What did I say about not running and jumping down the stairs?"

"I'm fine," Leo said.

"He's fine," Julian agreed.

Alexis groaned. "We need to be on the same page here…"

"Sounds like a plan." Julian fist-bumped Leo. "Leo, good jump."

Sam sniggered and Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Hi Leo." Scout smiled.

Julian rubbed his hands together. "All right kids, I thought you could help Grandpa and Leo finish building the treehouse."

Scout's face lit up. "Cool!"

Danny smiled a little.

Alexis sighed. "Just please be careful. Leo almost hammered a nail through his toe yesterday…"

"No, I didn't," Leo said.

"It was like five inches away from his foot," Julian said. "That just happened to be the moment you walked outside."

"I wish I could've seen that," Sam muttered.

"Oh, trust me, Sam," Julian said. "The neighbours two blocks from us would have heard her scream."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "I didn't scream, I just yelped a little."

Julian looked at Sam and moved his index finger around his ear in a circular motion and Sam and the kids laughed.

"Can I use the hammer?" Scout asked.

Alexis shrieked a little. "Maybe you should stay inside with Grandma, Cookie."

Scout pouted. "But I wanna help."

"As long as you stick next to Grandpa, you can help," Sam said.

Scout grinned and Alexis frowned.

"Sound good to you, Danny?" Julian patted his back.

Danny nodded.

"All right, Mommy will be back later," Sam said.

Scout hugged Sam then ran into Julian's arms, but Danny just followed them outside without acknowledging Sam.

Sam sighed.

"He still has it rough, eh?" Alexis said.

Sam nodded. "And I don't think I can take them to therapy anymore."

Alexis scrunched her face. "Why not?"

"We drove past the V-town centre on the way here. Lainey was walking out of it and she looked like she was in a daze."

"Seriously?"

"I'm hoping maybe Dad or Drew can get through to him. He's so angry with me and I don't blame him."

"Did you explain to him about the mind mapping?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "But I still got involved with the mob in the first place."

"Now who's the one feeling guilty all the time?"

Sam grinned a little. "I guess I'm more like you than I thought."

"And how's Willow doing?"

"She's excited to start back to work," Sam said. "I'm hoping it'll keep her mind off of Wiley a bit. Though I know that's easier said than done."

"Is she getting along well with Danny and Scout?"

"Scout adores her. She even wanted her to come today, but she has to set up her classroom. Danny though… he's just so confused. He hasn't accepted Willow at all yet. He yelled at her when she first got home from the hospital. I told him I wouldn't allow him to do that anymore. So, now he won't even acknowledge her presence."

"Oh, dear… you've all been through so much. Hopefully he'll come around."

"I hope so."

GHGHGH

When Sam arrived at the hospital, Drew was already in a room wearing a hospital gown and sitting on the bed. Machines and a computer surrounded the bed.

"Hey." He smiled as she walked in.

"Hey," Sam said. "Are you ready for this?"

He sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be. I'm a little apprehensive about losing Jason's memories and gaining my old ones."

Sam sat beside him and reached for his hand, giving it a soft squeeze. "Whatever happens, I will support you. But I have a good feeling about this. You might be surprised with what you remember. I know I was."

He smiled.

The door opened and Monica walked in with Andre.

"Sam," Andre said. "I'll need you to wait outside. Monica is going to stay with him during the procedure."

Sam turned to Drew and placed a hand on his cheek. "I'll see you soon."

Sam rose and looked back at him one last time before exiting the room. She made her way to the waiting area and sat down. She lifted Soap Opera Digest from the side table and flipped through it. She stopped at the spoilers for Days of our Lives but dropped it back down. She just couldn't pay attention. Andre had said that Drew's procedure was the most complicated. Would he remember their past? Would he remember Kim? Would he go off looking for her afterwards? Would he remember the kids? Would he remember her?

Epiphany pushed Jason in his wheelchair over to the waiting area and they stopped at the window.

"This is good, thanks," Jason said.

Epiphany nodded and walked over to the nurse's station.

The elevator doors opened, and Elizabeth and Cameron stepped out.

Cameron groaned. "Why couldn't I go bowling with Uncle Steve too?"

"Because Jason and I need to tell you something," Elizabeth said, and they walked over to Jason.

Jason smiled at them. "Hi Cameron."

"Hi…" Cameron scrunched his face.

"Let's sit." Elizabeth sat down and patted the chair beside her.

Sam smiled to herself. She no longer felt jealous or angry seeing them together. Now she only cared for Jason as the person who helped her through the false loss of her baby. She didn't wish them pain or harm. She was happy for them.

"What's this about?" Cam asked.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. "I talked to you about the mind-mapping and you know that it happened to me and Jason."

"Yeah, and a bunch of other people."

"And you also know that Jason and I got our memories back."

Cam nodded.

Jason shifted a little in his wheelchair.

"What I told you before about your father…" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, Zander," Cam said. "And he died. Then Lucky acted as my dad and ditched us."

"Except Zander wasn't really your father."

Cameron squinted his eyes.

"That was a false memory implanted in me and it replaced the real memory," Elizabeth said.

"Sooo… Lucky is my real dad then?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. It's Jason."

He stared hard at her, then turned to Jason.

"Jason's memory of it was erased too. We both thought the night Jake was conceived was the only time we were together."

Cameron lowered his gaze. "So, neither of you knew…"

"That's right."

"I would like to get to know you and your brothers more, if that's something you'd like too," Jason said.

Cam looked back at him and inhaled deeply. "Fine, say you didn't know about me, why weren't you ever there for Jake!?"

"I should have been…" Jason said.

"Cam," Elizabeth said. "These people who did this… they wired Jason so that his soul purpose in life was to serve Sonny and Carly."

Cam jumped to his feet. "I don't care, you're supposed to be this supergod in town but yet you couldn't fight off some stupid mind-map thing and be there for your kids? Mind control… heart problems… I don't care. If you're going to push your way in to my family, you're going to have to prove yourself. Not just hang around for a few months then take off to Sonny and Carly again. I won't let you or any guy hurt my mom or brothers again!" He turned to Elizabeth. "I'm going to the car…"

"Cameron…"

He zoomed to the elevator and pressed the button with two fingers excessively, then kicked the wall.

"Cameron…" Elizabeth touched Jason's hand then ran after him.

Jason pushed the wheels and turned his wheelchair around. "Cameron… I'm sorry. I will do everything I can to make it up to all of you."

The elevator doors opened, and Cameron stared at him for a few seconds fuming, then hopped on the elevator with Elizabeth and the doors closed.

GHGHGH

Sam peeked around the aisle at the liquor store. The old dude behind the counter was talking to a middle-aged couple. She reached for a bottle of vodka and slipped it under her jacket. When she turned back a blond, skinny, teenaged boy a few years older than her with blue eyes was standing there. He must have been playing hooky too.

Sam's eyes grew wide and she shoved past him and zoomed out of the store. She turned down an alleyway and leaned against the wall, dropping to the ground. She pulled out the bottle and stared at it. She hated it. She hated her life. She hated her drunken con artist dad. She hated her mother for abandoning her. She just wanted to find Danny. And that is just what she would do one day.

"Hey."

She looked up to the voice and it was the teenaged boy again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

She swallowed hard. "Sam. Yours?"

"Drew."

"Sam… Sam…"

She jolted awake to the sound of Drew's voice. That was right. She was still in the waiting area. She slowly sat up. Drew was still in his hospital gown, but he had tears in his eyes.

"I remember," he said. "I remember everything. We met long before Port Charles. We were just two lonely kids who didn't matter until we mattered to each other."

Sam started to cry and place a hand on his cheek. "And then I left you to find my mother and brother…"

"And I would have gone with you…"

"But I thought you could do better than me and you had dreams…"

"But you were my dream… you always have been."

"I wanted to find you again, and somehow we ended up here…" Sam said. "Like I said before, you are my heart… you are my soul… and my compass…"

"And we will always follow our heart and find our way back to each other."

Sam pushed the tears from his cheek with her thumbs. "And I love you with everything that I have."

"And I will never stop loving you." Drew cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.