A/N – Thanks for the comments! Glad you are excited about what comes next. * kikimoo – not really the same re: personality. Jason was driven by sadness and pain before. He won't remember that, so he'll be lighter than he was. Now, he's not going to be a comedian lol, but he'll be more like he would be if he didn't have all the angst driving him. He won't have the extensive brain damage he had on the show. * Guest who is a sucker for Jason & Q's – Patience. Trust me.

Chapter 3

"You're going to need friends to get through this and I will need someone to talk to who understands what I went through. Would it be that bad if we were friends?" Liz asked

"Suppose I'm not a nice person?"

"Francis, your boss, never implied otherwise."

"Why do you really want to be friends with me when you know nothing about me?"

"I—I don't know." There was a long silence. "That was a lie."

"Is that bad?"

She wasn't sure what to think about his brain injury, but it was certainly giving her pause.

"That's complicated. It can be. When you don't tell the truth about how you feel, it can hurt people."

"Why did you lie then?"

"Because I don't want you to take what I'm going to say the wrong way."

"I won't."

"You don't know that because I haven't said it yet."

"Try me," he said.

"Well, part of me feels like it's my fault that you are in this situation."

"So you pity me?"

"No! I didn't say that. I don't think I could have made it without you. I would probably be dead. You saved me, Jason."

"So you want to save me?"

"I just want to help you because that is who I am as a person. Besides, like I said, I might need you too because I have feeling I'm going to be having some serious nightmares."

"Then you can call me and I'll talk to you down."

She smiled. "Does that mean we're friends?"

"Yes. Can you tell me what you expect from me so I don't screw it up?"

"Well, a friend is someone who has your back and a person you can talk to and tell them how you are feeling and they won't judge you for it. On the flip side, they should call you on your crap too."

"That sounds fair."

"Do I need to write up a legal contract?"

He slightly smiled. "I don't know. What happens and if you don't have my back?"

"Then I lose you as a friend,"

"Well then, I guess you better not mess up."

"Deal."

They heard the dog moving around.

"Something is going on."

Francis got on the loud speaker. "Elizabeth, this is Francis, we're calling the dog back. We have a dozer that will move some of the debris away. This may cause some shifting. We're going to move very slowly. If it's too much, tell me and I'll make them stop."

"Okay!"

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Sonny stood back as he watched Francis climb into the specialized bulldozer. They would alternate between using that and a crane. This was an epic disaster. His only hope was that they got everyone out alive and there were no serious injuries. At this point, Jason's issues were scaring him. He was used to throwing money at things and making them go away. Jason was technically a Quartermaine, but he wanted nothing to do with them, so money might not be enticing to him. Elizabeth, on the other hand, could be a pitbull. There was no way in hell she'd let this go.

Francis drove towards the debris and started to carefully move things around. Cody used a laser pointer to approximately show him the area they were in. Everything was going well and then they heard a loud noise and the top floor shirted downwards, everyone outside held their breaths.

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They heard the truck and before long, the sound of metal sliding against metal filtered through the air. This went on for twenty minutes before they heard a terrible creaking. Elizabeth screamed as things fell down very close to them. Jason wished he could actually hold her, but he was pinned and nothing in his body was working like it should.

After a few scary minutes, everything got really quiet. They could hear the wind, but the machine had stopped.

Mac took out the megaphone and headed back down the hallway he had just fled from. When he got to the opening of the debris field, he called her name. "Elizabeth? Are you still with me?"

She yelled "Yes," as loud as she could.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did anything fall on you?"

"No!"

"Okay. Just sit tight, we're reassessing the situation and then we'll try again."

A tear escaped her eye. She was wondering if they were going to get out before nightfall. She didn't think mentally she could spend the night in her current position. It was hard not dwelling on how uncomfortable it was and her chest started to heave.

"Whatever you are thinking, stop."

"I need to get out here," she said as she whimpered. Suddenly, she just felt really claustrophobic.

"Take a deep breath. They are coming." All he could do is try to talk her down.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I should be stronger for you." She closed her eyes and tried to get control of her emotions.

The dozer roared to life again and Francis started to pick things up. It was a task that just couldn't be rushed. If he went too fast, things could fall on them. There was no room for error.

Johnny sat down before he fell down. Epiphany walked over to him and rubbed his back. She didn't say a word. She knew he was trying to work it out in his mind.

"She's a great woman," he said softly.

"I know. That's why she's my friend."

"We've been together four months, and I'm still learning new things."

"That's partly because you don't get to spend a lot of time together," she said.

"Maybe that needs to change."

"Elizabeth is a workhorse. I don't think she's ready to give that up."

"She can't spend every moment of her life working."

"Well, right now, it's really important to her." She understood that Elizabeth was very determined to help children with heart ailments, but sometimes her tenacity gave her pause and she thought that Liz was keeping something from her.

"And that's why I put up with it. The only reason I work late is because she's working late. It's getting old. I want to spend more time with her. Maybe I should take it as a hint."

"Now don't be stupid and act like you know what is going on in her head. That would be mistake."

Johnny rubbed his hand against his pant leg as he let out a long breath. "I just want more."

"She might not be ready for that."

"I know. That's what scares me." Liz was a bit skittish when it came to committing.

"If I were you, I'd leave things be for now. She is probably going to be very shaken up after this and want her routine back. If you rock the boat—"

"I could lose her."

"Exactly."

A woman came running into the room carry a child in her arms. "Please help me!"

Epiphany jumped up and grabbed a gurney. "What happened?"

"A tree fell on our car. I ran here." The woman was drenched and clearly had been running for awhile.

"Ma'am, you're going to have to let go so we can help her."

She relinquished her hold and Epiphany laid the little girl on the gurney. Steve ran up to them and directed them to a room.

Johnny approached her. "What's your name?"

The teary-eyed women slightly turned. "Katherine Bell."

"I'm Johnny O'Brien. Why don't you sit down?"

She followed him and sat down in a chair and a nurse brought a blanket over and wrapped it around her.

"Thank you."

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"No. I'm fine. I just need to know if Kylie will be okay."

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

She wiped her face. "I'm sorry. Why are you here?"

"The wing over there fell on my girlfriend."

The ladies mouth dropped open. "That's horrible."

"They are trying to get her out right now."

"I guess we both have something to pray about."

Johnny nodded and closed his eyes. This night really needed to get better.

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Epiphany finished with the I.V. "Her pulse is weak."

"Get me EKG, a CBC, a scan and stabilize her neck," Steven said.

"I'm on it."

"How old is she?"

Another nurse walked. "Her name is Kylie and she is nine."

"Thank you," Steven said.

They stabilized her and then pushed her out the room to get some scans.

Steven returned to the waiting room.

"How is she?"

To see the mother covered in her daughter's blood made him sick to his stomach. "Sabrina!"

She rushed over to him.

"Get her some scrubs and take her to get washed up, please."

The mom clenched her hands, she hadn't even thought about how bad she looked.

"Kylie is being taken to get some scans. She has a head laceration. I'm going to have put her under so I can sew it shut."

Katherine started to cry.

Johnny put his hand on her back. "Steven, what happens after that?"

"She'll be in the hospital for seventy-two hours so we can monitor her. We'll be paying close attention to her for brain swelling and several other side effects of this type of injury."

"Please. She's all I have."

Steven nodded and left.

"Follow me please," Sabrina said.

Katherine turned to face Johnny. "Thank you so much for being so kind. I will never forget it."

"It was nothing. Do you need me to call someone for you?"

"No. It's just me and my daughter."

Johnny watched her cross the room and then sat down again. It was going to be a long night.

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Liz fought to stay awake. Jason was still knocked out and it had been far too long. Usually, he slept in small increments. "Jason."

He didn't respond.

"Jason!" she yelled. "Oh God. Please don't be dead. Help!" she screamed.

Mac thought he heard something and radioed to Francis to kill the engine. Mac grabbed the bull horn. "Elizabeth! Was that you?"

"Help! Jason won't wake up. Please."

"What did she say?"

Milo sighed. "She said that Jason won't wake up."

"Shit. Francis, we need to go faster. It's critical."

"Jason?"

"Yeah."

Francis started up again. He got a big piece out of the way and a small clearing appeared. A couple of rescue workers got suited up and they got in a basket at the end of a ladder and it was extended to the clearing. They carefully got out.

"Elizabeth?"

There was no answer. They yelled for everyone to be silent. As the chatter and noise stilled, they heard a sound.

"We're going to need more men!"

"On the way. What's going on?" Mac asked.

"The victims are located under a huge beam. We will have to use the crane and some chains to lift it out."

The chief sighed. He felt like they were running out of time since Jason's condition was worsening. "I'm sending in DeLuca and Wilson." They were experts in these kinds of situation. The two men crawled across the ladder and then climbed down.

DeLuca crawled over to the where Elizabeth and Jason were trapped. "Elizabeth. Can you hear me?"

"Yes. Over here!" She started to cry with relief. They were so close to getting out of there.

"We need to clear some space around you. I'm gonna stay right here. If it gets to be too much for you, I'll raise my hand and they'll stop."

"Okay. Hurry."

The sound of chainsaws filled the air as they cleared the area next to them. Finally, Elizabeth could see more light and a few minutes later, her eyes met with the rescue worker.

"I'm Roy."

She smiled. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"Hang in there. We're almost to you. I'm going to reach down and put a blanket over you to shield you."

"Okay."

He carefully tried not to compromise the area and threw the blanket down. "Francis is doing what he does best. He cleared the way for you. Now, it's our turn."

Hearing his voice was giving her comfort.

"I'm scared."

"I know, but the worst is over. I'm not leaving here without you."

"Good to know."

He smiled. "Can you feel him breathing?"

"Barely."

The guys were working as quickly as they could to clear the debris. They needed a wide-open space for the rescue basket. Patrick, Epiphany, and several other nurses and doctors were waiting on the roof near the helicopter pad. It had stopped raining and the wind had died down. The sky, which had been a dark gray earlier was mostly blue with some high clouds.

"Almost there Elizabeth. Keep talking to me."

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"No. The rest of the construction guys were on break. Jason had sent them to the cafeteria."

"That's good."

"It saved their life."

Liz could feel the area around her vibrate and she whimpered.

"Easy. We're just clearing the way. Just a few more minutes and I can climb down."

She closed her eyes. "My parents must be going crazy."

"Everyone is rooting for you. You're very popular."

"I don't know about that."

"You'd be surprised." He grew quiet and then yelled. "Hold up. Lift that piece right there and I got this side."

They lifted up a huge plank of plaster and light flooded the area.

"Almost there Elizabeth."

They quickly moved some bricks out of the way and he was able to drop down into the pocket they were in. He pulled off the blanket and said, "Open your eyes." They fluttered open and she started to cry. "Shhhh. It's okay. You've been really strong. We're almost there." He checked Jason's pulse. "He's still alive."

"Thank God."

He found her hand and held it. "Can you wiggle your toes?"

"Yes."

"Good. Squeeze my hand."

She did it, but it wasn't that hard.

"How are you getting the beam off of him?"

"We're trying to figure that out right now." He was concerned because he saw what appeared to be blood on the ground. He used his flashlight to shine under the beam.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to access Jason's condition." He crouched down and that is when he saw the bone protruding out of Jason's leg. "He has a broken leg." He got on his radio. "This is Roy."

"Go ahead Roy."

Monica, Jeff, Johnny, and other staff were standing next to the table listening. The entire area had stopped moving as soon as they heard his voice.

"Female victim is responding. She can move her hand and toes. Grip is weak but she also has a lot of weight on her. There's a small cut on her forehead. Male victim has been unconscious for at least a half hour. I can see a bone protruding from his leg around mid calf. He'll need surgery."

"Got it. We'll relay the message to the staff."

Jeff motioned and he was handed the walkie. "Elizabeth, this is your dad. I love you sweetie. Hang in there." By now, Andrea had joined him. "Your mother is right here and loves you too."

It was comforting for her to hear his voice.

Roy grabbed the blanket. "I'm going to cover you up so we can try and get the chain around the beam."

"Okay."

He covered them and another man secured the chain. Francis moved the crane and they secured the chain on both sides.

"Here we go."

Slowly, he reversed and the beam was lifted as two men steadied it. A cheer went up from the crowd. Jason was still unconscious.