CHAPTER 5

The plane to L.A. had finally landed and Emma carefully watched for Jay. She didn't want him to see her until she was ready. Infact, she was wearing a hat and sunglasses just in case. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She slowly turned around.

"Emma Nelson..." the voice asked unsurly.
"Ellie. Hey. How are you?" Emma smiled in relief.
"I'm really good. Just got in from Las Vegas. We had this huge story... What brings you to L.A?"
"Actually... I'm here on vacation," Emma spoke.
"Well, where are you staying? You should come out with me tonight..." Ellie stated ecstatically.
"I was just gonna go find a cheap hotel room..."
"No way. I have a huge house. Stay with me while you're here."
"Okay." Emma agreed.

The girls grabbed their luggage and made their way to Ellie's car.

"So what's up with the disguise?" Ellie finally asked.
"I don't know what you're talkin about."
"Jay's out here a lot... Does that have anything to do with this vacation?"
"Ellie, I know everyones been talking about everything." Emma stated removing her hat and glasses.
"Yeah, I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't talked to Sean recently."
"Yeah... i figured."
"Sean said Jenna is absolutely gorgeous..."
"Did he tell you tell about Melanie?" Emma interrupted.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about Tracker."
"Don't be. I'm not. Melanie is better off without him and I don't regret having her."
"What about Jay... What's he going to do?"
"I don't know. He came back to L.A. tonight to get some space and try to figure things out."
"That's why you're here... Em, be careful. If he said he needed space, give him that." Ellie spoke as she pulled into her driveway. The girls got out of the car and went inside. Ellie showed Emma to her room.
"Hey Em," Ellie smiled, "how bout we get ready and go out tonight. It'll be fun."
"Alright." Emma agreed.

Meanwhile, back in Degrassi. Jenna was sitting on the front steps of Alex and Paige's house. She was working on her sketch.

"Hey Jen," a voice startled her.
"Jack! You scared me. What are you doing here?" Jenna asked.
"Mom and Dad told me you were over here. I thought maybe you'd want to go to a party tonight. It would be nice to meet people you're going to be going to school with, right?"
"I don't know. I promised my dad no partying if he and my mom got back together..." Jenna spoke as she continued sketching.
"Are they back together already?" Jack asked.
"Well, not yet... But it's close and I don't want to screw it up."
"No one will make you drink or anything. Just go and have a good time."
"Let me ask Paige and Alex if it's okay." Jenna stood and went in side to see Alex and Paige watching television.
"Is it okay if I go to a party with my uncle Jack for a couple hours? I'll be back by 11." Jenna smiled.
"I don't know..." Alex started.
"Sure, just take my cell phone with you incase you need anything," Paige grinned as she tossed her the cell phone.
"Thank you." Jenna grinned as she threw down her sketch book and met Jack outside.
"I don't know if that was such a great idea..." Alex started again.
"She'll be fine," Paige smiled.
"Do you not remember what she was doing the other night in the bar?" Alex asked.
"Oopsie," Paige smirked.

Back in L.A. Emma and Ellie had just gotten seated at the bar and ordered some drinks.

"Oh no, Ellie..." Emma started as she stared across the room at Jay and Ashlyn.
"Oh, Em. I didn't know. There are a million clubs in L.A. What are the chances?"
"What should I do?" Emma asked.
"Just play it cool..." Ellie tried to smile.
"Excuse me, I was wondering if you would like to dance?" A tall blonde man asked Emma. Ellie nodded her head. Emma smiled and took his hand and followed him on to the dance floor. Ellie stood and walked over to Jay.

"Ellie, hey!" Jay grinned drunkenly.
"Hey yourself, Jay. What are you doing here?" Ellie snapped.
"I'm here with my fiance. We're celebrating our engagement. Why does it matter?" Jay asked.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders and nodded over to where Emma was dancing awfully closely with that guy. Jay let go of Ashlyn's hand.

"What the hell is Emma doing in L.A.?" Jay demanded.
"She's visiting me. How come out of 50 million bars, you had to be at this one tonight?" Ellie yelled over the music.
"It's the only one we hadn't been to yet."
"Jay, what's going on?" Ashlyn asked.
"Me ex is here..." Jay spoke in disbelief as he watched the guy rubbing his hands all over Emma as they danced. Ashlyn looked at Ellie.
"No, it's not me." Ellie laughed.
"Ashlyn, I'm sorry. But I have to talk to her. Here, grab a taxi and go on home. I'll be there in a little bit," Jay said handing her money as he followed Ellie back to her bar.
"She knew I was coming to L.A." Jay stated.
"Yeah, well, Alex bought her a plane ticket here. Don't be mad at Emma."
"That guy is touching her..." Jay spoke up.
"Well go interrupt him," Ellie grinned.

Jay walked over to Emma and the guy she was dancing with and punched him knocking him over.

"Jay! What are you doing?" Emma shrieked.
"He was touching you..." Jay snapped.
"It was okay. I let him!" Emma yelled back.
"Come on, I'm taking you home!" Jay yelled.
"I rode with Ellie..."
"I'm actually going to go stay at my boyfriends house tonight," Ellie spoke up.
"Then it's settled," Jay smirked as he grabbed Emma's hand and lead her out of the club.

"You can't just punch out every guy I talk to," Emma stated as she got into a cab with Jay.
"I won't. Just the ones that touch you," Jay added.
"Can't you just let me have a good time? I saw you with Ashlyn. You didn't look like you were breaking things off with her."
"Didn't we decide that I wasn't going to yet? I told you that I needed some time to figure things out."
"I don't have time Jay," Emma cried.
"What? What are you talking about?" Jay asked.
"I promised myself I wouldn't tell you or anybody yet. I want you to want to be with me... not because I'm dying."

Jay put his arm around Emma and she cried her eyes out. When they got to Ellie's he helped her out of the car and helped her inside. He tucked her into her bed and sat with her while she fell asleep. The next morning when Emma woke up, Jay was gone. There wasn't a note or anything. He was just gone. Emma's cell phone started going off.

"Hello?" Emma asked groggily.
"Em, it's mom. We're at the hospital, Jenna won't wake up."
"What? What do you mean she won't wake up?" Emma asked in panic.
"Jack took her to a party last night. We think someone put something in her drink... Just get here as fast as you can, Emma." Spike said before hanging up.

Emma packed her stuff, scribbled a quick note to Ellie and made her way to the airport. When her plane landed, Jack was waiting to drive her to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, she saw Sean, Spinner, Alex, Page, Craig, and her parent with Melanie.

"I want to see her," Emma demanded. Spike nodded as she lead Emma into Jenna's room. She started crying when she saw all the machines hooked up to her. Spike hugged her daughter.
"Em, she's just sleeping right now. She woke up about 45 minutes ago," Snake spoke.
"I don't know what I would do if I lost her..." Emma sobbed.

Craig walked into the room a few minutes later.

"Hey Em. Where's Jay?" Craig asked.
"In L.A." Emma whispered.
"Thanks for coming... you guys don't have to stay. She's going to be fine," Emma forced a smile.
"Can I just sit with you for awhile?" Craig asked. Emma nodded.
"Where's Manny?" Emma asked.
"She's resting in her room. She had the baby. Another little girl named Sarah."
"Congratulations."
"Thanks."

They both just sat there in Jenna's hospital room. Emma fell asleep on the couch so Craig left to go back to Manny and the new baby. A few hours later, Emma heard Jenna giggling. She looked up and saw Jay sitting on the bed with his daughter. They were looking at a magazine. Emma stood and went over to Jenna's bed kissing her on the forehead.

"I was so worried about you," Emma sighed in relief.
"Well, we were worried about you, mom," Jenna laughed.
"What happened?" Emma asked.
"Jack picked me up from Alex's house and we went to this party..." Jenna started.
"Hey, I thought you promised me no more partying," Jay interrupted.
"Yeah, well you promised something to, but you broke that promise," Jenna frowned as she went back to looking at her magazine. Jay snatched the magazine out of her hand.
"I didn't break anything..." Jay spoke.
"Then how come you flew to L.A. to be with your fiance?" Jenna asked.
"I'm not discussing this with you," Jay said sternly.
"Discuss it with me, then!" Emma demanded.
"We've already discussed it, Emma!" Jay spat.
"You just left! Why did you leave?" Emma asked furiously. "I told you something, and you just left..."
"I needed time, Emma. What about you? You didn't even tell me Jenna was in the hospital. Alex had to call me to tell me that my daughter was in a coma."

"I didn't know where you were..." Emma responded.
"No, you just weren't going to tell me." Jay decided as he inched closer to Emma, "just like you don't tell me a lot of things. You chicken out of everything."
"I do not!" Emma yelled as she got close to Jay's face.

All of a sudden Jay grabbed Emma's face and started passionately kissing her. Jenna just looked on in surprise.

"Get a room," she laughed. Emma and Jay broke apart and looked over at their daughter who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey, this was about you," Emma smiled pointing at Jenna.
"Nope, it's always been about you two," Jenna grinned.
"You're grounded," Jay laughed.
"You can't just ground me," Jenna laughed, " I don't even have a room."

"Your dad said you're grounded, so you're grounded. Stop arguing." Emma said sternly as she broke into a smile.
"I'm going to see if we can take you home soon," Jay smiled as he walked out of the room.

"Mom, what happened?" Jenna asked.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"Somethings different between you and dad. What were you guys talking about?"
"Nothing... IT's not important," Emma sighed as she ran her fingers through her daughters hair.
"Mom, I really didn't drink any alcohol or anything last night. I just had a glass of water. Honest. I wasn't trying to mess things up with dad," Jenna said quietly.
"I trust you. Jack would never let you get into trouble while he was watching you. I know that."

"Am I still grounded?" Jenna asked.
"You have to ask your dad," Emma laughed.

Jay walked back in with some papers.

"Tomorrow. You get to go home tomorrow. Em, if you want to go home to be with Melanie, I'll stay with Jenna," Jay talked while he filled out some of the papers.
"No, I want to stay. If you don't mind. Melly's with my parents," Emma whispered.
"You don't mind if I stay too, do you?" Jay asked her.
"I don't mind. Just no more arguing, okay?" Emma smiled.
"Yeah, okay. Hey I'm kinda hungry. How bout the three of us go down to the cafeterria," Jay asked.
"I'm still kinda tired. You and mom go. I'd like to just be alone for a little bit to work on my sketches," Jenna yawned.
Emma nodded and followed Jay out the door.

"Do you mind if we stop somewhere first?" Emma asked. Jay shook his head and follwed Emma to Manny's room. She and Craig were smiling at their new baby.

"Hey!" Manny smiled.
"She's beautiful," Emma grinned.

"Craig told me about Jenna... I'm so sorry." Manny whispered.
"No, she's okay... Wow, looking at little Sarah makes me want to have another one," Emma smiled. Jay smiled when he heard her. Manny and Craig caught it.
"I'd like to have a baby around too," Jay agreed.
"Well, I'm sure Ashlyn will have as many as you want," Emma replied.
"Em, why do you always bring her up. Everytime we're finally doing okay... I broke it off with her last night. That's why I left. I thought I would be back with you before you woke up."
"Oh," Emma smiled.
"You didn't think I would just walk away from you and the girls after what you told me... did you?" Jay asked.
"Nothing surprises me anymore," Emma responded.
"So you guys are getting back together?" Manny squealed.
"Me and Emma need to talk privately..." Jay answered as he walked out of the room. Emma waved to Manny and Craig and followed Jay out the door. They finally sat down in the cafeteria.

"You told me that you're dying..." Jay started.
Emma nodded as she began. "I have breast cancer. They diagnosed me after Melanie was born. It's advanced pretty quickly. They gave me some pills to take to make me more comfortable. Jenna thinks they're depression pills."
"They have treatments for that kind of stuf, Em." Jay spoke as he took her hand.
"I can't afford it," Emma shook her head as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Emma, if I find a way to pay for it, will you please get treatment?"
"Jay," Emma shook her head, " i can't ask you to do that."
"Emma, you're not asking. I'm just not ready to lose you yet. Please. For me and Jenna and Melanie... Please?" Jay begged.
"It's not going to be easy," Emma cried.
"Just try. Please. I'll make an appointment to see a doctor on Monday. Please just let me do this for you. The girls need their mother... I need you, Emma."
"Okay. On one condition," Emma pleaded as she cried.
"Anything," Jay agreed.
"Marry me." Emma spoke as she stared into his eyes.

To Be Continued.