"Sam, put the recordings in my possession and I'll allow you to leave. Danny should have at least one parent, after all." Any faith that Nicholas had lost in his recent predicament seemed to have reappeared with the arrival of his armed men. Sauntering in front of his cousin impudently, he tried to goad her into submission. "I don't want to have to explain to my aunt how you broke into my home and got yourself killed before my men realized that you were my cousin."
Sam wasn't paying any attention to the idiot. She was in a pickle but she knew that there was no-one better she'd want by her side, or at her back for that matter, in this particular situation…Jason Morgan could take all five with his eyes closed. But she wasn't about to let Jason alone have all the fun.
Jason had had enough. He was grumpy from no sleep, his wife had been kidnapped and manhandled, and her prince of a cousin who was behind it all now had these fools pointing guns at her and threatening to take her life. Their lives had been one roller coaster ride after another for months on end and it was time for his family to get a minute to breathe. He looked at each of the men surrounding them, calculating the distance between each one, and judging the trajectory that the bullet would need to take to connect. He just had to find a way to signal Sam to drop to the floor at the precise moment he took the first shot.
Using his left hand that was hanging at his side, Jason stealthily grazed her thigh to get her attention, then used his forefinger to trail downward slowly. Turning his head to the side, he caught the slightest nod of hers indicating that she understood. Leaving his hand in place he waited another couple seconds then he tapped her thigh rapidly and while Nicholas was droning on with unheeded threats, Sam dropped to the floor suddenly, her gun blasting a hole in the kneecap of the gunman directly in front of her, his gun firing errantly as he fell, as she followed up with a second bullet to the head the instant he came down on one knee. In that same moment Jason had fired at the head of the one directly in front of him, leaping to his left and firing rapidly as he flew through the air, taking out two more before he'd landed on the floor and scooted behind the heavy bookcase, bullets raining in his direction from the remaining gunman. Sam had taken up a similar position behind the shelf to her right, and as he concentrated on emptying his gun at Jason, Sam eased out and emptied her clip in the last gunman's chest.
The room was filled with smoke and the smell of hot steel and blood, and as Sam looked around at the bodies laying around them, she was happy to see Jason get up too. They both turned their attention to the stunned prince who had managed to take cover when the hailstorm of bullets started flying, as he removed his hands that were covering his head and noticed Sam coming for him where he'd cowered in the far corner of the room behind an ornate antique chair. Scrambling to his feet, he grabbed a fallen handgun from the floor and took aim at Sam as she came at him. She still held the glock, but he knew it was useless, he'd heard the clicking of the empty chamber when she'd kept trying to shoot at the last target.
Jason rose to his feet and looked to Sam through the haze, catching sight of her as she walked towards the prince with renewed murder in her eyes. As though in slow motion he saw the man reach for the gun and take aim, saw the bitter glare in his eyes as he looked at Sam with deadly intent, and in an instant that felt like his heart stopped and his feet would not move as fast as his brain commanded, Jason was flying across the space between them to grab her and spin her around behind him. They both fell to the floor as Jason whipped his gun from underneath him and fired at the prince, hitting him square in the chest. The force of the bullet sent him spiraling backward into the chair and it went crashing into the corner.
"Drop your weapon! Don't move!" Sam looked over towards the open door to see police rushing in with guns drawn, aimed in all directions. She turned her palm upward as she gently placed the empty gun down on the floor and pushed it away from her, as she felt Jason relax back onto the floor beside her. "Sam! Jason!" Dante Falconari came over to them and removed the gun from Jason's hand, his own gun drawn but not pointed. "What happened here?"
Sam heard Dante but she wasn't listening. She had looked over to Jason and saw that he was barely conscious, his normally healthy skin starting to look ashen as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "Jason! Oh, my God, Jason!" That's when she noticed the blood gushing from his shoulder. Putting her hands on the wound and pressing hard she turned to Dante and yelled, "Get the paramedics, Dante! Now!"
Dante didn't need to do anything as the medics were already headed their way, one stopped to help them while another went over to Nicholas. Two others finished checking the gunmen and declared no pulse detected. The paramedic checking Nicholas shouted out to the others, "over here! There's a pulse…it's thready but it's there."
"Sam, tell me what happened." Dante was pulling at her arm trying to lead her away as the medics worked on stabilizing Jason.
"What does it look like, Dante? Armed men tried to kill us on my cousin's orders and Jason and I defended ourselves." She looked at him curiously for a second, tearing worried eyes away from Jason as she asked, "what are you doing here anyway, who called the police?"
"Boaters on the water called in an explosion on the island. The first responding patrol reported hearing gunfire and called for backup. What brought you here, Sam, and what went down?"
She was moving back to Jason as the Paramedics loaded him unto a stretcher to roll him out. Sam grabbed hold of his hand and started moving with them. "I'm coming with my husband!"
"Sam, I can't let you leave before I get your statement." Dante knew it was useless but he tried to do his job.
"Really, Dante?" She spun on him hurriedly, "because you're going to have to arrest me - I'm going with Jason!"
Dante shook his head and waved his arm dejectedly towards the floor as she hurried out with the medics, whispering under his breath, "you're not even married anymore." He knew he'd have to get her statement on the mainland because he was going to be unable to pry her away from Jason Morgan. He was more than a little bit aware of how those two closed ranks around each other in protection of the other.
Three hours later Sam was giving Dante her statement in the waiting room at GH, anxiously pacing while she told him all about Nicholas' visit to her office and his threats, her kidnapping that he orchestrated, and the events leading up to the scene in the library. Jason had been in surgery for a couple hours and she was biting her nails waiting for word on the outcome. He'd lost a lot of blood and was in and out of consciousness on the ride to the hospital, but Robin had told her when they wheeled him in that they had reasons to be optimistic. Sam knew that was true - Jason was strong and resilient - he'd fight his way out of this too. She just wasn't so sure that one of these days his body just wouldn't be able to fight anymore. How many times can one person get shot before it becomes the last time? No, Sam - don't you dare! You don't think like that, not ever! She scolded herself mentally as she continued her statement to the detective. "I'll get you the tape of his visit to my office, Dante. This time it shouldn't matter how many judges the Cassadines have on payroll or how brilliant his team of lawyers, there's enough evidence to hold Nicholas on attempted murder, kidnapping, assault and battery, and coercion."
"That's if he makes it out of surgery, it's pretty touch and go from what the doctors say. So you'll press charges and testify at trial?"
"Damn right I'm pressing charges against that son-of-a-bitch!" She looked at his worried expression and softened the tiniest bit. "Look, I know that he's your wife's brother and you don't want this to touch her, but he is my cousin too and look what he did to me! Face it Dante, the dark side has claimed Nicholas and turned him into just another crazy Cassadine, and the sooner Lulu faces that the better off she'll be." She was done thinking about Nicholas. "If we're finished here I need to go see about Jason." She was already walking away from him looking for a nurse to get an update. Dante tapped his Ipad and watched her leave, "sure, just stop by the station…", he trailed off when it was obvious that she had stopped listening.
It was another two hours before Robin came out to tell Sam that Jason was out of surgery and everything had gone well. They were concerned with the mobility of his arm and would need to wait and see his dexterity but they were hoping that therapy would get him back on track. They had no reason to believe that it wouldn't but had to wait and see to say for sure. Sam was able to finally release the breath she had been holding since the moment she saw the blood gushing from him, and as she breathed deeply, Carly grabbed hold of her and held on. The two hugged tightly as they both shed silent tears that expressed and released their unspoken concerns, both holding it in so as not to alarm the other. Sam shook her head at how similar she and Carly had turned out to be, remembering what bitter enemies they both were at the start.
"I need to go see my son, you're sure he was okay when you left him at my mom's, Carly?"
Carly wiped the telltale tears from her cheeks as she smiled and sniffled, "he's fine, I swear. When you called, I told him I was on my way to go pick you up from your trip and he wanted me to give you a big hug and tell you to hurry home. Now, go clean up and go see him before you make a liar outta me." She sniffled again as Sam chuckled. "Okay, I'll just peak in on Jason before I go. Thanks, Carly."
He looked so peaceful, as if he was just resting, and if it wasn't for the bandages and the very pale hue of his skin Sam would've never guessed that he was sporting a fresh gunshot wound. She stood at the door for a second before she moved tentatively closer to the bed, admiring his handsomely rugged face, and then almost as if of its own accord, her hand reached out and softly brushed his cheek. His face was very different from her Jason's face, his original reaction to her had been very different from her Jason's, but his actions today had definitely been all her Jason Morgan. He'd been fearless and protective, unselfish and giving, fierce and unrelenting. He'd protected her with his life and he'd been there when she needed help.
His face moved softly against her hand and then his eyes slowly opened and looked at her lovingly. "Sam." He smiled at seeing her, "are you okay?"
Sam chuckled through her unshed tears. "I should be asking you that. You're the one laying here with a bullet in you, again."
He smiled for a second time and closed his eyes as he said, "I just woke up to your beautiful face, I'm perfect."
"Flatterer." She was suddenly self conscious of the villain's blood still on her neck because even though she had changed her shirt for some scrubs that Robin gave her earlier, she hadn't had time to wash the gore off her.
He opened his eyes again and looked at her worriedly now. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She stroked his face again. "Shh…close your eyes, get some sleep."
He was still looking at her adoringly, "I can't…I just want to look at you."
She could't stop the stupid tears from multiplying, remembering the last time he'd said that to her when he'd been lying in a hospital bed and she told him to close his eyes. He was definitely acting like her Jason again. More tears.
"Please don't cry. I'll be fine, I promise." He tried to sit up to prove it but grimaced at the pain induced from jostling his shoulder.
"Jason Morgan, you stop that!" As if she wasn't enough of a mess, he was trying to give her a heart attack too. "The doctors want you to stay still and stay in that bed, no arguments."
He eased back down in surrender to the pain. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll stay in this bed if you promise to go home and get some sleep. You've been through a hell of an ordeal and now you're here watching over me." He loved the way she cared. She'd always been like that. How could his stupid heart had ever forgotten her? "I'll rest if you go home and rest."
She smiled softly. "I was just leaving. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't gone and gotten yourself killed."
He chuckled at her. Leave it to Sam to make him laugh, even at death's door. He watched her move to leave and he could't stop himself. "I love you, Sam." She stopped at his soft proclamation, stood there in her spot for what seemed like hours, before she kept moving out the door without looking back. He missed her the second she left the room, wanted her to come back the moment she was gone, but he knew that he had done so much damage to their relationship that his struggle to win her back had only just begun.
Sam left Jason's room and her nerves were in a jumble. Her breath stopped when he said those three words to her, and she was thrown by how much she wanted to believe that they were true. Her heart rejoiced and wanted to believe, but her head was screaming for her to be smart. You believed him before, it cried, more than once before, and his actions said otherwise. But what of his actions today, her heart fought back, her head winning out by telling her to be smart and keep her guard up. She practically ran from the hospital room, stopping outside the door to take deep cleansing breaths to get her braincells functioning again, then continued on towards the elevator.
"Sam." She heard her name and turned her head to the waiting room to see Lulu Falconari jump up from her chair to approach her, Laura Spencer following suit. Dante was with them, and he looked at Sam resignedly, as though to apologize before the conversation even began. Lulu stopped in front of Sam just outside the waiting room, and Laura walked up and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder. "Sam, what happened on Spoon Island? How could you let Jason do this to my brother?"
Sam turned to fully face the blonde woman with the fiery questions, her head cocking to the side slightly as if trying to help her sleep deprived brain process them in the less than accusatory tone that they were asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Nicholas is in surgery fighting for his life. What happened to him? What did Jason do to my son?" Laura Spencer picked up where her daughter had left off.
Sam looked from one to the other then over to Dante who was hanging back as if to stay out of it. Sam supposed she couldn't really blame him. He was in the doghouse with his wife - it happens when you sleep with her cousin - so he probably didn't want to ruffle too many feathers. He also couldn't openly discuss an ongoing investigation, even with loved ones, so Sam was happy to clue them in. She closed her eyes and lifted her head towards the heavens as though to pray for strength. "I'm going to make this the very last time I speak to any of you about Nicholas, so hear me clearly." She clasped her fists and took a deep, calming breath before she continued, staring Laura Spencer directly in the eye. "You're a mother and a grandmother, and to protect your son you knowingly allowed him to keep my son away from his father by holding my husband's identity a secret from everyone except you, Lucky, and Elizabeth Webber, who you knew was essentially raping a clueless, amnesiac man, for months!"
Laura Spencer took a step back as if Sam had openhandedly slapped the bejesus out of her, but Sam wasn't finished. "You knew that he had hired someone to kill Hayden Barnes, to take an innocent life, and still you kept quiet and protected him. Maybe if you hadn't done that, maybe if you had exorcised an ounce of integrity and good common decency, he wouldn't have gone as far as he did for money, wouldn't have had me kidnapped and instructed a gang of men to rape and kill me, maybe he wouldn't have attempted to finish me himself when he saw that they had failed." She looked from one to the other angrily, "if either of you had opened your eyes and not pretended to not see that he was barreling down the same dark path that Helena had lain out for him for years, then maybe my son's father wouldn't have almost been killed again, maybe my son wouldn't have lost out on months with him and Spencer wouldn't be about to miss out on years with his!" She looked at Lulu and answered her question. "Jason shot your brother to save my life and I know that you'd prefer that Nicholas was the one standing here instead of me, but I happen to appreciate the fact that my son will not be growing up an orphan because of your brother's greed, and I swear to Jesus…" She paused for emphasis and rolled her eyes to the heavens before looking back at the women, "if either of you accost Jason with your hostile accusations you will have to deal with me!" She glared hotly at them, leaving them both speechless and went on her way, not looking back to see that they stood there watching her the whole time as she waited for the elevator, their mouths not closing until she had disappeared from view.
Jason spent the next two weeks cooped up in the hospital and finally the doctors released him just to stop him from driving everyone crazy. He'd started physical therapy on his arm and shoulder and they were very optimistic as he hadn't lost any feeling or muscle mass that would require extensive therapy or more surgery. During that time Sam had brought Danny to see him and his mom had brought Jake. Monica had informed Jason that Elizabeth was out on bond, thanks to Nicholas' attorneys, and that she had been keeping to her therapy with Dr. Collins in an effort to convince the court that she had suffered some kind of mental lapse that forced a break from reality and caused her to turn a blind eye to the things happening around her. He learned that her lawyers were planning to plead temporary insanity, in order to try and get her a light sentence that would be served in an outpatient facility with treatment for mental incapacities. Although gravely disappointed in the justice system once again, Jason admitted to his mom that Elizabeth was the last thing on his mind.
Despite what they'd been through and the extent to which he'd tried to show his love for her, Sam had continued to keep her distance, emotionally. She had brought Danny to see him every day while he was in the hospital and had even accompanied them on a trip to Kelly's after his release, but she had not relented to spend time alone with him and had buried herself in work once again. This afternoon he was waiting outside Kevin's office for the doctor to wrap up with the patient ahead of him and his eyes kept darting anxiously to the door, hoping that Sam would walk through them any minute. He had extended the invitation once again for her to join him in a session and she hadn't said no, but she had been reluctant to commit to a date. He'd asked her again that very morning and she had said she'd try. It wasn't a commitment but at least this time she said she'd try.
As Jason waited and his anxiety grew, the inner office door opened and who should exit but Elizabeth Webber. Jason was surprised to see her but she wasn't the least bit surprised to see him. She remembered what time his appointments were and she had gotten Nicholas' attorneys to deliberately wrangle the time each week that would make her appointments just before Jason's in an effort to run into him accidentally on purpose. The last two weeks had been a bust, and she found out it was because he was shot and holed up in a different wing of the hospital, so she was ecstatic to see that her patience had finally paid off today. She looked at him and thought how good he looked, even as he moved when he saw her heading towards him seated on the couch. He tried to join Kevin at the inner office door.
"Jason, I'm sorry, I need just a few minutes if you don't mind," the doctor was apologetic but he needed to return an urgent phone call before Jason's session. He looked out at the empty chairs behind Jason. "Will Sam be joining us today?"
Before Jason could reply the receptionist reminded Kevin of his call on hold. He excused himself and went back in, as Jason moved over to the window to look down at the parking lot, hoping to see Sam pull up outside. Elizabeth came up behind him softly.
"How've you been Jason? I heard about what happened on Spoon Island, I'm sorry that happened to you." Her voice was timid and apologetic and Jason thought of all the times that he fell for it. He turned away from the window to look at her closely.
She was trying to look innocent but all he saw was conniving and deceitfulness. It poured off her in droves and he couldn't understand how he had been so blinded by her for so long. He ignored her question because he had one of his own. "I'm looking at you right now and I don't see a damn thing that's special about you." Her face fell and she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Jason continued, "I'm not even trying to be mean, I just want to understand what it was about the pretentious, self-absorbed person you are that blinded me for so long that I allowed you to continually hurt and harass my wife without me doing anything about it."
"You don't need to be cruel Jason." Her voice was shaky and diminutive. "You and I have been friends for years, until you allowed Sam to come between us."
He shook his head disagreeably, "you see, that's just it. Sam never once asked me to not be friends with you or anybody else. She always, always encouraged me to be myself and she always respected the fact that other people were in my life before I knew her. She was never threatened by you or anyone, not until I slept with you with a defective condom and unleashed you on our lives." He started walking around her, stalkingly looking her over, "you're not better looking than her, my God she's exotically gorgeous! You're not a better person than her, she's kind, and sincere, and resourceful…smart as a whip, and she comes through in a crisis like nobody I've ever known. She's earnest and loving and she's a dynamite mother and wife, something I always knew she'd be…I wanted to start a family with her from before she lost baby Lila and I'd always, always wanted that." He couldn't stop himself, even when he saw how she turned white and looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.
"I'm serious, Elizabeth, help me out here - what was it about you that blinded me so much that I completely fucked up the best thing that I had in my life? I honestly can't see it and I know that I'm not completely stupid because of the brain damage - Sam convinced me of that years ago when others tried to tell me different."
He stopped for a second as he recalled Sam's impassioned words that stormy night: I don't care what a bunch of self-important doctors say, I don't even care how you feel deep down inside, because when I look at you I do not see damage of any kind. I see an extraordinary human being who feels as profoundly as anyone I have ever known. I experience your capacity for love every single day of my life. I saw it in your eyes and I felt it in your touch when that baby that we wanted so badly was inside of me, and I saw your grief when we lost her, and it mirrored mine, and so did your healing. So do not, do not talk to me about a bunch of doctors who do not know you say about your inability to love, because I know better.
"That woman stroked my ego and walked with me through some of the ugliest shit in my life and I fucked her over because you got pregnant, and I don't even understand why I slept with you in the first place. She was always everything I ever wanted…the queen in my home and the rider by my side. She rocked my world and I nearly destroyed hers, for you. And now I've allowed you to come between us, again! Why?"
She started sobbing and Jason realized he was being harsh. He sighed and turned away from her, "it wasn't even about you. I thought having a child with someone else meant I didn't get to have the love of my life, I needed to selflessly let her go and commit myself to you, for Jake." Sadness was squeezing at his heart when he thought of all he'd put Sam through. "Go away, Elizabeth. I have nothing to offer you, and I never will again. We were friends once, you're right about that. You saved my life and I felt like I forever owed you for that, but I think I can now consider that debt paid and then some. We share a son biologically and I will always be there for him, but not you. Go away, and leave us alone."
She burst into tears and fled the waiting area, running away from the receptionist's shocked look of pity as she had heard every ugly word that was said, and as Elizabeth fled she ran into Samantha Morgan who had been standing just outside the door and had obviously also heard it all. Elizabeth's humiliation grew even larger and she fled full blast to the stairs, bawling her big doe eyes out, not paying attention to her footfalls and missing one of the very first stairs causing her to tumble down the concrete blocks. Over and over and over she went, till her broken and bloodied body laid in a heap at the bottom.
Sam walked through the door to the waiting area and looked at Jason, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt like she actually saw him. He was still standing with his back to the door, looking out the window as though watching and waiting. For her, maybe? Just then Kevin opened the inner door and came out calling Jason's name and as he turned to follow the doctor he caught sight of the woman he wanted to see every day for the rest of his life. "You came!" He looked at her, hope filling his heart and love pouring from his soul through his eyes.
Sam smiled shyly as she walked ahead of the men into the office. She knew there was a grueling hour ahead of her, but felt it was important for the healing of her relationship with her child's father, and more importantly for her own spirit, that she did this. It was best that the deepest hurt be gotten out in the open and dealt with once and for all.
Kevin wanted to start from the very beginning of their relationship so they could remember the foundation that they built from, then he would have them go into where they thought the most painful struggles lay, and identify the root cause of those struggles. As they dug deep and really brought everything to the surface, Jason cringed when it became glaringly obvious to everyone in the room that the one defining constant to the pain inflicted on their relationship wasn't the delusional Nurse Nutcase as first thought, but the man himself. It was one very painful hour indeed for Jason Morgan.