Chapter 15

"Do you mean the fender bender?"

Jason saw red.

If he never heard the words 'fender bender' again it would be too soon. Between Sonny, Audrey and now Elizabeth, it was shit. He knew it was shit. The look on her face screamed it was shit. Why was everyone peddling shit?

He tried - really tried - to measure his response in the face of his seething rage. Jason stood up and started pacing. He rubbed a hand over the back of his tense neck before pinching the bridge of his nose. When that didn't work he ran his hands down his face and huffed. Then he stopped his long strides, placed his hand on his hips and turned to face Elizabeth.

She hadn't moved. Sitting still on the sofa, her small hands were clasped together on her lap, her feet flat on the floor, shoulders slumped and chin down. But her eyes were turned up, following Jason's movement as he tried to decompress. She looked like a frightened school girl.

Jason swore.

"Please don't ever say that again," he said through gritted teeth.

"Say what?" her voice was small.

"That thing about the car accident," he instructed.

"What…fender bender?" she asked for clarification.

The vein in his temple throbbed. He could feel the blood pumping through his system; hear his heart beat pounding in his head. The intonation of those two words was like nails on a chalkboard. Jason hated those words and hoped that the scowl on his face properly indicated just how much.

"Yes," he hissed, resuming his pacing.

"Okay," she responded wide eyed. Elizabeth still hadn't moved a muscle.

Oh, he was pissed. Elizabeth couldn't remember the last time she had seen Jason this angry. It was a little scary. She watched as he stalked across the room, using his entire arsenal of self soothing techniques, but apparently to no avail. This whole thing with the term 'fender bender' was new to her. Odd, but whatever, she was not going to argue with him.

It was obvious that he thought he knew something. Yes, she had let a couple of cryptic comments slip out in the heat of anger, comments she had kicked herself for later, but she couldn't help it. Having him back in town forced her to start thinking about things, forced her to remember what he had done, what she had done, what they had lost.

She told herself that if she just kept her head on straight, she could get through this. No one knew the truth, sans her doctor, a nurse and a lab tech. If she could just keep it together, she could talk her way out of this.

Her insides were warm and tingly as adrenaline rushed through her body. Elizabeth struggled to stop her mind from wandering at the mention of the accident. She tried very hard not to think about how her heart had ached, the sound of the rain on the windshield, the lightning as it illuminated the night sky, the screeching tires...

Elizabeth quickly pinched her eyes closed at the pricking sensation of tears. She cursed herself, then him for poking around in her business. He just couldn't let sleeping dogs lie.

Jumping off the sofa she roared, "Who in the hell do you think you are?"

Jason's pacing came to a sudden halt as he whipped around to look at her in utter amazement. "W-what?"

Elizabeth marched around the coffee table and straight up to Jason's chest. She pulled herself to her full height and shoved her finger at him. "You have no right snooping around in my life Jason Morgan! You gave up any rights to me the moment you left Port Charles," she ranted.

"See that," he countered, pointing back at her. "That right there. What the hell does that mean?" he questioned as his voice grew.

Her brow furrowed. "What does what mean?" she asked in return, her voice straining.

"Elizabeth, we were already broken up when I left Port Charles. So why is that event the one that keeps coming up?"

Her face dropped. "Are you serious? Jason, I already told you. For me, our relationship wasn't over until I found out you left town."

"But you had moved out of the penthouse. You told me we were through weeks before I left."

"Two weeks."

"What?"

"Two weeks," she repeated somberly. "You left town exactly two weeks after I moved out of the penthouse." Elizabeth averted her eyes.

She felt Jason's eyes trained on her. She could practically hear the gears churning in his head as he scrutinized her.

His eyes narrowed. "Why did you go to the hospital?"

Elizabeth lifted her cornflower blues to look at him.

"Just tell me," he said softly.

She felt heavy and tired. Tired of hiding, tired of lying, tired of carrying the pain on her own, it was eating her up inside. But the guilt, the shame, the grief…those dark clouds were dense enough to eclipse any shred of desire to tell the truth and to keep anyone from reaching it. Elizabeth raked her hands through her hair. "I needed stitches on my forehead," she clipped.

"Not according to Ritchie," he countered.

Surprised, her gaze shot back to his face. A sense of panic pooled in her stomach as she couldn't recall for the life of her how much Ritchie knew about her accident, which would make it very difficult to lie. "O-oh…and what else did Dr. Ritchie have to say?" she questioned sarcastically.

Jason looked at her unapologetically. "He said you could have been treated on the scene, but [iasked[/i to be taken to the hospital."

Elizabeth was speechless. Lying was not a strength of hers, especially to Jason. He was always able to see through her, to know there was something wrong by simply looking into her eyes. A flood of emotions clouded her ability to think as the sense of panic grew.

His eyes were searching her face, trying to lock with hers. She continued to shift her gaze in an attempt to avoid him. A wave of nausea hit her as her internal dam threatened to crumble.

"I can't do this," Elizabeth muttered as she turn and ran to her bedroom.

Jason was stunned.

Watching Elizabeth sprint to her room was perplexing and confirming. He knew there was something more to that car accident and her little escape attempt proved it. And damn Sonny for not keeping an eye on her like he promised he would. A flash of guilt hit Jason as he knew it should have been him keeping an eye on her.

He took a deep breath and walked down the hall to her room, using his knuckles to gently knock on the door. There was no response. He tested the knob and found it locked.

"Elizabeth," he called softly.

No response.

"Elizabeth, please open the door. I just want to understand."

"There's nothing to understand," she paused, "It's over and done with. It's like it never even happened."

He could hear the tears in her voice and his chest tightened.

"Like what never happened?" he asked.

Silence.

Jason's forehead creased as he listened and tried to distinguish the muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door. He heard noises closer to the floor and a slight thump on the wood. He instinctively crouched down.

"I-I wanted to tell you," Elizabeth said before she hiccupped.

Her voice carried through the door; he could tell she was sitting on the floor just on the other side. Jason shifted and sat, leaning back against the door and turning his head towards the jamb.

"Tell me what?" he asked.

Jason pinched his eyes closed at the sound of her tears. He cracked his knuckles at the desire to beat something up. He wanted to kick down the door and take her in his arms. Try to make it better for her. Her sobs continued.

"Elizabeth, please open the door and talk to me," he pled.

"I was pregnant," she whispered.

Jason's heart stopped cold in his chest. He furrowed his brow, blinking rapidly as he tried to wrap his brain around what he thought he heard her say.

"Pregnant?" he asked hoarsely.

He could hear her weeping, the muffled sounds wafting through the door and attacking his heart. The enforcer ran a hand down his face, clasping it over his mouth. The back of his head found the door as his icy blue eyes slowly closed. Raising his skull slightly, he smacked it back against the door…smack…smack…smack…

"Elizabeth. Open the door," he commanded.

His vision blurred slightly as tears pooled, her confession and the sound of her crying was killing him.

"Elizabeth," his voice cracked, "if you won't open the door, then back up, because I'm coming in." Jason rose to his feet and stared at the barrier between them.

Steeling himself, he stopped when he detected the faint scrape of metal. Reaching out, he clasped his hand around the knob and turned it slowly. The door gave way and he hesitantly opened it, unsure what would happen when he saw her on the other side.

Jason's shoulders slumped as he exhaled the breath he didn't know he was holding. Elizabeth was on the floor by her bed, her legs curled underneath her, her face buried in her hands and her slight shoulders shaking as she wept. Swallowing hard, he slowly moved beside her and crouched down.

Reaching out, he ever so gently placed the palm of his hand on the crown of her head and stroked the length of her hair and down her back. Once his fingers reached the base of her spine, he nudged her and she collapsed into him. Her delicate hands fisting the material of his shirt as her chest heaved.

He lowered his nose to her hair and closed his eyes. He was floored. She had been pregnant. Pregnant. She would have had a baby. His baby. Their baby. And the baby? The accident? The accident.

Jason began murmuring to her as his hand made small circles on her back. Trying to comfort her and ease her tears. He placed a kiss on the crown of her head and cleared his throat to choke back the lump that had formed there.

Pulling back, his hands cupped her head as he lifted her face to see her. Elizabeth's eyes were puffy and rimmed red, her nose was runny, her cheeks wet with tears and her lips turned down as her chin quivered. Jason's eyes locked with hers and a stabbing pain shot through his chest as he witnessed the depths of sorrow in her indigo orbs.

She squirmed and stood, freeing herself from his hold and his gaze. "Don't look at me like that," her voice was thick with emotion.

He wiped his eyes and stood. "Like what?"

Elizabeth dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. "Like I deserve your sympathy."

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "Elizabeth, I don't – I don't know what I think," he stammered.

"Let me help you," she stated, her voice taking on an edge through her tears. "I killed our baby. You should hate me as much as I hate myself." Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest and turned, walking over to her bedroom window.

He watched in stunned silence as a sob escaped her lips, as she dropped her head and tears fell onto her forearms. Moving behind her he placed a hand on her shoulder, allowing his thumb to caress her.

"I will never believe that. I don't care what you tell me," he paused, "because I will never believe that."

Elizabeth lifted her face and looked out into the dark night. "I shouldn't have been on the roads that night," she shook her head as she whispered.

"Why were you?" he asked simply.

She was quiet for a moment, as if lost in her own thoughts. "What?"

"Why were you driving that night?" he questioned, "Who sends a pregnant woman out in a storm?" Jason felt himself getting angry at the thought of someone, anyone, not offering her a safe place to stay until the storm passed.

"No one knew I was pregnant. Besides you know how it is here, storms blow in and the weather changes on a dime…but I just couldn't stay where I was," her voice trailed off.

"Where were you?" Jason struggled to keep his voice level as his insides raged.

Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face and shook her head, "Nowhere…it doesn't really matter at this point."

He took a deep breath, "It does to me."

She turned her head to the side and glanced at him before returning her gaze to the ink black night. "I was at the penthouse," her voice sounded flat and lifeless.

Jason grimaced and his eyes closed briefly. "My penthouse?" he asked although he already knew the answer.

But another tear rolled down Elizabeth's cheek as she nodded her head.