Chapter 17

He could hear the sirens from the ambulances around him, he could hear the sirens from the fire truck as it blazed by them and headed for the wreckage, he could hear Sonny comfort Brenda as she sobbed, he could hear a firearm talk low enough for only Lucky and Dante to hear, but he couldn't see any of it, he couldn't see what was all around him, couldn't see the what was happening, all he could see was the fire, a sea of orange and red as it battled with the cool water being sprayed, and Sam was lost in that battle, she was lost to that orange blazing sea. He didn't want to believe, he didn't want to believe that Sam was in that plane, but he saw it with his own eyes, saw how she was dragged and carried away from him into the plane, and he was helpless to stand back and watch as the plane took off down the runway, into the skies where it exploded. He didn't want to believe it but he had no choice but to accept it.

There was something burning in his heart, spreading and burning like the fire from the wreckage. It engulfed his body and his mind, taking over him, burning him alive, the same fire that burned the love of his life. As hard he tried, he couldn't put the fire out, couldn't fight the source, feeling as if it came from the depths of the pits from Hell. It wasn't burning his flesh, it wasn't eating away at his skin, it was consuming his heart and destroyed him. Grief. Today was the day that Jason Morgan lost his soul.

He stood paralyzed at the scene before him, and no matter how many times his mind screamed for his body to move, to run, his legs weren't cooperating. He was frozen in place, like a marble statue, seeing as the people moved around him, every now and then he would hear them talk to him, hear them whisper condolences, whisper words of sorrow and sadness, about how they will be there for him, about how sorry they are, and that only added more to his grief. He watched as the flames were put out, what was once a bright orange and red blaze was now reduced to nothing more than black smoke and ash. If it wasn't for him standing upright and breathing, he would think that he was dead… he felt dead. He felt empty, like something was missing, oh that's right, it was his soul.

He stood back and watched as firemen would bring out body bags, one black bag after another… one body being removed from the wreckage after another… his heart started to pound its way out of his chest, it was beating so hard that he could hear it pounding in his ears, his lungs working overtime sucking air into them at an ungodly rhythm and pace… another body bag, then another… his breathing so fast he was starting to get light headed…. another body bag… he was starting to see spots clouding his vision….. another body bag only this was smaller than the rest….. Oh God…. He could hear himself praying over and over again…. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead…. he was hyperventilating, he was panicking….. "No, no, no, no, NOOOOOO!" With a roar he started to take off into the direction of the ambulance, the one the body bags were being carried away but for some reason he was stopped, he couldn't get there. His panic now increasing, he had no idea what was stopping him from running, stopping him from going to her.

"NO JASON! You can't!" "Jason, man you need to focus!" "JASON!"

It took him a few long seconds to register what was happening, to fully understand what was stopping him from getting to her, both Max and Sonny had held him back, had stopped from getting to her, had stopped him from getting to Sam. "GET OFF OF ME!" He bellowed out with a tremendous rage as he shoved them away from him then whirled around to meet Sonny's grief stricken eyes. "YOU DID THIS!" He yelled out pointing his finger at the person he believed held all the blame. "HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! I ALMOST HAD HER!" Jason could hear Max try to calm him down, Dante and Lucky were doing the same, but he didn't care, he was too far gone. "After EVERYTHING that I have ever done for you, this, THIS is how you repay me! I have protected yours at the expense of my own! Protected your wife, your kids, your family, your girlfriend…" He sneered at the last word as his cold eyes met Brenda's, further increasing her sobs. "Never again, do you hear me, NEVER AGAIN! I LOST HER!" He whirled as he heard the ambulance start their sirens to drive away, on their way to the….. morgue. "OH GOD!" He wanted to run to it, wanted to pull Sam's body free to hold her, to touch her one last time but as the ambulance drove by, Jason was driven down to his knees. "SSSAAAAMMMMMM!"

Max couldn't stay back any longer, he knew that his friend was going through the worst pain ever. Knowing the entire love saga that was Jason and Sam, Max was always on their side. He was sad when it ended and then overjoyed when they were together again, and he knew only death would tear them apart. Well he was right. "Jason…" He slowly walked up to the man, his friend that was hunched over on the ground on his knees doing something that Max had never seen coming from the enforcer, sobbing. "Jason…." He waited for Jason to turn to him, to give some sort of response, none came, but when he touched his shoulder, Max had to jump back as if he was burned as well.

"NO! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Jason lunged for his SUV, he couldn't be here, he couldn't be anywhere near here, not the place where Sam died. Slamming his truck into drive, he tore out of there with squealing tires. He had no idea where he was going to go, didn't know where to run to, he just had to get the fuck away before he killed everyone in his rage.

"Jason! JASON!" Lucky ran after Jason the first second he took off. Jason was in no condition to drive right now. He could feel his pain, feel his loss because he lost her as well. Even though he wasn't in love with heras Jason was, he did love her for a time, a time when they were both there for each other, a time when they healed each other's broken hearts. And after their relationship ended, they remained friends. And today, he just lost his friend. "Damn it Sonny! He's in no shape to drive right now."

"Just leave him be Lucky. He needs to be alone right now."

"I can't do that." He blew out a deep breath conceding, he just prayed Jason wouldn't hurt himself or anybody else out on the road with a two ton vehicle. "Fine." He nodded and turned away but stopped. "Sonny, someone needs to tell Alexis. I can tell Nikolas, I'll head on over there now, but someone needs to tell Alexis."

"I'll tell her." Lord knows he didn't want to, how can he tell her that her daughter died, how can he look into his daughter's eyes and tell Kristina that her sister died, or tell Molly the same. Gathering up a sniffling Brenda, Sonny climbed into the back of the limo with Max. Leaning back in the seat with Brenda tucked safely in his side, Sonny closed his eyes and dreaded the conversation that was about to come.

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Jason stood on the top of the mountain, their mountain, the one where him and Sam would escape to from time to time. Looking out into the horizon, he could see all of Port Charles and beyond all the way to the lake. A shadow to the left caught his eyes, it was smoke, the black some that was coming from the plane, the plane that Sam was in. He knew this was it, knew that this was the end, but he couldn't do it, Jason choked on his goodbye. He couldn't say the word. It hurt too much to say it because saying it would make it real and he desperately didn't want this to be real. He wanted this to be a bad dream he could wake up from.

But it wasn't. It was real. All of it. Sam was gone.

Falling to his knees, he held out his arms wide and roared to the Heaven's above. "WHYYY?" Letting his arms fall, his shoulders hunched down in defeat and gave himself up to his emotions. "Why did you take her away from me?" He cried. "Sam…."

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An hour away from Port Charles, Aidan carried in an unconscious body into a secluded cabin. Walking through the well furnished living room, he walked straight into the bedroom and laid her body down gently on the bed after letting his duffle bag drop to the floor. Opening the bag, he pulled out the supplies. He couldn't believe that his plan worked. It was a brilliant idea, the girl from the coffee shop was almost the exact replica of Samantha. She was the same height, weight, proportions, same dark hair, she was perfect. He supposed he could've seduced her and kept the substitute, but there was only one Samantha and now she was all his. After drugging and kidnapping the girl, he made his way to the hospital, broke in, and stole all the necessary supplies that he needed to keep his plan alive. He handed the replica to the Balkan after he had set the charges to the plane, the Balkan was dead for threatening him and he kept the woman he loved.

Hooking up the IV to her arm, he administered the right amount of medication to keep her in her coma induced state. After pulling the covers over her, he climbed into bed and pulled her delicate body into his arms. Stroking her silky soft hair, Aidan whispered into her ear. "Don't worry Samantha, I'm going to take care of you. It's just us now. Just you and me."