Only Her Hero
Disclaimer: I do not own General Hospital. Carly and Jason are the property of ABC and Disney.
Jason carried Carly into the hospital, cradling her gently to his chest.
"We need Dr. Lee. Tell her Carly Jacks has gone into labor," Jason ordered a nearby nurse. She scurried quickly to obey under his harsh glare and Max's menacing presence.
Other nurses flocked over to the pair, pushing over a bed. Jason gently deposited his best friend, but she refused to let him back away from her side. Carly grasped his hand tightly and locked her eyes with his beautiful baby blues.
"I need you," she told him earnestly, "I can't do this without you."
There was no place in the world Jason would rather be than right by her side.
"Carly," Dr. Kelly Lee said as she walked over to her patient, "When did you go into labor?"
Jason just stood by Carly's bedside as his best friend talked with her doctor. He honestly had no clue what they were talking about; it all seemed positive, so Jason did not concern himself with the details. He just held Carly's hand, pushed her hair out of her face, and told her to breathe.
"Everything is going to be all right," she told him, "you're here with me. I know you'll take care of me, Jase."
Carly's faith in Jason was unshakeable. He could do no wrong in her eyes, and she felt like she could do anything as long as he was by her side.
As they wheeled Carly into the delivery room, a nurse asked Jason if he was the father. When Carly told her "no" she tried to make him leave.
Dr. Lee winced; everybody who knew Carly knew that she was used to getting her way. If she didn't, there would be hell to pay.
Especially when she was in labor.
And even more so if it had anything to do with Jason Morgan.
Carly just leveled a glare at the nurse; a glare worthy of the man holding her hand.
"My husband and I donate a significant amount of money to this hospital every year," she told the nurse scathingly, "If I want my best friend, who by the way is Jason Morgan, to hold my hand while I give birth, I sure as hell better get it. You do not want to see the amount of trouble I will bring down on your head if you give him a hard time."
The nurse just gulped and apologized.
Jason was surprised that she hadn't soiled her scrubs.
So they hospital staff allowed Jason into the delivery room. He held Carly's hand while Dr. Lee directed her to breathe, and he soothingly whispered in her ear to keep her calm.
As Carly lightly laughed at something Jason said, the same nurse from before leaned over to talk to Nadine.
"Are we sure he isn't the father?" she asked the blonde nurse. Nadine just smiled when Leyla answered for her.
"I don't know them that well, but even I know that even if that child isn't Jason Morgan's biologically, it will be his in every way that counts. If that man just said the word, Carly Jacks would drop that rich husband of hers and do everything possible to create a family with him. And everyone knows that Mr. Morgan would give his life for Carly or any of her children," Leyla told the newcomer.
The story of "Carly and Jason" was one of the first that she heard after she arrived in Port Charles. Every newcomer always wanted to know where Carly and Jason's unbreakable bond came from; they always put each other first, even above the significant others that they supposedly loved.
And meanwhile, Jason just watched as the woman he loved struggled to bring another man's child into the world. She breathed and she sweated and she fought; Carly fought for this child like everything else she had to fight for in her life.
After an hour, Jason told Max to call Jax. The unspoken message between the two men was to tell Carly's husband that he better get on his private jet and fly to Port Charles.
Right now.
Or else.
After three hours, Jason had run out of fun, lighthearted times to tell Carly about. So he went back to the beginning, back to that very first night at Jake's. And then he went forward, glossing over all the details that he knew would upset Carly.
After six hours, Jason had run through the complete story of "Carly and Jason." So he started telling her about all the things he loved about her. Her devotion. Her loyalty. The way she never gave up on the people she loved, even when her back was against the wall. And then he talked about what a wonderful mother she was to Michael and Morgan, and how lucky this new baby would be to have her.
After nine hours, Jason was getting desperate. He could see how much pain Carly was in, and he had almost run out of things to tell her. Jason tried to keep calm; he had no idea why it was taking so long, and he was scared something was wrong.
But Jason hid his own fear, and he just continued to hold Carly's hand and tell her how much he loved her.
"Alright Carly," Dr. Lee told her patient, "you're sufficiently dilated. When I give the word, I want you to push."
Carly just nodded in response. She was ready for this baby to get out!
"Push!" Dr. Lee told her.
Carly grunted and grit her teeth and pushed. She pushed against the pain for the beautiful miracle she hoped was almost ready to enter the world.
"Okay, push!" Dr. Lee said again, and again, and again. Jason couldn't see what was happening down there; the nurses kept him by Carly's head. But Dr. Lee kept them updated. The head, the shoulders, and then…
A piercing wail. The child sure did have Carly's lungs.
"Do you want to cut the cord?" Dr. Lee asked him. It was a task usually reserved for the fathers, but Kelly thought that she could make an exception. The man had stayed by her patient's side for over nine hours, after all.
So Jason cut the cord, and Dr. Lee cleaned the baby up and announced to Carly that she had a beautiful baby boy.
"Congratulations, Carly," the doctor told her, "I know you wanted a boy. He's beautiful."
"Thanks," Carly replied weakly, "Jason Jasper J-Jacks…"
She managed to get the name out before Jason could see her face drain of blood. Carly got extremely pale, and her head dropped.
"W-what's wrong?" he asked the doctor.
"She's hemorrhaging!" Dr. Lee told the nurses. She started ordering them about, and then she turned to Jason.
"I'm sorry Mr. Morgan, but you're going to have to leave. The baby's fine; the nurses are going to take him to the nursery. But I have to concentrate on Carly right now," the doctor informed him.
"I-is she going to be alright?" Jason managed, refusing to let the nurses shepherd him out before he got an answer.
"She'll have a better chance if I can work on her without worrying about you," Dr. Lee guilted him, already preparing herself for surgery.
It was enough. Jason let the nurses lead him out of the room.
As the blinds fell down, shielding Carly from his view, Jason hit his knees and prayed. He had little room to bargain with God, so he just prayed and begged and hoped that the woman he loved would make it through.
Because Jason didn't know what he would do if she didn't.