Only Her Hero

Disclaimer: I do not own General Hospital. Carly and Jason are the property of ABC and Disney.

"Jase?" Carly croaked out as her eyes finally fluttered open.

"Hey Carly," Jason responded tenderly, gently pushing some of her hair out of her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like you're going to have to track down and kill whoever ran me over with that bus," she told him with a small smile. "Where's my baby?"

Jason was silent for a moment.

"Jason?" Carly prompted, starting to get nervous. "Is my baby all right?"

"Jason's fine," he told her softly. "But…"

Carly's blue eyes closed in relief when she heard her baby was okay.

"But there was another baby, Carly," Jason managed to tell her.

"Another? Was?" Carly asked confused. "What…what happened?"

"A little girl," Jason informed her. "Dr. Lee had to perform an emergency c-section because you passed out. Jax hasn't filled out the birth certificate yet, but I told him that if the baby was a girl you wanted to name her Jessica Jane."

"A girl," Carly said with a smile and a far away look in her eye. "Can you get a doctor or a nurse, Jase? I want to know how soon I can get out of this hospital bed and see my babies."

"Carly…" Jason trailed off, unsure how to tell her about her baby girl.

Carly just looked at him with those trusting eyes.

"Jessica…she's really small. And there were some complications…" Jason told her.

"Complications?" Carly questioned, panicked.

Jason knew he couldn't sugar coat it for her – Carly needed to know the truth.

"The doctors aren't sure if she'll make it, Carly," Jason informed her sadly, holding onto her as she fell apart.

Carly was still crying into Jason's shirt when Dr. Lee came in a short while later.

"Mr. Morgan, you should have gotten me as soon as she woke up," the doctor admonished him.

Jason just gave her a look. Carly was more important.

Dr. Lee just sighed, knowing that he wouldn't apologize.

"I'm just glad you're up," Dr. Lee told Carly as her patient wiped away her tears.

Carly gave her doctor a watery smile as she tried to compose herself.

"When can I see my babies?" she asked simply.

"Jason is a healthy baby – I'll have one of the nurses bring him to you in a moment. It's up to you whether you nurse or not. But Jessica is in a tight spot right now. Her chances will greatly improve if she makes it through the night, but right now she can't be moved," Dr. Lee informed Carly sadly. "I can have an orderly wheel you over to neo-natal ICU if you want to see her."

Carly nodded at the offer.

"I need to see her," she told both Dr. Lee and Jason. "I just…if she doesn't make it…I need to see her at least once."

"If she's anything like her mother, she's a fighter," Jason reassured his best friend. "Your baby girl won't give up. Not for anything."

Carly smiled at his words, knowing he believed them. Jason had faith in Carly, and he had faith in her children.

"Thank you," she told him softly.

"You're welcome," Jason responded. "But you don't have to thank me for anything."

Carly shook her head at her best friend. She did have to thank him – for getting her to the hospital and for staying with her during her labor, for always being there and always believing in her, and for loving her.

Carly would always be grateful that Jason loved her and her children. But now wasn't the time to get into that conversation with her best friend – not with her doctor in the room, and her baby girl fighting for her life.

"I want to nurse," Carly informed Dr. Lee as she turned away from her best friend, giving his hand a squeeze. He was always there to comfort her when she needed him…

"That's good," Dr. Lee smiled. "It's good for the baby, and it's good for the mother. Helps you shed those pregnancy pounds."

Dr. Lee tried to lighten the mood, but Carly wanted to stay serious.

"Can…can I see my baby girl first?" Carly asked. "I want to see Jason too, of course…but he'll be there later."

Carly wanted to cry again at the thought of losing one of her children.

"I'll have one of the orderlies bring you there now," Dr. Lee promised as she left the room.

"She'll be okay, right Jase?" Carly turned back to her best friend.

Jason didn't want to lie to her, so he just took Carly back into his arms and let her cry some more.

Meanwhile, Jax was in the neo-natal ICU just watching his baby girl. Just watching her as the machines breathed for her, and she struggled for her life.

"She's a fighter, just like her mom," his brother Jerry said as he walked into the room.

"I hope so," Jax responded softly, never taking his eyes off his baby girl.

"What are you going to name her?" Jerry asked him quietly.

"Carly and I said we were going to name the baby Jessica Jane if she was a girl," Jax informed him with a small smile. "But…I just want to wait until Carly wakes up to make sure she hasn't changed her mind. I don't want to do anything without her."

"It's a beautiful name," Jerry told him. "And Lady Jane would be proud to have your daughter share her name."

"Yeah," Jax responded, his gaze still locked on his little miracle fighting behind all those machines.

"I'm sure Carly would understand you not wanting to waste a second with your daughter," Jerry told him, about to encourage Jax to get closer to his baby girl.

Before Jax could respond, Claudius wheeled Carly into the room, Jason at her side.

"Hey," Carly said softly, her eyes on Jax for a split second before going to her baby girl hooked up to all those beeping machines.

God…it reminded her of Michael when he was just born.

"Hey," Jax responded softly, taking his eyes off Jessica for a split second to look at his wife. "I didn't know you were up yet."

"I just woke up," she informed him, her gaze never wavering. "Can I…can we touch her?"

Jax closed his eyes for a second at the pain in his wife's voice.

"Yeah, the doctor's said it was all right as long as we didn't move her," Jax said.

"Do you want to?" Jason asked her softly, encouragingly.

Meanwhile, he gave Claudius a look, dismissing him. Jason would take care of Carly from here.

"M-maybe…yeah," Carly told him, indecisive. "Yes, I want to touch my baby."

Jason wheeled Carly towards her youngest child, ignoring the two brothers. Carly and her child were the only ones who mattered right now…

"Are we…are we going to name her Jessica Jane like we said?" Jax asked his wife as she reached down to stroke their baby girl's soft cheek.

She was so fragile…

"Yeah," Carly told him. "I want…I want to fill out the birth certificate as soon as possible. If she…if she doesn't make it, I want her to go with a name. A beautiful name that we gave her, so she knows just how much she was loved."

"She knows, Carly. She knows," Jason reassured her.

"Jase?" Carly asked him quietly. "Can you…can you and Jerry step outside for a little while and leave me and Jax alone with Jessica. Maybe…maybe get a nurse so we can fill out the birth certificate?"

Jason nodded his agreement, despite being pained that Carly was sending him away to be alone with Jax and her child. Their child…

Jason kissed her softly on the head before leaving with Jerry. He would do as she asked.

Because Carly and her children were all that mattered right now.