Chapter Twenty-One

Shooting straight up in bed at the screams that ripped through the quiet air, Elizabeth grabbed Johnny's arm as he started to jump from the bed. "It's Georgie, honey. I will take care of her. Will you check on the boys?"

Dropping a brief kiss on her forehead, he nodded as he tugged on his sweat pants and reached for a t-shirt. Seeing her paleness, he paused. "Are you okay, Elizabeth?"

"Yeah. It's just hard to watch her go through this." When another scream cut through the house, she jerked away and hurried out of their room.

Easing the door to the guest room open, Elizabeth could see from the hallway light that Georgie that was asleep, but stuck in a nightmare. Her own heart breaking, she wiped away her tears as she sat on the very edge of the bed. "Georgie, wake up. It's okay. You are safe. Come on, sweetie, it's Elizabeth."

The thrashing in the bed stilled as the younger woman's eyes popped open and she sat straight up, gasping for air. Her eyes darted wildly around the room before settling on Elizabeth. Embarrassment flickered across her face before she bowed her head. "I am so sorry," she choked out.

Hesitantly wrapping an arm around Georgie's shoulders, Elizabeth sighed. "Please don't apologize. If anyone can understand the pain and fear, it is me."

"H-how did you..."

"Forget?" she asked when Georgie couldn't finish the sentence. "I have never forgot. That night in the park is a nightmare that will never go completely away." Feeling the tremors, she closed her eyes. "But it does fade and get easier. I won't lie, Georgie. It is hard, so very hard, to get your emotional security back."

"I just don't understand what I did to deserve this," she whispered. "Why me? Why did Diego come back just to torture me?"

Releasing her and moving so that she could look at Georgie in the eye, Elizabeth blinked back her own tears. "Listen to me, Georgie. You cannot blame yourself. You did nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong. Diego is a sick individual."

Seeing Johnny's shadow move down the hall, Georgie grimaced. "He doesn't know, does he?"

"Details, no. But you were mumbling when Francis got to you in the yard. Don't be ashamed, Georgie. You know how Johnny came to be in my life. Trust me, he does not think any less of you. He has men looking for Diego. If anyone will catch the bastard, Johnny will." The brief hope that flared in her eyes caught her attention. "Oh, Georgie. It will get better. That much I can promise. It will take time, but it will get better."

They both stopped as they heard a cell phone ring in the quiet. Hearing Johnny's muffled voice, they both sat still. Elizabeth stood and walked to the door when she heard Johnny moving back down the hall after a couple of minutes of silence. "Hey," she stopped him as he walked past the door, now fully clothed in his jeans and shirt. "Do you have to leave?"

"Unfortunately. We had an issue with a shipment. I am meeting Jagger there. Francis is on his way. He will be inside, but Paulie is still outside." He reached out and took her hand in his. "I want you and Georgie to stay in until I get back."

"We will. I already planned to call off for my shift at the hospital. Just be careful."

Running his fingertips over her cheek, his face took on the cocky grin that she had fallen for. "I will. You know that. I love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you too." She pressed a kiss against his lips and watched as he took the stairs two at a time.

Turning and seeing that Georgie was staring off into space with a blank look in her eyes, Elizabeth decided that they both needed some sleep. Knowing that her nightmares would be in full swing too because of the memories that this night had dredge up, she ran a hand through her hair. "We both need to get some rest, Georgie. The boys will be up early. Do you think that you would sleep better if I stayed with you? I know that it use to help me be able to sleep."

Relief washed over face and she nodded. "Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching the ship burn in the harbor, Johnny scrubbed his hands over his face. Dealing with PCPD's finest for almost an hour had pissed him off and he was trying to calm himself before heading back home. There was no way that he was going home to Elizabeth and boys with the way that he was feeling at the moment.

Catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, he turned and bit back a snarl. "Morgan, Cody. What do you want? I am not in the mood for this tonight."

Seeing the anger that was fully on display, Jason frowned. While he did not care for the younger Zacchara, he had to admit that he was usually better at holding in his temper. "We heard the explosion at the Towers. We weren't sure who's ship it was." Hearing the heels clicking on the asphalt, Jason turned and arched a brow at Sam. "You shouldn't be down here, Sam."

"I heard you leave." She slipped an arm through his and smiled up at him. She could feel the tension in his body and contained a hiss. Every since the other night when she had flipped over Sonny being gone, he had been kind of cool toward her. "I wanted to see if I could help any."

Snorting, Jagger ignored her as he made his way over to the unlikely grouping. "I have to go check something out. I recieved some information that may be related to our search."

Hearing the tone, Johnny's head snapped around. "Take a couple of the men with you."

"I will call you if this pans out."

Listening to the cryptic conversation, Sam's mind started to race. Eveidently something was going on that they were trying to keep quiet. "Any leads on who took out your ship?"

"Yeah. It was actually an accident on board that started the fire. It then caught the tank and exploded. No mystery there." He stopped as his phone vibrated. Pulling it out of his pocket and seeing that number that he had called earlier that night, he hit ignore. There was no way that he was answering and having the conversation that he needed to have with that person with anyone present.

Jason observed his movements and decided that now was as good a time as any. "I would like to have a meeting. Just me and you."

Guessing what it was concerning, Johnny shrugged, knowing that they would have to deal with one another. "That is fine. But not today. I am busy and need to get back to the house."

Sam smirked. "Elizabeth tightened the leash, huh."

"Sam," Jason snapped as Johnny's eyes flashed. He had a pretty good idea that Johnny's nerves were stretched pretty thin and Sam pushing him would not help. "Why don't you go back to the penthouse. I will be up soon." When she started to protest, he shook his head. "Being here while you are pregnant is a bad idea. All the smoke and fumes can't be good for the baby. Cody, take Sam back home."

Looking anything but pleased, Cody nodded and led the pissed brunette away.

"Look, I can tell that you are anxious to get out of here."

Cutting him off, Johnny lifted a hand. "You are right, I am ready to get the hell out of here."

"Zacchara, just give me a damn minute!" Jason growled. "I can tell that you are on edge. I want to make sure that Elizabeth and the boys are okay."

Releasing a sigh, he crossed his arms. "They are fine. The boys were asleep and Elizabeth was taking care of something when I left. There are guards at the house as well. I know how to protect my family, Jason." He stopped as he remembered that Emily had been Jason's sister, and they had been close. Debating internally, he finally made the decision. "Look, I won't go into details, but I heard something disturbing that I think I should share with you."

Interest peaked, he remained silent while waiting to hear more.

"It could be a possibility that Diego Alcazar is alive."

"What? No way! He was killed," Jason quickly denied. "I know that he is dead."

"Morgan, this is Port Charles. People fake their deaths all the time and come back," Johnny sneered. "And my source is reliable and very trustworthy. Since Emily was your sister, I thought that you might like to know too. We are searching for him now."

"Johnny, there is no way..." Jason stopped and suddenly his eyes swung up to meet the dark brown ones that were carefully watching him. "Why would you care if Diego is alive. I never thought that your family had anything to do with him before."

Knowing that he had tread to softly, because no matter how much he stuck his head in the sand over his wife, Morgan was smart and could think fast on his feet, he thought carefully about his words. "I wasn't. But things changed last night. If I find that bastard and whoever is helping him, he won't be faking his death again."

The lethal threat delivered in the cold tone made Jason stop denying that the man could be mistaken. It was obvious that Johnny knew something that he was was holding back. "Okay. I will have our men start searching too. But I want to know that Elizabeth, Cam, and Jake are not in danger. He grabbed Elizabeth before when he was after Sam."

"I will protect my family, Morgan, just like I have told you a thousand times. You worry about your wife that keeps popping up all over town. But right now, I have no clue what that piece of shit is up to. But if you find him before I do, I need to know." Seeing him hesitate, Johnny sighed. "It is not for me, Jason. Someone else needs the closure that knowing he is no longer walking around will bring them. I know that we aren't friends and will never be, but trust me, this is not about us."

"He has already hurt someone," he muttered, piecing together what he could from the little that the other man was telling him.

Eyes darkening, Johnny nodded. "Yes, he has."

"So are the cops looking for him to?"

"No. The individual refused to go to the cops. No one knows that he is back. I would like to keep it that way for now. It will be easier to track him if he doesn't suspect that we are looking."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam entered GH later that day, on her way to see Dr. Lee. Dropping in on the surgically floor, she was hoping to see the twit. She really wanted a chance to get close enough to gauge her guards reaction time.

After leaving the piers early this morning, Sam was snarling and pissed. She had called Sonny on the island and he had guaranteed her that he was not staying gone. He had only went to lull Jason into a false sense of security for the princess's' safety. It still ate at her that her husband was willing to turn on his best friend, his brother, for that woman. She knew it was only because he wanted his first born brat to have his mother, but it still stung.

Not seeing Elizabeth anywhere at the hub, Sam frowned. Of course she would have probably stopped working now that she was married to a man that could support her. She had always known that Elizabeth was after a free ride. What better way than to get yourself knocked up by a man that was in control of a powerful organization.

"Sam?"

Glancing up at Robin, she pasted a smile on her face while mentally cursing that she would have to be nice to another little witch that she hated. "Oh, hey, Robin. I was just taking a stroll before my doctor's appointment."

Smiling at the curvature of Sam's abdomen that showed that she and Jason were having a baby. "I am sure that you and Jason are happy that you are finally getting your dream."

"He is so happy," Sam gushed with enthusiasm, realizing that she could use this impromptu meeting. She knew that Robin was a friend of Elizabeth's too. "Jason wanted to be a father so bad. Now he will finally have a child all his own, one that no one can ever take away from him."

Confused at the last statement, Robin just chalked it up to being about Micheal. She knew that Sam could be a bit spiteful for no reason. "Well, congratulations. Were you looking for anyone in particular up here?"

Sam smiled. "I was looking for Elizabeth. I wanted to tell her that I am happy for her and Johnny. I heard that they are married now. And having a baby."

Knowing that neither woman really liked the other, Robin almost laughed. "She is home today. Something came up," she answered slowly, seeing that she had made Sam curious. "Well, I have to go. Good luck on your pregnancy."

Watching the woman walk away, Sam gave a happy chuckle. Hoping that there was already trouble in paradise, she started on her to Dr. Lee's office with extra pep in her step.