Part 14
It took less than hour for Jason Morgan's world to completely implode.
One moment he'd been stuck in an elevator with Lucky... the next he was back on the street in front of the Metro Court waiting for the rescue crew to do it's job.
He'd been knocked to the ground by a wall of air that accompanied the demolition of the Metro Court.
Who knew how many people had been inside when nearly every floor sandwiched down into its foundation?
Jason didn't know... and he didn't care.
He only cared about one thing.
"Elizabeth!"
Spinelli pushed through the crowd, his normal fevered pace of speech sent into overdrive as he tried to show Jason the screen on his lap top. He pointed to an outline of the hotel's design and the endless blackness of the image.
Somewhere in the hazy edges of Jason's consciousness, he heard Spinelli explain how they'd found him and how they were on their way to rescue Elizabeth.
"Where is she?" Jason's voice was barely audible above the emergency sirens echoing off the surrounding buildings.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Stonecold. " He gestured to the screen. "Her phone was here... in the hallway near the back rooms where some of the hostages had been held."
Jason grabbed Cruz's shirt. "Then, let's get in there!"
Cruz tried to remove Jason's fingers from the twisting fabric of his shirt. "We can't-"
"The hell you can't!" Jason only twisted his fingers tighter. "You get your crew.. or I'll get my own and we'll-"
"The building it's gone!" Spinelli's eyes were filled with tears. "Elizabeth... Maxie... all of their phones were crushed under the concrete of the building... their phones died, because they-"
Jason hit the person closest to him, sending Cruz flying back into the gathering crowd. He turned on Spinelli... demanding that he fix his computer and find them... but Spinelli could only sob and clutch his laptop to his chest. "They're gone, Stonecold... we've lost them for good."
The world stopped spinning on its axis and Jason Morgan, enforcer, nearly collapsed under the weight of his own loss.
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI -
Ric looked up from his tablet and gave the doctor a look of expectant disgust. "Well?"
Scoville consulted the chart in his hands. "We've stopped the contractions for now... but like I said before she'll need to be on complete bed rest or she might not only loose the baby... she might die."
The news seemed to stagger him for a moment. He slowly lowered the table onto the counter and then push his fingers through his hair as he thought through his options. "Bed rest... but that's all?"
Scoville shook his head in disbelief. "Bed rest... complete calm. are you sure you're hearing me?"
"I have my own physician coming in to help. We'll move her to another facility as soon as possible. I'm sure you'll be happy to see us go, won't you?"
Scoville swallowed both the words and the tone of his thoughts and tried to project some thought a little less than righteous indignation or wrath. Neither, he knew, would go over with the DA. "What matters is her care... the safety of her baby and her own health."
"Good... then we have an understanding. You keep your staff in the dark about her and I'll handle the rest." Ric turned away from the doctor, dismissing him.
- General Hospital ICU -
Monica turned on the TV in Alan's room to pass the time, flipping through the horrible cable access shows and stopping suddenly on the late breaking news from KLKZ. She watched as the on-the-scene reporter explained the sudden horrific implosion of the Metro Court and the reporter lifted a piece of paper that she could barely see with the spinning emergency lights and read off a list of suspected casualties of the disaster. Nearly a half a dozen names into her list Monica dropped the remote, sending it crashing to the ground when the reporter named: "Elizabeth Webber."
- General Hospital ER -
Monica threw open the curtain and wrapped her arms around Emily. "Have you heard?"
Startled, Emily looked at Nikolas and then at her mother, when Monica leaned back. "Heard what?"
A voice from the nurse's hub seemed to echo off the walls. "Dear God... no!"
Emily lurched to her feet, with Nikolas' hand at her arm for support. "That's Audrey, Mom, I-" Emily's knees gave out and Nikolas helped her to sit down on the gurney. "Why... what?" She looked at Monica and saw the horrible sadness in her eyes. "Not Elizabeth... no!"
Again, Emily tried to stand, but Nikolas took her tightly in his arms and let her cry into his shoulder.
- Outside the Metro Court -
Lucky Spenser came around in the midst of the flurry of activity. The reality of the situation dawned on him slowly, as he caught snippets of conversations about him and the strange immobile state of Jason Morgan, the truth of it all dawned on him.
Elizabeth.
Was dead.
A scream issued from his throat that had every head in the area turning toward him. A moment later he tackled Jason Morgan to the ground and set to pummeling him with his fists. Jason did nothing to stop him.
-General Hospital ICU -
The call light at the nurse's station brought a nurse immediately to Alan's room. The nurse, tears fresh in her eyes greeted him. "It's so good to see you awake, Dr. Quartermain... it's so good-" she hiccupped into her tissue. "It seems-"
"I need to see..." Alan's voice scratched through his throat, "I need to see my son, Jason."
"But, Dr. Quar-"
"I need to see... my son... now."
She nodded and ducked out of the room. "I'll call and give him the message."
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI -
Ric's phone rang and one of the passing orderlies gave him a look before pointing to the 'NO CELL PHONES' sign above the desk. Ric made a great show of pressing the answer button and setting it against his ear. "Yes."
"This is Dr. Ke-"
"It's about damn time, Ewen." Ric leaned against the counter and used his free hand to select a file on his tablet. "I don't want to hear your excuses. I do want to know when you'll be here in Newport."
There was a slight pause. "I'm at the airport. I have to go and rent a car-"
"Take a taxi, I have something for you to read." He clicked the button to send and shut the cover. "It's all the information you need..." Cupping his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone he ground out his last words. "Don't forget, Ewen... I have your ass over a barrel on this one... and if you screw up... it'll be the last thing you do."
- Hartford Critical Care and Clinic - Newport, RI - Private Room -
Elizabeth's consciousness rose just above the heavy sedative and she blinked, adjusting her eyes to the low light of the room. Machines...
She easily read the stats on each machine, her own training serving her well.
A breath and she felt the fetal monitor wrapped around her middle. She saw the blinking lights and read the information on the backlit screen. Her baby was alive. She was alive.
And so very far from home.
Elizabeth drew in a shaky breath and let it out. When it passed her lips it sounded like a name.
"Jason."