Part 28
-General Hospital ICU-
Elizabeth listened to the rhythmic beeping that droned on in her ears, aware of little more than the sound and the heavy weight of her body. She breathed in and out and slowly became aware of the tubes in her nose, the pull of the IV in her hand, and the antiseptic smell in the air.
Her eyes were closed and the effort to open them was impossible. She needed more rest.
Beep... Beep... hiss...
Beep... Beep... hiss...
She moved her lips and tried to say... something... only there wasn't a sound coming from her lips.
-General Hospital ICU Hallway-
Jason stood outside Elizabeth's room, watching her through the slats in the window as he held Cameron in his arms. The boy had yelled and cried and then fell asleep on his shoulder. Emily had offered to find a bed for Cameron to lie down in, but Jason had refused to give him up, choosing to rock the boy back and forth as his shirt grew wet from Cam's open mouth, his tshirt balled up in Cam's fist.
"Jason?"
He didn't turn away from the window, but he heard the squeak of Alan's wheelchair as Emily pushed him up beside the window. "What did the doctor's say?"
Emily gave Alan a kiss on his cheek and walked away down the hall to give them some room.
Alan lifted his head to see into the window between the bottom slat of the drapes and the sill. "Kelly says the baby is fine. Do you want to know... what you have?"
Jason's arms tightened around the boy in his arms. "I'll wait. We'll see the baby together."
The rasp of Jason's voice drew a concerned look from his father.
"What about... Elizabeth?"
Alan shifted in the wheelchair, leaning full back against the chair to look up at Jason. "The problem was the blood loss coupled with some complications after... after they took the baby." Alan sighed. "She said she's seen it before in cases like this," he reached out and smoothed a hand over Cam's stockinged foot, "the mother holds on until the baby is born and then-"
"Not Elizabeth." Jason's tone was sure. "She wouldn't leave the baby. She wouldn't leave Cam. Not like this."
"We don't always get to choose when we go, Jason." Alan touched his son's arm trying to get his attention from the still form in the bed. "Sometimes you just do the best you can... protect your children... and then-"
"She wouldn't leave them." His stern tone disturbed Cameron and Jason had to shift him to the other shoulder as the boy grumbled in his sleep. "You don't know her like I do."
Alan's smile was lost on Jason, for the younger man had eyes only for the woman lying in bed. "You're right, son... I don't know her as well as you do... but I'm hoping when she's well enough," Alan touched his fingers to the window pane, "you'll allow us to come visit you and Elizabeth.. and the children."
Jason spared him a look, a question plain in his eyes.
"Something wrong?"
Leaning against the wall, Jason looked at his father. "She hasn't agreed to... I don't know if she'd want to-"
"I can see what 'you' want, Jason. The way you talked about her, the way you hold Cameron so close against you, you want them, Jason." Alan smiled and relaxed a bit. "And if I read the truth in Elizabeth's eyes... she wants you just as much."
-Corinthos Coffee Warehouse -
Lucky didn't fight Cody when the larger man said to, "Get out of the car, idiot." He walked between Cody and a couple of the other men. "Don't even think of running," Cody explained, "unless you want a bullet between your shoulder blades. Jason says he wants you in one piece, but if I place the bullet right nothing will fall off you... so just keep that thought in your head."
The warehouse was empty of workers, the security guard at the door had closed it behind them and locked it. The hollow thud of the bolt sent shivers down Lucky's spine.
"I'm not going to run."
Cody opened a door behind some pallets and waited for Lucky to step in ahead of him. There was a single chair in the center of the room and a table before it. "Have a seat. Make yourself... quiet."
Lucky stayed put. "Why here?" He nodded back toward the car. "Why can't you take me to the hospital to see Elizabeth?"
"You're staying put until I know you're not going to make an ass out of yourself." Cody watched the color and ire rise in Lucky's eyes. "Until then it's my responsibility to make sure you stay out of the way." He felt his own eyes snap with warning. "So don't push me."
-General Hospital ICU-
Elizabeth was lost, her mind in pieces. Just as one thought began to coalesce it fell to pieces in her mind. She remembered sounds, feelings, snippets of conversations, but nothing whole. Nothing real.
Nothing true.
And because she could not open her eyes she felt as though she was drowning in her tears.
There. In the darkness.
In the empty lonely place where she'd gone, she felt the touch of a hand on hers. Felt the touch that gave her hope.
-General Hospital ICU-
Emily wanted to bring Jason a blanket, but she knew if she touched him he'd wake up and she wanted him to sleep.
Cameron was asleep in the on-call room, Audry curled up beside him on the narrow bed. Emily had only been able to move him once Jason had fallen asleep beside Elizabeth's chair. Now as she watched the LCD readouts on the instruments she saw the spike in Elizabeth's blood pressure and heart rate. Something, Emily knew to expect, from a patient suffering from nightmares. Before she could move to soothe Elizabeth's mind Jason shifted in his chair and covered her hand with his own.
Emily watched the numbers on the screen begin to fall... stabilize... return to normal.
Wiping at unbidden tears she left the room to let them both rest.
-Alan Quartermain's Office-
Kevin looked up from his work at the computer and smiled at his host. "Thanks for lending me your office, Alan. As soon as they find me one of my own... I'll be out of your hair."
Alan brought his wheelchair to a stop before the desk. "No worries... I'm in no hurry to come back at the moment. We have a number of... family emergencies to deal with."
Nodding with understanding that only a fellow citizen of Port Charles would have, Kevin's expression darkened a bit. "Any word on Elizabeth?"
"She's... resting." Alan didn't have to say that he was worried, the look in his eyes spoke volumes. "I have to say that this is all a bittersweet moment for us." Sighing, he leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. "Another grandchild... a handsome boy... but the cost."
Kevin leaned forward on the desk, his eyes full of earnest belief. "Elizabeth will pull through, Alan. She's a strong young woman."
Alan's spirits rallied and he struggled to smile. "Yes... just like Emily, Elizabeth has such a strong spirit. She'll pull through..." he let his words, like his thoughts trail off between them. "What about you? What have you learned?"
"I had Audry's approval to search Elizabeth's records and I think I've found something that might explain... might shed some light on what they might have done to her mind."
-General Hospital NICU-
Spinelli stood watch at the window as Dr. Kade examined the vitals of Elizabeth's baby. Jason's baby. The little boy looked so lonely there in the NICU that Spinelli had forgone the camera observations and chosen to stand sentinel over him until his mother was awake and able to watch over her baby on her own.
Pressing his forehead to the glass and narrowing his eyes he was able to see the name on the tag.
Baby Boy Morgan