Chapter 31

It had been nearly ten years since Elizabeth had sat in this very waiting room in a moment all too similar to this one.

Johnny, quiet at her side, one hand clenched tightly around hersis. His was breath heavily scented with liquor as he muttered constantly in an attempt to soothe her. She remained silent and still, barely feeling Johnny's hand on hers, his voice sounding far away.

Tonight was almost the same.

Except Johnny didn't talk, and she was the one rambling. Her hand was in his, both of them clinging together in hopes that he was alright. Sure, she was angry with Johnny and wanted to tell him to go to hell, but Jason was still very important to the both of them. They needed one another to get through the waiting, and they needed one another to believe it was okay. It was the only way they'd make it through.

They'd been at the hospital for twenty-six minutes and no one had told them a damn thing except that Jason was with the doctor. She hadn't seen either of his parents or a nurse that she knew well enough to pry information out of. In the eyes of the law, they weren't family so they had no right to know anything, but really, they were the only family he'd ever had.

"Johnny," she whispered, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. His hand tightened around hers in response. "He's going to be fine. I would know if he wasn't. I would know."

It was true.

When Jason Quartermaine had the accident, she felt so unsettled, like something was happening she couldn't control. The doctors came out and explained the situation with the coma and how he may or may not wake up, and she just knew. And it became worse as time went on, and the doctors said that if he did wake up, he may be different, and she just knew.

"I can't – I can't sit here," she said, pulling her hand from his as she moved to her feet. She shivered, still in her damp clothes, and ran her hands up and down her arms. "I can't wait to hear if he's – he's going to be fine."

He didn't nod or shake his head, just kept his head hung as he stared at the floor, his hands tightening around the arm of his chair.

"He will," she repeated, pacing back and forth in front of Johnnyhim, stopping every few seconds to look at himJohnny, but his stance never changed. "Johnny." He shifted slightly, not bothering to look up at her. "You can't keep sitting there like that. You have to do something. Johnny, damnmit! Will you at least look at me?"

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, his eyes never lifting to hers.

"Say something!" she cried, leaning over to shove him on the shoulder. She grew furious when he remained quiet, and she couldn't stop herself from hitting him hard in the shoulder. "Just fucking say something, Johnny!"

"Stop!" he growled, grabbing her by the wrist when she started to hit him again. He hurried to his feet and jerked her towards him so that she crashed into his chest, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her and cradled her against him. "Just stop." He glared at her as she bucked against him, finally giving up as she burst into tears.

"Stop," he repeated, resting his chin on the top of her head as she buried her face in his neck, failing to muffle her sobs.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there and let him hold her while she cried, but the by the time she finished, she was more exhausted than when she started. "Johnny," she whispered, rubbing her face against his shirt.

"It's okay," he murmured, smoothing his hand over the back of her head as he pulled her over to the chair and slowly pushed her down into a seat. He moved to his knees in front of her, one hand on herhis knee as he lifted the other to her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You okay?"

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "I'm sor-"

"Don't be," he said, squeezing her knee as he pushed himself up from the floor. "Stay here. Someone in this fucking hospital is telling me something." She nodded again. "I'll fix this, Elizabeth. It's my fault. I'll fix this."

She started to argue, to tell him that it was her fault, but he was gone before she had the chance. Sighing, she closed her eyes and sank down in her seat, resting her head on the back of her chair.

Johnny would fix this.

It was what he'd always done and this time wouldn't be any different. While he made lots of mistakes and did so much he couldn't take back, he always found a way to fix it. And if she forgot about the kiss, Jason seeing them, and the whole situation that led them here – she almost believed he could.

She wiped her hands over her face and pushed herself to her feet, refusing to sit around and not doing anything. Even pacing the length of the hospital beat sitting in a chair. She rounded the corner from the waiting area, too distracted to think about a destination, let alone focus on what was right in front of her, which she realized only after barreling into someone.

"Shit," she hissed, shoving her curls from her face. "I'm so sorry I wasn't – Lulu!" Her eyes welled up with tears when she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Elizabeth, you poor thing," she sighed, stepping forward to gently wrap her arms around her. "I can't imagine how you feel right now – you and Johnny both."

She stiffened at the mention of Lulu's ex-fiancé, knowing that sooner or later she was going to learn the truth about how they ended up here. "Lulu…" She pulled herself away, shaking her head as if to apologize for hugging her.

"It's okay. I know you're upset," she said sincerely, reaching to grab Elizabeth's arm.

"What – what are you doing here?" she asked, suddenly confused as to why the woman who'd broken the engagement with Johnny was here now.

"I – uh – I had some things at the hotel I needed to pick up. I took the later flight that John – John and I already had scheduled," she stammered, shoving her straight blonde hair from her face. "I felt so guilty about what happened and all the work you've done, so I thought…I knew that I owed it to you to come and explain. I was knocking on your door when Ritchie got off the elevator, and he told me what happened, so I came straight over." She held up the bag in her hand. "Ritchie asked me to give these to you."

"Thanks," she murmured, taking the dry clothes that he'd insisted on going to get for her. She hung her head, rolling her neck from side to side as she tried to wrap her head around this.

Everything tonight had happened so fast.

"Have you seen him yet?" she asked worriedly, chewing her lip as she shook her head at Elizabeth.

"No. We don't know anything. Jo – Johnny went off to find something out…" She felt guilty even mentioning the man's name. How was she going to explain the kiss?

"The flight was delayed some because of the storm, and it was still a mess when we landed," Lulu said, clucking her tongue in disbelief. "I can't believe Jason drove in this weather. It just seems like he would avoid – I'm sorry. I shouldn't-"

"It's okay," Elizabeth cut in, forcing a smile at her. "He usually doesn't." She rocked back and forth on her feet, sucking in a breath when she caught Lulu's eyes. "Jason and I had a fight. He was really upset and angry when he left and…"

"Oh, honey, this isn't your fault," she murmured, sliding an arm around her shoulder. "You didn't do this. Sometimes things happen and we can't change-"

"You don't understand," she interrupted, looking away from her. "There's more to it. Jason – he saw-"

"Elizabeth."

Her head snapped in the direction of Johnny's voice, and he quickly shook his head as he frowned, and she knew he wanted to tell Lulu. It may not sound any better coming from Johnny, but it was his place to explain to her just as it was Elizabeth's to explain to Jason.

Lulu sucked in a breath beside her, her hand tightening around Elizabeth's shoulder. "Hi," she managed weakly, nervously lifting her eyes to Johnny's. "Did you find out-"

"He's in room 1201," he interrupted, shifting his eyes briefly to Elizabeth. "I thought you might want to see him first. And I don't know if he's awa-"

"That's all I need," she said, pulling away from Lulu and hurrying past Johnny towards the elevators.

She glanced over her shoulders as she waited on the doors to open, her heart fluttering when she saw Lulu in Johnny's arms, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was hope for them yet.

There had to be.

And if they were okay, then maybe…

Jason could still remember how bright the fluorescent ceiling lights were when he'd woken up from his first accident. It was like he'd stared straight into the sun for far too long, and he could feel the heat from the bulbs at the back of his eyes. He wasn't sure how long it'd taken for everything to come into focus, most of the room clouded in a soft, yellow haze, nothing come in as clear as the face of the porcelain- faced brunette at his beside.

He knew nothing at the time, but one look at her showed him everything; beauty, a shade of blue, a first smile followed by first heartache, how a tear fell, how to use happiness to cover up sadness, and what it meant to be something to someone.

It still amazed him that Elizabeth loved Jason Quartermaine enough to sit at his bedside for months, only to accept the fact that he wasn't him. And he supposed that was how he learned what love really was.

No other woman had ever touched him the way that Elizabeth did, and he assumed that was why they were never anything more to him than someone to take to bed. It didn't mean he respected them any less, but he just didn't look at them the same way he did her. She'd always been special, but he'd really only let himself admit it recently.

Waking up this time had been different. He felt less exhausted and pained, but the lights were just as bright, and there was no Elizabeth.

Groaning, he lifted a hand to his face, grimacing when he saw the IV stuck in his hand and tried to recall exactly what happened. He could remember the slick road and his foot on the gas, but then everything was blank.

He lifted his head to rub his hand over the back of his neck, his other searching around beside himon the bed for the remote to the bed. When he found it, he hit the button to raise the top half, having memorized it long ago. He'd spent entirely too much time in the hospital.

He rubbed his hand over his eyes before noticing the shadow in the doorway, and even when he focused it took him a second to realize it was Elizabeth. Her hands were braced against the door, her lips pulled into a light-lipped frown, the rims of her eyes filled with tears.

Scratching a hand over his eyebrow, he licked his dry lips as he held out his hand. "Hey."

"Jason?" she asked weakly, slowly entering the room. "You know – you know who I am?"

His heart clenched in his chest, hating that she'd been waiting for him to wake up to see if he knew who she was. "Of course," he whispered, giving her a nervous smile. "How could I forget?"

Her lips started to curl into a grin, but she stopped. "That's not funny."

"You're mad," he murmured, his hand still outstretched and waiting for hers.

"You're stupid," she replied, stepping up beside the bed and ignoring his hand.

"I'm stupid?" he asked, leaning back against his pillows. He should have known she wasn't going to make this easy, but that was one of his favorite things about her.

"It was bad enough you were upset and driving in the middle of an awful storm, but to take the cliff road, Jason?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. She retreated to being angry instead of showing how scared she was. "Do you have a death wish?"

"I was upset," he answered, clearing his throat. "And no, I don't have a death wish."

"Then why would do you something so stupid?" she asked, finally sietting down on the edge of the bed.

"Probably for the same reason you'd kiss Johnny," he replied, picking at his IV.

"Jason," she sighed, chewing her lip intently. "I – I don't have a good excuse. It just happened, and I know you think that things like that don't happen, but I would never – I don't want him. He just kissed me, and for a moment I was caught up in it, as dumb as that sounds, but then I realized…I realized that he's not you."

He closed his eyes at her words, torn between telling her to stay and telling her to go.

"I know you probably don't believe me after everything I've done since Johnny got back, but it's true. Things have happened so fast between us but that doesn't mean I feel any less for you. I want you and only you, and I'm so sorry."

He nodded, sucking in a breath when her hand slipped into his. He didn't doubt the sincerity of her words or her apology, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"It will never happen again. Not with Johnny or anyone else." Leaning forward, he lifted a hand to her face, gently forcing her to look at him. She tried to look away, but he didn't let her. When her lower lip started to quiver, he smoothed his thumb across it as if to stop her. "I'm sorry. About Johnny. And your acci-"

"This wasn't your fault," he interrupted softly, cupping her cheek. "I drove too fast."

"You always drive too fast."

"I do," he agreed, stroking her cheek. "You were scared. I'm sorry for that."

"No, I'm fi-"

"Scared," he interrupted firmly, not wanting her to lie about how she felt.

"Okay," she admitted, leaning into his touch. "I was, and you were too – when you saw Johnny and me together."

"I was," he replied, letting out a heavy sigh, not used to such admissions. "I thought you wanted him and that I was…just a way to get to him."

Her eyes softened to a shade of blue that he knew so well. "You weren't," she said, scooting closer to him. "You're everything to me. You always have been, even before this. And tonight, I thought you'd wake up and wouldn't know – I thought I was going to lose you again."

"Hey, it's okay," he murmured, stifling a groan as he stretched to pull her against him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I thought you'd forget again," she whispered, fisting her hands in his hospital gown as she curled against him. "I wanted to believe you wouldn't, but there was that chance that you would, and I…"

"It's okay," he repeated, smoothing his hand up and down her back until she relaxed against him. "Look at me, Elizabeth." She nodded, wiping her cheek against his gown as she pulled back to look at him. "I don't think you realize it, Webber."

"Realize what?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

His lips stretched into a crooked grin as he tipped his head forward to press his lips to hers. "How unforgettable you really are."