"I thought you might need this." Jax said handing Alexis a cup of coffee. She continued to sit at her daughter's bedside silently praying for her recovery. He wrapped his arms around her hoping to provide comfort.
"Where are the kids?" She asked him.
"I brought Britni over her grandmother's place and the others are out with Dante; which gave me the opportunity to spend some time with you."
"Robin is working on the antidote now." Alexis explained hanging onto the hope that came with discovery of the toxin.
"That's wonderful." Jax encouraged. "She's strong, Alexis, she'll hang on."
"Just keep telling me that." Alexis requested.
"As often as you would like." He replied kissing the top of her head.
"How is Kristina holding up? I could tell she was upset and wanted…"
"She's okay; I think Damon coming by really helped, well that and…"
"And what?" Alexis asked noticing his voice trail off.
"And nothing; right now this is where your focus needs to be." Jax assured her.
"There's not a whole lot I can do for Sam besides sit here; if you have information that has the potential of distracting me then spill."
"Okay… Carly and Jerry survived the ship wreck."
"What?" Alexis reacted. "How? When? Where?..."
"All very appropriate questions; do you recall that phone call I got while we were at the prosecutor's office?"
"Vaguely; that was Carly?"
"Jerry." He answered. "Jerry wanted me to cover for him again."
"I don't understand why you kept it a secret; Jax, you didn't do it, did you?"
"What? Cover for him? No, of course not. My so called brother allowed Carly's entire family to believe she was dead. He capitalized on a head injury that cost her memory and prevented her from getting the medical attention she needed."
"Have you spoken with Carly?" Alexis asked confused.
"What are you talking about?" Lucky questioned overhearing Alexis' question. "Jax, why would Alexis ask if you've…?"
"No; I haven't. She's been in critical condition in a hospital in Tasmania, Australia. Patrick went to operate, and Jason has been with her. According to Michael despite complications with surgery she is stable but unresponsive."
Lucky sat for a moment in shock before replying. "Who knows?"
"I accidently let it slip it to the kids last night. The only other person I have told is Olivia." Jax answered.
"So Aunt Bobbie doesn't..?"
"No." Jax shook his head. "I didn't want anyone knowing without being sure that she was going to make it back home. Of course Morgan has pointed out that I was preventing him from praying for her recovery, and Kristina has taken it as proof that miracles can happen. So in retrospect all I was doing was making the situation worse."
"That's only if miracles can happen and she does survive." Lucky responded as he sat on the open chair next to his girlfriend sounding not so convinced.
XXXXXX
"Stella, hi." Johnny greeted her a bit un-expectantly as he brought in the order. "I didn't know you…"
"There's plenty." Sonny assured her. It was Claudia's idea to bring her in on the celebration and it worked out that she had the evening off from work. Ric brought the order into the kitchen to plate the meal.
"I don't mean to impose." Stella immediately replied.
"You're not imposing; this wouldn't be a celebration without you." Claudia declared before turning to her brother. "And what took you so long at the MetroCourt?"
"The order wasn't quite ready when I got there so I had a drink." He explained.
Claudia looked at him perplexed and worried. He seemed confident that he had no qualms in taking his father's life, but she wondered if there was anything buried. "In a fifteen minute wait, you went to the bar to have a drink? Are you sure everything is okay?"
Johnny snickered as he realized what she was imagining. "Well, I wasn't exactly by myself."
"Are you and Olivia ironing things out?" Sonny prodded.
"No; the last time I talked to her it was apparent that whatever was between us is over." Johnny replied somberly. Claudia fought to not make a face in reaction. "Actually, it was Caitlyn who sent her congratulations, and she was asking me how you and Ali were doing?"
"Ali is doing great; of course I can't keep up with her on the walks anymore." Stella smirked. "I honestly can't think of a way to thank her for bringing her in and taking such good care of her."
"Maybe I can." Claudia replied as she internally plotted.
"Claudia, no! Whatever you are thinking, stop now." Johnny begged.
"I don't know what you are talking about." She replied as innocently as she could. "You make it sound like I have control over anything; I'm stuck here, remember?"
"Yeah; that's what I'm worried about. You stuck here with your plots keeping you company as your husband is single-handedly running the company from the office because obviously he can't do it from cop central going on out here."
"If you would take your rightful place then my husband wouldn't have to do it single-handedly." Claudia rebutted.
"This conversation needs to stop right now." Ric interrupted. "If we lead the cops to believe any illegal activity is going on under this roof than the deal is off and Claudia and her child are going to sing-sing."
"Let's get some food." Sonny directed them to the dinning room.
"Have you been able to see Joey much?" Claudia asked Stella as they took their seats.
"Not much; there are only so many excuses he can use to see the nurse."
"How's the wound healing?" Sonny questioned.
"A little too nicely." She kidded. "He's doing okay. So far there hasn't been any resistance since the passing of Zacchara."
"I bet you're regretting not eloping when you had the chance." Johnny teased her.
"Possibly; a little." Stella smirked.
XXXXXX
"How was work?" Laura asked her daughter as she rubbed Lulu's back after finding her in her bedroom crying.
"I can't do it; everything reminds me of her." She cried. Just being in the hotel made her miss Carly, and then there were the models and advertisers making crazy demands that she could care less about. "Maxie is trying to be understanding, but she had to take the phone away about six times."
"Maxie knows what it's like to lose someone so close." Laura reminded her.
"I know." Lulu replied as she started to calm down and then went to grab something from her purse. "Ah, shit." She reacted as she dumped the last pill into her palm.
"Lulu, how many of these are you taking?" Laura questioned as she checked the dosage.
"Every couple of hours, like it says." She replied.
"This prescription was supposed to last through Friday." Her mother showed her, meaning she was about two days off.
"I may have had a couple extra here and there." Lulu replied. Since receiving permission from Lainey the night of the memorial Lulu had snuck in a few extras when feeling overwhelmed.
"I know how much she meant to you, but I'm not going to lie and say I'm not worried. Addiction runs deep in this family…"
"I'm not addicted." Lulu assured her. "It just helped take the edge off, but I swear, no more. I'm done."
Laura nodded her head in agreement. "I think that's a good idea. Just let me know if there's anything I can do."
"Okay; I'm okay. Isn't our turn to watch the boys tonight?"
"Yes; Liz is pulling a double. I need to pick them up from daycare."
"I can do that." Lulu volunteered.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. It'll give me the chance to see Matt, and I haven't visited Lucky or Sam since she got back into town."
"Sam isn't doing very well right now." Laura warned her.
Lulu nodded. "Which just means Lucky could use the support that much more."
XXXXXX
"Michael, checking your phone every couple of seconds isn't going to make it ring." Dante reminded him. They were seated at the booth as Kristina and Molly played in the maze and Morgan got caught up on a game at Chuck-e-Cheese. Dante was hoping the atmosphere would distract all of them.
"Do you know what's sad? I'm trying to hear her voice in my head and I can't. It's only been two weeks since I last heard it, and I can't…"
"Jason said that as soon as she's able he'll have her call."
"What if…"
"Don't. There is no 'if' there's 'when'. When she is able, until then you and I need to make sure that they are taken care of." Dante pointed at their siblings.
"Jason didn't say what happened to Jerry." Michael pointed out.
"Rest assured Jerry's not an issue anymore." Dante replied. There wasn't much he could be certain of, but that he knew without question.
"I still can't believe Jax gave him up even knowing that doing so was leaving an opening for Claudia's release." Michael commented.
"I think the point was to avoid making the same mistake twice. Ric was right; Jerry was the bigger threat and we all knew that. We just didn't want to believe it. Did you know the hearing was today?"
"Dad mentioned that." Michael nodded. "Have you heard how it went?"
"Claudia has a year in house arrest." Dante replied.
"Mom is not going to like that." He shook his head.
"Something tells me you should approach that subject delicately with her."
"Oh no; I'm not going to be the one that tells her. We can leave that to dad, or Jax. Yeah Jax, Jax can do that!"
"Jax can do what?" Kristina asked once her knees were thoroughly bruised from the plastic tunnels. Molly was still playing away in the ball pit.
"Tell mom that Claudia is living under dad's roof with a one year sentence."
"Oh no; I… I think that falls under Jason's jurisdiction. If anyone can keep her calm it's him. Or maybe there's just enough amnesia that Carly doesn't remember who Claudia is or what she did…"
"You're hoping my mother has amnesia?" Michael questioned.
"Not so much that she doesn't remember her kids, but enough that she does attempt murder or… you have to think the risk of another stroke is pretty high."
Dante snickered. "Who is going to tell Jason?"
Kristina and Michael both looked to each other and unanimously replied. "Jax!"
XXXXXX
"Carly." Jason prodded again as he thought he saw her eyelids compress. He raked his hand through her hair. "Baby, come back to me."
She looked up. "You're crying." She replied reaching her arm up to wipe a tear with her finger. Smiling, he took her hand and clutched onto it.
"I missed you; do you know who I am?" He asked as he attempted to press gently the extent of her memory.
"Yeah; I know." Carly assured him.
"What all do you remember?"
"It's fuzzy." She replied. She attempted to un-jumble what she could recall from before she was taken, the things Jerry had told her, and the alternate future BJ had shown her in her unconscious. All the memories coming in at once were making her head spin. "Jerry said something about us being mar…" She recalled as her left hand came up to press against her temple. "Oh God!" She reacted seeing the diamond.
"No; no, no, no." Jason assured her. "That's not what you think."
"Okay, then…?" She questioned him; her unwavering trust in him calmed her instantly.
"This isn't how I wanted to do this." Jason told her with a slight grin. "Carly, I love you, and I don't want another second to go by without you knowing how much I need you by my side."
"Yes!"
"I haven't gotten the question out." He reminded her.
"And yet you've already put the ring on my finger." She rebutted.
"Caroline Leigh, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Jason finished.
After almost twenty years of waiting for Jason Morgan to utter those words Carly was rendered incapable of anything besides a head nod. Once she did Jason bent over to kiss her; the elevation in the cardiac rhythm caused the monitors to go off and staff to come running.
Patrick was the first through the doorway, and as he saw Carly and Jason both smiling he informed the rest of the staff that all was well. Letting out a sigh of relief Patrick responded. "I hoped that I'd see those baby blues before I took off. How are you feeling?"
"On top of the world." She grinned and showed him the ring.
"And somehow I don't think that's the morphine talking." Patrick teased. "Your doctor will be coming in just a moment, but congratulations both of you."
"You're not staying?" Jason asked him.
Patrick shook his head. "It looks like my work here is done, and I have a little girl at home missing her daddy."
"The kids…" Carly replied. "How much do they know?"
"Actually, they know more than most." Jason replied. "Experts were certain that the ship wreck killed you, Carly, there was a memorial. Your mom…"
"My mom thinks I'm dead?"
Jason nodded.
"I have to call her."
"I think that's a good idea." Jason replied. "But I told Michael that he'd be first."
