ABC/DISNEY owns GH. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 11

"You look pretty mommy." Cameron said from his seat at the table.

"Thank you sweetie." Liz grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee. "Are you happy to be going to the zoo with Aunt Nadine?"

Cameron nodded as he ate more oatmeal. "How come you and daddy aren't going?"

"Daddy has to go see the doctor today." Liz smiled at Jake who was having cereal this morning. Nadine was helping him. Right now it was just them in the kitchen. The guys were probably going over security.

"Is that why you are dressed up?" Cameron wanted to know.

"I want to look nice." Liz told her oldest son. She wasn't really dressed up, just not in jeans or scrubs. Today she was wearing her grey dress pants, a longline belted floral tunic top, and her black mesh heels. It was a more polished look than she spotted on a typical day. But since during this visit she was Jason's nurse, and not his girlfriend a more professional appearance was needed.

"I hope you guys get good news today." Nadine told her friend.

"Me too. It's really starting to get to Jason that he isn't allowed to use his hands." Liz said getting up to fill a travel mug for her guy. "Patrick said things looked good, so what I really want to hear is that no follow up surgery is needed. Cody and Marco are going with us."

"I know. Chris went over everything with me when I came down this morning." Nadine wasn't going to stress over the guards. They would do their thing, while she focused on the boys. "Will Jake want to get out and walk much?" She asked bringing the bowl to the sink.

"I usually start the day with him out of the stroller. Cameron will hold Jake's hand. It's a good time for him to practice walking, and a great way to keep Cam from running ahead." Her oldest son was going to be excited. "Jake should be fine under his own power for most of the morning. When it gets close to his morning nap time he will start slowing down. Just put him in the stroller and let him sleep."

"I can handle that." Nadine loved the zoo and she was looking forward to seeing the animals as well. "How much junk food can I give them?" She asked with a grin. "I'm going to do it anyway, but I figure this way you'll feel like you set some parameters."

"You're as bad as Em." Liz said shaking her head. Her best friend never failed to buy the boys anything Cameron pointed to when out. "No cotton candy, they can have anything else they want. Jake will only eat vanilla ice cream."

"So noted." Nadine would follow that rule, but everything else was fair game. "The zoo opens at nine-thirty so we are going to be leaving the house about nine." She said looking at the clock.

"Okay." Liz screwed on the top of the mug and had just finished giving both her boys kisses when Jason walked into the kitchen. "We should head out." There would be paperwork to fill out before he was seen.

"Bye daddy. Good luck!" Cameron said from the table. He didn't know why you said that to people who were going to the doctor, but he heard his mom say it.

"Thanks buddy. Be good for your Aunt Nadine." Jason ran a hand over his son's curls. Last night they had sat at this table while Cameron practiced writing his new name.

"I will." The little boy tilted his head up.

Jason leaned over and kissed his forehead. Yesterday Elizabeth had to help him with this prompt. Jake got a kiss too. "Ready to head out?" He didn't want to go see another doctor.

"I'll take plenty of pictures today." Nadine told them.

"Thanks." Liz said before her small group walked out of the house. At the car Cody held her door open, and when they were in the backseat she buckled Jason in.

"Tell me about the doctor I'm going to be seeing." Jason looked over at his girl. He liked that top, it wasn't one he had ever seen her in before. He also liked the flash of silver in her ears. She didn't wear much jewelry but generally had something decorating her earlobes. Usually something Cameron picked out.

"Dr. Calliope Torres. She's arguably the best orthopedic surgeon in the country. She even pioneered a procedure to grow cartilage, which is mind blowing. Right now she is doing a clinical trial where she is using robotic limbs. In terms of doctors you couldn't ask for better." Elizabeth's respect for the doctor was clear to hear.

"Why do I need to see an orthopedic doctor anyway? Patrick is a neurosurgeon, can't he look at my nerves?" Jason was trying not to pout.

"Dr. Torres deals with nerves too, but she also knows how to treat the ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the body. She is the specialist who knows how, and why, your body moves the way it does. Patrick doesn't know how to make sure you get full function of those parts of your body back. Neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeon work together fairly often." Liz explained why this trip was necessary. "And before you ask, yes General Hospital has orthopedic surgeons on staff. None of them have ever dealt with your particular injury before. Dr. Torres has." She gave him a grin.

"Fine, I'll behave. You get to do the talking." Jason just didn't want to be here, his boys were going to the zoo. That would have been a much better use of the day.

"I will probably do most of the talking, but she will need you to answer some questions as well. The more cooperative you are the faster this will be over." Liz pointed out. Upfront the guys were snickering.

Jason didn't say anything.

They started out with scans. Pictures of Jason's wrists from all angles. Then Elizabeth was indeed given paperwork to fill out. She checked to make sure Jason's file had been sent from New York, and once that confirmation was received the paperwork was addressed.

"It's a good thing I know you so well." Liz said grinning. "I'm able to fill almost all this in without asking you a single question. Your surgical history is in the paperwork we sent over, so I can skip that part." Between all the times she nursed him back to health, and the information he gave her to complete Jake's paperwork for Kelly and Maggie, filling out this form was a snap.

"Jason Morgan." The nurse called out.

"Are the guys coming?" Liz wanted to know.

"They will wait out front." Jason answered as they walked into the back.

"On the scale please." The perky nurse requested.

"Why do I have to get on the scale?" Jason asked looking at Elizabeth. "What does how much I weigh have to do with anything?"

Liz just shook her head. She was going to kick his butt if he started being difficult. "Your weight is indicative of your overall health. You had major surgery not even seven days ago. If you've dropped a lot of weight or added a lot of weight then something might be wrong. Anesthesia can be hard on the body. Now kick off the boots, and get on the scale." She said arching a brow.

The nurse just smirked. "Okay." She said recording the data. "Blood pressure is next, unless you would like to do it." She asked Liz. Like recognized like. Whoever the woman with the patient was she was a nurse too.

Jason just took a seat and held out his arm.

"Normal." The nurse stuck a thermometer in his mouth and jotted down those numbers too. "Does his body temp always run high?" She asked Liz.

"Usually around 99 degrees." Liz replied as she nodded.

"That's fine then, follow me." She took them down the hall to an exam room. "Dr. Torres will be in, we were asked to keep the residents and Fellows away from Mr. Morgan. The post op pictures are on the light board if you want to have a peek, Callie won't mind." The nurse let Liz know.

"Thank you." Liz said happy that Patrick made that request. "You did a lot of damage." She said reviewing the scans.

"Don't feel guilty about that." Jason said walking over to where she was standing. He could see these images, but they still didn't make sense because he lacked the needed medical knowledge.

"Can't help it." Liz said looking up at him. "You were hurt, saving me. Sam died because you chose to save me over her."

"I'd make both choices again." Jason said without hesitation. He had seen the stunned look in Sam's eyes when she realized he had chosen Liz over her. The con artist died with the knowledge that Jason didn't love her anymore. "You are everything Elizabeth. The boys and I need you." Jason said rubbing his thumb over her cheek.

With a soft sigh she settled against him and let everything else go. "Get up on the table. Use the step stool." She instructed getting back into nurse mode, he would totally use his hands to push himself up.

"What do I get if I behave?" Jason wanted to know.

"Considering that you gave attitude to the nurse about getting on the scale, you are already on thin ice." Liz said arching that brow again.

He gave her a boyish grin. "It was a legitimate question. My weight doesn't have anything to do with my wrists." He said holding up his hands.

"No more attitude." Liz told him. "And when we get home we can get in the Jacuzzi."

"You back in your swimsuit is incentive." Jason smiled wider.

"We have a Jacuzzi tub in our room." She said with a sultry smile. "The suit won't be necessary."

Before Jason could answer there was a knock on the door. "Hello." Callie stepped into the room. "You must be Elizabeth." She held out her hand.

"I am. It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Torres. Patrick talks very highly of you." Liz said shaking the surgeon's hand.

"Please call me Callie. Patrick talks very highly of you as well. He also said this appointment would go much smoother if I talked mostly to you." Callie said grinning at Jason. "He didn't talk so highly about your attitude as a patient." Patrick had said that Jason was a good guy though.

Jason just huffed. Liz laughed outright. "Jason can indeed be a difficult patient. However he has agreed to behave during his recovery." She said looking over at him.

Jason just smirked.

Callie looked between the two of them. Patrick had mentioned that Liz was more than just Jason's nurse. They made an attractive couple. "Following my instructions will get you back to full use of your hands sooner rather than later, because I'm that good at what I do."

"You liked what you saw on the scans?" Liz asked the doctor.

"Come have a look." Callie typed on the computer and opened a file. This was give them the ability to zoom in on sections of the scans. "Patrick is an amazing surgeon. I'm better, but I wasn't there." She said laughing at her own joke. "More importantly he follows instructions well. He did everything I told him to. What?" Both Elizabeth and Jason were looking at her with odd expressions on their faces.

"Patrick only likes to listen to the sound of his own voice." Jason said with a healthy dose of sarcasm. "I didn't think he could follow instructions from another doctor."

"No comment?" Callie asked Elizabeth.

"You're a world class surgeon." Was how Liz chose to answer. "You also work at a teaching hospital."

"Which means I also like the sound of my own voice." Callie said smiling wide. "I have a nice voice. If you look here on the scans you can see that this is the area that was damaged." She pointed to where she wanted Elizabeth to review. "Patrick put in a series of stitches which the tendons will heal around."

"Which means what?" Jason wanted to know.

"The tendons will be stronger after they heal then they were before you hurt yourself." Callie told him. "The ligaments and muscles were strained, but none of them tore. Based on what I'm looking at, I will say two to four weeks of healing time. Patrick said you were really lucky to have not done more damage. Now I'd like to do the physical exam. Did you take any pain medication today?" That could affect the results.

"No." Jason said holding out his hands. He watched as Callie unwrapped the dressings.

"Let me know if anything hurts." She said gently moving her hands over the tendons and lightly pressing down. "Nothing?" She asked surprised. He should still be a little tender. "You did feel me touching you?"

"I felt it." Jason answered. "It didn't hurt."

"You aren't at all swollen." Callie said surprised. "While that is good, it is surprising."

"Jason tends to heal quickly." Elizabeth told the doctor because Jason wouldn't.

"Patrick put that in his notes." Callie said flexing Jason's left then right wrist and getting no reaction from her patient. "Okay I want you to touch the tip of each of your fingers of your right hand to the tip of your thumb as fast as you can when I say go." She got out her stop watch. "Go. Two seconds." The surgeon looked at Jason. "Are you pranking me?"

"What?" Jason didn't understand what she meant.

"Patrick has a really warped sense of humor. I never saw the face of the patient on the table. It wasn't you was it? My real patient is waiting in the reception area." Callie asked looking between Jason and Elizabeth. "There is no way you should have been able to do that exercise so fast without screaming in pain."

"I felt a twinge." He said shrugging. "No real pain."

"Jason also has a very high tolerance for pain." Elizabeth told the surgeon.

"Has he been tested for congenital analgesia?" Callie wanted to know.

"The inability to feel pain." Liz explained to Jason before turning to the surgeon. "Jason can feel pain, it just takes a lot to incapacitate him. Like say a bullet." Since he had been in the hospital for being shot, Liz could use that as an example.

"Now the left hand." Callie timed him again. "Three seconds. Another twinge?"

"Yeah, little sharper." Jason wanted this to be over.

"That makes sense the left wrist sustained more damage. How did you do this anyway?" Callie asked typing up her notes.

"He was saving me from a serial killer." Liz said looking at Jason.

"I've seen the stories on the news." Callie said nodding. "I'm sticking with two to four weeks of healing time. I'm going to write up a course of physical rehabilitation for you to follow once you are healed. Nothing too drastic, about a month tops. Probably less with the way you flew through the test in the office."

"What can I do now?" Jason wanted to know. He could wait to fire his guns again. "I have two little boys, can I pick them up?"

"I have a little girl myself. How old are your sons?" Callie asked grinning.

"Four and one." Jason smiled for the first time since arriving.

"Got any pictures?" Callie loved looking at kids.

"This is Cameron." Liz got out her phone. "And this is Jake."

"Adorable. How much do they weigh?" Callie needed to know.

"33 pounds and 19 pounds." Liz told the doctor.

"Nope, still too heavy. In about two weeks it should be fine. Check with Patrick." Callie told her patient.

"I showed you mine, so show me yours." Liz said laughing.

"Sophia." Callie proudly showed off her daughter. Having read Jason's file she knew he couldn't see the picture.

"She's beautiful." Liz said looking at the picture. "Her eyes are stunning."

"Thank you." Callie said smiling. "And that wraps everything up. I don't see any impediments to a full recovery. If you have any questions give me a call. If Patrick thinks you need to come back, which as of right now I don't think will be the case, make an appointment." The doctor said standing up. "Have you had a chance to see the city?"

"We've seen some." Liz replied.

"We will stay and see a little more." Jason didn't want to go back to Port Charles until Johnny and Shawn corralled Diego. "Any recommendations for a nice restaurant?" He wanted to celebrate his good news.

"The Herbfarm. Best restaurant in the city. When you call tell them I sent you." Callie shook Liz's hand again, and then shook Jason's. She noted his grip was firm and he wasn't trembling. The human body never failed to amaze her.

"Thank you." Jason said jumping down. "Ready to head out?"

"We need to stop out front and pick up a copy of the visit." Elizabeth took her first truly easy breath since this all started. Jason was going to be just fine.

Thanks for the reviews!