Chapter Twelve

Jerking away from him, Elizabeth eyed him carefully. She could tell by his eyes that he was telling the truth, and he had never lied to her. "Why? Why would you all keep this from me?" she whispered brokenly.

Taking a step toward her, Johnny stopped when she backed up and stumbled against the chair. "I wanted to tell you, Liz, but it wasn't my decision to make. Lorenzo asked us to keep it a secret. Then after seeing you deal with everything that is going on, I knew that you could handle it."

"I deserved to know before now! You had no right to withhold something so important, none of you did!" she screamed at him, anger coursing through her.

Shoving away from where he was leaning on the desk, he started to pace. "Don't you think that I have fought with myself and him over this! I know that you always felt unwanted growing up. To know that he did want you, that Lorenzo has been keeping you safe, I thought it would be great for you to learn that. But it wasn't my secret, Elizabeth. It was his. When I went to work with him after almost dying, I made a promise to not tell you. I broke that tonight, for you. I knew that you would need to see him."

"Was sleeping with the boss's daughter part of the job description, Johnny?" she spat at him.

He crossed the room in two strides and grabbed her arm gently but secure enough that she could not twist away from him. "Don't you even think that! I have loved you since I held your hand while you were in labor with Cameron! I have always wanted to be with you, to have a family with you." Cupping her face and making her look at him, he wiped a tear from her cheek. "You are beautiful, kind, compassionate, wild, and everything that I dream of. Alcazar has nothing to do with what I feel, Lizzie."

Burying her head into his chest and sobbing, she nodded. "I know. I am sorry I said that. But you kept a huge secret, Johnny."

Sighing, he hated to hurt her, but knew he had to get through to her. "Just like you did about Jake being Jason's. It was done to protect him, just like Lorenzo wanted to you safe. And when he found you, you were already close friends Jason, his enemy. He didn't want to upset you and put you in the middle of the war that was raging. You could have been used by each organization against the another one."

"I need to see him. I have to," she pleaded with him.

Johnny looked her over and saw the determination in her face. "Ok, but he is in really bad shape. The specialist that was brought in isn't hopeful that he will wake up."

"Can we take your bike?"

He looked into her eyes and knew that she was breaking. He also knew that riding on a bike was a way that she calmed herself and that it helped pull her back from the edge. Kissing her softly he knew he was going to be riding the motorcycle in the freezing cold. "Sure. Go get dressed in warmer clothes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth paused outside the hospital room where two guards that she had never met were standing, but as they nodded at Johnny and her she knew that they were there at orders from Johnny. "Any problems?" he questioned.

"No, Sir. Jerry and Jax are in with Mr. Alcazar but he has not regained consciousness. The doctor is not hopeful."

"Thank, Raoul. I have two men that will be arriving to relieve you in about three hours. While Miss Webber is in there no one except the specialist that we flew in is to enter. No nurses or other staff. Understand?"

The two men looked at her in surprise but nodded, immediately lowering their gaze as Johnny shot them a look from behind her.

Entering the large private room, Elizabeth saw Jerry and Jax look up in surprise and then sympathy cross Jax's features. Both men stood and backed out of the room to give them privacy after nodding at them. Looking at the man lying in the bed attached to the respirator, Elizabeth felt her hopes die.

She had been a nurse long enough to read the machines and know that the vitals and EEG readings were not promising. Turning stricken eyes to Johnny, he squeezed her hand in support. "Can I have a few minutes alone?"

"I will be right outside, Liz. Try to stay calm, baby." Kissing her lightly, he backed out of the room.

Sitting on the chair and pulling it close to the bedside, Elizabeth clasped his motionless hand. "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered as tears ran from her eyes. "I wouldn't have cared who or what you were. I would have given you a chance. I want to be so mad at you but I do understand your thinking, after all I was going to do a similar thing with my son." Choking back a sob, she felt her heart breaking. "Thank you so much for loving me, even if I didn't know it until now. And I can never express how grateful I am that you brought Johnny back to me. I needed him." Unable to contain her emotions, Elizabeth collapsed against the bed. "Thank you for protecting me all this time. I wish that I could have known about you before this."

As the machines started to alarm, Elizabeth jerked her head up. "No, not yet! Please!" she begged as Johnny, Jax, Jerry, and several medical personnel entered the room.

Picking a sobbing Elizabeth up out of the chair, Johnny held her against him as the doctor looked up and shook his head. "I am sorry. Mr. Alcazar had a DNR order. I am sorry for your loss."

"Lizbits, baby, I am so sorry." As she clung to him and trembled, Johnny placed a arm under her knees and picked her up, carrying her out of the room.

Jerry looked back at the man who had saved him more than once and sighed. "He should have told her sooner."

Nodding, Jax looked at the door that Johnny had just carried Elizabeth out of. "I agree, but it was not our place to make his decisions, Jerry. I am happy that O'Brien finally broke down and admitted it to her though." He sighed heavily. "So what will happen now?"

"Now, Johnny O'Brien inherits everything. All the power but also all the danger that caused Lorenzo to disappear. I only hope that he can do what needs to be done."

Jax smiled at that. "Haven't you watched him with her, Jerry? He will take care of Elizabeth. He knows that the danger is out there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason entered through the patio doors and silently made his way into the den where Monica was pacing back and forth. "What were you thinking today?" he demanded harshly, startling her enough that she jumped. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Jason! What are you talking about? I only told that bitch the truth."

"No, you attacked her for something that is my fault. I am the one that chose not to tell you about Jake. I could have claimed him and told the world, but I didn't. I could have come and told you while you were in rehab, but again, I did not. Why don't you hate me?"

"No, no, Jason. She corrupted you. She made you do all these horrible things. Then Elizabeth cost me my career. She is costing this family everything! Emily and A.J. have already taken her side. She is probably sleeping with your brother too, the nasty whore!"

Taking a deep breath to keep from strangling her, Jason eyed Monica closely. "No, you destroyed your career, not Elizabeth. There was a reason that I ran from the Quartermaine family when I woke up after my accident and you are hammering that reason home. You haven't learned a thing during all these years. Was it just an act that you wanted to know me, the real me? Because if you have learned anything about me, it should be that I make my own choices. Yes, I mess up, but those are my mistakes, no one else. You have alienated everyone that was close to you, Monica." When she shook her head violently, he only sighed heavily. "I can't tolerate who you are becoming. I honestly wonder if you are on drugs or drinking again. You won't take responsibility for your own actions, just like what you always hated Carly for. Well, guess what, you are acting just like her right now. It has to stop. Now!

"I hurt Elizabeth way more than she could ever have hurt me. I married Sam knowing all the things that she had done to Elizabeth and the boys. I refused to raise Jake but was going to have a child with Sam. I repetitively stomped on her heart over and over and never even realized it until it was too late. She hates me, Monica, and I can say with honesty, that I hate myself too. I understand that you are hurt, but this has to stop. If you keep up the attacks and hatred, I WILL disown you again. One more chance, Monica. Use it wisely because it is the only one that you will get," he warned her.

"NO! I will not forgive her! You are my child, the boy that I raised. She is responsible for all of this. Elizabeth took you and broke you! I hate her! I wish that she was dead! She has ruined this family! If she hadn't seduced you in the first place, none of this would have ever happened! I am glad that Sam made her life miserable, Jason. You are blinded by Elizabeth, but I see the truth!"

Worried about her unfounded hatred of Elizabeth and the way she was talking, Jason only shook his head as he left the study. Walking into Edward's home office he sighed heavily as he flipped him the digital recorder. "You need to have her committed. She needs severe help before she hurts Elizabeth."

The older man nodded gravely. "I called Roselawn when she started yelling and I could hear what she was saying. The orderlies should be here within an hour." Edward stopped and sighed. "I am sorry about Jake, Jason. I am also sorry that you have lost everything by taking that con artist back."

Seeing the sincerity, Jason bit back the nasty retort. "I have lost everything. You are right about that. She will never forgive me."

"Honestly, she would be a fool too, son. Even Lila would have a hard time forgiving you. And by the way that your old guard was with her in the court room today, I doubt you will ever get a chance to get her back even if she did forgive you in time."

"He is blocking all attempts for me to talk to her," he snarled.

Edward nodded. "So would you if the situations were reversed. You protect the ones that you love, Jason, and he is protecting her from anymore pain. Why are you so angry? You moved on with Sam. Why shouldn't she be able to move on?"

"Because I love her!" Jason exploded.

"No, son, I don't think you do. You just don't want anyone else with her. Kind of reminds me of how Lucky Spencer acted about her."

Jason glared at his grandfather and stormed out of the house before he exploded. They were all wrong, about everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny had finally gotten Elizabeth asleep and was watching her. He was worried about all the pressure that she had been under. He knew that telling her about Lorenzo was the right thing to do. He refused to keep secrets from her. She had had too many in her life, and most had hurt her. But he was still worried that she was dealing with too much at once.

A soft knock on the door caught his attention and he looked up as Emily peeked in. "Hey," she said softly, looking at Elizabeth with concern. "Francis and Nik just got back. They are adamant that you join them downstairs."

Sighing, he stood. "Can you stay with her, Em? I don't want her alone if she wakes up."

"Of course. Go on, I will be right here."

Walking into the kitchen, Johnny glared at Nik, Francis, and Zander. "This had better be important. She is not handling things well right now."

"It is," Francis said. "I have been looking into Lucky's trips out of town since it is so out of character for him to let Liz go more than a week or so before reminding her of how he saved her and that she owed him. Anyway, we found some proof that he had been in contact with Helena."

"So, we knew that he was up to something. We just could never piece it together."

"Let us explain, O'Brien. After she cries a jag like that Elizabeth sleeps all night," Nik told him, frustrated at the interruption. "Anyway, I made contact with some of my men in Greece and had them track Helena to Ireland. She is staying in Shioban's old place. Not exactly my grandmother's type of place," the prince added dryly.

"After Francis sent me to take care of Lucky, I left quickly, not wanting to get caught. I should have looked around. For that I am sorry," Zander said, looking ill at ease.

"You did the job that you was given. You did fine," Johnny argued. "We couldn't break our cover at that time."

"But I missed something huge," Zander protested. "I missed Helena being there. Nik's men finally caught sight of her this morning."

"So? We all know that the old bat is a threat. She will be taken care of if she comes anywhere near Port Charles."

Francis shook his head. "We are going after her now. She was working with Lucky to ruin Liz."

"Jesus!" Johnny snapped. "Get to the point, Francis. This is the longest winding report you have ever given. What is it?"

"She has Jake. He is alive and with Helena in Ireland." Stunned silence greeted Nik's blunt outburst.