Chapter Eighteen

Standing at the foot of the bed, she smiled softly at seeing her two boys cuddled up together asleep. After they had arrived home from the hospital, Cam had refused to let Jake out of his sight. When Jake had rushed forward squealing Cam's name, her heart had broke for all the pain that her boys had suffered through in the past year. Bending down, she gently kissed each of their foreheads before silently leaving the room.

Emily hugged her as she exited the room. "I am so happy that he is home again, Elizabeth. How are you holding up?" she asked as she tugged her friend into the room that she was using.

Flopping on the bed and crossing her legs, Elizabeth leaned against the headboard in exhaustion. "Thrilled to have Jake home, worried about Johnny, and emotionally drained. The past couple weeks have been a big blur."

"It seems like it, doesn't it," Emily agreed. "I talked to Jason earlier before he left. It's great that you are going to let him get to know Jake."

Elizabeth arched her eyebrow. "I never denied him that chance, Em. While I did mess up in the beginning, I begged him to be a family with us later on. He chose to walk away. I am happy that he is taking full advantage of this second chance though."

"I know. I didn't mean it the way that it sounded." Emily paused and leaned back beside Elizabeth. "They said that Johnny will be ok. You must be so relieved."

"I am," she confirmed with a small smile. "I couldn't handle losing anyone else."

The two sat in silence as the clock ticked. Emily waited about ten minutes before glancing over at her friend and grinned. She had known that Elizabeth was exhausted and would pass out if she sat still for any amount of time. It looks like I was correct, she thought as she eased off the bed. Hearing a creak, she whipped around and saw Zander in the doorway.

Moving into the room, he gently picked the sleeping woman up and Emily hurriedly pulled the covers back so that he could lay her back down. After pulling the comforter over her, Zander nodded toward the door and they made their way to the stairs before either one spoke.

"She is running on fumes after the past couple days."

"Em, she has been on autopilot for months now. You could see the changes in her if you looked closely. If it wasn't for Cam, I think that she would have given up after they faked Jake's death."

Jerry looked up as they entered the kitchen. "Where is Elizabeth?"

"She finally passed out."

"Good. O'Brien was concerned after seeing her in the hospital, and I agree. She is pushing herself way too hard, especially after losing Francis. She needs a couple days to settle in with everything before anything else happens."

Zander glanced up. "Besides Sam, what else is there? Helena and the Spencers are taken care of."

"Exactly. A.J. moved Sam and hid her. I don't trust her not to escape. Johnny agrees that she is a major threat." Jerry rubbed his jaw and groaned. "Jax said that Carly is demanding to see Jake too. That woman definitely needs to stay away for awhile."

"Jason is worried about Sam too. He told me when I talked to him earlier that she will be completely out of control now if she can break away." Emily licked her lips. "He is torn though. He wants the baby."

Zander sneered but stayed quiet. His feelings about Jason Morgan were well known. Jerry only sighed. He could understand because he would want his child too, but his loyalties were with Elizabeth and her children's safety.

"When will Johnny be released?" Zander asked to change the topic and decrease the tension that was mounting in the room. "He will be ready to shot someone to get out of GH."

John laughed from where he was standing in the doorway. "He is being adamat about signing himself out tomorrow after the blood transfusion." Sliding into the seat by Emily, he leaned back in the chair and stretched his long legs out. "I talked to Taggart earlier. The case against Sam is solid. If they can find her before we do, she will be in jail for a really long time."

Snorting, Jerry shook his head. "Johnny will have her taken out while in there too. He is determined to clear the decks of anyone that is a threat to Elizabeth and the boys. Jason is the only one skating out of the entire mess and that is only because he helped bring Jake home."

"He is kind of ruthless now. I never realized it before."

"Em, why do you think that Lorenzo left him in charge of everything? It wasn't because he was such a nice guy. It was strictly based on Lorenzo knowing that O'Brien would do anything to protect Liz." John looked over at Jerry and saw that he was fiddling with his coffee mug. "You need to tell Jax to keep Carly away until both Liz and Jake have had time to adjust. I know that she has been decent at times, but with her, you just never know."

"I already did, but she is inventive at evading any boundaries that are set. Morgan will be here tomorrow to see Jake too."

"When are you guys telling Cam and Jason and Elizabeth telling Jake?"

John sighed and rubbed his temples. "We all decided to give the boys time to settle back in after being seperated all this time. Probably in the next couple weeks. Liz and I worried about Cam asking for Lucky, especially if Jake talks about what he went through."

"I'm still stunned that he would do all that he did," Emily confessed sadly. "He really wanted to hurt Elizabeth."

"After he lost the control that he had over her, he snapped, Em. He wasn't the same boy after the fire. You and Liz just had blinders on," John said while Zander nodded in agreement. "He thought of Liz as a possession and would do anything to gain control over her. After she refused to go back to the toxic relationship that they shared, his main objective was to hurt her."

Standing and placing his coffee mug in the sink, Jerry winked at the room. "I have a meeting that needs to take place. I will see everyone tomorrow." He disappeared out the door before anyone could quetion him.

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

Jason followed A.J. silently into the institute. The events of the past few weeks had finally caught up with and he was more tired than he had ever been. Knowing that Jake was back and that Sam had helped make it so that everyone thought he was dead, he knew that he had to see her before he could face Elizabeth and his son again. The fact that he had married this woman disgusted him.

"I'll wait here. Grandfather cleared it with the staff, so you shouldn't be disturbed, Jason." A.J. leaned against the wall and watched as his brother grimaced before opening the door to the visitation room.

Sam looked up and yelped in surprise before launching herself at him. "Oh, Jason! I knew that you would come! There was no way that you let them just lock me up here. Are we leaving now?" she asked as she sniffled against his chest.

Pushing her back, he studied her facial expression coldly. "No, you are not leaving here until my child is born. If it wasn't for the fact that you are pregnant, I would kill you myself, Sam."

"W-what are you talking about? I haven't done anything to warrant this attack. Your brother placed me in here, Jason!" she whined, trying to snuggled against him.

Shoving her back more forcible, he blanked his face and shook his head. "Jake is back home with Elizabeth and his brother, Sam. I went with Johnny and Nik to rescue him." When her eyes widened, he smiled maliciously. "That is right, my dear soon to be ex-wife. I know about you helping Helena and the damn Spencers. You should be glad that A.J. knows that I would do anything for a child, because the order was given for you to die, but he ignored it and brought you here."

"No! That brat should have never been born! Elizabeth stole that baby away from me! He is a mistake, Jason! I was only making it go away!"

Grabbing her chin, he growled in anger. "My son was never a mistake, Sam. I love Jake, just like I will love this baby that you are carrying. The DNA showed it was mine, by the way." He released her face and backed away because the need to hurt her was almost overwhelming. "You will stay here until you give birth. I want to make sure that the baby is not harmed by you."

"Then what?" she demanded as tears poured down her face. She could tell that the gig was up. Jason was completely cold except for the anger that was radiating from him. "You get raise my child with goody good two shoes? I don't think so! This is my baby!" she wailed. "I stayed with you and knew that you would rather be her. I deserve this child!"

"You deserve nothing!" he spat. "You deserve a bullet in the brain, is what you actually earned by all your betrayal. After this baby is born, you will die, Sam. It's only a toss up who gets to you first, me or Johnny."

Her eyes narrowed and she snorted. "I'll kill this baby, you bastard. I want out of here with a promise that you help me escape. Otherwise, you won't have this baby at all."

He laughed as he knocked on the door. When Kevin entered , he nodded. "You were right. She is threatening to end the pregnancy. Place her in the coma until she gives birth."

Sam screeched and tried to attack, but four orderlies entered and restrained her as Jason watched with a slight smirk. "Did you honestly think that I would let you use this pregnancy against me? I am done being your puppet boy, Sam."

Kevin moved around him and produced a needle as she started to fight again. Quickly giving her the sedative, he moved back as the drug started to take effect. "She will have an IV started before this wears off, Jason. As soon as the IV is done, I will place her in the coma. I really do think it is the best option. She has been threatening to harm the fetus since the day that she arrived."

Scowling at the woman that had fooled him, he watched as she slumped as the drugs started to work. He turned and shook Kevin's hand. "Thank you. I really appreciate you helping me protect the baby."

"Your welcome, Jason. I also heard that Jake is back with his Elizabeth. Please tell her that if she needs anything, even a shoulder to cry on, that she is welcome to call me anytime. I know with everything that has happened, she must be extremely overjoyed, but exhausted too."

"I will tell her. Thank you again." Jason nodded again before walking back to where A.J. was waiting.