Chapter Twenty-Two

The waiting room was quiet as everyone sat without saying a word. The few people that had approached Johnny had been snarled at and immediately backed away. Resting his head in hands, he closed his eyes and prayed. When Elizabeth had not regained consciousness on the way to GH and Emily had refused to even say what had concerned her so much, he was ready to explode with impatience.

Seeing Patrick Drake walking toward him, Johnny stood and met him in the middle of the room. "How is she?"

Uncomfortable with the silence and having to tell the man standing before him the news, Patrick swallowed. "Elizabeth is awake. She gave me permission to update you all on her condition." Pausing when Emily stepped up beside Johnny with everyone moving closer, he took a deep breath.

Unable to contain his need to know any longer, Nik shoved his way forward. "Did she agree to the treatment?"

Confused and getting angry, Johnny turned and grabbed Nik's shirt, gripping it and dragging him forward. "You knew that something was wrong with her, Nik? Why in the hell would you not tell me?"

"It was her choice, O'Brien," Nik argued as he twisted away from the irrate man. "She had to be the one to tell you."

Knowing that Nik would not back down, he glared at Patrick. "Tell me what in the hell is going on with her. NOW!"

"Elizabeth was diagnosed with cervical and ovarian cancer about three weeks before you all started to show up back in town. She never started any treatment because of everything that was happening." Seeing that everyone was shocked, Patrick paused to give them a couple minutes.

Emily covered her mouth to muffle a sob as she leaned heavily on John as he looked just as shell shocked. "Where is Kelly? She needs to see Kelly."

"Kelly is in with her now, Emily. They are discussing some choices that need to be made. But Elizabeth knew that you all would be worried, so she sent me to talk to you. Kelly will let you know when you can see her. It will be soon."

Nik stepped back as they all turned and looked at him accusingly as Patrick walked away. The pain mixed with rage on Johnny's face was the most worrisome. "I'm sorry, O'Brien, but I respected her wishes. I only knew before you all started to come back because she needed someone that she trusted to make her POA if anything happened."

"Why would she not tell everyone and get treatment even after they all arrived?" Jason grounded out between clenched teeth.

Carly lifted her head from Jax's shoulder and sighed. "I know why. Liz has always kept everything bottled in. She hates to accept help or have others sympathy. I may have always accused her as weak and needy, but we all know that was just me spouting off at the mouth. Elizabeth is independent."

"Then she got caught up in all the drama going on and getting Jake back," Jerry concluded softly, understanding now what had happened. He lifted his eyes and met the dazed green eyes of Johnny. "There are options, O'Brien. But you need to talk with her. I am going back to the house to help Zander with the boys and to let him know what is happening."

John straightened, knowing that there was nothing he could do here to help. "I will go with you, Jerry. I am sure that the boys are going to be a handful until Lizabeth gets back." He looked over at Johnny. "Keep us updated."

"I will," he croaked, miserable at hearing that Elizabeth had held off getting any help for almost three months.

When Kelly Lee appeared twenty minutes later to get him, Johnny was the only person left in the lobby. He had sent everyone back to the house, knowing that she would hate all the attention and hovering. He followed the Asian doctor silently down the hall. "She is tired, Johnny, but doing good. I am letting her go home tonight as long as she comes back for a checkup in two days. I know that you have a lot of questions, but Liz needs to be the one that answers them. If you need to ask anything after she talks with you, I will be available."

Smiling as he entered the room, Elizabeth held out her hand. "Johnny, I am so sorry that I scared you."

Sitting beside her own the bed, he pulled her into his arms. "God, Liz, I was terrified when you went out on me." He brushed a kiss against her lips. "Why didn't you tell me? We promised no secrets."

Tears gathered in her eyes. "I know and I kept meaning to tell you, I did. But something was always going on. It's not an adequate excuse, but I was going to tell you. Everything just snowballed so quick."

"It doesn't matter now. Just tell me what we are going to do now. There is no way that I am losing you. The boys and I need you in our lives, baby girl."

Running a hand over his cheek as she gave him a small smile, she rested her head against his shoulder. "I am not going anywhere, Johnny. I have no intention to ever leaving my men."

"So what are we doing?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip. "Nothing for now."

His head shot up and he stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"The only thing left to do is a hysterectomy. The cancer is progressing slowly. I collapsed today because I was exhausted and have not been eating right. I know better." She brushed a her hand over his and joined their hands. "You know that I love you."

"And I love you," his deep voice cracked. "I don't understand though. I don't want this life if you are not in it. You need the surgery, sweetheart. Why wait?"

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

Emily sat staring out at the darkness, swinging gently on the porch while wrapped up in a large quilt that Jerry had brought out for her. Hearing the news that Elizabeth had been keeping quiet had devastated the entire group. Jason had spent time with Jake and Cam before taking off. And while he had not said anything, they all knew that he had left to take care of Sam once and for all. Zander had been unusually somber before calling Alexis and asking for a meeting, wanting to clear the air even if they would never have a true mother/son relationship. Jerry, Jax, and Carly were out picking up dinner and were going to stop in and tell A.J. while they were out.

John opened the door and shivered as the cold breeze engulfed him. Sitting beside her, he rested an arm behind her on the back of the swing. "They boys are down for the night. I made them grilled cheeses and fries."

"I'm sure that they loved that."

Turning his head to study her, he caught a lock of her hair in his fingers and twirled it. "She will beat it, Em. All we can do is stand beside her."

"And I will, you know that. But why would she not tell us any sooner?"

Sighing, he shifted uneasily. "I think that things just moved so quickly with everyone coming back from the dead that she couldn't really process it all. Then her and O'Brien started getting serious right when she found out about Lorenzo. Him and Francis died, hitting her like a wrecking ball. But I think that getting Jake back was the main thing that pushed it to the back of her list of priorities. She was just so overwhelmed with an array of emotions. We all knew that she was handling too much at once, we just had no idea the extent."

"She has to make it through this, John. The boys need her, and I just got my best friend back."

"I know, Em. Cam and Jake need her more than anyone."

Wincing at her going on, she paused. "Sorry. I know that you still love her."

He looked out at the trees that were dusted with snow. "I do love Lizabeth and I always will. She is the mother of my child. She raised Cam without me for seven years though. Elizabeth has moved on. And I accept that. I see how her eyes light up when O'Brien is around. As long as he treats her good and makes her happy, that is all that I want for her."

"But I thought..."

He looked over and sadly shook his head. "I was living in the past, Emily. We grew apart. I could see that after I stopped being so stubborn. Now your brother has to learn that lesson too."

Resting her head against his arm, she relaxed into his side. "Jason will be fine. Getting Jake back will help. He gets another chance to know his son, without that skank plotting to ruin it."

Still not thrilled with Morgan's actions in the past that helped create this mess, he kept his opinions to himself. Emily was already dealing with too much for him to make a sarcastic comment. Noticing the headlights of the SUV, he squeezed her hand as they saw Johnny pull up. Seeing Elizabeth in the passenger side, they exchanged confused looks before getting up to greet the couple.