A/N – Thanks for all the comments! I'm glad I was able to surprise you. It gets harder to create new twists the more fiction you write. * trini12180 – Aw thanks! * Guest – lol re: you missing a chapter * kcke2pen, TwistedMusalih, maryrose59 – Thanks! * bajangirlz – What a nice compliment. Thank you! * Kikimoo – The "relationship" between Sonny and Liz will be complicated. * KLJLizfan – The danger issues was discussed in last chapter no need to rehash them. * lrobinson01 – Carly's world is blowing apart so yeah, she's in salvage mode but it's not working. * Virgy15 – The family situations will be very complicated.

Chapter 13 - Aftershocks

Elizabeth was still frozen to her spot. She couldn't believe that these people would do this. It just didn't compute.

"I'll ride with him to the hospital." Monica said.

"No, you won't." Liz said finally finding her voice. "You are not going anywhere near him. You have hurt him so deeply and there is absolutely no excuse for what you did." She said pushing through them. She dropped to her knees and moved his hair off his face. "Jason, I need you to wake up. I won't let them hurt you. Please Jason…" She pleaded.

The paramedics rushed into the room and they got Jason on a gurney. Liz told them she was going with him and they rushed out. OB jumped into the SUV to follow them as the rest of the family stood in the driveway.

"What have we done?" Monica asked emotionally.

Alan slipped his arm around her.

Edward wiped away a tear. He had thought they had done the right thing. After watching Lila get shot and almost bleed out, they had all quickly decided after she was stable that they would fake her death. The reason they didn't clue Jason in was because of Sonny. His grandson's loyalty always was with Sonny. After what he had done, they felt it was for the best to keep it quiet. But if he had known that Jason had tried to end his life, he would have come to him. His grandson had never tried to approach them and he had yelled at him just to make sure. And now, he realized that was an unforgiveable mistake.

He turned, hearing Lila's sobs. "Lila, please calm down." He said trying to sooth her. But she couldn't because she was too overwhelmed thinking about Jason trying to end his own life.

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Elizabeth paced back and forth in the waiting room. Francis rushed inside. He had Jason's power of attorney. He hugged Liz for a minute and then they walked to the nurse's station.

"I'm Francis Corelli. I need an update on Jason Morgan."

Epiphany nodded. She had already spoken to him on the phone. "We are still trying to get his heart rate stable. He's very agitated and he's still unconscious. We're not sure why he won't wake up.

Monica rushed off the elevator. She had made everyone else stay behind.

Francis turned and looked at her. "How dare you show up here." He said angrily. "Haven't you done enough damage?"

Monica pulled him off to the side. "He is still my son and I need to know if he's okay."

"Where were you for the last four months? Jason is anything but okay."

"With all due respect…." Monica said exasperatedly.

"Don't even talk to me about respect. You don't know what it's like to see Jason crying with a gun to his head. He was devastated thinking that he was responsible for killing Lila. He broke. I don't think you understand the kind of damage you've done."

Monica was speechless as tears ran down her cheek. "I didn't know."

"You knew how much Lila meant to Jason. Were you just jealous that he didn't want you in his life but he wanted her?"

"No…" She said loudly.

"Stay away from him. If he wants you to be around him, he'll come to you. I don't think Jason can take any more pain right now." Francis said before going back over to Epiphany. "Can we see him?"

She nodded. "Follow me."

They entered his room. He was so still. They had him hooked up to a few machines. Elizabeth took his hand. "Jason, if you can hear me, please wake up. I know how devastated you are but we need you to wake up so we can help you."

Francis touched his shoulder. "Jason, you're not alone. I've got your back. I promise."

He had seen Jason at his worst. He would never forget being there both times when Jason had a gun to his head. It was devastating and he never wanted to have to go through that again. The second time when Jason said Emily's name and was staring at nothing, he thought he had lost his boss for good. But, it had given him enough time to get the gun away from him. Lila being alive was just what Jason needed to get himself together.

Patrick walked inside. "He's doing much better. His heart rate has come down a lot. You want to tell me what happened?"

"He got some shocking news and collapsed. It's been rough emotionally for him the last few months."

"Well, we just need to wait for him to wake up. It might take a while. I also noticed the gunshot wound. It's starting to heal nicely and there is no infection."

"Good." Francis said.

"All the stress is not helping him. He needs rest. I'll be back in a little while. If he wakes up, please press the call button."

"I will."

Francis pulled a chair up for Elizabeth. He could hear Carly's voice in the waiting area. "I'll be right back."

He walked out and saw Carly and OB in a heated discussion.

"Carly, now is not the time." Francis said.

"I want to see him."

"No, he doesn't need this drama right now. You two are barely speaking. For once, do what is right and leave."

"He's hurting Francis."

"Yes, he is and you know why."

Carly wiped away a tear. "He needs people around him who care about him."

"Carly you haven't been there for Jason in a very long time so let's not pretend otherwise. If you refuse to leave I will have your ass dragged out of here. You are the last person that Jason needs to see right now. Stop being so fucking selfish." Francis said angrily before turning around and walking back to the room. He had to leave before he strangled her.

Carly ran towards the elevators and got on as she openly cried.

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An hour later, Jason's eyes flickered open. Elizabeth leaned over him. "Jason, you're in the hospital. You collapsed."

It took him a moment to register what she said. "Was I dreaming?"

"No, she's alive."

He started to get emotional and his monitors started to go off. Epiphany ran into the room. "Mr. Morgan, I need you to calm down."

Patrick ran inside with another nurse and he ordered her to give Jason a sedative. She disappeared for a moment and then came back and injected the medicine into his I.V. Jason finally started to calm a few minutes later.

"Elizabeth." He said softly.

She rushed to his side. "I'm right here."

"I don't understand. How could they do that to me?"

His eyes were red and all the pain he felt was reflected in them and his expression.

"I don't know. But, please don't go into a bad place. She's okay and you don't have to carry this guilt around anymore.

"I need to see her."

"I'm right here." Lila said as Alice pushed her inside.

Liz was shocked as well as Patrick and Epiphany.

"Oh my God." Patrick said under his breath.

Alice spoke. "Please keep this to yourself. We came in through the service elevator. No one can know."

Patrick nodded. "We'll give you some privacy."

Lila watched Jason as his face contorted and tears rolled down his cheeks. "I had to make sure that you were okay."

Jason just stared at her as if she'd disappear if he looked away. He tightly gripped Elizabeth's hand to remind him that it was really happening—Lila was here.

"You can yell at me. I can take it." Lila said softly. "But just know that I love you Jason."

"How?"

"After they got me to the hospital and I was stable, I guess the family decided to fake my death and they moved me to a rehabilitation center under another name. I stayed there for almost two months before I was able to come home. When I asked about you, I was told that there hadn't been any contact. I tried to call but you must have changed your number. I didn't realize at first that they were hiding the truth from you. I was just told that it was dangerous for me and they needed to keep me hidden and that you wouldn't come see me or make contact until the danger was over."

"When did you know?"

"Alice came to me today and told me that you wanted to go to the crypt. She knew you would come to the house if I wasn't there. She came clean with me and I agreed to the visit. I needed to see you. I knew that you would be blaming yourself."

The relief flowed through Jason's body. It would have killed him if she was in on it. "Thank you for being honest with me."

Alice pushed her closer to the bed and Lila took his other hand. "I love you Jason. I don't think I could have continued on if you had killed yourself because of what happened. But I'm not dead. You need to start letting go of some of this pain because it's not healthy. Will you promise me that you will try?"

Jason nodded.

"I probably shouldn't stay very long. I know what the family did is pretty unforgiveable."

"They were trying to protect you."

"It doesn't matter. They should have found another way."

"I'm just so grateful that you're alive. And I'm so sorry you're in that chair."

"Like I said before, that is something I can live with Jason. I still get to see you marry and have grandkids. I have a life."

"The Ruiz family is gone. They can't hurt you anymore."

"Good, then maybe we can end this stupid farce. I missed you so very much. I'll give OB Alice's cell number on the way out. We can keep in contact through her until this mess is sorted out. Now, I have some butts to go kick." She said slightly smiling.

Jason returned it and watched her leave.

Liz stood up and kissed him gently on the lips. "You're going to be okay."

"I think I am." He said quietly.

"I'll talk to Patrick about you going home." Francis said.

"Thank you for everything."

"That's what friends are for." Francis said before leaving.

"I'm sorry for breaking down."

"Jason, everyone hits a breaking point. You were long overdue. Your body can't hold all that emotion in for very long. I'm just glad that you'll finally find some peace."

"I can't believe she's alive."

Liz smiled. "She seems like a really nice person."

"The best." Jason said.

She gave him a hug. "You're going straight to bed when we go home."

Jason smiled. "Only if you'll stay with me."

She smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

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Around the corner, Ronnie made a phone call. "I'm at the hospital. Jason was brought in. Elizabeth was with him."

Anthony smiled. "Good. We'll let them relax for a little while and then we'll make our move."

He always liked the element of surprise.

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Alice pushed Lila into the sitting room where most of the family had congregated.

"How is he?"

"He's doing better no thanks to the lot of you." Lila said sternly. "I'm so ashamed of you."

"But Lila…" Edward began.

"No Edward. You were all wrong. You let him suffer."

"You are the one that suffered through months of rehabilitation. You almost died."

"He did too Monica. What happened to me was horrible, but that doesn't mean that Jason deserved to be punished like that. You were being spiteful. I don't think he'll ever forgive you or want to be a part of this family ever again and I don't blame him." She said emotionally. "Alice, I want to go to my room. I don't think I can look at them for another second."

Alan watched his mother leave the room. "She's right. We were so mad at Jason for bringing this on our family that we purposely left him out of the loop. We almost killed him because of it. I don't think I can ever forgive myself."

Tracy hadn't said a word. She hadn't been there when Jason collapsed but she got enough of the story from Alan. She stood up. "I guess we did always underestimate him." She said walking away. No one in the room would have ever thought that somebody like Jason would try to take his own life. They treated him like he had no emotions when the truth was quite the opposite.

Edward looked up at Monica. "If you want, I'll take the fall for this. I can handle him hating me."

"No Edward, I can't let you do that. We were all wrong. For so long I prayed to have my son back. It crushed me when he wanted nothing to do with me. My heart ached for him. And then one day, his world collided with ours in the worst way. We were blinded by our need to punish him and our hatred of the situation."

"You don't think it hurts me that Jason was that broken that he would try to do such a thing? I almost lost my Lila, Monica. Yes, I hurt but dammit, I had to protect her at all cost."

"Well, it almost took a life and now I'm never going to have a relationship with my son. We screwed up and I don't think there is any way to fix it."

Edward brushed a tear off his cheek. He didn't even think that Lila would forgive him. "We lost Jason the second that AJ hit that tree." He said sadly before standing up and walking out.

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They got Jason back to the penthouse and he fell asleep pretty fast. The sedative was still in his system and he was exhausted.

Elizabeth stayed by his side, hoping that Jason would be in better shape the next day.