A/N – Thanks for the comments!

Chapter 19

Elizabeth pulled Sonny to the side. "I know you searched his house, but you need to do it again. Maybe it's his smugness, but I think they are somewhere on that property. Please!"

"Elizabeth…"

"Sonny, please…"

"Okay. I'll get a crew organized for the morning." They have nothing to lose at this point.

"Can I come?"

"Sure…" He won't deny her, not after all she has been through.

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The next morning, Amelia plugged in the hotplate and heated some baked beans. Jason stirred a few times, but never opened his eyes or responded to her voice.

Outside, the crew and Elizabeth had arrived.

Johnny and Francis have tortured Ric all night and are letting him rest before they resume. They had insisted on going back to the house to help with the search.

While they were inside searching high and low, Liz grabbed Carly's arm and opened the door to the backyard before pausing and sniffing the air a few times. "Do you smell that?"

Johnny pushed by and stood on the top step. "Yeah. Guys! Come out here."

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Down below, Amelia sniffs and something just doesn't smell right, so she grabs the can from the trash and notices it expired a year ago and curses Ric under her breath. Thank God, they hadn't eaten it. After flicking off the stove, she laid down and shut her eyes as she cried.

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Up above, everyone is scrambling trying to find the source of the smell.

"What is this pipe?" Carly asked. Elizabeth had woken her up and told her that she needed to come help. It makes her feel like she's doing something for her friend besides moping.

Johnny got on his knees and sniffed. He can smell a trace of what smells like food. "Get the shovels."

Two of the guys ran to a truck and retrieved them before starting to dig, concentrating on the area next to the office.

For two hours, they tore up that yard until the shovel hit something.

"Boss!" Micah yelled.

Johhny ran to him. "What's going on?"

"I hit something."

The other guys helped him dig until they cleared what looked to be the top of a hatch.

"Son of a bitch," Francis muttered.

Elizabeth began to cry with relief.

There is a lock, so they grab some more equipment.

"Go get a couple of sledgehammers just in case," Sonny told Micah. There is a construction site not too far away.

He took off as they finally got the lid to raise which revealed some stairs.

"Be careful," Francis said. He wouldn't put it past Ric to boobytrap the area.

Paulie volunteered to go down. "Boss, I think there is some kind of panic room down here."

Johnny hurried down there and looked around.

"I doubt there is a release," Sonny said. Ric would have learned his lesson from last time.

"It's concrete," Paulie said as he joined them, "We'll use the sledgehammers." They won't be able to get through the door.

"It's probably soundproofed," Johnny said.

Francis tried to bang on the door, but Amelia heard nothing and had fallen asleep.

A half-hour later, Micah returned, so a few men went out to help him. Once they got back, they chose a spot on the wall and began to pound on it.

They got one block out and then waited for the dust to clear before spotting a body on a bed.

"Amelia! Jason!" Johnny yelled.

She shot up and stared at the wall in disbelief before coughing from the dust. "Hello?"

"It's Johnny. Stay back!"

"Hurry! Jason is hurt badly. Call an ambulance." She got up and lay next to Jason before pulling a blanket over them.

Johnny grabbed the sledgehammer and went to town. He and Paulie didn't stop until six more blocks were exposed while Sonny called for help.

A sweaty Johnny crawled through the hole. "Keep opening it up," he yelled before standing, his arms immediately filled with Amelia.

She cried as he rubbed her back and eyed Jason.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He has a bad head injury, amnesia, and has been having seizures. He's probably been unconscious for a day."

He retreated. "Holy shit…"

The pounding stopped long enough for Elizabeth to crawl inside.

She eyed Jason and then Amelia before moving forward, trying to hold it together.

Amelia hugged her and told her about Jason's condition.

Liz grabbed his hand and kissed him before whispering her love into his ear.

The guys widened the hole and then removed the fallen bricks to make way for a stretcher.

"Amelia, we're going to take you out."

She panicked for a moment, scared to leave Jason.

Liz turned around when she realized Amelia was barely holding on. "You took care of him. Let us take care of you."

"I'm sorry. I'm just scared. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep because I was afraid that he'd be gone when I woke up." Her body and mind are drained.

Elizabeth realizes the terrible stress this must have been for her and hugs her again. "You are a part of our family now. I am so grateful to you. Please go and get checked out. You are probably dehydrated. Jason wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you either."

"Okay."

"I'll check on you at the hospital later. I promise."

"Thank you." It means a lot to her that Liz is being nice to her after Ric played games with Liz's head.

Sonny led her out and they put her in a car and a guard drove to G.H.

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Monica looked up and couldn't believe it when she spotted Amelia being put in a wheelchair. "Oh my God. Are you okay? Where is Jason?"

Amelia grabbed her hand. "I think I'm okay. He should be here soon."

"He's still alive?"

"Yes, but he had a bad head injury and didn't remember who he was. He was having seizures and has been unconscious for at least a day."

"Okay, I'll call Patrick." He was in the break room because he had just finished surgery.

They took Amelia to a bay.

Leo quickly assessed her. "You are severely dehydrated. You're not going anywhere until tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Were you eating and drinking?"

"Somewhat. We had to ration."

He made some notes in her chart. "All right, I'll have a nurse get your room ready. We need to monitor you in case there are any consequences." Her heart rate is elevated which is not a good sign.

"Okay." She's so tired that she just doesn't care. It's not like she has anywhere to go because she can't go back to Ric's house.

The room cleared, so Monica entered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm severely dehydrated. I have to stay here."

"Can you tell me about what happened?"

"Ric drugged me, and I guess one of his men hit Jason over the head. I did my best to take care of him, but he was having seizures. I'm scared. The knot on his head was huge. I'm scared he has a bleed."

Monica nodded. "The dehydration probably didn't help. We'll take care of him."

"Will you let me know how he is?"

"Of course. Amelia, where are you going to go tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

"That settles it. You can come to our house until you get your bearings. You saved my son whether you realize it or not and we'll never forget that."

"Thank you."

"We have plenty of room. Do you have family around here?"

She shook her head. "No. It's just me. Everyone else is gone."

"Well, you just gained a crazy one if you'll have us."

Amelia slightly smiled before her eyes fluttered shut. The symptoms can make you very tired, and she couldn't keep them open any longer.

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Elizabeth rushed into the ER behind Jason's stretcher.

Patrick met them in the middle and took him right to a bay.

Monica joined her.

"He was stable in the ambulance, but he still is out," Liz said.

"Amelia is being admitted for severe dehydration."

"This is a mess."

"You look like you're going to fall over. Please sit."

Liz let her lead her to a chair and she's soon joined by Sonny. The police had shown up, but luckily, he had left right before that.

"You hanging in there?" he asked.

She nodded. "We got him back."

Sonny smiled. "Yeah." He had tried not to give up hope, but it had gotten hard, especially when Ric didn't give up the location.

"Can you make sure Ric knows?" she whispered.

He chuckled. "Definitely…" He likes the way she thinks. It will torture his brother even more.

It took an hour for Patrick to approach them.

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Patrick sighed. "He's severely hydrated. We are giving him saline to try to help, but I need to do surgery."

"Can he still have it?" Liz asked.

"Yes, but you know that dehydration can affect his recovery from the anesthesia among other things."

She nodded. "What's wrong?"

"He has a brain bleed and swelling. I'm going to go in and clean up and give him something to help get the swelling down faster."

"He has amnesia."

"I'm hoping that once the bleed stops and the swelling goes down, that problem will be rectified."

"Anything else?"

"We're giving him some nutrition and we'll see what I find once I get in there." It will be tricky due to Jason's existing scaring, but he's hoping it won't be too bad.

"Was the swelling causing the seizures?"

"Partly. I'm going to go prepare."

"Thank you, Patrick," Monica said.

Epiphany approached them. "I'm scrubbing in. I'll look after him. Go to the family room so you'll have more privacy."

Monica led them away as Piph said a silent prayer.

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An hour later, Amelia was settled, so Liz decided to visit her.

"How do you feel?"

"Exhausted."

Liz sat next to the bed.

"Monica invited me to stay with her. I don't want to go back to Ric's."

"I understand. We can get the rest of your things. Johnny can have someone go over there and take care of it."

"Thank you. I'm sorry we had to kiss and pretend to be together. Ric asked me to pretend to be his wife. I used your history, hoping it would jar Jason's memory."

"It didn't?"

"No—nothing did. I kissed him for show so Ric wouldn't hurt him and then, I told him that I'm not his wife and that he needs to play along."

"Was he mad?" She hates that they had to kiss but it's better than them being dead. She's surprised that Ric didn't force them to sleep together.

"I think he was shocked but took it well. He understood it was a bad situation."

Liz nodded. "Do you have feelings for him?" There is a chance that Jason still won't have his memories, and she wonders how far their pretending went emotionally.

"It would be easy to, but I know he doesn't want me."

"That didn't answer my question."

"I'm not sure how I feel about him. It's a mixture of things. When you go through something traumatic together, a lot of emotions come up. Mostly, I'm glad I wasn't alone, but you are lucky. He has a good heart, and I like to think that we will be good friends." She doesn't want to lose him. Friends you can trust are hard to find.

Liz squeezed her hand. "I get it."

"Just know that I wouldn't disrespect you. Just be happy. You both deserve it."

Liz slightly smiled. "I'm working on it, but I'm hoping you'll be happy too." When Amelia yawned, Liz stood. "Get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning."

"Okay."

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An exhausted Patrick opened the door of the family room four hours later, making everyone jump up.

"How is he?" Elizabeth asked as Monica held her hand.

"He's alive. I did the best I could. It was difficult and tedious, but I was able to stop and clean up the bleeding, as well as remove some scarring. He's on medication to reduce the swelling. At this point, it's a waiting game." These kinds of surgeries are always touch and go, but he hopes that Jason comes out of it and they avoid infections. "We are giving him more saline, and he may not wake up for a few days though because of all his body has been through."

"You don't think the seizures caused a lot of damage?" Monica asked.

"I hope not. Luckily, the type he had were scary, but it didn't seem like they hurt him too badly." It's hard to think of seizures as good or bad, but Jason was lucky and had the less damaging kind.

"Will he be in the ICU?" Sonny asked.

"For now, yes. He needs to be monitored in case he has more seizures. When he awakes, we'll know more."

"When can I see him?" Liz asked.

"Go home and get a few hours of sleep. He's still in recovery and will be moved if he remains stable. I'll sleep in the call room, so I'm nearby."

Liz nodded. She doesn't want to go, but she understands the logistics. Audrey and Emily are with the kids, so she probably should head home anyway.

Monica let Amelia know what was happening and then left as well.

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Emily jumped up when the front door opened. "What happened?"

Liz explained everything and afterward, they hugged.

Nikolas handed Liz a sandwich and some hot chocolate.

"Thanks."

"You need your strength," he said before sitting across from them.

"I'm just so relieved but yet so scared."

Emily gave her a watery smile. "But he fought so hard to get back to you. We need to keep the faith."

Liz nodded. "I'll never give up, even if he doesn't remember me."

"He will. I just know it."

Audrey waited until she finished eating and then hugged her. "I'm very happy for you."

"It could have been so much worse."

"I guess I can take my things home in a few days. Let's see how Jason is first and what he requires for help." She had moved more clothes over to the Quartermaine's house just in case.

"Monica may want us to stay at the mansion. We'll see how it goes." She just wants to make sure that he has the best care possible, and having her Grams around comforts her.

"I'm happy for you," Nikolas said. She looks a little better.

"This is overwhelming but in the best way. Epiphany said she'd call if something happens."

"We should go to bed. We'll have a long day at the hospital tomorrow."

"I agree."

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The sounds in the hospital room are much more daunting when it's someone you love lying in a bed. Tears pricked Elizabeth's eyes as she held Jason's limp hand. "Come back to me," she whispered before kissing it. He looks pale and vulnerable which is so out of the norm that it's jarring.

"He's going to make it," Emily said before touching Jason's arm.

"He has to."

"He's stable. That's encouraging."

Liz nodded. "Patrick doesn't think he'll wake up until later today."

"We can wait him out," she said before sitting. "Mom sat with him earlier."

"She wanted to see him before she watched the boys. Alice is getting everything ready for Amelia."

She hasn't told Cam what is going on because she isn't sure if Jason will have his memory back or not.

"Ric's taken care of, right?"

Elizabeth nodded. Nothing else needs to be said. In the end, he'll never hurt anyone again. "After Jason is doing better, you're taking your trip."

Emily smiled. "Yes, mom."

Liz grinned. "We got him back, Em."

Emily squeezed her shoulder. "He's our miracle as usual. I just wish he wasn't such a diva."

"I dare you to call him that after he wakes up."

"Oh, I will. I didn't use to think he was high maintenance, but now…"

Johnny grinned. "Don't be talking about my bro like that."

Their attention went to the doorway.

"I'm in the hall. We need to make sure that Mr. Drama King is protected."

Liz shook her head. "He's going to kick your ass when he wakes up."

"He can try."

Emily chuckled as Johnny went back to his post. For the first time in a month, things felt like they could be normal again.