"Okay, how are you doing? For real," Brenda asks as she sits on the end of Carly's bed. Jason had just left to get the wheelchair, so his wife can go down to visit Michael. It's the first time it has been just the two of them since the diagnosis. Carly's been continually surrounded by family, with Jason glued to her side, looking like he's in physical pain every time he has to leave her.

Brenda had been so worried for her friend, not realizing how entwined their lives had become until she wasn't there. And it was far more than forced proximity, Carly was a support and confidant whose opinion she'd come to value. Before she'd moved in, Brenda was feeling like she was facing a million problems by her lonesome, with Sonny drifting further and further away. Then, suddenly she'd had an ally, someone who understood and was a true friend. Carly helps her deal with the insanity of Sonny's world, making her feel less alone in an incredibly difficult and stressful situation. She sometimes wonders if she and Sonny would have survived everything with his breakdown if she hadn't had a friend like Carly.

Seeing her friend struggling now, she wants to return the favor. She watches as Carly's eyes shift up in thought before she closes them and leans her head back, "I'm a disaster. I still feel chained sometimes if that makes sense. It's like I'll close my eyes and feel and hear those chains around my ankle. My heart will start pounding, and I feel all panicked. And then I realize that Jason saved me, that Tony's dead, but then I'm hit with the fact that my little boy is fighting for his life. He's so small, and connected to so many tubes, and the doctor gets this funny look when he listens to Michael's heart. It makes me feel like I can't breathe every time I think of my baby. I'm so scared he won't…" her voice breaks, and fat tears fall from her eyelashes, "make it. It would break me, and it would break Jason. I see how much he loves Michael already, I do too. It's like our baby is suddenly the center of everything. I can't let him down."

"You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. And that little boy of yours, my godson," she gives Carly a sly grin, "is stronger than your anxiety is letting you see. I can't imagine what it was like being at that nut job's mercy, literally being chained, only for all of this to happen. It has to be beyond overwhelming. I'm here for whatever you need. When Sonny was gone, I think your offer involved property destruction and trash talking. Well, back at ya. If you ever need to scream or bitch, I'm your girl."

Carly reaches out and clasps Brenda's hand, "Thank you. I will probably take you up on the offer. How are you? I've been so…"

"If you apologize for being distracted, I'm going to smack you. And, I'm good. I'm really happy my best friend is back." She leans in conspiratorially, "I need your help to get my wedding back on track because Michael is going to have a friend in about eight months, and I refuse to be relegated to baby mama status because we keep putting the wedding off."

Carly squeezes her hand, giving her a big, genuine smile, "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you and Sonny! That's wonderful." Smirking, she adds, "And I love that we can struggle through parenting together. I feel like you need allies to make it through."

Brenda looks a little shy as she asks, "I was hoping you would be my maid of honor."

"Of course, I'd be honored." With a smirk, she adds, "Like I wouldn't have intervened and raised hell if you'd chosen someone else."

Jason walks in to find his wife laughing with her friend and feels tears mist his eyes. The sound is absolutely beautiful. It also brings him hope that Carly is coming back to him. When she sees him, she smiles and raises her lips for a kiss. He happily obliges, giving her a series of soft kisses before standing up and asking, "What has you smiling?"

Her eyes jump to Brenda, who gives the slightest shake of her head, announcing, "Sonny wants to tell you. I think it's important for him, so you'll have to ask him."

With a slight shrug, he agrees, "Okay." Then, shifting his focus, he tells Carly, "The nurse will be here in a minute with your wheelchair. Do you need to use the restroom before we go down to see Michael?"

"Yes, but I need help." Carly agrees, beginning to shift around. Her incision makes it difficult to rise from the bed without assistance, plus the pain medication makes her a little unsteady. Thankfully, they had disconnected her from the IV bag this morning, but she still has the port on the back of her hand. Jason has had practice helping her over the past couple days, so he pulls her to her feet and braces her as she walks into the restroom. He leaves to give her some privacy, making her promise to call for him when she's done.

Walking back into the room with Brenda, he tells her with a vulnerable expression on his face, "Thank you. Whatever you did to make her smile and laugh, thank you."

Brenda gives him a direct look, "She's my best friend. I care about her too." Then, she gives him a soft smile, "You're welcome."

He nods, then looks down for a second. His eyes are unguarded as he asks his wife's friend, "She seems to be feeling a little better today, don't you think?"

Brenda nods, her eyes shifting to the restroom, "Yes, I think so. She's got a lot going on underneath, but at least she's talking about it now. And she seems more settled somehow. It doesn't seem like she's a moment away from bolting, you know?"

"Yeah," Jason breathes. Then, Carly is calling for him. He settles her in the wheelchair, and in just a few minutes, they are in front of Michael.

Carly sticks her hand through the hole in the incubator, stroking her son's hand until he grabs on. Softly, so she doesn't disturb the little bodies fighting hard to live, she greets the baby, "Hello, Mr. Man. Mommy and Daddy are here. How are you doing today? Have you had a bunch of visitors? I bet you have. You have so many people who love you. But, nobody loves you as much as Mommy and Daddy."

"Your mom's right. We love you so much, son. And we're proud of how hard you're fighting." Jason leans down putting his hand on the incubator. He looks down as he feels his wife tense beside him. She has a frown as she intently studies Michael.

With a shake of her head, Carly looks up at her husband, "Jase, I think something's wrong. He's… I don't know, he's struggling."

Jason looks down at the baby with concern on his face, "How can you tell? He looks the same to me."

"I can just feel it, Jase. I don't know how to explain it. Please, get the doctor over here." Anxiety makes her voice tight and panicky.

Wanting to ease her fears, he stands up and walks over to the nurse in charge, requesting, "Can you call the doctor for me? My wife is concerned something is wrong with our son, Michael Morgan."

The nurse gives him a brisk nod, and tells him in a reassuring voice, "Of course, sir. I'll page him for you. And, I'll come over to check on him after that. Let's see if we can ease your wife's fears."

Going back to Carly, he informs her, "She's calling the doctor. He'll be here soon."

"Do you hear that Michael? The doctor will be here soon. He's going to help you feel better. You just have to hold on a little longer." She turns to her husband, her words panicked, "His lips look blue. Look at his lips, Jase."

Leaning in, he sees it too, and suddenly her anxiety fills him. He knows she has some inexplicable sense where the baby is concerned. She had known somehow that Michael was a boy, so he's not willing to discount her feelings where Michael's health is concerned.

In less than a minute, the nurse walks over, informing them, "The doctor will be here shortly. How can I help?"

Jason points out his son's lips in a tight, concerned voice, "His lips are blue. Is something wrong with his lungs and breathing?"

She checks him over, noting his vitals on the monitor. She begins frowning as she takes in his numbers. The new parents frown as she rushes off to make another phone call. Suddenly the NICU is a flurry of activity, with the doctor coming in, as well as an additional doctor and nurse. They consult each other quietly, but their whispers look increasingly anxious. Finally, the doctor comes to the parents and informs them, "Your son's heart is having trouble oxygenating his blood. He has a defect in his right ventricle that is causing his heart to inefficiently pump blood and oxygen through his system. We had hoped that it would fix itself, but unfortunately it's only worsening. We need to go in and repair the defect so your son's heart can work properly."

Carly lets out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a moan. She clasps her hands together tightly to stop them from shaking, her fingertips discolored because she's squeezing so hard. Her voice shakes as she asks, "He's so small. Isn't it too dangerous for a baby that small to have heart surgery?"

The doctor reassures the distraught mother, "I have done this dozens of times, sometimes with babies even younger and smaller than your son, and I have had tremendous success. Infant surgery has had incredible advancement in the last two decades, with a dramatic decline in infant mortality. I have every reason to believe your son will not only survive the surgery, but will thrive with this procedure. It will help his body more efficiently distribute blood and oxygen throughout his system, which will help him develop at a quicker pace." He puts a comforting hand on the crying mother's shoulder, "I know this is scary, but I honestly believe it is the best course of action for your son." He looks in the father's eyes, "It's your son's best chance at getting better."

Jason nods, then looks down at Carly. She looks like she's on the verge of a panic attack. Her eyes are wide and tortured, her breathing beginning to grow short and fast. Jason kneels down until he's eye to eye with her, "You said something is wrong with him. This fixes that, and helps our boy grow stronger. I think we should do it."

Her lip quivers, so she bites down into it. Her eyes study Jason. He looks sure, but she can feel his fear just under the surface. He's being strong for her, scared she's going to fall apart. She isn't entirely sure he's wrong. But, she feels frozen in fear, the thought of her child having to undergo heart surgery petrifies her. Her eyes jump to Michael, focusing on his tiny blue lips. She feels it like a vise constricting her heart tighter and tighter that there's something wrong with her little boy. It's a knowledge that defies explanation. She just knows. But having to make a decision about whether someone cuts into the tiny body, it's too much. So, she follows her husband. "Okay. If you think it's best, we agree."

Suddenly, the room is a flurry of activity, with nurses rushing to get him ready for surgery. They make a path around the parents, who sit talking to their son. Carly has tears flowing from her eyes as she reassures the baby, "Sweetie, the doctors are going to take you away for a little while to fix your heart. It's probably going to be scary, but Mommy and Daddy are going to be right here waiting for you. Mommy loves you so much Mr. Man."

Jason goes into detail with the little boy, using Jason Q's medical knowledge to explain what is about to happen. He remembers how helpless he'd felt when medical procedures were done on him without anyone even explaining to him what was happening. He never wants his son to feel like he'd felt, so in a calm, gentle voice, he explains, "One of the sections of your heart isn't working the way it's supposed to, so the doctor is going to cut into your chest, and fix the part that's broken. They are going to give you medicine that will make you go to sleep, and you will be asleep throughout the surgery, so you won't feel a thing. But, it's probably going to hurt afterwards. We are letting them do it because it will make you feel better, and help you keep growing. Your mom and I will be right here when you get done." His voice breaks, and tears mist his eyes as he tells his son, "I love you, Michael."

Then, forms are being shoved in front of them, and their son is being whisked away. They move the couple into a small private waiting room, just big enough for a sofa and two chairs. Carly's hand reaches desperately for Jason's, giving it a bone grinding squeeze when he takes it. He stands right in front of her wheelchair, pulling her up into his arms, so he can hold her properly. She wraps her arms around his shoulders, clinging to the most solid thing in her life. She's never needed his strength more than watching doctors wheel her baby away from her. It feels like her world is tilting, leaving her dizzy and even more unsteady than she already felt. Speaking into his neck, she cries out, "Why does our baby have to suffer so much already in his life? I can't bear it, Jase."

He runs his hand soothingly over her back as he tries to calm her. With tears in his eyes, he confesses, "I don't know. But he's going to come through this." His voice sounds desperate as he declares, "He is going to be okay."

Carly nods her head into his neck as she tries to believe her husband. She is fighting the feeling of doom that wants to pull her down, its tendrils insinuating into her mind with a horror show of all the worst outcomes. For her family, she is trying to fight against her toxic thinking, knowing that giving in will lead to her doing something stupid and hurting Jason.

Turning her attention to her husband, really focusing on him, she feels the quiver in his arms. Pulling back, she looks at his face and sees the tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. He's trying so hard to be strong for her, but he's as scared as she is inside. For the first time since he found her, she considers what this feels like from his perspective. She had gotten so wrapped up in her fear and her pain that she forgot to take care of Jason too.

Putting her hand on his cheek and cupping it softly, she leans her forehead against his, "You have me. We can get through anything together."

He breaks a little, letting out some of the fear eating him up inside. His voice is so soft she can barely hear it as he confesses, "I'm scared."

"Me too." She whispers. "We'll be scared together."

He pulls her back tightly to him, until he can feel her heart beating in his chest. They stay in their private cocoon for several long minutes, paying no mind to the bustle of the hospital moving around outside the door. Instead, as their breathing syncs, they allow the other to comfort them. Carly's hands rub soothingly across his neck and shoulders, while Jason's arms are like bands across her back with his hand buried in her hair.

When Jason pulls back, he brushes the hair off her wet cheek. Cupping her face, he gives her a kiss filled with all the love and fear that are coursing through him, making it both beautiful and painful. She pulls back, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "Jase, I… I'm so thankful for your strength. You literally saved my life, and you have saved my life in so many other ways than literally. But, love, you don't always have to be strong, not with me. You can trust me with everything, even your fear and weakness. I know you're worried about me right now, and it's… you're not wrong. I get it, but I want to be there for you. I hope you know that you can lean on me too."

Jason lets out a sigh, before admitting, "I don't feel strong right now. I would rather be the one under the knife than him. I want to protect him, but… how do I protect him from a heart that isn't… I hate this place more this week than ever before. I feel so helpless here. I can't fix what's wrong with Michael, and I can't fix what's hurting you. I am supposed to sit and wait while my family struggles." His voice breaks, "I hate it."

"Me too." She whispers.

Jason pulls back to look at her, "I lean on you more than you know. Just having you here with me… I can get through anything as long as you are beside me. I have never felt weaker than when you were gone, not even waking up after the accident. It was like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. And day after day when I couldn't find you, imagining what you were going through, all that mattered was getting you home."

She looks at him with tears sparkling in her lashes, "You found me. I knew you would, that I just had to hold on long enough for you to find us. I was so scared, but I could feel you out there loving me, searching for me; it gave me strength. You gave me strength."

"I will always come find you. There is nothing that would stop me from finding you. You and our son are everything to me. You know that, right?" He vows, with his love written clearly across his face.

"I do. I know how much you love us, how much you love me. I don't know how I got to be the lucky one who gets your love and protection, but I don't doubt for a moment how much you love me." She explains while her hand rests against his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath her fingertips.

"Good. You never have to doubt my love. I…" Jason gets cut off as the door to the waiting room opens to reveal Bobbie in her nursing scrubs.

Seeing the scene she is interrupting, she apologizes, "I'm sorry. I just saw that Michael is listed as being in surgery." Bobbie looks anxious as she comes into the room.

Settling Carly back into her wheelchair, Jason answers, "He was going cyanotic because his heart was not outputting enough oxygenated blood. The doctor said it is a defect in his heart. They are going to fix the defect so that his body can function more efficiently."

Bobbie's hand rests on her chest as tears fill her eyes, "Heart surgery? Okay." She looks off, as though processing the information, before nodding slightly. Sounding almost as if she's telling herself, she concludes, "Okay. That's going to make him stronger. And Dr. Hamilton has done the procedure many times, he's a good doctor and an excellent pediatric surgeon." Her eyes finally make contact with both Carly and Jason's, "He is going to come out of the surgery stronger and healthier. This is a good thing for Michael." Jason nods, while Carly looks unsure. Walking to put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, she offers, "Why don't I go check on the surgery for you? I will let you know how it is going."

Carly nods vigorously, "Yes, please Mama. But don't rush back. I want Michael to have someone in there who loves him, so will you stay with him? I know he is asleep, but he will know that someone is in there with him who cares about him."

Bobbie gives her daughter a smile, "That I can absolutely do. Have you let anyone else know he's having surgery?"

Jason shakes his head, "Not yet. It just happened."

"Let me make some calls, and I'll get the word out." Bobbie explains. Her hand reaches for her daughter's shoulder. "We'll get through this, daughter. Michael will get through this." Then, she's rushing off, leaving the parents once again alone in the waiting room.