When the world is falling down
And another breaks then another falls
For losers always make the winner’s day
Stand climb and fall
Carry the weight
Can’t carry it all
– Stanley Climbfall, Lifehouse

---

Saturday, April 8, 2006

 Kelly’s: Dining Room

From the moment Sam had stepped into the diner, people had been looking at her whispering. She’d arrived in Port Charles around five that morning and gone straight to the Towers to sleep. She hadn’t thought much of Jason not being home—he’d probably had something to do at the warehouse.

Then she’d come here for coffee—and people just would not stop whispering about her.

With a scowl, Sam stepped up to the counter. She leaned in towards Maxie Jones, who didn’t look all that happy about her morning shift. “What the hell is going on?” she demanded. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Oh.” Maxie shrugged. “They probably saw the papers. It’s worse than Sonny and Emily. I mean…I’m sorry for you, but it’s just the kind of stuff this town eats up—”

Sam stopped her before Maxie could walk away. “What do you mean they saw the papers? I’ve been out of town since Tuesday—”

Maxie’s eyes widened. In an instant, her boredom vanished, and her eyes lit up. “Wait. So you don’t know? Oh my God, I get to tell you! This is, like, what I was born for. Wait right here—”

She dashed into the back kitchen as Sam continued to seethe. If the news about her mother had gotten out, she’d be so goddamn pissed—

Maxie shoved the Port Charles Sun at her. “It’s the full cover—”

Sam stared down at the front page, trying to understand what she was looking at. A photograph of Lucky and Elizabeth from their wedding next to one of Jason’s many mug shots — COP’S WIFE & GANGSTER IN SHOCKING AFFAIR with REVEALED DURING ATTEMPTED MURDER PLOT GONE WRONG in smaller letters.

“What. Is. This?” Sam demanded in a low, angry voice. “What the hell is this?”

“Manny kidnapped Lucky yesterday.” She blinked, a bit taken aback at Sam’s hostile reaction. “He kidnapped Liz later, but the papers are saying that Jason was trying to get rid of Lucky because Liz wouldn’t leave her husband for him, so he used Manny. Only Manny went rogue—”

Sam exhaled slowly. That was insane. And ridiculous. The pressure on her chest began to ease. “Oh. Well, that’s stupid—”

“Probably,” Maxie agreed. She studied the headlines. “But everyone heard Lucky accuse Liz to her face, and Jason was the one that rescued her. I overheard Mac telling my mom about it—when the police got there, Lucky was gravely injured in a room, Manny was dead, and Liz and Jason were, like, totally making out on the docks—”

“They were—” Sam held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I need you to explain.”

“Hugging, fine. Whatever.” Maxie sighed. “I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t be so mean, right? I mean, you guys were totally engaged—”

“We’re still engaged,” Sam retorted. She shook her head. “This…this is all just a misunderstanding.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I know Jason didn’t try to have Lucky killed, but this affair stuff can’t be totally wrong, right? I mean, why else would Manny call Jason?”

“Manny called—” Sam ran her hands through her hair. “Maxie, I need you to stop enjoying this so damn much and tell me what happened.”

“Jesse told me that Manny kidnapped Lucky first, then grabbed Liz. Then he called Jason. And if Liz was really so scared and terrified and traumatized or whatever, why would Lucky accuse her of having an affair? I mean, he’d know, right? Maybe Lucky caught Jason and Liz together—”

“Maxie, you just—”

“And then Jason drove Liz to the hospital and, like, refused to leave her alone until Mac had to question him. Plus, Liz is totally refusing to talk to the cops without a lawyer. And she hired Justus. Who is Jason’s lawyer.” Maxie shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, Sam, but I mean, everyone knows they’re like obsessed with each other.” She leaned in and whispered, “It’s not even the first time Liz has screwed Lucky over for Jason. Some people just never learn.”

“Okay. I’m going to go.” Sam slid off the stool. “You’re just—you’re wrong. Jason and I are engaged. Liz is married. It looks like she’s married an asshole, but none of that other stuff is true.”

“Maybe not the way the papers have written it,” Maxie told her, “but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It can’t all be rumors.”

“Yeah, it can. So, stop enjoying this so damn much.” Sam stormed out of the diner, letting the diner door slam shut behind her.

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

When Elizabeth woke the next morning, she saw her grandmother sitting next to her, grimacing at a copy of the Sun. Elizabeth saw her picture on the front page and sighed. “How bad is it?” she murmured.

Audrey looked up and managed a grim smile. “Hello, darling. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck.” Elizabeth sighed because her grandmother hadn’t answered the question. That wasn’t a good sign. “When did you get here?”

“About an hour ago. Steven nearly came with me, but I told him to stay. That we’d call him if we needed him.” Audrey closed the Sun and leaned over to kiss Elizabeth’s forehead. “I checked in on Lucky before I came in.” She paused. “If you care.”

“Of course—” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “It’s not true, Gram.”

“Oh, well, this particular story, maybe not. But the fact of the matter is that you wouldn’t be in this bed if you’d stayed away from Jason Morgan.”

“No, I’d still be with Manny Ruiz, being raped and tortured,” Elizabeth snapped. Audrey scowled.

“I don’t understand how you got tangled up with Jason again. Haven’t we talked about this at length? Look at you. Your husband’s career is over thanks to this, your son spent the night with Carly Corinthos, and you’re in this bed, bruised from head to toe. Was it worth it?”

“You know,” Elizabeth said softly, “it wasn’t fun when the police accused me of being a whore, but this is even less amusing.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I’ve learned something very valuable from all of this,” she continued. “That literally everyone thinks I’m a garbage person.”

“No one thinks that—” Audrey took a deep breath. “I’m sorry—”

“You are always are.” Elizabeth turned her face away. “For what it’s worth, this had nothing to do with Jason. Manny was obsessed with me. He tried to kill Lucky because of me. And I am here alive because Jason killed him.”

“Elizabeth, there is no reason for Manny Ruiz to have targeted you—”

“Gram, can you just…” Elizabeth shook her head. “Can you go to Carly’s house and get Cameron? Take him back to your place. I don’t want to argue with you anymore. Nothing I say matters anyway.”

Audrey hesitated. “Elizabeth—”

“Please.”

“All right. I’ll go get Cameron.” Audrey got to her feet, with another shake of her head. “I’m only trying to protect you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know that, Gram.”

“I just…I love you.”

“I know.”

Elizabeth kept her eyes closed until Audrey had left, then opened them and reached for the paper she’d left behind. The headline was about as terrible as she’d thought it’d be. She thumbed through to skim the article.

Naturally, the paper had decided to go through all of their old gossip columns and brought up the stupid Christmas party from a lifetime ago, and her kidnapping from four years earlier—and someone had told the Sun’s reporters that Jason Morgan had had guards in the hospital protecting his mistress for weeks—

“Great.” Elizabeth flung the paper across the room and grimaced. Now the entire town thought she was a cheating bitch. There was little mention of the fact that she’d been chased down, thrown against a car, and abducted by a psychopath.

Lucky hadn’t cared. The police hadn’t cared. Neither had her own grandmother.

Manny being gone was supposed to solve her problems—instead, his death had just made everything so much worse.

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Jason stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying his hair. He went to his dresser to drag out some clothes so that he could get to the warehouse and start doing damage control.

He’d spent the night at the there, working off his frustration by loading and unloading coffee shipments. When he’d finally returned home, he’d seen Sam’s luggage at the bottom of the stairs and winced. He was not looking forward to whatever conversation his fiancée wanted to have. Not after she saw the papers.

Which was, of course, a whole other problem he wasn’t interested in dealing with. He was doing a lot of avoiding these days.

He heard the door slam shut downstairs and footsteps on the stairs. Jason pulled on his jeans and was just tugging on his shirt when Sam shoved open the door.

“What was the one thing I asked you for when I left?” Sam demanded. She shoved the Sun at him, as well as the more sedate Herald.

“Sam—”

“I asked you not to make me a laughingstock. To humiliate me in front of everyone. Do you know what happened when I went to Kelly’s for coffee?”

Jason sighed as he reached for the Herald. He hadn’t seen their headline yet — COP INJURED IN BOTCHED KIDNAPPING; RUIZ SHOT DEAD. He shook his head. Like the PCPD, everyone seemed to forget that it had been Elizabeth who’d been the target.

“I’m sorry about the gossip,” Jason told her. When Sam snorted, he scowled. “I didn’t plan it. Manny grabbed Elizabeth, and while we were looking for her, he called me from her phone. By the time I got to the warehouse, she had managed to get away from him long enough that I could take a shot.”

Sam hesitated. “You…then what the hell does Lucky have to do with this? And what about Mac Scorpio seeing the two of you on the docks?” But some of the flush had left her cheeks.

“I’m not sure. Elizabeth wasn’t in any condition to get into it last night, but it looks like Manny was stalking her. She had a fight with Lucky and went to her grandmother’s. We thought maybe Lucky was grabbed because of that.”

“Because Manny was obsessed with her?” Sam bit her lip. “How come the papers don’t say that? Why is it all about you?”

“Because when Lucky was being loaded into the ambulance, he made a big scene and called Elizabeth—” Jason swallowed hard. “Some names I’m not gonna repeat. The cops didn’t even bother to talk to her. They didn’t even examine her. I had to drive her to the hospital.”

Sam pursed her lips and looked down at the papers now on the floor. “No,” she said finally. “I don’t buy it.” She met his eyes. “What happened between you two while I was gone? I told you to figure out what you were feeling. Do you think that I’m the only one who knew? That Lucky didn’t know what was going on?”

“Nothing was going on,” Jason snapped, then immediately regretted it. Because that was a lie. “Damn it, Sam—”

“Are you gonna tell me you didn’t have another one of your conversations with her while I was gone? That you weren’t alone with her?”

Jason hesitated. “I was, Sam, but—”

“And that Lucky didn’t know it?”

He remembered going to her place on Wednesday night, Lucky walking in on them. “I—yeah, but—”

“But nothing. Lucky saw something was going on, I saw it. And now the whole fucking world knows it. And then he gets kidnapped—” Sam pressed her lips together. “He blames her, doesn’t he? Manny never would have gone near her if it wasn’t for whatever the hell is going on here with you.”

“I don’t know that. He might have—he took the job at the hospital to be closer to her—”

“How the hell would—” Sam bit off her protest, then took another deep breath. “Jason, I get it. She was in trouble. You had to help her. I’m not—it’s not that—it’s—” She picked up the Sun. “The whole world is talking about it. They’re pointing at me. Laughing, snickering behind my back.”

“Sam…” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you love her?” Sam asked softly.

Jason blinked at the change in topic. “What?”

“You heard me.” Sam met his eyes. “Do you love her?”

Jason looked away, out the window, towards the hospital. Sam followed his gaze and scowled. He didn’t know how to answer that question. He didn’t know if the answer yes. He just…

He knew it wasn’t no.

“I don’t know,” Jason finally said. “I’m sorry.”

“Does she love you?” Sam pressed.

“I don’t—I don’t know the answer to that.” When Sam didn’t say anything else, he sighed. “Sam, I’m sorry—”

“Why? You were honest with me. And now…” She set the paper on his dresser and looked at him again. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Jason said. But he waited a moment too long, and even he could hear the uncertainty in his tone. Sam sighed. “No, “ he repeated, careful to be more firm this time. “I—I asked you to marry me. I meant that—”

“Then you need to stay away from her,” Sam told him. “Manny’s dead. It’s over. You need to delete her number. Forget her name. You need to put her in your past. Because there’s no point in us doing this if you can’t do that.”

He knew she was right. He opened his mouth to agree but then closed it and just looked at her. “It’s not over,” he finally said. “The cops are still trying to pin Manny’s murder on me—”

She just sighed again and shook her head. “I think that I’ve been understanding,” Sam said, “to the point of insanity. But you’re standing here telling me with one breath that you might be in love with another woman but that you still want to marry me—what am I supposed to think?”

“I—”

“Are the papers lying? Was there actually an affair?” Sam demanded, the flush in her cheeks rising again. “Why can’t you just stop this? How do you think this makes me feel?”

“We weren’t having an affair,” Jason said, but the words felt automatic. Robotic. And not entirely true. He didn’t know how to explain any of it to himself, much less to her. Should he tell her about the kiss he and Elizabeth had shared in her apartment? Would that make it worse?

And it was obvious Sam didn’t believe him any more than he believed himself. “I wish…God, I wish I believed you.”

She turned and left.

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

“I’m surprised there’s no guard on your door.”

Elizabeth had moved from the bed to the loveseat underneath one of the windows. She looked over to find Mac Scorpio in the doorway. She turned her attention back to the window. “I don’t need a guard anymore. Manny’s dead.”

“Uh-huh. Did you want me to call your lawyer?” Mac asked. “Emily told me you wanted Justus present.”

Elizabeth knew that she should send Mac away and call for Justus, but she was tired. And she just wanted it over. “Are you planning to call me a whore?”

Mac flinched, then shook his head. “No. I’m sorry if Jesse offended you. I’ll remind him that we don’t make the judgments. We just investigate and take the evidence where it leads us.” Mac approached her, stopping at the foot of the bed. “How are you feeling today?”

“Tired. Sore.”

“You haven’t been to see Lucky yet,” Mac said. “I looked at his visitor’s list.”

How could she go near the man that had started this roller coaster? If she’d gone to the PCPD the first time he’d pushed her, would they have believed her? Lucky had shoved her, screamed at her during her own kidnapping, then proclaimed her a whore when they were rescued—

And of course, no one thought Elizabeth might have a good reason for being cold to her husband. She was clearly in the wrong.

“No, I haven’t. I saw the papers. I don’t really want to see anyone.”

“Yeah, they did take some liberties,” Mac admitted. “I’m sure it’ll calm down. Lucky’s not awake yet, so I guess he doesn’t know he won’t be back on active duty.” He tipped his head. “How do you think he’ll take that?”

“Badly.” She looked at Mac. “Do you blame me, too?”

“Blame is a strong word,” Mac said. “I think you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sorry for it. I wish we could have done more to keep Manny off the streets.” He paused. “I also think that maybe if you chose your friends better, this might have been avoided.”

Elizabeth looked at him, saw the kind, well-meaning man that she’d known for years, who had always tried his best.

She looked at him and saw the face of everyone who would make this her fault. “And if I hadn’t walked through the park one night, I wouldn’t have been raped.”

Mac shook his head. “It’s not the same thing—”

“I wasn’t supposed to be in the park. I lied to my grandmother. I always did that, you know. And I lied to everyone. I sat in the park, and I wore a short dress. That’s what Tom Baker told me when he confessed to me—that he couldn’t help it. So it was my fault then, too.”

“No.” Mac sighed. “That’s not—”

“Is that what you’d tell your daughters? Didn’t Georgie get kidnapped by Diego Alcazar last fall?” Elizabeth looked back out the window. “Did you tell her it was her fault for being too nice? For being kind to the wrong people?”

“Elizabeth—”

“Manny kidnapped me last fall because he needed a nurse to take care of him. Women are known to disappear around him. He took a job at the hospital before the quarantine. He followed me around. And all of that happened before Jason and I ever spoke. Jason and I hadn’t been friends for more than two years—had barely even been in the same room for almost a year. Manny targeted me because he’s sick and likes to play games—”

“All of that might have been true,” Mac said. “But he only kidnapped you after he found out you were…friends with Jason Morgan.”

Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let this man see her cry. To see how it broke her to know she wasn’t going to be believed. No matter how rational she was. How calm.

“Okay. Well, let me make this clear for you. Manny kidnapped me. He kidnapped Lucky and told me it was because he saw me fighting with Lucky and thought it would make me happy. He called Jason because he thought Jason might be tricked into killing Lucky for him. I think. I don’t know. That part of his plan was never clear—”

“Elizabeth—”

“He threatened me with a knife, hit me with a rock, ground his heel into Lucky’s spine, and when I managed to get free of him for a minute, Jason shot him to protect me and to save Lucky’s life. That’s it. That’s your statement. I’m not saying another word without a lawyer.”

“I figured we’d get to that sooner or later. Are you planning to use Jason’s lawyer?”

“No, I’m planning to ask Emily’s cousin to represent me. It’s not my fault they’re the same person.” Elizabeth met Mac’s eyes. “I didn’t deserve any of this—”

“I never said you did—”

“And I don’t deserve to be treated this way. You can go. Don’t come back. If you question me again without Justus present, I’ll file a harassment suit. No one gave a damn about me back at that warehouse. You decided it was my fault that a fellow cop had been hurt, and I’ve been treated like garbage ever since.”

She got to her feet. “It wasn’t my fault that Tom Baker raped me. And it wasn’t my fault that Manny Ruiz kidnapped me.”

“No one is saying what happened to you as a kid was your fault, Elizabeth. But you’re an adult now. You should take responsibility for your actions. You decided to get involved with a man like Jason Morgan. And now Lucky is paying for it—”

“Get out.”

Mac shook his head, but then he left. Elizabeth slowly sat back down as the pressure built in her chest and her shoulders started to shake. She’d managed to keep it together until the commissioner had left, but oh, God, he was right, wasn’t he? Maybe Manny wouldn’t have gone after her if he didn’t think it would get Jason’s attention—was this somehow her fault?

Could she have prevented this? And how was she supposed to live in this town now? If she left Lucky—how could she ever show her face? No one would understand, and she knew now that no one would believe her about the abuse.

Lucky was the heroic cop who’d been grievously injured, and she was the whore who had ruined his career.

And no one would ever be convinced otherwise.

General Hospital: Fourth Floor Stairwell

Jason took a deep breath and approached Epiphany, who was waiting at the door like a guard—her arm braced against it so that it could not be opened until she moved.

“Thanks for doing this,” he told her. “I figured it’d be easier to see her this way—”

“Have you seen the papers?” Epiphany demanded. “The filth they’re writing?”

Jason sighed, nodded. “Yeah, I saw them. Did she—”

“She did. Her grandmother was kind enough to leave them for her.” Epiphany raised her brows. “So that Elizabeth could consider the consequences of her actions with all the pertinent information.” She said the last part of it in a tone that indicated she was directly quoting Audrey Hardy.

Jason flinched and looked away. Audrey had never been his biggest fan. “Is she okay?”

“Well, I don’t know, because, after that visit, Mac Scorpio showed up, and she decided to give him a statement without a lawyer.” She pursed her lips. “She ended up throwing him out of her room, so I don’t think she’ll be making that mistake again.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Epiphany—”

“So, the only way you’re getting through this door is if you tell me what you got to say to her is important enough that you need to bother her.” Epiphany lifted her chin. “Because her husband is two flights up in ICU. He’s an asshole, but he’s a man. And you know what happens when a man starts screaming about how terrible a woman is?”

“Epiphany—”

“Everyone believes him. It doesn’t matter how hard Elizabeth works in this hospital, how long she’s lived in this town. No one cares how many people she’s helped or how many lives she saved during the quarantine—none of that matters. Because he’s a cop. So her word means nothing.”

He dipped his head, exhaled slowly. “Okay—” Jason shook his head. “Okay, I’ll go. I don’t want to make it worse.”

Epiphany sighed. “Wait—”

“You’re right. It’s not worth the risk. She’s been through enough.” He hesitated. “And I’m being selfish. I just—I haven’t seen her. I don’t know if she’s okay. Is she?”

“No.” But she lowered her arm and stepped back. “But it might do her some good to see someone who doesn’t believe the worst.” She huffed. “Don’t get caught.”

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

Patrick had tried to talk Elizabeth into staying another night at the hospital, but she wanted to be alone. She wanted to get her son, go home to her apartment, and sort herself out.

And she knew she probably should be in the room when Lucky found he’d never be a cop again. Not the way he wanted to be. If she wasn’t there—well, it would just give people one more reason to talk.

And Elizabeth just didn’t want anyone to look at her anymore.

In an hour, Patrick had promised, he’d come back and sign her discharge papers. He’d even drive her home personally. She knew that no one would bother her with Patrick around—the surgeon was pretty good at the fuck off face.

“Elizabeth?”

She turned at the sound of Jason’s voice. She knew she shouldn’t feel happy to see him—that his being there was literally the worst thing right now, but she hadn’t seen him since the night before, and she didn’t really remember a lot from the emergency room.

At least he wasn’t going to call her a whore or blame her for her own kidnapping.

Jason glanced down the hall, then closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here.”

“Probably not.” Elizabeth sat back on the love seat. “Did anyone see you?”

“No, I called Epiphany, and she let me up the service stairs.” He sat next to her, turned slightly toward to face her. “I…I’m sorry about the papers—”

“None of this is your fault, Jason. It’s….” She sighed and looked down at her hands. “I don’t know. It’s the newspapers for not caring about the truth. It’s mine. It’s Lucky’s—”

“And it’s mine,” Jason pressed. She glanced up, met his eyes briefly, saw the worry. “You told me to stay away. And I didn’t. I don’t know what got into Lucky to make him think—”

“Manny did.” Elizabeth’s voice trembled, and goosebumps made her skin feel cold. “Manny told him that we’d been meeting. A-And Lucky didn’t even—” She closed her eyes. “Anyway. You know, Lucky doesn’t need a reason. He hates you. He has for years.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I just—I wasn’t prepared for everyone else. I always knew no one would believe me—” She bit her lip, horrified to realize she’d very nearly told Jason the truth. It was one thing to tell Patrick who didn’t really know her or Lucky—that somehow seemed safe.

But if she told Jason, if she said it out loud to someone who knew them—

It would be true. It would always be her reality. And she couldn’t take that back.

“Elizabeth—”

“Emily told me that a few weeks ago—no one believed us back then. After the Christmas Party.” With a smile she didn’t really feel, Elizabeth sighed. “I don’t just mean the world, I mean—”

“Emily didn’t believe us.”

“Neither did Nikolas. And they both told Lucky. Apparently, he’s believed I was lying all these years.” She swiped at her eyes. “So, yeah, Lucky didn’t really need much more than a push—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason stretched his arm across the back of the sofa. “I wish I could make this go away.”

“Yeah, well, until we figure out time travel, that’s never going to happen.” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, though. I—I forgot about Sam. And she wasn’t really happy with us either before all this. I never…” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I never told you that she saw us on the docks—”

“No, but she did.” Jason squinted. “How did you know?

“She and I…” Elizabeth shrugged. “We talked. Don’t worry,” she continued when he sat up, looking alarmed. “It wasn’t—” She sighed. “It wasn’t angry. And I think we walked away understanding each other. But Jason, I keep telling you—”

“That we can’t be friends—”

“You know we keep saying that word like…” She hesitated. “Like that’s what this is. Like, I’m saying we can’t hang out anymore. And that’s just…” Elizabeth turned slightly, angling her body towards him. And somehow found the courage to meet his eyes. “That’s not what we’re doing. And that’s not what we’ve ever done. Not since the morning I found you in the snow.”

“Yeah.” His voice was just above a rasp. “I know.”

“And maybe not even since that night at Jake’s. I used to think you were my safe place. Someone I could trust with…” She bit her lip. “Everything.”

“You can—”

“But that’s not something I should share with anyone who isn’t the man I married. And to be honest—” Her chest tightened as a tear slid down her cheek. “That’s not something you ever gave me.”

“What?” Jason blinked, pulled back slightly, looking stunned. “What—”

“You never opened your life to me. You always kept me at arm’s length—”

“That’s not—”

“So when I say that you and I need to stop this, I mean I need to stop this. I need to walk away and stop giving away pieces of myself to people who won’t take care of them—” She broke off, then shook her head. Because she should be saying to this to Lucky, not Jason.

Shaken, Jason just stared at her. “That’s not how it was—”

“I’m sorry—” Elizabeth sighed. “That’s not fair—I don’t—I didn’t mean—”

“Well, I see some people never learn.”

The cold, bitter voice snapped them both out of their bubble, and Jason and Elizabeth turned to find her grandmother glaring at them from the doorway.

“Mrs. Hardy.” Jason climbed to his feet and instinctively steadied Elizabeth’s elbow as she also stood. “I was just—”

“Making everything worse,” Audrey snapped. “Or do you enjoy the notoriety that comes with your job?” She let the hospital door swing shut behind her, her hands at her hips. “What in the world are you thinking, Elizabeth, to carry on with him here? Of all places—”

Elizabeth just closed her eyes, then looked at Jason. He looked irritated but said nothing waiting for her to handle it. “Thank you for checking on me, Jason. I’m doing fine, as you can see. So, you should go now.”

“Are you sure—”

“Yes. And when Cody wakes up, can you tell him how much I appreciate him? I’ll try to stop by—”

“Oh, sure, keep making it worse—” Audrey snarled.

“Cody nearly died trying to save my life,” Elizabeth snapped at her grandmother, her cheeks flushing. “Don’t you dare suggest I don’t owe my life to Cody and Jason. If it weren’t for them, I’d be somewhere being raped and tortured by a raging psychopath until he got tired of me and killed me. Or sold me. You know what that’s what he threatened to do, don’t you? Pretty women like me make a lot of money.”

“Elizabeth—” Audrey swallowed. Her face was ghastly white. “I didn’t realize—”

“No, you didn’t. Because you didn’t ask. Jason came to check on the guard who saved my life. And, yes, he wanted to make sure I was okay. Because thanks to the PCPD, I haven’t been able to thank him since I was admitted.”

“I’ll go,” Jason said when the room was quiet for a beat. “I’ll—” He looked at Elizabeth, then shook his head. “I’ll go.”

“You do that.” Audrey stepped aside to let Jason leave. “And don’t come back.”

When the door had shut, Audrey turned back to Elizabeth with that omnipresent disappointment in her eyes. “I cannot believe you. I cannot believe this is the girl I raised. What if Luke or Bobbie had come by? What if the cops had come back? How would it look to find the two of you cuddled up on a sofa while your husband was unconscious two floors away—”

And Elizabeth couldn’t take it anymore. She reached for the pitcher of water on the table and threw it across the room, sending a stream of water in its wake. The plastic clattered to the floor, skidding with the momentum. “Just stop!”

Audrey’s tirade broke off abruptly as her eyes widened. “Elizabeth!”

“Can’t you just—stop—for one minute!” Elizabeth pressed her hands to her hair, digging her fingers into the scalp. “Just stop.”

“I just—” Audrey hesitated. “I’m sorry. I just worry about you so much, Elizabeth. You’re so impulsive, and it gets you into so much trouble. If you would just think before you did things, how much trouble could you have saved yourself over the years?”

“And you still—you don’t stop. You don’t take a breath. It’s always how I’m doing it wrong. How can people tell me in one breath they love me and then just—” Her eyes ached from the tears, but they kept streaming. How did she have any tears left? “How can you tell me you love me and do this to me?”

“Elizabeth—”

“I was kidnapped last night. Manny Ruiz chased me down in the parking garage, grabbed me from behind, knocked me out—he nearly killed the man whose only job it was to keep me alive. Then he dragged me to a warehouse, threatened to rape me—and then my own husband—” Her throat closed. “My own husband, who promised to love me, to cherish me—how could he do this to me?”

Her knees buckled, and Elizabeth sank to the floor, the linoleum chilled beneath the sweat pants she wore. “How could he do this to me?” she gasped, her chest tight as she struggled to force out a full breath. “How can he tell me he loves me and hurt me?”

“I’m—Darling—”

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“Elizabeth, Lucky isn’t the one that hurt you—that was Manny—because of Jason—”

“Audrey.”

Elizabeth looked up at the new voice, frowning as she saw Bobbie gently taking Audrey’s elbow and leading her out of the room. After a moment, Bobbie came back and knelt down. She pulled Elizabeth to her feet.

“How are you, sweetheart?” Bobbie asked, smoothing Elizabeth’s hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ears before taking Elizabeth’s face in her hands. “What can I do?”

“I think…” Elizabeth just closed her eyes. Her face felt heavy and swollen from the barrage of tears. “There’s nothing. There’s nothing to do.”

“Okay.”

“I just—I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep apologizing—”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’ll talk to your grandmother.” Bobbie kissed her forehead. “I came to tell you that Patrick had an opening to take Lucky went back into surgery a little while ago. He wanted you to go on home. I came to take care of your discharge and drive you.”

Elizabeth felt her entire body shudder. “You don’t blame me?”

“Blame you?” Bobbie sighed. “I blame myself. I blame Lucky. I blame his father. The only person in this entire mess that I don’t blame is you.”

And that just made Elizabeth sob harder. So Bobbie just put her arms around Elizabeth and let her cry.

Will we burn in heaven
Like we do down here?
Will the change come while we’re waiting?
Everyone is waiting
– Witness, Sarah McLachlan

---

Friday, April 7, 2006

General Hospital: Emergency Room Trauma Room

Emily rushed into the trauma room, snapping on gloves as paramedics rolled Lucky in. Her best friend was bloody and bruised, his face nearly unrecognizable with cuts and a swollen right eye, and he was writhing on the stretcher, screaming at the top of his lungs—

“We tried to calm him down in the ambulance,” one of the paramedics said with a sigh to Patrick as he handed him a chart. “But he saw his wife get in a car with the guy she’s been having an affair with. It set him off all over again—”

“What?” Emily demanded, her eyes wide. “What the hell—”

And then she heard Lucky’s screams. She heard the words

“Fucking whore! This is her fault! She did this to me! She did this!”

Emily’s head spun as she looked across the stretcher to find Patrick’s blank face, stark-white. He swallowed hard, met Emily’s eyes, then looked at the other attending in the room. He slapped the chart into his chest.

“No way in hell am I treating him.”

Then he stalked out—shoving past Alan, who stumbled back in surprise. When he saw that Monica had arrived, he took off after the neurosurgeon as her mother took the chart from the other attending.

“Emily—” Monica closed her eyes, maybe to block out the word whore as it echoed in the room. “Can you deal with this?”

She took a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah, I can.”

“Where is she? Where is that cheating bitch? Is her asshole boyfriend with her?”

“Good. Get some goddamn meds and shut him up,” Monica barked to the attending. “I don’t want to hear his voice anymore—”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

The world felt like it was spinning around her. People kept talking to her, walking past her, but Elizabeth just sat on a gurney in the emergency room, holding a bleeding arm in her lap, staring straight ahead at the curtain. Jason paced next to her, glaring out at the emergency room through the cubicle’s drawn curtains again.

“Where the hell are all the doctors?” he muttered.

“With Lucky, I think,” Elizabeth said. She closed her eyes. Her voice didn’t even feel attached to her. Was she floating? What did shock feel like? Her body swayed slightly. “I’m fine—”

“Where the hell is everybody?” Epiphany demanded as she jerked the curtain back. She jabbed her finger at someone. “You! Go drag Junior Drake from wherever he is—I don’t give a flying fuck if a cop is bleeding on the table. One of our own is hurt. She comes first—”

“Epiphany,” Elizabeth said, then shook her head as her supervisor came in. She winced as Epiphany touched her chin, turned it. “He didn’t—”

“You gonna tell me he didn’t hurt you? I watched the tape. I know he hit you, obviously cut you with that knife—” Epiphany glared at Jason. “Why you still standing there? Go find Drake and get him here—”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Patrick muttered as he and Robin arrived, pushing the curtain back. “I’m sorry. I was having a difference of opinion with the Chief of Staff.”

“You’re going to get suspended,” Robin said idly as the neurosurgeon pulled on some gloves.

“Yeah? Won’t even be the first time this year.” Patrick tipped Elizabeth’s head back and shined a light in her eyes. “She’s shocky. Pupils dilated. Pulse is rapid—”

“Jason,” Robin said softly as she eyed the cluster of cops standing on the other side of the emergency room. “Maybe…you should be somewhere else.”

Elizabeth blinked at him. Tried to focus on his face, but it was blurry, and she couldn’t quite manage it. She took a deep breath, realized Robin and Jason had continued speaking while she was…

Trying to float back to reality.

Jason turned and scowled at them. “Why? Because they couldn’t be bothered to help her?”

He shook his head, took Robin’s arm, and walked a few feet from the cubicle. “None of the paramedics even asked her if she was okay. I had to bring her to the hospital.” His blood boiled, remembering the confusion and hurt in her eyes when she’d fallen to the ground and just stayed there. Waiting for the first responders to help her. Men and women who were supposed to be better than him.

“What?” Robin’s scowl matched his as she shot a dark look at them. “Why? Because of the bullshit Lucky is spewing?”

“He’s still—” Jason swore under his breath. “What’s he saying now?”

“That’s why Patrick is in trouble. He got into the room and heard Lucky demanding to know where the cheating bitch and if her asshole boyfriend was with her—” Robin grimaced. “Pretty sure he means you. Patrick listened to exactly one sentence of that and walked out.”

Jason liked Patrick Drake more and more. “So?”

“So, he can’t just refuse to treat a patient,” Robin said with a roll of her eyes. “Even if I kind of want to set him on fire, too. I mean, Jesus…” She looked back at the cops, saw her uncle had joined them. “But I guess they believe him.”

“I don’t know what happened. I never saw Lucky until it was over.”

“I don’t know either. But…” Robin hesitated. “It’s not that…I’m not judging, but if there’s any truth—”

Jason hesitated, and Robin raised her brows. “It’s…complicated,” he muttered.

“Okay—” Robin closed her mouth as her uncle approached them. “Uncle Mac, if you’re here to talk to Liz—”

“Jesse’s going to take her statement. She looked like she was okay at the docks, so we just want to know how Lucky ended up down there—” Mac began.

“Why—” Robin narrowed her eyes. “Why does that matter now? Manny’s dead.”

“Yeah, and that’s what we want to talk to Jason about. Care to answer some questions about what the hell happened?” Mac demanded, turning his attention to Jason.

Jason hesitated. If he’d thought this was about Elizabeth’s kidnapping and cleaning up loose ends, he might have agreed. But clearly, they were focusing on Lucky and the attempted murder of a cop. “Yeah, just let me call Justus—”

“Do you really need your lawyer for this?”

“You know, I hear the first responders didn’t bother to check on Elizabeth or offer medical assistance,” Robin said flatly. “She’s in shock, you know that, right? And she has a head injury. I’d hate the PCPD to get slapped with a civil rights suit.”

“Robin—” Mac sighed, looked back at Jason. “Get your damn lawyer down here. I’ll wait.”

“You’ll wait over there,” Robin snapped, pointing back to the main desk. “And I notice you didn’t deny it. I expected better from you, Uncle Mac.”

“Yeah, well, I expected better from Elizabeth Spencer, so I guess we’re even.”

Mac stalked away as Jason exhaled slowly. “They’re never going to believe this had nothing to do with me,” he murmured.

Robin folded her arms. “No, they probably won’t. I’m sorry. This is probably going to get a lot worse for Elizabeth. Which brings me back to my original point—”

“I should stay away from her,” Jason said. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. She doesn’t need any of this. I don’t want to make it worse.” He looked back at the curtain. “Robin—”

“I’m not going to leave her alone. Emily is in with Lucky, her grandmother is flying in from Memphis as soon as she can get a flight. I have to go in there and talk Patrick into doing his job, but I promise you—” She touched Jason’s arm. “She won’t be alone. And I’m not going to let anyone push her around.”

“Thanks. I’ll go call Justus.”

Robin stepped back behind the curtain to find Patrick carefully placing a butterfly bandage on the cut on her chin. “Jason had to go call his lawyer,” she told Elizabeth. “Mac wants to question him.”

“Great,” Elizabeth murmured. “I’m sure he’s looking forward to that.”

Patrick turned to Epiphany. “I want her overnight for the head wound. We’re going to run an MRI on the head, wrist, and shoulder just to be sure. Get her a room.”

“Patrick—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “You should go take care of Lucky.”

“What? I never said—”

“I know what he said back at the warehouse.” Her head swayed, and she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Is he still calling me a faithless whore?”

“Uh—”

“Manny called me that, too.” Elizabeth managed a sour smile. “Funny, isn’t it?”

“Not even a little bit,” Patrick muttered. “Elizabeth—”

“He’s hurt. And you’re a doctor. You should go help him. Don’t get into trouble because of me.”

“All right,” Patrick said carefully. He looked at Robin. “You gonna scrub in with me?”

“No, I’m waiting for Emily to get here. I promised Jason someone would stay with you,” Robin told Elizabeth, who just sighed.

“And that’s why he went somewhere else to call Justus. Because the last place he should be is with me. That’s going to make everything worse.”

Epiphany huffed. “Don’t you worry about any of that right now. Robin, go scrub in with Patrick. I’ll stay—”

“Elizabeth?” Jesse Beaudry appeared in the opening of the curtain. “I need your statement—”

“No,” Patrick said with a glare. “Number one, you don’t come near my patient without a goddamn handwritten engraved invitation. I’m talking calligraphy—”

Robin put a hand on her boyfriend’s arm. “Jesse,” she said to the other man, “we’re admitting Elizabeth to the hospital. Let’s wait until she’s settled and has some time. She’s been through a lot tonight.” She arched one slim brow. “You do remember she’s the victim, right? Not just Lucky?”

Jesse swept his eyes over Elizabeth, then snorted. “Doesn’t look much like a victim to me, but fine, have it your way.”

“What the actual fuck is going on right now?” Patrick demanded as Maxie’s boyfriend sauntered off. “What happened to protect and serve?”

“It’s simple.” Elizabeth laid back against the gurney. “They think I’m having an affair with Jason, and that’s why I got kidnapped. And Lucky—a brother in blue—got hurt because of it. So not only do they not care about what happened to me—I bet some of them think I deserved it.”

Robin pressed her lips together as her eyes burned. The flat affect in Elizabeth’s voice, coupled with the brutal statement, broke her heart. Elizabeth didn’t expect much from anyone at this point. The odds that she’d ever go public with what that brother in blue had done to her sl ipped from unlikely to not a chance in hell.

“Come on,” she told Patrick. “Let’s go. Epiphany will take care of her.”

“And I will slap the silly shit out of anyone else who comes in this room tonight,” Epiphany said with a firm nod. She shoved up the long-sleeved shirt she wore under her scrubs to her elbows. “Just try me.”

Outside the cubicle, Patrick scowled. “I do not want to spend one more minute of my life trying to help that abusive little piece of shit—did you hear her in there—I knew it! I knew I should have told her about the drugs—that’s what he’s on, you know that, right?”

When Robin just shook her head and sighed, Patrick continued. “He’s in withdrawal because Manny probably grabbed him before he could get his next fix, and he’s ready to set everything on fire—”

“Patrick—”

“I’m telling her—”

“You can’t. She’s a nurse, Patrick. She’ll understand when she does know. And she will find out—these things never stay hidden for long. You shouldn’t have even said that to me right now.”

“Yeah, but—”

Robin leaned up and pressed her lips against his. “I love you that you want to do something to help her. But I also heard her tell you not to get in trouble over this. And she’s had enough of people not respecting her tonight.”

“Damn it. Damn it. That’s a good point.” Patrick was still scowling as they made their way over towards the trauma room. “You’re a pain in the ass sometimes.”

“Part of my charm.”

General Hospital: Hospital Room

It was another thirty minutes before Elizabeth was admitted to one of the general wards. Bobbie had stopped by for a few minutes to let her know that Carly was keeping Cameron overnight and that Elizabeth shouldn’t worry. Cameron was ridiculously excited to have a sleepover with his new best friend, who happened to have a playroom bigger than Elizabeth’s entire apartment.

Then Emily had finally been able to leave Lucky when he went into surgery and come up to sit with Elizabeth. She’d stayed by Elizabeth’s side as Epiphany wheeled her upstairs into her own room, sending glares to anyone who even attempted to talk to Elizabeth.

While she and Emily hadn’t really spoken the last days, Elizabeth was grateful for her presence. They hadn’t even spoken a word about the fight they’d been having—Emily just planted herself at Elizabeth’s bedside and refused to leave.

Then Jesse Beaudry showed up to take Elizabeth’s statement.

Emily let Lucky’s partner in and just glared when Jesse suggested she leave the room. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Okay,” Jesse drawled. He set himself at the end of Elizabeth’s hospital bed, standing with his feet slightly apart. He nodded at the brace around her wrist. “I didn’t think you were hurt.”

Elizabeth blinked, then looked down at her wrist. “Oh. I strained it. I—” She grimaced. “I’m not sure when. I think when Manny dragged me…” She exhaled slowly. “But yeah, it’s a strain.”

“Why did Manny kidnap Lucky, too?” Jesse asked. “Did you know Manny was targeting him?”

Elizabeth turned her face away from him. “Not until he dragged me into the room. Manny said…” She swallowed hard. She didn’t think they’d believe her about the bruises. Not now, when she was covered in them thanks to Manny Ruiz. “Manny said he’d seen me fight with Lucky.”

“Uh-huh. You weren’t at your apartment last night? Manny knew you were in a different car, so he followed you to work, didn’t he?”

“I stayed at my grandmother’s house—”

“How is any of this relevant?” Emily demanded. “Manny kidnapped her, then took Lucky. He’s dead now. You can thank my brother any time—”

“Em—”

“It’s important we understand the details. You don’t want Jason to be arrested for murder, do you?” Jesse sneered.

At that, Elizabeth turned back abruptly at the smug cop. “What? Why?”

“Manny was unarmed when we found him. Jason shot him in cold blood.” Jesse shrugged. “You’d already escaped from him—How can he argue defense of others?”

“This is bullshit—” Emily scowled.

Elizabeth struggled to breathe as her heart began to race. “Manny came after me. He followed me. He kidnapped me. He tried to kill my guard—”

“Yeah, how do you explain a cop’s wife being followed around by one of Jason’s goons? Manny came after you. Why?”

She closed her eyes. “I told you. He kidnapped me last fall. I filed a report. He…he told me he was obsessed with me.”

“Really? Because he also stalked Sam McCall. Jason Morgan’s fiancée Are you sure it was you that caught his attraction and not…” Jesse sneered. “Your connection to the local mob element?”

“Okay, that is absolutely it. You are done here.” Emily strode forward and yanked open the hospital door. “Get out—”

“It wasn’t about them,” Elizabeth tried to explain even though she knew he wouldn’t listen to her. “It was me. Manny got a job here because of me.”

“Sure. You and Jason Morgan used to date, didn’t you?” Jesse glanced down at his notebook. “I asked around, and you’ve been off and on for the last seven years, going back to when you were eighteen—how long have you been on again?”

Elizabeth felt a sob bubble up in her throat. “We’re not—”

“Get out,” Emily repeated. “Get out, or I’ll have hospital security remove you.” She stepped up to Jesse, who rolled his eyes. “How dare you come into this room and use this moment to go after my brother—Elizabeth was kidnapped! She has a concussion, a strained wrist, and shoulder—she was threatened with rape and torture at knifepoint, watched her husband be beaten in front of her and you’re in here—”

“Her husband was beaten in front of her because she got herself mixed up with criminals,” Jesse retorted, but Emily had already stopped listening. She stalked out into the hallway. Jesse turned back to Elizabeth.

“I don’t care if Lucky’s been in a bad mood lately,” Jesse snapped. “He deserved more loyalty from you. Even if you weren’t screwing Jason Morgan, you were clearly up to something with him. Why else would Manny Ruiz give a damn about you?”

“Get out of this room right now,” Alan Quartermaine thundered as he stormed into the room, Emily hot on his heels. “And don’t come near this patient again!”

“She’s a witness—”

“She’s the victim, you son of a bitch!” Emily tried to push past her father, but Alan held her back. “What the hell is this?”

“Get out,” the chief of staff ordered again. “You’ll be hearing from the hospital’s attorney. Don’t come in here again.”

“I’ll be in touch—”

“You’ll be in touch with her lawyer!” Emily retorted. “Justus Ward, the family attorney—”

“Yeah, I know him. He’s downstairs defending Morgan from another murder charge.” Jesse shook his head as if he were disappointed in them all. “Man. This town has its priorities screwed up.”

He left, and Alan went after him to make sure he got on the elevator. Emily turned back to Elizabeth, who was silently crying in the bed.

“Don’t listen to him—none of this is your fault—”

“Manny kidnapped Lucky because of me—”

“Because he was insane—” Emily shook her head, took Elizabeth’s hand. “None of this is your fault. And I’m not going to let anyone tell you it was. Lucky will understand that when he wakes up.” She hesitated. “When he calms down. He’s just hurt right now. And Jason isn’t going to jail. Justus won’t let that happen.”

“I just want this to be over. I just want it to be done.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Why can’t it just stop?”

“It will. I’ll go get your doctor. I’ll find Robin. You need to sleep. You need to rest.” Emily rushed out to find someone. Within ten minutes, she’d located her mother, who prescribed sedation for Elizabeth without argument.

As Monica and Emily watched Elizabeth slip into sleep, Emily squared her shoulders and looked at her mother. “I’m gonna go check on Jason. He should know what the cops are doing to Elizabeth. I also want to make sure Justus will represent her.”

“I’ll wait here with her until someone else comes to sit with her,” Monica promised.

General Hospital: Conference Room

Jason had been interrogated maybe a hundred times in the last ten years and was generally pretty good at keeping himself under control. He let Justus deal with most of the questions initially, ferreting out what Justus thought was okay to answer.

No, he had no evidence that Manny was actually targeting Elizabeth. That’s why he didn’t go to the cops. No, Jason didn’t know why Manny had kidnapped and beaten a cop. No, Jason didn’t know Manny was unarmed when he shot him.

Jason thought the conversation was nearing the end when Mac introduced a new topic — one he’d never thought Robin’s uncle would actually bring up.

“And how long have you and Elizabeth Spencer been sleeping together?”

Justus put up a hand to ward off Jason’s immediate response. “We’re not commenting on gossip.”

“It’s not gossip,” Mac said blandly. He looked at Jason. “Before Lucky Spencer went into surgery, he claimed that Manny Ruiz told him he’d followed Elizabeth to see you several times. Apparently, Elizabeth didn’t deny it when Manny confronted her. Then Manny also told Lucky had he’d been kidnapped and beaten to get him out of the way.” He paused.

Jason squinted and looked at Justus. “What—” Jason broke off. “I don’t understand.”

“I do,” Justus said, grimly. “You’re suggesting that Jason was working with Manny somehow to get Spencer out of the way so he could have his wife, and what, Manny Ruiz went rogue?”

“That’s the story Spencer is telling—”

Jason pressed his lips together, shook his head. Justus sighed, looked at Jason, then looked back at Mac. “Give us the room for a minute. I want to talk to my client.”

Jason scowled as Mac left. “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s crap—”

“Of course it is. But you shot an unarmed man, and if Lucky Spencer sticks to this story, it’s going to create some serious shit for you. And for Elizabeth.” Justus hesitated. “Is that what you want?”

“No. I don’t care about me. But Elizabeth—” Jason sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

“You need to talk to this man about your relationship. You also need to give him something he can work with. You know Mac. He’s not a bad guy. But he’s a guy that has a cop who’s hurt and blaming the local mob. A lot of his guys are not making this easy on him. They stick together, and you don’t want them thinking Elizabeth is the enemy.”

“Fine.” Jason scowled. “Bring him back in.”

When Mac sat back down, Jason told him, “I’m only going to say this once. Elizabeth and I have been friends for years. We are not sleeping together.” That much, at least he could say without lying. “We’ve never slept together—”

Mac hesitated, looked at Justus. “Is—But everyone knows—”

“Everyone knows what they think they know. I asked her for a favor a few weeks ago, and then my sister…” He sighed. “Emily and Sonny were in the tabloids—it got complicated. We talked a few times about that. And then Elizabeth noticed that Skye was being followed by Manny.”

“Skye,” Mac repeated.

“She told Lucky who said the PCPD couldn’t do anything. And she was worried. So…” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “She asked me to look out for Skye. Elizabeth cares about other people. She didn’t want Skye to get hurt. Eventually, I told Alcazar, and Skye went to Miami. That’s it. That’s what Manny thinks he saw.”

“Lucky seemed pretty convinced,” Mac said, but he was hesitating. “Why do you think he’d believe—”

“You’ll have to ask him that. Manny called me tonight because I’m on Elizabeth’s speed dial. She put me on there last night when Manny went missing. I was worried. I put guards on her because I wanted her to be safe. We’re friends,” Jason stressed.

“And the PCPD wouldn’t have had any reason to suspect Manny at that time,” Justus reminded Mac. “You couldn’t have spared the resources. As to the reason Detective Spencer was kidnapped, you might want to wait for Elizabeth’s statement as she was in the room—”

“Oh, Elizabeth isn’t giving any more damn statements,” Emily said as she stood in the open doorway of the conference room. “And you keep your asshole cops away from her from now on.”

“Emily—” Mac said, getting to his feet. “What are you—”

“My best friend has been terrorized and traumatized enough by one psycho. The next time the PCPD wants to talk to her, they can ask Justus. Or any other lawyer I find for her. Because this—”

“Emily, what happened?” Jason asked, worried. “Is Elizabeth okay?”

“Oh you mean, is she okay after Jesse accused her of having an affair and told her this was her fault—if she’d stayed away from my brother, she might not have been kidnapped? Blaming everything on her?”

Mac muttered under his breath as Justus scowled, and Jason’s jaw clenched. “You know, it’s one thing for you to come after Jason with a bullshit charge,” Justus began as he clipped his briefcase closed. “But a terrorized victim barely an hour after she escaped a man who kidnapped her and threatened to rape and torture her? That’s low. Even for the PCPD—”

“That was not what was—” Mac closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “He shouldn’t have asked it that way—”

“What does that mean?” Emily demanded, incensed beyond practicality now.

“Look, I like Elizabeth. I always have. But let’s not pretend that she doesn’t share at least a portion of the blame here—”

Jason growled and took a step forward. Justus shoved him back. “Don’t make this worse, Jason,” he hissed.

“Worse?” Jason repeated. “How can I make this worse? Are you listening to this? No one gives a damn about what happened to Elizabeth—”

“I can’t even find out what happened to her,” Mac said, throwing up his hands.

“All you had to do was ask her,” Justus said. “But don’t worry. You can ask her when hell freezes over. My clients are finished speaking with you. You want to talk to them again, you bring an arrest warrant.” He glared at the commissioner. “You have daughters. Would you want them treated this way? Would you want Robin to be treated this way?”

Mac exhaled slowly. “I’ll talk to my men,” he said after a long moment. He looked at Emily. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should apologize to.” She stepped aside. “Get out of this hospital, or I’ll have my father escort you out the way he did Jesse.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Mac told Justus, then left.

Emily collapsed into a chair, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why are they doing this? They’re supposed to be the good guys!”

Jason just shook his head. “I’m sorry, Emily—”

“And Elizabeth—God, she was expecting it. She knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it any less—” Emily scrubbed her hands over her face. “I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Taggert.”

Justus snorted. “Taggert hated Jason—”

“But he didn’t hate Elizabeth,” Jason said quietly. “He never would have treated her this way. And he would have kicked anyone else’s ass who tried it.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. He’d tried to be open, tried to avoid it, but this was a disaster spiraling out of control.

“Jason, you need to stay away from Elizabeth until this blows over,” Justus told him. “Let me handle any communication—”

Jason scowled, letting his hands fall back to his sides. “That’s not fair—”

“It’s what she needs right now,” Emily told him. “She’s exhausted. And she just wants this to be over. We need to make it over. Whatever it takes.”

“I’ll make some phone calls, but you should brace yourself for the morning papers.” Justus offered Emily a grim smile. “Because what’s about to happen will be much worse than your little scandal.”

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

Elizabeth blinked, blearily, trying to adjust her vision to the darkened hospital room. As she turned her head, the events of the last day came back to her—from her mad dash to her grandmother’s, to taking photos of her injuries…

To the kidnapping. To the aftermath.

To the questioning.

“Elizabeth?”

She blinked again as a light switched on near her bed. “Patrick—” she licked her dry lips. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re taking shifts,” Patrick said as he stifled a yawn. “Emily didn’t want you left alone in case the PCPD came back. Justus left his card. Don’t talk to them without him. They’ve got some bullshit story about Jason going after Lucky and using Manny—” He shook his head. “Never mind. We can talk about that tomorrow—”

“What—” Elizabeth winced as she tried to sit back. Patrick reached for the bed remote and gently raised the bed. “That’s crazy. Manny kidnapped Lucky because of me. Because he thought Lucky had…” She trailed off. Looked at Patrick, then swallowed. “Because he thought Lucky left the bruise on my face.”

“But you didn’t tell them that,” Patrick said after a long moment.

“I didn’t think they’d believe me, and after all of this…” She closed her eyes. “I know they wouldn’t. They blame me.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s going to get better once they find out…” Patrick hesitated. “Whatever Manny did to Lucky’s back—”

“He stomped on him. Repeatedly. Ground his heel into his spine.” Her stomach rolled just at the memory of it. “Oh, God, if you’re here, then his surgery is done.”

“It is. Lucky has an incomplete injury of the lumbar—” He sighed. “The technical stuff doesn’t matter. Basically, Manny aggravated the injury from the car accident—the same discs that were originally injured in November. I’m sorry. It’s bad.”

“Is he…paralyzed?”

“No. He’ll need another surgery, and he’ll be able to walk okay. But there’s no way I’ll ever be able to clear him for active duty again. He’s finished as a cop, Elizabeth.”

“Oh.” She leaned back and looked at the shadows on the ceiling. “Does he know?”

“No. He’s still out from the surgery. Elizabeth, this isn’t your fault—”

“Yes, it is,” she insisted. “I shouldn’t have made Lucky so angry. He asked me to stay from Jason, and I didn’t—I thought I had a good reason—”

“You did. Manny was stalking people, and a danger to everyone—” Patrick leaned forward. “And that’s bullshit that you made him angry. Lucky took a swing at me at one of our appointments. He’s an angry, violent man.” He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “You are not responsible for what he does—”

“Yes, I am. If I just—” She turned her face away. “If I could just love him better, if I were a better wife—”

“Elizabeth.” Patrick sighed, dipped his head. “I am so not equipped for this bullshit,” he muttered to himself. “Look at me.”

She turned back to him, her eyes damp with tears. “It’s my fault.”

“Because you made Lucky angry,” Patrick said. When she nodded, he shook his head. “No. A man doesn’t hit a woman. Full stop. End of story. I don’t care if he walked into the apartment and found you in the middle of a gang bang with the Five Families, he doesn’t get to put his hands on you.”

His scowl deepened. “I don’t care what bullshit excuse he gives you. I don’t care how much pain he’s in or how he’s managing it. You don’t take it out on the person you promised to love. End of story,” he repeated.

“I—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I know you’re right. You are right,” she repeated. “I think—” She sighed. “I feel guilty.”

“Why?”

“Because I did…I didn’t sleep with Jason. We’re not—that’s not what happened.” She met his eyes. “But it still felt wrong. I think…I don’t know. I feel like I cheated on Lucky. Jason and I—we just talked about—about before. When we were together. And it just—we never told—”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I never knew he loved me then. And it shouldn’t matter. But it does. And I hate myself. I blame myself.”

“Why is it always me?” he asked the ceiling. Patrick rubbed the side of his face. “Promise me you’ll get some rest tonight. I’ll give you something to sleep, okay? Just—this is all really fresh for you. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better. But you just—I don’t care what the hell is going on with you and Jason, Lucky Spencer does not get to use that as an excuse to hurt you.”

Elizabeth released a shaky sigh. “No, I know that. I just…I can’t explain it.”

“Then don’t. We’ll talk tomorrow. Everything can wait that long. And I’ll find you someone who does not suck at this.” Patrick leaned over to do something with her IV.

“You’re not so terrible,” she murmured even as the world fell away again.

Being me can only mean
Feeling scared to breathe
If you leave me then I’ll be afraid of everything
That makes me anxious, gives me patience, calms me down
Lets me face this, let me sleep, and when I wake up
Let me breathe
– Afraid, Neighborhood

---

Friday, April 7, 2006

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Jason stalked into the emergency room, Sonny and Max hot on his heels. He stopped to scan the cubicles and swore when he saw Cody lying on one of the gurneys, his face pale, blood staining his shirt. At his side, Patrick and Robin were working.

Alan and Monica were both just outside the curtain, talking to Emily. Alan turned and gestured for Jason to join them, even as he scowled upon sighting Sonny.

“We called you as soon as we got the warning from the security room,” Alan told him. “The PCPD has already been through.”

“What did they say? Did they tell you anything?”

“No, they were told the guard can’t help since he hasn’t woken up. We gave them the description of the car Manny was driving and a copy of the security tape. I think Mac said he was going to find Lucky and put an APB out to the airports and the train station.” Monica shook her head. “How did he get into the parking garage?”

“Stan said he’d try to find out,” Sonny said to Jason. “But I told him it’s not the priority.”

“No, but it might tell us where he’s hiding.” Jason exhaled slowly. “What about Cody? What did you find in the parking garage?”

“Flat tire. I guess Manny used it as a distraction.” Alan hesitated and exchanged a look with Monica. “Cody was on the ground by the car, but we found blood nearer the stairwell. Blood and….hair on a bumper.”

“Elizabeth’s hair,” Emily managed, her voice hoarse. Her eyes were puffy. “It looks like she ran for the stairs and almost made it. He must have slammed her head into the car—” She couldn’t. She looked back at the guard. “She should have stayed home.”

Jason followed her gaze, troubled by the pallor of his guard’s face. Somewhere, Manny Ruiz had Elizabeth. She was hurt, terrified—

“Cameron’s still at Carly’s,” Jason said, swallowing hard. “You don’t have to worry about him, Em. I put more men there—”

“A lot of good it did us here,” Emily snapped, and Jason flinched.

“Emily,” Alan murmured. “Short of locking Elizabeth in a room until Manny was dealt with, I don’t know what your brother could have done. And to be honest, I have a feeling the fault is in the hospital security.” He looked at Jason. “I’m sorry. You were right. I should have pushed harder to get Manny Ruiz out of this hospital.”

Emily sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just—” She folded her arms. “I’m just scared. I know you did your best to protect her.”

You’re not Superman.

 Elizabeth’s voice echoed in his brain as Jason tried to think of the next step. No one had seen Manny Ruiz since Wednesday afternoon when he’d clocked out of his shift. Forty-eight hours, and his men still hadn’t found the psycho. They didn’t even have a lead.

“Jason?”

He looked to find Robin trying to get his attention. “Yeah?”

“Cody has a fractured skull. We’re taking him up for surgery. You’re his medical power of attorney, so…” Robin held out a clipboard. “He was conscious when they found him. He was drifting in and out, but he kept saying Elizabeth’s name over and over again. Telling her to run.”

“I should have done more,” Jason said. He scribbled his name.

“You’re not Superman,” Robin said, and he looked at her with a start. “What? What did I say?”

And I don’t expect you to be.

“Nothing,” he swallowed. “Em—”

“Yeah?”

“Call her grandmother in Memphis.” Jason scratched his temple. “Sonny—” He turned to his partner. “Go to Carly’s—” Sonny grimaced. “Stay with Cameron. If Manny’s trying to get Elizabeth out of town…I don’t know, he might be crazy enough to go for her son. To take him along. I just—I know we have guys there, but—”

“No, I got it. Call me if you find anything.”

When Sonny had left, Emily touched his arm. “What are you going to do? Do you have any ideas?”

“No, I don’t,” Jason admitted. “But I’m going down to security. I don’t—I don’t know, Emily. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” she echoed with a sigh. “Because I think I’m going to give you something else to worry about. I’ve been trying to call Lucky since Elizabeth went missing, but he’s not picking up his phone. His dad said he’d been trying to find him all day, but it’s like he’s disappeared.”

Jason frowned at her. “Why—”

“I don’t know if it’s related,” Emily said, “but it’s weird, right?” She bit her lip. “Isn’t it?”

Jason did think it was troubling that Lucky was missing at the same time Elizabeth had been kidnapped, but he couldn’t think of how it was related. “I don’t know. I’ll see if anyone knows anything, but—”

“Right.” Emily nodded. “It’s not a priority. I know. I just wanted to let you know.” She took a deep breath. “Just—just find her, Jason.”

“I will.”

Warehouse: Room

Elizabeth moaned slightly, shook her head, and opened her eyes. She winced from the light. “What—” She couldn’t finish the words.

“I’m sorry.” The bright light flashed, then dimmed. She opened her eyes again to find the room much darker. She was sitting in a chair, her hands tied behind her.

In another chair, a few feet in front of her sat Manny Ruiz.

“W-What—” Elizabeth’s body just froze, and she couldn’t speak. “Oh, God. What are you—”

“You can scream if you like,” Manny said with a smile. “No one will hear you. We’re too close to the docks. Too far away from everything else.” He tipped his head to the side. “I’m sorry I had to hurt you, Elizabeth. You were always so nice to me. But you ran, and, well, plans change.”

“I—” She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “What are you going to do?”

“I know you’ve talked about me to Jason Morgan. He must have told you all the rumors.” Manny’s grin widened, and he got to his feet. He picked up a long knife from a table, then pointed it at her, the blade a dull glint in the dim lights. She flinched. “I have…high expectations, and sometimes it’s hard to make me happy.”

A tear slid down her cheek as she tried to find the words. She had to be able to make this stop. “Please—”

“But you’re strong, you know. I’ve been watching you. I think you might be the one I’ve been looking for.” He knelt in front of her, touching her chin with the tip of the knife. She hissed as it bit into her skin slightly.

“But if you disappoint me, well…you’ll go with the others. Pretty women with big blue eyes and skin as pale as yours…” He got to his feet. “They turn a nice profit in many places.”

She moaned slightly as her vision blurred. Oh, God. He was going to rape and torture her until he was bored, and then…

“Please…”

“But I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you.” Manny shook his head. “No, no. It’s just the opposite. You’re such a bright light. Such a sweet, sweet girl. I want to give you something. I want you to see how much I want to please you. I got you a present.”

Oh, no. Oh, God. What if he’d gone to Carly’s—what if her little boy—

“Come with me. No, no, don’t fight—” Manny cut the bonds on her wrist, but held the knife to her. “Come on.”

Very aware of the warm blood trickling from the cut on her chin, the ache in her head from whatever he’d hit with her at the parking garage, and the cool press of the knife against her scrub top—she gulped down a breath and forced herself to stay quiet as he dragged her along.

Elizabeth followed him out of the room into the warehouse’s vast, empty center room. She stumbled in the dark, but Manny hauled her back to her feet and kept dragging her.

“Please. Just let me go—”

“I’ve waited so long for this moment. I had a plan that was better than this, but then, well, you forced my hand, Elizabeth. I had to save you.”

“Save me?” she repeated. “What—”

“I saw those bruises.” Manny shook his head. “When we talked on Wednesday. I saw what he did to you.” He looked at her, somehow his teeth bright white in the dark as he flashed her another smile. “You’ll thank me when this is done.”

A chill danced down her spine as he shoved her through another doorway. She bit back a cry as she saw who Manny had tied to a chair, bleeding and bruised…

Lucky.

General Hospital: Security Room

Learning that Jason was going to talk to her son, Epiphany had followed him down to the security room. Jason didn’t have the time to argue, particularly with someone he knew that was so loyal to Elizabeth.

“I would have given her the time off,” Epiphany said as they neared the room. “I would have made it work. That girl never asks for help when she really needs it. She—”

“Epiphany—” He turned and just shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. But let’s not—we can’t think about any of that right now.”

“Right. I’m sorry.”

Jason went into the room to find it emptier than he’d thought. He frowned and looked at Stan and the other guard. “No cops?”

“They thought they got everything they needed with the tape of her abduction.” Stan spun on the chair and looked at him with a bit trepidation. “You don’t need to see it. We’re scanning the rest of the footage to see how he got in—”

“I want to see it,” Jason said firmly.

Stan sighed, turned back to a monitor, and pressed play. Jason watched as ten minutes before Elizabeth had clocked out, Manny crept out of the shadows, knelt by the car, then disappeared again.

“He dug an icepick into the tire. We found it near Cody,” Stan said as the video continued to run. From the elevators, Jason watched as Cody and Elizabeth walked towards the car.

She’d done everything right. She’d waited to leave the elevator until Cody had swept the area. Then she stayed directly next to him, on the side next to the roadway, not somewhere where she could be grabbed in the shadows.

She’d paused by the car so that he could do a bomb sweep. She knew the routine better than Jason had remembered. And then Cody pulled out his phone—

“We don’t know who he was gonna call. Maybe Vic,” Stan said, continuing to narrate. They both flinched as Manny jumped out of the shadows and whacked Cody hard with the tire iron.

Elizabeth hadn’t hesitated. Just like he’d always told her. Don’t worry about the guard. Just run. She’d screamed, then darted away towards safety—

“She almost got away,” Epiphany murmured. “Just a second more—”

Jason watched, stone-faced, as Manny caught up to Elizabeth at the door, threw her against the car, then grabbed her by the hair and bashed her head against the bumper. Elizabeth slumped down to the floor. Her body was limp as Manny carried her out of camera range.

“She did everything I told her to do,” Jason said. He exhaled slowly. “And it wasn’t enough. How many cars left the garage after this?”

“Twelve. We’ve been tracking all of them, trying to find the one that might have been—”

“I think I’ve got it,” the other security guard said. “This one—registered to a Doctor Leo Ramsey.” He grimaced. “Look at the footage of the car entering the garage around 1 PM—”

And there it was, Manny behind the wheel, just driving like he had a right to be there. The guard switched to another view, and they saw Manny parking the car. Then moving it—

“He waited in the garage until a car near Elizabeth’s moved so he could be closer. He planned this. And he must have been planning this for a long time—do we know where the doctor is?”

“No, but if we find the car—” Stan waited as Jason called Alan and told him the make and model to pass on to the cops. “Does this get us closer to Manny?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “Because I don’t think he’s at the doctor’s house.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know where to look,” he admitted.

“She’s tough, Jason,” Epiphany told him. “And she’s got that little boy to keep her going. Nothing is gonna stop Elizabeth coming home to him.” She nodded to the screen. “Keep looking, Stanford. We’ll go up and wait for word from the guard. He might know something. C’mon.”

Outside the security room, Jason slumped against the wall for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts. “I told her I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And I couldn’t keep that promise—”

“Jason.”

He frowned, looked up at the frowning nurse. “What?”

“Manny knew what car Elizabeth drove to work today.”

Jason straightened, hissed. “She didn’t drive her car. She drove with Cody. He was following her from Audrey’s.” Which meant he’d been following her all along. Damn it. How had they missed it—he thought of the rookie guard who had done a shit job of following him.

“They keep saying they can’t find Lucky Spencer. And I can’t help but think—he went missing after an argument with Elizabeth that sent her running to her grandmother’s.” Epiphany hesitated. “You tell me Manny was targeting Elizabeth because he’s obsessed with her.”

“Maybe…”

“Maybe Manny wants to punish Lucky for hurting Elizabeth.” Epiphany shook her head. “It’s almost a shame you didn’t hurt her, Jason. Maybe he’d come find you.”

Warehouse: Room

Lucky blearily opened his eyes, looked at both of them, and coughed. “What the hell, Elizabeth—”

“Lucky—” Elizabeth looked at Manny with wide eyes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing much. I found him in an alley on Courtland Street.” Manny grabbed Lucky by his hair, dragged his head back. Brought the tip of his knife to her husband’s throat. “I saw the bruises, Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth,” Lucky choked, trying to look at her, but Manny wouldn’t release his head, wouldn’t let him move.

“Do you have any other bruises?” Manny asked idly. “Or just the one on your face?”

“I—”

“She has such a lovely face,” Manny told Lucky, his voice almost sing-song. “You messed it up. Such pretty skin. Soft. You know that.”

“How can you…how can you be so angry at him for hurting me?” Elizabeth managed, desperate to get that knife away from her husband. “You—you’re planning to rape me.”

“No, no…” Manny released Lucky’s hair. “No, I’ll wait until you’re ready. You’ll want it, too.” He licked his lips, his tongue sweeping out with lasciviousness. “I’m good at making women want me.”

“I’ll never—”

“I know you got a taste for the bad boys.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she took a step back. “What does—what do you mean?”

“It means I saw you, my sweet, pretty Elizabeth. All the times you met with Jason Morgan.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. Oh, God. It just got worse. He’d been following her, he knew—he knew—all of her worst fears—

“I just wanted to get your attention with Skye. That was just a game to see what you’d do. How would you try to save her? I knew you would. I knew you couldn’t help yourself. I thought you’d go to the chief of staff, the police, your husband. But no—” He wagged a finger at her, then turned back to Lucky, who was glaring at Elizabeth now, his lips curled in a sneer, his eyes burning.

Manny laughed again. “Oh, see, Lucky knows what I’m trying to say. He gets it. He knows who you ran to.” He ripped Lucky’s head back again, yanking on his hair, his voice dropping the sing-song quality. “That’s why you hurt her, isn’t it? You knew she was a faithless whore, didn’t you?”

General Hospital: ICU

Jason scowled as he peered at Cody through one of the transparent walls of the ICU. “I was hoping he might wake up tonight,” he told Robin.

“I know. But we can’t do anything about that.” Robin bit her lip. “You really don’t have any leads—”

“No, but—” Jason grimaced. “I can’t just sit here. I need to do something. Look somewhere—” He broke off.

“What?” Robin touched his arm. “I know that look—”

“The waterfront,” Jason said. He met her worried gaze. “There’s a lot of abandoned buildings with cargo docks. It’s a way to escape, to get out of Port Charles under the radar.”

He could go look. He could do something instead of waiting here at the hospital for something to break. “I’ll go take a look. Maybe find some activity or just—something.”

Robin tipped her head towards the elevator. “Go. I’ll call you if anything changes with Cody.”

Warehouse

“What is he talking about?” Lucky demanded. Elizabeth just shook her head. No, not now. Not this. She couldn’t process this, couldn’t make herself accept that her husband was worrying about an affair while they were being held at knifepoint—

“You know, I wondered why a cop’s wife ran to Jason Morgan every time I so much as said boo to her.” Manny shook his head. “Never ran to you,” he said to Lucky, who growled.

“Just—just stop—let him go, okay?” Elizabeth knew if she tried to run, Manny would just kill Lucky and come after her. She was tired, her leg hurt from something—her shoulder was on fire—

She’d never be able to outrun Manny, and she knew she was alone. No one would know where she was, and Lucky clearly wasn’t going to be able to do anything.

She had to find a way out.

“Let him go, and I’ll—” She swallowed hard. “I’ll go with you.”

Lucky stared at her in shock. “No! No! Elizabeth, you can’t—”

“Well…” Manny lifted his brows, lowering his knife slightly. “If I had known the way to your heart was threatening to carve up the man who hurt you, I wouldn’t have planned the second part of this game.”

“S-Second part?” Elizabeth sputtered. “What—”

Manny reached into his pocket with his free hand and showed her a cell phone. Her phone. “Funny. Did you know she has Jason Morgan on speed dial?” Lucky’s eyes flashed with murderous rage, and Manny laughed. “Yes, it’s very upsetting. You’re not on the list. But he’s number two and since one is for emergency—”

“What?” Lucky bit out. He turned his glare back on her. “What the fucking hell?”

“I can explain—” Her world spun for a moment. “I just—with all this Manny stuff, I needed to—”

How could she explain she’d done it the night before when Jason had asked her to make sure she could call him if she needed him. She didn’t need Lucky on speed dial, and having Jason at the top—it just made sense—

But Lucky was looking at her with such hatred that she couldn’t force the words out. This couldn’t be happening.

“Why don’t we call him? We can ask Jason Morgan—” Manny grinned at Elizabeth’s stricken face. “Let’s invite him to the party—”

“Are you absolutely insane?” Elizabeth bit out. Why the hell would Manny want to invite one of the most feared enforcers on the East coast?

“It’s sweet; she’s worried about me,” he told Lucky. To Elizabeth, he continued, “I’ve got something he wants, pretty girl. And it might be nice for you to say goodbye to your lover before I whisk you away somewhere nice. I might not even hurt him much if you ask as nicely as you did for your husband here.”

He pressed the speed dial and put the phone against his ear.

Roscoe Trucking: Parking Lot

He’d parked his bike a block away, not wanting the sound of it to alert anyone who might be in the area. Mickey Roscoe had run a trucking company for Sorel as a front, and Faith had maintained it after his death. It had been abandoned since her death the year before.

It was a medium-sized building on the edge of the docks. The chain-link fence that surrounded it had fallen into disrepair due to negligence and vandalism. Just as Jason ducked under a broken section, his cell phone rang.

His heart began to race when he saw Elizabeth’s name on his identification screen. “Elizabeth?” he demanded when he answered the phone.

“Oh, you sound so hopeful. No, sorry to disappoint you, but it’s just me.”

Manny’s smooth voice sounded so normal that it startled Jason. Did he even have her? Or just her phone? “Where is she?”

“She’s safer with me than she is out in the world. Oh, look, she doesn’t agree, does she? She’s shaking her head—”

“Jason, don’t listen to him—”

He closed his eyes at the sound of Elizabeth’s voice. She was panicked but alive. And that was more information than he’d had thirty seconds ago. He could cling to that.

“What do you want? I can get you out of the country if you let her go—”

“Oh, no, no, it’s nothing that simple. You see, I’m taking my sweet Elizabeth with me, but I have to clear up old business before she can go. She worries, you know, and I’m just…” Manny sighed. “I’m afraid she won’t be able to concentrate on me.”

“What do you want?” Jason repeated.

“I want you to join our party. I have something special before we leave. A present that I want you to give it to her. I’m at Roscoe Trucking. You know the place. You took care of its owner.”

Jason closed his eyes in relief. Thank God. He was here, and he’d arrived nearly ten minutes before Manny could expect him to show up. He’d be able to surprise them.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Make it quick,” Manny said, then hung up.

Before he went inside, Jason called Robin. When she picked up, he said, “I need you to call Sonny and the PCPD. Tell them to go to Roscoe Trucking, but to be careful. He has Elizabeth, and I’m pretty sure I heard Lucky in the background.”

“Lucky!” Robin repeated, but Jason had already hung up. He needed to stop Manny Ruiz and get Elizabeth to safety. He wouldn’t break another promise to her.

Warehouse: Room

“He sounded so concerned,” Manny said with a sigh. “He must really love you,” he said to Elizabeth. “All the times he was at your apartment, all those close moments on the docks, at the warehouse—did he ever tell you?”

Elizabeth’s hands were shaking as she dragged her hands through her hair. “Why are you doing this to me?” she choked out. “Why are you—” She looked at Lucky, and something inside her shriveled up and died.

Because why—in the middle of being kidnapped and mentally tortured—should she have to explain herself to the abusive husband she’d just fled—

Why?

Why was this happening?

“Because I think it might be hard for you to enjoy yourself if I’m the one that kills this piece of shit.” Manny backhanded Lucky, who moaned in pain. “But maybe if I tell Jason Morgan where you got that bruise, he’ll take care of it for me—”

“That’s your plan?” Elizabeth demanded. “He’d never do that to me. He’ll kill you first.”

“She has a lot of faith in him,” Manny said, his tone apologetic as he looked at Lucky. “I was angry with her at first when I realized she was unfaithful. Just like you are now. No, don’t deny it,” Manny murmured when Lucky shook his head. “I thought she deserved to be punished. But then, Lucky, you know what changed?”

“What?” Lucky muttered. He winced as Manny pinched his cheek. “What?”

“I saw her face. And I realized she was just lonely. Desperate for someone to treat her right. So I’ll leave Jason Morgan to take care of you, and I’ll take her somewhere where you can’t hurt her again.”

A sob broke, escaped her lips as Elizabeth shook her head. How could she make this stop? How could she save herself? How could she get back to her son?

“I never hit her,” Lucky hissed. “Tell him, Elizabeth—I never hit you—”

“We don’t have time for lies.” Manny cut Lucky’s bonds, then shoved her husband to the floor. Lucky screamed as Manny ground his heel into his back—right at the part of the spine where Lucky had been injured.

“Stop! Stop! I told you I’ll go with you!” Elizabeth rushed forward to grab Manny’s arm to stop him from kicking Lucky again.

“He shouldn’t lie to me,” Manny panted. He stomped one more time, then grabbed Elizabeth by her wrists. “Come on. We need to be on the docks before Morgan gets here—”

“What? Why—” But Elizabeth could barely catch her breath as he dragged her. “I thought you wanted him here—”

“Not until I’m ready for him.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to argue with him again, but then—

Then she saw him. Just the corner of his leather jacket outside the large loading dock door. A cry of relief nearly bubbled out of her throat, because she knew—God, she knew she’d be okay.

Jason was already here. He’d found her. Somehow, he’d been close when Manny called, and he was here before Manny would expect him.

“I told you,” Manny was saying, “I have a plan.”

“And so do I.” Elizabeth spit in his face.

When Manny reared back, she kicked at the back of his knees until Manny went sprawling. Not even waiting to see if he’d hit the ground, Elizabeth took off, finding a burst of adrenaline somehow—

She exploded out onto the docks, hearing Manny’s angry shouts behind her—Jason was there, shoving her behind him, his arm outstretched, the gun pointed at Manny who skidded to a stop with a growl and look of loathing at Elizabeth.

“You fucking bitch!”

Elizabeth expected Jason to open fire—to shoot Manny where he stood until he was dead. But he didn’t. Because she was standing there. Watching him. “Jason—”

“That’s so sweet,” Manny said with a shake of his head. He looked around, his hands up. “Can’t bear to make her see you as a killer. Must be true love. I guess I’ll just find a way to meet you again—”

“Jason, no, you can’t let him go—”

Manny’s grin only widened—until Jason pulled the trigger. Twice in rapid succession, two shots to the chest that sent Manny flying backward, skidding across the docks. Elizabeth sank to her knees, dizzy with relief.

“I needed a heart shot,” Jason said flatly. He tucked his gun away, then sighed as he heard the whirl of police sirens. He took Elizabeth’s hand and pulled her back to her feet, crushing her into a tight hug. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He pulled away, framed her face in his hands, searching her eyes.

“Just a hit on the head when he grabbed me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I was so scared. He called you, and I thought—I was so scared—” Elizabeth threw herself back into his arms. “But you came—”

“And you got yourself away from him.” He turned his face, pressed his lips to her hair. “You saved yourself. I just finished the job.”

“I—” Elizabeth drew back on a shaky breath. She met his eyes. “How did you find me? How did you know we were back here—”

“I just—” He swallowed. “I just did.” Their eyes held for a long moment.

Elizabeth’s head was spinning, and then— “Oh, God. Lucky. He was hurt—”

She drew back, blanching as she saw several police officers standing in the doorway, including Mac Scorpio, who was just raising his brows.

“Your husband is being loaded into an ambulance—if you care,” Mac said with a coldness in his tone she’d never heard before. He nodded to Manny. “He dead?”

“Yeah.” Jason lifted his chin as if daring Mac to do something about it.

“About time.” Mac shrugged and walked away, back inside the warehouse. Elizabeth sagged against Jason.

“Asshole,” Jason muttered as he put an arm around her shoulder and helped her limp back inside. “He could have asked you if you were okay—”

“I can’t worry about that,” Elizabeth sighed as they neared the front of the building. But then she could hear Lucky’s voice. She rushed towards him. “Lucky, are you okay?”

She tried to touch his arm, but he slapped her hand away. “What do you care?” Lucky bit out. “I heard what Manny said. Go be with your lover, you bitch!”

“W-What—” Elizabeth stepped back, stung. She looked around at the paramedics, at the other officers who avoided making eye contact before looking at Jason, still standing by the warehouse door. She looked back at Lucky. “Manny—he was lying, Lucky. It wasn’t like that—”

“He was right about one thing. Faithless whore. That’s what you are. What you’ve always been—”

“Elizabeth, he’s in a lot of pain right now,” Mac finally said, putting a hand on her arm, drawing her away. “Let’s give him a minute.”

“I—” She looked at Mac. “I—”

“And what did you expect, hanging out with Jason Morgan?” Lucky’s partner, Jesse Beaudry, snapped. “What did you think people would say?”

Her knees buckled as she took in all of the people who had listened to Lucky—who believed him—

She’d been kidnapped, held at knifepoint, threatened with unimaginable rape and torture—had managed to survive it—had just about rescued herself—

And it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

She didn’t matter.

Tears burned in her throat as she slowly took a step back. She stumbled over a rock and fell to the ground. No one moved to help her. She sat on the gravel for a long minute, just staring at her hands, now scraped from the rocks.

“Come on,” Jason murmured. He knelt next to her and got her to her feet. “Let’s go to the hospital. Robin’s waiting. And Emily. Everyone’s worried.”

“Are they?” Elizabeth asked dully. She closed her eyes to shut out all the stares, the accusations and let Jason steer her towards a car, only belatedly realizing that Sonny and Max had arrived.

“Yeah, they are. Come on,” he repeated. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” With a shaky sigh, she slid into the backseat of the car and looked one more time towards the ambulance whose back doors had also closed.

She should feel relief. Manny was dead. The nightmare was over.

Except it felt like it was just beginning.

Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I’ve become
– Bring Me to Life, Evanescence

---

Friday, April 7, 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

Elizabeth winced and rolled her arm again, trying to gingerly move her shoulder. She’d asked for the paperwork detail again because it would keep her in one place longer. It also allowed Cody to watch over her better as well as doing a favor for the other nurses who hated paperwork. It might go a long way to boosting her reputation with them.

But she really just wanted to crawl back into bed with an ice pack. She’d slept uneasily, even knowing that Cody had taken one of the guest rooms down the hall and that there were two more guards outside the house. Jason had stayed for dinner and nearly all of Spiderman 2, but with Cameron there to keep them from conversations they should not have, it had been almost a relaxing evening.

If she didn’t think about the reasons she was at her grandmother’s with Cameron or why Jason was there.

She glanced up as the elevator doors opened, and she saw Bobbie step out with a frown on her face. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as Lucky’s aunt approached her.

“Elizabeth, I was hoping I’d see you today. Do you have a minute?”

“I have so much paperwork,” Elizabeth began, but then Bobbie just arched her brow, and Elizabeth remembered how much she owed this woman. With a sigh, she set down her pen and followed Bobbie over to the waiting area where Cody sat, pretending to be interested in a newspaper.

“I know you,” Bobbie said to him. “You—I’ve seen you at Sonny’s—”

Cody winced, then got to his feet. “I’ll be over by the elevators,” he told Elizabeth, folding his newspaper under his arm. Bobbie watched him go, her eyebrows knitted together.

“Why do you have a guard?” Bobbie asked. “What did Lucky do—”

“Oh—” Elizabeth flushed, and smoothed her hair, making sure it was arranged over the bruise. “Oh, that’s nothing. That’s about Manny.” She briefly told Bobbie about Manny and the reasons he might have targeted her. “It’s just a precaution.”

“Is that why Lucky was so mad about Cameron hanging out with Morgan? Because I talked to Carly and she said—”

“Carly’s doing me a favor by letting Cam play with Morgan today,” Elizabeth interrupted. She folded her arms. “I didn’t want him in daycare. And Lucky—it’s fine. It’s not like the PCPD can do anything.”

“Elizabeth.” Bobbie pressed her lips together and stared at her for a long moment. “You called me last night, sounding upset. You didn’t want Lucky to pick up his own son—insisted I have my son drive him to Audrey’s when she’s out of town—Lucas told me you had a cut on your face and that you’d been crying—”

“I fell,” Elizabeth insisted. “I was tired, and I tripped on the carpet. C’mon, Bobbie. You know what the hours are like here. And I have a toddler—”

“I do know that.” Bobbie stared at her for another long moment. “Let’s sit.”

“I should get back to work—”

“Just for a moment,” Bobbie said, a thin thread of steel in her tone. With a sigh, Elizabeth sat on the sofa. Bobbie sat next to her. “Have I ever told you about one of my first husbands? D.L. Brock?”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I guess I didn’t—I really only knew about Tony and Stefan.”

“Well, D.L. came a lot earlier. Before Tony. He was not a kind man.” Bobbie hesitated. “He was abusive—”

“Bobbie, I don’t know what you’re thinking—”

“I’m thinking that you need to stop interrupting me,” Bobbie said gently. “Because I have something I’d like you to hear. He beat me one night, and I had to have a hysterectomy. That’s why there’s only Carly. Why Lucas was adopted. Because I trusted someone who hurt me.”

“I’m sorry that you went through that,” Elizabeth managed, her eyes blurring with tears. “It’s horrible.”

“It was. But what was more terrible was thinking I was alone. That I couldn’t tell anyone. I don’t know what’s going on with Lucky, Elizabeth. But don’t you ever forget that I love you, too. Every bit as much as I love my nephew. You are part of my family, and that has nothing to do with his marriage to you.”

“Bobbie—”

Bobbie leaned forward and gently tucked Elizabeth’s hair behind her ear, letting her fingers drift over the bruise, the angry purple fading into a sickening mix of green and yellow. Over the cut by her cheekbone. “I love you,” she repeated. “And when you need someone, you come to me. Because you are not alone. And I know that Lucky is not the boy we knew.”

Elizabeth wanted to tell her so desperately, but she couldn’t form the words. She didn’t know why. Bobbie clearly knew. And she was ready to hear it.

But Elizabeth wasn’t to say it.

“I have to get back to work,” Elizabeth finally said. She got to her feet. “Thank you for coming by. And for helping so much with Cameron. He loves you.”

“I love him,” Bobbie said. She kissed Elizabeth’s cheek, just above the cut. “When you’re ready, you know where to find me.”

“I know.”

Bobbie left then, and Elizabeth watched her go. Cody returned to his post in the armchair, armed with his newspaper. She looked at him. “No news?”

“Not a single sighting.”

She sighed, rubbed her face. “That’s not good, is it?”

“No,” Cody admitted. “If he’d just left town—” He shrugged. “Don’t worry, Miss Webber.”

“I won’t. I know you won’t leave me alone.”

General Hospital: Pediatrics Floor

Emily frowned as she walked past a patient’s room, stopped, and backed up a few steps to find her brother in a room with Epiphany and Alan.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“Emily,” Alan began, but Emily wasn’t in the mood to be batted aside by another well-meaning man. Not today.

“Is Elizabeth okay? Is Manny in the hospital? Where’s Cameron?”

Jason sighed and looked at Alan and Epiphany before looking back at his sister. “Em, give me a minute, and we’ll talk.” He turned back to Alan “Thank you for letting Stan into the security room,” Jason said. “I know this makes you uncomfortable.”

“It does,” Alan said with a sigh. “But I didn’t want the board to hire Manny. And the PCPD has their hands tied. I don’t love this, Jason, but if you’re right, then one of my nurses has been targeted under my watch. I won’t stand for it. Whatever you need. Just—” He grimaced. “Catch this psycho.”

He left the room, then, and with a pointed look at Jason, Epiphany followed. Emily folded her arms. “Well?”

Jason closed the door and turned to his sister. “You said that Manny used to hang out on this floor all the time. Until Elizabeth got moved.”

Emily nodded. “Yeah, and then it was like I never saw him.”

“But Skye was here a lot the last few weeks, wasn’t she? Doing a charity thing for the hospital?”

“She was—” Emily frowned. “But Manny was never around. He was always upstairs—Oh, man.” She swallowed, letting her hands fall to her sides. “He really was watching her. Oh, God, Jason. I thought she was just overreacting—”

“I did, too. But she’s got a guard, and I’ve got people on her grandmother’s house—”

Emily exhaled slowly. “So she went to Audrey’s. I was wondering—do you know why? What happened?”

Jason shook his head. “You should ask her about it—”

“No—” Emily touched his arm. “No. C’mon. What’s going on?”

“You should ask Elizabeth,” Jason repeated gently.

“Hard since she’s not talking to me,” Emily muttered. She looked away, then flashed her brother an irritated glare. “This is mostly your fault, you know. If you hadn’t been such a…jackass…I never would have—” She stopped.

“Attacked me?” Jason demanded. “Told me something you knew Elizabeth would be embarrassed about? Do you want me to apologize to you, Emily? Because I don’t really know what the hell I did wrong.”

And sometimes when Emily thought about it, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it either. “Well, you should have let me make my own choices because I figured out pretty quick that Sonny is…not a good idea.”

Jason frowned at her. “What? What does that mean?”

“It means,” Emily said through gritted teeth, “that you were right. I hate it, but you were right. Sonny doesn’t—he doesn’t respect me. He refused to talk to me about Manny even though he’d already told you it wasn’t his problem. He can’t have it both ways—”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Sonny has a thing about women and the business.”

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. But this isn’t business. This is a psychotic asshole who might try to hurt my best friend. And it’s bullshit because you let Elizabeth help all the time and clearly he doesn’t have a problem with it—” She broke off when she saw Jason hesitate. “What?”

“I didn’t plan it. But—that winter when I got shot—Elizabeth just—she fell in the middle of it. And then the bomb in her studio—I mean—look, it’s not important. It’s just—Sonny really doesn’t want Elizabeth involved either. I always…almost always,” he corrected softly, “told her more than he wanted.”

Emily swallowed hard. “Almost always,” she repeated. “Except that one time. When Sonny didn’t want her to know about faking his death.”

“Yeah. And I listened to him. I shouldn’t—” Jason stopped. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sorry you’re hurt, Emily, but—”

“But Sonny doesn’t respect women,” Emily said. “Even women he says he loves.” She nodded. “Okay. Well, that clears up a lot. He doesn’t respect or trust me—”

“That’s—probably a little harsh, but—no, not really.”

“And that’s what you wanted to protect me from.” Emily folded her arms, hugging her patient’s chart to her chest. “I figured it out on my own, Jason. I can take care of myself.”

“You’re my sister. I’m always going to want to take care of you. Stop you from getting hurt.”

“Yeah. I know. You’re my brother. And I’m always going to want to take care of you,” she told him. He flinched. “Hey, what’s good for the goose and all that, Jase—we both went about it the wrong way, but neither of us was wrong. You told me that Sonny would hurt me. That he’d never be what I needed. And you were right.”

“Emily—”

“And maybe I did it the wrong way, but I’m not wrong. You deserve better than Sam McCall. I’m glad I told you what Elizabeth said. I wish I’d done it three years ago when it might have made a difference.”

Jason looked at her for a long moment. “Why didn’t you?” he asked finally.

Emily frowned. “Because I—well, you’d moved on with Courtney. And I guess—I don’t know. I thought it was true. And if you really did cheat on Elizabeth, then maybe she was better off.” She tilted her head. “Would it have changed something? Has it changed something?”

“I need to get going.”

Jason started past her, but Emily grabbed his arm. “Jase, she’s married now.”

“I know that—”

“And she’s dealing with a lot. Lucky’s not doing great with this setback, I know that. They’re fighting a lot. He told me that—”

“You’ve seen him?” Jason turned back to her, his interest engaged again. “When?”

“Last night. He came to the Quartermaines looking for Elizabeth. I guess—you said she’s at Audrey’s.” Emily sighed. “He said something about you hanging around and it’s—it’s—I don’t know. I’m just worried. Judging by how he looked last night, he’s probably going to fail his physical today, and it’s going to make things worse.”

“Worse,” Jason repeated. “So…you haven’t seen her?”

“I saw her yesterday, but—” Emily frowned. What didn’t she know? How bad were things with Lucky and Elizabeth? “You’re not telling me something.”

“It’s—it’s nothing. Elizabeth already told me we can’t be friends. I’ve accepted that. You don’t have to worry, Emily. I’m not trying to get between them.” He shook his head. “I learned that lesson a long time ago.”

He left this time, and Emily stared after her brother, troubled. “You never had to try,” she muttered as she left the room. Jason seemed to drive a wedge between Lucky and Elizabeth simply by breathing.

She couldn’t wait for this Manny crap to be over, so everything could just go back to the way it used to be.

Luke’s: Back Office

Luke frowned as his sister walked in. He pulled his feet off the desk and got up. “Barbara, was I expecting you?”

“No, but I was hoping you might know where to find your son.” Bobbie set her purse down and took off her jacket. “Have you seen him lately?”

“No, he’s been avoiding me, truth be told, since he borrowed money to pay their car insurance—” Luke shook his head. “I tried to tell him he could move into the house, save themselves some rent, but he refused.” He gestured for Bobbie to take a seat, but she shook her head. “They both have good jobs — I don’t know why they’re struggling—”

“Speaking like a man who’s never had to worry about child care,” Bobbie said sourly. “Lucky’s on half-pay because he can’t work a full shift. And part of Elizabeth’s paycheck goes to daycare. They’re stretched pretty thin. And that’s before the hospital bills.”

“How—” Luke hesitated. “Does he tell you all this?”

“No, but I made it my business to find out. Audrey went to Memphis for a month to visit her grandson, and your son refused to change his schedule around, so Elizabeth didn’t have to pay extra for daycare.” Bobbie tilted her head to the side. “I’m afraid Lucky is more like his father every day.”

“Well…” Luke cleared his throat. “That doesn’t, ah, sound very complimentary, Barbara Jean.” He got up and walked towards the front of the club, where he poured himself a drink. “What did my gender do now?”

“Not your gender. Your bloodline. You weren’t, and still aren’t, very fond of your stepson—”

“Oh, come on—” Luke set the bottle of whiskey down with a thud. “That’s not fair. The Dark Prince is…” He wiggled his fingers. “Dark. He’s a Cassadine—”

“And you made Laura’s life hell because of it. Forced her to choose. To feel guilty.”

Luke scowled and sipped his drink. “I love when you stop by, sister dear. Always a boost to the ego.”

“Lucky is doing the same thing to Elizabeth. He doesn’t…” Bobbie shook her head. “He doesn’t love that little boy.”

“That’s not—” He sighed. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I asked Mac. And he said that he offered to cover Lucky at work so he could use that time to go to physical therapy. If Cameron stays in daycare between four and seven, Elizabeth has to pay nearly two hundred extra dollars a week. Lucky refused to take Mac’s offer, not even to save Elizabeth money.”

“I—” Luke hesitated. “He’s…” But there weren’t words. “Okay, so he’s selfish. No crime in that. And maybe he’s just too focused on getting back on the job—”

“Elizabeth asked me to help. I already watch Morgan a few nights a week, and I rearranged my schedule to make sure I could be there. Because Lucky outright refused. I tried to ask him why, and he told me it’s not his problem. Elizabeth asked him to pick Cameron up from my place exactly once. And Lucky forgot.”

None of this was good evidence. “Okay, so Cowboy isn’t a good father. That…” Luke winced. “That does run in the family.”

“I think he’s hurting Elizabeth.”

Luke stared at his sister for a long time before swallowed hard. “And you don’t mean emotionally.”

“No, I don’t. She has a bruise on her face, and I saw her holding her shoulder as she was in pain. Last night, she called me, Luke, and I could hear it in her voice. She was crying, trying to control herself. Begged me not to let Lucky pick up Cameron. To have Lucas take him to Audrey’s. Because she would be there.”

Luke rubbed a hand over his face. “Damn it, Barbara Jean. That’s not—Lucky loves that girl. He’s always loved her. Don’t you remember how careful he was with her? He used to—” His voice thickened. “He used to…”

“He used to,” Bobbie repeated softly. “He used to worship her. He used to think about how to make her happy. He used to watch her. Watched the world around her. Tried to anticipate anything that might hurt her. All of that is past tense.”

“It’s—it’s been a tough year—” But Luke couldn’t even finish it.

“Worse than the year she was raped, and he found out about…” Bobbie gestured at him. “Worse than that? Because that rocked his world. Yes, he’s been sick. He’s been hurt. But I’m worried—”

“Did she actually tell you he’s hurt her?” Luke asked, desperate to find a way out of this. “Elizabeth’s a strong girl, she wouldn’t stand for it—”

“Oh, like she wouldn’t sit around for a year dealing with brainwashing while Lucky treated her like crap? How many times did we all tell her just to have patience? That if we loved Lucky enough, he’d come back to us—”

“This isn’t our fault—”

“No. It’s not. But if we don’t do something now, whatever happens next will be our fault. Have you seen Lucky today?” Bobbie repeated.

“No. I—I haven’t.” Luke reached for his cell phone. “But I’ll call him—”

“I’ve left voice mails. He’s not picking up.” Bobbie reached over, touched his hand. “Luke, she’s not ready to face it. I know that. I’ve been there. We’ve both been there.” She cleared her throat. “We watched Mama go through it—”

“I’m not talking about it, Barbara Jean—”

“There’s something rotten in the Spencer blood. Daddy used to beat Mama like it was nothing. And she died. You—”

“You don’t have to tell me what I did,” Luke muttered. “I know what’s in me. What I did to my angel. What I can never take back. But Lucky was different. He was going—” He looked back at his sister. “He was going to be better than all of us.”

“And maybe he still can be. But only if we stop it now. Before he really does something he can’t take back. I love that girl, Luke. Laura loved her, too. What would she want us to do?”

“She’d want us to look out for Elizabeth.” Luke sighed. “Yeah, okay, we’ll track him down. We’ll make this right.”

General Hospital: Hallway

“I’m gonna ask her,” Patrick declared with a firm nod of his head. He shook his finger at Robin Scorpio. “Don’t talk me out of it—”

“Couldn’t be done if I wanted to—” Robin grimaced as she watched Elizabeth working at the hub. The nurse winced as she lifted a pile of charts. “Can’t we just tie her up and force her to let one of us look at her shoulder?”

“I like the way you think. Clearly, I have great taste.” Patrick slung an arm around her shoulders. “But it’ll look weird if I do it, so I’ll distract her, and you get the rope—”

“The two of you are dumb as hell.”

The doctors jumped at the bark behind them and spun around to find Epiphany scowling at both of them. “You want to ask her? Just ask her. She ain’t gonna tell you fools nothing.”

“But we can’t just…” Patrick gestured in Elizabeth’s direction. “We can’t let it go. Can we?” He looked at Robin, and she knew he was thinking about the conversation they’d had the month before. His worry over something in Lucky’s medical history that would spill over to Elizabeth.

It looked like his worst fears had come true.

Robin forced a smile on her face and turned to the nurse. “He’s learning empathy,” she told Epiphany, trying to lighten the moment. “It’s cute. Really.”

Patrick scowled. “Great. The two of you have jokes, but I’m over here—”

“Just follow me,” Epiphany said with a roll of her eyes. “Now.” She stalked across the hallway and meekly, the doctors followed.

Elizabeth looked up to find the trio standing in front of her, their expressions resolute. “Uh…can I help you?”

“Here’s what is going to happen,” Epiphany told her. “You’re going to let one of these idiots take a look at that shoulder. You’re going to let the other one take pictures of your injuries. We’re not going to ask you any questions. But you will have them if you need them.”

Elizabeth stared at her supervisor for a long moment before shaking her head. “I’m fine—”

“Girl,” Epiphany began, but Robin, taking her life in her hands, interrupted.

“Just me, then, Liz. You and me. We’ll go do a quick exam, and I promise. I’m not going to ask any questions.”

“There aren’t questions to ask—”

“You have a son you need to be able to carry,” Robin told her, stepping to the front of the trio. “Don’t risk making it worse.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Fine. But just you.” She eyed Patrick and Epiphany suspiciously as Robin took her by the elbow. “And no questions.”

“Not even one.”

When they were in the room, Elizabeth sighed, realizing Robin had clearly prepared for this. “You went to see the S.A.N.E nurse,” she murmured.

“I did,” Robin said as she unpacked the kit. “I wanted to take pictures, and this has a disposable camera and measuring stick. We…” She looked at Elizabeth. “We don’t need any of the other stuff, do we?”

“No.” Elizabeth hesitated, then slowly peeled off her scrub top, wincing.

She moved on to the long-sleeved knit top she wore underneath. Robin helped Elizabeth ease it over her head, revealing the purple bruise on her shoulder blade, the fingerprints on her arm, and to Elizabeth’s surprise, another bruise wrapping around her abdomen. She frowned at it as Robin stood her in front of the wall and handed her the measuring tape.

“I didn’t see that,” she murmured. Oh, God, she was covered in bruises. She’d tried so hard not to look at herself in the shower in this morning, but—

Robin thankfully remained silent and merely handed Elizabeth a hairband. She tied her hair back to reveal the sickening bruise at her hairline.

“I know I said no questions,” Robin said, “and I mean that, but um, the shoulder injury…I just need to know what you…” She sighed, looked at Elizabeth. “No questions,” she repeated.

Elizabeth met her gaze for a long time, then nodded. She gestured at her face. “The first bruise is three days old. That’s from hitting the wall. And these…” She gestured at the first set of fingerprints on her right arm. “That’s two days ago. The, uh, cut on my face…and the rest of them…” She closed her eyes. “I fell backward over a table and into a lamp. Then I hit the floor.”

“Okay.”

Robin gently rotated Elizabeth’s shoulder for a minute, then nodded. “I think it’s just a bad contusion. Are you taking anything for it? Motrin?”

“Motrin and ice.”

“That’ll probably be good.” Robin handed Elizabeth her shirt. “I’ll take the camera to a one hour place. It’ll be dated today. And if…you ever need anyone to certify when they were taken, I’ll do it.”

Elizabeth held her clothes to her chest, her eyes burning. “You’re really not asking questions.”

“If you want me to ask them, I will. But I don’t think I need to.” Robin bit her lip. “Are you safe?”

“Right now? Yes.”

“I don’t know you that well, Elizabeth. But I like you. And I remember Lucky from growing up here.”

“You said—”

“I’m just stating facts. I know that there will be some people who will either never believe you or assume you did something to deserve it.” Robin met her eyes. “You never deserved it. And I will believe you. When you’re ready to answer those questions.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Let me know if that shoulder feels worse, okay? We might want an MRI, but it doesn’t look that serious.”

When Elizabeth had gotten changed, she followed Robin back out to the nurse’s station, where she found Patrick and Epiphany still waiting. She arched a brow. “Don’t you people have jobs?”

“Yes, I’m going to go do it in a minute.” Patrick scowled. “I don’t like people.”

“This is not news to me—”

“And I think your husband is a giant asshole—”

“Patrick,” Robin hissed, whacking him in the shoulder as Elizabeth blanched.

“But since I’m not allowed to say that,” Patrick continued, “so I’ll just say that you are one of the few people that I like. And it pisses me off I can’t do more to help.” He paused. “It really pisses me off.”

“You…” Elizabeth hesitated. “You are helping. Thank you for your concern. I’ve got this under control.” She looked at Epiphany. “Can I clock out early? I only have fifteen more minutes—”

“Yeah, but grab your guard,” Epiphany told her. They watched as Elizabeth got on the elevator with Cody.

“Well, what did she say?” Patrick demanded as soon as the doors had shut. “How bad is it?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Robin said with a roll of her eyes. She muttered under her breath and stalked away.

“I’m worried,” Patrick told Epiphany. “If she doesn’t say what he did to her, she might talk herself into going back—”

“All we can do is be there for her. You forget — he’s not just her husband. He’s a cop,” Epiphany said with a shrug. “And they’ll stick by him.”

Patrick wanted to argue, but simply couldn’t. So he just went back to his shift.

General Hospital: Parking Garage

Elizabeth hung back slightly as they approached the dark black sedan Cody had driven her to work in. She waited as Cody walked around the car, looking for evidence that it had been broken into or tampered with.

He stooped on the ground to look under the car, completing the bomb check. Then she heard him hiss. Her pulse kicked up as she took another step back. “What is it?” she demanded.

“A flat tire.” Cody scowled as he got back to his feet and dusted some grit and dirt from his suit jacket. “Damn it.” He pulled his phone from his coat. “I’ll call for another car.”

Elizabeth exhaled, relieved. She just wanted all of this to be over. “Okay—but—” She frowned. “Don’t you think it’s weird that we have a flat? Don’t Jason and Sonny do, like, routine maintenance?”

Cody glanced up, frowned at her, then looked back at the car. “Shit. Let’s go back inside—”

A shadow darted around them, and Elizabeth screamed as Manny Ruiz lurched out from behind a car and ran at Cody, who didn’t even have a chance to pull his gun before the tire iron smacked the side of his skull.

“Run,” Cody choked out as he fell against the car. Elizabeth took off, the pads of her sneakers slapping against the concrete floor as she dashed back towards the emergency stairs, knowing she’d never get to the elevator.

Just as she reached the door and started to twist the handle, a hand slid over her mouth, and Manny’s voice panted in her ear. “Not so fast, Pretty Girl. You’re all mine.”

Elizabeth bit his hand, then screamed. Manny swore, spun her around, then backhanded her. Elizabeth flew into a car, then falling onto the ground.

With a moan, Elizabeth tried to crawl away. She could see Cody in the distance, laying sprawled out by his car.

“Help…”

She cried out as Manny yanked her head back—then dimly saw the car bumper in front of her before pain exploded in her head, and her vision went black.