They didn’t have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough, is forever enough
How long do you want to be loved
Is forever enough
Cause I’m never, never giving you up
– Lullaby, The Chicks

---

Friday, March 5, 2004

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

“Are you sure about this?” Bobbie asked as a guard let Kevin into the penthouse.

“As sure as I can be about anything, Mama.” She smiled hesitantly at Kevin. “Thanks for coming so late. We had to wait until Sonny was—until he was awake.” They’d sedated him after the confrontation with Jason, and he hadn’t stirred until an hour ago. Max and Cody were both standing guard upstairs.

She’d been surprised when Elizabeth’s guard hadn’t returned to the hospital, but maybe he’d figured he could protect Elizabeth better by making sure Sonny stayed away.

“Not a problem,” Kevin said. “You said it was an emergency.”

Luke emerged from the kitchen, sliding his phone into his pocket. “Laura said that Lucas and Felix are taking over for her,” he told Carly. “Morgan’s asleep, and they’ve got Michael watching a movie. He said don’t worry—he’ll take care of them tonight.” He looked at Kevin. “Hey, Doc.”

“Luke,” Kevin said with a nod. He focused on Carly. “What’s the situation? You didn’t say much on the phone.”

“Um, last summer I told you Sonny was having problems.” Kevin nodded. “The hallucinations—they’re back. And what’s—what’s been going on with his violent episodes at the Brownstone—the breaking in, the assault on Lucas and Felix—and then today—he barged in on Elizabeth—” Carly pressed a fist against her stomach, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. “Her guard said she was dizzy and struggling to breathe, but Sonny didn’t seem to notice. He just kept screaming at her—he had to be physically removed.”

Kevin lifted a brow. “And you think this is an indication of a mental illness?”

“Sonny’s had issues for years. He gets into these moods where he’s angry, paranoid—sometimes he loses track of time. He was doing that last summer. The hallucination—um, that was new for me, but Courtney saw them last summer. So did Mama.”

“Jason told me that it wasn’t the first time,” Bobbie said. “Apparently, Sonny has hallucinated Lily off and on through the years, and a long time ago—he saw his mother.”

“Has he consented to talk to me?”

“I’m hoping you’ll sign a commitment paper. I want a 5150.” Carly folded her arms. “Mama said you can do that if you think he’s a danger to himself or others.”

“I can send him to Ferncliffe for up to 72 hours. After that, I’d need two doctors to sign off on a further commitment.” Kevin raised an eyebrow, looked at the trio of them. “Do you think that’s necessary?”

“I think—” Bobbie hesitated, looked at her daughter. “I think we should have called someone months ago when it happened the first time. But Carly was missing, and I left the decision up to Jason. If you don’t agree, Kevin, you can say so. I just—what happened today—what’s been happening—”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it,” Kevin said, holding up a hand. “Carly has mentioned enough during our sessions that I’m sure Sonny would benefit from speaking to someone. And yes, he has acted out violently based on the charges pending against him. In any case, I’ll need to assess him—”

There was a crash from upstairs and raised voices. “Mr. C!” Max shouted. “You gotta—”

“I don’t have to do anything! Where the hell is he? I’ll kill him!” There was more shouting, the sound of someone being thrown against a wall—

Luke shoved Bobbie and Carly behind him as Sonny barreled down the steps, Max and Cody on his heels. Cody dove, tackling Sonny as he reached the door. And still, Sonny fought like a madman.

“Let me go! He tried to—I’m going to kill him! He can’t take what’s mine!”

“Sorry, Mrs. C,” Max said, panting as he and Cody got Sonny on the ground. “We tried—”

“That bitch! She’s next—”

“I’ve heard enough,” Kevin said. He set his briefcase on the coffee table, took out some paperwork as well as a small medical kit. “I’ll give him a sedative, and we’ll get him transported to Ferncliffe tonight.”

Scorpio House: Front Porch

Mac hesitated when he saw Felicia waiting outside his door, swaying gently on the swing he’d installed when she and the girls had lived with him. He paused on the front walk. “Did we have plans?”

“No. But Anna called.” Felicia tipped her head and patted the area next to her. “She said Scott was going to find you about Capelli, and thought you might need some one to talk to.”

“Nothing to say.” But Mac sat down anyway. “Capelli was a thorn in our side and now he’s gone. They’re doing what I couldn’t—cleaning up the department.”

“I know this has been hard, Mac—”

“I heard on the scanner that a pregnant woman was being rushed into the hospital, coughing up blood.” Mac stared out over the street. “Based on the address called in from 911, it was Elizabeth.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“We did the best we could with the Lansing case,” Mac said slowly. “I think, with hindsight, you can look back and point out where we could have done better, but all in all, we found Carly within a week. Elizabeth had refused all offers to help and she’d chosen to stay. She knew she was being drugged more than just that one night. Taggert and the others can see that as being on them, but at the end of the day — she was an adult and she made her choices.”

Felicia said nothing, and Mac continued. “We had tunnel vision, sure. But after everything that had happened with Alcazar the year before, it just made sense to focus on what we knew.” The swing gently swayed again. “But the rapist case — there’s nothing I can do about that. I screwed it up. Things were going south for us already, I could feel it, you know—” He met her eyes. “The Outback was failing, we weren’t connecting, and the Quartermaines were breathing down our necks. Floyd wanted Baker to go away, and the only hold up was was the rape case. It was a weak case, and I didn’t think we’d get anything in a lab report. I believed her,” Mac murmured. “He’d confessed. So when Floyd wanted it to go away, I did it. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

“I know you did, Mac—”

“I was looking for a reason to make it go away. I should have thought about the crime. Baker had no history of sexual violence. He couldn’t even bring himself to hurt Emily or Elizabeth when he held them hostage. I knew that then, Felicia. I believed her,” he said painfully, “but in the back of my head, I wondered. I put it away, I made it disappear. Because it was easier.”

He closed his eyes. “For months, I’ve been trying to make peace with this. Since Brooke was attacked and I thought about the park. Since her statement came in and it matched Elizabeth’s. But I kept trying to hide it. I tried to keep her case from being reactivated. I should have been the one to leak it, not Scott. He knew it was time to get rid of Floyd, but I knew I’d go with him. And I needed to make it right.”

He scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “Vinnie was one of my guys. For years. We’ll never know how many women he hurt. How many he got away with, how many never reported.” His voice faltered. “Because I chose the easy way out and buried that dress in the archives. All those women were hurt because of me. Brooke is dead because of me.”

“Mac—”

“It all leads back to that decision,” Mac insisted. “And now, Elizabeth is fighting for her life. For her child’s life—how much extra stress did she put her on her body because of that case?” He exhaled roughly. “Scott and Taggert—they can dig themselves out of their bad choices. Out of the mistakes. But I can’t. There’s no redemption for me.”

General Hospital: ICU

Shortly after eight that evening, Elizabeth’s final procedure had been completed, and she’d been transferred from recovery to the ICU. Back behind the clear walls that Jason knew she hated.

“The embolization went well,” Monica told him in the hallway as Patrick completed the transfer and spoke quietly to a nurse. “Have you been up to see Cameron?”

“Yeah,” Jason said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I couldn’t stay—they had to—” He exhaled slowly. “There’s a problem with his lungs.”

She inhaled sharply. “I didn’t get a chance to talk to Kelly after we completed delivery—” Monica turned to face him more directly. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a leak in his lungs,” Jason said. “I, uh, I haven’t been able to—look into it—the doctor said it was common. It’s some kind of emphysema. He’s on a ventilator and medication to help his lungs develop.” He stared into the hospital room, where Elizabeth lay on her own ventilator. “How much longer will she have to be on the ventilator?”

“Through the night. We stopped the bleeding, but the next few hours are critical—not for her life—” Monica added quickly as Jason whipped his head back to look at her. “But to see if the embolization holds without having another procedure. We want her lungs to begin healing, and they can’t if we have to go back in.”

“But—Patrick said she’d be okay?”

Monica gestured to the man in question who exited the room, leaving the sliding door partially ajar. “Patrick?”

“Elizabeth is out of danger,” Patrick told Jason. “We took a full history from the guard who brought her in—the worst of the bleeding didn’t start until just before they pulled up to the hospital, and Monica said she didn’t lose consciousness until she arrived. Those are good signs.”

“Should he have waited for EMTs?” Jason asked quietly.

“No,” Patrick said. “EMTs might have been able to intubate her faster, but she wouldn’t have needed it right away. She got to the hospital within ten minutes, and the massive hemoptysis didn’t cause any lasting oxygen deprivation to the brain.”

“We thought it might have, which is why we prioritized Cameron’s delivery,” Monica finished. “But all in all, Jason, we were very lucky. She wasn’t alone, and Cody acted quickly. She was at the hospital by the time the real crisis happened and was treated right away.”

Elizabeth looked so pale, her eyes sunken circles against her skin. A tube was taped to her face to keep the ventilator in place. Another echo of last year.

“Thank you. For taking care of her.” He hesitated. “Can I sit with her now?”

“Go for it,” Patrick said, marking something on the chart. “We’ll be in and out all night keeping our eye on her vitals. Tomorrow, we’ll do more imaging to make sure the bleeding is taken care of, but all in all, she can be discharged when Dr. Lee releases her from her service.”

“Really?” Jason blinked at him, surprised. “I—”

“It looks worse than it is,” Patrick said as Monica breathed her own sigh of relief. “Yeah, coughing up blood is bad, and she lost some blood she couldn’t afford to lose. But the embolization was non-invasive, and a lot of the time we’d do this kind of procedure with an overnight trip.” He set the chart back in the slot by the door. “I’ll come back in a bit.”

“The ventilator is just precautionary,” Monica reminded Jason after Patrick had left. “Why don’t you go sit with Cameron? I’m off, and I can stay with Elizabeth—”

“Edward is with him,” Jason murmured. He looked at Monica, a bit uncomfortable. “He said Grandmother was worried, so he came to the NICU. He’s up there now. And Emily and Nikolas said they’d stay tonight. ”

“I’m surprised you agreed,” Monica said. “I knew—I knew you were getting along better with Edward, but—”

“Elizabeth likes him,” Jason said. “And I wanted to be down here when Elizabeth came back to the room. I told him I’d relieve him when Emily got off her shift and Nikolas came back from getting them dinner.”

“Well, I’ll go check on my grandson anyway.” Monica hugged him. “This was scary,” she murmured as she drew back. “But we got through it, and they’re both going to be okay. We can start thinking about the next step.”

“I just—I’ll feel better in a few hours,” Jason replied. “When Elizabeth wakes up. Or when they tell me Cameron’s strong enough for me to hold.”

“We’ll get there, Jason.”

Monica patted his arm one more time, then walked towards the entrance of the ICU. Jason went into the room, and before he sat down, took the rings out of his pocket. He sat down, picked up Elizabeth’s left hand, and slid them back on her finger.

“Hey.”

He turned to find his sister at the door. “Em. I thought you were working a few more hours—”

“My resident took pity on me,” she said. She wandered into the room and stood at the foot of the bed, a heavy sigh. Emily brushed away her tears. “I’m glad it’s over, but I was really hoping I’d never see her in another ICU. Not like this.”

“Yeah.” He looked down at Elizabeth’s hand, at her fingernails. They were unpainted because she couldn’t wear polish in the hospital. It felt wrong to see them look like this—without bright reds or golds or any of her other favorite colors.

“I checked on Cameron before I came down,” Emily told him. “I saw Grandfather. He’s telling him stories about Grandmother and about you growing up.” She tipped her head to the side. “You know—his emphysema—it’s common—”

“Yeah, the doctor said that. But he also told me Cameron might need surgery if it doesn’t heal on its own.”

“He’s a strong little boy.” Emily stood behind him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders to hug him lightly, resting her cheek against his. “Think of everything he’s already lived through. Think about who his mother is. That kid could run the world if he wanted to.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” Emily wandered over to the other side of the bed, took the other chair. “I remember coming home last year for your wedding—having breakfast at Kelly’s. Do you remember that day?”

Jason hesitated, then located the memory. “Yes. You were mad at me.”

“For lots of reasons,” Emily admitted. “But mostly, I was worried. She looked so unhappy, so unhealthy—all the signs were there. I still wish sometimes that I had dragged her with me to California, but I’m glad she stayed, and that she worked with you to find Carly.”

Jason nodded after a long moment. “I am, too. Not that she got sick, but—” He looked at his sister. “It changed everything.”

“Whenever I have that image of her—that day at Kelly’s—I also remember another day. The day Vinnie was sentenced.” Emily smiled at her brother. “I was so proud of her. I mean, she kicked ass at that press conference, don’t get me wrong. But to stand in front of the man who’d done so much evil—and to wipe the floor with him—she looked so strong. Thank you.”

“She did all the work to get there,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “I didn’t—”

“But you were behind her. She felt strong enough to do whatever needed to be done because she knew—she knew she wasn’t alone. Elizabeth hadn’t been able to trust that in so many years, but you gave her that back. She knew you’d be there. Just like you’re here now.” Emily hesitated. “Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah.” Jason looked at Elizabeth’s face, wished her eyes were open so she could see their son. So that he’d know she was okay. “She did the same thing for me.”

Emily tilted her head. “Yeah?”

“That week. I wanted her to go. To be safe. But she stayed for me. For Carly. Sonny was—” He grimaced. “Sonny was useless, and Bobbie—she was there—but Elizabeth never stopped trusting me. And she made me believe we’d find Carly. I never gave up. Because she didn’t.”

“Speaking of Sonny…” Emily bit her lip. “I didn’t—what happened?”

“It’s done,” Jason said simply. “I can’t trust him. I can’t trust him with his own family, much less mine. I don’t trust him, and neither do any of the men who work for us.”

“Ah.” Emily sighed. “So…you’re in charge again.”

“Yeah. It’s the only way I can be sure my family is protected. Carly said she’ll deal with Sonny.” Jason kissed Elizabeth’s hand and looked at Emily. “Can you stay with her for a while? I have to meet with Justus and Bernie, and I want to stop in with Cameron first. It can’t wait,” he added when she wrinkled her nose.

“No, I guess not. Yeah, I’ll be here.”

Zacchara Estate: Study

Trevor paced the study, tossing occasional glares at the phone that wasn’t ringing, and swore under his breath. Across the room, sprawled at his desk, Anthony wasn’t any happier.

Their contact inside the Corinthos organization had been scheduled to make contact three hours ago. He’d never called and now wasn’t returning their phone calls—in fact, the last one had been blocked.

“This was your plan,” Anthony reminded him as he got to his feet and started to prowl the room. “You thought we should make the best of things.”

“And it worked,” Trevor said, his teeth clenched. “We rattled them—”

“Did we? Because if the fucking mole isn’t in contact with us now, then who knows what’s going on?”

“Maybe Morgan caught on to him,” Trevor suggested. “Maybe he’s lying low.”

“Or,” came another voice from the doorway, “he was never working for you.”

They both turned to look at the woman lounging in the doorway, dressed in a skintight dress the color of blood. She examined her nails, painted an identical shade of red. She looked at them and smirked, tossing back her raven-colored hair.

“Who the hell asked you, Claudia?” Anthony growled at his oldest child.

Claudia straightened and sauntered into the room. “No one. Which is why you’re in this mess. Your mole? Your guy on the inside? If you’d done the slightest bit of research—” She sighed. “You would have known why he’s not calling you now.”

“She’s just bluffing,” Trevor muttered, leveling a malevolent gaze. “She doesn’t know anything—”

Claudia shrugged, unbothered. “Fine. Then don’t believe me. But it’s not a coincidence that your mole decided to go dark when Jason Morgan cut ties with Sonny Corinthos.”

Anthony scowled at his daughter. “How the hell do you know what’s going on? Who’s talking to you?”

Claudia ignored the question. “That’s what he wanted all along. Now Jason’s in charge.” She grinned at her father and his lawyer. “And you’re all going to pay for being stupid.” She sauntered out of the room as slowly as she’d entered.

“You hate to see it,” she sighed as she pulled the door shut. “You really do.”

General Hospital: NICU

Jason hesitated when he arrived at Cameron’s room, surprised to find Alan sitting next to the incubator, reading a book out loud, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he wore.

Alan must have heard his footsteps. He looked up, his eyes crinkled with delight, which was quickly replaced wariness. “Jason. Father had to take care of something with the hospital board, so I took over. I hope that’s all right—”

“Uh, yeah, of course.” Jason tugged at the collar of the yellow gown he’d been asked to wear over his clothes. “How is he?” He stepped into the room, looked down at Cameron. At the tiny little boy on a ventilator.

Before yesterday, Jason had mostly thought of the NICU in abstract terms. He’d read all the available material, understood that Cameron would survive with few complications, and that had been enough for him. He hadn’t been able to picture what it would be like to see their son on a ventilator with a miniature tube that matched his mother’s.

Now Jason understood Elizabeth’s desire to delay this moment—to give Cameron a better chance. He might not have developed the emphysema if he’d been delivered at thirty-five weeks.

“Responding well to his treatment,” Alan reported. “And getting stronger by the hour. Have you seen his doctor?”

“No, not yet—”

“Mr. Morgan!” the bright, cheerful voice of Nadine Crowell, the nurse assigned to Cameron, was almost like a stab of an icepick in his brain. Jason turned to find the blonde behind him. “I’m so glad you came up. I was just coming to tell Dr. Quartermaine that Cameron’s latest test results came in, and we can start skin to skin.”

Jason blinked. “Already? I hadn’t—” His voice was tight. “Elizabeth—she should—”

“She won’t be able to come up for a day or two,” Alan murmured. He set the book aside and got to his feet. “And you know how important kangaroo care is.”

“Didn’t Marcie at the front desk tell you? That’s why we asked you to shower before you came in to visit,” Nadine told him as she directed him to take a seat. “Right now, Cameron can only be outside of the incubator for two, maybe three minutes.”

“What about the ventilator?”

“We’ll be very careful, Daddy,” Nadine promised him. “Now, uh…” Her cheeks flushed. “You need to take your shirt off. We, uh, take the skin part very seriously. I’ll just—” She moved over to Cameron to busy herself getting him ready.

Jason didn’t even think twice. He took off the yellow gown and his blue t-shirt, handing both to his father.

“Ready?” Nadine asked. “I want to be very quick so we can maximize his skin time.”

“Ready.”

With a quick, practiced hand, in less than ten seconds, Jason was holding his son for the first time, the tiny ventilator detached for the moment. Cameron barely weighed four pounds, but at eighteen inches, he stretched across most of Jason’s torso. Nadine covered the baby with a blanket, then stepped back, beaming. “I want to give you some time alone, but I’ll be back in two minutes.”

“I can go—” Alan started, but Jason looked at him, shook his head.

“No, you can—you can stay. If—” Jason hesitantly touched Cameron’s head, felt the flutter of his heart against his own. “This—Elizabeth didn’t want him to go through this.” He met his father’s eyes. “I was angry with her for risking her life.”

“You’re not anymore?”

“No. I—” He looked over at the incubator. “It’s hard to see him like this,” he admitted. “Everyone keeps telling me how strong he is and how much he’ll fight, but I—” Jason closed his eyes, took a deep breath. “I wish he didn’t have to.”

“We always want our children to struggle less than we did,” Alan murmured. “We try to arrange the world so it can’t hurt them. The Quartermaines have a terrible track record at this, mind you, but it’s why my father wanted me to go into business. He couldn’t help me with medicine. He didn’t know anything about that. And why I was so relieved you wanted to be a doctor. Because I could—I could smooth the way. Take care of you.”

Jason looked up at him. “But you couldn’t do that after the accident.”

“No. And every time I tried to take care of AJ, I only made it worse. My children apparently do better without me.” Alan’s expression was wry. “But that’s a good thing. No one pushes around a Quartermaine. Or a Morgan, for that matter,” he added.

Nadine stepped back in, her expression filled with regret. “I’m so sorry, but—”

“It’s okay. I know it can’t be long for now—” Jason touched Cameron’s head one more time, then Nadine lifted him and had him settled back in his bed, the ventilator reattached. “Thank you,” he said as he took the shirt his father handed him. “How often—”

“Right now, we can probably manage two minutes every few hours,” Nadine said. “As his lungs improve, within a week, maybe ten minutes. He’s doing well,” she assured him. “A tough kid.”

Jason put back on the gown and sat back in the chair, looking at Cameron as his tiny chest rose and fell. “Thank you for sitting with him. Emily—” He looked at Alan. “Emily was putting together a schedule. Because I don’t want him to be alone, and I can’t—”

“You can’t be here every second. She said something about it.”

“If you—” He thought of his father’s words and how terrible things had been after the accident. Would he have handled things any better if Cameron had come home one day and not known him? Had been an angry stranger? “If you or Edward want to be…let Emily know.”

Alan swallowed hard, his eyes a bit damp. “I’ll do that. Thank you.” Alan touched the incubator lightly. “He’s beautiful, Jason. And I’m so happy Elizabeth made it through. This—this is the start of something better. For all of you.”

“Thank you.”

Port Charles Municipal Building: Mayor’s Office

Lois peeked around the partially open door. “Hey. Did you hear from the hospital? How’s Elizabeth?”

Ned gestured for her to come in and she closed the door. “Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I just got off the phone with Monica. Elizabeth and Cameron are in the clear, at least for now. It’s the best they could have hoped for at this point.”

Lois shook her head, sitting down. “What day,” she murmured. “Capelli’s gone, Sonny’s in Ferncliffe, and poor Elizabeth is back in the hospital.” She met Ned’s eyes. “I don’t know how to feel about any of it. Sonny’s so far from the man I knew once.”

“He’s not even the man I knew,” Ned said. He leaned against his desk, folding his arms. “Alexis, I think, is a little relieved even though she doesn’t want to say anything. This just helps her future custody case against him. But I definitely feel for Carly, having to be the one to call for the commitment.” He scrubbed a hand down his cheek. “Capelli resigning was a relief, too. I was worried he’d fight it, but Anna said she never even had to bring up Elizabeth.”

“Thank  God for small miracles.” Lois stood. “I’m glad there’s some improvement at the department, and Capelli being gone, I’m sure that’ll help. But I guess I thought I’d feel more closure. It doesn’t fix anything, does it? Lucky still got shot.”

“And Dante still quit. I doubt he’ll change his mind this fast.” Ned went around to the other side of his desk. “You should check in on him,” he told her. “See how he’s doing.”

“Maybe. I’ll call Liv and see what she wants to do.” Lois went to the door, then turned back. “Do you want to grab some dinner or something?”

“No, there’s still some work to be done.”

“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She closed the door, leaving the office dimly lit only by the light on his desk.

Ned picked up the photograph of Brooke that he always kept nearby, taking in the lines of her face, the sly smile and spark in her eyes. Nothing would bring back his little girl. All he could do was protect someone else’s children and hope it would be enough to help him sleep at night.

Corinthos Penthouse: Master Bedroom

“Are you ready to go?”

Carly turned back to look at her mother. “What?”

“We’re all cleaned up here.” Bobbie stepped inside the room, looked around. “And I grabbed Elizabeth’s bag so we can drop it at the hospital on the way home.”

“Oh. Sorry. I got distracted. I haven’t—” Carly looked back at the room. “I asked Sonny once why we used this room as the master. There are no windows—that didn’t use to bother me, but he hates small spaces. Feeling confined.”

“What did he say?”

“He moved into this room after Lily died,” Carly said. She folded her arms. “He told me it was because of the memories in the other room. Between Brenda and Lily—he wanted a new start. But I think he was punishing himself. He’s never forgiven himself for surviving when they didn’t.”

“I suppose that’s why he sees Lily when he hallucinates.”

“He sees his mother, too,” Carly murmured. She wandered over to the closet, sliding her hands over the silk shirts. “He blames himself for Deke beating her to death.”

“Carly—”

“We were happy, you know. I mean really happy. Last year, before the kidnapping. I think about that a lot. He was so kind after I told him what Ric had done to me that night at the club. I was scared he’d throw me out, but he believed me. Believed I hadn’t wanted it.”

“Sonny was capable of great empathy and kindness once,” Bobbie said after a long moment. “But—”

“But something broke in him when Ric kidnapped me. Another pregnant wife. We should have done more. Jason and I. Months ago. Years ago. We knew something wasn’t right, and we knew he’d gone over a line last year. We thought we could drag him back. We thought we were enough.” Carly closed her eyes. “How arrogant we were.”

“You’d always been enough before, Carly, and you did what you thought was best—”

“Maybe. Maybe. But I locked him up, too, Mama. Tonight, I signed the papers that put him in a room that he can’t leave.”

“You did it to protect him—”

“For the first time, I can really understand what he must have felt in some way, you know?” Carly shook her head. “To think that the best way to protect someone you love is to lock them up.”

“This is different—”

“You just—you see a thousand ways you could have changed things. Chosen a different path.” Carly looked around the room one more time. “Did we have to end up here? Did Jason have to nearly lose everything? Did I have to lose my husband? Was this inevitable?”

“I don’t know, baby.” Bobbie took her hand, squeezed it. “Maybe it wasn’t. I wanted him to get help last year, Carly. I wasn’t able to convince him. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough. This might not be enough, either. But all we can do is put one foot in front of the other and hope for the best.”

“I should have let him kill Ric when he wanted to. That might have solved it. I could live without testifying and seeing him rot.” She swiped at her eyes. “Elizabeth would have been fine. And Sonny would be here with us. The way he was.”

“Maybe. But maybe something would have happened next year. Or five years from now. Carly—”

“I did the best I could, Mama. I know that. But it wasn’t enough, and I don’t know if I’ll forgive myself for what happened here tonight. If Elizabeth or that baby doesn’t make it—God, I’ll never be able to look at Jason again—”

“You think he doesn’t feel the same? He did more to enable Sonny than anyone else. He kept hoping and praying that something would change. And look what happened, Carly. This isn’t just on you. It’s not on me. It’s not even all on Jason. It’s on all of us. We all made choices that brought us here. We can’t change them. We can only move forward.”

Portia’s Apartment: Kitchen

She heard the door open, then close so she turned the sauce on the stove down to simmer and stepped towards the arch that looked into her living room. Marcus stood there, his arms limply at his side, his face creased with exhaustion and frustration.

“Hey.” She slid her arms around his waist. “I won’t ask how your day was.”

Marcus dropped his head against hers, and she just closed her eyes, wishing she could absorb the tension that held his body so tight. “We barely got Capelli out of the building before we heard about Corinthos, Ferncliffe, and Elizabeth. I sent a few officers to make sure they could get him out—Christ.” He rubbed her shoulders. Stepped back. “I tried to call the hospital about Elizabeth, but they won’t say anything—”

“I called my sister,” Portia offered. “I knew Justus would keep Mikki in the loop, so—Elizabeth and the baby are okay.”

His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes. “Okay?” Marcus echoed. “You sure?”

“Yes. She didn’t have all the details yet, but Elizabeth is in the ICU and is in stable condition. The baby’s—that’s different. I mean, he’s in the NICU but Mikki said they were expecting that. You don’t have to worry about them. You will anyway, I know that.”

“Thank you.” He kissed her, lingering. “For finding out. For being here when I needed you.”

“Always.” Portia framed his face. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Morgan & Corinthos Coffee House: Office

Jason closed the door behind him as Justus and Bernie got to their feet. “Hey. What’s so important?”

“I’m sorry to drag you away from the hospital. I just—I didn’t think we should do this there.” Justus cleared his throat, looked at Bernie. “First, I talked to Jordan. She said Sonny got a message on his phone at the PCPD and charged out. She went after him but lost him when she tried to follow. She was afraid she’d be fired if we found out she lost track of him that quickly, so she didn’t say anything.”

“And she didn’t think that would get her fired?” Jason demanded. “Damn it—”

“Sonny’s not an easy client.” Justus took out a phone. “Carly brought me this. Sonny got a voicemail the morning he was released. It was from Frankie Gambino in Manhattan.”

Realized dawned, and Jason closed his eyes. “A Ric sighting,” he said. “And no one called us?”

“Not this time. It seems like they decided not to bother with letting us in on it—this was designed to send Sonny over the edge.” Justus set the phone down. “Only Sonny.”

“It’s exactly what we thought. Someone is exploiting the problems we’re having,” Bernie said. “And the list can’t be that long,” he continued. “How many people even knew Sonny was getting out today?”

“We don’t have to wonder,” Justus said. Both men looked at him. “I had a visit last night.”

Jason clenched his fists at his side. “From who?”

“It’s not important,” Justus began. Bernie blinked at him as Jason scowled. “It’s not. He was approached by Trevor back around Christmas. They wanted to create some tension between you and Sonny. They were hoping it would make things unstable here—make the organization ripe for a takeover.”

“Who—”

“The plan was to push Sonny over the edge. Anthony and Trevor don’t know—or never realized how much you were already in control,” Justus continued. “Because you ran things the way Sonny would, for the most part, it was assumed that even though Sonny was unstable, he was still in charge.”

“We figured that. So tell me who the hell turned on my family—”

“He didn’t turn on you, Jason. He turned on Sonny,” Justus told him quietly. “You knew there was unrest. Men who were unhappy. Most of them signed up with Tommy, but this guy didn’t. He didn’t seek out the opportunity, it came to him. And he never knew how sick Elizabeth was. The important thing is that we were right. All the sightings of Ric—even those in South America—they were all planted.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “All of them?”

“Anthony and Trevor never confirmed it, but according to my source, Ric is dead. And has been since November. Remember—it’s not like his ankle bracelet left the estate. It simply cut out.”

“Dead,” Jason repeated. He exhaled slowly. “We thought that might be the case, but—is he sure? How can you trust him? Who the hell is it, Justus?”

“I won’t tell you that. And I trust him because he’s loyal to you—”

“He can’t be loyal to me if he did this—” Jason scowled. “This isn’t your decision to make—I have a right to know—”

“Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you. Not now. We need to neutralize the Zaccharas first. Our guy stopped communicating with him as soon as you took over publicly. That’s all he wanted.”

“Fuck—” Jason swore. He dragged his hands through his hair. “That’s not how this works, Justus—”

“We agreed when I took this job, I wouldn’t be a pushover. You wanted me to be honest with you.” Justus lifted his chin. “I know what you’ll do. And it’s the wrong decision.”

Jason glared at him for a long moment, then stalked across the room, fighting back his frustration. “I need to get back to the hospital. But I’ll go to Crimson Pointe and settle this once and for all.”

He stabbed a finger at Justus. “When I come back, I want a name. Or this time, I’ll be the one firing you.”

“You’ll have my resignation first.”

Jason and Justus stared at each other for a long moment before Jason left, slamming the door behind him.

Bernie, who had remained silent throughout the exchange, looked at Justus with sad eyes. “Who is it?” he murmured.

“I won’t tell you either,” Justus told him. “But just know—he’ll never forgive himself for what happened yesterday. He never knew how sick she was.” He hesitated. “He would have walked through fire for her, Bernie. And for Jason. When I say this man is loyal to the right people—I mean it.”

“Ah.” Bernie nodded. “Cody or Marco?” he asked. When Justus just stared at him, saying nothing, Bernie sighed. “I thought so. If someone wanted to damage Jason and Sonny, there were easier and more direct ways. This person—they only wanted to break Sonny.” He shook his head. “I won’t tell him either, Justus.”

“You agree with me?”

“I think that we were never going to survive with Sonny in charge. Jason had to step up, and he was never going to do it. No matter what he said about putting him on a plane—” Bernie shrugged. “We’re better off. I’m sorry Elizabeth had to suffer, but that’s on Jason as well. He could have done more to protect her. He could have protected us all sooner. He chose not to.”

“That’s—” Justus shook his head. “That’s not what this is about.”

“We’ve all been warning him. Jason refused to listen. Now—” Bernie gestured towards the window as if pointing to the waterfront. “Look where we are.”

I try to face the fight within
But it’s over
I’m ready for the riot to begin
And surrender
I walked the path that led me to the end
Remember
I’m caught beneath with nothing left to give, forever
– Angels Fall, Breaking Benjamin

---

Friday, March 6, 2004

Corinthos & Morgan Coffee House: Office

“No word from yet?” Justus asked when Jason checked his phone for what felt like the thousandth time.

“No. Jordan is supposed to call as soon as they leave the station.” Jason turned the phone over in his hands, unsure why he felt so on edge.

“I could give Taggert a call,” Justus offered, pulling out his own phone.

Before Jason could say one way or the other, the phone in his hand lit up with Max’s name on the identification screen. “Yeah, Max, what’s up—”

“Jason, you gotta get to the hospital right now—”

“What?” Jason lunged to his feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Cody—he’s bringing Elizabeth—She was coughing up blood—”

Jason slapped the phone shut and left the room without a word. Bernie stopped Justus from following. “Call Max back and find out what’s wrong,” Bernie told him. “We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Right.” Justus reached for his own phone. “Max? Jason just took off without a word—what the hell—”

“Oh, man, Justus—Elizabeth started coughing up blood, and Jesus, he’s gonna kill the boss when he finds out—”

“Why? What does Sonny have to do with this?” Justus demanded. He looked at Bernie. “Elizabeth, coughing up blood—”

Bernie swore. “What—”

“Sonny came over to yell at Jason and just went after Elizabeth—Christ, Justus. We’re in such deep shit. Elizabeth didn’t look so good, so we—we called other—wait, wait—No, Mr. C. You can’t go anywhere—”

Justus waited a long minute until Max came back on the line, sounding exhausted. “We—we’re keeping him in the penthouse. I was afraid he’d go to the hospital or somewhere else, he said something about the Brownstone—”

“Keep him there.” He hesitated. “Make sure he doesn’t leave that penthouse until we can figure this out. Whatever you have to do.” Justus closed the phone and looked at Bernie. “Sonny forced his way into the penthouse, was screaming at Elizabeth—and while they were getting him out of there, she started coughing up blood—”

Bernie sat heavily in his chair and mopped at his forehead. “What are we going to do?” he muttered.

“I don’t know,” Justus said. He gripped the phone more tightly. “You need to finish here. I’ll go to the penthouse. If—if anything happens to Elizabeth or that baby and Jason finds out Sonny was there—”

He didn’t have to finish that statement. If the worst happened, and Jason could place the blame at Sonny’s feet—Sonny was a dead man.

And right now, that didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

The recorder clicked off as Scott stared numbly at the the report in front of him, the black text swimming as Capelli’s voice echoed.

“Fuck that traitor.”

He’d known what Taggert and Anna had suspected, had read Dante’s statement, insisting he’d called for backup but it wasn’t until this moment that Scott realized he’d held out a glimmer of hope that it wasn’t true.

He thought about Laura’s quiet, desperate fear and Kelsey’s tear-ravaged face. And even damned Luke Spencer, with the kind of raw terror that only a parent might truly understand. They’d  buried their boy once, and the PCPD had nearly stolen him again—

And after the shit show of the Rick Webber investigation that had led to Laura’s breakdown–

“Where are we on the union?” Ned asked, drawing Scott out of his funk. He looked over at the mayor, squinting in confusion. “Are they going to back him? Because if they do—”

“Of course, I haven’t heard anything official,” Anna said. “But I put out some feelers. With Officer Murphy’s statement, we were able to pull Commander O’Rourke in.” She gestured at the report. “He stonewalled Taggert’s investigation on a request from Capelli, admitting to changing the Code 8 to a 10-97. He says he never listened to the audio, but wanted to cover for the unit who hadn’t responded. He didn’t know Capelli was in the car, and was worried we’d take it out on a pair of rookies.”

“Bullshit,” Scott muttered. “Bullshit. He knew Capelli was in the car. No way he didn’t—”

“Maybe. But I need him to tie Capelli in, so we’ll accept this statement, and he’s taking the thirty day suspension. With Dispatch on board, and Capelli’s record, the union isn’t inclined to do him any more favors. They took a lot of heat in the press for the Lansing case—”

“Not enough,” Ned retorted. “Capelli is why Elizabeth was assaulted—”

“I realize that—”

“With all due respect, Anna, you weren’t here,” Scott interrupted. “I told Mac and Capelli not to leak the damn story, but Mac thought something in the gossip section might shake it loose. A small item. In the Sun. But Capelli handed them everything, along with a source from the PCPD that Morgan was in the house every damn day. They dragged out those photos—”

“Scott—” Taggert shook his head. “There’s no point in going over this again—”

“There is,” Scott insisted. He shoved himself to his feet. “Capelli’s been a goddamn cancer on this department for most of the last year, and it starts with that case. He should have been fired—”

“But he wasn’t.” Ned looked at Anna. “You know that Elizabeth is having her baby today, don’t you?”

Anna raised her brows. “No, I don’t think I had heard that. I thought she wasn’t due for another month or more.”

“She’s not,” Taggert murmured. “She has to deliver early because of what Lansing did to her. He screwed up her lungs with those blood clots. Capelli and I both screwed up that case, Scott. It’s not all on him. The assault, yeah. But he was able to drug her her for another week because I only saw a chance to get Morgan and Corinthos.”

“That’s all any of us saw,” Scott admitted as some of the adrenaline surge drained and the familiar, hollow guilt sank in. “We all got blood on our hands.”

“The difference is you both realized it.” Ned stood, straightened his suit. “And decided to do better. Capelli just doubled down and nearly got a cop killed. I bring up Elizabeth,” he told Anna, “because you might want to use it to get Capelli to go quietly. Elizabeth could have sued the city and him personally for what he did. A few calls to the press, and that’s back in the news. And it won’t be regional this time. She got national press after the Esposito case.”

“She’s moved on,” Taggert began, “and I don’t like you using her—”

“Why not?” Ned demanded, snapping his head around to glare at Taggert. “No one had a damn problem doing it last summer. I want Capelli gone. He’s a stain on this department. He thinks Dante’s a traitor because of Vinnie. Do you get that? That kid risked everything to get justice for my little girl and this asshole—” Ned closed his eyes, took a deep breath.

“He needs to go,” Scott said. “And Elizabeth is used to her name in the press by now. Anna—”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” she told them. “As a last resort,” she added when Taggert scowled.

General Hospital: Emergency Room Entrance

Monica’s heart was pounding as she waited at the entrance to the emergency room. She’d paged Kelly, she’d called for Patrick and Emily to assist—

“Mom, where are they?” Emily demanded as she and Patrick rushed up. She pulled on her gloves. “What’s going on?”

“One of Sonny’s guards called ahead,” Monica said, keeping her eyes peeled on the light across the street from the hospital. Travel time from the Towers was ten minutes—less if traffic cooperated. “Elizabeth was coughing up blood—”

“I’ll get the embolization treatment ready in the trauma room,” Patrick said, darting backward.

“Mom—”

“Emily, can you handle this?” Monica turned to her daughter. “I can reassign you, you’re an intern and close to the family—no one will think less—”

“I can handle it. Jason and Elizabeth need me.” Emily forced herself to breathe. “First thing we do is get her on a ventilator and oxygen to prevent exsanguination. Then we do imaging to find the bleed and use the embolization to cauterize the site—”

“Good girl—” Monica patted her shoulder as the dark sedan pulled up. Cody flew out and around to the passenger side. Monica and Emily were already pulling the door open, an orderly with a stretcher behind them.

“Monica—” Elizabeth’s lips were stained with blood as her head listed to one side, and she lost consciousness. Monica’s blood iced as she took in the amount of blood on the towel in her hands, on the front of her shirt—

She shoved Emily out of the way so that Cody could lift Elizabeth onto the stretcher. “Get her to the trauma room, get her intubated!”

Emily and the orderly raced ahead as Monica turned to Cody. “Where’s Jason? Is he on his way?”

“Max was calling him. He wasn’t home—” Cody followed Monica in. “Um, she was feeling dizzy before it started—I was going to bring her early—but then Sonny—”

“Sonny?” Monica swore, then took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I need you to stay out here. Get Jason here now. We might—” She saw Kelly Lee rush into the trauma room. “We might need him to sign some things.”

“I won’t move,” Cody promised. He stared down at his hands, stained with Elizabeth’s blood. “I won’t—I’ll wait right here.”

Monica nodded and then left him standing in the middle of the emergency room.

Brownstone: Front Steps

Luke waited at the top of the stairs for Laura to join him before reaching for the doorknob. He knew Sonny was getting out today, and he didn’t want his sister or Carly to be alone.

“I really hope we’re overreacting,” Laura said. “I hate to think of those boys going through another day like the last time Sonny was here. Morgan is too young, but Michael—” She sighed. “He reminds me of Lucky.”

“Seen too much, I know.” Luke’s phone vibrated in his pocket as he pushed open the door. “Bernie? What’s up?”

“Are you at the Brownstone?” the adviser demanded.

Luke raised his brows as he and Laura went into the living room. “Yeah, why? You lose sight of Corinthos again?”

“No. He’s at the Towers. He didn’t go there first, did he?”

Luke frowned, then looked at Bobbie. “Sonny wasn’t already here, was he?”

“No,” Carly answered. She got to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

“No sign of him today. What’s going on, Bernie? What’s the deal?”

“Sonny got released from the PCPD and apparently went straight to the Towers to scream at Elizabeth.” Bernie paused. “We were hoping to find out why he lost it between the station and the penthouse—”

“Is Elizabeth okay? What’s going on?”

“Luke?” Bobbie’s voice was sharp.

“Cody and Max had to physically remove Sonny from the penthouse, and when Cody came back, Elizabeth was coughing up blood. He rushed her to GH, and I don’t know anything else. Jason’s on his way to the hospital, and Justus is going to the Towers.”

“Hell,” Luke swore. “No, he never came here. Call me when you know something.” He closed his phone. “Sonny apparently lost it with Elizabeth again, and she was coughing up blood—”

“Oh my God!” Carly started for the foyer. “Mama—”

“She’s at the hospital?” Bobbie demanded. “Where’s Jason?”

“On his way. Angel—” he looked at Laura.

“I’ll stay here.”

Port Charles Grille: Bar

“You know,” Scott said as he slid onto a stool next to Mac Scorpio, “I miss the Outback.” The former commissioner eyed him with some suspicion, then picked up his beer.  “Anna said you were hanging around here these days.”

“Not that many places I’m welcome,” Mac muttered. “Or want to go.”

Scott ordered a whiskey, tossing some bills on the bar. “Yeah, I guess Luke’s would be out. Man never did respect the bounds of marriage.” He exhaled slowly. “You shouldn’t have been the only one to take a hit last year, Mac. None of us were doing the job all that well.”

“Yeah, but not all of us falsified records and screwed up a serial rapist case.” Mac leaned back. “Some of us just badgered a mentally ill woman into a catatonic state, then got elected into office anyway.” He paused. “You do something new, Baldwin? I thought you’d turned over a new leaf.”

“I did. I have,” Scott corrected. “It’s not me. This time,” he added. “It won’t hit the news until later, but I know you tried hard to get rid of Capelli last year with the leak to the press.”

“Goddamn union,” Mac muttered. “Blaming me—I told him—” He took long pull from the bottle. “What did he do this time?”

Scott stared into the tumbler of whiskey, still hearing the audio. “Refused a backup call, then tried to cover it up. He’s why Spencer is in the hospital. Why Falconieri quit.” He paused. “I think he’ll be gone this time, Mac. I think we finally have enough. I just thought you should know.”

“Yeah.” Mac was quiet for a long moment. “You were the leak in the rape case, weren’t you? You told Ned about Floyd and the lab reports. About the case being misfiled.”

“I didn’t—” Scott met the other man’s eyes. “Yeah. I was. Couldn’t stand the thought of Floyd winning. I didn’t think you’d go down with it. I didn’t know how bad it was. How much you were involved—” He stopped. “I suspected,” he corrected. “And I didn’t care. Maybe it’s not fair that I got away with what I did and you didn’t. I don’t know.”

“It’s not,” Mac said. He smiled thinly. “But that’s Port Charles for you. Don’t lose sleep over it, Scott. I made my choices, and I can live with them. You were right. This city didn’t deserve another term from Floyd. And the department will be better off once Capelli’s gone.”

“I just hope he’s the last hit. We can’t take another one.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Lulu scowled as she watched Dante fill out the application. “It’s not that I doubt your cooking skills,” she told him. “But I really don’t know if this is a good idea—”

“I need a job,” Dante said. “Bobbie needs a cook. I already live here.” He slid the finished application over to her. “Makes sense to me.”

He dismissed her grumbling as he reached for the nearby newspaper for the movie listings. He wasn’t going to sit upstairs and wallow anymore. He’d gone to see Lucky, and the press hadn’t followed him. Maybe they’d moved on to the next story.

And that meant it was time for Dante to figure out the next step. For him, it was getting a job, and just maybe, Lulu was right about them trying to pick up where they’d left off a few weeks ago.

“What are you in the mood to see?” he asked her.

“Oh, well, it depends on what you want to do afterward,” she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. She reached for the phone behind the counter when it rang. “Kelly’s, Lulu speaking.”

Dante was considering a Drew Barrymore romantic comedy when he heard Lulu’s voice become strained. He slapped the newspaper back on the counter, startled at the pallor of her skin. “Lu—”

“Where’s Dad? Is he—okay, okay. No, okay. Call me when you know something. I’ll take care of things here. Tell Aunt Bobbie I got it.” With a shaking hand, Lulu gently put the phone back on the receiver, then looked at Dante. “Mom is at Carly’s with her boys. They had to go to the hospital.”

Dante’s brows drew together. “What’s wrong?”

“Sonny got released today, and he was arguing with Elizabeth. She started coughing up blood. Sonny had to be dragged from the room.”

He exhaled slowly. “Is she—”

“I don’t know. Mom doesn’t know, either. Um, I just—I don’t know. I thought it might end up in the papers like everything else does, you know? And I wanted—I wanted to make sure you knew what was up.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ears. “I don’t think Sonny did anything, but—”

“But he wasn’t much of a help either.” Dante stared at the paper, then closed it. “I guess you’re not getting off in an hour.”

“No, I should probably stick close. Dante—”

“I’ll hang around in case you get busy and need a hand.” When she opened her mouth, he shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m thinking, I just—let’s wait for news, okay?”

General Hospital: Emergency Room

He never should have left her.

It didn’t matter if she wasn’t alone—she hadn’t been alone the last time, and she had still nearly died—

Jason didn’t remember the drive to the hospital and ran at least three red lights between the warehouse and the hospital, but if there had been any cops on his tail, he didn’t hear them. He didn’t even bother parking the SUV in the lot, just left it haphazardly outside the emergency room entrance.

He didn’t even know if he’d put it in park.

Jason had just one thought, one goal, one mission—get to the hospital. Get to his family.

He found Cody standing in the emergency room and drew up short when he saw the guard staring at his hands. Max had said Elizabeth was coughing up blood, but to see Cody with his hands stained red—

Cody turned, saw him, and swallowed. “Jason.”

“What happened?” he demanded roughly, striding forward. “She was fine—”

“Jason—”

His head snapped to the side as he saw Kelly striding out of a room—out of a trauma room. The same room as the summer. For one maddening moment, Jason thought he was back in that moment, the sound of her flatlining echoing in his ears.

“What’s going on?”

“Elizabeth has suffered massive hemoptysis,” Kelly told him. “Her airways were bleeding, and she was coughing up blood—”

Jason’s chest felt tight, and it was a struggle to force out the words. “Why? Is she okay now? What—”

“We had to put her on a ventilator when she arrived to stabilize her breathing. She was—” Kelly hesitated. “She lost consciousness just after arriving at the hospital—”

“Where is she? Is she—” Jason’s voice faltered. He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t even let the word into his brain.

“She’s—she’s alive, Jason, but we’re—it’s not—” Kelly pressed her lips together. “I need to deliver the baby now. Elizabeth wasn’t able to get oxygen until we intubated, which means the baby might already be compromised—”

“What do you need me to sign?” He took the paperwork she gave him and scrawled his name. “Kelly—is she—will she—”

“We’re still stabilizing her—but we have to—we have to make a choice. We can’t treat her and deliver the baby at the same time. If we wait, the baby might not survive or—”

“Cameron could have serious complications.” Complications a thirty-two-week preemie might not survive.

“But if we wait to treat the bleeding—”

“Cameron,” Jason said roughly. Almost without thinking. He knew what Elizabeth wanted. He had to believe it was the right choice. “Deliver Cameron. You know—that’s what Elizabeth—”

“Got it.” Kelly disappeared into the trauma room as Jason tried to collect himself.

This morning, Elizabeth had been tired, a little dizzy, but ready to face delivery. Ready to get on with her treatment and their lives together. She’d been happy, even excited.

And now—

Jason turned back to Cody, who had turned an ashen gray. “What happened?” he demanded. “She was fine when I left—where the hell is Nikolas?” He broke off as the man in question jogged up to them, out of breath and red-faced. “What the hell—”

“The launch was delayed—I got to the Towers just after you left,” he told Cody. “They told me what happened in the lobby—the extra guards are still upstairs—”

Cody closed his eyes. “Damn it,” he muttered, looking back at Jason. “She was starting to feel a little dizzy, and we were going to call you—but then—”

“Then what?” Jason demanded, his teeth clenched. Before Cody answered, he turned to see a nurse and another doctor wheeling in an incubator he recognized from the NICU. He strode forward and reached the doors just as Emily came out, tears in her eyes. “Jason—”

Oh, God. They were dead. They were both gone—

“Cameron—he’s being delivered now—come in—” She grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the sink to scrub at his hands, even as Jason twisted around, trying to find his wife.

Alarms were screeching, the room was insane—but then Jason saw something—someone being lifted toward the incubator—

Emily wiped down his hands and steered him towards Elizabeth. “Mom wanted you to—”

Elizabeth’s face was pale, turned towards him, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth, the ventilator taped to her cheeks. Her eyes closed.

The world stopped.

“Is she—”

“No, no—they’re going to start the embolization in a minute—she’s on a ventilator, getting oxygen. But—”

“Just in case,” Monica murmured. “We have maybe a few minutes while they sew up from delivery—”

Jason knelt down in front of the head of the bed, smoothed her hair off her face. Her skin felt smooth and warm, and he concentrated on that. Warm meant alive. She was still with him.

This wasn’t like last year. It wasn’t going to be like last year when he’d sat on the floor of that house and watched her chest stop rising. When he’d had to crouch in that tiny ambulance, helpless as the paramedics fought to keep her alive on the way to the hospital. He could still remember the way her body had jerked as they’d shocked it over and over again, trying to bring her back.

Four times they’d used that paddle.

It had been the longest thirty seconds of his life as the alarms had screamed. She’d been dead for thirty seconds.

This wasn’t like last year. He wouldn’t let it be.

He leaned forward to gently press his lips against her forehead. “I love you. You’re going to come back to me.”

“Jason, we had to take—” Emily held out her rings as he stood up. “She can’t wear them—”

He took the ruby engagement ring and simple wedding band she’d only worn for only a few weeks. “Can I see—Can I see Cameron—”

“For a minute, then we need the room,” Monica told him as Emily took him over to the incubator where a neonatalogist and a nurse were arranging wires.

“How is he?” Jason asked, looking down at the tiny scrap of humanity. He was so small, barely visible through the tubes and wires, but Jason could hear soft little sounds that almost sounded like crying.

“Made it through delivery. Apgar score is a four—” The nurse glanced at Jason. “That’s normal for a baby this young,” she reassured him.

Jason nodded. “I know—” His voice was rusty as he tried to take it all in—it had happened so fast, and now—now his son was here. “His name is Cameron. Cameron Hardy Morgan.”

“Cameron,” the nurse said with a smile. “It’s a good name. I’ll make sure it’s on his paperwork. We should—we have to take him up to the NICU. You can see him in a little while—”

“It’s time to go, Jason,” Emily murmured. Jason looked at his wife and son—at his life—one last time before he let his sister push him back towards the emergency room.

“How long until we know—”

“Mom said the embolization should take about thirty minutes. Then they’ll do another imaging scan,” Emily said. “And we’ll—we’ll see.”

“I can’t believe this is happening again. We were—we were checking in today.”

“I know—”

“This wasn’t supposed to—” Abruptly cutting himself off, Jason strode over to Cody and Nikolas and took the guard by the shirt. “What the hell happened? Why did you need extra guards?”

“Where’s Elizabeth?” Nikolas demanded of Emily.

“She’s…being treated. Cameron’s on his way up to NICU. It’s, um, we don’t know enough yet,” Emily admitted.

“Sonny came over,” Cody admitted as Jason released him. “We tried to get him to leave, but Max couldn’t do it on his own, and Elizabeth was feeling dizzy. He was yelling at her—” He swallowed hard. “We called for extra guards, and we had to remove him. I thought—I thought it was more important to get him away from her—I didn’t know how bad it was until I came back—”

“Sonny,” Jason repeated. He felt his blood pounding in his ears as he took that in. “Sonny came in to scream at my pregnant wife. Again.”

“Yes. We tried to get him out—”

“Was she dizzy in front of him? Did you tell him she wasn’t well today?” Jason bit out, his fists clenched.

Cody stared at him for a long moment before reluctantly nodding. “Yeah. We told him.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Okay.”

Then he turned and stalked out of the emergency room.

“Um—” Emily looked at Nikolas. “That’s—we should do something—”

“What? It’s not like Jason doesn’t know how to hide a body,” Nikolas retorted. “And good riddance. What’s going on with Elizabeth?”

Before Emily could fill Nikolas in, Bobbie and Carly came through the emergency room doors. “What the hell is going on?”

“Where’s Elizabeth? Where’s Jason?” Carly asked.

Emily took a deep breath. “Elizabeth was coughing up blood. It was—” She had to force herself to keep talking. To treat it like any other patient. “When she got here, her oxygen levels were dangerously low, and we had to decide whether to treat the bleeding first or deliver the baby. If we waited to deliver, there was a chance Cameron might have not survived.”

Carly pressed her fingers to her lips. “Oh, God, he had to choose—”

“Elizabeth—is she okay—”

“They’re treating her now. Monica and Patrick are doing that, and Cameron is in NICU. But yeah, Jason had to decide which treatment first—”

“And he chose Cameron,” Nikolas murmured. He scrubbed his hands over his face. “What does that mean for Elizabeth?”

“We think we were able to get her on the ventilator fast enough to minimize oxygen deprivation, but we don’t know how much time she lost.” Emily’s hands were trembling slightly as she folded her arms. “They’re stopping the bleeding. We won’t know until the first round of embolization is done—”

“Did Jason go up to NICU?” Carly asked.

“No, he went to choke the life out of Sonny,” Nikolas bit out. “Because apparently, Sonny decided to celebrate being released by screaming at Elizabeth, who was already dizzy and struggling to breathe—”

Carly reached out—gripped Nikolas’s shirt front. “Jason left—he went to the—” she turned wide eyes on her mother. “Mama, I have to go—he’ll kill him—”

“Who cares?” Nikolas muttered.

“Jason will if he ends up in jail instead of here with Elizabeth. Mama—”

“Nikolas, wait here for news about Elizabeth. I’ll go with you to the Towers,” Bobbie told Carly. “Cody, we might need your help,” she said to the guard, who nodded grimly.

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

Capelli had the look of a hunted man when he came into the office, and whatever color he had left drained when he saw Anna standing behind her desk, Taggert on one side and a union rep on the other. Still, he lifted his chin and sneered at them.

“What the hell is this?” he demanded.

“Andy,” the rep began with a heavy sigh, “you might want to sit down.”

“Fuck that—”

“I’m not sure why you thought we wouldn’t trace this back to you,” Anna said, “but perhaps it’s more evidence of your unfitness to wear that uniform—”

“How dare you—” Capelli roared.

“How very dare you,” Anna responded in her soft, cool British accent, and at that, Capelli fell silent, his eyes burning like hot coal, “betray the badge you swore to uphold. At the moment, I have negotiated that you will not face charges if you agree to resign quietly—”

“You want me gone?” Capelli demanded. “You’ll have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming—”

“Don’t tempt me,” Taggert muttered. Anna cut him a cool glance, and he fell quiet.

“This is a statement from Commander O’Rourke in Dispatch who admits to changing official records upon your request.” Anna set down another piece of paper. “This is Officer Byron Murphy, who took the original dispatch call and relayed the all-call for back-up.”

“Their word against mine—”

“These are statements from Unit 81. Your officers,” Anna added, “who back up the story. And the audio call that underpins it all. You see, Detective Capelli, you have gravely underestimated how well you are liked in this department—”

“Fucking British cunt—” Capelli swore.

“Andy—” the rep said, putting up his hand. “After last summer and the search warrant slap—the union isn’t going to do more than the bare minimum for you. If you offer to resign, this can go away—”

“Kiss my ass! You think you can run this place without me? With traitors like this asshole?” He jerked a thumb at  Taggert.

“I think you have dragged this department down long enough,” Anna said sharply. “You can either resign quietly, or Lieutenant Taggert will arrest you for tampering with official records, and we will begin the termination process.”

“Andy, I’ve been over this case—”

“You’re supposed to fucking defend me!” Capelli whirled on the union rep who threw up his hands in frustration.

“And I did that last summer! I got that suspension overturned,” the rep snapped. “This isn’t going to work! The union is under just as much pressure as the department after Esposito! We can’t be seen covering for a dirty cop—”

“There’s a dirty cop right there!”

Taggert just sneered at him. “You’re the only one who broke any damn laws—”

“Andy—”

“Fuck all of this!” Capelli tossed his badge across the desk. “I’ll go somewhere else and do the job! You can’t stop me—” He stormed out, followed by the union rep.

“He’s not wrong,” Anna said to Taggert. “Even if we tell the papers, it won’t change anything. He’ll get hired somewhere.”

“And that will be their problem. We can’t fix the world.” Taggert reached for Capelli’s badge. “But this is our corner of it, and I’m going to do whatever I can to keep it safe. But I’m calling Jessica Mitchell at the Herald and giving her a heads up. I don’t plan to make it easy for him.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

The elevator doors slid open, and Jason stalked out, scowling when he found Justus, Luke, Max, and a few other guards lingering outside Sonny’s penthouse. “Where is he?” he demanded.

“Jason—how’s Elizabeth—” Justus held up his hands, but Jason was in no mood to be calmed down. He shoved Justus’s hands away, avoided Luke’s grasp, and pushed Max away from him as he kicked the door open.

Sonny had been sitting across the room, nursing a bourbon. His eyes and hair were wild as he lurched to his feet, slightly unsteady. “Jase. Jase. You gotta—you gotta tell me—is she okay—”

He broke off as Jason started across the room. Sonny backed up, but Jason kept coming, not stopping until the other man was against the wall. Then Jason reached out—wrapped his hands around Sonny’s neck—

And squeezed.

“Jason—” Sonny sputtered, clawing at Jason’s hands. “Jase—”

“Jason, man—” Justus tried to grab at Jason’s arms again, but Jason only had eyes for the man in front of him.

The man he had lied, cheated, and stolen for—he had killed for this man—and the only thing Jason had ever asked in return was a little fucking respect for his family—not even for Jason—for his family—

And Sonny had refused. Over and over again.

“This is how it felt,” Jason growled as he shoved Sonny against the wall harder. “When she was gasping for air while you screamed at her. You feel your lungs burning? No? Not yet? Maybe I should squeeze harder—”

“J-Jase—”

“In a minute, you’re going to feel dizzy—” He tightened his fists as Sonny’s face flushed. “Maybe I can make you bleed inside the way she did—”

“I’m—I’m sorry—didn’t—”

“She could die. My son could still die. Was it worth it?” Jason growled. Sonny’s hands fell to his side as his eyes started to glass over.

“Jason.”

Jason closed his eyes. “Go away, Carly.”

“No.” She came closer and then was next to them. “No. Not this way, Jason. Let him go.”

It took everything Jason had to release his partner and former best friend, but he did it. He let Sonny slump to the floor, gasping for breath.

He looked at Carly, at her own tear-stained cheeks. “Carly—”

“You need to be at the hospital with your family.” She touched his arms, gently turned him away from the man on the floor. “Because as angry as we both are with Sonny, it doesn’t change the fact that Elizabeth needs you with her.”

“Every time I leave her—” His voice broke as he looked at his best friend, the only friend he had left. “Every time—”

“I know. I know—” Carly framed his face with her hands. “I know,” she repeated. “But Sonny didn’t create her health problems. He made them worse, yeah, but he didn’t start them. So let me deal with Sonny. For once—let me be strong.”

Carly took a deep breath. “Go to the hospital. I have Mama and Uncle Luke, but Elizabeth needs her family. She needs you to be thinking about her, about that precious little angel who didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Okay.” Jason nodded. “Okay.” He turned back to Sonny, who was now on his knees, still gasping for air. “We’re done, Sonny. You and me? That’s over.”

“Jason—”

He slammed the door behind him, and Carly turned towards Sonny.

“I didn’t—I didn’t realize—” Sonny looked up at her, eyes bloodshot, his cheeks still flushed. “Didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“No, I’m sure you didn’t.” She looked back at Max. “Get the sedatives. He needs to rest.”

She turned back to her estranged husband and helped him to stand. “Let’s go upstairs, Sonny. You need to sleep.” Luke went to Sonny’s side to stabilize him better.

“I didn’t—I didn’t mean it, Lily—” He gestured towards something Carly couldn’t see. “Lily—tell her I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you didn’t—”

Outside the penthouse, Justus found Jason getting on the elevator. He went in with him. “What can I do? What can I do for you? How is Elizabeth?”

“She’s alive,” Jason said shortly. “So is Cameron. For now. I don’t care what Carly wants. If they don’t make it—”

The doors opened in the lobby, and Jason walked away without finishing his statement.

He didn’t need to.