When you try your best but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse
But high up above or down below
When you are too in love to let it show
Oh but if you never try you’ll never know
Just what you’re worth
– Fix You, Coldplay

---

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Port Charles Park: Playground

“How is Cameron handling it?” Emily asked as she took a seat next to Elizabeth and offered her a bottle of water. About a hundred feet away, Elizabeth could hear the sounds of the spring carnival—the music, the games, the rides, the crowds.

Emily eyed the guard standing off to the side, just by the hedges. “Is he here for you or for Morgan?” she asked.

Elizabeth frowned. “He’s Morgan’s guard. I don’t—I don’t need a guard. With Manny gone—that was just temporary.” She absently ran her hand from her elbow to her wrist, relieved she could wear the pink tank top without worry.

The best way to end her marriage was to put all of it out of her head. She hadn’t seen or talked to Lucky or anyone in his family since he’d left the apartment last night—and she didn’t intend to reach out until she had to. She’d been dodging calls and messages from Luke, Bobbie, and Lulu for nearly twenty-four hours. Thankfully, none from Lucky.

She wasn’t ready to talk to any of them yet.

“I guess I thought Jason might want someone with you once Lucky found out you were leaving.”

Elizabeth tensed as she shook her head. “No—he never—why would he?” Oh, God, did Emily know?

“I don’t know. You just sounded so upset on the phone, and Jason left the hospital so fast—” Emily pursed her lips. “Honestly, Elizabeth, when you asked me to meet you guys before the carnival, I thought you were going to tell me you and Jason were together.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth laughed nervously. “Oh. No. It’s not—it’s not like that. I mean—” She was quiet for a minute as she watched Cameron carefully climb the stairs to the slide. “I told you before that Jason and I had crossed the line.”

“You did.”

“I tried to step back. I did,” she corrected herself. “I did step back. Until Thursday, on the docks.” Elizabeth hesitated. “I wasn’t choosing Lucky, Emily. I was running away.” She bit her lip. “And then Patrick yelled at me. I found out Lucky wasn’t going to anger management—”

And then Lucky had broken the only promise she’d really wanted him to keep.

“I realized what I was giving up, and I didn’t want to do that anymore,” Elizabeth said finally.

“I don’t blame you. I’ve been there, Elizabeth. With Zander. You know that. I thought I was dying, so I agreed to marry him. But I didn’t love him. Not the way he deserved to be. And it didn’t matter how hard we both tried, that spark wasn’t there anymore. I was in love with Nikolas. We tried to stop it. Looking back, I still can’t believe how badly I handled everything.” Emily sighed. “But it was like there was a magnet attached to us. Every time we were within a few feet each other—”

“You couldn’t let him walk away,” Elizabeth finished. “Yeah. I get it, Em. I always did. Because it’s been that way for me. Jason made it easier before—he left the first time, and the second time—he got involved with someone else. With Courtney. But he’s not the only reason I’m leaving Lucky.”

“No, I figure the anger management was part of it, too.” Emily bit her lip. “You know I’m on your side, Elizabeth. And I love my brother. I think you’d be good together. But—”

“It’s not like that,” Elizabeth repeated. “We’re not—I’m not going to leave my husband on a Friday, and move in with another man on a Saturday. Cameron—” She looked at her son, giggling as he followed Morgan down the slide. “Cameron still thinks of Lucky as his father. That has to be dealt with. And I need—I need to be alone for a while.”

“I’m glad. I was prepared to be supportive if you and Jason were together, but—”

“You’re not wrong. I don’t know what’s going to happen there. But I know that I need to make a change.”

“Mommy, mommy…” Cameron rushed over. “Morgan says they’s cotton candy. I like cotton candy.”

“Mommy gave me money,” Morgan said with his sweet, careful smile. “I gots money.”

“We’ll head over to the carnival in a little bit.” She brushed some leaves out of his hair. “Cam, would you mind if Morgan’s Uncle Jason came by for a while?”

“I like Uncle Jason,” Morgan told Cam. “But sometimes, he won’t give me candy. He says Mommy gives me too much candy.”

“I like Mr. Jason. He playeded Biderman with me and Morgan and brought pizza.” Cameron nodded. “He can come.”

“Play for a little while longer, and we’ll head over to the carnival, okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“Okay!” Morgan tagged Cameron. “You’re it!” Then he took off running, and Cameron ran after him squealing.

“Jason’s coming?” Emily asked with her brow raised.

“I left Lucky,” Elizabeth said simply. “I don’t have to pretend we’re not friends anymore. And he likes my son. Cameron deserves all the love I can give him.”

Greystone Manor: Study

Sonny frowned as Jason checked the time on his phone for the third time since he’d arrived. “Am I keeping you from something?”

“What? No.” Jason shook his head. “I’m just—I’m supposed to be somewhere around three. What did Mateo have to say? Is he going to rein in Santiago?”

“He said he’d try, but I got something else that might be complicating it,” Sonny told him. “I put one of our guys on Courtland Street, just to get a sense of the traffic and customers. And he said that he thinks the cops have an undercover making buys.”

Jason grimaced. The last thing they needed was to get involved in a PCPD sting operation. They were just finally coming out from underneath the Manny crap. “Which cop?”

“Rocco talked to him, and the guy just said it was a cop. Rocco didn’t think it mattered who, but I can ask. But if they’re watching the Escobars on Courtland Street—”

“They might be watching them at Kelly’s or the high school. Maybe that’s why the PCPD is on this.” Jason hesitated. “I don’t like them dealing this close to your turf, Sonny, but the last thing we need is the PCPD looking at us.”

“I get it, but I don’t like the Escobars thinking they can play around like this,” Sonny returned. He poured himself a tumbler of bourbon. “Right now, Mateo seems irritated, but if we don’t do something, we look weak.”

Jason waited a long moment before taking a deep breath. “Elizabeth left Lucky. Yesterday. She went to her grandmother’s yesterday. And…” He pressed his lips together. “That’s where I’m going. To the park to see her and Cameron with Morgan.”

Sonny squinted at him. “Are you two—uh—you together now?”

“No,” Jason told him. “No. Not—She needs time. And space. But we don’t have to pretend we’re not friends anymore.” It had been Elizabeth’s idea, but Jason hadn’t hesitated. Asking him to spend time together where anyone could see them meant she was serious about leaving Lucky. And he didn’t want her to wonder how much she mattered to him.

“But you hanging out in public with a cop’s wife after everything that happened last month is like waving a red flag at a bull,” Sonny stated. “You know that. That’s why you’re thinking we hang back on the Escobars. Don’t give them a reason to look at us funny.”

“Yeah.”

“Any point in asking you two to lay low until her divorce papers are filed? Or like…she’s even moved her stuff out?” Sonny scowled. “You really gotta go public today? Less than twenty-four hours later—”

“We’re not—” Jason broke off. Because it wasn’t an unreasonable request. But it still rankled at him to be asked to put off spending time with Elizabeth and Cameron because of business. “We’re not going public,” he repeated. “But I get it. People are going to think we are.”

“I don’t give a shit about people, I give a shit about keeping the cops from digging into our lives all over again.” Sonny wiped his mouth. “This is important to you? This…carnival?”

“No. But it’s important to Elizabeth. And she would have already told Cameron I was coming. And Morgan knows I’m going. I saw him this morning before Carly took him over to Elizabeth’s.”

Sonny groaned at those words—because he knew Jason didn’t disappoint Morgan or Michael unless he had to. And it went without saying that Elizabeth and Cameron had joined the list of people Jason would walk through fire for. He sipped his bourbon and sat in the armchair. “What made her finally leave?” he asked. “Because two days ago, you were avoiding each other. Was it the thing on the docks?”

“It was part of it, yeah. Why does it matter?”

“It matters because she’s left him before, hasn’t she?” Sonny pointed out. “In fact, didn’t she leave him just before the kidnapping? How do you know she’s sticking this time?”

“Because I do, Sonny.” Jason scowled. “I don’t have to get your approval on this kind of thing. It’s not your business—”

“Really? It’s a little bit my business. You start sleeping with a cop’s wife—”

“Don’t call her that,” Jason snapped. “She’s not some cop’s wife. She’s Elizabeth.”

Sonny fell silent, staring at him for a long moment. “Yeah. She’s Elizabeth. And she was in your life long before she became a cop’s wife. Fair enough. If you’re willing to take on the crap we’ll get in the papers and from the cops, then fine. I’ll find out more about the PCPD’s involvement with the Escobars.” He got to his feet. “Have a nice time at the carnival.”

Port Charles Park

Elizabeth waved at Emily as she took Cameron and Morgan to get cotton candy at a nearby stall while she sat on the park bench, hoping to avoid some of the people who were in line — she really didn’t want to see or hear from Jesse Beaudry right now.

He was near the top of the list of people that Elizabeth wasn’t really interested in seeing at the moment, but he wasn’t alone. She sighed when she saw Sam McCall heading her way and decided to just suck it up. She remained seated as the other brunette stopped in front of her.

Sam slid her hands into the pockets of her jeans and rocked back on her heels. “Uh, hey.”

“Hello.” Elizabeth lifted her brows and sat back against the bench. “I haven’t seen you around in a while.

“Yeah, I’ve been working in Florida for a few weeks. I actually just came back to Port Charles to finish up a few things, grab the last of my stuff, and then I’ll be gone.” She nodded towards the other side of the bench. “Mind if I sit for a minute?”

“Go ahead.” Elizabeth slid over as Sam sat down. “So, you’re leaving.”

“Yeah, there’s not much here for me. I—” She bit her lip. “One of the things I wanted to do was apologize for that last day at the hospital. Because I am sorry.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, Sam. It was a bad day. And—”

“I know that I didn’t have a good reason to be so angry with you.” Sam shifted to face Elizabeth slightly. “But I think—God, I think I was mad at you before then. And not just because of Jason. I was mad because you knew.”

Elizabeth didn’t have to guess what Sam meant by that. She sighed. “I didn’t do anything, Sam. I just ran the test—”

“Jason told you. Those results came back, and he told you about them. I can’t—I couldn’t understand why he’d do that. It was none of your business. And he told you like it was nothing. I should have known then—I should have seen you as a threat—”

“Sam—”

“You didn’t do anything. I know that. It’s on Jason. It’s on me for not pushing him. For just being okay with the idea that he was still in love with you. I was willing to settle for scraps, Elizabeth, just to be with him. And that’s why the hospital happened. Why I did what I did.”

“It’s okay. We all just—we all handled this badly.” Elizabeth waited a minute. “You weren’t wrong. Jason and I never slept together, and I—it never really came to it. But we crossed a line. Physically and emotionally. And it wasn’t fair to you. I am sorry for that.”

“I had this out of body of experience—I could literally see myself screaming at you, I could see you falling apart, and I just—Jesus, when did I become that woman? How did I let a man drive me to that point? I hated who I was, Elizabeth. What you and Jason did was wrong because you made promises to other people. And, well, I can’t speak for Lucky, but I think deserved better.”

“You did. And Lucky did, too. I never should have stayed in a marriage where I was that unhappy. It doesn’t matter how he treated me.” Elizabeth sighed. “I never wanted any of this.” She looked over to the cotton candy stall, where Cameron and Morgan had just received their cotton candy. Emily hadn’t seen Sam yet, or she would have been glaring at Sam, Elizabeth was sure.

“But that’s life, right? We never get what we want. Or what we think we want. I got married in November, and I really thought it was going to be forever. It might have been. It might have been years before Lucky’s anger became an issue,” Elizabeth murmured. “But he can’t deal with failure. With setbacks. And that’s all the last six months have been. One disaster after another. And he couldn’t handle it.”

Sam sighed. “I know what you mean. I think things with Jason were fine until that day he came home and told me Alexis Davis was my mother, that he’d run the test behind my back, and that he’d told you. I had a choice in that moment. I could have focused on the real problem — the fact that a woman I hate threw me away like garbage. But I chose to focus on Jason, and I punished him for it. I refused to talk to him.” She smirked. “And then Emily hit us like a freight train.”

Emily caught sight of Sam and scowled. Elizabeth waved as if to indicate it was okay and that she should stay over there until Jesse and Maxie had left the area.

“She came at me hard when I was already low, and she threw Jason a fastball right to the face. I don’t think he even knew how he still felt about you, Elizabeth, until she told him you thought he’d cheated on you. He’d barely flinched through the rest of it—including the part where she’d called me a whore—but he was so upset that he let her keep spewing all her hate and rage while he tried to figure out exactly what he’d done to you.” Sam shook her head. “It was like watching a light bulb switch on his head. He’d locked you away, and then he couldn’t do it again.”

“Sam—”

“Instead of stopping to talk to him about it—instead of dealing with—I ran. I hid. I turned it into anger. Because that’s how it works in a relationship. You come to a fork in the road, and you either go the same way at the same time, or you take different paths. At every point, Jason and I walked away from each other. Until that day, when I found myself screaming at a woman who—I’m guessing—had already been blamed for her own kidnapping a thousand times by that point.”

“It was a bad day,” Elizabeth repeated softly. “I get it, Sam. Because I wanted to pretend my life was happy. And the first time I realized how just unhappy I was—the first time it got really bad, I didn’t make him leave. I didn’t walk away, either.”

Sam frowned, looked at her, furrowing her brow. “Elizabeth?”

“I knew he didn’t love my son, but I didn’t go then. I thought he’d get better. And then when it was clear how little he loved Cam, how angry he could get at me—I didn’t even blink. I just lied for him.” Her throat tightened as she forced the words out. Because suddenly—she needed to say it. And it seemed safe to tell Sam. “And I told everyone that I tripped and fell.”

Sam exhaled on a sharp breath. “Elizabeth—”

“And even after it got worse—even after that day in the hospital with you and knowing that there was a chance a better man might actually love me back, I stayed.” Elizabeth rubbed her chest.

“Are you—” Sam shook her head. “Are you still—”

“No. I left yesterday. And I think I mean it this time. I do.” She swallowed hard. “But I meant it the last time. And I still went back.”

“Why?”

“Why did you stay with Jason?” Elizabeth asked softly. “Because you did, didn’t you? Until that day at the hospital. You knew before then. I know you did. But you stayed.”

“It’s—” Sam waited a long moment, trying to gather her thoughts. “It’s not the same, Elizabeth. I thought we could be okay again. If you’d go away, if he’d forget about you, it would go back to being okay. And I thought it was worth waiting for it to be okay again—”

Sam cleared her throat, shook her head. “Ultimately, none of this matters anymore. I wasn’t happy here. Jason and I were always going to come to this because it turns out I’m a con artist, and I’m not ashamed of it. He was. And that’s a deal breaker for me. He doesn’t respect what I do or care that I love it.”

“And you deserve someone who does.” Elizabeth laughed a little. “Oh, God, I am so terrible at being a cop’s wife. Lucky always said that. I mean, I guess what you do is bad. But it’s not my life, and I’m not the one that has to live it. I’m sorry Jason didn’t accept it.”

“Yeah, well—” Sam shrugged. “At least with you being a nurse, you’ll have more patience for his Superman complex.” When Elizabeth just frowned, Sam continued, “The thing he has about saving people? He was so disappointed when Sonny didn’t want to do anything about Manny.” She smirked. “I told him—it’s not your job to fix the world, you know. You’re not Superman.”

“I—” Elizabeth blinked. “That’s so weird. I told him the same thing—”

“Yeah, but I think you and I meant different things. You expected him to be the kind of guy who wouldn’t abandon a pregnant woman being targeted by a psycho, and me?” Sam shrugged. “I figured it wasn’t his business.” She chuckled, a bit bitterly. “To think, I thought you wanting him to deal with that meant you didn’t understand him.”

“Sam—”

“Clearly, I was wrong about that. And—” Sam nodded towards a path in the distance where Jason was walking towards them quickly, “he’s not sorry how things turned out.”

“I don’t know what he is yet. But I’m sorry that you were hurt. I’m sorry for my part in it. Maybe I didn’t owe you anything as a friend, but I did owe you something as a woman. I’m sorry,” Elizabeth repeated. “And I know…I know you’re thinking of wrapping things up without talking to Alexis.”

“That’s going to be buried,” Sam said sharply. “I’m not dealing with that,” she added as Jason drew up to them.

“Is everything okay here?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, things are fine,” Elizabeth told him. To Sam, she continued, “And that’s fair. I don’t blame you. My parents abandoned me, too. Not by adoption, but they moved to Europe ten years ago, and I haven’t seen them since I moved to Port Charles. I always knew they didn’t love me the way they loved my brother or sister. Sometimes I think about asking them why. They probably wouldn’t have an answer. Or they’d tell me I was being silly. But it’d be nice to know.”

Sam chewed on her bottom lip as she got to her feet, Elizabeth also standing. “I’m sure if I told Alexis the truth, she’d tell me all the details I wanted to know before. Why she gave me up, how I ended up with Cody—I’m just not sure it’s worth the price of telling Alexis. I mean, she could have looked for me—”

“Maybe,” Elizabeth said, “but you don’t have a lot of experience with the Cassadines. Not like I do. If Alexis was sixteen, she was still under Mikkos’s control. He probably arranged everything. He was evil—worse than Manny Ruiz. I also know Alexis was terrified of Helena. Alexis sent her own sister away to protect her after Helena killed their mother.”

“I—” Sam glanced at Jason for a long moment as his expression remained blank. “I didn’t know that. Did you?”

“I did, but I didn’t think about it that way—” Jason frowned. “Elizabeth—”

“Don’t tell her, tell her—whatever you choose, I’m sure it’ll be the right thing for you. But you’ve seen the way she’s fought for Kristina, for Molly. Why do you think she wouldn’t fight for you in her own way?”

“I’ve just hated her for so long,” Sam said. “But if I’m going to leave Port Charles, it might be nice to take some answers with me. I don’t know. I’ll think about it.”

“How are things?” Emily asked as Cameron and Morgan bounded up behind her. Cameron immediately started tugged on Jason’s jeans—in which look liked a system they’d already settled on, Elizabeth realized as Jason leaned down to pick Cameron up in his arms.

“Hey, Cam,” Jason said. “Did you eat or wear that cotton candy?” he asked, pointing to the blue strands near Cameron’s mouth.

“I ateded it all up. Aunt Em says no more.”

“I told her we didn’t have to tell Daddy I got two,” Morgan told Elizabeth. “But no more candy.”

“I should get going,” Sam murmured, looking at the way Jason held Cameron. Elizabeth folded her arms, uncomfortable. She knew what it was like to watch the man you’d loved with another woman—and to see him with another child after they’d lost Sam’s daughter—

“Good luck, Sam,” Elizabeth offered as the brunette waved and disappeared down a path.

“Uh, what was that?” Emily demanded. She put her hands on her hips. “You were talking to her forever.”

“She just wanted to apologize before she left town,” Elizabeth told her. She knelt down next to Morgan and took out a napkin to wipe his face. “It was fine, Em.”

“Can we go on the rides?” Cameron asked. “Mommy said there’s some for us.”

“We just have to go to the ticket booth,” Elizabeth said as she straightened. “You ready?” she asked Emily.

“You mean, is Jesse Beaudry somewhere far away?” Emily snorted. “Yeah, he’s over by the bumper cars.”

“Well, then let’s go on some rides.”

---

A few hours later, both boys were still going strong and begging to go on the miniature kid’s roller coaster that had been set up on the far end of the park — which they could do as long as an adult would go on.

Elizabeth watched in stunned silence as Cameron and Morgan, in unison, looked directly at Jason, who didn’t even protest. He took their hands and got into line.

“Um—” Emily pursed her lips, nodded. “Okay. So that is my brother, riding a roller coaster. Jason Morgan. Excuse me—” She fished in her purse for her digital camera. “Mom is never going to believe this.”

She snapped a few photos as Jason and the boys boarded the small car. Cameron waved at them with a big grin as Jason made sure he was strapped in.

“Seriously, this has made my whole life—” Emily turned to Elizabeth, who hadn’t said anything. “You okay? You look upset.”

“I’m not. I’m just—” Elizabeth sighed. “It feels like another lifetime, but I asked Lucky to come with us earlier this week. I thought it’d be something fun we could do as a family, you know? I really was trying.”

“I know, but—”

“And now I’m standing here, watching my son have more fun with Jason than I think he ever did living with Lucky, and I—I’m so angry at myself for letting Cameron live like that. He loves Jason. And he deserved better from me. I can’t imagine Lucky here. I’m glad he said no. I’m glad I’m standing here with you, watching Jason with my son and his best friend.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“I haven’t seen my brother look this relaxed or happy in years. And you two aren’t even really together.” Emily slid an arm around her shoulder, tugging her in for a half hug. “It makes me happy to see you both happy. And you know how much I love Cameron. I want him happy, too.”

They watched, laughing and taking more photos until the ride was over. After, Elizabeth bought one of the pictures snapped along the ride.

“Let’s get some dinner,” she suggested to Jason as she returned to their group. “Cameron will probably want hot dogs.”

“Hamburgers,” Morgan said. He grinned. “And cotton candy.”

Jason shook his head as they headed back towards the entrance of the park, away from the larger rides and towards more of the food and games. “No more cotton candy.”

Elizabeth met Morgan’s eyes and nodded. “Yes,” she mouthed. Morgan grinned and slid her hand in hers as they wound down one of the paths.

“Did Elizabeth tell you she’s going to scrub in on her first surgery this week,” Emily asked Jason. “After only a month—”

“I’m scrubbing in to observe,” Elizabeth corrected. “I have to do that for like three more months before Patrick will actually let me assist. He’s such a perfectionist. I can’t believe he wanted me on his team to begin with.”

“Mom wanted Elizabeth on her team, too,” Emily explained. “She, like, went to war with Patrick.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Emily—” But she flushed as they arrived in the large food area set up and started to look for a table. “Don’t start.”

“No, that’s good. I know you like your job, and I’m glad other people notice,” Jason said. He lifted Cameron onto the bench seat of a table. “What do we want? Emily and I can go get the food if you want to wait with the kids.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Elizabeth began, then she grimaced.

“Isn’t this cozy,” Jesse Beaudry snarled as he stalked towards them. Behind him, Maxie Jones followed with an irritated sigh. Her sister, Georgie, and her boyfriend, Dillon, were also in the group. And, to Elizabeth’s worry, so was Lulu.

“Hey, Liz.” Lulu folded her arms and looked at Jason, who still had his hands on Cameron’s shoulders after lifting him into his seat. She looked back at her sister-in-law. Lulu flashed a tight smile. “Dad’s been trying to call you—”

“I know. I was going to call him tomorrow,” Elizabeth said. “Lulu—”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll tell him.” Lulu cast a nervous look at her group. “Why don’t we just go? I didn’t want to come over here—”

“I think it’s shitty you didn’t even wait an entire day before flaunting yourself all over Port Charles with your criminal boyfriend—”

“There are kids here,” Maxie said, grasping at Jesse’s elbow. “C’mon, I told you—”

“No, Lucky’s entire life has been destroyed and this bitch—”

“You’re going to want to stop right there,” Jason said quietly. “Maxie’s right. There are kids here. You got a problem with me, that’s fine. But you should know better.”

“Kids—” Jesse sorted. “Sure—a mobster’s kid and the bastard she tried to foist off on my partner—”

Dillon, perhaps seeing the murderous light in Jason’s eyes or the way Elizabeth’s fists clenched, grabbed Jesse’s arm, tugging. “Seriously, dude. This is not okay.”

Morgan, likely used to his parents’ fighting, hunkered down at the table and put his head down while Cameron stood up on his tiny legs and turned to Jason, wrapping his arms around Jason’s forearm. “Jason, what’s a bastard?”

Elizabeth growled at the sound of that word in her little boy’s mouth and stepped in front of the table. “Jesse, you don’t like me, that’s fine. But you have no right to harass me or my child in public—”

“Lucky nearly died because of you, and you didn’t even have the decency to pretend you gave a damn for like ten seconds—”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. If you won’t leave, we will.” She turned to take Morgan into her arms. She nodded at Jason, who picked up Cameron. “Come on, guys. We’ll go to Kelly’s.”

“Running away seems to be your thing—” Jesse continued, but whatever words he might have said next were lost forever with the sound of a sharp CRACK!

Gunshots broke out over the roar of the crowd. Screams echoed in the air as people started to run, started to push and shove. At the familiar sound of gunfire, as she saw Jason grab her son and drop to the ground, Elizabeth grabbed Morgan around the waist and pushed down. She winced as a sharp pinch in her shoulder, then a slicing sensation through her skin like fire.

She shoved the bench out of the way and pushed Morgan towards Jason, Emily, and Cameron, rolling under after him. Jason pulled Morgan close to him, trying to cover both kids with his own body as Elizabeth and Emily huddled next to him.

Both boys were crying; Morgan was calling for both his mother and father as he burrowed his head down. Elizabeth heard more screaming—and as the gunfire faded—the screams became more distinct—

More familiar. A woman was screaming a name. Jesse’s name.

“Jesse!” Maxie screeched. Elizabeth turned and could see just beneath the plastic gingham cover that Jesse was sprawled on the ground, his face turned towards her—with blood seeping out onto the cement ground. Maxie was sobbing, her sister and Dillon were trying to drag her backward. Elizabeth couldn’t see where Lulu had gone.

“Wait here,” Jason ordered. “Cameron, I need to go make sure it’s safe—” Gently, he managed to settle Cameron with Elizabeth, Emily, and Morgan as he crawled from beneath the picnic table—

Elizabeth’s heart was racing as Emily also crawled out towards Jesse and Maxie.

But she waited. She was a nurse, and she should be helping, but Cameron and Morgan were her priority and—

And she knew how this worked. She stayed out of sight, protecting the boys. They cam first.

She met Emily’s eyes as the other woman frantically tried to stop the bleeding. Emily did not look confident, and Maxie’s anguished cries pulled at Elizabeth.

“Liz! Liz! Where’s Cam?” Lulu cried as she crawled into view. She joined them under the table. “Where’s Morgan—”

“They’re here. They’re safe—Stay with them—”

Elizabeth crawled out to help Jesse, but by then, it seemed like the whole world exploded—people were still running—still screaming—there were paramedics and security guards who’d been tasked with running the carnival.

Emily was pushed aside as a stretcher was brought over. Her hands were stained with blood as she shakily got to her feet. “Headshot,” she managed. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “It’d be a miracle if he makes it to the hospital,” she added as she watched a sobbing Maxie following the paramedics, held by Dillon and Georgie.

“You’re bleeding,” Emily said just as Jason returned to them, his gun already tucked back in his jeans, out of sight from the surrounding officers. He scowled, quickened his pace to be back at their side.

Elizabeth frowned, looking at him. “No, he’s not. He’s fine—” But then she felt it. The burning sensation on her upper shoulder, the blood dribbling down her arm. She looked down at her arm, left bare by her tank top. “Oh.”

She touched the blood and looked at it, looked at Jason. Managed a smile. “Just like before.”

But she didn’t faint this time. Emily helped her sit down while Lulu climbed out from under the table with the boys.

“Jesus, Liz, you got shot!” Lulu cried. “I should call Lucky—”

“Mommy!”

“I’m not—I just got grazed,” Elizabeth said with a wince. She looked at her son, still crying. “I’m okay, Cam. It’s okay. We’re okay.”

“But the angry man. He’s not okay.” Morgan sniffled, swiping his eyes. “I wanna go home.”

Emily frowned as she took off the light button-down shirt she’d been wearing over her tank top and, with the help of a pair of manicure scissors from her purse, cut the sleeve and tied it around Elizabeth’s arm. “You can wait for the paramedics to look at you,” she told her. “But—”

“But we need to get out of here,” Elizabeth said, looking at Jason, who exhaled slowly and nodded. “Morgan needs to get back to Greystone right away. That’s what’s supposed to happen.”

“Wait, what?” Lulu blinked. “What does that mean?”

“Yeah,” Jason said, ignoring the blonde. “Yeah. And—” He hesitated. “I want you and Cameron to come with us.”

Elizabeth didn’t even hesitate. She got to her feet, picked up Cameron, and handed him to Jason before taking Morgan into her arms. “Then let’s go before the PCPD gets here. Emily, you’re going to the hospital?”

“Yeah—”

“Liz, wait, why can’t you just wait for the paramedics?” Lulu began.

“I’m sure Lulu needs a ride,” Elizabeth said, turning to her sister-in-law. “To be with Maxie and the others.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Emily said. “C’mon, Lu. Let’s go to the hospital.”

“But—”

“Let’s go,” Elizabeth said to Jason. “Because I really don’t think you want the PCPD to find you at the scene of a cop shooting,” she said as they started towards the exit. She was running on adrenaline, she knew that. And when it stopped, she knew that she would have to think about the fact that she’d been shot at, standing next to Jason, with her son only inches away.

That was the last thing Elizabeth wanted to think about at the moment. Right now, she wanted to make sure Cameron was safe, and Sonny’s fortress at the edge of town was the best place to be.

Everything else would wait.

Port Charles Park: Parking Lot

Jason’s black SUV was parked next to Elizabeth’s car. He set Cameron on the front driver’s seat, then took the keys Elizabeth handed him so that he could get the car seats from her car and take them to his. Elizabeth also put Morgan on the front passenger’s seat, and, together, they efficiently fastened both seats into the SUV.

It might have made sense to someone else to take the car that had already been set up for two toddlers, but Elizabeth knew the SUV had bulletproof windows. Jason hadn’t even had to ask her to switch cars—she’d just known what to do.

“Mommy,” Cameron sniffled as Elizabeth fastened him into his seat. He pointed at her arm. “Mommy, you hurt.”

“I’m fine, baby.” She took a precious extra five seconds to brush his hair out of his face and hand him his Spiderman action figure. Next to him, Morgan had a G.I. Joe he never went anywhere without. “We’re going to go see Morgan’s daddy’s house. He’s got a lot of toys.”

“Yeah?” Cameron swiped at his face, his nose dripping. She took a wipe and blew his nose. “He gots Biderman movies?”

“I’m sure he does. But I have an extra in my bag. I never go anywhere without it,” she told her son. She caught Jason’s eye — they were out of time if they wanted to be out of the parking lot before the crowd told the responding officers Jason Morgan had been at the scene. “You ready?”

“Yeah. Okay, Mommy.”

She closed the door and got into the front seat. Jason had already put the car into reverse to back out of the parking spot before she’d closed her door and fastened her seatbelt.

“Your arm okay?” he asked, grimacing as the SUV got caught in a crowd of other cars fleeing the park. He could hear the sirens of police cars a few blocks away. His fingers tapped restlessly against the wheel, willing the cars in front of him to move. He looked at Elizabeth—the makeshift bandage Emily had tied around her arm was already beginning to fail, the thin cotton no match for the blood seeping through.

“It’s fine. Sonny still has a guard with some medical training, right?”

“Uh, yeah—”

“I remember from when you were shot. Sonny wanted him to come look at you, but I wouldn’t tell him where you were.” Elizabeth touched her arm, wincing. “It hurts, but it’s not much worse than the warehouse graze.”

He didn’t understand how she was so calm and collected after being caught in gunfire, after her son had been traumatized—after she’d been shot in front of her child.

“I know what you’re thinking, Jason. And I guess we have to have that conversation, but not right now, right?”

She looked at him as the cars in front of him finally shifted, and Jason was able to pull away from the park—just before the first group of cop cars broke through the intersection across the street from the park.

“Elizabeth—”

“Jason.” She shook her head. “You weren’t hit. Jesse was. Maybe it was a ricochet. Maybe it wasn’t. But you know better. Don’t assume until you know the facts, right?”

He frowned. “How—”

“You always thought I was reckless,” she murmured. “That I treated it like a game.”

“I—” He fell silent—because of course, he had. She’d used that busboy to lure him to Vista Point—

Because he’d been avoiding her. Not returning her calls.

“I’m sorry. I should have known better. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Good.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Now, what are the chances that Carly blames me for this because I had Morgan with me?”

He laughed then, a surprising release of the tension. “About sixty-forty in favor. She’s probably not going to let you babysit again.”

“Well, then I’ll just have to remind her I took a bullet for him, and we’ll be good.” They exchanged quick, tense smiles before looking straight ahead at the highway ramp that would take them out of downtown Port Charles, towards Greystone Manor and the security of Sonny’s high walls and electrified gates.

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