Emily jumped up from her seat as Sonny, Carly and Jason rushed into the ER.

“What happened?” Sonny demanded.

Emily was in tears. “I don’t know. I was going to get a drink of water and I heard weird sounds coming from her r-room.” Emily swiped at her eyes. “I went into the room and God, Sonny, her eyes were bulging practically out of her and she couldn’t breathe. She looked so scared.”

“What would cause her to do that?” Carly asked. She looked between her husband and Emily frantically.

Emily shook her head. “I don’t know.”

A doctor came out then. “Elizabeth Webber’s family?”

“That’s us, Doctor,” Sonny said, striding forward.

“I’m Dr. Scanlon. Your sister?” Sonny nodded and Dr. Scanlon continued. “Elizabeth was having a panic attack. We’ve been able to stabilize her breathing, but she’s still very tense. The paramedics said she was calling for Jason. Is that you?”

Sonny seems stunned. He turned to look at Jason who looked confused. Emily gasped.

“Of course,” she whispered. Elizabeth had been talking about her father and the nightmares…she must have had one. Of course she’d call out for Jason. She probably always had. Emily’s eyes filled with tears.

“No,” Sonny said finally, his voice quiet. “Does she want to see Jason?”

Dr. Scanlon’s confused eyes swept the group, “Actually, yes, if he can calm her down.”

“Sonny,” Jason said. “I don’t know…”

“Jase,” Emily said quietly. She put a hand on his arm. “Please.”

Jason took a deep breath, “All right.”

—

Elizabeth was sleeping when Jason was shown into the section where they were keeping her. Her face was tense and it looked like she was having a bad dream. Jason felt kind of stupid, but sighed and took her hand.

“Hey, Elizabeth.”

“Jason?” she whispered. Her eyes were still closed and he could tell she was still sleeping. “He’s coming.”

Jason frowned. “Who’s coming?”

“He’s gonna hurt me.” Her voice was small and sounded scared. Jason was confused. “Stop him, Jason.”

“It’s okay,” he said, feeling more and more bewildered. Did this have anything to do with the difficult time he’d helped her with? “No one’s going to hurt you.”

“He said you weren’t going to help me anymore.” She whimpered. “He’s coming closer…”

Jason stroked her hair. “Shhh, I’m here. He can’t hurt you.”

Finally, Elizabeth’s forehead smoothed and she seemed to fall into a more relaxing sleep. Jason sighed and looked up. Sonny was standing at the edge.

“Who is she talking about?” Sonny asked tensely.

Jason shrugged. He tried to remove his hand from her grasp but she just tightened her grip. “I have no idea. She told me tonight that before the accident I’d helped her through something. I think this has something to do with it.”

“She’s holding to you like there’s no tomorrow,” Sonny observed.

“I just wish I knew how to help her. I mean, we just called a truce earlier and now…” Jason sighed, “I don’t know what to do, Sonny.”

“Well, until she lets go, you can’t do anything.” Sonny looked around. “I’ll go find some chairs. I think Liz owes us some explanations.”

Emily appeared behind the curtain. “Don’t push her, Sonny.”

Sonny turned. “You know what’s going on?”

Emily nodded miserably, “Yeah. And she doesn’t owe anyone anything. Don’t push her, Sonny. You wouldn’t want someone doing that to you.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sonny replied. “I’m just worried. I didn’t know anything was wrong.”

“Neither did I until today,” Emily replied quietly. “She’s good at hiding things. The only person who ever saw through her was…” Emily trailed off, her gaze landing on Jason.

“Jason Quartermaine,” Jason finished. “I didn’t realize they were that close.”

“They were,” Emily said looking away. “Closer than I thought.”

“I’m going to find some chairs,” Sonny said. He turned to Emily, “Why don’t you take Carly back to the Towers?”

Emily sighed, “Yeah, I probably should.” She disappeared with Sonny, leaving Jason and Elizabeth alone.

He covered her hand with his other one. “I don’t know what’s going on, Elizabeth. But I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”

—-

“….want to help…”

—-

“You know better than to talk back to your mother…you know what that means, Lizzie.”

—-

“Your mother seems to think you’re sneaking out. Where are you going, Lizzie?”

“Hey, Elizabeth. What’s wrong?”

“You t-told me if it got to be too much…”

“Come in. You’ll catch a cold sitting on the roof.”

—-

“You’re the only person who understands, Jason. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, you’ll never have to find out.”

—

“You promise you won’t leave me?”

“I’ll never leave you.”

—

“Beth…Jason’s been in an accident.”

“Is he…is he okay?”

“He’s in a coma.”

—–

“What do you mean he doesn’t remember anything?”

“He doesn’t remember anything, Liz.”

“You’re joking, AJ. That’s so cruel. Tell me the truth.”

“He doesn’t remember us, Liz.”

—

“Hey, Jason.”

“Who are you?”

—

“You got another F, Lizzie. Why won’t you learn?”

Elizabeth jerked straight up and started gasping for air. Jason sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, Elizabeth., hey, it’s me, Jason. Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just me.” Jason gripped her hands trying to make her focus on him. Her breathing started to even out and her eyes lost that glazed look.

“Jason?” she whispered. She looked around. “What’s going on?”

“Shhh, calm down, you’re at the hospital. You had a panic attack and they brought you here.”

Elizabeth flushed. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Jason hesitated. “You asked for me.”

“Oh.” She was mortified. She tried to take her hands from him. “Sorry.”

He kept a tight grip. “What’s going on Elizabeth?” He locked eyes with her. “Why did I know how to calm you down?”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I knew just what to say. I didn’t even think about it. It just came out,” Jason said, mystified.

Elizabeth’s eyes teared, “You always did,” she whispered. She looked away.

“Have I done this before?” he asked.

She nodded. “I used to have nightmares every night,” she said softly. “They got so bad I was afraid to go sleep so I used to climb out my window and go to your house. You’d let me in and I’d stay with you.”

“What are the nightmares about?” Jason asked.

Elizabeth let out a little cry. “I can’t tell you,” she said, shaking her head. “I told you once, but you went away and you never came back. I know I’m gonna blink and this will all be over.”

“I’m not going to leave.”

She kept shaking her head. “You said that before and you left.” She started to cry and Jason wrapped his arms around her. “You left anyway and you never came back. This is all just a dream. You’re not back.” She hugged him anyway. She didn’t know the next time she’d dream about Jason Quartermaine being back and saving her from a nightmare and have it feel so real.

“Listen, Elizabeth. I helped you once and I want to again. Please, let me,” he whispered into her ear.

“I let you once, but when you left there was no one to protect me from the nightmares,” she whispered, clutching at the back of his shirt. “I’m not gonna do it again.”

“Hey, you know, you’re awake,” he said, pulling away to look in her eyes. “I’m not Jason Quartermaine, you know that?”

She clamped her lips together. “I know. You’re Jason Morgan and you hate me.”

“I think you’re getting yourself worked out,” Jason said gently. “I don’t hate you.”

“Yes you do.” She let go of him and hugged herself. “You love Emily and AJ. You let them back in but you kept me out. ”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “Please. You can trust me.”

She hugged her knees to her chest. “I only trusted one person and you don’t remember him, so-”

“I got the chairs,” Sonny said, reentering. “Hey, Liz you’re awake. Are you okay?”

Elizabeth curled up in a ball and kept crying. Sonny shot a look at Jason.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. She woke up and I think she’s confused. She’s going between reality and the past right now. She can’t seem to decide if I’m Jason Quartermaine or Jason Morgan. Either way, I just want to help.”

“Well,” Sonny said, putting the chair down. “Sit. And we’ll wait for her to wake up.”

—

The next morning dawned. Elizabeth was expected to come home that afternoon. She’d slept the rest of the night peacefully and had woken up early that morning, feeling a little embarrassed. She’d apologized to Jason for her outburst and had refused to tell Jason or Sonny anything.

Emily showered and left the apartment after getting a call from Sonny. She headed for the Quartermaine mansion and didn’t even bother with the front door. She went straight to the rose garden where she knew Lila had breakfast every morning.

“Emily!” Lila said as Emily came into view.

“Grandmother,” Emily said, kissing her cheek. “How are you?”

“It’s lonely here, darling.” Lila sighed. “How I miss seeing you and Elizabeth sitting in the garden doing your homework.”

Emily’s eyes swept the garden. “Some of my best memories are out here with Beth, AJ and Jason,” she smiled, “and you or Reginald chasing after us with a camera.”

Lila laughed. “Darling, I have so many lovely memories myself. And Elizabeth is like family.”

Emily sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“What’s wrong, dear?” Lila asked.

Emily smiled, “Can’t get anything past you.” She hesitated. “Do you remember when Beth was young…did her father seem….a little um…” Emily trailed off.

“Are you talking about the times when Elizabeth snuck in Jason’s window?” Lila asked.

Emily’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

“Jason needed someone to talk to. He was so angry, darling, and he couldn’t let Elizabeth see that. He’d promised not to tell you or your brother. So he’d talk to me.”

“Beth told me yesterday,” Emily said. “And last night she had a panic attack and the only person that could calm her down was Jason.” She shook head. “How did I miss seeing Beth was in pain? I don’t understand how I didn’t see it.”

“She didn’t want you to, dear. And our Elizabeth is very good at hiding what she feels.” Lila sighed. “I’m only grateful she at least let Jason in.”

“And then she lost him,” Emily whispered. “I can’t imagine what’s been like these past few years, watching the person who’d been there for her forming new relationships with everyone but her.” She sighed. “Grandmother, I feel so helpless. Jason knew exactly what to say to her last night. Sonny told me on the phone that she woke up again last night, barely able to breathe and that Jason calmed her down in no time. Why couldn’t I do that?” Emily said, crossed her arms.

“Darling, I know that Jason doesn’t consciously remember helping Elizabeth, but I suppose part of him still does.”

Emily sighed. “I guess he did have a lot of practice. It must be second nature.”

“You know, there was a time when I thought that Elizabeth might fall for our Jason.”

Emily smiled. “Oh, Grandmother, that time is still very much in the present.”

Lila grinned, “Really, darling. Have you got a plan?”

Emily wanted to jump and down in excitement. “Does that mean you’d want to help?”

Lila took Emily’s hand, “Anything to make Elizabeth and Jason happy.”

—-

Emily stepped off the elevator, elated from her visit with her grandmother. That brought the total of supporters to five. As she neared her apartment, she paused. Jason was waiting out front – and he didn’t look happy.

“Hey,” she said. She noted the fact he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. “Did you spend the night at the hospital?”

“Yeah.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “Em, I need some answers.”

Emily shook her head. “I can’t tell you anything, you know that.”

“Emily, she had a nightmare right there in the hospital and when she woke up, I knew exactly how to calm her down. Why? What happened that makes her so terrified to sleep?” Jason demanded.

Emily crossed her arms and looked away. “I can’t tell you, Jason. She doesn’t want you to know and she is the only person that can tell you.”

“She told me she used to sneak into my room at night,” Jason said. “That when it got too bad, she came to me. Now, I don’t remember that and I know that hurts her, but I can’t help if no one tells me what’s going on.”

Emily shook her head. “No. I won’t break her trust. It took her years to tell me. I want to tell you, believe me. But Jason, Beth-”

“Will never tell me,” Jason finished. He exhaled slowly, frustrated. “All right. Will you tell her that Sonny wants to her to come by the warehouse today?”

“He’s not gonna push her, is he?” Emily asked, warily.

Jason shook his head. “No. I think he wanted to talk about some project she’s doing. He’s going to wait for Elizabeth to come to him.”

“All right,” Emily agreed. “I’ll tell her. Go home, get a shower, all right?”

“Are you trying to tell me I smell?” Jason asked.

Emily grinned. “Can you take the hint?” she teased.

—

Carly flipped through her calendar. She was tired—she’d didn’t get any sleep after she and Emily had returned from the hospital. She’d tossed and turned all night trying to understand what was wrong with Elizabeth. She wished that Elizabeth had come to her.

It was obvious that there was something between Elizabeth and Jason. Carly wasn’t sure if it happened before the accident or after, but something was there. Elizabeth had asked for Jason – someone that she’d told Carly over and over that she couldn’t stand.

Carly rubbed her eyes. Well, the plan to make them be friends was more important now than ever. Elizabeth obviously needed Jason in her life and Carly loved Elizabeth like a sister and she’d do anything for her.

“Mrs. Corinthos, the Port Charles Hotel has called back. They’d like to set a date for the launch party,” her assistant Elton’s voice came through the intercom.

Carly took a deep breath and pressed the button. “Elton, tell them I need the next available day.”

“They said they have an opening in three weeks, on June 20.”

“Can we be ready in that amount of time?” Carly asked, the wheels in her head already turning.

“With me planning it? Of course, Mrs. Corinthos, shall I tell them to book us?”

“Yes, Elton. Tell them.” Carly sat back in her chair. The company was launching the new Face of Deception and Carly had a feeling the party could be the first step in making Elizabeth and Jason see each other as more than friends.

Which meant she, Emily and Nikolas had three weeks to help Jason and Elizabeth become friends.

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