Brenda’s drugs had kicked in by the time they returned to the penthouse. She was chattering away about the ER doctor and was busy telling Sonny all the reasons Elizabeth should turn Jason down if he asked her out.

Jason had been uncharacteristically quiet during Brenda’s tirade. Brenda Corinthos was the only woman that seemed to get the best of Jason, but even she couldn’t get a ride out of him tonight.

Jason was too busy thinking about that night in the alley, with the stabbing victim. She’d said her name was Liz and that she was twenty-two. Five years later, it was possible that Dr. Elizabeth Webber, at age twenty-seven, was the girl.

Hell, if Jason really wanted to be honest with himself, he’d say it was more than a possibility. How many other girls were attacked in alley–stabbed–and someone came to call 911? Port Charles wasn’t that large of a town–the odds that another girl with the same name, same injury and whose age and size would match was slim to none.

But what did it really matter if Elizabeth Webber was the girl? He’d tell her, she’d say thank you and that’d be the end of it. What good would it do to tell her?

No, he’d keep it to himself. It wasn’t like he’d see her around. Jason wasn’t fond of hospitals–had only gone tonight because Sonny asked him too. He didn’t even visit Emily all that much.

Emily. Shit. She was dating Lucky Spencer, one of Elizabeth’s best friends. And Jason knew that Emily would jump at the chance to be friends with Elizabeth–and he could tell the two women would get along.

He might have to see the doctor after all.

“You’re acting awfully weird,” Brenda murmured, plopping down on the couch. She peered up at him, her eyes slightly glazed over. She giggled. “Well, weirder than usual.”

Jason shook his head. “I’m going home.”

“You’re not staying for dinner?” Sonny asked.

Jason gestured towards the clock sitting on the desk. “It’s after ten. I’ll just grab something at Kelly’s.”

Brenda leaned over the arm of the couch. “I know what’s bothering him!” she announced gleefully. “He likes her.”

Sonny just laughed and shook his head. “Upstairs, honey.”

Brenda frowned. “No. Because I’m right, aren’t I? Jason’s got a crush,” she sang. She tried to stand and only made it halfway before thinking better of it and took her seat again. “She’s pretty.”

“Brenda,” Sonny said, sternly. His voice had a hint of amusement in it and his wife picked up on it.

“Aww, knock it off. You know she is,” Brenda said. She leaned her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. “You gotta let go of the blonde, Jase. Y’know you were too good for her anyways. Be glad she dumped ya.”

“I left her,” Jason corrected without thinking.

Brenda peeked an eye open and grinned. “Good. Means you’re not completely stupid. You want her number?”

“No,” Jason said firmly.

“You know you want it,” Brenda teased. She reached blindly behind her for the purse she’d dropped, intent on searching for Elizabeth’s number.

“Pay no attention to her–she’s on drugs, remember?” Sonny said, trying to contain his laughter at Brenda’s antics.

“I’d better go before she finds it,” Jason replied. “I’ll see ya.”

“Bye.”

—-

Elizabeth was fifteen minutes late when she arrived at Eli’s for the dinner with Lucky, Nikolas, Emily and Jason. Her shift at the hospital had been particularly brutal today–she’d lost two patients.

She’d taken a quick shower in the staff room before changing into the black jeans and light blue sweater she’d brought to work. She’d rushed out of the hospital, her hair still wet and curling at the ends.

Entering Eli’s, she rolled her eyes. She shouldn’t have rushed–Lucky and Nikolas weren’t there. She was suddenly thankful that she’d run into Jason twice that week, since she never would have found the table.

Seated beside Jason was a dark-haired woman with large brown eyes. She was wearing a pink and red peasant blouse with flared jeans and she was laughing at her brother.

Elizabeth walked forward and approached the table. “Hi, I’m–”

“Lizzie,” Emily Morgan said, standing. The other woman towered over her slightly. “Lucky and Nik talk about you all the time.”

“I prefer Elizabeth or Liz,” Elizabeth said. She smiled. “Lucky and Nik don’t seem to understand that.”

Emily laughed. “Yeah, they’re kind of thick-headed.” She sat back down and Elizabeth took a seat across from them. “This is my brother Jason–”

“Actually, we’ve met,” Elizabeth said.

Emily raised her eyebrows. “Really.”

“Her car broke down,” Jason told her. “And Lucky called me.”

“I also gave his friend Brenda a few stitches last night,” Elizabeth replied.

“She’s not my friend,” Jason muttered. “She’s just Sonny’s wife.”

Emily giggled. “Don’t listen to him. He can’t stand it because Brenda gets under her skin. You should see the two of go at one another–it’s hysterical.”

“So, where are Dumb and Dumber?” Elizabeth asked, twisting in her seat.

“Nik had a call right before his shift ended, so he’ll be late. As for my wonderful boyfriend, who knows?” Emily rolled her eyes. “That boy couldn’t be on time if his life depended on it.”

“Oh, I know. I asked Lucky to pick me up Wednesday since my car died and he was two hours late. I could have walked home in the time it took him.” Elizabeth sighed. “His defense? He hasn’t changed his clock back yet.”

“That’s so pathetic,” Emily grumbled. Her eyes lit up and she gave the other woman a charming smile. “Jason is always on time. Sometimes, he’s even early.”

“Really?” Elizabeth asked, grinning. She knew exactly what the brunette was trying to do and she thought it was funny. “Now there’s a rarity.”

“He also owns his own business,” Emily told her.

“Emily,” Jason said. “She knows this, remember?”

Emily glared at him. “You know what? Don’t be so difficult.” She turned back to Elizabeth. “So, you work at the hospital, too?”

“Yeah, I’m an intern,” Elizabeth replied. “You’re a nurse up in maternity right?”

“Yep. Two years now,” Emily said. “I love it. Being around babies is the best. I can’t wait to have kids of my own.”

“So what made you decide to become a nurse?” Elizabeth asked.

“Actually, I was in the middle of my sophomore year at PCU,” Emily began, “And I was still an undeclared major. One of my teachers went into labor right there in the classroom. I kind of held her hand through it, went to the hospital with her and stayed until her husband showed up. I really like helping people, so I looked into a medical degree. I decided I didn’t want to go to all that school, so I went into nursing. What about you?” Emily asked, reaching for her glass.

“I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do almost until I graduated. I was a liberal arts major, concentrating on science until my senior year five years ago. One night, I was attacked in an alley and stabbed. The surgery that saved my life kind of got me fascinated with surgical medicine, so that’s what I became. Right now, I’m doing my internship in the emergency room, but eventually I’m going to do surgeries.”

“Wow, you know, it’s the strangest thing,” Emily said.

Jason frowned at his sister’s words and sat up. “Emily–”

“My brother found a girl about five years ago. She was stabbed, too.” Emily turned to him. “What did you say the girl’s name was?”

“Liz,” Jason said, flicking his eyes to the girl sitting across from him. “Was that you? On Courtland Street? January?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Oh my God. Yeah. I…wow…” She laughed. “This is a small world, isn’t it?”

“My brother here is a moron. He didn’t stick around,” Emily said. “See, Jase? I told you’d it come back to haunt ya.” She frowned. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“I’ve wanted to thank you for so long,” Elizabeth said. “The doctors said that if I hadn’t been found so quickly, I probably would have bled to death. Thank you.”

Jason shifted in his chair. “You’re welcome.”

Lucky and Nikolas arrived a few minutes later, and the topic was quickly changed away from Elizabeth’s attack, but she found herself sneaking glances at Emily’s brother throughout the meal.

She’d never dreamed she’d find the guy who called 911 and managed to keep her awake and at least somewhat calm until the ambulance arrived. It was actually an incredible thing to find him and have friends in common like this.

She found herself engaging in comfortable banter with Emily, quickly learning that the other woman had a bottomless sense of humor and absolutely no one, especially the men sitting with them, was safe from it. She was also warm and compassionate and Elizabeth felt like she’d made a good friend.

The girls made plans to meet for lunch next week, and Emily decided to switch some shifts around so that they might see each other at the hospital. Elizabeth mentioned Brenda had given her number to her, and Emily immediately leaped at the chance to make the lunch date for all three of them. Jason grimaced at the mention of Brenda, which Emily teased him unmercifully for.

By the time the dinner was over, Elizabeth had learned most of Emily’s life story, but hadn’t added much to what she knew about her handsome brooding older brother.

To her surprise, she realized she’d wanted to know more.

—-

“I think they really hit it off,” Emily said later that night, lying next to Lucky in the darkened room. “She’s really nice and you know the fact that he’s the one that saved her life–well, that just makes it better, y’know?”

“Uh huh,” Lucky mumbled. He turned over and buried his head in the blankets.

“It’s funny how it all worked out,” Emily continued, oblivious to Lucky’s snores. “It was almost like they had to meet. I mean, she’s got a crappy car. He’s a mechanic. You’re his best friend. You’re her best friend. She works at the hospital and Brenda cut her hand. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

After Lucky didn’t answer, Emily frowned and turned her head on the pillow to look at him. “Lucky? Lucky?”

She poked him and he sprang up. “I didn’t do it, it was Nik!” came out his mouth and Emily started laughing hysterically. Lucky shot her a nasty look and laid back down to go back to sleep.

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