“Okay, so he’s a bit of a mute.”

Elizabeth shook her head and laughed. She, Brenda and Emily had found a day in their schedules when they all had lunch free and they’d gotten together at the Port Charles Grille.

Emily had immediately jumped in to tell Elizabeth all of Jason’s good traits while Brenda tossed in a few of his infuriating ones. Somewhere in between them, she’d gotten quite a few stories about the man who’d been mostly silent at dinner three days before.

“Okay, so he’s not a conversationalist,” Emily said. “I personally prefer men who don’t talk. It makes life so much easier.”

“Yeah, and then they don’t argue,” Brenda pointed out. “So, you’re automatically right.”

“As much fun as it’s been to spend an hour talking about Jason Morgan,” Elizabeth said, “I’m slightly confused as to why we’re doing it.”

Emily adjusted herself in her chair and exchanged a smile with her other friend. “Because, my dear, Brenda and I have discussed this and we think you’re just the woman for my brother.”

“You’ve known me for a week,” Elizabeth protested. “And I’ve met Jason twice.”

“Four times,” Brenda corrected. “When he saved your life, when you car broke down, that night at the hospital and at dinner.”

“All right, all right. Four times, then. Still, I don’t know him and how do you know I’m right for him?”

Brenda grinned. “It actually doesn’t matter to me. I just want to torture him and the quickest way to do that is butt in his life.”

Emily smacked in her the arm. “You’re not helping, Brenda. Anyway, Elizabeth, like I said, we’ve discussed this and I think you and Jason were destined to meet.”

Elizabeth quirked her eyebrows. “Destined?”

“Destined,” Emily confirmed. She shoved her empty plate out of the way and leaned forward, resting her elbows. “I mean, he saved your life and then disappeared for five years.”

“Right,” Elizabeth replied. “I thought I’d never be able to see him again.”

“But, you end up in a lot of situations where you’d have to run into him,” Emily said. “You work at the same hospital as I do. Your best friend is his best friend. You had a crappy car–”

“All right, now you’re stretching it,” Elizabeth cut in.

“And,” Brenda said, “You were on duty the night I cut my hand. What a million in one chance that was, right? I mean, how many other doctors could I have gotten?”

“There were five others on duty that night,” Elizabeth admitted. “Look, they’re just coincidences.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Emily said. “I think there’s a reason for everything.”

“I think she’s nuts,” Brenda said, jerking a thumb towards Emily. “But even I admit it’s a strange set of circumstances.”

“Gee, thanks,” Emily said, dryly. She looked back to Elizabeth. “Anyway, Lucky and Nik are always talking about you and I think you’re a great person and Jason really needs someone good–someone…”

“Normal?” Brenda cut in with. She gave Elizabeth a charming smile. “Jason’s last relationship bordered on the peculiar.”

Emily snorted. “This from the wife of the godfather.” She bit her lip and looked at Elizabeth. “The, ah, alleged godfather that is.”

“Don’t worry,” Elizabeth said, smiling. She leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, “I left the wire in my other purse.”

The joke eased the tension and they laughed. A few moments later, Elizabeth asked, “So, what happened with his last relationship?”

“See, you’re interested,” Emily teased. “And Brenda’s kidding. Carly wasn’t that bad.”

“Wasn’t that bad?” Brenda said. “Are you insane? She convinced him to move to California and then dumped him.”

“Careful, Bren, you don’t want someone getting the idea that you care what happens to Jason,” Emily warned, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

“I don’t,” Brenda protested. “I just don’t think anyone deserved to get dumped like that.”

“Dumped like what?” Elizabeth asked curiously.

“See, Jason maintains he ended it,” Brenda began eagerly. She shoved her plate aside and leaned forward. “I don’t know–maybe he did. Who knows, right?”

“Bren–” Emily tried to cut in.

“Carly and Jase had this complicated relationship even before they moved,” Brenda continued, ignoring her friend. “She was a bitch who slept around. Everyone knew it but it didn’t seem to faze Jason in the slightest. I don’t know what made him think leaving Port Charles was a good idea–”

“Once again, she’s telling a skewed version of events,” Emily interrupted. “Carly and my brother met about five years ago. Yes, Carly had a reputation, but there’s every indication that she settled down once she and Jason began dating. They stuck around PC for about a year before Carly got offered a job in California. They both decided to move there.”

Brenda snorted. “My version was so much more fun.”

“So what happened?” Elizabeth asked, curiously. “How’d they break up?”

Emily shrugged. “She did cheat on him a few times towards the end. Jason found out and left.”

“So why do you say Jason got dumped?” Elizabeth asked Brenda.

The other woman grinned. “Because it’s so much more fun that way. No, I got to give Jason credit. He knew when it was time to cut his losses.” She glared at Emily. “Don’t ever tell him I said that.”

Emily giggled. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Elizabeth laughed at the antics of the two women but her beeper went off. She unclipped it from the waist of her jeans and sighed. “Sorry to cut out, ladies, but I’ve got to back. There’s a 911 – it must be bad.” She pulled her wallet out of her purse.

“No, no. Sonny’s got a tab,” Brenda said, waving it off. “I’ll take care of it.”

She was in too much of a hurry to argue.

—-

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes as she headed towards another trauma room. Since leaving Brenda and Emily at lunch, there’d been a major car accident, a gun shot victim and child who had fallen off a roof.

She drew the curtain back. “I’m Dr. Webber–” she cut off her normal spiel and smiled when she realized who her patient was. “This is becoming a regular occurrence.”

Jason scowled. “I wouldn’t even be here if this idiot had made me come.”

Lucky rolled his eyes. “The moron was going to just put some ice on his hand over a car hood slammed on it.”

Elizabeth smirked and set the chart aside. She reached for Jason’s hand and started to test the fingers. Jason flinched and she made a tsk sound. “I’m going to have to get some x-rays done,” she murmured. “You might have broken a finger or two.”

“Told you so,” Lucky crowed.

“I’ll put the order in,” Elizabeth said, making a notation in the chart. “A technician will come get you.”

“How long is this going to take?” Jason demanded. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Depends on how crazy it gets around here.” She eyed Lucky. “Try not to annoy him.”

“Me?” Lucky asked, pressing a hand to his chest innocently.

“Yes, you.” Elizabeth shook her head and walked away to file the order.

Lucky grinned. “What a woman, eh?”

Jason glared at him. “Remember you’re talking to Emily’s brother.”

“Hey, I love Emily, I’m just mentioning that Lizzie is a great person,” Lucky tried to assure him. “Smart, spunky…”

Jason frowned. “You got a point?”

Lucky shrugged. “No. Not really.”

—

Elizabeth clipped the x-ray to a light board and gestured towards it. “You’ve broken your middle finger and your pinky,” she said.

Lucky smirked. “There goes your main form of communication.”

“You want to stay or what?” Elizabeth asked, throwing her friend a nasty look. Ignoring him, she looked at Jason. “You’re just going to have to tape your hand up for about a week or so. Broken fingers are honestly the best bones in the body to break. Quick healing time.”

“Lizzie’s going to be an orthopedic surgeon,” Lucky volunteered.

“Anyway, I’ll have one of the nurses tape your hand,” Elizabeth told Jason. “But you’ll need to go to your doctor in about two weeks to make sure everything’s good.”

“I don’t have a doctor,” Jason said.

“I can recommend one,” Elizabeth offered.

“Jason doesn’t really like doctors,” Lucky said. “Like he said, he’s only here because I forced him to come.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth frowned. “Well, I suppose you’ll be fine. If you had any lingering problems, you could always come back.”

“Why don’t you examine him yourself?” Lucky suggested. Jason and Elizabeth both turned to look at him oddly. Lucky shrugged. “Well, you are specializing in orthopedic surgery when your internship is over. You can do the examination, right? And it wouldn’t be like a normal doctor since you already know her,” he told Jason.

Jason hesitated and looked towards Elizabeth. “If that’s okay with you.”

“It’s fine,” Elizabeth said. “So, you’ll come back in two weeks? Just ask for me at the desk, okay?”

“Okay,” Jason agreed. Elizabeth made a final notation in his chart, said goodbye to the two of them and left.

Lucky watched in satisfaction as Jason’s eyes followed Elizabeth across the emergency room. This was almost too easy.

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