Being me can only mean
Feeling scared to breathe
If you leave me then I’ll be afraid of everything
That makes me anxious, gives me patience, calms me down
Lets me face this, let me sleep, and when I wake up
Let me breathe
– Afraid, Neighborhood

---

Friday, April 7, 2006

General Hospital: Emergency Room

Jason stalked into the emergency room, Sonny and Max hot on his heels. He stopped to scan the cubicles and swore when he saw Cody lying on one of the gurneys, his face pale, blood staining his shirt. At his side, Patrick and Robin were working.

Alan and Monica were both just outside the curtain, talking to Emily. Alan turned and gestured for Jason to join them, even as he scowled upon sighting Sonny.

“We called you as soon as we got the warning from the security room,” Alan told him. “The PCPD has already been through.”

“What did they say? Did they tell you anything?”

“No, they were told the guard can’t help since he hasn’t woken up. We gave them the description of the car Manny was driving and a copy of the security tape. I think Mac said he was going to find Lucky and put an APB out to the airports and the train station.” Monica shook her head. “How did he get into the parking garage?”

“Stan said he’d try to find out,” Sonny said to Jason. “But I told him it’s not the priority.”

“No, but it might tell us where he’s hiding.” Jason exhaled slowly. “What about Cody? What did you find in the parking garage?”

“Flat tire. I guess Manny used it as a distraction.” Alan hesitated and exchanged a look with Monica. “Cody was on the ground by the car, but we found blood nearer the stairwell. Blood and….hair on a bumper.”

“Elizabeth’s hair,” Emily managed, her voice hoarse. Her eyes were puffy. “It looks like she ran for the stairs and almost made it. He must have slammed her head into the car—” She couldn’t. She looked back at the guard. “She should have stayed home.”

Jason followed her gaze, troubled by the pallor of his guard’s face. Somewhere, Manny Ruiz had Elizabeth. She was hurt, terrified—

“Cameron’s still at Carly’s,” Jason said, swallowing hard. “You don’t have to worry about him, Em. I put more men there—”

“A lot of good it did us here,” Emily snapped, and Jason flinched.

“Emily,” Alan murmured. “Short of locking Elizabeth in a room until Manny was dealt with, I don’t know what your brother could have done. And to be honest, I have a feeling the fault is in the hospital security.” He looked at Jason. “I’m sorry. You were right. I should have pushed harder to get Manny Ruiz out of this hospital.”

Emily sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just—” She folded her arms. “I’m just scared. I know you did your best to protect her.”

You’re not Superman.

 Elizabeth’s voice echoed in his brain as Jason tried to think of the next step. No one had seen Manny Ruiz since Wednesday afternoon when he’d clocked out of his shift. Forty-eight hours, and his men still hadn’t found the psycho. They didn’t even have a lead.

“Jason?”

He looked to find Robin trying to get his attention. “Yeah?”

“Cody has a fractured skull. We’re taking him up for surgery. You’re his medical power of attorney, so…” Robin held out a clipboard. “He was conscious when they found him. He was drifting in and out, but he kept saying Elizabeth’s name over and over again. Telling her to run.”

“I should have done more,” Jason said. He scribbled his name.

“You’re not Superman,” Robin said, and he looked at her with a start. “What? What did I say?”

And I don’t expect you to be.

“Nothing,” he swallowed. “Em—”

“Yeah?”

“Call her grandmother in Memphis.” Jason scratched his temple. “Sonny—” He turned to his partner. “Go to Carly’s—” Sonny grimaced. “Stay with Cameron. If Manny’s trying to get Elizabeth out of town…I don’t know, he might be crazy enough to go for her son. To take him along. I just—I know we have guys there, but—”

“No, I got it. Call me if you find anything.”

When Sonny had left, Emily touched his arm. “What are you going to do? Do you have any ideas?”

“No, I don’t,” Jason admitted. “But I’m going down to security. I don’t—I don’t know, Emily. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” she echoed with a sigh. “Because I think I’m going to give you something else to worry about. I’ve been trying to call Lucky since Elizabeth went missing, but he’s not picking up his phone. His dad said he’d been trying to find him all day, but it’s like he’s disappeared.”

Jason frowned at her. “Why—”

“I don’t know if it’s related,” Emily said, “but it’s weird, right?” She bit her lip. “Isn’t it?”

Jason did think it was troubling that Lucky was missing at the same time Elizabeth had been kidnapped, but he couldn’t think of how it was related. “I don’t know. I’ll see if anyone knows anything, but—”

“Right.” Emily nodded. “It’s not a priority. I know. I just wanted to let you know.” She took a deep breath. “Just—just find her, Jason.”

“I will.”

Warehouse: Room

Elizabeth moaned slightly, shook her head, and opened her eyes. She winced from the light. “What—” She couldn’t finish the words.

“I’m sorry.” The bright light flashed, then dimmed. She opened her eyes again to find the room much darker. She was sitting in a chair, her hands tied behind her.

In another chair, a few feet in front of her sat Manny Ruiz.

“W-What—” Elizabeth’s body just froze, and she couldn’t speak. “Oh, God. What are you—”

“You can scream if you like,” Manny said with a smile. “No one will hear you. We’re too close to the docks. Too far away from everything else.” He tipped his head to the side. “I’m sorry I had to hurt you, Elizabeth. You were always so nice to me. But you ran, and, well, plans change.”

“I—” She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “What are you going to do?”

“I know you’ve talked about me to Jason Morgan. He must have told you all the rumors.” Manny’s grin widened, and he got to his feet. He picked up a long knife from a table, then pointed it at her, the blade a dull glint in the dim lights. She flinched. “I have…high expectations, and sometimes it’s hard to make me happy.”

A tear slid down her cheek as she tried to find the words. She had to be able to make this stop. “Please—”

“But you’re strong, you know. I’ve been watching you. I think you might be the one I’ve been looking for.” He knelt in front of her, touching her chin with the tip of the knife. She hissed as it bit into her skin slightly.

“But if you disappoint me, well…you’ll go with the others. Pretty women with big blue eyes and skin as pale as yours…” He got to his feet. “They turn a nice profit in many places.”

She moaned slightly as her vision blurred. Oh, God. He was going to rape and torture her until he was bored, and then…

“Please…”

“But I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you.” Manny shook his head. “No, no. It’s just the opposite. You’re such a bright light. Such a sweet, sweet girl. I want to give you something. I want you to see how much I want to please you. I got you a present.”

Oh, no. Oh, God. What if he’d gone to Carly’s—what if her little boy—

“Come with me. No, no, don’t fight—” Manny cut the bonds on her wrist, but held the knife to her. “Come on.”

Very aware of the warm blood trickling from the cut on her chin, the ache in her head from whatever he’d hit with her at the parking garage, and the cool press of the knife against her scrub top—she gulped down a breath and forced herself to stay quiet as he dragged her along.

Elizabeth followed him out of the room into the warehouse’s vast, empty center room. She stumbled in the dark, but Manny hauled her back to her feet and kept dragging her.

“Please. Just let me go—”

“I’ve waited so long for this moment. I had a plan that was better than this, but then, well, you forced my hand, Elizabeth. I had to save you.”

“Save me?” she repeated. “What—”

“I saw those bruises.” Manny shook his head. “When we talked on Wednesday. I saw what he did to you.” He looked at her, somehow his teeth bright white in the dark as he flashed her another smile. “You’ll thank me when this is done.”

A chill danced down her spine as he shoved her through another doorway. She bit back a cry as she saw who Manny had tied to a chair, bleeding and bruised…

Lucky.

General Hospital: Security Room

Learning that Jason was going to talk to her son, Epiphany had followed him down to the security room. Jason didn’t have the time to argue, particularly with someone he knew that was so loyal to Elizabeth.

“I would have given her the time off,” Epiphany said as they neared the room. “I would have made it work. That girl never asks for help when she really needs it. She—”

“Epiphany—” He turned and just shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. But let’s not—we can’t think about any of that right now.”

“Right. I’m sorry.”

Jason went into the room to find it emptier than he’d thought. He frowned and looked at Stan and the other guard. “No cops?”

“They thought they got everything they needed with the tape of her abduction.” Stan spun on the chair and looked at him with a bit trepidation. “You don’t need to see it. We’re scanning the rest of the footage to see how he got in—”

“I want to see it,” Jason said firmly.

Stan sighed, turned back to a monitor, and pressed play. Jason watched as ten minutes before Elizabeth had clocked out, Manny crept out of the shadows, knelt by the car, then disappeared again.

“He dug an icepick into the tire. We found it near Cody,” Stan said as the video continued to run. From the elevators, Jason watched as Cody and Elizabeth walked towards the car.

She’d done everything right. She’d waited to leave the elevator until Cody had swept the area. Then she stayed directly next to him, on the side next to the roadway, not somewhere where she could be grabbed in the shadows.

She’d paused by the car so that he could do a bomb sweep. She knew the routine better than Jason had remembered. And then Cody pulled out his phone—

“We don’t know who he was gonna call. Maybe Vic,” Stan said, continuing to narrate. They both flinched as Manny jumped out of the shadows and whacked Cody hard with the tire iron.

Elizabeth hadn’t hesitated. Just like he’d always told her. Don’t worry about the guard. Just run. She’d screamed, then darted away towards safety—

“She almost got away,” Epiphany murmured. “Just a second more—”

Jason watched, stone-faced, as Manny caught up to Elizabeth at the door, threw her against the car, then grabbed her by the hair and bashed her head against the bumper. Elizabeth slumped down to the floor. Her body was limp as Manny carried her out of camera range.

“She did everything I told her to do,” Jason said. He exhaled slowly. “And it wasn’t enough. How many cars left the garage after this?”

“Twelve. We’ve been tracking all of them, trying to find the one that might have been—”

“I think I’ve got it,” the other security guard said. “This one—registered to a Doctor Leo Ramsey.” He grimaced. “Look at the footage of the car entering the garage around 1 PM—”

And there it was, Manny behind the wheel, just driving like he had a right to be there. The guard switched to another view, and they saw Manny parking the car. Then moving it—

“He waited in the garage until a car near Elizabeth’s moved so he could be closer. He planned this. And he must have been planning this for a long time—do we know where the doctor is?”

“No, but if we find the car—” Stan waited as Jason called Alan and told him the make and model to pass on to the cops. “Does this get us closer to Manny?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “Because I don’t think he’s at the doctor’s house.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know where to look,” he admitted.

“She’s tough, Jason,” Epiphany told him. “And she’s got that little boy to keep her going. Nothing is gonna stop Elizabeth coming home to him.” She nodded to the screen. “Keep looking, Stanford. We’ll go up and wait for word from the guard. He might know something. C’mon.”

Outside the security room, Jason slumped against the wall for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts. “I told her I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And I couldn’t keep that promise—”

“Jason.”

He frowned, looked up at the frowning nurse. “What?”

“Manny knew what car Elizabeth drove to work today.”

Jason straightened, hissed. “She didn’t drive her car. She drove with Cody. He was following her from Audrey’s.” Which meant he’d been following her all along. Damn it. How had they missed it—he thought of the rookie guard who had done a shit job of following him.

“They keep saying they can’t find Lucky Spencer. And I can’t help but think—he went missing after an argument with Elizabeth that sent her running to her grandmother’s.” Epiphany hesitated. “You tell me Manny was targeting Elizabeth because he’s obsessed with her.”

“Maybe…”

“Maybe Manny wants to punish Lucky for hurting Elizabeth.” Epiphany shook her head. “It’s almost a shame you didn’t hurt her, Jason. Maybe he’d come find you.”

Warehouse: Room

Lucky blearily opened his eyes, looked at both of them, and coughed. “What the hell, Elizabeth—”

“Lucky—” Elizabeth looked at Manny with wide eyes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing much. I found him in an alley on Courtland Street.” Manny grabbed Lucky by his hair, dragged his head back. Brought the tip of his knife to her husband’s throat. “I saw the bruises, Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth,” Lucky choked, trying to look at her, but Manny wouldn’t release his head, wouldn’t let him move.

“Do you have any other bruises?” Manny asked idly. “Or just the one on your face?”

“I—”

“She has such a lovely face,” Manny told Lucky, his voice almost sing-song. “You messed it up. Such pretty skin. Soft. You know that.”

“How can you…how can you be so angry at him for hurting me?” Elizabeth managed, desperate to get that knife away from her husband. “You—you’re planning to rape me.”

“No, no…” Manny released Lucky’s hair. “No, I’ll wait until you’re ready. You’ll want it, too.” He licked his lips, his tongue sweeping out with lasciviousness. “I’m good at making women want me.”

“I’ll never—”

“I know you got a taste for the bad boys.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she took a step back. “What does—what do you mean?”

“It means I saw you, my sweet, pretty Elizabeth. All the times you met with Jason Morgan.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. Oh, God. It just got worse. He’d been following her, he knew—he knew—all of her worst fears—

“I just wanted to get your attention with Skye. That was just a game to see what you’d do. How would you try to save her? I knew you would. I knew you couldn’t help yourself. I thought you’d go to the chief of staff, the police, your husband. But no—” He wagged a finger at her, then turned back to Lucky, who was glaring at Elizabeth now, his lips curled in a sneer, his eyes burning.

Manny laughed again. “Oh, see, Lucky knows what I’m trying to say. He gets it. He knows who you ran to.” He ripped Lucky’s head back again, yanking on his hair, his voice dropping the sing-song quality. “That’s why you hurt her, isn’t it? You knew she was a faithless whore, didn’t you?”

General Hospital: ICU

Jason scowled as he peered at Cody through one of the transparent walls of the ICU. “I was hoping he might wake up tonight,” he told Robin.

“I know. But we can’t do anything about that.” Robin bit her lip. “You really don’t have any leads—”

“No, but—” Jason grimaced. “I can’t just sit here. I need to do something. Look somewhere—” He broke off.

“What?” Robin touched his arm. “I know that look—”

“The waterfront,” Jason said. He met her worried gaze. “There’s a lot of abandoned buildings with cargo docks. It’s a way to escape, to get out of Port Charles under the radar.”

He could go look. He could do something instead of waiting here at the hospital for something to break. “I’ll go take a look. Maybe find some activity or just—something.”

Robin tipped her head towards the elevator. “Go. I’ll call you if anything changes with Cody.”

Warehouse

“What is he talking about?” Lucky demanded. Elizabeth just shook her head. No, not now. Not this. She couldn’t process this, couldn’t make herself accept that her husband was worrying about an affair while they were being held at knifepoint—

“You know, I wondered why a cop’s wife ran to Jason Morgan every time I so much as said boo to her.” Manny shook his head. “Never ran to you,” he said to Lucky, who growled.

“Just—just stop—let him go, okay?” Elizabeth knew if she tried to run, Manny would just kill Lucky and come after her. She was tired, her leg hurt from something—her shoulder was on fire—

She’d never be able to outrun Manny, and she knew she was alone. No one would know where she was, and Lucky clearly wasn’t going to be able to do anything.

She had to find a way out.

“Let him go, and I’ll—” She swallowed hard. “I’ll go with you.”

Lucky stared at her in shock. “No! No! Elizabeth, you can’t—”

“Well…” Manny lifted his brows, lowering his knife slightly. “If I had known the way to your heart was threatening to carve up the man who hurt you, I wouldn’t have planned the second part of this game.”

“S-Second part?” Elizabeth sputtered. “What—”

Manny reached into his pocket with his free hand and showed her a cell phone. Her phone. “Funny. Did you know she has Jason Morgan on speed dial?” Lucky’s eyes flashed with murderous rage, and Manny laughed. “Yes, it’s very upsetting. You’re not on the list. But he’s number two and since one is for emergency—”

“What?” Lucky bit out. He turned his glare back on her. “What the fucking hell?”

“I can explain—” Her world spun for a moment. “I just—with all this Manny stuff, I needed to—”

How could she explain she’d done it the night before when Jason had asked her to make sure she could call him if she needed him. She didn’t need Lucky on speed dial, and having Jason at the top—it just made sense—

But Lucky was looking at her with such hatred that she couldn’t force the words out. This couldn’t be happening.

“Why don’t we call him? We can ask Jason Morgan—” Manny grinned at Elizabeth’s stricken face. “Let’s invite him to the party—”

“Are you absolutely insane?” Elizabeth bit out. Why the hell would Manny want to invite one of the most feared enforcers on the East coast?

“It’s sweet; she’s worried about me,” he told Lucky. To Elizabeth, he continued, “I’ve got something he wants, pretty girl. And it might be nice for you to say goodbye to your lover before I whisk you away somewhere nice. I might not even hurt him much if you ask as nicely as you did for your husband here.”

He pressed the speed dial and put the phone against his ear.

Roscoe Trucking: Parking Lot

He’d parked his bike a block away, not wanting the sound of it to alert anyone who might be in the area. Mickey Roscoe had run a trucking company for Sorel as a front, and Faith had maintained it after his death. It had been abandoned since her death the year before.

It was a medium-sized building on the edge of the docks. The chain-link fence that surrounded it had fallen into disrepair due to negligence and vandalism. Just as Jason ducked under a broken section, his cell phone rang.

His heart began to race when he saw Elizabeth’s name on his identification screen. “Elizabeth?” he demanded when he answered the phone.

“Oh, you sound so hopeful. No, sorry to disappoint you, but it’s just me.”

Manny’s smooth voice sounded so normal that it startled Jason. Did he even have her? Or just her phone? “Where is she?”

“She’s safer with me than she is out in the world. Oh, look, she doesn’t agree, does she? She’s shaking her head—”

“Jason, don’t listen to him—”

He closed his eyes at the sound of Elizabeth’s voice. She was panicked but alive. And that was more information than he’d had thirty seconds ago. He could cling to that.

“What do you want? I can get you out of the country if you let her go—”

“Oh, no, no, it’s nothing that simple. You see, I’m taking my sweet Elizabeth with me, but I have to clear up old business before she can go. She worries, you know, and I’m just…” Manny sighed. “I’m afraid she won’t be able to concentrate on me.”

“What do you want?” Jason repeated.

“I want you to join our party. I have something special before we leave. A present that I want you to give it to her. I’m at Roscoe Trucking. You know the place. You took care of its owner.”

Jason closed his eyes in relief. Thank God. He was here, and he’d arrived nearly ten minutes before Manny could expect him to show up. He’d be able to surprise them.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Make it quick,” Manny said, then hung up.

Before he went inside, Jason called Robin. When she picked up, he said, “I need you to call Sonny and the PCPD. Tell them to go to Roscoe Trucking, but to be careful. He has Elizabeth, and I’m pretty sure I heard Lucky in the background.”

“Lucky!” Robin repeated, but Jason had already hung up. He needed to stop Manny Ruiz and get Elizabeth to safety. He wouldn’t break another promise to her.

Warehouse: Room

“He sounded so concerned,” Manny said with a sigh. “He must really love you,” he said to Elizabeth. “All the times he was at your apartment, all those close moments on the docks, at the warehouse—did he ever tell you?”

Elizabeth’s hands were shaking as she dragged her hands through her hair. “Why are you doing this to me?” she choked out. “Why are you—” She looked at Lucky, and something inside her shriveled up and died.

Because why—in the middle of being kidnapped and mentally tortured—should she have to explain herself to the abusive husband she’d just fled—

Why?

Why was this happening?

“Because I think it might be hard for you to enjoy yourself if I’m the one that kills this piece of shit.” Manny backhanded Lucky, who moaned in pain. “But maybe if I tell Jason Morgan where you got that bruise, he’ll take care of it for me—”

“That’s your plan?” Elizabeth demanded. “He’d never do that to me. He’ll kill you first.”

“She has a lot of faith in him,” Manny said, his tone apologetic as he looked at Lucky. “I was angry with her at first when I realized she was unfaithful. Just like you are now. No, don’t deny it,” Manny murmured when Lucky shook his head. “I thought she deserved to be punished. But then, Lucky, you know what changed?”

“What?” Lucky muttered. He winced as Manny pinched his cheek. “What?”

“I saw her face. And I realized she was just lonely. Desperate for someone to treat her right. So I’ll leave Jason Morgan to take care of you, and I’ll take her somewhere where you can’t hurt her again.”

A sob broke, escaped her lips as Elizabeth shook her head. How could she make this stop? How could she save herself? How could she get back to her son?

“I never hit her,” Lucky hissed. “Tell him, Elizabeth—I never hit you—”

“We don’t have time for lies.” Manny cut Lucky’s bonds, then shoved her husband to the floor. Lucky screamed as Manny ground his heel into his back—right at the part of the spine where Lucky had been injured.

“Stop! Stop! I told you I’ll go with you!” Elizabeth rushed forward to grab Manny’s arm to stop him from kicking Lucky again.

“He shouldn’t lie to me,” Manny panted. He stomped one more time, then grabbed Elizabeth by her wrists. “Come on. We need to be on the docks before Morgan gets here—”

“What? Why—” But Elizabeth could barely catch her breath as he dragged her. “I thought you wanted him here—”

“Not until I’m ready for him.

Elizabeth opened her mouth to argue with him again, but then—

Then she saw him. Just the corner of his leather jacket outside the large loading dock door. A cry of relief nearly bubbled out of her throat, because she knew—God, she knew she’d be okay.

Jason was already here. He’d found her. Somehow, he’d been close when Manny called, and he was here before Manny would expect him.

“I told you,” Manny was saying, “I have a plan.”

“And so do I.” Elizabeth spit in his face.

When Manny reared back, she kicked at the back of his knees until Manny went sprawling. Not even waiting to see if he’d hit the ground, Elizabeth took off, finding a burst of adrenaline somehow—

She exploded out onto the docks, hearing Manny’s angry shouts behind her—Jason was there, shoving her behind him, his arm outstretched, the gun pointed at Manny who skidded to a stop with a growl and look of loathing at Elizabeth.

“You fucking bitch!”

Elizabeth expected Jason to open fire—to shoot Manny where he stood until he was dead. But he didn’t. Because she was standing there. Watching him. “Jason—”

“That’s so sweet,” Manny said with a shake of his head. He looked around, his hands up. “Can’t bear to make her see you as a killer. Must be true love. I guess I’ll just find a way to meet you again—”

“Jason, no, you can’t let him go—”

Manny’s grin only widened—until Jason pulled the trigger. Twice in rapid succession, two shots to the chest that sent Manny flying backward, skidding across the docks. Elizabeth sank to her knees, dizzy with relief.

“I needed a heart shot,” Jason said flatly. He tucked his gun away, then sighed as he heard the whirl of police sirens. He took Elizabeth’s hand and pulled her back to her feet, crushing her into a tight hug. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He pulled away, framed her face in his hands, searching her eyes.

“Just a hit on the head when he grabbed me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I was so scared. He called you, and I thought—I was so scared—” Elizabeth threw herself back into his arms. “But you came—”

“And you got yourself away from him.” He turned his face, pressed his lips to her hair. “You saved yourself. I just finished the job.”

“I—” Elizabeth drew back on a shaky breath. She met his eyes. “How did you find me? How did you know we were back here—”

“I just—” He swallowed. “I just did.” Their eyes held for a long moment.

Elizabeth’s head was spinning, and then— “Oh, God. Lucky. He was hurt—”

She drew back, blanching as she saw several police officers standing in the doorway, including Mac Scorpio, who was just raising his brows.

“Your husband is being loaded into an ambulance—if you care,” Mac said with a coldness in his tone she’d never heard before. He nodded to Manny. “He dead?”

“Yeah.” Jason lifted his chin as if daring Mac to do something about it.

“About time.” Mac shrugged and walked away, back inside the warehouse. Elizabeth sagged against Jason.

“Asshole,” Jason muttered as he put an arm around her shoulder and helped her limp back inside. “He could have asked you if you were okay—”

“I can’t worry about that,” Elizabeth sighed as they neared the front of the building. But then she could hear Lucky’s voice. She rushed towards him. “Lucky, are you okay?”

She tried to touch his arm, but he slapped her hand away. “What do you care?” Lucky bit out. “I heard what Manny said. Go be with your lover, you bitch!”

“W-What—” Elizabeth stepped back, stung. She looked around at the paramedics, at the other officers who avoided making eye contact before looking at Jason, still standing by the warehouse door. She looked back at Lucky. “Manny—he was lying, Lucky. It wasn’t like that—”

“He was right about one thing. Faithless whore. That’s what you are. What you’ve always been—”

“Elizabeth, he’s in a lot of pain right now,” Mac finally said, putting a hand on her arm, drawing her away. “Let’s give him a minute.”

“I—” She looked at Mac. “I—”

“And what did you expect, hanging out with Jason Morgan?” Lucky’s partner, Jesse Beaudry, snapped. “What did you think people would say?”

Her knees buckled as she took in all of the people who had listened to Lucky—who believed him—

She’d been kidnapped, held at knifepoint, threatened with unimaginable rape and torture—had managed to survive it—had just about rescued herself—

And it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

She didn’t matter.

Tears burned in her throat as she slowly took a step back. She stumbled over a rock and fell to the ground. No one moved to help her. She sat on the gravel for a long minute, just staring at her hands, now scraped from the rocks.

“Come on,” Jason murmured. He knelt next to her and got her to her feet. “Let’s go to the hospital. Robin’s waiting. And Emily. Everyone’s worried.”

“Are they?” Elizabeth asked dully. She closed her eyes to shut out all the stares, the accusations and let Jason steer her towards a car, only belatedly realizing that Sonny and Max had arrived.

“Yeah, they are. Come on,” he repeated. “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” With a shaky sigh, she slid into the backseat of the car and looked one more time towards the ambulance whose back doors had also closed.

She should feel relief. Manny was dead. The nightmare was over.

Except it felt like it was just beginning.

Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
Call my name and save me from the dark
Bid my blood to run
Before I come undone
Save me from the nothing I’ve become
– Bring Me to Life, Evanescence

---

Friday, April 7, 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

Elizabeth winced and rolled her arm again, trying to gingerly move her shoulder. She’d asked for the paperwork detail again because it would keep her in one place longer. It also allowed Cody to watch over her better as well as doing a favor for the other nurses who hated paperwork. It might go a long way to boosting her reputation with them.

But she really just wanted to crawl back into bed with an ice pack. She’d slept uneasily, even knowing that Cody had taken one of the guest rooms down the hall and that there were two more guards outside the house. Jason had stayed for dinner and nearly all of Spiderman 2, but with Cameron there to keep them from conversations they should not have, it had been almost a relaxing evening.

If she didn’t think about the reasons she was at her grandmother’s with Cameron or why Jason was there.

She glanced up as the elevator doors opened, and she saw Bobbie step out with a frown on her face. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose as Lucky’s aunt approached her.

“Elizabeth, I was hoping I’d see you today. Do you have a minute?”

“I have so much paperwork,” Elizabeth began, but then Bobbie just arched her brow, and Elizabeth remembered how much she owed this woman. With a sigh, she set down her pen and followed Bobbie over to the waiting area where Cody sat, pretending to be interested in a newspaper.

“I know you,” Bobbie said to him. “You—I’ve seen you at Sonny’s—”

Cody winced, then got to his feet. “I’ll be over by the elevators,” he told Elizabeth, folding his newspaper under his arm. Bobbie watched him go, her eyebrows knitted together.

“Why do you have a guard?” Bobbie asked. “What did Lucky do—”

“Oh—” Elizabeth flushed, and smoothed her hair, making sure it was arranged over the bruise. “Oh, that’s nothing. That’s about Manny.” She briefly told Bobbie about Manny and the reasons he might have targeted her. “It’s just a precaution.”

“Is that why Lucky was so mad about Cameron hanging out with Morgan? Because I talked to Carly and she said—”

“Carly’s doing me a favor by letting Cam play with Morgan today,” Elizabeth interrupted. She folded her arms. “I didn’t want him in daycare. And Lucky—it’s fine. It’s not like the PCPD can do anything.”

“Elizabeth.” Bobbie pressed her lips together and stared at her for a long moment. “You called me last night, sounding upset. You didn’t want Lucky to pick up his own son—insisted I have my son drive him to Audrey’s when she’s out of town—Lucas told me you had a cut on your face and that you’d been crying—”

“I fell,” Elizabeth insisted. “I was tired, and I tripped on the carpet. C’mon, Bobbie. You know what the hours are like here. And I have a toddler—”

“I do know that.” Bobbie stared at her for another long moment. “Let’s sit.”

“I should get back to work—”

“Just for a moment,” Bobbie said, a thin thread of steel in her tone. With a sigh, Elizabeth sat on the sofa. Bobbie sat next to her. “Have I ever told you about one of my first husbands? D.L. Brock?”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I guess I didn’t—I really only knew about Tony and Stefan.”

“Well, D.L. came a lot earlier. Before Tony. He was not a kind man.” Bobbie hesitated. “He was abusive—”

“Bobbie, I don’t know what you’re thinking—”

“I’m thinking that you need to stop interrupting me,” Bobbie said gently. “Because I have something I’d like you to hear. He beat me one night, and I had to have a hysterectomy. That’s why there’s only Carly. Why Lucas was adopted. Because I trusted someone who hurt me.”

“I’m sorry that you went through that,” Elizabeth managed, her eyes blurring with tears. “It’s horrible.”

“It was. But what was more terrible was thinking I was alone. That I couldn’t tell anyone. I don’t know what’s going on with Lucky, Elizabeth. But don’t you ever forget that I love you, too. Every bit as much as I love my nephew. You are part of my family, and that has nothing to do with his marriage to you.”

“Bobbie—”

Bobbie leaned forward and gently tucked Elizabeth’s hair behind her ear, letting her fingers drift over the bruise, the angry purple fading into a sickening mix of green and yellow. Over the cut by her cheekbone. “I love you,” she repeated. “And when you need someone, you come to me. Because you are not alone. And I know that Lucky is not the boy we knew.”

Elizabeth wanted to tell her so desperately, but she couldn’t form the words. She didn’t know why. Bobbie clearly knew. And she was ready to hear it.

But Elizabeth wasn’t to say it.

“I have to get back to work,” Elizabeth finally said. She got to her feet. “Thank you for coming by. And for helping so much with Cameron. He loves you.”

“I love him,” Bobbie said. She kissed Elizabeth’s cheek, just above the cut. “When you’re ready, you know where to find me.”

“I know.”

Bobbie left then, and Elizabeth watched her go. Cody returned to his post in the armchair, armed with his newspaper. She looked at him. “No news?”

“Not a single sighting.”

She sighed, rubbed her face. “That’s not good, is it?”

“No,” Cody admitted. “If he’d just left town—” He shrugged. “Don’t worry, Miss Webber.”

“I won’t. I know you won’t leave me alone.”

General Hospital: Pediatrics Floor

Emily frowned as she walked past a patient’s room, stopped, and backed up a few steps to find her brother in a room with Epiphany and Alan.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

“Emily,” Alan began, but Emily wasn’t in the mood to be batted aside by another well-meaning man. Not today.

“Is Elizabeth okay? Is Manny in the hospital? Where’s Cameron?”

Jason sighed and looked at Alan and Epiphany before looking back at his sister. “Em, give me a minute, and we’ll talk.” He turned back to Alan “Thank you for letting Stan into the security room,” Jason said. “I know this makes you uncomfortable.”

“It does,” Alan said with a sigh. “But I didn’t want the board to hire Manny. And the PCPD has their hands tied. I don’t love this, Jason, but if you’re right, then one of my nurses has been targeted under my watch. I won’t stand for it. Whatever you need. Just—” He grimaced. “Catch this psycho.”

He left the room, then, and with a pointed look at Jason, Epiphany followed. Emily folded her arms. “Well?”

Jason closed the door and turned to his sister. “You said that Manny used to hang out on this floor all the time. Until Elizabeth got moved.”

Emily nodded. “Yeah, and then it was like I never saw him.”

“But Skye was here a lot the last few weeks, wasn’t she? Doing a charity thing for the hospital?”

“She was—” Emily frowned. “But Manny was never around. He was always upstairs—Oh, man.” She swallowed, letting her hands fall to her sides. “He really was watching her. Oh, God, Jason. I thought she was just overreacting—”

“I did, too. But she’s got a guard, and I’ve got people on her grandmother’s house—”

Emily exhaled slowly. “So she went to Audrey’s. I was wondering—do you know why? What happened?”

Jason shook his head. “You should ask her about it—”

“No—” Emily touched his arm. “No. C’mon. What’s going on?”

“You should ask Elizabeth,” Jason repeated gently.

“Hard since she’s not talking to me,” Emily muttered. She looked away, then flashed her brother an irritated glare. “This is mostly your fault, you know. If you hadn’t been such a…jackass…I never would have—” She stopped.

“Attacked me?” Jason demanded. “Told me something you knew Elizabeth would be embarrassed about? Do you want me to apologize to you, Emily? Because I don’t really know what the hell I did wrong.”

And sometimes when Emily thought about it, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it either. “Well, you should have let me make my own choices because I figured out pretty quick that Sonny is…not a good idea.”

Jason frowned at her. “What? What does that mean?”

“It means,” Emily said through gritted teeth, “that you were right. I hate it, but you were right. Sonny doesn’t—he doesn’t respect me. He refused to talk to me about Manny even though he’d already told you it wasn’t his problem. He can’t have it both ways—”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Sonny has a thing about women and the business.”

“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. But this isn’t business. This is a psychotic asshole who might try to hurt my best friend. And it’s bullshit because you let Elizabeth help all the time and clearly he doesn’t have a problem with it—” She broke off when she saw Jason hesitate. “What?”

“I didn’t plan it. But—that winter when I got shot—Elizabeth just—she fell in the middle of it. And then the bomb in her studio—I mean—look, it’s not important. It’s just—Sonny really doesn’t want Elizabeth involved either. I always…almost always,” he corrected softly, “told her more than he wanted.”

Emily swallowed hard. “Almost always,” she repeated. “Except that one time. When Sonny didn’t want her to know about faking his death.”

“Yeah. And I listened to him. I shouldn’t—” Jason stopped. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sorry you’re hurt, Emily, but—”

“But Sonny doesn’t respect women,” Emily said. “Even women he says he loves.” She nodded. “Okay. Well, that clears up a lot. He doesn’t respect or trust me—”

“That’s—probably a little harsh, but—no, not really.”

“And that’s what you wanted to protect me from.” Emily folded her arms, hugging her patient’s chart to her chest. “I figured it out on my own, Jason. I can take care of myself.”

“You’re my sister. I’m always going to want to take care of you. Stop you from getting hurt.”

“Yeah. I know. You’re my brother. And I’m always going to want to take care of you,” she told him. He flinched. “Hey, what’s good for the goose and all that, Jase—we both went about it the wrong way, but neither of us was wrong. You told me that Sonny would hurt me. That he’d never be what I needed. And you were right.”

“Emily—”

“And maybe I did it the wrong way, but I’m not wrong. You deserve better than Sam McCall. I’m glad I told you what Elizabeth said. I wish I’d done it three years ago when it might have made a difference.”

Jason looked at her for a long moment. “Why didn’t you?” he asked finally.

Emily frowned. “Because I—well, you’d moved on with Courtney. And I guess—I don’t know. I thought it was true. And if you really did cheat on Elizabeth, then maybe she was better off.” She tilted her head. “Would it have changed something? Has it changed something?”

“I need to get going.”

Jason started past her, but Emily grabbed his arm. “Jase, she’s married now.”

“I know that—”

“And she’s dealing with a lot. Lucky’s not doing great with this setback, I know that. They’re fighting a lot. He told me that—”

“You’ve seen him?” Jason turned back to her, his interest engaged again. “When?”

“Last night. He came to the Quartermaines looking for Elizabeth. I guess—you said she’s at Audrey’s.” Emily sighed. “He said something about you hanging around and it’s—it’s—I don’t know. I’m just worried. Judging by how he looked last night, he’s probably going to fail his physical today, and it’s going to make things worse.”

“Worse,” Jason repeated. “So…you haven’t seen her?”

“I saw her yesterday, but—” Emily frowned. What didn’t she know? How bad were things with Lucky and Elizabeth? “You’re not telling me something.”

“It’s—it’s nothing. Elizabeth already told me we can’t be friends. I’ve accepted that. You don’t have to worry, Emily. I’m not trying to get between them.” He shook his head. “I learned that lesson a long time ago.”

He left this time, and Emily stared after her brother, troubled. “You never had to try,” she muttered as she left the room. Jason seemed to drive a wedge between Lucky and Elizabeth simply by breathing.

She couldn’t wait for this Manny crap to be over, so everything could just go back to the way it used to be.

Luke’s: Back Office

Luke frowned as his sister walked in. He pulled his feet off the desk and got up. “Barbara, was I expecting you?”

“No, but I was hoping you might know where to find your son.” Bobbie set her purse down and took off her jacket. “Have you seen him lately?”

“No, he’s been avoiding me, truth be told, since he borrowed money to pay their car insurance—” Luke shook his head. “I tried to tell him he could move into the house, save themselves some rent, but he refused.” He gestured for Bobbie to take a seat, but she shook her head. “They both have good jobs — I don’t know why they’re struggling—”

“Speaking like a man who’s never had to worry about child care,” Bobbie said sourly. “Lucky’s on half-pay because he can’t work a full shift. And part of Elizabeth’s paycheck goes to daycare. They’re stretched pretty thin. And that’s before the hospital bills.”

“How—” Luke hesitated. “Does he tell you all this?”

“No, but I made it my business to find out. Audrey went to Memphis for a month to visit her grandson, and your son refused to change his schedule around, so Elizabeth didn’t have to pay extra for daycare.” Bobbie tilted her head to the side. “I’m afraid Lucky is more like his father every day.”

“Well…” Luke cleared his throat. “That doesn’t, ah, sound very complimentary, Barbara Jean.” He got up and walked towards the front of the club, where he poured himself a drink. “What did my gender do now?”

“Not your gender. Your bloodline. You weren’t, and still aren’t, very fond of your stepson—”

“Oh, come on—” Luke set the bottle of whiskey down with a thud. “That’s not fair. The Dark Prince is…” He wiggled his fingers. “Dark. He’s a Cassadine—”

“And you made Laura’s life hell because of it. Forced her to choose. To feel guilty.”

Luke scowled and sipped his drink. “I love when you stop by, sister dear. Always a boost to the ego.”

“Lucky is doing the same thing to Elizabeth. He doesn’t…” Bobbie shook her head. “He doesn’t love that little boy.”

“That’s not—” He sighed. “How can you possibly know that?”

“I asked Mac. And he said that he offered to cover Lucky at work so he could use that time to go to physical therapy. If Cameron stays in daycare between four and seven, Elizabeth has to pay nearly two hundred extra dollars a week. Lucky refused to take Mac’s offer, not even to save Elizabeth money.”

“I—” Luke hesitated. “He’s…” But there weren’t words. “Okay, so he’s selfish. No crime in that. And maybe he’s just too focused on getting back on the job—”

“Elizabeth asked me to help. I already watch Morgan a few nights a week, and I rearranged my schedule to make sure I could be there. Because Lucky outright refused. I tried to ask him why, and he told me it’s not his problem. Elizabeth asked him to pick Cameron up from my place exactly once. And Lucky forgot.”

None of this was good evidence. “Okay, so Cowboy isn’t a good father. That…” Luke winced. “That does run in the family.”

“I think he’s hurting Elizabeth.”

Luke stared at his sister for a long time before swallowed hard. “And you don’t mean emotionally.”

“No, I don’t. She has a bruise on her face, and I saw her holding her shoulder as she was in pain. Last night, she called me, Luke, and I could hear it in her voice. She was crying, trying to control herself. Begged me not to let Lucky pick up Cameron. To have Lucas take him to Audrey’s. Because she would be there.”

Luke rubbed a hand over his face. “Damn it, Barbara Jean. That’s not—Lucky loves that girl. He’s always loved her. Don’t you remember how careful he was with her? He used to—” His voice thickened. “He used to…”

“He used to,” Bobbie repeated softly. “He used to worship her. He used to think about how to make her happy. He used to watch her. Watched the world around her. Tried to anticipate anything that might hurt her. All of that is past tense.”

“It’s—it’s been a tough year—” But Luke couldn’t even finish it.

“Worse than the year she was raped, and he found out about…” Bobbie gestured at him. “Worse than that? Because that rocked his world. Yes, he’s been sick. He’s been hurt. But I’m worried—”

“Did she actually tell you he’s hurt her?” Luke asked, desperate to find a way out of this. “Elizabeth’s a strong girl, she wouldn’t stand for it—”

“Oh, like she wouldn’t sit around for a year dealing with brainwashing while Lucky treated her like crap? How many times did we all tell her just to have patience? That if we loved Lucky enough, he’d come back to us—”

“This isn’t our fault—”

“No. It’s not. But if we don’t do something now, whatever happens next will be our fault. Have you seen Lucky today?” Bobbie repeated.

“No. I—I haven’t.” Luke reached for his cell phone. “But I’ll call him—”

“I’ve left voice mails. He’s not picking up.” Bobbie reached over, touched his hand. “Luke, she’s not ready to face it. I know that. I’ve been there. We’ve both been there.” She cleared her throat. “We watched Mama go through it—”

“I’m not talking about it, Barbara Jean—”

“There’s something rotten in the Spencer blood. Daddy used to beat Mama like it was nothing. And she died. You—”

“You don’t have to tell me what I did,” Luke muttered. “I know what’s in me. What I did to my angel. What I can never take back. But Lucky was different. He was going—” He looked back at his sister. “He was going to be better than all of us.”

“And maybe he still can be. But only if we stop it now. Before he really does something he can’t take back. I love that girl, Luke. Laura loved her, too. What would she want us to do?”

“She’d want us to look out for Elizabeth.” Luke sighed. “Yeah, okay, we’ll track him down. We’ll make this right.”

General Hospital: Hallway

“I’m gonna ask her,” Patrick declared with a firm nod of his head. He shook his finger at Robin Scorpio. “Don’t talk me out of it—”

“Couldn’t be done if I wanted to—” Robin grimaced as she watched Elizabeth working at the hub. The nurse winced as she lifted a pile of charts. “Can’t we just tie her up and force her to let one of us look at her shoulder?”

“I like the way you think. Clearly, I have great taste.” Patrick slung an arm around her shoulders. “But it’ll look weird if I do it, so I’ll distract her, and you get the rope—”

“The two of you are dumb as hell.”

The doctors jumped at the bark behind them and spun around to find Epiphany scowling at both of them. “You want to ask her? Just ask her. She ain’t gonna tell you fools nothing.”

“But we can’t just…” Patrick gestured in Elizabeth’s direction. “We can’t let it go. Can we?” He looked at Robin, and she knew he was thinking about the conversation they’d had the month before. His worry over something in Lucky’s medical history that would spill over to Elizabeth.

It looked like his worst fears had come true.

Robin forced a smile on her face and turned to the nurse. “He’s learning empathy,” she told Epiphany, trying to lighten the moment. “It’s cute. Really.”

Patrick scowled. “Great. The two of you have jokes, but I’m over here—”

“Just follow me,” Epiphany said with a roll of her eyes. “Now.” She stalked across the hallway and meekly, the doctors followed.

Elizabeth looked up to find the trio standing in front of her, their expressions resolute. “Uh…can I help you?”

“Here’s what is going to happen,” Epiphany told her. “You’re going to let one of these idiots take a look at that shoulder. You’re going to let the other one take pictures of your injuries. We’re not going to ask you any questions. But you will have them if you need them.”

Elizabeth stared at her supervisor for a long moment before shaking her head. “I’m fine—”

“Girl,” Epiphany began, but Robin, taking her life in her hands, interrupted.

“Just me, then, Liz. You and me. We’ll go do a quick exam, and I promise. I’m not going to ask any questions.”

“There aren’t questions to ask—”

“You have a son you need to be able to carry,” Robin told her, stepping to the front of the trio. “Don’t risk making it worse.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Fine. But just you.” She eyed Patrick and Epiphany suspiciously as Robin took her by the elbow. “And no questions.”

“Not even one.”

When they were in the room, Elizabeth sighed, realizing Robin had clearly prepared for this. “You went to see the S.A.N.E nurse,” she murmured.

“I did,” Robin said as she unpacked the kit. “I wanted to take pictures, and this has a disposable camera and measuring stick. We…” She looked at Elizabeth. “We don’t need any of the other stuff, do we?”

“No.” Elizabeth hesitated, then slowly peeled off her scrub top, wincing.

She moved on to the long-sleeved knit top she wore underneath. Robin helped Elizabeth ease it over her head, revealing the purple bruise on her shoulder blade, the fingerprints on her arm, and to Elizabeth’s surprise, another bruise wrapping around her abdomen. She frowned at it as Robin stood her in front of the wall and handed her the measuring tape.

“I didn’t see that,” she murmured. Oh, God, she was covered in bruises. She’d tried so hard not to look at herself in the shower in this morning, but—

Robin thankfully remained silent and merely handed Elizabeth a hairband. She tied her hair back to reveal the sickening bruise at her hairline.

“I know I said no questions,” Robin said, “and I mean that, but um, the shoulder injury…I just need to know what you…” She sighed, looked at Elizabeth. “No questions,” she repeated.

Elizabeth met her gaze for a long time, then nodded. She gestured at her face. “The first bruise is three days old. That’s from hitting the wall. And these…” She gestured at the first set of fingerprints on her right arm. “That’s two days ago. The, uh, cut on my face…and the rest of them…” She closed her eyes. “I fell backward over a table and into a lamp. Then I hit the floor.”

“Okay.”

Robin gently rotated Elizabeth’s shoulder for a minute, then nodded. “I think it’s just a bad contusion. Are you taking anything for it? Motrin?”

“Motrin and ice.”

“That’ll probably be good.” Robin handed Elizabeth her shirt. “I’ll take the camera to a one hour place. It’ll be dated today. And if…you ever need anyone to certify when they were taken, I’ll do it.”

Elizabeth held her clothes to her chest, her eyes burning. “You’re really not asking questions.”

“If you want me to ask them, I will. But I don’t think I need to.” Robin bit her lip. “Are you safe?”

“Right now? Yes.”

“I don’t know you that well, Elizabeth. But I like you. And I remember Lucky from growing up here.”

“You said—”

“I’m just stating facts. I know that there will be some people who will either never believe you or assume you did something to deserve it.” Robin met her eyes. “You never deserved it. And I will believe you. When you’re ready to answer those questions.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Let me know if that shoulder feels worse, okay? We might want an MRI, but it doesn’t look that serious.”

When Elizabeth had gotten changed, she followed Robin back out to the nurse’s station, where she found Patrick and Epiphany still waiting. She arched a brow. “Don’t you people have jobs?”

“Yes, I’m going to go do it in a minute.” Patrick scowled. “I don’t like people.”

“This is not news to me—”

“And I think your husband is a giant asshole—”

“Patrick,” Robin hissed, whacking him in the shoulder as Elizabeth blanched.

“But since I’m not allowed to say that,” Patrick continued, “so I’ll just say that you are one of the few people that I like. And it pisses me off I can’t do more to help.” He paused. “It really pisses me off.”

“You…” Elizabeth hesitated. “You are helping. Thank you for your concern. I’ve got this under control.” She looked at Epiphany. “Can I clock out early? I only have fifteen more minutes—”

“Yeah, but grab your guard,” Epiphany told her. They watched as Elizabeth got on the elevator with Cody.

“Well, what did she say?” Patrick demanded as soon as the doors had shut. “How bad is it?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Robin said with a roll of her eyes. She muttered under her breath and stalked away.

“I’m worried,” Patrick told Epiphany. “If she doesn’t say what he did to her, she might talk herself into going back—”

“All we can do is be there for her. You forget — he’s not just her husband. He’s a cop,” Epiphany said with a shrug. “And they’ll stick by him.”

Patrick wanted to argue, but simply couldn’t. So he just went back to his shift.

General Hospital: Parking Garage

Elizabeth hung back slightly as they approached the dark black sedan Cody had driven her to work in. She waited as Cody walked around the car, looking for evidence that it had been broken into or tampered with.

He stooped on the ground to look under the car, completing the bomb check. Then she heard him hiss. Her pulse kicked up as she took another step back. “What is it?” she demanded.

“A flat tire.” Cody scowled as he got back to his feet and dusted some grit and dirt from his suit jacket. “Damn it.” He pulled his phone from his coat. “I’ll call for another car.”

Elizabeth exhaled, relieved. She just wanted all of this to be over. “Okay—but—” She frowned. “Don’t you think it’s weird that we have a flat? Don’t Jason and Sonny do, like, routine maintenance?”

Cody glanced up, frowned at her, then looked back at the car. “Shit. Let’s go back inside—”

A shadow darted around them, and Elizabeth screamed as Manny Ruiz lurched out from behind a car and ran at Cody, who didn’t even have a chance to pull his gun before the tire iron smacked the side of his skull.

“Run,” Cody choked out as he fell against the car. Elizabeth took off, the pads of her sneakers slapping against the concrete floor as she dashed back towards the emergency stairs, knowing she’d never get to the elevator.

Just as she reached the door and started to twist the handle, a hand slid over her mouth, and Manny’s voice panted in her ear. “Not so fast, Pretty Girl. You’re all mine.”

Elizabeth bit his hand, then screamed. Manny swore, spun her around, then backhanded her. Elizabeth flew into a car, then falling onto the ground.

With a moan, Elizabeth tried to crawl away. She could see Cody in the distance, laying sprawled out by his car.

“Help…”

She cried out as Manny yanked her head back—then dimly saw the car bumper in front of her before pain exploded in her head, and her vision went black.

When your tears are spent
On your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close
And sleep in your defense
When it’s in your spine
Like you’ve walked for miles
And the only thing you want it just to
Be still for a while

– Beside You, Marianas Trench

---

Thursday, April 6, 2006

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

Her shoulder was on fire, her face was throbbing, but Elizabeth couldn’t think about the way she felt. She had to get to a phone—she had to get to Bobbie—

She had to stop Lucky from getting his hands on Cameron.

She pushed herself up on her elbow, wincing and biting her lip as pain radiated down her arm. She half crawled, half slid short distance between the sofa and the door where she’d left her purse. She fished inside and found her phone, then pressed the speed dial for Bobbie.

“Elizabeth! I was just going to call you,” Bobbie said, her voice bright and breezy. “Cameron is having such a great time—Carly wanted to know if he could spend some time with Morgan this weekend.”

Elizabeth leaned against the door, closing her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip again, then took a deep breath. “Hey, um, we can talk about that later—”

“What’s wrong?” Instantly, Bobbie’s tone sharpened.

“I’m f-fine,” Elizabeth managed to say. “I just—” She swallowed a sob. “Listen. Lucky is—I think he might come over to get Cameron. Can you—”

What did she even say? Keep your violent, crazy nephew away from the kids? Would Bobbie even believe her?

“Elizabeth?” Bobbie prompted.

“He’s worried about Cameron playing with Morgan—”

“With Morgan? What? Why?”

“Oh—” Elizabeth pulled herself to her feet, taking another deep breath. The pain in her shoulder was starting to fade to a dull ache. “You know, he’s Sonny kid, and—”

“That’s ridiculous—”

“Yeah, I know, but Lucky, he’s just—” Her voice faltered. “He’s under a lot of stress right now with the physical coming up.” She pressed the heel of her hand against her eye. “Um, can you just—can you just not let Lucky pick him up?”

Bobbie was quiet for a long moment. “Elizabeth,” the older woman said. “Morgan has a guard here. Would you like me to have him to keep Lucky from coming inside? So that the boys never even see him?”

“I—” She squeezed her hand around the phone and sucked in a deep breath. “No. I, um, maybe Lucas is around. Can he take Cameron away? Before Lucky gets there.” She paused, trying to find the words that would make Bobbie stop asking questions and just do what Elizabeth needed her to. “We’re just having a fight right now. And I don’t want to make it worse. You can just tell him Lucas is driving Cameron home. That I called. That I realized he was right.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Please. Bobbie, it would mean a lot to me.”

“All right.” There was a heavy pause. “I’ll have Lucas bring Cameron home—”

“No—no. Wait.” Elizabeth looked around the apartment, a place that was no longer safe for her. The lamp was shattered on the floor, the end table flipped over—one its legs snapped off. She stared at the shards of ceramic on the ground. “No. I think—can he bring Cam to my grandmother’s house? I’ll meet him there.”

“All right. Elizabeth, I love you. Please remember that.”

“I will.” Elizabeth closed her phone. She jumped as the phone vibrated in her hands a second later—

She looked down to find Emily’s name on the screen—then a notice that she had three missed calls. All from Emily. She sighed and put the phone in her purse. She couldn’t deal with anything except getting out of this apartment and to her grandmother’s house.

Because if Lucky showed up there, Elizabeth knew her guard wouldn’t let him in. She knew she’d be safe.

Quartermaine Mansion: Parlor

Emily scowled as her phone call to Elizabeth went unanswered — again. She just wanted to talk to her, to check in on her—

Maybe she should go over to the apartment and demand—

Emily took a deep breath and shook her head. No, no. That wasn’t the right way to handle any of this—

“Emily?”

She turned to find her grandfather standing in the entryway. She blinked—Edward hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to her since this mess had started. “Grandfather.”

“You’re pacing.” Edward gestured at her. “What’s wrong? Has that reprobate hurt you? I knew he would—”

Emily sighed, then sank down on the sofa, setting her cell phone on the table. “No, not the way you think. I just—” She looked at him. “I’m worried about Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth?” Taken aback, Edward frowned. “Why? What’s happened—”

“Manny Ruiz.” Briefly, Emily brought her grandfather up to date as he took a seat next to her. She told him about the kidnapping the previous fall and Manny being at the hospital—

“I’m sure Dad told you he let Jason send him two guys to work as orderlies at the hospital as extra security,” Emily said. “One of them stayed with me on Pediatrics, and the other has been following Manny around.” She stared down at her hands. “But someone should have been with Elizabeth weeks ago. He took the job to be close to her.”

“That is…upsetting,” Edward said finally. “But you said Jason had someone following him—”

“They lost him today. Maybe because of Skye going to Miami, but I just—Grandfather, I could have told them weeks ago that Manny was targeting Elizabeth. I should have seen it—”

“Emily—”

Emily pressed her lips together and looked at her grandfather. “But I didn’t. I was being selfish. Because Elizabeth didn’t immediately jump to my defense or take my side—I froze her out. And she didn’t tell me. I didn’t know Manny was watching her, that she was still seeing him all the time—I didn’t see it, Grandfather. And what’s worse—” Her lips trembled. “Sonny did know. He’s known for weeks.”

“Ah.” To his credit, Edward didn’t immediately launch into a diatribe against Sonny. “And you’re angry that he said nothing to you?”

“It’s—he knew she was in trouble. He knew that Manny was targeting Skye and possibly Elizabeth—but he didn’t think it was his problem. He didn’t want Jason to do anything to help—” Emily looked away. And how much worse had she made it by throwing their past in Jason and Elizabeth’s face right when Elizabeth needed Jason to keep her safe?

“And your brother listened?” Edward demanded.

“No, he ignored Sonny. He put a guard on Elizabeth, and he’s part of the reason Skye moved to Miami early—but—” Emily hesitated. “I threw away everything, Grandfather. I fought with everyone about Sonny. And it—it doesn’t matter.”

“Emily—”

“I thought he was different,” she murmured. “I really thought—” She closed her eyes. “And now my best friend needs me but doesn’t think I’ll be there. She tried to tell me, but I couldn’t hear her. I wouldn’t hear her,” she corrected.

“That might be true, and maybe Elizabeth isn’t ready to talk tonight.” Edward picked up the phone and handed it back to Emily. “But if you keep trying, she might be ready tomorrow—”

They both turned when they heard Alice’s voice in the foyer, raised as she told someone that they couldn’t just barge in—

“Emily!” Lucky bellowed. He pushed past Alice just as Emily reached the doorway to the family room. “Where is she? Is she here?”

“Is she—” Emily closed her mouth, looked back at Edward, who was crossing to join her. “Is who here—” She frowned at her oldest friend. “Lucky, what’s going on? You look like hell—”

His eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and were—were his hands shaking? “Lucky—”

“Elizabeth. She—” Lucky wiped his mouth with the back of his mouth. “We had a fight. I went to pick up Cameron, but Bobbie said Elizabeth had asked Lucas to take him somewhere. She wouldn’t tell me where—she’s not home—”

His eyes darted around wildly. “Is she upstairs? Where is she?”

“She’s not here, Lucky,” Emily said flatly. She folded her arms. “What did you fight about?”

“Nothing—” Lucky scowled. “None of your damn business. Just tell me where she is—” He stepped forward, towards Emily who found herself taking a step backward. Alice scowled and put herself between Lucky and Emily.

“It’s time for you to go,” Alice told him. “You can either go on your own, or I’ll toss you out. If that’s okay with you, Mr. Quartermaine.”

“That’s fine by me,” Edward said stiffly. “And you can be sure I’ll be calling Mac tomorrow—”

“Fine. I’m leaving. Just—” Lucky scowled. “Just tell Elizabeth to call me. She’s being dramatic—” But his hand was still shaking as he shoved his hands through his hair. “Tell her to stop hanging out with criminals, and we won’t have any problems.” His scowl deepened. “You should take that advice—”

“Out—” Alice said, pointing towards the door. “You have thirty seconds—”

“I’m going,” Lucky muttered. He jerked open the front door and slammed it behind him.

Emily let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. I’m drowning. Elizabeth had told her that—but now she wondered if Elizabeth had been talking about Manny that day—

Or if things with Lucky were really that bad.

“Emily?”

She looked down at the phone in her hand again, then at her grandfather. “I’m fine. I just—I need to find a way to help Elizabeth. Even if she won’t let me.”

She pressed a speed dial on her phone and waited for the call to connect—praying that Jason might look past all the damage they’d done to each other and answer the phone.

She sighed in relief as her brother’s curt and irritated voice came on the line. “What?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Hardy House: Front Porch

Elizabeth paced the small porch, back and forth, waiting for a pair of headlights to turn up the driveway. She could see Cody in his car, parked in front of the house. He’d been there since she’d pulled in the driveway, but hadn’t checked on her or asked any questions.

If he had come close to her at that point, Elizabeth knew it would have been difficult to keep him from calling Jason. If he’d seen her face—

When she’d arrived at her grandmother’s, she’d gone into the bathroom to wash her face, only to realize that she had a cut on her cheekbone with dried blood flaking on her skin. Her eyes were bloodshot, the bruise at her temple was turning a sickening green—

She looked like hell.

Elizabeth washed her face, carefully cleaning her cut and arranging her hair so that it hid the worst of the bruise. The dull ache in her shoulder was starting to sharpen again the more she used her shoulder—

She didn’t have a game plan, didn’t have the next step worked out—

She just wanted her little boy in her arms, safe and sound. She wanted to shut her door and lock away everyone—knowing that Cody would keep all the demons at bay. She couldn’t think too hard about Manny Ruiz right now—with any luck, he’d left Port Charles and was out of her life.

She couldn’t find the energy to worry about him.

Elizabeth sighed as a car finally pulled into the driveway. She saw Cody get out of his car and lean against it, waiting to see if she needed him.

Lucas pulled his car close to her bumper, then switched off the ignition. She stepped down off the porch and met him at the car as he opened the back door to get Cameron unhooked from his car seat.

“Thank you so much for doing this, Lucas,” Elizabeth said. She smiled brightly at Cameron, who blinked at the house behind her. “Hey, Cam. Did you have fun with Aunt Bobbie?”

“Yeah, but—” Cameron scrunched up his face. “Why we at Gram’s?”

She looked at Lucas, who arched his brow. “Lucas—”

“Mom said to remind you that she likes you more than Lucky,” Lucas said dryly. “Particularly right now because babysitting Morgan is easier with Cam around.” He hesitated, tilting his head to the side. “You okay? You want me to stick around in case Lucky shows up?”

Elizabeth bit her lip, then shook her head. “No—I have—” She nodded towards Cody at his car. “I have someone here.”

“Okay,” Lucas said, drawing out the word. “I’ll leave you alone then. Take care, buddy. Next time, I’ll show you how to play Mario Kart.”

“Bye, Lucas!” Cameron waved as Bobbie’s son climbed back into his car. She didn’t wait for Lucas to drive away or for Cody to get back int his car. She went straight into the house and locked the door behind her.

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Max had the good sense to get out of Jason’s way as he stormed past the guard in the foyer to confront Sonny in the living room—where he was, as usual, drinking.

“Were you even going to tell me?” Jason demanded.

Sonny turned to look at him, raised his brows, then sat down in the armchair. “Tell you what?”

“Don’t play with me, Sonny. Manny is missing, and Emily just told me that Manny hasn’t been on her floor since Elizabeth transferred—”

“So?” Sonny shrugged and sipped his bourbon. “We already knew that—”

“No—” Jason bit off his retort, tried to find the patience. “We knew that Manny was hanging around Emily and Elizabeth when they worked the same floor. We knew that Manny was hanging around when Skye was there. We did not know that Manny had stopped hanging around Emily—”

“Did you or did you not put Beto at the hospital so he’d know where Manny was?” Sonny demanded. “Don’t put this on me—”

“Manny was assigned all over the hospital,” Jason cut in sharply. “He was still on the Pediatrics floor. But he wasn’t following Emily. And Emily and Elizabeth weren’t working the same shifts anymore—Damn it, Sonny. You knew Elizabeth was having trouble with Manny weeks ago—”

“And it’s my fault that no one asked Emily about this?” Sonny got to his feet, went to refill his drink. “Maybe if you hadn’t thrown a hissy fit about my relationship with her—” He looked over his shoulder at Jason. “If you hadn’t encouraged Elizabeth to get involved—”

“I didn’t—” Jason scowled. “I didn’t encourage her—and it doesn’t have anything to do with that—Manny kidnapped her months ago when she wasn’t even in—” He took a deep breath. “She wasn’t in my life in October, and Manny went after her then. He obviously got the job to stay close to her—”

“That doesn’t make it my fault—”

“No, but you knew Emily wasn’t talking to Elizabeth. You knew she and I were fighting. And it didn’t occur to you once to let Emily know what was going on with Elizabeth.” And Jason couldn’t understand that—couldn’t understand how Sonny had seemed so oblivious to all the crap Emily had gone through because of their relationship—

He didn’t seem to care that Emily wasn’t talking to her best friend—the same way he hadn’t cared that Elizabeth might be in danger—

“Manny is missing,” Jason told him. “You knew that this morning. You knew hours ago that Elizabeth was probably the target, not Skye. And you said nothing to me.”

“I see Emily sucked up her pride to call you.” Sonny shrugged again, but his shoulders were tense. “Now, you know. And Elizabeth knows Manny is missing thanks to Emily.” He scowled. “When did we start telling women everything? What happened to the rules?”

Jason just stared at him, dumbfounded. “What are you talking about? Elizabeth is the one in danger— from a man you decided wasn’t our problem. How do the rules—” He stopped. “When you ask someone to be a part of your life, Sonny, you ask them to cross a line. They deserve to know when they’re in danger.”

Sonny’s smile was sour. “That sounds like something someone else told you. Was it Elizabeth? Is that how she talked you into letting her help with Manny?”

“No, that’s why she left me,” Jason said roughly. Sonny looked at him, a bit taken aback by that. “She deserved better from me. From you. And it sounds like you’re making the same mistake with Emily.” He shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to be right—part of him had hoped that it would be different this time—

But he wasn’t surprised.

“I don’t care if you don’t think Manny is our problem or not,” Jason told him. “I told Francis to put everyone on this.”

Sonny pursed his lips. “And if I told you to back off?” he asked quietly. He swirled the alcohol in his tumbler, then met Jason’s eyes. “If I reminded you that Elizabeth is married to a cop—”

“Is that what you’re telling me?” Jason said. He lifted his chin. “Are you telling me to drop it?”

“I have a feeling,” Sonny said slowly, “that I would lose that argument.” He looked down at his tumbler. “You’re making a mistake getting involved with her again.”

“It’s not like that—”

“No?” Sonny smirked, finished his bourbon. “You should listen to yourself once in a while—”

Jason just shook his head, scowling as he took out his phone. “I’m not having this argument with you,” he said. “I’m calling Cody. Elizabeth needs to know that she was probably the target all along.”

He needed to figure out how to keep her safe while not making more trouble with Lucky, but if it came down to it, he could live with Elizabeth hating him as long as she was safe. Emily had mentioned briefly that Lucky and Elizabeth were fighting again, but he hadn’t asked her for more details. He needed to deal with Manny, not worry about Elizabeth’s marriage.

“Cody, hey. You have eyes on Elizabeth?” Jason asked, waiting for the guard to tell him that she was safely at home or at the hospital.

“Uh, yeah, I do.” Cody’s voice sounded strange—hesitant even. “What’s up? Is there word on Manny?”

“It looks like Elizabeth might have been his target all along.” Jason pinched his nose and turned away from Sonny, who had poured himself yet another drink. “I need—I need to know if it’s okay if I come over. Is Lucky there?”

“Uh, actually, Jase—she’s not at the apartment. She’s at her grandmother’s house.”

“What?” Jason asked. “Why? Isn’t she in Memphis—”

“I guess, but Elizabeth came here on her own, then paced out front for a while until Lucas Jones arrived with Cameron. She went inside, and I haven’t seen her since. Do you want me to check on her?”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah. Let her know I’m on my way to talk to her about Manny. That it’s important, or I wouldn’t bother her.”

“Got it.”

Jason hung up the phone. “I have to go—”

“Wait—” Sonny held up a hand. Jason sighed, but his partner shook his head. “Look, I get it. She’s in danger, and me being me not telling Emily anything—if that’s made it worse, I’m sorry. I was wrong. We should have done something sooner. As soon as Elizabeth got involved.”

Jason frowned at him “Sonny—”

“I might not like you being close with someone married to a cop, but you were right. It’s Elizabeth. And we should have done more.” Sonny hesitated. “I should have done more. So whatever you need, get it done. Keep her safe, and let’s get rid of Manny Ruiz for good.”

Hardy House: Living Room

She’d settled Cameron down on the sofa with the Spiderman movie DVD she always carried in her bag. She knew she needed to figure out something for dinner, but she was broke until payday, and her grandmother didn’t have much in the house since she’d planned to be gone for so long.

Her cell phone rang again, and Elizabeth looked at it, expecting it to be Emily—but it was Cody’s name that lit up the identification screen. With a sigh, she realized she couldn’t entirely ignore the world. At least the part of it that was determined to keep her safe. “Yeah?”

“Miss Webber, I wanted to let you know that Jason is on his way over. He, ah, needed to tell you something about Manny, so I had to tell him you were at your grandmother’s. Uh…sorry,” Cody added when Elizabeth remained silent.

Elizabeth flinched. She really didn’t need this tonight, but if Jason had news about Manny–

“It’s okay. Thanks for letting me know, Cody.” She hung up the phone.

“Mommy?” Cameron asked. He frowned at her. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

“I know.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Okay. Okay, I can do this.”

“You can do anything,” Cameron said, loyally. “Did you bring my toys?”

“No, but you have some upstairs—” Elizabeth rubbed her shoulder absently. The levels of pain came and went, but she didn’t want to get an ice pack in front of Cameron. And what was she going to do about dinner? Maybe she could check the balances on her credit cards again or find some dry cereal—

The doorbell rang before she could make a decision. Determined to get rid of Jason as quickly as possible, Elizabeth got up to let him in.

“Jason. Hey. Cody just told me you were coming by,” she said. She kept the door halfway closed, wondering if it was possible to keep him from coming in. She really wasn’t up to this tonight.

Jason frowned at her, and she looked away, hoping that he didn’t notice the way she was favoring her shoulder or that she had a cut on her face just below the bruise he’d yesterday. “Hey. I know we talked about me not coming by,” he said, “but something happened with Manny.”

“Yeah, Cody called.” She looked at him, waiting for him to volunteer the information. When Jason glanced at the door, then back at her, he exhaled slowly.

“Right. Uh, well—” He scratched the edge of his eyebrow.

“Mommy?” Cameron tugged on her pant leg as he came to the door. He peered out from behind her. “Hi, Mr. Jason. Did you come to see my toys?”

“Hey, Cameron.” Jason’s face relaxed as he knelt down. “No, but Morgan said you had the best Legos he’d ever played with.”

“I gots lots of Legos here.” Cameron looked at Elizabeth. “Mommy, is Mr. Jason staying?”

Jason met her eyes as he got back to his seat. “Uh, no—”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said at the same time. She stepped back, opening the door wider. She didn’t really think about it. Maybe she should have, but she just—she couldn’t turn away an opportunity to distract Cameron—to give him a bit of happiness.

“Are you sure?” Jason asked softly as he walked past her into the house. Elizabeth closed the door behind him.

“No,” she admitted, “but I know you wouldn’t come all the way over here if it wasn’t important, and Cameron—” She ruffled her son’s curls as he grinned at her. “Cameron does have a lot of Legos here.”

“Mommy, can we eat? I’m hungry.” Cameron looked at Jason. “I like pizza. Do you like pizza? We don’t got pizza here. Grammy is in Memdis forever—”

“For a few weeks,” Elizabeth corrected. “Cameron—” She wrinkled her nose, already regretting the impulse to invite Jason in. She folded her arms, wincing as her shoulder protested.

“Bobbie was gonna have pizza,” Cameron continued, “but Mommy made me come here.” He pursed his lips. “I like pizza,” he repeated.

Mortified beyond belief, Elizabeth just closed her eyes. Jason knelt down to match Cameron’s height. “What kind of pizza?”

“All pizza is good. Mommy says there no bad pizza. ‘Cept the ones with green stuff. We don’t like green stuff. Do you like green stuff?”

“Sometimes,” Jason said. He got back to his feet. “Do you want me to call for something?” he asked Elizabeth quietly.

“I—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. Her son came first. He always came first. “Yes. And I—I have to owe you. I don’t get paid until tomorrow.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, sure.” She sighed—he’d never take the money from her, but she couldn’t deal with that right now. Cameron needed to eat. Jason stepped away to make a phone call while she looked at her son. “Cameron, why don’t you go upstairs and put together your favorite Lego pieces so you can show them to Jason?”

“Okay.” Cameron hesitated. “But no lights. Mommy, don’t like no lights. Dark.” He looked up at the dim stairwell and the dark hallway beyond it. She could switch on the lights for the stairs, but the hallway light was at the top of the stairs.

And she couldn’t lift him to take him up the stairs. Her throat felt thick as she struggled to think through the fog of it all. Her shoulder was still throbbed, an eternal reminder of why she was at her grandmother’s in the first place—

She just—God, she just wanted this to be over.

“Cameron,” Jason said from behind her. “Do you know which room is yours?”

“Yep!”

“I’ll take you, and Mommy can wait down here for the pizza, okay?” He lifted the toddler into his arms, looking back at Elizabeth. “Do you want me to call Emily? Or Bobbie?”

“I didn’t even want anyone to call you,” Elizabeth managed miserably. Emily and Bobbie might feel sorry for her, but they also might just tell her that she should think about Lucky—that she should give him another chance. He was so close to getting his job back.

And hadn’t she told everyone things would be okay when he was back to work? Hadn’t she told herself that?

“Okay,” Jason said, not looking remotely hurt by that. So he went upstairs, and Elizabeth sat on the sofa, trying to figure out how to get through the next few hours without Jason finding out exactly why she’d dragged her son to an empty house without any food.

A few minutes later, Jason came down with a plastic monitor in his hand. “Cam said his gram uses this when he plays alone.” He handed it to her, and she could hear her little boy singing to himself. “Biderman, Biderman, does a Bider can,” came his sweet voice.

“I know you don’t want to talk about what happened,” Jason said. She looked at him. “And I’m not going to ask. You’re here. You’re safe. Cody isn’t going to let anyone come in here. I promise.” He hesitated. “With Manny missing, I was hoping you might let one of the guys stay in the house tonight.”

“I—” That would be safest, wouldn’t it? But she hated the idea of it. She just wanted to be alone.

“But that’s not an option, I can see that now,” he said smoothly. “So I’ll set up shifts. Cody or someone out front. And then someone out back. They can sit on the back porch. I’m hoping we’ll have him found within a day or two. Can you stay here that long?”

“Yes.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, finding her feet again. “Yeah, I can manage that.” She looked at him. “Something happened that you’re not telling me because I’m upset. Something more than Manny going missing. You know I know that already.”

“I do, yeah, but—” Jason hesitated. “I came here to tell you, but I just—I don’t want to make things worse, Elizabeth. This last week—” He pressed his lips together. “I know it’s been tough.”

She nearly told him that Manny Ruiz and his threats had almost been a relief as it gave herself something else to worry about beyond her marriage. “I know. And I appreciate it. But you want me to be guarded twenty-four seven. You wanted someone down the hall from me. I have Cameron to think about.”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “We think Manny might have taken the job at the hospital to get to you.”

She jolted at that, then got to her feet, putting some distance between them. “No, no, that’s not—there’s no reason for that. I don’t matter—You and Sonny—I didn’t matter—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason slowly stood, the frown on his face deepening. “You always mattered. But, no, there wouldn’t have been much of a reason for Manny to make a connection between us. Not then. But that’s not why he wanted you.”

“What—” Her stomach rolled over. “Oh. Oh, it’s not about getting to you. It’s just about me. You-you said Manny—women have gone missing.”

“Yeah. There’s never been any proof, but he’s got a reputation. I think—after he kidnapped you—”

She might have been targeted by a psycho killer who liked to hurt and torture women. Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Okay. Well, then, in that case, please put a man in every single guest room of this house. And if you could find some sort of armor that covers houses—”

“Elizabeth—”

“No, no, I’m not being flippant. I’m not making a joke. I mean it. Lock this place down. I can’t—” Her heart started to pound again, and her lungs felt a thousand times too small for her chest. “He rapes women, doesn’t he?”

“I—” Jason took a few steps towards her. His hand raised slightly at his side as if he was going to reach out and touch her. He let it drop as he swallowed hard. “He’s not going to get to you, Elizabeth—”

“I know you mean that. I know that you are doing everything you can. But we both know you’re not Superman. And I don’t expect you to be.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, covered her face again, even as her shoulder protested. “If someone stays here tonight—in the house, I mean—can it be Cody? Or Vic? Marco still works for you guys, right? He was on your door when I lived with—” She hesitated. “Or Francis—Just someone I know?”

“Yeah.” He hesitated. “Not me,” he said finally. “It can’t be me.”

“No.” Elizabeth managed a smile at him as they both locked eyes, uncomfortable with the suggestion. “No, it really can’t be you. Not after—it just can’t.”

“Okay. Can you stay home tomorrow? With Cameron?”

“I—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. I mean, Epiphany could probably cover my shift if I had to, but I’ve been…I’ve missed a few since I started upstairs, and some of the nurses are—’” Less than friendly. “I’m not making any friends. And I can’t afford to lose the hours—”

“I could—”

“And even if you told me you could make up the difference, it doesn’t resolve my long-term problem. I can’t keep asking Epiphany for favors. And it’s not something we can take to the chief of staff. Because it doesn’t change the fact I have to work with these people when Manny is just a memory.”

“Okay. Cody stays on you at the hospital. He drives you to and from, though. You don’t go on your own.”

Thinking of Lucky and how he’d take that information, Elizabeth grimaced. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Why are you apologizing? You’re keeping me safe from a psycho who wants to rape and torture me. I just wish I could lock myself in here until this was over. But I can’t.” She sighed. “I’ll find a way to explain it to Lucky.”

Jason paused. “You…I thought you were here for a reason.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said. But she hadn’t entirely wrapped her mind around any of that, and it was just—it was a reflex to think of how to manage Lucky’s anger, which was a depressing realization. “Which means on top of everything else, I don’t need another argument with Lucky about me owing criminals favors. Even if I went to the cops, they couldn’t do anything.” She lifted her chin. “And we’re not talking about Lucky.”

“Okay.” He hesitated.

“But Cameron—” Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t take him to daycare.”

“No, but Morgan will be at Carly’s tomorrow with Leticia and Michael. They have guards. Carly said Cam has been over to play with Morgan a few times.”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth’s chest eased. “And I know how seriously Carly takes Michael and Morgan’s safety. Cameron would feel safe there, and he’d have a good time. He wouldn’t think anything was wrong.”

“Are you—” Jason hesitated. “This is a lot—”

“This is necessary. And I am okay.” She was okay, Elizabeth was realizing. She’d had a terrible couple of days, but she’d left. She’d gotten out. And even though she was in danger from another threat, she knew that Jason would do everything he could to look out for her. If Manny got to her anyway, it wouldn’t be because Jason hadn’t tried to protect her.

“I’m okay,” Elizabeth repeated. “I can handle this.”

“I know you can. You always handled this kind of stuff well.” Jason hesitated. “Maybe better than I ever gave you credit for. You never flinched from any of it. From the bomb, from the guns, from Sorel. From Roscoe’s guys. Alcazar. I should have trusted that. I should have remembered that—”

Elizabeth shook her head. She tried to fold her arms again, wincing as she’d forgotten her shoulder again. She rubbed her hand over the sore area. “We’re not talking about it,” she bit out. “Now, if you want, because Cameron will probably ask, you can stay for dinner. You can let him tell you all the stories he wants about his toys. He might even ask you to watch Spiderman before I put him to bed. You can do that if you want. Because he needs kindness and comfort right now. But we are done talking about everything else.”

“I—” Jason stared at her. “Elizabeth—”

“Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. It happened. I’m glad we understand each other better, but we can’t go back. And it’s not fair to anyone else, including Sam—and Lucky—for us to keep dragging all of that up.”

“No. No, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I won’t do it again. I’m sorry. But if it’s okay, I’d like to stay until Cameron goes to bed. I’ll make some calls, make you sure have food and supplies here, so you don’t have to go out in the open,” he told her as she started to open her mouth. “You’re going to work tomorrow because you have to, I get it, but I’m sorry, I can’t—” He hesitated. “I would appreciate it if you’d let me do this.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“And I’ll track down someone you know to stay the night. In addition to the guards at the back,” he told her. “I don’t think we’ll need to use every room, but I’ll make sure you’re safe here before I leave.”

“I know you will.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

“This will be over soon,” Jason told her as she went towards the stairs to check on Cameron. “I promise.”

“One way or another,” Elizabeth murmured.

But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
‘Cause I heard it screaming out your name,
Your name
– Set Fire to the Rain, Adele

---

Thursday, April 6, 2006

 Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

 Jason scowled at the tax paperwork and flipped over a form for what must have been the third time that morning. He’d always been able to focus—always been able to shove out everything else in his brain to concentrate on what was in front of him but lately—

But not today. Less than a month ago, his life had been under control. Sure, Sam was struggling with Danny’s death and looking for her birth mother, but that was a problem Jason could solve. He could be there for her, find the answers—

And then that had blown up in his face. He knew he never should have run the test behind Sam’s back, and in hindsight, asking Elizabeth, in particular, had been a mistake. He’d never gotten in the habit of thinking of her like an ex-girlfriend, but everyone else had.

It just felt like he’d never been able to get back on the right foot with Sam. Fighting about the test, about Alexis and Elizabeth—everything had been going wrong even before she’d decided to get back into cons. And then Emily—

Jason scrubbed a hand over his face, took a deep breath. None of that mattered. He just had to get things under control. Lucky would go back to work at the end of the week, and Elizabeth would be fine. She and Lucky always managed to work things out.

Jason knew that better than anyone. The last few weeks—the last few days—had just been…they’d just drifted towards each other the way they always did when things got tough. It didn’t mean anything.

It couldn’t mean anything.

He was grateful when the knock on the door came. Jason shoved himself away from the desk and crossed to the door, frowning when he saw Beto on the other side. He jerked the door open. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on Manny—”

“I wanted to tell you in person—we lost him.” Beto shook his head. “He went to the motel last night like always, but he never came out this morning. I called Vic—Manny isn’t at the hospital either. He didn’t show for his shift.”

Jason grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. This was the last thing he needed. “Everything okay at the hospital?”

“Vic said things were good on his floor. Manny hasn’t been there much in the last few weeks. Never bothered Emily at all.”

Jason frowned, turned back to him. “What about ICU? Did Vic go to the sixth floor?”

“He went up there, but Manny wasn’t there either—” Beto hesitated. “This is good, right? He probably split after Alcazar and his lady.”

Probably, but it just—it felt too easy. Jason rubbed his chest absently, frowning. He could call Elizabeth, he could ask her—

But she’d asked him to stay away, and judging by the look on Lucky’s face, the last thing Jason wanted to do was make more trouble for her. He never should have gone to the apartment the night before.

He pulled out his cell phone and called Cody instead. “Hey. You got eyes on Elizabeth? She’s okay?”

“She’s good, Jase,” Cody answered. “We’re at the hospital, up in ICU. Just like always. Why?”

“Beto said Manny checked out of the motel at some point and never showed for work. Don’t—” Jason hesitated. “Don’t tell Elizabeth. We don’t know anything yet, and I don’t want to worry her. Just—just don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Got it, Jase. Nothing will happen to her on my watch.”

Jason stared at his phone for another long moment, wondering if he was making the right choice not telling Elizabeth Manny had disappeared.

“What do you want me to do? Should I go tell Mr. C?”

Jason blinked, looked up at Beto. “No, uh, I’ll do that. Ah—” He frowned. “We need to find Manny, but I want someone else at the hospital. Vic should stay on the fifth floor, but I want someone walking around on six. In case Manny makes a grab at Elizabeth—”

“Might be hard—that’s the ICU, and you need special permission to get around.”

Which meant Jason had to call Alan and ask for another favor. His father might agree—he hated Manny Ruiz, too. “I’ll take care of it. Just head over. Stick with Cody if nothing else.” He sighed. “I’ll contact Alcazar. Put him on alert.”

Beto raised his brows. “We’re…helping him?”

Jason glared at the guard. “If Manny goes after anyone else, it’ll be Skye. Alcazar should know Manny has disappeared. He can take care of Miami. And if Manny shows up down there, I want to know.” This was the problem of thinking in black and white, of always taking things personally. Alcazar had been a threat while looking for control in Port Charles, but in Miami, they’d need to work with him once in a while.

“Right, right. I’ll get moving. Maybe it’s over?” Beto suggested as Jason walked him to the door. “Wouldn’t it be great if it ended like this?”

“I don’t think we’re going to get that lucky,” Jason muttered. He closed the door, then leaned his forehead against it for a moment. He needed to call Sonny, put the organization on alert. Everyone needed to be looking for Manny.

He opened his phone again, intending to call Sonny but it rang before he could. He stared at the screen for a long moment when he saw Sam’s name scroll across, wondering if he should just let it go to voicemail.

And then he felt guilty for that, so he flipped open the phone and answered it. “Hey, Sam. What’s up?”

“Is this a bad time?” Sam asked. “You sound like you’re in a hurry.”

“I’m in the middle of a couple of things,” Jason bit out, but then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s fine. How’s it going down there?”

“I can call back—”

Jason clenched his jaw, then forced himself to stop being so damn annoyed. It wasn’t Sam’s fault she’d called at a bad time. Nothing that had happened was her fault.

“It’s fine,” he repeated. “How’s Florida?”

“Do you really want to know?” Sam asked after a long moment. “I know you were mad—”

“I really want to know,” Jason told her. “I was going to call—” He winced because that might be the first time he’d actually lied to her. “I didn’t think you’d want to hear from me.”

“I wasn’t sure I did,” she admitted. “But I didn’t want you to worry. Look—” She was quiet for a moment. “I know you don’t like what I’m doing. I know you have issues. But I need you to know that—God, Jason, this has been amazing. I forgot the rush. The thrill. You know what I mean. You know that’s what you like about your job.”

His stomach sank as he closed his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, I know.”

“It’s never boring, and I didn’t even realize how bored I was. I ran the game with Paulie yesterday, and we’re running another one in a few hours. It’s just—he offered me a regular gig. A few times a year. Just doing the same thing.”

Jason scrubbed a hand over his face. Great. Just what he needed. “So, you’d keep going.”

“Yeah, but just this. Just the real estate, you know? I don’t want—I’m not going back to all the old games. I can’t run them if we’re together—”

“And how long before you get bored with just the real estate?”

Sam was quiet. “There are a lot of things I can do that have nothing to do with the trophy wife or mistress, Jason. Can’t you trust me to find a way to make this work for us?”

He realized that she’d sounded almost happy when he’d answered the phone—lighter than she had in weeks—he realized it now because her tone shifted. Dulled. He closed his eyes again.

What right did he have to judge her for finding her own way out of the depression she’d sunk in after her brother’s death? Sam had done nothing wrong in the last few weeks—nothing to deserve the way he’d been treating her.

He didn’t know what was going wrong, didn’t understand how it had started or why it always seemed to get worse. Sam hadn’t changed. He hadn’t changed.

Nothing had changed—not really. He knew why Elizabeth had left him. That was all. Nothing earth-shattering about any of it.

“I don’t know,” Jason said, finally, because he didn’t want to lie to her again. “But I’m willing to try.”

She took a deep breath. “That’s all I’m asking. I’ll be home on Saturday. We’ll—we’ll make this work—and this—we can just go back to how it used to be. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Jason said faintly. “That’s what I want.”

“I’ll see you on Saturday.” Sam paused. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He hung up the phone, then stared at it for a long moment. For the first time since he’d said those words to her a year earlier—

They felt like a lie, and he didn’t understand it.

He didn’t understand what had changed for him in the last month. He didn’t know how to explain why just being in the same room with Elizabeth, knowing that he’d broken her heart—that it had been his to break seemed to rip apart everything else.

He’d been with her the night before—sitting on the sofa, Cameron between them listening to the toddler talk about his toys in a mixture of toddler-speak and English. He’d caught Elizabeth’s eye a few times as they’d enjoyed Cameron and his enthusiasm.

Are you sorry…that it’s not her in this penthouse? That you didn’t marry her? Have a kid with her? Are you sorry that it’s me and not her standing in front of you?

He hadn’t been able to answer Sam when she’d asked him that question, but she’d shoved that thought in his head—

And for a moment—just a moment—last night, sitting on that sofa—

He’d wanted Cameron to be his—to have put that ring on Elizabeth’s finger—

He’d wanted that life to be his.

Jason exhaled slowly and opened his phone again to call Sonny. It was useless thinking of things that could never happen.

It didn’t matter what had or hadn’t happened four years ago. It didn’t change anything, and there was no point in pretending things could be different. She was right.

They couldn’t be friends anymore. He needed to get rid of Manny Ruiz, make sure Elizabeth and her son were safe—

And then get out of her life.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

 “We’ll just grab something to go,” Emily told Sonny as they walked into the courtyard. “I know you want to get back to Greystone in case something happens.”

Sonny frowned at her, stopping a few feet from the door. “What do you mean?”

Emily blinked. “I just—I talked to the guard on my floor earlier, Sonny. Vic, right? He told me Manny didn’t show up for work. He said Jason didn’t want Elizabeth to know, but I don’t have a guard, so he thought I should.” She furrowed her brow. “You do want to get back to Greystone for that, right? Isn’t that what you meant when you said you didn’t have a lot of time?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t going to get into it,” Sonny said with a scowl. “And Vic shouldn’t tell you anything. I’ll talk to him. Jason doesn’t want Elizabeth to know anything because there’s no point. That’s why we gave her a guard.”

Emily pursed her lips, frowning. “No point? She might be in danger—”

“Emily—”

They both turned when the door swung open, and the woman in question stopped out. Elizabeth raised her brows, her hand wrapped around a to-go cup. “Am I interrupting?”

“No,” Emily said. She took a deep breath. She and Elizabeth hadn’t spoken in a few days—not since their blow up at Kelly’s. And because she had a bad feeling, she lifted her chin. “Did you see Manny at the hospital today?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. But he’s not always assigned to my floor.” She sighed. “Not that it seemed to matter, but—” She tilted her head to the side. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Emily,” Sonny said with a shake of his head. “Let’s go inside—”

“Stop,” Emily said, slapping his hand as he tried to take her arm. “Stop it. She deserves to know. I don’t care if Jason doesn’t want to worry her.”

“Deserves to know what?” Elizabeth demanded. She stepped forward. “What’s going on—”

“Nothing,” Sonny began but was startled when Elizabeth shot him a nasty look. “What—”

“I get it, I’m not your problem. You made that loud and clear,” Elizabeth retorted. She took a deep breath, looked at Emily. “Em—”

“Manny’s missing,” Emily declared. “He didn’t show up to work, and he left the motel. Vic—the guy on Pediatrics? He said they’re trying to find him, but they don’t know where he is.”

Elizabeth’s face paled as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “And no one thought I should know.”

“What difference does it make if you know?” Sonny asked. “Your guard knows—”

“I might not have stopped for coffee—” Elizabeth pursed her lips. Shook her head. “Some things will never change,” she murmured. “I’m going home. Thanks, Emily.”

“Of course.” Emily offered her a smile. “I’m sure it’s fine. You know, he probably went after Skye, you know. Dad said she moved to Miami with Alcazar.”

“Does everyone know everything?” Sonny muttered.

“I’m sure that’s true,” Elizabeth said, “and Cameron hasn’t been feeling well, so maybe Jason didn’t think—” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Good night.”

“Good night—”

“Elizabeth,” Sonny said as she passed them. Elizabeth sighed, then turned back to face her. “Look, I’m sorry. I know—I know you wanted something done a while ago about Manny. I told Jason it wasn’t our problem.”

“You what—” Emily’s words sputtered as Sonny continued speaking.

“But I changed my mind. As soon as Manny made his first threat—and you’ve had Cody for almost a week—”

Elizabeth just stared at him for a long moment. “You changed your mind.” Her voice sounded a bit rusty as if she were forcing the words out. “When?”

“When?” Sonny repeated, then frowned. “Why does—” He nodded. “Yesterday,” he said finally. “Anything before then—that’s on Jason.”

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment as Emily frowned. Why did it matter when Sonny had changed his mind? When Jason had given Elizabeth a personal guard?

But Elizabeth didn’t say anything to answer that question. She just nodded. “Okay. I need to go home.” She left then, and Emily blinked after her, before looking at Sonny with confusion.

“What was that about? What did she mean you told Jason it wasn’t your problem? What’s not your problem—”

Sonny exhaled slowly. “I’m not getting into it right now, Emily—”

“Oh, don’t even try it—” She flattened her hand against his chest, looked at him, trying to understand what was going on. “You didn’t want me to know what was going on. You didn’t want her to know. You weren’t even going to help her with Manny.”

And how had Emily not known Elizabeth was struggling with Manny for so long?

I’m drowning. And you don’t see it. And I don’t ask you for help. Because I know I can’t go to you. You won’t be there.

 Emily swallowed hard. “Why weren’t you going to help Elizabeth? How long has this been going on?”

Sonny grimaced, looked away. “Emily—”

“She’s my best friend, Sonny. And she’s hurting. I need to know—” Emily took a deep breath. “I need to understand why. Please.”

“Since before you and Jason had the fight—” Sonny admitted.

“That’s—Sonny, that’s like three weeks.” And she hadn’t seen it. God, Elizabeth was right. Emily hadn’t noticed a psychopath was going after her best friend. “And you weren’t going to help her? Why?”

“She’s married to a cop—”

“She’s Elizabeth,” Emily said flatly. “She’s always defended you. Always looked out for you and Jason. And you were going to let her twist in the wind because she married Lucky? She didn’t ask Lucky for help. She asked you—”

“She asked Jason,” Sonny retorted. “And I told him it wasn’t our problem.”

“But he didn’t listen.” Emily exhaled. “He gave her a guard—”

“Eventually. After Elizabeth made it clear she wasn’t going to let it go. This is why I don’t want you to know anything. Because you see what happens?” Sonny demanded. “Elizabeth thinks she knows so much better than everyone else—she put herself in danger—”

“What—”

“She was trying to help Skye, but she doesn’t understand this world. And neither do you if you think I’m going to talk about it with you—”

“This world,” Emily repeated. “Manny’s a psycho who already tried to kill my brother—who might be trying to kill my best friend—and you think that I shouldn’t—” Her stomach rolled, a sick, twisting, almost sour feeling settling in. “He’s been watching her,” she murmured. “For months.”

Sonny frowned. “What—No—that’s not—”

“We both used to work on the Pediatrics floor. We saw him all the time. That’s why I called Jason.” Emily took a deep breath. “Before the quarantine.” Before things had changed between her and Sonny. “But after—after he put the men at the hospital, I didn’t see Manny a lot. I thought it meant it was safe.”

Sonny frowned. “But Elizabeth saw him all the time—Jason told me—”

“She moved floors. She got promoted and went to the sixth floor. And kept seeing him. Because he followed her there.” Emily scowled. “If you’d just told me she was in trouble, maybe I could have seen it earlier. I could have told you that Manny is never on my floor anymore. But, apparently, he’s always on hers. And Skye isn’t someone who comes to the hospital a lot.”

Sonny swallowed hard. “So, he didn’t get the job trying to get to Skye.”

“No. No, he didn’t.” Emily’s eyes burned. “I missed it. I would have seen it, but I ignored her for you. She told me—”

I’m drowning.

 What else had she missed?

“But you should have told me,” Emily said. She jabbed a finger at him. “You should have told me Elizabeth was in trouble. You knew three weeks ago, and you said nothing.”

“You know how this works—”

“Bullshit,” Emily spat. “This is not a movie, Sonny. You are not Michael Corleone, and I’m not the kind of woman you can lie to and shut out. Not when people I love are in danger.” This—this is what Jason had meant when he’d told her she’d get hurt.

Because Sonny didn’t see her as a partner, as an equal. “You didn’t even want Elizabeth to know Manny was missing—”

“Neither did Jason—”

“No—” Emily shook her head. “No! That’s not the same. It’s not. He was trying to protect her, to keep her safe. You just didn’t want me to know, you didn’t want her to know. Because it’s not her business. Why? You had no problem using her to get information about Manny—”

“I wasn’t using her—” Sonny scowled. “That wasn’t me. That was Jason.” He grimaced. “He always tells her more than she needs to know—”

She lifted her chin. “Maybe that’s because he trusts her.”

Sonny hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, he does.” He shook his head. “And maybe she’s earned it over the years in some ways—”

“I could have earned it, too. But you’re not even going to let me try.” She waited for him to deny it, but he just stared at her for a long time.

“Emily,” Sonny said, almost painfully. “It’s complicated more than that—”

“It’s really not. Someone I loved was in danger, and you shut me out to the point that it’s made everything worse.” Emily stepped back from him, seeing him more clearly now than she had in months. “I need to go.”

“Emily—”

She turned and walked back towards the parking lot.

And didn’t look back.

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

Elizabeth hesitated when she pushed open the door and found Lucky sitting on the sofa inside. She sighed, set her purse down next to the door where she could grab it in a hurry, then returned her attention to the cell phone at her ear.

“Thanks, Bobbie. No, it’s really fine. I’m glad Cam’s having so much fun—No, I can come get him later.”

She hung up the phone and tucked it into her purse, then turned her attention to Lucky, who kept staring straight ahead at the television. She stared at him for a long moment before walking into the kitchen.

She should say something to him—they should, at least, talk about what had happened over the last forty-eight hours—

But Elizabeth was just tired.

She hadn’t told Lucky that Manny Ruiz had talked to her or that one of Jason’s guys was following her around, so she could hardly tell him now that Manny had disappeared—

She wished Jason had told her, but he was doing what she’d asked. Staying away. Keeping his distance. Cody was with her, and she knew she was relatively safe but—

Dealing with her marriage was just not something Elizabeth wanted to do tonight. She opened the freezer to take out a tray of ice cubes. When the Manny situation was sorted out, she and Lucky would deal with all of this—

She sighed, closed the freezer without the tray. She was just putting it off. Just—ignoring it. What would change if Manny was found in two days? Tomorrow?

Nothing. Lucky would have still—

She looked down at her wrist, gingerly pushing the sleeve to look at the angry marks on the underside of her arm. She touched them lightly with her other hand, then pulled down the sleeve.

Waiting wouldn’t make it go away. Wouldn’t make it not be true.

Lucky might not have punched her. Might not have slapped her—

But he’d hurt her. He’d put his hands on her, intending to inflict pain, and that was always going to be true.

She went back into the living room towards the doorway, not even realizing why until she was standing next to her purse, the doorknob within reach—

“We should talk,” Elizabeth said. Lucky blinked at her, turning to look at her. He stood, his face lined with exhaustion, his eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what exactly?” Elizabeth asked, with an arch of her brow. She gestured at her temple, where the bruise was still a harsh, angry purple at her hairline. “For this?” She shoved her sweater sleeve up. “What about for this?” she asked, revealing the angry purple fingerprints on her arm. She needed to hear him say it, to admit it.

“For all of it,” he said hoarsely. He raised his eyes from her arm to meet her eyes. “I’m ashamed. I’m no better than my father.”

“Your father?” Elizabeth repeated, taken aback by that. She hadn’t expected— “What—”

“I’m no better than Tom Baker. Or Connor Bishop.”

“No, that’s—” Some of her anger eased. “You’re not—you’re not a rapist, Lucky. But you need—you need to get yourself together. I have a little boy to raise—”

Lucky frowned at her. “What does that have to do with anything? I didn’t hit Cameron—I didn’t even hit you. Not really—” He scowled. “Are you telling people I hit you? Because I didn’t—”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together and fought back an angry response. It wasn’t worth the energy to argue over whether or not he technically hit her. She didn’t understand—he’d already admitted what he’d done was terrible—why did it matter what words she used? “I didn’t tell anyone—”

“I just—I lost my temper.” Lucky took a deep breath, and some of the angry red flush faded. “You just—I told you to stay away from Jason Morgan, and there he was again, in my face—in my house, with my wife—”

Elizabeth frowned and shook her head. Not this again. “I told you, he just wanted to check on Cameron. He’s always liked kids—”

“Well, he’s not going to like yours. Where the hell is Cameron? What, did you let Jason babysit?”

She couldn’t track the conversation, couldn’t predict what he’d say next or how he’d react to anything she’d say—His hands were shaking as he drove them through his hair. “Lucky, have you been drinking or something? You’re not making any sense—”

“Oh, because I don’t want my wife fucking a criminal, I’m the crazy one?” Lucky demanded as he stepped towards her.

“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth threw up her hands, her patience completely gone. “I just—you’re not acting like yourself—”

“I’m fucking tired! I’ve been in pain for six months, I’ve been killing myself in therapy and at work trying to keep my life from falling apart. You’re off gallivanting with criminals, letting them fucking buy you stuff! What the hell do you expect?” His nostrils flared. “And you didn’t tell me where Cameron is. Is he with Jason?”

“He’s with Bobbie, I told— I was on the phone with her when I came home—she was babysitting Morgan, and Cam’s having a good time—”

“Morgan? Sonny fucking Corinthos’s kid?”

“And Bobbie’s grandson—”

Why was she arguing with him? Why hadn’t she just picked up her purse and made that exit—

Because he might not let me leave.

Was she fast enough? Could she get the door open before he could grab her—

Oh. God.

“Lucky—”

“That fucking kid is not going to take after his whore of a mother and hang out with fucking criminals—”

Lucky started for the door, shoving Elizabeth to one side as he reached for the doorknob. Panicked now, Elizabeth grabbed at his arm, tugging him backward.

She couldn’t let him go, couldn’t let him go after her little boy—It didn’t matter what he did to her—she had to protect Cameron—

Lucky whirled around, grabbed both of her wrists, and shook her. He jerked her back and forth so hard she felt like her teeth rattled.

“Why do you keep making me do this?” he screamed at her, his eyes bulging, his face flushed. “Why do you keep making me so fucking mad? I asked you for one thing! One thing!”

“Let me go—” she tried to choke out the words, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she thought it might burst. “Lucky, you’re hurting me—”

He let her go abruptly, flinging her away from him with a violent shove. Elizabeth went flying backward into the end table, crashing into a heavy lamp that shattered on the floor. The table collapsed, and her shoulder slammed against the sofa before she finally hit the ground

She laid there for a moment, trying to understand—trying to think—her shoulder was screaming—her wrists were on fire—her cheek was throbbing—how—

Then she heard the door slam.

Elizabeth shook her head, trying to clear it, trying to turn it to the side to look—Lucky was gone.

 Oh, God. Oh, God.

 He was going to Bobbie’s.

Can you see me up here?
Would you bring me back down?
I’ve been living to see my fears
As they fall to the ground
I remind myself of somebody else
– Somebody Else’s Song, Lifehouse

---

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

“Hey, how’s Cameron this morning?” Epiphany asked as she stepped up behind Elizabeth in the hub and put a hand on her shoulder. “He doing better?”

“Oh, yeah.” Elizabeth flashed her supervisor a tired smile. “Thanks so much for covering for me. The medicine and some cuddling really perked him up. He slept last night, and he was okay to go to daycare.”

“Good, good. You know, we single moms have to stick together,” Epiphany told her. Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest the description of her as a single mother, but she pressed her lips together and looked away.

“Did I ever tell you about Stanford’s father?” Epiphany asked as the two of them continued their work. Elizabeth peered at her curiously, then shook her head.

“No. What happened to him?”

“We got divorced when Stan was younger. He wasn’t a bad man, mind you. I think he even meant the promises he made me when he proposed. But…I think life just disappointed him. I got what I wanted—I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be a mother. But David just never really got together. He wanted to be a doctor, but we couldn’t afford it. He was going to go back, but…” Epiphany sighed. “He just couldn’t handle the setbacks, you know?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “How…how did it end?”

“Without a lot of fanfare. We spent a couple of years drifting, mostly lying to each other. I wanted to keep things together for Stan, but David just…he thought there was something else out there for him, so one day, he went to find it. And we…we never heard from him again.”

“Never?” Elizabeth repeated. “I’m surprised. Stan never looked for him?”

“I asked him once if he was going to, but Stan wasn’t interested. He said he knew who had raised him, and the man that left didn’t matter enough to find..” Epiphany lifted a brow. “You know what I really regret about all of that?”

“What?”

“Letting him be the one that walked. I should have gone first. But I had a little boy, and I didn’t want to raise him alone. I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t really get that I already was. David was gone long before he left for good. You see what I’m saying?”

“It’s…more complicated than that,” Elizabeth said finally.

“It usually is. But just in case—I want you to know that there are some people who will stand by you. You are not alone.”

Elizabeth sighed, and without thinking, shoved a piece of hair behind her ear. She realized what she’d done when she saw Epiphany’s sharp inhale of breath. She turned and winced at the anger she saw on the older woman’s face.

“It’s not what you think—”

“What I think is that you have a bruise on the side of your face that looks like someone shoved your face into something hard,” Epiphany bit out. Elizabeth brushed her hair forward. “Oh, you can’t unring that bell—”

“I fell—”

“Oh, don’t you try that—”

“Epiphany.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Yes, Lucky and I got into a fight last night. Yes, we were yelling at each other. But he didn’t hit me. He didn’t.”

“There are a lot of ways to cause a bruise on a woman without a man laying his hand on her,” Epiphany said. “Elizabeth—”

“I can handle this. We argued. It’s—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. Lucky had been gone when she woke that morning, and she, honestly, hadn’t come to terms with any of it. If she could be given a choice, she might not have come to work at all. When she’d seen the dark purple bruise blooming on her cheek, she’d been worried.

Because maybe she could convince most of the people that it was an accident, but there were others who would never believe her. And thankfully, she thought Jason would probably stay away from her, at least for today.

She knew she’d never be able to lie to him. Not yet. In a few days, when she’d settled—she might be able to manage it.

“I tripped on a carpet and fell. Lucky was upset—he blamed himself, you know. And it just—we’re under a lot of stress. He’s struggling. He just wants to get back to work. Things will be okay when he gets back on the job—”

Epiphany hesitated, clearly wanting to say something else, but then nodded. “Okay. I hope so. I’m here if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

Elizabeth flinched when she heard the wheels of the custodian’s cart as Manny Ruiz slowly rolled past them. He stopped in front of the hub and flashed them his bright white teeth. “Hey, pretty ladies. Having a good day?”

“I was,” Epiphany said flatly.

“Elizabeth, I haven’t seen your pretty redheaded friend around.” Manny’s smile seemed to deepen. “I’m sorry she had to leave.”

“I’m sure she’s sorry she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” Elizabeth said, even as heart pounded. “I’m surprised you decided to make Port Charles home. With everything that’s happened here.”

“Oh, well, this is just a stop in my journey. But it’s nice to hear you’ve been thinking of me. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful women.” His smile faded slightly, the corners of his mouth curving down slightly, giving him a sinister air. “Beautiful inside and out.”

Elizabeth couldn’t dredge up a reply at first as her throat went dry. “I should get back to work.”

“Me, too. But, hey, we should talk again sometime soon. You can never have too many friends. See ya, Pretty Girl.”

With a whistle, Manny returned to his duties as Elizabeth closed her eyes. Damn. Damn. Damn. Neither she nor Epiphany spoke until Manny was safely on the elevator and had left the floor.

“Elizabeth—”

“I need a few minutes,” Elizabeth told Epiphany finally, cutting off her supervisor. She sighed and left the hub to go over to the waiting area where Cody had set up to watch over her. He had dressed casually as a visitor with a newspaper and magazine. He was already looking at her as she approached.

“Miss Webber.”

She furrowed her brow, realizing it wasn’t the first time he’d addressed her by her maiden name.“Hey, um, I don’t know if this is something you should tell Jason, but Manny Ruiz—”

“I saw.” Cody got to his feet as he slid his cell phone out of his pocket. “I didn’t hear everything—”

“He commented about Skye being gone. Called me beautiful and said we should talk again. That we should be friends.”

“That is not good.” Cody winced. He dialed the phone. “Hey, Vic—yeah, I know—but I need you to come up to the surgery floor and stay on Elizabeth. I need to go to the boss. Emily isn’t the target. Yeah, okay—”

“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Elizabeth began.

“I do. Jason told me if Manny so much as looked at you to let him know immediately. And I want to tell him in person in case he needs me to do…” Cody hesitated. “I have my orders. But I’ll wait until Vic gets up here—”

“I’ll be okay—” When Cody shook his head, Elizabeth sighed. “But you have your orders.”

“You don’t get left alone in the hospital. I follow you to your apartment, and then I’m relieved by a night guard. It’s not perfect, but—”

“Okay, okay.” Elizabeth went back to the hub to finish paperwork, studiously avoiding looking at Cody until a man in an orderly uniform got off the elevator, went over to Cody. The two men talked for a few minutes before Cody left.

“I know it’s wrong,” Epiphany said, as they watched Elizabeth’s guard leaves, “but I feel better knowing someone is with you. And Lucky hasn’t noticed them?”

“They know better than to let a cop see them.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I thought about telling him,” she admitted. Or at least she had until last night. “But he’d never understand.”

“No, I guess he wouldn’t. Well, we better get back to work. Psycho or not, we got patients to help.”

Morgan & Corinthos Warehouse: Sonny’s Office

Jason and Sonny were going over shipment schedules when Max knocked rapidly on Sonny’s door, then opened it. “Jase, Cody’s here—”

Jason was out of his seat before Max had even finished his statement, having spied Elizabeth’s guard over his shoulder. “Cody? Is Elizabeth with you?”

“No, but don’t worry. I pulled Vic and waited for him to switch before I left the hospital. I just didn’t want to do this over the phone. I was afraid someone would overhear me.”

“What happened?” Sonny asked as he also got to his feet. “Did Manny do something?”

“I don’t know if Elizabeth saw him, but Manny made a point to walk past her three times today, including just wheeling his cart past a patient room while she was in it. Then two more times while she was at the hub. But then the fourth time—”

“Four times—” Jason flinched. “When did her shift start?”

“At eight. It’s only been four hours.”

“That’s pretty fucking deliberate,” Sonny murmured. “Do you think he made you watching over her?”

“No. I don’t think so,” Cody answered. “Elizabeth knows how this works. She doesn’t make eye contact or even look at me unless she needs me. The reason I came over to tell you is Manny stopped at the hub and talked to her. Talked about missing Skye. He told Elizabeth that he was lucky to be around such beautiful women, inside and out. And that they should be friends. They’d be talking soon.”

“That’s…a pretty clear threat.” Jason frowned. “Why bother warning her?”

“To see what she’ll do,” Sonny said quietly. They all turned to look at him, and Sonny shrugged. “Manny had to know Elizabeth is the reason Skye is gone. He’s not an idiot. Elizabeth put herself in between them, then Skye disappears. Maybe he knows she told you, Jason. Or maybe he thinks Skye told Lorenzo. Either way, if he makes a threat towards her—”

“He thinks she’ll go tell someone.”

Jason took a deep breath. “And if she had come here today to tell me—”

“Manny might think there was a game worth playing. Instead, she might just be a nosy nurse who took away his plaything.”

“Uh, which one do we want it to be?” Cody asked with a frown. “Because both of those sound like bad things.”

“If he thinks Elizabeth mattered to me or even to Alcazar, he’d send us a threat. He’d want us to know. But he hasn’t said anything.” Jason hesitated. This was bad, but he didn’t know exactly how bad it was or if there was something they should do.

“What do you want to do?” Sonny asked Jason.

Surprised by the question, Jason hesitated. “I don’t know, but we need to do something.” He wasn’t interested in giving Manny any more time to focus on Elizabeth. He’d had long enough.

Sonny looked at Cody. “Stick to Elizabeth like glue. Make sure her night guard knows Manny remains a threat. See if there’s an empty apartment on her floor. I’d feel better if we could get closer inside. For now, nothing changes but tell Elizabeth to stay on her guard and keep doing what she’s doing. Don’t piss him off.”

“Yeah, all right.”

When Cody had closed the door, Sonny looked at Jason. “If she weren’t a cop’s wife, I’d tell you to send her away. To get her out of town. If you want to take Manny out, make it clean and untraceable to us.”

“I thought you said it was too high profile—”

“That was before he was making actual threats. If we wait on this, we might not get another chance.” Sonny sat down at the desk. “If Manny just disappeared, no body, I think the PCPD might not even bother. I know I’ve been shit on this, but I agree with you now. We can’t wait to deal with Ruiz anymore.”

Sonny hesitated. “If we wait, Jason, we run the risk of Manny finding out exactly how much Elizabeth Webber matters to you. And I think that’s the absolute last thing anyone wants.”

Jason frowned, looked at him with a shake of his head. “What does that mean?”

“It means that this is exactly the kind of thing a psycho like Manny would enjoy. A cop, his wife, and the mobster who…” Sonny hesitated. “I don’t know what you and Elizabeth are doing these days, but I know that look in your eye. And it’s not friendly.”

“It’s not that simple—”

“Yeah? Sam’s been gone a whole day, hasn’t she? You talked to her?”

Jason pressed lips together. Didn’t answer. But, no, he hadn’t spoken to Sam since she’d left the night before. And she was only in Miami—he could have called to see if her plane had landed, but he hadn’t.

“None of this matters, Sonny—”

“No? You telling me Manny wouldn’t find it entertaining as hell to play with the three of you like a cat hunting mice? You sure he wasn’t following her around before you put a guard on her?”

“I—No, I don’t know for sure.”

“Exactly. Why take a chance? Get rid of him. Make him disappear before he figures out Elizabeth is more than just some annoying nurse who got in his way.”

Miami, Florida: House

Sam had forgotten how much she loved the warmth and humidity of Florida. As soon as she’d arrived in Miami the night before, she’d headed out to the clubs and enjoyed a night out for the first time in months.

It had been years since she’d remembered she was only twenty-six and didn’t have to take life so damn seriously all the damn time.

The next afternoon, as she drove out to meet Paulie Rothstein, one of her dad’s frequent partners, Sam realized she hadn’t heard from Jason since she’d left the penthouse the day before.

It was kind of crazy to take a minute and just think about how much their relationship had fallen apart since Danny’s death five weeks earlier. Before the quarantine at General Hospital, Sam would have said their relationship was as solid as a rock. She’d been confident not only in her future with Jason but in herself.

But what had she actually been so upbeat about? She’d been wandering around Jason’s penthouse for nearly two years, and while it was nice to have access to his bank accounts without a lot of arguments about how she spent his money—Sam wondered if the restless feeling she’d developed in the last month had been inevitable.

Even on Sam’s best jobs, she’d wanted to move on. Shed the old identity, slip into a new life, a new challenge. She’d been bored, and it had taken the destruction of her old life to see just how empty it had been in the first place.

She pulled into the driveway of a mid-sized house and grinned when she saw the older man waiting at the front door.

“Paulie!” Sam called as she stepped out. He ambled down to meet her, and she kissed his cheek. “How long has it been?” He’d been like a second father once upon a time, a big grizzly bear of a man with thick hair he’d let go gray and a full beard to match. Paulie just oozed trust and charm, a skill that Cody and Sam had relied on often.

“Ah, not since your dad loaned you out on that father/daughter gig we pulled in…Seattle?”

“I thought it was Portland.” Sam shrugged and lifted the Coach purse from the passenger seat of her rented sports car. She’d had to stop at a store and stock up on her rich woman wardrobe—she’d discarded a lot of it ages ago when she’d gone after Jax. “All the Pacific Northwest towns feel the same.”

“I was surprised when your dad told me you’d gone off on your own. I thought he’d never let you get too far.” Paulie shook his head as he unlocked the door. “Where’d you end up?”

“I got tired of running the baby game,” Sam admitted. “I know Dad liked it, but…” She grimaced. “It got too hard.” And four abortions by the age of twenty—too risky for her health. Eventually, her luck would have run out.

“Yeah, I did warn Cody he might want to vary that one a bit, but you know your dad always thought he knew best. You probably made a mint at playing the trophy wife.”

“I did, but a lot of it went into Danny’s place in Hawaii.” Sam’s smile slid from her face as Paulie led her into the airy foyer. “You know it’s not cheap out there. I don’t…have to worry about that anymore.”

“I was sorry to hear about that. Danny wasn’t much use to your dad on the road, but he was a sweet kid.” Paulie shook his head. “I still can’t believe you were adopted, Sammy. Your dad never said a word.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of weird. Dad wasn’t one to run a game that needed kids. Not then. You don’t know what he was planning?”

“I think he was thinking about getting set up for a few years, and the single dad trick can give you a bit of comfort. Still, I thought Cody and I were close. Ah, well. I’m glad you decided to get back in the game.” Paulie raised a brow. “You are back, aren’t you?”

“This…” Sam bit her lip. “I promised my fiance this was a one-time thing, Paulie. He’s not a big fan of this.” She looked around at the large home with the acres of sunlight shining through. “It’s not like I can go back to my best tricks. I can’t run the trophy wife anymore.”

“No, I guess not. But real estate is always a solid investment. And I could always use another girl on a regular basis.” Paulie slung his arm around her shoulders. “You had a gift for this life, Sam. It’s a shame to see it go to waste.”

“I’m just visiting the old life,” Sam told him. “I live in the real world now.”

“That’s a shame, but I appreciate you doing me this favor. Let me get you up to speed.”

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

Elizabeth had managed to get out of work by four that day and get home to be with Cameron while Lucky went to a late physical therapy session. She was sure Lucky was just avoiding her as her husband had barely spoken a word to her since he’d shoved her into a wall.

And that suited Elizabeth just fine. She didn’t even know what she’d say to Lucky at this point — she knew she’d lied when talking to Epiphany earlier that day about her bruise.

No, Lucky hadn’t hit her. But he’d shoved her so hard she’d been unable to stop herself from slamming her into the wall.

And every time Elizabeth glanced into the mirror, she saw the bruise. She’d taken the classes about domestic abuse—she knew that’s what had happened. But somehow…

Somehow she was still here. She hadn’t kicked him out. Hadn’t taken her son and left.

She didn’t really know why. She told herself and anyone who asked that things would be okay once Lucky was back at work, but Elizabeth didn’t really know if she believed that. Because, yeah, Lucky would be working again and they’d have more money.

But would that change Lucky’s relationship with Cameron? Could she really let her little boy grow up in a home where he wasn’t loved? Hadn’t that been difficult enough for her?

Elizabeth didn’t want to think about that now. Not on this night when she was alone with her son and could just cuddle on the sofa with him, watch some cartoons, and just enjoy him. She didn’t really get to do that all that often.

She grimaced at the knock on her door, then sighed as she went to answer it. “Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll send whoever it is away and go back to Spiderman,” she promised him.

“Okay, Mommy.” Cameron snuggled into the corner of the sofa more, laying his head down on the pillow, his eyes glued on the television screen.

Elizabeth visibly flinched when she opened the door to find Jason there. “What are—”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said at the same time. She scowled, stepped back away from the door, and grabbed his arm to yank him inside.

“Get in here before the neighbors see you,” she muttered. The last thing she needed was someone mentioning his visit to Lucky. “What are you—”

“I knowed you.” Cameron sat back up on the sofa, rubbed his eyes. “I trew up on you.”

“Uh—” Jason hesitated, then knelt down as the toddler rolled off the sofa and padded over to him. “Yeah, I guess you did. You were pretty sick. I’m surprised you remember me.”

“You didn’t yell,” Cameron said plainly. “Sorry I trew up. I trew up on Mommy, too. All night. And I messed up da bed. But she not yell too.” He looked up at Elizabeth with a bright smile, his tiny baby teeth flashing like pearls. “Mommy nice.”

“Yeah, your mom’s great. Are you feeling better?”

“Lots. Mommy says I need cuddles and juice. I gots both today. We watch Biderman.” He took Jason’s hand and led him over to the sofa. “You like Biderman?”

“Uh, can’t say I’m familiar with it—” But Jason, a bit mystified, sat on the sofa as Cameron climbed up next to him.

“It’s awesome. Biderman, Biderman,” Cameron sang. “Bider can!” He grinned at Jason. “He nice too.”

“It’s Cameron’s favorite cartoon,” Elizabeth said finally as she took a deep breath. She sat on the sofa, pulled Cameron into her lap. “Hey, can you do me a favor, baby? Why don’t you go to your room and pick your absolute three favorite toys to show Jason?”

“Tree?” Cameron repeated. He pursed his lips. “What about five?”

“Four.”

“Five.” Cameron nodded as if it had been agreed to. He slid down from Elizabeth’s lap and ran into his room.

“That’ll take him fifteen minutes, at least. He takes his favorite toys seriously.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Thank you. Cameron was scared yesterday, and I didn’t realize he’d remember you. But he did. And it’s a good memory now, not a bad one. I—I appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just glad he’s okay. He looks a lot better.” Jason looked back at her, his eyes narrowed. “What happened?” he asked, gesturing at her face.

“Oh.” She’d forgotten to leave her hair down. She pressed a hand over the tender skin. “It’s so silly—I was so tired yesterday, and I tripped on the rug going into the kitchen.” She stood up and walked away from him, hiding that side of her face. “Why are you here? I mean—”

“I’m sorry. I know you asked me to stay away.” Jason cleared his throat, also got to his feet. “I checked with your night guard, and he said Lucky had left. I’m not using them as a spy—”

“No, I appreciate you making sure he wasn’t home.” Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Is this about Manny?”

“Yeah. Cody came by the warehouse—I mean, you knew that.” A bit flustered, Jason looked away, scratched his temple. “I just—I wanted you to know that Sonny is taking this seriously—I am too, but I already was. But he—” He hesitated. “Manny isn’t going to be a problem much longer.”

“You could have given that message to Cody,” Elizabeth said. She found the courage to meet his eyes. “You could have called. Why are you here?”

“I—” Jason exhaled slowly. “I wanted to apologize. For yesterday. You—you were upset and tired. I took advantage—”

“I was upset and tired,” Elizabeth agreed. She bit her lip. “And man, I’d love to blame it on you. On that. But you didn’t take advantage. I—” She looked away, towards the bedroom door where she could hear Cameron rustling through his toys. “I had a weak moment, Jason. You should be used to them with me.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Look, I’m not going to pretend my marriage is…everything it should be. And right now, it’s not good. Okay? I can’t lie about it. And you—I don’t know. You were there, being kind at a moment I needed it, and I just—I lost my mind for a minute.” Her throat tightened. “I can’t afford to be weak, Jason. I have a little boy who depends on me—”

“You’re not weak, Elizabeth. You never were—”

“I wish I could always believe that.” Elizabeth paused. “We’ve been stirring up a lot of old memories, Jason. And I don’t think it’s a leap to say neither of us is happy with our relationships right now. But I married Lucky. I made promises to him. And you made promises to Sam. They both deserve better from us.”

“I know that.”

“If you need to get in touch with me about Manny, you need to call me. Or go through someone else. Cody. Vic, the other guard. Hell, send Sonny. But this needs to be it, Jason. Because I just…” She dipped her head down.

“Okay.” Jason stepped towards her, though, stopping just a few feet from her. “I don’t want you to be unhappy, Elizabeth. I’m sorry if anything I’ve done or said—I just want you to be okay. You and Cameron. So if me staying away is what you need—”

“I’m not even sure what I need,” Elizabeth admitted. She looked up, and their eyes met again for a long moment. “I’m just trying to get through this.”

“Okay,” Jason said again. He nodded. “You know if you ever need anything—”

“Yeah, I know.” She managed a half-smile. “Thanks.”

“Okay, Mr. Jason,” Cameron announced from his doorway. They both turned to look at him as he dragged one of his little yellow storage boxes behind him. “I know Mommy said five, but I counted just like Dora. I got eight.”

Elizabeth laughed, pressing her hands to her face as a few stray tears slid down her cheeks. “Cameron—”

“Eight of your favorite toys?” Jason asked, turning away from Elizabeth. “Let’s see what we got.”

Even though Cameron would have loved to linger over every toy and tell Jason elaborate stories about each and every action figure he’d dragged from his room, Elizabeth kept her eye on the clock. The absolute last thing she needed was Lucky to walk in and find Jason in his living room.

But she didn’t have the heart to hurry Cameron, and Jason didn’t look impatient. Her precious baby didn’t often get this kind of undivided attention from anyone other than Elizabeth or her grandmother. She couldn’t help but wish that Lucky could find it in himself to share this kind of moment with her son.

And wishing even for a minute that Lucky was as good with Cameron as Jason was…that was not the way to get herself together, so finally, after nearly a half-hour, Elizabeth flashed Jason a meaningful look, and he nodded.

“Thanks for showing me all your cool toys,” Jason told Cameron as he handed Cameron the Spiderman figurine. “I had a lot of fun.”

“Me, too.” Cameron offered his new friend a shy smile and climbed into his lap to hug him. “I gots lots more. You come back.”

“We’ll see,” Jason said as Elizabeth visibly relaxed, realizing Jason knew better than to make a firm commitment to a little boy. He hugged Cameron back. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Have a great time with your mom and Spiderman.”

“Okay.”

“Go put away your toys,” Elizabeth told Jason. “Before Daddy gets home.”

“Okay, Mommy.” With a happy smile and a dance in his step, Cameron dragged the yellow box the way he had come.

“You should go, but…thank you. He…he had a lot of fun.”

“He’s a great kid.” Jason turned towards the front door just as they both saw the doorknob twist. Elizabeth’s throat closed tight as Lucky stepped inside the room.

Her husband frowned at first at the sight of Jason, as if not entirely understanding what he was seeing. “What the hell—”

“He came over to check on Cameron,” Elizabeth said quickly. “I told you, Jason drove us home yesterday. He just wanted to make sure Cameron was feeling better.”

Lucky scowled, then glared at Jason. “Get out of my house!”

Jason’s jaw clenched, but he looked at Elizabeth and nodded. “Yeah, no problem.” She relaxed only slightly when she realized he was really going to go without a fight or a scene. Of course, he’d never make things worse for her.

And she couldn’t blame him for still being there—Elizabeth should have sent him on his way a long time ago.

Lucky slammed the door behind Jason as the other man left and spun around to glare at Elizabeth again, his eyes reddened. “What the fuck was he doing here?”

“Keep your voice down,” Elizabeth hissed, keeping her eye on Cameron’s bedroom door, which was wide open. But Cameron remained in his room. She could see his curly head ducking down behind his bed. Her heart broke open. “I told you. He was worried about Cameron—”

“You keep that fucking criminal out of my house and away from my wife—I’m not going to put up with this bullshit—”

“What bullshit?” Elizabeth demanded, forgetting herself. “Someone giving a damn about my son? Yeah, I can see why that would piss you off—”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Later, Elizabeth would wish she could relive this moment and control her damn mouth. But she couldn’t stop herself. “It means that Jason has shown my son more kindness and compassion in the last half hour than you have since the day we moved into together!”

Lucky’s eyes narrowed into slits, and he strode forward to grab her arms. He wrapped his fingers around her forearms. He yanked her forward, then shook her. “Are you fucking him again? Is that what this is?”

“Get your hands off me!” Elizabeth shoved back at him. “Are you insane? No! I told you!”

“Because I’m not going to be humiliated in front of the whole town! Not again!”

“I never humiliated—”

Lucky grabbed her again, and when she tried to push him away again, he twisting her arm behind her back. Elizabeth gasped as pain radiated up to her shoulder.

Oh, God, oh, God—

“Lucky—”

With a hiss, Lucky released her abruptly, his face pale and his eyes wide. The pupils were so large and black that the blue of his irises was all but gone. He swallowed hard, then looked down at his hands. “What did I just do?” he murmured.

Silent tears rolled down Elizabeth’s face as she stared at her husband, at the boy she’d loved so much and for so long, and wished like hell she had the courage to grab her son and run. Jason probably hadn’t even managed to get to the front door of their building.

But her feet were like concrete as her heart pounded, and her mind screamed at her to move. She couldn’t make this work in her head—she couldn’t understand how this was happening.

“Mommy?”

Cameron’s plaintive voice from the doorway had both of them turning to look at them. His lower lip stuck out as his voice trembled. “Mommy, can we watch Biderman?”

“Cameron—” Elizabeth’s voice broke.

“I have to go,” Lucky cut in. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have to go.” He turned and left the apartment abruptly.

“Mommy.” Cameron slowly crept out of his room. “Did you hurt your arm?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth managed. She closed her eyes, sucked down a hysterical sob. She was this little boy’s world, and she needed to pull herself together. “I’ll be okay, though, baby. Come sit on the sofa, and I’ll go get an ice pack.”

“Okay.” Cameron climbed up, his Spiderman figure clutched in his hand. “I’m sorry you’re hurt.”

“Me, too,” Elizabeth murmured. She disappeared into the kitchen and pressed her head against the wall, trying to get herself under control and stop herself from running like an insane person after Jason.

She knew she’d just have to say the word, and he’d take her someplace safe. He’d pack Cameron and her up and take them someplace Lucky could never find them. She could call him now, and he’d be back before she’d be able to hang up.

But this wasn’t his problem to fix. It was hers. So she took an icepack from the freezer and went to watch cartoons with her son.

She’d fix it tomorrow.

Outside the apartment in the hallway, Lucky sank to the ground, standing at his hands like they didn’t belong to him. He’d put a mark on Elizabeth’s face—that terrible bruise on her delicate skin—and he’d shoved her, twisted her arm—

Lucky squeezed his eyes shut. He was just so angry, so upset that he’d let her down so much. He didn’t know how to stop letting her down, and she had the nerve to throw that criminal in his face like Jason Morgan was so much better than him—

Well, fuck that.

He’d run out of the last refill Santiago had given him. He didn’t have the courage to take the dealer up on his suggestion to buy the heroin, even if the sample taste had done more to eliminate Lucky’s pain that any amount of oxy.

He wasn’t a drug addict. He just needed to get through two more days so he could take the physical on Friday, pass, and go back to work.

He had to get back to work so he could treat Elizabeth the way she deserved it. She was only leaning on Jason Morgan because Lucky wasn’t doing right by her. She was weak like that—but Lucky had to be the strong one.

He took out his phone and slowly dialed Santiago’s number. “Yeah. Yeah, I need more. No—not—just the regular. Yeah, I’ll see you in thirty.”

Lucky closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then forced himself to his feet. Two more days and he could go back to being the one in charge, and Elizabeth would be the sweet girl he knew again.

Just two more days.

I have never heard a silence quite so loud
I walk in the room and you don’t make a sound, make a sound
You’re good at making me feel small
If it doesn’t hurt me, why do I still cry?
If it didn’t kill me, then I’m half alive
– Something’s Gotta Give, Camila Cabello

---

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Bedroom

Elizabeth pressed her hand to Cameron’s forehead and sighed. He was still running a fever.

He’d been fine yesterday, until sometime after dinner when suddenly, his face had looked flushed. He’d spent the entire night throwing up or using a lot of diapers. She’d barely slept, trying to keep him clean and calm, but now she and her son were both exhausted as Cameron lay on his back, looking at her with sad eyes.

“Tummy hurts,” he managed.

“I know, sweetheart. But Mommy can’t stay home—” She’d already asked Epiphany to move the schedule around enough with her grandmother out of town. Some of the other surgical nurses had complained about favoritism, and Elizabeth just knew if she called out sick today, she’d never hear the end of it.

“He any better?” Lucky asked from the doorway as he sipped a glass of water. “I barely got any sleep last night.”

Elizabeth turned away from her husband and pressed her lips together. Lucky had complained from the sofa bed and had done nothing to help. But she couldn’t worry about that right now.  “He’s not going to be able to go to the daycare. I’m not going to be the mother who makes other kids sick.” She braced herself. “Can you stay with him today?”

“Elizabeth—”

“I know, I know, but—” Elizabeth twisted to face him. “I’m sorry. I can’t miss another day.” Not after she’d ducked out on Friday’s shift early because he’d forgotten to pick Cameron up in the first place. “I might be able to get Epiphany to let me leave at four, but there’s no way I can miss the entire shift. We can’t afford it, and she’s already done me enough favors—”

Lucky scowled. “I only have a few more days to pass the physical—”

“I know that, but he’s sick, Lucky. Can’t you go tomorrow? Bobbie can watch him tomorrow during the day. I already called her—”

“Can’t you call someone else?”

“There’s no one else—” Elizabeth broke off as hysteria bubbled in her throat. “Lucky, please. I need this promotion to work out. As soon as I can start scrubbing into surgeries, I’ll have better hours. But I need to put in the grunt work first. We need this to work.”

“We need me to get back to active duty so you can stay home with him more.” Lucky shook his head. “I can’t miss therapy—”

“Lucky, I don’t ask you for a lot. I—I know better—”

“What does that mean?” Lucky demanded, narrowing his eyes and stepping towards her. She backed up a step. “What are you talking about?” He clenched his hands at his sides.

Her heart skipped a beat as Elizabeth swallowed hard. It was just a flicker she’d seen. It was gone now. “I mean, I know better than to ask you to give up time from your rehab. I don’t. Not after you made it clear when Gram decided to go to Memphis. I got that covered, didn’t I? Between Epiphany moving my schedule around and Bobbie—I haven’t asked you for much.”

“No, I—” Lucky exhaled slowly. “No, not really. I know how supportive you’ve tried to be. I know you’re in a tight spot, Elizabeth. I wish I could help—”

Help. Oh, God. She swallowed a sob. “Lucky, please don’t make me beg,” she said softly. “I’ll call in any favors I have left so that you can go to therapy tonight. I’ll do my best. But I need to go to work.”

Lucky sighed, rubbed the back of his neck. “All right,” he said finally. “I’ll figure something out about therapy. Maybe I can find someone who can watch him. But this is the last time. I need to pass that test on Friday, Elizabeth.”

“I know.” She managed a wobbly smile and didn’t even flinch when he kissed her cheek. “I know you need to pass the test.”

They all needed him to pass that test. If he didn’t get back to work soon, she was going to lose her mind. “Thank you,” she said. “This means a lot.”

When he smiled at her, she managed to keep her own expression upbeat. Even if everything inside her was screaming that something was terribly wrong with her marriage and this couldn’t keep happening.

“Anything for you,” Lucky said as he kissed her again. “I mean it.”

“I…need to get ready for work,” she managed as she ducked into the bathroom, closed the door, then pressed her head against the cool wood.

“Just a few more days,” she murmured. “I can do this a little longer. He’ll go back to work, and it’ll all be okay.”

Maybe if she said it enough, she would believe it.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Elizabeth pressed a hand to her head and took a deep breath. She just…needed a nap. Maybe on her next break, she could manage twenty minutes.

“You okay?” Epiphany asked as she set down some charts. “You look beat.” She hesitated. “If you’re not well—”

“Cameron has a stomach virus,” Elizabeth said. “I needed to—I was up with him most of the night. Lucky has him now, but I didn’t sleep a lot. I can work, I promise. I won’t ask for any more time off.”

“Okay.” Epiphany sighed, then scowled as Manny pushed the janitor cart past them. He stopped to offer Elizabeth a jaunty salute. Her stomach pitched, then rolled as bile rose in her throat. Oh, man. She did not need that today. “I really hate him.”

“I guess he didn’t follow Skye to Miami after all,” Elizabeth managed. Her hands trembled as she picked up a chart. Maybe he hadn’t been planning anything nefarious for Skye. Maybe Elizabeth had overreacted.

Or maybe Jason was right, and Manny was just playing games.

“I need to talk to Stan again,” Epiphany said with a shake of her head. “You know, I hate what my boy does for a living, but you look at a man like Manny Ruiz, and you think…”

“Maybe sometimes taking the law into your own hands isn’t such a terrible idea,” Elizabeth muttered. They both watched as the janitor disappeared down the hall—whistling. “Jason said they’re watching him closely.”

“I bet it’s still too high profile. Another month, if we’re lucky, and maybe we can get rid of him.” Epiphany shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll try to get you some downtime in the break room—”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth said as the elevator doors slid open, and Jason stepped out of them. She winced as he headed straight for her. “Why does the universe hate me?”

“I ask myself that every day,” Epiphany said. “You want me to get rid of him?”

“No. If he’s here, it’s for a reason—” It had damn well better be.

Elizabeth stepped out of the nurse’s station and met Jason over in the waiting area. “Hey. What—um—why are you here?”

“I told you I had a meeting with Alan.” Jason glanced around. “Have you seen Manny today?”

“Yeah, just a few minutes ago. He—” Elizabeth swallowed hard. “He smiled at me and gave me a salute. So…you know, that was great.” She sighed. “What did Alan say?”

“Can we talk somewhere where Manny won’t see us together?”

Elizabeth scowled. “Why didn’t you think of that before you came to see me at my job—” She bit off the rest of her retort as the wheel of the custodian cart’s came into earshot. They both turned to see Manny rolling by again. He smiled at them both, a wide grin that did nothing to make Elizabeth feel any better.

“Oh. Good. That’s just—” She waited until the psycho had gone down another hall before grabbing Jason’s arm and dragging him towards an empty hospital room.

“Elizabeth—”

“Why? Why couldn’t you just call?” Elizabeth demanded. She dragged her hands through her hair. “Why? And he’s following me. You know he is. Because he just rolled that stupid cart by two minutes ago. It’s the third time he’s gone past the nurse’s station today—”

“I’ll tell Alan he needs to be reassigned—”

“I just don’t want any of this. I don’t want this—” She shoved down the hysteria that had been threatening to spill over since her argument with Lucky that morning. “I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said after a long moment and a deep breath. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Cam is sick. And I just—I know this Manny thing is something I brought on myself. I got involved. I’m not sorry I did, but I annoyed him on my own. That had nothing to do with you.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I just—I’m asking you not to make it worse.” She looked at him. “If you need to talk to me, call me. I don’t want Manny thinking anything stupid, okay? Maybe right now he hasn’t decided to do anything, but if he thinks—”

“If he thinks it’ll mess with me,” Jason said, “he might actually go after you. Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just—I wanted to tell you that Alan was on board with any extra security I wanted to add to make sure you were okay. To keep Manny from hurting anyone. He’s trying to get Manny let go, but he’s part of some community service program—”

“Right.” Elizabeth folded her arms. “Okay. I just—” She bit her lip, looked down. “I meant what I said yesterday, Jason. I can’t do this anymore.”

“Elizabeth—”

“So if it can be a phone call—”

“Yeah, okay. Hey—” He didn’t say anything else until Elizabeth lifted her eyes to meet his. “Is Cam okay? Can I do anything?”

Tears burned at the back of her eyes as she struggled to form words. Why did he have to ask the one thing she didn’t have a defense against? “He’s just—a stomach thing. It’s fine. But thanks.”

“Okay,” Jason repeated. “I don’t—” His voice was rough now. “I don’t mean to make anything harder. I just—” He looked away. “I just want to take care of—” He broke off abruptly. “I want to make sure you’re taken care of,” he said instead, even though Elizabeth knew what he’d nearly said.

I just want to take care of you.

“I can take care of myself, but I appreciate you looking out for me with Manny,” Elizabeth said. “I need to get back to work.”

“Okay.”

They’d no sooner stepped back out into the hallway when Elizabeth heard a screaming child—her screaming child. She and Jason both turned to look as Lucky rounded the corner, a wailing Cameron in his arms.

“What the hell—” Elizabeth started. She darted forward. “Is he okay? Did his fever go higher—”

Lucky didn’t seem to notice Jason following Elizabeth until after he’d shoved Cameron into her arms. The force of it nearly knocked Elizabeth back as Cameron buried her face in her shoulder. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her shaking son. “Mommy!”

“Hey, it’s okay, baby—Lucky, what’s wrong?” she asked him again.

“Nothing,” Lucky said. He finally seemed to notice the other man, then narrowed his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Why are you here?” Elizabeth demanded before Lucky could pick a fight with Jason. “Why is Cameron—”

“I watched him like I was supposed to. But I told you—I can’t miss another session, and I couldn’t find anyone to watch him—”

“What the hell is all this noise?” Epiphany demanded as she stalked towards them. She glared at the three of them. “Why is that child crying?”

Elizabeth pushed Cameron’s sweaty curls off his forehead as her son started to quiet down to just sniffles and occasional hiccups. “He still has a fever—and oh, God—” She found herself looking at Jason instead of Lucky as panic seeped in. “It’s worse than it was before.” She looked at Lucky now. “When did it get higher? Did you take his temperature?”

“I don’t know,” Lucky shrugged. “But you’ve got doctors here. I have to go, or I’ll be late.” He frowned at her for a moment, swayed slightly, his eyes glassy as if he’d been the one to stay up all night. “I’ll see you at home—”

“Wait, I have to work—”

But Lucky had already gone, with a wave of his hand over his shoulder as he left, turning the corner like he hadn’t just dumped Elizabeth’s sick son on her like a sack of potatoes.

“Mommy, my tummy hurts,” Cameron whimpered.

“Elizabeth,” Epiphany began.

But then Cameron coughed, and then—

Then he vomited, the mixture of mucus, food, and stomach juices violently launching out of his mouth and all over Elizabeth’s scrubs, her arms, and onto the floor. Elizabeth gasped as Cameron continued to heave.

Epiphany went across the hall to grab a phone to page a doctor, then passed Jason a plastic tub and towel from a linen cart. Jason wrapped the towel around Cameron and held the tub near his mouth as the toddler continued to retch.

“Oh, my God,” Elizabeth managed to choke out as her son started to cry again, scared by everyone’s reactions and his own pain and discomfort. Her cheeks were flaming with embarrassment as Jason used the towel to mop at Cameron’s face and her scrub top, some of her son’s vomit getting on him.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry—” she babbled as Patrick jogged up, his handsome face frowning at the sight.

“Elizabeth, what’s wrong—” He shuddered. “Oh, ew. What—”

Epiphany smacked him in the arm. “I swear to God, boy, if you don’t get yourself together—”

“Yeah, yeah, grab us an examining room. Ow,” he muttered as he approached Elizabeth and Jason. “What’s wrong with Cam?”

“It’s—it’s a stomach thing, and he was supposed to be at home, but—” Her throat closed up, and she couldn’t force a single word out. Her baby should have been resting at home, comfortable in his bed, but instead, Lucky had dragged him out of the house and probably hadn’t been too gentle about it.

Jason accepted another towel from Epiphany and gently lifted Cameron from Elizabeth’s arms, wrapped the toddler in it, and held him in his arms. “It’s okay,” he told her as tears slid down her cheeks. “Let’s go get him checked out and you can clean up—”

“You don’t have to—” But she couldn’t finish that sentence as Epiphany herded them into an empty patient room. Jason set Cameron on the bed, and Patrick gave Epiphany a few things he’d need.

“I’ll bring back a fresh set of scrubs, too,” Epiphany promised Elizabeth. She eyed Jason’s stained t-shirt. “And I’ll steal Drake Junior’s extra shirt from his locker.”

“I’d argue with her,” Patrick said as the other nurse left, “but she’d just hit me again.”

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth apologized again. “You’re not a pediatrician, and—”

“But I did my time in that ward, so let’s just take a look.” Patrick shrugged. “You’re right about the stomach thing. It’s ripping through the hospital. And—” He pressed his hand to Cameron’s forehead. “I’m concerned about the fever. I’ll want to prescribe him something to bring that down. He needs rest—”

“He was—” Elizabeth swallowed down a sob. “He was supposed to be at home. Resting. B-But Lucky—” She shook her head, closing her eyes. Jason put an arm around her shoulder, and she couldn’t stop herself from curling into his embrace for just a moment.

For just one moment, she didn’t want to feel so damned alone. Even if Jason Morgan was the last person she should lean on for comfort.

Mercifully, Patrick let it drop as Epiphany returned with clothes and the thermometer Patrick had asked for. He did a quick exam on Cameron, who had grown a bit listless and laid on the bed with a glazed expression.

“I’ll write the prescription for something to bring down the fever,” Patrick told her. “I wouldn’t normally on a kid this age, but I’m worried. And he looks like he hasn’t kept much down—”

“Some juice and applesauce mostly. I tried but—” Elizabeth shook her head. “I had to go to work. Lucky—he was—”

“Well, get some of that Pedialyte stuff,” Patrick told her. He looked away, uncomfortable as if he wanted to say more.

“But I—” She looked at Epiphany. “I have to work, and my grandmother is still in Memphis—”

“You go on home and take care of your baby,” Epiphany told her. “I’ll clear it. I know you don’t want to use any more of your sick time, but—”

“I don’t have a choice,” she murmured. “Oh. Oh, God. Lucky probably didn’t leave me the car seat. We only have one, and I left it in his car because he was supposed to be with him—”

How was she supposed to—

Jason spoke up. “I’ll take you home,” he told her. “I have the SUV, so you can sit in the back with him and hold him. You don’t live that far.”

“Jason—”

“I’ll have someone take your car home—”

“I can’t ask you—”

“It seems like a good idea to me,” Epiphany said briskly. “Now, Jason, go into the bathroom there and change. Elizabeth, go take a shower and change in the locker room. I’ll look after your boy.”

“I—” Elizabeth sighed. “Thank you. Epiphany, Jason, and Patrick. Thank you. I just—” She sighed. “I’ll go wash up.”

When she’d left, Patrick scowled. “How the hell did Cameron end up here?” he demanded. “This kid is sick and shouldn’t be outside—”

“Lucky brought him here,” Jason said, a bit unnerved with the way Lucky had dumped the screaming child on his mother, clearly unconcerned with Cameron or his health. Anyone could see the kid was sick. And it killed him to see Elizabeth looking so lost, so fragile.

“He’s an asshole,” Epiphany muttered. “You make sure she has the medicine this kid needs, Morgan. You make sure she gets home and has everything she needs.” She turned her fish eye on Patrick Drake, who put his hands up in surrender. “And you make sure whatever prescription you gave her is covered by our insurance here.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. But she’d be better off losing the husband.” He hesitated, shook his head. Jason frowned at him.

“That is something none of us can fix. All I can do is take care of her here at work.” She looked at Jason again. “And we’d all be better off if that psycho Manny Ruiz wasn’t breathing down our necks.”

“I’m trying,” Jason said, finding himself feeling oddly defensive. “I have people watching him. I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else.”

“See that you don’t. Now go change out of that shirt before Elizabeth comes in here and gets upset all over again that you’re covered in her kid’s throw-up.”

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Street

By the time Elizabeth pushed open her apartment door an hour later, she’d become numb. The mixture of humiliation, fury, and sheer exhaustion had rendered her incapable of feeling. She’d sat in the backseat of the SUV Jason had driven to the hospital, cuddling her sick baby while he’d gone into the pharmacy to get whatever Patrick had told him to get.

She probably should have offered to pay, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak. Instead, as Jason pulled out of the parking lot, she found herself dozing off slightly, her head slumping against Cameron’s.

She didn’t know how much time passed before there was a gentle touch on her elbow. Elizabeth opened her eyes and realized Jason was standing in the street, the door open. “Hey, let me get you upstairs, and you can both get some sleep.”

Elizabeth sighed, closed her eyes, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Here, let me take him up.” Jason reached in and easily lifted the dozing toddler into his arms. The bag from the pharmacy was looped around one of his wrists. She should offer to take it from him.

But it took everything she could muster to get herself out of the car and upstairs. She must have been running at the hospital on sheer willpower because the moment she’d left, taking a single step had become the hardest thing.

“Is his bedroom through there?” Jason asked quietly as he stood with Elizabeth in the doorway, taking in the shambles of her apartment. Lucky had left laundry strewn all over the place, and breakfast dishes were still sitting on the end table, his sofa bed still pulled out.

She stared at it, wishing that she could just close her eyes and make it all disappear. Without waiting for an answer, Jason opened the door. Dimly she could hear his voice, soothing as Cameron stirred, then he must have fallen back asleep as Jason came out and gently closed the door.

The humiliation fought its way past the paralyzing exhaustion as Jason began to fold up the sofa bed. She stepped forward and touched his arm. “No, let me—”

“I don’t mind.” Jason looked at her for a long moment, a touch of worry in his light blue eyes. “I can’t make Cameron feel better, but I can do this. You look so tired, Elizabeth.”

“I just—” Couldn’t let herself depend on anyone. But she also didn’t quite have the strength to stop him, so Jason closed up the sofa bed, steered her to sit down, and then took the dishes into the kitchen.

Elizabeth scrubbed her hands over her face. Almost from the moment Cameron had thrown up, Jason had stuck. Hadn’t flinched when he’d been splashed with vomit or been confronted with her dingy, shabby apartment left a mess by the man who was supposed to love Cameron as his own.

When the water stopped running, Jason came back out and sat on the other end of the sofa. “You should get some sleep—”

“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, made eye contact with him. “I should—I should have said that before.”

“Yeah, of course.” They stared at one another for a long time before Jason pushed himself to his feet. “Do you need anything else? I put Cam’s medicine and the stuff Patrick told me to get him in the fridge.”

“Thank you,” she repeated. She stood up. “I—I had a moment at the hospital where I think I was going to fall apart. I didn’t. I think part of me knew you wouldn’t leave until I was okay. And…” Her voice broke. “There are just some days when you need that.”

“It’s none of my business,” Jason said slowly, “but I don’t…understand what happened. Or why Lucky—”

“Didn’t seem to care or notice how sick Cameron was?” Elizabeth finished. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I could make a list of excuses. I probably will before he gets home. I’ve always been good at that.” She offered a humorless smile. “I guess old habits never really die.”

“Why?” Jason scowled. “Why put yourself through it?”

“Maybe you might not understand this,” Elizabeth said slowly, “but there are just—there some things I can’t think about. Not right now. I know that doesn’t make the problems go away, but—”

“Elizabeth, I just—” He lifted both his hands. “You deserve better.”

“Maybe.” She could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks, the cool tracks they made on her skin. “But I can’t do this right now.”

“When?”

“Don’t—” She pressed her hands to her face. “Don’t ask me that. Please.”

“Okay.” Jason crossed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his strong arms around her for the second time that day. She let herself have ten seconds of that before she pulled away.

But she didn’t step away. Elizabeth glanced up at him to find him already looking at her, their faces close. With one of his hands, he cupped her cheek and wiped away a tear with his thumb.

“It kills me to see you like this. Let me help.”

“You did,” Elizabeth told him. “I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but—” Impulse had her leaning forward slightly, tilting her head up just a bit to press her lips to his cheek. Stupid. Stupid.

Their breath mingled as she started to pull back, and instead of taking a giant step away from him—she leaned in. His lips brushed hers gently, and the soft touch sent a shock down her spine. She so badly just wanted to sink into him, to lose herself—

She nearly did—nearly forgot everything—until his hand cupped her jaw. The feel of his fingers on her skin jolted her back.

Elizabeth jerked away, putting half the room between them. “No. We—No.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I think—I think you should go.”

“Yeah.” Looking as stunned as she was, Jason swallowed hard. Nodded. “But if you need anything—”

“I’ll figure it out. You should go before Lucky comes home.”

With a sigh, Jason nodded. “Yeah, okay. But get some sleep. I’ll—” He fisted his hand at his side. “I’ll see you around,” he said finally.

And then he was gone.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, pressed her fingers to her lips, and, this time, didn’t fight the tears as the sobs wracked her body. Oh, God. What was she going to do now?

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason was still a bit shaken when he went home after leaving Elizabeth’s apartment. He hadn’t—He’d never planned to—

He didn’t even know how it had happened, and he knew it shouldn’t happen again. She was married. He was engaged. And Elizabeth was right—they couldn’t be friends.

He dropped his keys on the desk and scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Since when do you wear dress shirts to work?” Sam asked from the top of the stairs. He looked up to find her on the landing, a duffel bag at her feet.

“I—I thought you’d left for the airport.”

“Not yet.” She came down to the bottom of the stairs, gestured at the blue shirt Jason wore. “Did I miss a party?”

“Uh—” Jason had forgotten he wore Patrick Drake’s borrowed shirt. “I—” He looked at Sam and realized he didn’t want to tell her. He wanted to lie to her, to make her stop looking at him, and asking questions. And if he didn’t tell her the truth, didn’t that mean something about their relationship?

Didn’t that mean something about how much he trusted Sam? He’d just kissed another woman—a woman he would have sworn a month ago he had put in his past.

“Jason,” Sam pressed when he didn’t answer. “What happened to your shirt?”

“I was at the hospital,” Jason said after a long moment, “arranging security at the hospital for Elizabeth. With Skye gone, I’m worried Manny will target her.”

“I know, but that doesn’t explain the shirt—”

“It’s Cameron’s,” Jason said finally. “I went to tell Elizabeth what Alan and I talked about, and he threw up. He’s sick.”

“I—” Sam frowned. “What was Cameron even doing there? And why—” She took a deep breath. “Why did you have to go and tell her in person?”

“I probably should have called,” Jason admitted. “But Lucky showed up and just—” He broke off. It felt wrong to describe that scene for anyone who hadn’t been there. As if he were betraying some secret Elizabeth would have rather kept to herself. “I didn’t want to leave her alone with a sick kid, so I stayed with her until I knew Cameron was okay.”

Sam exhaled slowly. “You know, I wasn’t going—I wasn’t going to do this. I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t think I’d want the answers. But I was on the docks. Yesterday.”

Jason blinked. “Yesterday.”

“I heard your conversation with Elizabeth. The entire conversation,” Sam clarified. “From the part where you told her Skye had left Port Charles straight on through to where Elizabeth told you couldn’t be friends anymore because it hurt too much—”

“Sam—”

“And you should know—” With a quiet dignity he hadn’t expected, Sam lifted her chin. “You should know that from someone who was just listening, it sounded like two people who’d never really moved on—”

“That’s not—” He shook his head. “That’s not how it was—” Except he was starting to think maybe that was exactly what it was, and Jason couldn’t begin to understand what to do with that.

“I listened to you all but beg her to tell you why she left. As if the reason could possibly matter after all this time.”

“Sam—”

“I don’t need you to reassure me. I don’t know if you could. I just—” She took a deep breath. “I need you to figure out what the hell is going on in your head. A month ago, Elizabeth Spencer wasn’t so much as a blip on either of our radars. And now, it’s like ever since you found out she thought you cheated on her, you’ve been obsessed with finding out why she left you. How do you think that makes me feel?”

He didn’t have an answer for that. He knew Sam was right. He’d gone from not even thinking about Elizabeth to only worrying about her. He’d just kissed her. Despite the promises he’d made to Sam, Jason hadn’t been thinking about his fiancée while standing in that apartment. And he didn’t think Sam would be comforted by the idea that this…situation with Elizabeth hadn’t started with the fight with Emily.

That he’d already been thinking about her.

And what kind of man did that make him?

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Because I think we both need to—” Sam looked away. “It’s like we keep bashing our heads together having the same arguments. But neither one of us is saying anything. You hate the fact that I’m going on this job, but you refuse to tell me why. How is what I’m doing any different than what you do?”

This was something he could explain. Because he’d always known what his issue was with her returning to work as a con artist.

“The life I live…” Jason hesitated. “It’s violent, and I commit crimes. I break laws. But the people who get hurt sign up for this life. The people I go after—they choose to be part of this. The people you pull these tricks on—they didn’t.”

“Oh, so what you do is honest, and what I do is a lie? Are you serious—”

“I didn’t say it makes sense,” Jason interrupted. “I said that’s how I see it. Manny Ruiz chose this life. His brother and their father—made that choice. But this woman you’re going to steal money from—she thinks the guy she’s dealing with is legit. You’re stealing from people who never asked to play the game. So, yeah, I think what you do is worse.”

Sam flinched, almost as if she’d been hit, then glared at him. “So you think a man who’s killed people and beaten people up for a living is somehow better than me? That’s what we’re getting to. You’re an honorable criminal, and I’m trash—”

“I never said that—”

“But somehow, my crimes are dirtier and more wrong.” Sam nodded. “Thanks. Thanks for clearing that up.” She pursed her lips, nodded again. “And while we’re being honest, I think you’re still in love with Elizabeth Spencer. I think that’s what Courtney meant when she told me I was a cheap substitute for you and for Sonny. She was talking about Elizabeth.”

“I—”

“And it was fine when you thought she’d left you because of your job. You could live with that. You could settle for me. But now you know she left because you hurt her and treated her like garbage. And it’s killing you. Because now settling doesn’t seem like it makes you happy anymore.”

Jason said nothing, and Sam nodded. “Thank you for not denying it.”

“I don’t know if anything you said is right, I just know—I know it’s not wrong,” Jason admitted painfully. “Sam—”

“She doesn’t want you, Jason. She has a husband and a new life. So you need to figure out if you can let her go. Because if you can’t, then I don’t know how I can stay.” She lifted up her duffel bag. “All I ask you is to just…stop having these heart to hearts where people can see you. Or hear you. I don’t deserve to be humiliated on top of everything else.”

“Sam—” he said again.

“I’m going to Florida. Let’s…both take this time to regroup. Because I deserve more than this. And so does she.”

Sam pushed past him, and Jason let her go. He didn’t even know what he could say to her, except she was right. Everyone deserved better than the way he was treating them, and he just—he needed to get things under control again.

Elizabeth wanted him to stay away if it wasn’t about Manny, and this time, he thought that was a good idea. Until he got his head on straight.

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

By the time Lucky came home from therapy around seven that night, Elizabeth had slept and felt slightly more human. She had decided to ignore the entire…incident with Jason and explain it to her brain as stress and hysteria. She’d lost her mind for a few minutes, but she was okay now.

Whatever had happened with Jason, no matter how guilty she felt about it—it didn’t change what Lucky had done. Lucky had promised her to look after Cameron, and instead, he’d put his health at risk by dragging him out with a fever.

She gave Cameron another small glass of the Pedialyte juice Jason had purchased at the pharmacy. It was his second dose since he’d woken up from his earlier nap, and already he looked more comfortable. With Cameron feeling better, and a few hours of sleep behind her, Elizabeth felt ready to at least attempt to figure things out with Lucky.

Lucky dropped his keys on the coffee table and offered a sheepish grin. “Hey. Look, I know you’re angry—”

“Angry isn’t really the word.” She took a deep breath. “I lost half my shift at work, and it would have been more if Epiphany didn’t cover for me. You left me without a car seat, and Cameron had a fever. Did you even give a damn—”

“Of course I did!” Lucky’s cheeks flushed. “Did you? I told you I couldn’t miss another session—”

“And I—” She closed her eyes. “You agreed. Don’t pretend you didn’t. I had to beg you, but you agreed—”

“I only have three days before I lose my spot on the squad!” Lucky shot back. “Damn it, isn’t that supposed to be the most important thing? Get back on active duty and full pay so you can take off a fucking day work to take care of your kid?”

Your kid. God, she’d seen it for months, but she’d ignored it. After a year, Cameron was her kid. Not theirs. Not his. But he was Elizabeth’s responsibility, and Lucky had made it clear every time he put himself above what Cameron needed.

“No, the most important thing to me is my son. And he had a fever. Five seconds after you walked away, Lucky, Cameron threw up all over me and Jason. Epiphany had to call Patrick. He had a fever,” she repeated. “And you left me without his car seat. How the hell did you think I’d get home?”

“I—I forgot.” Lucky grimaced. “I’m sorry. I just—I figured if I left him with you, Epiphany would cover for you. She likes you.”

“But she has a job to do, and she can’t keep covering—” Elizabeth shook her head. “What is wrong with you, Lucky? You promised me—you swore we’d be a family—and every time I ask you to do something for Cameron, it’s like I’m asking you to commit a crime. He was sick, and he’s just a baby! How could you drag him all the way to the hospital and leave him like that? He was crying—”

“Oh, come on! This isn’t fair! He was crying here, too. And hey, it looks like he needed to go to the hospital if he’s still sick—”

Elizabeth could scarcely breathe as her throat closed, and the tears burned. “You said you wanted to adopt Cameron. You wanted us to be family. But Cameron doesn’t matter to you at all, does he?”

“Oh, calm down. It’s not that serious.” Lucky rolled his eyes. He stalked to the kitchen and yanked open the fridge to pull out a beer. He shoved aside Cameron’s orange Pedialyte and frowned at it. “What is this?”

“It’s for Cameron. He can’t keep a lot of food down.” Elizabeth dragged her hands through her hair. “Lucky—”

Lucky’s voice was quiet, almost contemplative, and she didn’t know what to think about that. “How did you get home? Did Emily drive you? Did you call a cab?”

When Elizabeth didn’t answer, Lucky frowned and turned away from the fridge, the Pedialyte still in his hand. “How much did the fucking cab cost? And what about this? Didn’t the pharmacy have their own brand? How much money did you spend today?”

“Jason drove us home,” Elizabeth said finally, and swallowed hard as Lucky stared at her, the color draining from his face. “He was there—you know that. And he was worried after Cameron threw up on me, on him—” She jumped as Lucky threw the plastic bottle in the sink, the flush returning to his cheeks. “He did me a favor, okay? I didn’t have a car seat, and—he went into the pharmacy for me. To get Cam’s prescription and anything else Patrick told him to—”

“Patrick Drake? That doctor who likes to screw all the nurses? You sleeping with him, too?” Lucky demanded. “Screwing the doctor, taking favors from criminals—anything else you want to tell me, Elizabeth?”

“It’s not—he—” She took a step back before she even realized it, holding her hands up. “He just wanted to help, okay?”

“Because he’s so much better than me, isn’t he?” Lucky growled. He stalked over to the sink and grabbed the Pedialyte, twisting the cap off. “My wife isn’t going to owe any fucking mobster a goddamn favor—”

“No, don’t!” Elizabeth sprang forward as Lucky started to dump the Pedialyte in the sink. Cameron needed that, and they couldn’t get any more at this hour—the pharmacy had already closed. She grabbed his arms, trying to get a grip on the bottle so she could wrench it away. Her baby needed that to get better—

“Let me go, you goddamn whore—” Lucky shoved his elbow back, putting the full force of his body into it as Elizabeth went flying back towards the arch that divided the kitchen from the living room.

Her temple slammed into the doorway, and pain exploded in her head, her vision dimming, filled with stars—were her ears ringing?

Elizabeth slumped to the ground, clutching the side of her head, not even sure what had just happened. Had…had Lucky actually pushed her? Oh, God, why couldn’t she focus?

“Oh my God, Elizabeth—” His voice sounded like it was coming from very far away. As she felt his hands on her shoulders, she managed to swat them away.

“Get—” She choked. “Get away from me—” She crawled a few feet as her head ached. Her vision finally righted itself even as her head continued to throb. She leaned against the sofa, facing the kitchen, taking in Lucky’s stricken face. “Get away,” she managed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—” He stopped his advance as she feebly kicked at him. “Let me get you an ice pack—”

“Stay away from me—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, swallowed the sobs. Oh, God. What did she do now?

“It was an accident. Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I would never hurt you. Please.”

Her Lucky was in those words, his voice, the boy she’d fallen in love with. She could hear him, but when she opened her eyes, she still didn’t know if she could see him. Lucky looked upset, but she didn’t—

She didn’t know what to do. What to think. Had he meant to hurt her? Send her flying like that? Or had he just reacted? And did it even matter?

“Cameron needs that…” Elizabeth finally managed. “Don’t…please don’t.”

“I’m sorry. I was mad.” Lucky got up and hurried to the sink. He showed her the bottle, half its contents gone. He screwed the cap back on and shoved it back in the fridge. “I was mad that Jason did something for you, and you’re right. I’m sorry. I never should have—I just—” He was crying now. “I’m sorry.”

“You should—” Everything hurt, and her head felt like she was swimming against a very rough tide. “You should go.”

“No, you need to believe me. I need to make this okay.” He knelt down, offering her hand. “Let me help you up—”

“D-Don’t touch me.” She slapped his hand away, and he backed away again. “Don’t—go away.”

“I can’t. If I leave, you’ll never forgive me. Please. It’s just—God, Elizabeth, I’m sorry. I just—I don’t know. I feel like if I could just get back on active duty, everything will be okay again, you know? You can stop working so much, and we can get a house. And we can be happy again. I’m sorry. Please. Please. I’d rather cut off my arm than hurt you.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed him because she needed to or if she thought he was sincere, Elizabeth finally allowed Lucky to pull her to feet and help her sit on the sofa. He hurried over with an ice pack that she pressed to the side of her face.

“I’m sorry—”

“Sorry doesn’t change anything,” Elizabeth murmured. “I just…I’m tired, Lucky. And I don’t want to argue anymore.”

“We won’t. I’m sorry. I won’t—I’m sorry,” he said again.

“I’m going to bed. I’m going to sleep in Cameron’s room. I just—” She shook her head as he started to follow her. “No, I just—God, I need some space.”

“Right, right. And he needs you, too.”

Elizabeth closed the door on Lucky’s eager, apologetic face, flipping the lock. She slid down the door, closing her eyes, and silently continued to cry.

All the world is a stage
And everyone has their part
But how was I to know which way the story’d go
How was I to know you’d break
You’d break my heart
I’ve always been in love with you
Guess you’ve always known
You took my love for granted, why oh why
The show is over, say good-bye
– Take a Bow, Madonna

---

Monday, April 3, 2006

Greystone Manor: Living Room

Jason stalked into the living room, past a worried and flustered Mac, then slammed the double doors of the room closed behind him. “You put a guy on me.”

Sonny arched his brows and looked at him as he sat in the armchair, lounging with a tumbler of bourbon. “You met with Lorenzo Alcazar without telling me.” He shrugged. “Some of the guys got worried.”

Jason doubted that. “So instead of talking to me, asking what was going on, you sent some rookie to tail me,” Jason spat as he stared at his clearly former best friend, his fists clenched. “I made him in about five seconds, Sonny. What was the damn point?”

“To remind you who is in charge!” Sonny spat. He set the liquor aside, then surged to his feet. “You don’t meet with my enemies without my permission!”

Jason fell back a step with a scowl and bewildered. “You knew there was a situation with Ruiz and Skye. It needed to be dealt with. Manny made a move—”

“Yeah? You didn’t tell me—”

“Because you wouldn’t have listened. And I’m tired of waiting for you to deal with it. Alcazar is gone. He took Skye with him to Miami to finish the takeover of the Ruiz territory. With any luck, Ruiz will follow him—”

“And you took our best warehouse guard off his detail to follow a cop’s wife—” Sonny snorted. “Going to the cops, going to Alcazar—you know, I never thought I’d see the day when you’d turn on me—”

“Turn on you—” Jason repeated. He didn’t even know how to respond to that. “Cody isn’t following a cop’s wife. He’s following Elizabeth. Elizabeth, who put herself in between Manny and Skye. She’s the reason Manny couldn’t make his move. All I’m doing is keeping her safe—”

Sonny’s fury only deepened. “Elizabeth had her chance to walk on this side of the line. She got too scared and ran, so you know, it’s her cop husband’s job to look out for her. Or Alcazar. Why the hell isn’t—”

Jason took a deep breath. He’d known for weeks that Sonny was teetering on the balance of that dark place. If Jason gave in to the anger right now, if he gave into the fury that Sonny expected Jason to walk away from Elizabeth, then he’d never be able to salvage this.

“This isn’t like you,” Jason said finally. He let himself see the other signs he’d been denying— the way Sonny’s gaze kept darting around, the way his hand fumbled—even the slightly disheveled hair. The physical signs were usually something he noticed first, but Jason had been distracted. Sonny was headed for another breakdown at the worst possible time. This was what he’d been worried about all along — what he hadn’t wanted Emily to go through.

“Oh, don’t start with me—”

“She’s not just a cop’s wife, Sonny. And Elizabeth didn’t get scared and run away. That’s not why we broke up.” Jason could say that now with a confidence he hadn’t entirely believed only a few weeks ago. “She’s never flinched from who we are. Even when she should have. She came to us because Lucky refused to help her. Because the PCPD let her down. You know Elizabeth better than that.”

Sonny stared at him for a long time, then swallowed. He sat down in the chair, bowed his head, and dragged his hands through his hair. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” he murmured.

“Sonny—”

“I know you’re right. I—” Sonny looked up, took a deep breath. “What do you mean, Elizabeth got in the middle of Manny and Skye? How?”

Briefly, Jason told him about Manny showing up again during Skye’s appointment — on a floor he wasn’t even assigned to work that day. And how Elizabeth kept him from following Skye around the hospital.

“Even if he didn’t make an actual move,” Jason said, “Elizabeth tipped her hand. He’s not stupid. He had to know she was deliberately separating him from Skye. And now Skye’s gone. He’s going to make the connection.”

“That girl is going to get herself killed one day trying to protect other people,” Sonny muttered. Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Because there it was. That was how he expected Sonny to react when learning that someone who had put herself on the line for them time and time again was in danger. “And you were already worried Manny was letting Elizabeth see her. Does he know about you and her?”

“That we—” Jason shook his head. “I don’t know. He saw us at the hospital together a few weeks ago, but he’d have to be following one of us.”

“And if he is?” Sonny arched his brow. “Would he have seen you two together?”

“Uh…” Jason hesitated, winced. “Yeah. A few times. It’s not like that, Sonny. She’s—”

“I didn’t say that—” Sonny pressed his lips together. “You got Cody on her. She’s at the hospital where Manny’s got guys on him. Fine.” He looked at Jason. “You…you haven’t said anything about Emily in the last few weeks. Not since…” He hesitated. “Not since that last day here.”

“No, I—” Jason shook his head. “I hate that you both lied to me. That you let yourself get distracted from things that were happening, and then refused to let me deal with anything. I’m not happy it’s happening.”

After a moment, when Sonny said nothing, Jason continued, “But it’s not my job to live Emily’s life or choose how she gets hurt. Or how you get hurt. I just—” He looked away. “She’s my sister, Sonny. And it’s not like it was with Courtney. It’s not about the danger.”

“Not that danger.” Sonny nodded after a long moment. “None of the things you said before…were entirely wrong,” he said finally. “But I never asked you to clean up after me.”

Jason nearly called him a liar because Sonny had always put him in the middle — first by making Jason be the one to jilt Brenda and humiliate her — and then he and Carly had both shoved him in the middle. But that wouldn’t help anything if he pointed that out. So Jason just nodded. “Okay.”

“And maybe it’s time you stopped.”

“Fine. Tell my sister to leave Sam and Elizabeth alone and stop dragging them into this.”

“You could try telling her yourself—”

Remembering Sam’s pale face and Elizabeth’s mortification, Jason shook his head. “I’m not ready to be in the same room with her yet.”

“She’s not going to apologize to you, Jase—” Sonny shrugged. “She doesn’t think she’s wrong—”

“Did she tell you what exactly she said?” Jason demanded. “Because she was wrong. She told Sam she was a whore who’d used her dead daughter to con her way into an engagement ring, she told me that all I do is hurt people and accused me of cheating on Elizabeth, and she told Elizabeth—” Jason shook his head. “Sam and Elizabeth had nothing to do with any of this. She can come at me all she wants. Not them.”

“Still juggling two women at a time,” Sonny smirked, picked up his bourbon. “And you tell me I treat women like trash.”

Jason blinked, shook his head, then took a deep breath. The mood swings were part of it. He just had to manage until Sonny either hit rock bottom or pulled out of it. “I am not—”

“I was pretty terrible to Sam, too. But you’re not making me promise to leave her alone or demanding an apology on her behalf. And you’ve been here convincing me of Elizabeth’s loyalty. Man, you really don’t hear yourself sometimes.”

“I’m going—”

“Emily’s not wrong about Sam, by the way,” Sonny called, but Jason didn’t even bother looking back. It wasn’t worth it.

Kelly’s: Courtyard

Elizabeth stepped out of the diner and winced as Cameron saw Emily first and wiggled out of her grasp to run over to where Emily was sitting at a table alone.

“Em, Em, Em!”

Emily picked Cameron up into a tight hug, kissed his cheeks, then tickled him. Cameron giggled manically. “Em!” He turned to look at his mother. “Mommy, it’s Em!”

“Yes, it is.” Elizabeth let Kelly’s door close behind her. “Hey, Em.”

“So, you’re talking to me?” Emily asked, with an arch of her brow. She let Cameron slid to the ground, but the toddler didn’t seem to notice the tension in the air. He climbed up into the seat next to her and looked his mother expectantly.

Elizabeth looked down at the brown bag that held their lunches. “He missed having breakfast with you last week. Can we join you?”

“Sure.” Emily’s smile was thin as Elizabeth sat down and set Cameron up with the food she’d ordered. “You haven’t returned my phone calls.”

“You mean the one time you called me last week?” Elizabeth shrugged. “Sorry I got busy. Gram’s out of town, and I had to find another baby sitter.” She handed Cameron his juice. “Are things better at home?”

“Well, Grandfather isn’t talking to me, but he stopped leaving the room when I walk in. And Dad and Mom have stopped threatening to throw me out, so I guess there’s that.” Emily lifted her chin. “Would have been nice to have your support, but I guess you couldn’t manage it.”

“You never gave me a chance to offer it,” Elizabeth murmured. “You came to work that first day ready to go to war. I tried to help you with Jason — I told him to give you a break—”

Emily snorted. “Yeah. A lot of good that did me when he stood by while his whore threw me out—”

“Stop it, Emily—” Elizabeth scowled and looked pointedly at Cameron, who blinked at his mother, but thankfully didn’t ask what a “whore” was. Emily winced. “I don’t want to get involved in this, I really don’t. But I’m sorry, I have to ask — did you even give him a chance to change his mind. Or did you go in the penthouse again to attack him? Did you attack Sam?”

“I—” Emily closed her mouth. “Why do you care?”

“I care because this—this is happening to me now, too. You dragged me into this.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Because Jason decided I had to know he’d never cheated on me. Which, you know, is a super fun conversation to have—”

Emily narrowed her eyes. “All I’m doing is the same thing you always did when it came to Jason.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” Emily said, flatly, “is you told a lot of people to go to hell that December. Your grandmother, Nikolas, me—anyone who ever gave a damn about you. We didn’t matter as long as you had Jason.”

Elizabeth stared at her best friend for a long moment. “That’s not what happened. And you know it—”

“Oh, okay—”

“What happened was that I saved your brother’s life. And then a bunch of people who I thought loved me decided they had a right to know what was going on. Nikolas followed me back to the studio and burst in on me, changing Jason’s bandage, and then he attacked him. So if you think I was wrong to lie to Nikolas about my relationship with Jason so that he would leave him alone, then I don’t know what to tell you.”

“What about me? Why didn’t you tell me what was going on? If Jason was that sick and you really weren’t sleeping together—”

“Because I don’t owe you anything.” Elizabeth smiled at Cameron. “Hey, buddy, Aunt Em has to get to the hospital, so we’re going to take our lunch to go after all.”

“Okay.” Cameron sighed. “Sorry, Em. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Emily said with a sigh as Elizabeth started packing up his sandwich. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to argue with you again—”

“This is the difference between what happened then and what’s going on now. I told a lot of people to go to hell because I wanted to control my own life. And no, I was not technically with Jason back then. But I wanted to be. And I was tired of being sad all the time. He didn’t want me, Emily. Not then.” And maybe not really ever, but she let that go.

She got to her feet. “None of that changes the fact that I never tore anyone else down to get what I wanted.”

Emily also stood. “Elizabeth—”

“I never threw your past in your face—all I ever said was that seeing you happy made it hard for me some times. That’s it. I never told your secrets to anyone else, I never used the thing you hate about yourself as a weapon. I never punched down, Em. And that’s all you’ve been doing. Right now—”

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Right now, I could use my best friend. I’m—” Her voice broke. “I’m drowning. And you don’t see it. And I don’t ask you for help. Because I know I can’t go to you. You won’t be there.”

Stricken, Emily stepped back. “What—Elizabeth—”

“I told you what I told you about Jason in confidence. I never wanted to talk about it again. And now—” Elizabeth squeezed her hand into fists.

“Mommy?” Cam looked up at her, tugging on her pant leg. “You mad at Em? I like Em.”

“I like Em, too,” Elizabeth told her son. She looked at Emily. “I love you, Emily. I know you love me. I know you never meant to hurt me. And I know you love Jason. He’s dying over this. But you and Sonny—I don’t know, maybe you deserve each other.”

She took Cameron by the hand and headed for the parking lot. Emily, thankfully, did not follow.

“Mommy?” Cameron sniffled. “Are we mad at Em?”

“No, sweetie. But Aunt Emily is in timeout for a few days,” Elizabeth said with a sigh as they reached their car. She set their food on the driver’s seat so that she could put Cameron into his car seat.

“She was bad?”

“Little bit.”

“Like when I climbded the walls, and you got mad?”

“No, more like when you got into my lipstick and drew all over the sofa and yourself.” Elizabeth eyed her grinning son. “We can still see the color on the side of the sofa.”

“I like red.”

“Yeah, so you said when I was scrubbing it off you in the bathtub.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She closed the back door, then got into the front seat, shoving their food onto the passenger seat. She reached into her pocket for her keys and knocked her cell phone out at the same time.

She frowned. “I have a voice mail—I didn’t even hear it ring—”

“Who calleded, Mommy?”

She flipped open the phone and opened her voice mails. “Jason.” She looked at the ceiling of her car. “A whole year. I went basically an entire year without being around him, and it was fine. Why are you doing this?”

“Who you talking to? Mommy?” In her rearview mirror, she could see Cameron craning his head to look up.

“The world.”

“Oh, okay.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, pressed play, and put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Elizabeth. It’s, uh, me. Jason. I—I wanted to let you know—We need to talk. About Manny. Call me when you get this.”

She wrinkled her nose and dialed his number. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to see him—

“Elizabeth?”

“Hey. I got your call.” Elizabeth turned in her seat to check on Cameron again. “What’s up?”

“Do you have time? Can—” She heard him pause. “Can we talk in person?” When she didn’t say anything right away, he added, “It’s important.”

No. Not a chance. She was changing her name and moving to Alaska. “Okay. Uh, can you give me about thirty minutes? I’m dropping Cameron off at Bobbie’s to play with Morgan.”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you on Elm Street Pier in thirty.”

Elm Street Pier

Elizabeth restlessly laced her fingers together as she watched Jason walk towards her from Pier 52 and the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse. She’d hoped for a few more days before she had to face him — what the hell had possessed her to tell him she loved him, too?

This…strange retread down memory lane with Jason was the absolutely last thing her life needed right now. Especially today, after that fight with Emily—

“Hey,” Jason said as he approached her. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. “Thanks for meeting me.”

“No problem. You said it was important—” Elizabeth gestured behind her. “And Cody’s here. He said he’d keep out of sight—”

“Yeah, hopefully, you won’t need him much longer, but…” Jason hesitated and looked at her. “I talked to Alcazar. Skye had already told him. He moved her to Miami. They were already moving there, so he just…pushed up the time table.”

“Oh.” She wrinkled her brow. “Is that what you needed to tell me? Because that really could have been said over the phone.”

Jason hesitated, a bit taken aback. “Part of it—”

“Skye called me this morning. She told me—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “She told me they were in Miami. She didn’t want me to worry. And she was worried about me.”

“Oh.” Jason cleared his throat. “Right. Well, you have Cody for now—but Manny—” He cleared his throat. “That’s still a thing.”

Right. And that was the whole reason she’d gone to him in the first place. It was stupid to pretend that because Skye was on her guard and safe in Miami, that it was over. “At least for now.” Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe he’ll leave.”

“We’re hoping. Not that I want Skye in danger in Miami, but Alcazar’s on high alert now, and hopefully so she is, too. If he follows them—”

“He’ll leave me alone.” Elizabeth sighed and sat on the bench. “You hope that’s what will happen, but you don’t think it will.”

“I—” Jason sat next to her, but this time made sure to keep a few feet between them. “No. I can’t afford to take any chances. Skye’s gone right after you put yourself in the middle. Manny’s not stupid.”

“You’re still annoyed I got involved.” Elizabeth looked at her hands in her lap. “I know you told me not to—”

“For all you knew, Manny would have jumped her in a stairwell or followed her after the appointment. You—” A corner of Jason’s mouth hitched up in a half-smile. “You told me you wouldn’t let someone get hurt. I should have believed you.”

“I should have thought about it more,” Elizabeth admitted. “It was stupid to do that. I could have offered to walk Skye downstairs or—” She frowned. “Or maybe Manny would have gone after us both. It’s not like I’m a lot of competition.”

“No, and maybe he wasn’t planning anything. He could have refused to go with you, he could have hurt you and gone after Skye anyway. He didn’t.” Jason exhaled slowly and looked out over the lake. “With anyone else, I might think he’d backed down and decided it was too risky. But that’s not Manny Ruiz. He plays games.”

“So, what do I do?”

“Stay on your toes,” Jason advised. “When do you work again?”

“Oh. Tomorrow. I’m on the 10-6 shift. Why?”

“I’m gonna call Alan, set up a meeting. You put yourself in danger to protect Skye, and he still thinks of her as his daughter. I want Cody at the hospital with you, but I don’t want anyone to know.”

“Okay, just keep me in the loop.” Elizabeth nodded. “And thanks. I appreciate it.”

“You took a risk coming to me with this info about Manny. And—” Jason jerked a shoulder, looked away from her. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“Okay.” Go. Now. Elizabeth got to her feet. “I should go get Cam from Bobbie—”

“Wait—” He touched her elbow as he also stood. “Look, I just—about yesterday—”

She closed her eyes. “Can’t we just be done with all of that, Jason? I mean it. It’s been over for years. What does any of this matter anymore?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “I just—I don’t know. You were right. We shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Good, so—”

“But we did.”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, turned, and faced him with a lift of her chin. “We cleared the air. It doesn’t matter.” It couldn’t matter. She didn’t have time for it to matter.

“If it doesn’t matter,” Jason said, his voice dropping slightly, “then why is it so difficult to talk about it?”

Her stomach rolled as Elizabeth struggled to speak past the lump in her throat. “It’s not supposed to matter,’’ she said softly. She met his eyes. “What do you want me to say? What’s left?”

“I don’t know. I guess—” Jason hesitated. “I always thought you left because I couldn’t tell you what was going on. Or maybe you were tired of being shot at. I don’t know.”

“And you never asked.” She tilted her head. “Are you asking me now?”

“I—” Jason swallowed. He stepped a bit closer to her. “I guess I am.”

She sighed, looked away for a long moment. She should tell him no. That there had been a time and place when it would have been useful to have this conversation. He hadn’t asked back then, and she hadn’t really pushed him. And there was a reason they hadn’t done the work. There had to be.

But she didn’t tell him no. She looked at him, at those eyes that she had fallen in love with first, then sighed.

Because even though it was more than three years too late, even though she knew it was a mistake—

He was asking.

“It’s been so long since I let myself think of that time,” Elizabeth admitted. “I put it away. I had to. It was the only way I could breathe. By the time Emily asked why I had left, it was easier to tell her I left because of Courtney. But that just…that was just how I explained it to myself.”

She folded her arms, looked at him again. “I left because you lied to me. Because I thought—I still think—I deserved to know the truth about what you and Sonny were doing. I thought—after all the lies I had told for you—all the ways I had protected you—that I deserved that much. I always understood I couldn’t know everything. I don’t want to know everything, but I think—”

Elizabeth broke off, shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, finish it,” Jason said, his voice slightly hoarse. “What did you think?”

“I think—” She bit her lip. “I still think that when I—or anyone,” she added hastily, “step over to your side of the line, when I put my life in your hands, I should get to know things that put my life at risk.”

On a long slow breath, Jason exhaled, but he said nothing. Didn’t look away. So she continued.

“And Sonny faking his death put me at risk. It put Carly at risk. Because anyone could have come in to make trouble. That’s exactly what happened, wasn’t it? I thought you were out there, running everything, not coming home—to the penthouse,” she corrected, “and there were nights you didn’t come back, you didn’t call—I wondered if you were dead. If anyone would even remember to tell me.”

“Elizabeth—”

“And I thought—” A tear slid down her cheek. “That I had already sat through one relationship where I didn’t matter. Where I’d been patted on the head and lied to for my own good—and I just thought I deserved better. And I thought if you loved me, you wouldn’t do that to me. So I left.”

“I—” He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well…maybe if you’d asked me that question four years ago—” Elizabeth shrugged. “But you told me it had nothing to do with me. And I realized you were right. Because I wasn’t part of your life, and you’d made that clear. So I left. And when it didn’t seem to bother you, I told myself it was because of Courtney. Because you’d been falling in love with her, and that…I could live with that.”

She met his eyes as tears continued to slide down her cheeks. “But that’s not true. You can tell yourself that you loved me back then, but you didn’t trust me. Maybe you didn’t think I’d stick around, but it’s not like you gave me a reason to.”

“No,” Jason said finally. “I guess I didn’t.”

Elizabeth wiped at her cheeks. “Is that it? Any other questions you want me to answer? Can we finally be done with this?”

“No, there’s nothing else.” Jason cleared his throat. “You’re right. I didn’t think you’d stay. So when you left, I just…I expected it. I let it happen.”

“I get it. Maybe I even deserved it. After everything I did—”

“No—” Jason shook his head. “No. I just—it wasn’t about any of that. It was just—” He looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said again.

“Can we be done with this?” Elizabeth asked again. “There’s no point to drag this back up, Jason. We just—we made mistakes. And we hurt each other. It’s over. It’s been over for a long time. It’s time to stop. Thank you for looking out for me with Manny. But maybe when he’s not a threat anymore, we should go back to the way things were.”

“We can’t—” He hesitated. “We can’t be friends?”

“We’re not just friends,” Elizabeth told him, kindly but firmly. “And we haven’t been just friends in a long time, Jason. It hurts too much.”

“Okay.” Jason scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, it’s four years too late for any of this, but I’m sorry, too.”

“I should—I should get back to work.” But Jason waited a long moment before breaking eye contact as if she might say something else. Change her mind. But Elizabeth had made up her mind, so he left.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then sat back on the bench to collect her thoughts. It was better this way. If she was going to make her marriage work, if she was going to deal with Lucky and the life she’d built with him, she couldn’t have Jason around reminding her of all the chances she’d thrown away.

“I think you and I should have a chat.”

Elizabeth turned at the voice, then sighed as Sam came round the corner, with her brows lifted. “Sure, why not?” she murmured to the sky. “Just keep kicking me.”

---

Clearly, Elizabeth was unhappy with Sam’s presence, but Sam didn’t really care. She’d gone to the warehouse to talk to Jason, to try and get past this, but she’d seen him leave the warehouse and walk towards the pier. She’d wanted to catch up with him—had nearly called out after him—

Until she’d seen who he was meeting. So she’d ducked behind a corner to listen. Because she knew something was going on. And he was never going to tell her unless she had something to confront him with.

“So, what exactly were the two of you talking about yesterday?” Sam demanded. “That you shouldn’t have talked about?”

“If you have questions, then maybe you should have asked your fiance.” Elizabeth got to her feet. “He’s the one that owes you answers, not me—”

“Oh—not so fast.” Sam put out a hand to stop Elizabeth. “No, woman to woman, I’m asking you what the hell is going on. Because—” she grimaced. “You are not the type of woman to have an affair. Maybe if Jason were single, I could see it. But he’s not. I just can’t see you doing that to someone else.”

“We’re not—” Elizabeth bit off a protest. “Look, a long time ago, we were almost something. But we both ran from it. We both assumed we knew why the other ran. It might sound insane, but it’s just—I guess we never talked about it. It’s just closure, Sam—”

“Almost something,” Sam repeated. “Then why does it seem to be such a big deal now? It’s been years, Elizabeth. Why—” Her voice faltered. “Why can’t he seem to stop asking you? I heard you. You kept shutting him down—but he kept asking. Do you get it? He was desperate to understand what went wrong—”

“I—” Elizabeth hesitated. “Sam, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t live in Jason’s head.”

“But—”

“You should talk to him,” she repeated.

“I keep trying,” Sam admitted. She scowled. “But we just—it’s like we’re speaking different languages. We’re fighting all the time—ever since that stupid maternity test—” She grimaced. “Apparently, I have you to thank for making sure he told me at all.”

“He would have told you, Sam. He was just—he loves you,” Elizabeth told her. “And he just wanted to protect you. He was wrong. I told him that. But he just wanted to help—”

“I don’t need that kind of help. It should have been up to me—”

“Yeah, you’re right. But that’s not how it worked out. Look, if you and Jason are arguing all the time, that just—it can’t be my problem. And I can’t be someone—” Elizabeth huffed. “I’m not doing this. I deserve better than this from literally everyone. Go to talk to your fiance.”

“Why can he just pour his heart out to you and not me?” Sam demanded as Elizabeth pushed past her.

“Is that what you think he was doing?” Elizabeth demanded as she spun around to face Sam again. “Were you even listening? I broke open a vein because he needed to know why the hell I left. And he couldn’t even be bothered to tell me why he treated me that way! I begged him to stop asking—”

“Then why did you answer him? Why even have the conversation?” Sam shot back.

“Because…” Elizabeth shook her head. “Maybe I’m selfish. Maybe I needed to know why he couldn’t love me. Why is it so hard to love me? To treat me with some damn respect? Is that so much to ask? Don’t I deserve that?”

“I—” Sam blinked. Because now they were having a completely different conversation, and she was less comfortable now. “Yeah. Elizabeth—”

Tears slid down the other woman’s face as her voice broke. “But there’s no way Jason loved me. No one ever has. Not my parents. My family. Ric. Lucky—he can’t even bring himself to love my son much less me—” She broke off with a shuddering sob as she tilted her head to the sky. “I don’t know what you want from me, Sam.”

“I don’t either,” Sam admitted on a shaky breath. “I don’t know what I want from myself most of the time. I guess—maybe it didn’t sound to you like Jason was opening up, but that’s more than he’s talked to me in weeks. I’m jealous. I want him to look at me like that, and I don’t think he ever has.”

Elizabeth looked at Sam. “Then why are you still here?”

“I don’t know,” Sam repeated. “Why are you? If Lucky doesn’t love you or your son—”

“Where am I going to go?” Elizabeth murmured. Her hands fell to her side. “Because if I’m not Lucky’s wife, who am I? That’s all I’ve ever been. No one even gives a damn about me. I don’t ever get to come first.”

“Because being unhappy and miserable is somehow better than being alone,” Sam finished with a slow nod. “I’m sorry. I should…I should take this to Jason.” She bit her lip. “But you know, you’re right. I don’t think you and Jason can ever be just friends. And that’s not fair to the people you promised to love.”

“No, it’s not. So, I’m just—I’m going to go home to my son and put all of this behind me. I’m tired.”

This time, Sam let Elizabeth go. She didn’t understand any of this any better than she had before she’d confronted Elizabeth, but she knew that this wasn’t the end of it. Despite Elizabeth’s protest, Sam had a sinking feeling that the worst was still to come.

But I’m only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I’m only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
‘Cause I’m only human, yeah
– human, Christina Perri

---

Friday, March 31, 2006

Elm Street: Outside of the Brownstone

Elizabeth pulled her car to a stop in front of Bobbie’s house and just rested her forehead against the steering wheel for a moment. Instead of finishing paperwork at the end of her shift, maybe lingering for a few minutes to run downstairs and catch up with Nadine who had worked the same shift—

She was here, picking up her son.

Elizabeth had been standing in the nurse’s station, searching for a pen that wasn’t out of ink when Epiphany had given her a message from Bobbie. Not that it was an emergency or anything, Bobbie had told her, but that it was almost seven, and Lucky hadn’t picked up Cameron yet.

Elizabeth had stared at the words on the paper Epiphany handed her and fought the urge to crumble it into a ball, to fling it across the room. She’d asked him this one thing—one—thing—Bobbie was having dinner with Lucy and Kevin, who were only in town for a few days, and she’d needed Cameron picked up earlier than usual.

It shouldn’t have been an issue. Lucky didn’t have physical therapy that day, and Elizabeth had only asked Bobbie to watch Cameron because he’d said something about staying late at work. She’d wanted him to have that—to have that connection to the job he was so desperately trying to get back to—

But he’d forgotten. He hadn’t picked up Cameron. The one time all week she’d asked him to slightly adjust his own schedule—

She was trying so hard to keep things together, to put one foot in front of the other, but it just felt like the universe was against her this week. Manny and Skye, Sonny and Emily—and these insane conversations with Jason that felt like she was ripping her heart out and displaying it to him every time they spoke—

And what was the damn point? He was engaged. She was married. They’d both moved on. Why couldn’t he—why couldn’t she just let it go—

Elizabeth jumped as knuckles rapped sharply on her closed driver’s side window. She turned and blinked at Carly’s face, standing on the sidewalk, a hand on her hip. She rolled down the window. “Carly?”

“Mama was worried. Asked me to check on you.” Carly pursed her lips. “You okay?”

Elizabeth sighed, switched off the engine, then grabbed her purse before she got out of the car. “Yeah, I’m just tired. It was a long day at the hospital—”

“And you weren’t expecting to have to come over here to get Cameron, Mama said. Lucky was supposed to.”

Together they walked towards the front steps. Carly stopped her a moment before she reached for the doorknob. “Listen, you know, Mama has had Morgan a few times this week. My kid likes yours.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, Cam said something about it. I’m—” She hesitated. “I’m glad. I’m trying to get Cam into nursery school next year, and it’s good for him to be around kids his age. I know Morgan is a little older—”

“A few months, yeah, but they’re getting to the age where that doesn’t matter as much.” Carly folded her arms. “I don’t like you,” she declared.

“I’ve never been a fan of you either.”

“But,” Carly continued, even as she tossed Elizabeth a glare, “there aren’t many parents who…are eager to let their kids hang out with mine. Because of Sonny. I’ve tried…playdates. Michael has the same issue. I know—I know Lucky’s a cop and everything, but I was hoping that you might not be annoying.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find another reason to call me annoying,” Elizabeth said dryly. “But not about this. I don’t know why Lucky would care. He grew up hanging out with Sonny, so I really don’t want to hear his crap on this anyway.”

“Fair enough.” Carly pushed open the door, and Elizabeth had to smile as she saw Cameron running after Morgan, who was a bit taller and steadier on his feet. “They’re playing…I’m not sure, but they seem to know the rules. Mama is upstairs, getting dressed for dinner.”

“Oh, well—” Elizabeth watched her son as he laughed, tackled Morgan, and pumped his fist in the air. “I should get Cam home, I guess.”

“Yeah. Or you could wait a few minutes for Mama to come down and talk to you because she’ll just hunt you down otherwise. The boys can play.”

“Mommy!” Cameron ran towards her, hugged her legs. “You say hi to Morgan.” He grinned at Carly. “Hi, Car. I like cars.”

Carly pursed her lips, but her eyes twinkled. “Car-ly,” she said, and clearly it was not the first time she’d instructed Elizabeth’s son on the pronunciation of her name. “Morgan, do you remember Elizabeth?”

“Uh-huh.” Morgan, who looked like a miniature version of his father with dark hair, dark eyes, and a dimple flashing in his cheek. “Ice cream. You buy it for me.”

“That was last summer,” Elizabeth said when Carly frowned at her. “I saw Morgan and Michael in the park with Leticia. I was getting Cameron ice cream, and…” She shrugged. “I’m glad you remember me, Morgan. You’re so smart!”

He grinned. “Bestest and most handsomest, right, Mommy?” He looked to Carly. “Cam leave?”

“Not yet, kid. You guys keep playing. We’re going to wait in the kitchen for Grammy.”

Morgan and Cameron ran back towards their pile of toys as Elizabeth followed Carly into the kitchen. “Michael isn’t here?”

“He’s at basketball practice. I like that Morgan gets to have this time with my mother. A nanny is nice for me when I’m at work, but I want him—” Carly looked at Morgan, who was giggling maniacally. “I’m trying very hard for Morgan to have a more normal childhood than Michael. Michael spent a lot of time with nannies.”

“They’re great kids, Carly. You’re doing something right.”

Carly frowned at her. “Did you just compliment me?”

“I think we’re both getting too old to fight over nothing at all.” Elizabeth sat down at the table and stretched her arm over her neck. “How are the boys doing? After losing Courtney…and with…” She grimaced. “The tabloids.”

Carly rolled her eyes. “Oh, God, right? It’s like one thing after another. They’re…adjusting. Courtney was a big part of their lives, but Morgan’s younger. Courtney will fade for him. It’s not fair—she took care of him so much when he was born because I was…in the hospital. And he won’t remember her at all.” She rubbed her face. “Michael’s managing. He looks at pictures of her, and we talk about her when he brings it up.”

She managed a half-smile for Elizabeth. “Thank you, though. For asking. I feel like Sonny has completely forgotten Courtney. I feel like—” Carly took a long breath. “I feel like everyone has. Jax hasn’t, but it’s more about John for him. And I know Nikolas is grieving. But it’s just—life went on. And it sucks.”

“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said. “And I’m sorry if this thing with Sonny and Emily is creating more problems for the boys. Especially Michael. He’s in school, so I’m sure it comes up.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s been a real joy. You know—” Carly shook her head. “I knew something was going on with Sonny. Jason and I knew it weeks ago. He was ditching meetings with Jason, breaking promises to the boys—” She looked at Elizabeth. “Did you notice anything with Emily?”

“I did,” Elizabeth admitted. “She called out on a few shifts, and she’s—she broke a few promises to Cameron. I guess, with hindsight, we could see it coming. But I guess I thought she was over it.”

“And it’s still going on,” Carly said, disgusted. “Like, Sonny didn’t even stop to think how the way the news came out effects his kids—they don’t live with him, so he doesn’t have to feel it. A weekend here and there isn’t the same.” She grimaced. “Jason won’t talk about it, but I think he and Emily are fighting.”

Elizabeth hesitated, but she nodded. “Emily told me she’d been…” She bit her lip. “Well, you know how sometimes people who feel defensive go on the attack?”

“Know it? It’s pretty much my entire philosophy on life.” Carly wiggled her shoulders. “So Emily’s lashing out. At Jason?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth admitted. “And—well, everyone. She thought Jason and I might come around on the whole Sonny thing, so when we didn’t both…I don’t know—I guess when we weren’t on board, she just—” She shook her head. “Anyway. It’s not been fun. She screams at Jason and Sam—they’ve both thrown her out. Then she comes to work, screams at me—”

“Jason threw her out? Huh.” Carly pursed her lips. “I’ve been bugging him about this. Trying to make him—I don’t know—fix it. But that’s not fair. I know that. I tell him all the time he shouldn’t spend his life cleaning up after Sonny and me, but I guess old habits are hard to break. When my boys are hurting, I can’t ask Sonny to help. He won’t. But I know Jason will.”

“No, but I get it. When things are wrong, and you can’t fix it yourself, Jason—” Elizabeth closed her mouth as Carly merely arched a brow.

“Jason, what?” she prompted when Elizabeth didn’t continue.

“Sometimes, you forget that Jason can’t fix everything,” Elizabeth said quietly.

Carly tipped her head to the side, squinted at her, but clearly decided to let it go. “No, I guess not. Well, hopefully, this Sonny and Emily crap will run its course before we all lose our damn mind.”

“Carly? Elizabeth?” Bobbie’s voice from the foyer drifted back towards them.

“We’re in here, Mama!” Carly called. “I’m just having a pleasant conversation with Elizabeth, so you might want to mark down this date.”

“And it’s not even my birthday,” Bobbie said with a grin as she came into the kitchen. She kissed her daughter’s cheek, then Elizabeth’s.

“I should get going,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve been on my feet all day, and I want to get Cameron down to sleep soon.” She looked to Carly. “You should—you should call me. We’ll set up a playdate for Morgan and Cameron.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks.”

Elm Street Pier

Jason sat on the bench on the pier, stretched out his legs, then looked out past Bannister’s Wharf, towards the cluster of buildings where he knew Elizabeth’s apartment was located.

The apartment she shared with her husband and son.

I loved you, too.

He exhaled slowly. He wasn’t entirely sure why his thoughts were drifting to her more and more these days. He’d been able to go entire weeks without thinking about Elizabeth. But asking her to run that maternity test for him had been a mistake in more ways than one.

Because now it’s worse.

I loved you, too.

He heard the footsteps before he saw the man, and it gave Jason a chance to get to his feet before Lorenzo Alcazar reached the bottom of the stairs.

The two men eyed each other uneasily. There was a mutual loathing, to be sure, but at the moment, Jason had no problem with Alcazar.

“I was surprised to get your request for a meeting,” Lorenzo said with an arch of his brow. “Until I spoke with Skye last night.” The older man cast his dark eyes to the side before meeting Jason’s gaze. “I owe your friend Elizabeth a debt of gratitude. For looking out for Skye.”

“So, you already know.”

“I do, and I suppose…I had offered Skye a guard, but she didn’t want one.” Lorenzo managed a half-smile, a bit pained. “I should have pressed her more. But she agreed to one last night, and she agreed to move to Miami a little early. She’d hoped to have the baby here, with her family, but…” He shrugged.

“Miami—” Jason frowned. “So you’re taking over the Ruiz territory.” He’d wondered why Alcazar had been laying so low these days, but it made sense—

“It’s there, and…there’s no room to expand here in Port Charles. Not without a lot of trouble.” Lorenzo waited a long moment. “I’m concerned, though, about Elizabeth Spencer. If Skye told me her story correctly, Elizabeth…put herself in the line of fire. Can I offer any protection for her? A guard—”

“I’m taking care of that.”

“I see.” Lorenzo paused and looked at him for a long moment. “Well, until next we meet, Morgan.” Lorenzo offered him a nod before going back up the stairs.

Jason exhaled his first easy breath as the other man disappeared behind a corner. Lorenzo Alcazar had never been a serious threat—he’d never had the connections. He’d been in a thorn in their side since the beginning thanks to Carly and her lingering affection for him.

He’d be gone now—but he was right. Without Alcazar or Skye to focus on, Manny would either follow them to Miami—

Or stay here for his revenge.

If Manny blamed Elizabeth for Skye’s disappearance…

He took out his phone and called Cody. “Hey—do you—do you have eyes on Elizabeth—No, I don’t want to know where she is. That’s—she’s okay? Okay. Yeah, you’re just—if she’s in danger. Manny might be targeting her. Okay.”

He hung up but still didn’t feel better. He needed to get rid of Manny Ruiz sooner rather than later.

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Living Room

Elizabeth set Cameron down on the floor and watched as the toddler made a beeline for his toybox. She put her hands on her hips and glared at her husband, sprawled out on the sofa, watching the television with a glazed look in his eyes.

“Did you forget something?” she demanded.

Lucky blinked, looked at her for a long moment as if he couldn’t quite focus. “What? What did I forget?”

“Bobbie couldn’t keep Cameron until I was done my shift. You were supposed to pick him up at six—”

“Oh.” Still not seeming to engage in the conversation, Lucky cleared his throat. “Wait. What day is it?”

Frowning now, Elizabeth sat next to him, put a hand to his cheek. “Are you okay? You look sick—”

He slapped her hands away. “I’m fine. Leave me alone—”

“What’s wrong with you?” Elizabeth demanded. “You forgot Cameron, you didn’t come home last night—”

“I crashed at the club. I was with my Dad, and you didn’t really seem to need me.” Lucky shrugged. Closed his eyes. “Therapy’s been taking a lot out of me. Double sessions.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’m sorry. I forgot Bobbie couldn’t keep him.” Lucky looked at her. “Did you have to leave work early?”

“Yeah, almost a half-hour. Not only did I lose that money, Lucky, but I also have a ton of paperwork I still have to do at the start of the next shift. You know that. Bobbie is doing us—me—a huge favor by taking him so much. I just—I asked you for one thing, Lucky. One. And you couldn’t manage that.”

He just stared at her without saying anything. Exhausted, Elizabeth shook her head and got to her feet. She went into the kitchen and started to pull together a meal for Cameron’s dinner. “I’m so tired,” she murmured. “And you don’t even seem to care.”

“I do care, but I can’t…I’m sorry,” Lucky repeated. But he didn’t get up. Didn’t even take his eyes off the television.

She let the subject drop because what would continuing the argument change? He didn’t care he’d cost her money, time and energy—that he’d proven, again, how much Cameron didn’t matter to him. She wanted to believe that it would be okay when Lucky went back to work—

But would it?

She stared at the fridge, at the photograph she’d pinned with a magnet of her wedding day. Of her and Lucky. That moment in time when she’d thought everything was perfect. Elizabeth put her hand on her own face, tracing the smile.

If it wasn’t for her son, Elizabeth wasn’t sure the last time she could remember smiling.

With her brain not occupied with her job, with being irritated with Lucky, it drifted back to the previous day.

She’d gone back to work after leaving the warehouse, but she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that terrible conversation she’d shared with Jason—of that moment he’d looked at her and told her—

“It means I loved you.”

God. He’d really thought it’d be better if they cleared the air? She’d rather go back to thinking that he’d loved Courtney. At least then she could blame someone else.

How was she ever going to face him? She couldn’t even get his voice out of her head.

It means I loved you.

I loved you.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. “No point in thinking about it,” she reminded herself. It was over. She’d gone on with her life. She had her precious little boy and—

She looked out into the living room where her husband was sitting, She had her marriage. And Jason hadn’t exactly pined away for her either. He’d married another woman. Was engaged to a second one.

They’d both ended up where they were supposed to be, and it was no good to think about the road they hadn’t taken. It was just…she was tired. And things were hard with Lucky right now. She just needed to get through the next few weeks—

It means I loved you.

Elizabeth huffed. How many damn times she was going to have to tell herself to let this go? “I need to have my head examined,” she muttered as she set Cameron’s dinner on the table. “Cameron, come eat dinner!”

I loved you.

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

Sam was packing a duffel bag when Jason came upstairs later that afternoon. He frowned at the clothes strewn across the bed. “So, I guess you’re going.”

“Oh, he speaks.” Sam raised her brows. She shrugged, then shoved a pair of jeans into the bag. “Yeah, I’m going to Florida. The job is starting sometime next week, but…” She sighed. “I need a few more things in the guest room.”

She eyed him when he said nothing. “You know, where I’ve been sleeping for the last week.”

Jason nodded. “I know. You were mad after that fight with Sonny. About how I handled it. I didn’t know what to say to you. It felt like I was always making it worse—”

“So, what—you decided to just let it go? Hope I calmed down—”

Jason winced because yeah, that was pretty much how he’d decided to handle it, but now he could see now it was a mistake. “Sam—”

“Didn’t it bother you that I was angry?” Sam demanded. “That I was upset enough to move out of our bedroom for a week?”

Jason exhaled slowly. The answer was no, it hadn’t bothered him. He knew he handled things badly, but he’d been irritated with Sam about the way she’d spoken to Elizabeth, and yeah, the fact that she’d decided to go back to being a con artist—

“Sam—”

Sam growled and turned on him. “Let’s get this straight. I am pissed at you. You don’t get to be mad at me because I’m pulling a job. You forced my mother down my throat, you let your sister attack me, you’re calling me a mess to clean up, and you’re…I don’t know…up to something with your ex-girlfriend—” She stabbed a finger in his direction. “So just remember you’re the asshole, not me—”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Some of that is true,” he admitted. “I made a mistake with the DNA test, and I’ve apologized for that. I didn’t let Emily attack you—”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure—”

“She’s not allowed upstairs without permission from now on. I threw her out the first day, you threw her out the second day.” He shook his head. “I never called you a mess I had to clean up—”

“I know what I heard—”

“You know what Sonny said to you. I never said it.” He shook his head. “You know, I don’t know what to tell you, Sam. You’re mad at me for a lot of things that aren’t my fault—”

“What about Elizabeth?” Sam threw back at him. “You’re going to tell me I don’t have a reason to be mad at you about that?”

“I told you. Elizabeth has been passing me info about Manny Ruiz from the hospital—”

“Oh, sure—”

“And yesterday, she had something important I needed to know. She knew Skye was in danger, that Manny had something planned.” He grimaced. “And you wasted her time and mine by refusing to tell her where I was.”

Sam lifted her chin, her eyes a bit defiant. “She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself. And she had no problem ratting me out. What, did she come over to cry on your shoulder?” She rolled her eyes and returned to her packing.

Jason was surprised when he felt his hands fist at his side. “She’s never done anything to you. You’re angry at her about the maternity test, but she never would have run it if I told her it was for you. You’re angry at Emily, at Sonny—fine. Take it out on me. On them. But leave her out of it—”

“You don’t even hear yourself, do you?” Sam shook her head. “You know, I don’t get it. If the two of you were so obsessed with each other, why the hell did you leave her? Was she bad in bed or something?”

“I—” Jason’s voice faltered. He looked at this woman he’d asked to marry him, who just weeks ago, he would have told anyone was the love of his life. The woman who understood him. And it was like she was a stranger. “That’s not fair. And you know it.”

Sam squeezed her eyes shut, clenching a t-shirt in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said finally. “I know you’re right. I know that—I know that you didn’t do anything. I just—it’s like I don’t even know who I am. I thought I did. I thought I had things figured out, but I don’t. And you and I—”

She looked at him, her dark eyes wet with tears. “We just can’t talk. I keep trying, and I know you’re trying. But everything we say to each other—it just feels wrong.”

Sam sucked in a shaky breath. “And then there’s this woman who’s important to you, and I didn’t even know that. I should have known that. I know about Carly and Robin, I know about Courtney. But it’s like…either she didn’t matter enough to talk about, or she mattered too much. And she’s back in your life, and you talk to her. And she gets you. I don’t get you anymore. Do you know what it’s like to watch you with her, to listen to you talk about her?”

Jason said nothing as Sam shook her head. “Why can’t you just be honest with me?”

“What am I supposed to say?” Jason asked in a dull voice. He didn’t want to have this conversation. He didn’t want to talk about Elizabeth at all, and he certainly didn’t want to get into it with Sam.

Not after the warehouse.

Because now it’s worse.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Elizabeth freaking Spencer? Did she matter too much, or did she mean nothing?”

Because I loved you, too.

He didn’t think there was an answer that would make her feel better, so Jason went with the truth. “She mattered too much,” he said finally. “It was easier not to think about her. So I didn’t.”

And we threw it away.

She waited, maybe to see if he’d say something else But he didn’t. So she nodded. “Thank you for not lying,” Sam said finally. She put a toiletry bag into her bag, then zipped it. “Are you sorry?”

Jason frowned. “For…what?”

“That it’s not her in this penthouse? That you didn’t marry her? Have a kid with her? Are you sorry that it’s me and not her standing in front of you?”

Jason scowled. “That’s—that’s not a fair question.”

“Maybe, but it’s a simple one. Yes or no. And you didn’t answer it. So maybe while I’m gone next week, you can figure out why—”

“Sam—” Jason stopped her by putting an arm on her hand. “Don’t do this, okay? Let’s just—” He took a deep breath because she’d—she’d been right. He hadn’t been fair to her or given her any real space to deal with any of this. “Just—let’s just talk. Okay? You’re right. We’re not talking.”

Sam’s mouth curved into a smirk. “You want to talk? Now? When you’ve made it clear how you feel about me doing this job?”

“I want to talk about why you don’t trust me—”

“I trust you,” Sam told him. “Hell, I even trust Elizabeth Spencer. But I don’t trust me. I’m going to ruin this, Jason. I ruin everything.”

“Sam—”

“But sure.” She set the bag down. “Sure. Let’s trying talking again.” Sam tilted her head to the side, let her hand slide down his t-shirt. “Or maybe we shouldn’t talk at all.”

Jason hesitated, just a moment, and her eyes hardened. She snatched up the bag and stalked out of the room. “Sam—”

“You had your chance,” she told him flatly as she walked into a guest room, tossed the bag on the bed. She put her hand on the door. “You don’t want me, fine. We can co-exist until I leave on Tuesday.”

“Sam, I never said—”

“Maybe I don’t want you,” she snarled, curling her hand around the edge of the door like a claw. “When I know you won’t be thinking of me when you’re screwing me. You know, maybe if you get drunk enough, you could even pretend—”

“Shut up,” Jason snapped, and Sam’s smirk only deepened—even as her dark eyes were wild with hurt and rejection. He hadn’t meant to do that—hadn’t wanted to hurt her at all. He just didn’t think jumping into bed was going to fix anything—

But now, as she slammed the door in his face, he didn’t know if what was wrong could be fixed. Or if even he even wanted it to be.

Monday, April 3, 2006

Lucky & Elizabeth’s Apartment: Bathroom

Elizabeth enjoyed having days off during the week — Lucky was gone all day, she could take Cameron with her to run errands and get some snuggle time with him. He was racing towards his second birthday, and next year, if she could get him into a nursery program, he’d be in school. Before she knew it, he’d be grown up.

But for right now, he was her whole world, and she was determined to make up for the haphazard treatment from his stepfather. “It’ll be different,” she told her reflection in the mirror. “When he gets back to work.”

And she wasn’t going to let herself think about what would happen if Lucky’s test next Friday didn’t come back more positively—if he didn’t make it back on active duty. That wasn’t something she could allow for.

She left the bathroom, walked through Cameron’s room, and into the living room where Cameron was constructing a Lego tower. “You ready to go to the bank, Cam?”

“No, want to stay and play.” Cameron furrowed his brow. “Stay here.”

“Mommy has things to do—” Elizabeth winced as her cell phone rang. She went over to her purse, hoping Epiphany wasn’t going to call her in. She didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID but answered it anyway. “Hello?”

“Hello? Elizabeth? It’s Skye.”

Elizabeth exhaled on a breath of relief. “Oh, hey. Skye. I was thinking about you the other day—”

“I just wanted to get in touch with you—I didn’t want you to worry when you didn’t see me around.” Skye waited a moment. “Thank you for telling me about Manny, and for encouraging me to tell Lorenzo. Jason got in touch with him and told him his own concerns, so I’m glad I was in front of it.”

“I’m just sorry I waited so long—”

“It’s all right, really. I’m safe. Lorenzo and I were planning to move to Miami later this year anyway. For a fresh start with our baby. We just decided to move it up several months. Thank you again for taking the time and—” Skye hesitated. “The risk. I’m worried about you, about what happened last week—”

“Don’t worry,” Elizabeth said.

“Lorenzo told me he’d offered Jason protection for you, but Jason assured him it was being handled. I supposed I just wanted to make sure—”

“I have a guard,” Elizabeth said with a wrinkle of her nose. She’d mostly been able to forget that. Cody followed her in his car and hung around the hospital, but she hadn’t really seen him other than that. “So don’t worry about me. Manny might still follow you to Miami.”

“Yes, well, I’ve taken your advice.” Skye’s end of the line fell silent. “All of it. I thought about the life I was choosing and whether it was one that I really wanted for me. For my daughter. Thank you. For taking the time to open up to me like that. I won’t forget it.”

“I’m glad I could help—”

“And I suppose I just wanted to—” Skye paused. “I don’t know. I wish there was something I could do in return. Something I could say that would mean as much. I just—I’m glad I made the choice. That I thought about it. I don’t want Lorenzo and our family to be one—not taking the chance to be something I regret.”

“I’m glad,” Elizabeth repeated. Her throat swelled. “Life is too short,” she managed, “for those kinds of regrets.”

“It is. Thank you again for taking the chance and helping me. If you ever need anything, you only have to ask.”

Kelly’s: Parking Lot

Jason swung his leg over his bike, adjusting the kickstand so that it stayed upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark sedan pull into another parking spot, on the other side, two down from his spot.

The same sedan he’d seen at the warehouse. And parked outside the Towers when he’d left the parking garage that morning.

Jason exhaled slowly and walked towards the diner. Instead of going through the courtyard, he headed for the alley behind the building. He quickened his pace—just slightly—so that it wasn’t noticed but so that he could gain a few extra seconds.

Once he was in the alley, he ducked down behind the dumpster—and waited.

Until he heard footsteps. They stopped halfway down the alley, just feet away from him—as if the person following him wasn’t sure if he’d simply lost Jason or if he’d gone inside the restaurant using the back door.

Jason frowned, realizing he knew the man—

And when his pursuer was only two or three feet away, Jason shot out of hiding, the momentum of his movement propelling him across the alley as he crashed into the man and shoved him against the brick back wall of Kelly’s.

“Why the hell are you following me?” he demanded, as he shook the guard. He narrowed his eyes.

“Uh—uh—” Jimmy, one of the younger guards hired in the last six months—looked back and forth, his eyes bulging as Jason cut off the air to his windpipe. “Orders.”

Jason released the pressure slightly, stepping back. “Whose?” he demanded.

“Mr. Corinthos—”

Jason let Jimmy crash to the ground as the younger man rolled onto all fours, gasping for air. “How long?”

“Just since Saturday.” Jimmy looked up at him, his face white. “I’m sorry—”

“Tell Francis you need to go through the training again. I made you five minutes after you started following me. You need to change cars—” Disgusted, Jason shook his head. “Do you know why I didn’t kick your ass five hours ago?”

“Uh—”

“Because—” Jason leaned down. “I wanted you to think I was going about my day so that I could ambush you. If I’d been anyone else, you’d be dead right now. You get it?”

“Yeah—yeah—”

“Go back to Francis.”

And then Jason stalked back down the alley, back towards his bike. He had someone to see.

Maybe I’ve been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
– Hallelujah, Rufus Wainwright

---

Thursday, March 30, 2006

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

Elizabeth’s smile was quick and warm as Skye stepped up to her at the nurse’s station. “This is starting to be a regular occurrence,” she teased the other woman. “Are you following me?”

“Of course,” Skye said with a laugh as she put a hand on the strap of her purse, holding it to her shoulder. “I’ve decided my approach to motherhood is just to find the best one and follow her around.”

“Hardly the best,” Elizabeth replied as her cheeks flushed. “Are you looking for Alan again?”

“No, today, I’m actually on my way to an appointment with my OB, Kelly Lee. Do you know her? She just took over for Dr. Meadows.”

“I do. She’s the absolute best. You’re in good hands.” Elizabeth frowned. “But you’re on the wrong floor. She’s on the fourth—”

“Oh, I know that, but I know you work up here, and I just…” Skye sighed. “I felt a bit…I don’t know…guilty about all those personal questions I asked you at Kelly’s. It really wasn’t any of my business—”

It hadn’t been, but… “And if I hadn’t wanted to answer them, I wouldn’t have. It’s really okay, Skye.” Elizabeth grimaced. “Unfortunately, it’s something I’ve been dealing with all week, so really — it’s fine.”

“Is everything okay?” Skye asked, lifting her brows. “Is it about Emily? You know the mansion is in an uproar over her relationship with Sonny. I offered my support, but she didn’t seem particularly interested. I know she’s arguing with Jason. She keeps telling everyone that no one is on her side, not even Sonny’s best friend.”

“Yeah, she’s been having some pretty vicious fights with…well, everyone.” Elizabeth shook her head. “You know the Quartermaines and how they fight.”

“Yeah, they stick together like glue except when they’re attacking each other. I’ve never seen a family more vicious. It’s like…” Skye shook her head with a rueful smile. “It’s like a game they play. How can I hurt this person as much as I’m hurting? And double points if you make them cry or storm out.”

“Yeah, well, Emily might be adopted, but she’s a pro.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Anyway. You had questions, Skye. I’m just sorry I couldn’t answer them—”

“No, you did. More than you realize. You made me…” Skye hesitated. “You know, it starts out like this…secret. This moment you share with someone else that you never would have pictured in your life. And you make this connection.” She bit her lip. “But then…something happens, and you’re forced to confront all the other parts of their life.”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth looked at Skye, clenching the pen more tightly in her hand. “That’s usually how it starts. By the time you remember what they do…”

“You’re already hooked.” Skye tipped her head. “But you were right, you know. That I had to think about whether I really accepted Lorenzo and his life. That I couldn’t pretend who he was wasn’t related to what he does for a living. I don’t think I’d thought about it that way before.”

“So, what did you decide?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’m not sure I have made a decision, to be honest. I know that the world isn’t simple,” Skye told her. “That things are never…all one thing or another. I do know that Lorenzo is a good man who didn’t…entirely pick this life. I know he’s tried to live another life. But this is who he was when I met him. It’s not fair to hold it against him now.”

“No, but it would be fair to decide not to make it your life,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I’m sure he is a good man. I know he was kind to Carly at a time he needed her. But I also know some of the damage he’s tried to do. I mean…”

“He’s the reason the Ruiz family came to Port Charles,” Skye finished. “I didn’t know you knew that.”

“I—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Look…I think you should know, and maybe I should have told you—but the last two times we’ve talked, I’ve seen Manny Ruiz hanging around you.”

Skye straightened, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “You have?”

“I tried to tell Lucky, but—the cops just can’t do anything.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “So I told Jason. And…we talked about…well, anyway, you should be careful. And you should tell Lorenzo. You really should have a guard.”

“Yeah, I…” Skye exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I can…” She frowned. “You told Jason? Really?”

“I didn’t know if he’d do anything,” Elizabeth lied. It felt better than telling her that Sonny and Jason hadn’t felt like she was important enough to protect. “I felt better knowing he…was involved. I’m sorry—I should have said something—”

“No, no, I understand. And I appreciate the concern. You’re right. I should tell Lorenzo. I will.” Skye hesitated. “You said before…that I…had the right to decide that this doesn’t have to be my life.”

“This thing with Manny? It won’t be the last time someone tries to hurt you to get at Lorenzo. It doesn’t happen often, but there will always be someone who will go after you. And maybe even your child.”

Skye pressed her hand to her abdomen, some of her color sliding from her already pale face. “So I should…leave him?”

Elizabeth hesitated. “Plenty of people will tell you to do that. I won’t. It’s your life, Skye, and it’s your family. Whatever you decide to do, don’t… don’t let it be someone else’s choice.”

Skye slowly nodded. “You really did love him, didn’t you?” she murmured.

Elizabeth stared at her for a long moment. “Why do you say that?”

“Because you’re just…so nonchalant about all of this. You’ve lived through this, and it…it doesn’t faze you. You were—you said you were kidnapped. Shot at. Nearly blown up.”

“I—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Yeah. I really loved him. I accepted everything. And I would have—” Done whatever she needed to do to be in his life. To be a part of it. “But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“No, I guess not.” Skye sighed. “Thank you, Elizabeth. I appreciate the time you’ve given me. The advice. I should get to my appointment—”

She turned and stopped suddenly as the janitor’s cart came around the corner, pushed by Manny Ruiz. The custodian smiled as he looked at the two of them. “Well, hello, pretty ladies.”

Skye just stared at him while Elizabeth picked up a pair of scissors that were lying on the hub counter, then let her hand fall to her side. “Manny. I thought you were on the Pediatrics floor today.”

“You know my schedule. I’m touched.” Manny pressed a hand to his chest with another smile. It might have been charming on another man, but his eyes were as cold as a shark’s. “What do such pretty ladies have to talk about?”

“Skye, why don’t you get going?” Elizabeth told her. “As long as Manny is up here, he can help me.” Her pulse racing as she locked eyes with the amused psycho. “We-we need a clean up in one of the post-op cubicles.”

“Anything for such a lovely face. You know, Elizabeth, you’re always so sweet to me. Smiling when we see each other.” Manny’s smile deepened. “It’d be nice if everyone was as polite as you.”

“Skye, you don’t want to be late.”

“No,” Skye breathed. “No, I don’t.” She turned and stalked towards the elevators. She jabbed the button.

“Manny, I’ll show you where we need you,” Elizabeth said. She picked up a file with her free hand, then brought it to her chest, managing to slip the scissors inside.

Just in case.

Courtland Street: Alley

Santiago smirked as he sauntered towards their meeting spot. “Again? My friend, I think you have a problem.”

Lucky scowled and shoved his hand into his pocket for his wallet, drawing out the last of the cash he’d earned after pawning his wedding ring. He was right — Elizabeth was working so much and so tired all the time—she hadn’t even noticed the absence of his wedding ring.

He hated how hard she had to work and told himself everything he was doing right now was so she wouldn’t have to do that anymore. She deserved better from him. As soon as he got back to work, he’d make it up to her.

He’d even finally accept Nikolas’s offer for a second honeymoon—a real honeymoon. Wherever she wanted.

“You screwed me the last time,” Lucky shot back. “You were supposed to give me twenty pills. There’s no way you gave me enough.”

Santiago’s brows shot up. “I did give you twenty pills, mi amigo. You got a problem,” he repeated, then shrugged. “But it’s profitable to me, so whatever.” He held out his hand. “Pay up—”

Lucky blinked. Had he really gone through twenty pills in four days? Damn it. “I’ve been doubling up on my therapy sessions,” he muttered as he slapped the five twenties into Santiago’s hand. “I got a week to pass my physical and get back to work.”

“Sure, sure. Until then, maybe you want something stronger?” Santiago prompted. He dipped down into a crate just behind a cluster of trash cans, then drew out a cardboard tube that looked like a toilet paper roll.

Lucky knew what it was immediately from his patrol days. “Fuck that. I’m not a drug addict. I don’t need to smoke that shit.”

“You sure? You don’t wanna chase the dragon?” Santiago shrugged. “You’re a good customer. I’d give you this one for free.” He pushed it towards Lucky. “You said you wanted the pain to go away.”

“I am not a drug addict,” Lucky repeated. He held out his hand. “There’s an asshole doctor who refuses to give me a prescription any other doctor would give me. He probably wants to screw my wife.”

“Yeah, she’s the pretty nurse, right?” Santiago grinned, a gold tooth flashing. “I can see why he’d want to dick you over. You get back to work, buy the pretty lady something nice.”

Lucky stared at the cardboard tube. He knew it was wrong. He knew all the reasons why he should walk away. Shouldn’t even take the pills Santiago was selling him.

It was one thing to justify the pain pills he was buying. He had a right to that relief—the asshole Drake was denying him treatment—but if he smoked the heroin…

He was a week away from his final deadline—April 7, Mac had made it clear. And the pain still wasn’t going away. He’d doubled up on the therapy, but he couldn’t always get through the second session. He’d seen guys get stabbed high on heroin and not feel a thing.

He just…he wanted to feel that way once. For the first time in five months—not to feel any pain—God, wasn’t it worth the try?

He’d do anything to make the pain stop.

“You’d spot me this once?” Lucky said, finally.

“Sure.” Santiago gave it to him. “Try it before you go. Just to make sure.” He took out a lighter, then flicked the igniter, his face lighting up in the shadows of the alley. “What do you say?”

Morgan Penthouse: Hallway

Elizabeth tapped her foot as she waited for the door to open. It had been an excruciating ten minutes spent with Manny Ruiz as the custodian had cleaned up the mess she hadn’t been lying about. She didn’t need to stay with him, but if he was with her—he wasn’t with Skye.

But Manny made her skin crawl, and she was worried that she’d made this worse—that she’d done exactly what Jason had told her not to do. She’d made Manny look at her, and not Skye.

Jason was going to kill her.

She’d debated for exactly thirty seconds whether or not she should tell Jason about the whole thing. They hadn’t spoken or seen each other since that incredibly awkward and painful conversation on the docks the week before, and Elizabeth was really hoping to keep that streak going.

But then she’d remembered Jason making it very clear that she was not to get involved or bring attention to herself with Manny. She was pretty sure that standing in a room alone with him for ten minutes while Manny’s target got away was the definition of getting involved.

So she’d told Epiphany everything, and her supervisor had practically ordered her to call him. When Jason didn’t answer his cell phone or get back to her within twenty minutes, Epiphany had sent Elizabeth to find him, promising to cover for her.

Epiphany didn’t like her son’s line of work, but she liked Manny Ruiz even less after being held hostage by him in the operating room. Jason and Sonny were the only people that might be able to keep them safe. Epiphany was a practical woman.

Elizabeth sighed in relief when Sam opened the door. “Hey. I’m so sorry to just show up like this—”

“How did you get up here?” Sam demanded. She didn’t open the door any wider, and Elizabeth blinked at her harsh tone. “We’re just letting cop’s wives have the run of the place?”

“I—” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “I don’t know. I guess…they never…revoked my access.”

“Oh, right, from when you lived with Jason. Yeah, I heard all about it from his sister. Funny, you never told me that. Jason didn’t, either.” Sam arched her brows. “You here to plead Emily’s case? Make me see that I should be nicer to her?”

“No, I actually—I haven’t talked to Emily since…” Elizabeth frowned. “Sam, I’m sorry. I’m not exactly sure why you’re so angry with me.”

“Because it’s like playing fucking Whack-a-Mole. I’ve gone my entire life in Port Charles not having to know you, and now I can’t get rid of you,” Sam shot back. “I get it. You used to date my fiance. You don’t anymore, so why the hell are you still around?”

“Uh…” Elizabeth blinked, then remembered that she’d run the maternity test for Jason on Sam’s behalf. Maybe Sam was just mad that she’d done that for him—or—

Sam had looked pretty irritated when she’d found her and Jason talking on the pier the week before. But Elizabeth really didn’t get it.

“Um, listen, I just…I need to talk to Jason, okay? Whatever fight you two are having has nothing to do with me, okay?” Elizabeth held up her hands in mock surrender. “I’m just—he wasn’t answering his phone.”

“Maybe you should buy a clue then and stop chasing after him. God, you’re married to a cop.” Sam narrowed her eyes. “What, he’s not satisfying you? You couldn’t make Jason happy before. So, why are you bothering him now?”

“I’m—” Stung, Elizabeth took a step back. “I’m gonna go.”

“You do that. And while you’re at it, don’t come back.” Sam slammed the door, the sound of the heavy oak hidden the frame like a jolt Elizabeth felt down to her bones.

What. The. Hell.

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut. You couldn’t make Jason happy before. Jesus Christ, did everyone know?

“That’s not important,” she muttered as she went back to the elevator. She just—she just wanted to talk to Jason about Skye. And Manny. And once Manny Ruiz was out of their lives for good, she’d go back to ignoring Jason’s existence.

And maybe this time, she’d be able to forget him for good.

Warehouse: Jason’s Office

Cody Paul, one of the guards assigned to the offices, knocked on Jason’s ajar door. “Hey, Elizabeth Webber is here to see you.”

Jason frowned, got to his feet, then took his phone out of his pocket, then winced. He had two missed calls from her — and one from Sam. “Did something happen? Is she okay? Let her in,” he added before Cody could answer either of the first two questions.

“Nothing happened that I know of,” Cody said as he gestured with a free hand towards the outside office. “He’ll see you now, Miss Webber.”

“Thanks.” Elizabeth strode in, dressed in a pair of pink scrubs, a white jacket hanging open over them. She had a white knit hat clenched in her hands, twisting it back and forth. “I’m sorry to just show up like this, but—”

“You tried to call,” he finished. “I’m sorry. I had—I had some things to do, and I—” Had been ignoring his calls, not wanting to talk to Sam. Or anyone else. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. We get busy. I, um,” Elizabeth bit her lip, pausing. Their eyes met, then she looked away, her cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a lot of time. Epiphany is covering my shift, and I—I think I did that thing you told me not to do, and I’m sorry.”

Jason frowned again. He hadn’t expected to see her again, not after their last conversation on the docks. If she was here now—

He rounded the desk and took the hat from her, setting it on the desk. “Sit down. What’s going on?”

With a heavy sigh, Elizabeth set her purse and coat down on the sofa but didn’t take a seat. “I was talking to Skye at the hospital—she had an appointment and came up to…talk to me about something. Just—that part isn’t important,” she said quickly. “We were talking for a few minutes, and when she turned to go, she ran right into Manny. We didn’t even see him coming—he had to be just around a corner or something.”

“Okay,” Jason said slowly. He put his hands at his waist and squinted, not really sure how this was making anything worse. “And then what?”

“And then I was afraid if Skye went downstairs to her appointment, Manny would follow her. I told him I had something for him to do. So he had to come to clean a room. And I stayed with him until he was done, until I was sure Skye was at her appointment. And then I called Alan to make sure he’d be there to walk her out.”

Jason stared at her for a long moment. “What do you mean exactly by you stayed with Manny until he was done?”

“I mean, I stood in the room to make sure he did it.”

“You were alone with him.”

“Um…” Elizabeth bit her lip again and slide her gaze away. “For…a few minutes. Yes.”

He closed his eyes. “What was the one thing I asked you not to do?”

“Not to get involved, but in my defense, I also told you that I wasn’t going to sit by and let someone get hurt—”

“Elizabeth—”

“And I was fine. I took scissors with me. I hid them, so he didn’t know I had them. But I was armed—”

“With a pair of scissors,” Jason muttered. He stalked forward and yanked open the door. “Cody!”

“Yeah, boss?”

“You’re on Elizabeth until further notice.”

“Um…” Cody glanced at the irritated brunette behind Jason. “Okay.”

“That is entirely unnecessary,” Elizabeth told him as Jason turned back to her and closed the door. “I don’t need a guard—”

“It was bad enough when we thought maybe he was letting you see him on purpose. But you made a point to separate him from Skye. You put yourself between him and Skye. That kind of thing pisses him off.”

“Which is why I’m here telling you. And I also told Skye that he was following her. That she should tell Alcazar.” Elizabeth scowled. “And why doesn’t he already have a guard on her? She’s pregnant! What kind of mobster is he?”

Jason’s irritation only deepened. “Elizabeth—”

“Oh, I’m not supposed to say that out loud, I guess. Sorry. What does he pretend he really does? You’re coffee importers. What’s he again?”

She returned his glare with a bland expression. “That doesn’t matter. You told her to tell Alcazar?”

“Yes. I should have done it earlier, after we—after you said—” She gritted her teeth. “After we talked last week. But after Skye and I were talking today, I just knew I had to do something—” She shook her head. “But maybe I should have just let her deal with it—”

“I—” Jason hesitated, then leaned against the desk. “I’m meeting Alcazar tomorrow to tell him. It’s already set up.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “I thought you said this wasn’t your problem.”

“I said that’s what Sonny said.” Jason exhaled slowly. “And he was technically right — Skye’s safety should be Alcazar’s priority. But I decided I wasn’t comfortable waiting for him to get around to it. So I arranged a meeting.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth folded her arms, shifted her weight from one foot to another. “Oh,” she repeated.

“But you knew I’d change my mind,” Jason told her. When she frowned at him, “You’re here, aren’t you?”

“I—” A breath of air escaped her lips as she looked at her hands. “I wasn’t going to. Epiphany basically forced me. And then I called you, but you didn’t answer.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized again, but she shook her head.

“No, it’s—look, I know what I said about you not thinking this mattered, but I guess—” She paused. “I knew that if I got myself in trouble, I could at least—” She lifted a shoulder. “I could tell you.”

“I’m glad,” Jason told her when she met his eyes. They held for a moment. “I know I told you not to help—but I know you didn’t feel like you had a choice. And I’m glad you told Skye. She’ll tell him what happened today, and he’ll be more likely to listen to me.”

“Right. So that’s…all taken care of then.” Elizabeth went to pick up her coat and purse, then sighed. She muttered something to herself. She turned back to him. “Listen. Is Sam mad at me or something?”

“No,” Jason said, but then he paused, a slow sinking dread rising in his throat. “Why?”

“Because I went to the penthouse first—” her cheeks flushed. “She was mad that the guards let me upstairs, and then mad that I was looking for you. She said—” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “Never mind.”

“What did Sam say?” Jason pressed. He stepped in front of the door, blocking any exit she might try to make. “Elizabeth.”

“She told me to stop chasing after you. More or less.” Elizabeth finally looked at him, her eyes filled with confusion. “Why would she say that? Why—” She sighed. “This is about Emily, isn’t it? Emily said something.” Her cheeks drained. “Oh my God, I didn’t even think about it—Emily said all that—about—well, she said it in front of Sam—”

“Yeah, it’s been…” Jason sighed. He dragged his hands through his hair. “It’s been a long week. Sam and I are fighting about a lot of things. She’s…I guess I never really told her—I don’t know. It never came up.”

“Well, no, why would it?” Elizabeth blinked, then tried to step around him again, but Jason didn’t budge. “Look, I’m sorry Sam is mad at me. Or you. Or the world. And I’ll just avoid her until this cools down—”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, but—” Jason grimaced. “Look, I know you said you don’t want to talk about it—”

“And I don’t.” Elizabeth shook her head. “So we’re not going to talk about it—”

“But I think we should—”

“Oh my God, what is everyone’s obsession with this right now?” Elizabeth demanded. She threw her bag and coat back on the sofa with a huff. “It’s been four years—”

“Three and a half,” Jason corrected, but she wasn’t listening to him anyway.

“And it was like this….blip that didn’t even go anywhere, but every time I turn around, Emily’s throwing at your face like a goddamn bomb, Sam is accusing me of something, and Lucky still thinks I’m picking you over him, Skye’s coming to me for advice, and now you—you want to talk about it!”

She jabbed a finger at him, her face flushed, and hair falling out of the messy updo it had been fastened in when she came in. “Blip?” he repeated because it was the only part of her tirade that he could really take in. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, man—” Elizabeth slumped onto the sofa and put her head into her hands. “I really did something to the universe this time. I pissed someone off, didn’t I?”

“Elizabeth—” He stopped. “Wait, why is Skye asking you for advice?”

“Who knows,” Elizabeth muttered and got back to her feet. “None of it matters. It’s over. It never even started. You told Courtney that once, remember? Well, you were right, and I got the message—”

She started past him again, but he grabbed her elbow and swung her back around. “What—what do you mean—how do you know what I said to Courtney?”

“I am going to staple my mouth shut.” Elizabeth pressed her lips together in a mutinous line. “I told you, Jason, I don’t want to talk about this—”

“I think we need to—”

“Why? Why do you want to hash this out now? What good could it possibly do?” She threw up her hands.

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted. “Probably none. But—” He paused. “Ever since we talked on the docks, since you told me—”

Elizabeth pressed her hands over her face with a low moan. “Oh, man—”

“I was not falling in love with Courtney while you were at the penthouse.”

Jason’s flat statement had Elizabeth lower her hands slightly so she could peer at him suspiciously. “What?”

“I never even thought about her that way until—until it came out of nowhere. In…December. After you made it clear at Luke’s that we were done.”

“You—” Her eyes widened, and she stabbed a finger in his direction. “You got married to Brenda—what the hell was I supposed to say—”

“Now, why the hell is Skye asking you for advice?” Jason demanded, losing his patience. “And is she telling Alcazar anything?”

Elizabeth blinked at him, shook her head a little. “What—why would—why would he care? And no, she’s not—” Her hands fell to her side, and resignation crept into her expression. “She didn’t think there was anyone else who would tell her the truth. And since I was a mother, I might be honest with her. She asked me about having a child with a man in this life since you and I used to date, and I guess she thought this was something we might have talked about.”

“Oh.” He was the flustered one now. “I—”

“I don’t think that’s something Alcazar would be interested in. Since she’s trying to decide if she’s having second thoughts. I told her that I wasn’t a good person to ask since—” With an exhausted sigh, Elizabeth continued, “since you and I never got that far.”

“Oh,” he repeated. He didn’t know what to say now. He wanted to ask her what her answer would have been if they—if they had gotten that far. But that was wildly irrelevant, and he couldn’t for the life of him think why it mattered—

Except Jason realized now that she’d all but told him she’d been in love with him that fall they’d briefly been together and, for years, she’d believed he’d been in love with someone else. And…he hated the idea that she didn’t know. That she’d never known how he’d felt then.

They stared at each for a long moment before Jason finally gave in to the desperate need to know. “What would your answer have been?” When she frowned, he continued, “If…we had talked about it.”

Elizabeth inhaled sharply, and he flinched. She wouldn’t answer, of course—it was none of his damn business—she was married. He was engaged.

But, for whatever reason, she answered the question.

“I told her that your way of life didn’t bother me. Not the way it probably should have. I told Skye that she needed to make sure that she wasn’t pretending Alcazar wasn’t who he was.” Her eyes shimmered. “Because if you walk into this life, you have to do it eyes wide open. What you do is not who you are, but it’s part of it. And if you ignore that, well…then it’s not real. You’re not real. And it won’t last.”

“That’s—” Jason rubbed his chest, his throat feeling tight. “I—”

“You never wanted to have this conversation back then, Jason. Because you were happier thinking I was stupid or reckless. So I guess it doesn’t matter what my answer would have been. You weren’t asking the question. You were never going to.”

She pushed past him and grabbed her coat and purse.

“I didn’t think you wanted me to.” He swallowed hard. “Elizabeth—”

“Well, we’ve had the conversation now. Great. You weren’t in love with Courtney back then. But you still—” Elizabeth stopped at the door and looked at him. “You still didn’t love me. So why are we doing this—”

“I didn’t know—” Jason bit back the words because they couldn’t possibly be useful now, but he just…he couldn’t stand that she didn’t know what she’d meant to him. “I didn’t know you needed the words.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “What does that mean?”

“It means I loved you. Then. I didn’t know you needed to hear it. I didn’t—I thought you’d know. But maybe I just wanted you to say it first.” He hesitated, but he couldn’t help himself. “You always mattered.”

Another tear fell down her cheek. “We never should have talked about this.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“But—” His voice sounded broken as he tried to force out the words. “It’s better to be honest, isn’t it?”

“No. Because now it’s worse. Because I didn’t know before. And now I do. Because I loved you, too. And we threw it away.”

She yanked open the door, and this time, he let her leave. He nodded to Cody, who followed Elizabeth out of the building.

Jason closed the door behind her, then turned to find her hat still sitting on his desk. He picked it up, then carefully put it into the drawer of his desk.

She was right. They shouldn’t have talked about it. Some things were better left in the dark.