Category Archives: Flash Fiction

July 21, 2022

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the ZFlash - Watch

Written in 29 minutes. 

 

 

“Did you know her?”

Elizabeth lifted Cameron out of the booster seat and set him on the floor to scramble out of the kitchen and towards his toys in the living room. She looked over at Jason, perched on one of the stools, Jake in one arm and the bottle in the other. Like he did this every day.

Her stomach twisted. Like he should have been doing every day. “The nurse? Yes.” Elizabeth gathered Cameron’s lunch dishes and moved to the sink, happy to have something to occupy her mind and her hands. “Leyla Mir. She’s a student nurse. Just started last month. She was on my floor, but Epiphany—” She exhaled slowly. “I didn’t even see her, not really. But Emily said she had strangulation marks around her neck.”

Jason frowned. “She was strangled? Do they know if it was by hand, or—” He winced, and she smiled faintly. He’d never liked talking about violence with her, which she found almost sweet considering she’d just testified at a trial where he’d been accused of a murder she knew he’d committed.

“The police didn’t say, but Em has her thoughts,” Elizabeth finished. “I don’t really know the difference, but Emily does. She took, um, a domestic violence training last year.” After she’d learned about that night at the apartment when Lucky had shoved Elizabeth and she’d fallen. “She said it looked manual, not ligature. Something about the—” She rubbed her temple. “They said the girl at the college was strangled, too.”

“I know. Spinelli—he knew her,” Jason said. “They had classes together last year.”

“It’s scary,” Elizabeth admitted. She went to the doorway of the kitchen so that she had a clearer view of Cameron in his play area. There was a room upstairs, but she’d made sure there was something to keep him busy in every room so he’d be less likely to wander.

Jason set the bottle on the counter, then set Jake against his shoulder to burp. “It might not be the same person—”

“I don’t know which is worse,” Elizabeth admitted. “Strangulation is a terrible way to die, but with your hands—you have to be really angry to do that. To finish the job, you know?” He probably did know, she thought.

“Yeah.” Jason didn’t say anything else, and she stopped herself from asking how he knew. What Jason did for a living, the business and world he lived in—it had a different set of rules and laws. She’d always known and accepted that, and what had happened to Leyla and the other girl just proved that violence came from everywhere.

You couldn’t protect yourself from what hid in the dark. Not forever.

Jake burped, and Elizabeth hurried forward to grab the towel from Jason’s shoulder where he’d spit up. Jake’s head was still a bit unsteady, but he could hold it without support and he smiled, batted his hand at Jason’s face. Elizabeth smiled, then sobered slightly. “I’m sorry for all the time you’ve missed—”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing,” Jason said. “We both agreed—”

“No. I asked you something I had no right to ask, and you said yes. It’s not the same, Jason. You never in a million years would have asked me to give him up.” Elizabeth stroked Jake’s downy head, the white-blonde hair coming in more thickly now. “I don’t have some special right to him because I’m his mother—”

“You have the right to want him safe—”

“Safe—” Elizabeth picked up the bottle and went to wash it. “It’s just a four letter word. It doesn’t mean anything. Would we have had a guard that day in the park?” she asked.

Jason hesitated. “Elizabeth—”

“Tell me,” she insisted, turning back to him. “If the world had known about Jake, and you were in lockup, would we have had a guard?”

“Maybe.” Jason winced. “Yes,” he said. “I would have wanted one.”

“And a guard would have seen Maureen Harper. She never would have—” Elizabeth broke off. “I don’t get to be in charge of what safe means, okay? I’m terrible at it. And you don’t get to be either, for matter. We both forgot that danger can come from anywhere. And maybe—” She wrinkled her nose. “Now that the truth is out, I guess I can tell you that I’m a massive hypocrite. I asked you to give Jake up so Lucky could raise him, but part of it was jealousy.”

“Jealousy—” Jason said. He stood, readjusting Jake on his shoulder. “About—”

Elizabeth smiled wistfully. “The car accident I had at New Year’s. When you found me? Just like you always do.”

“I remember, but—”

“While I was unconscious, I dreamt about you,” Elizabeth confessed. “About being pregnant and sitting on the sofa in the penthouse. You were reading to Cameron, and we were a family. And then I had a nightmare about struggling with two kids and Lucky still having an affair—” Her voice broke. “And I chose the nightmare. I knew what it would be, and I still chose it.”

“Elizabeth—”

“And I feel so stupid because it was such a selfish, petty thing to do. To choose Lucky, to choose the lie because—” She scrubbed at her face, exhausted.

“You were jealous,” Jason finished with a squint that told her he still wasn’t sure what she was trying to say.

“Because I wanted that dream. The first one. If I told Lucky, I’d be alone. With the kids.” She took a deep breath, confronting the cowardly truth. “If we told the world, you wouldn’t pick the dream. You’d stay with Sam, and she’d get to have that with you. And I wouldn’t. So I lied, and then I asked you to lie. Because I was too scared to be alone with the truth.”

July 19, 2022

This entry is part 5 of 22 in the Flash Fiction: Invisible Strings

Written in 22 minutes.

 

 

Jason left the Westbourne Lodge with a mixture of confusion and worry. He’d gone in convinced of the path forward — apologize profusely to the woman his cousin had lied to, arrange for transportation, and leave with a clear conscience.

Instead, Jason had not only proposed to complete Dillon’s demented plan, but he’d had to talk Elizabeth Webber into it. And yet — Jason couldn’t convince himself that he’d made a mistake.

Once leaving the rooming house, Jason continued down Main Street and wasn’t surprised to find Dillon loitering outside the jail. The younger man jumped up, then frowned as Jason walked past him. “Uh, Jase—” He scrambled to follow. “Where are you going?”

Jason just shook his head. If he stopped, he might end up punching the kid, and his grandmother wouldn’t approve. “You know, this is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.”

“I know.”

“I’m tired of cleaning up after you.”

“I know—” Dillon’s eyes bulged as Jason turned off the Main Street, down a more shaded street with a mixture of tall trees and saplings recently planted to give the neighborhood a more distinguished look. “Are you going to tell Grandmother? Please don’t—”

“I should, you know.” Jason stopped in front of the elegant, three-story house that his grandfather had built when the silver mines became profitable. It was the largest house on the street, in all of Port Charles, because Edward Morgan had always wanted the best for his family. For his Lila. Even if he’d been a ruthless, overbearing son of a bitch—

Jason had spent most of his life arguing with the bastard, but now, two years after the cholera had taken him —

He’d give anything for one more argument.

“If you tell Grandmother, I’ll just tell her you didn’t even bother looking for a wife—” Dillon hurried up the path after Jason. “Please, don’t—”

“Don’t worry—” Jason pushed open the door, then turned to his cousin. “I’m here to tell Grandmother that I wanted to keep my promise to her so much that I advertised for one.”

Dillon frowned. “Wait—”

Jason grabbed Dillon by the shirtfront, pulled him close and pitched his voice low. “And the only reason I’m doing that is because Elizabeth would be mortified if anyone else knew what you did.”

“You’re marrying her?”

“Yes. Don’t congratulate yourself just yet,” Jason warned. “This could still be a disaster.”

Dillon watched Jason disappear in Lila’s parlor, then grinned. He’d escaped the worst of it, and better yet — Jason had done exactly what Dillon had expected. He’d taken one look at Elizabeth and decided to keep her.

Dillon wasn’t sure exactly what about her letters had convinced him — maybe the upfront way she’d spoken about her son or the dreams she wanted for him and for her dreams — but by the third letter, Dillon had known there was no other choice.

And it didn’t even matter if Jason did thank him — Dillon would be off the hook. Jason and Elizabeth could make all the babies their grandmother wanted, and Dillon could do whatever he wanted.

Freedom was his at last. He nearly whistled as he sauntered out the door and back to his post at the jail.

Lila’s beloved face lit up when Jason entered the parlor. She rose to her feet, held out her hands. “Darling, what a lovely surprise.”

“How are you?”

“Oh, quite well. You’ve just missed Amanda Barrington,” Lila told him. “We’re planning the harvest festival—” Her blue eyes, a match for Jason’s, twinkled. “Alison is returning from San Francisco in a few weeks—”

“That’s why I’ve come to see you.” Jason waited for Lila to return to her seat, then sat down across from her. “I’m getting married.”

Lila beamed. “Oh, how wonderful? Who is it? I always thought you and Anna’s daughter would be a wonderful match. Or Britta—”

Jason made a face, then forced a smile. “No. No, it’s no one you know. She’s from New York.”

“New York—” Lila’s smile faded. “I don’t understand. How did you meet her? What—”

“I looked,” Jason told her, “right here in Port Charles, but there was no one. So I wrote an advertisement and put it in the papers back East—”

“A mail order bride?” Lila began to fan herself. “Oh, dear. Dear, dear—”

Jason winced. “Grandmother—”

“What will they think—” Lila moaned. “My own grandson, lowering himself—”

“Grandmother—” Jason’s tone was more forceful this time, and Lila blinked at him. “Does it matter what they think?”

“For the young woman, it does,” Lila replied. “Mail order brides are for desperate men and desperate women. You are not desperate—you’re just picky. And this girl—”

“Her name is Elizabeth, and you’ll like her. I like her,” Jason admitted, and now his grandmother’s expression had softened. “I didn’t make this decision lightly.” Impulsively, maybe. But not lightly. “She’s been tough—she’s been through a lot. Like you. And she’s fierce. She doesn’t put up with any slight towards her family. She has a little boy, Grandmother.”

“She’s—” Lila’s hands tightened. “She’s a widow, then. How old is the boy?”

Jason hesitated, unsure if Elizabeth wanted to be known as a widow. It seemed wrong to let his grandmother continue with that thought, but without Elizabeth’s permission — “He’s about four.”

“Four.” Lila closed her eyes. “Michael would have been five.”

“I know.”

“Is—does she have any other family?”

“No. Just Cameron. It’s why she answered the advertisement. She wants a family, Grandmother. And I—” He swallowed hard. He’d wanted a family once, too. When his nephew and sister had died, the two people he loved most in the world, he’d let go of that dream. It hurt too much. “This will work out. You’ll like her,” he repeated.

“I’m determined to like her if it means you’ll finally find joy again.” Lila squeezed his hands. “I didn’t just push you and Dillon for my own selfish ends, though if you bring me a grandchild to love this  very day, I will not complain. You’ve both been drifting. We all have. It’s time to move on.”

“I know.” Jason kissed her cheek. “Elizabeth and Cameron are already here. I’ll bring them to dinner, and you’ll get to know them. I promise you, this will work out.”

July 15, 2022

This entry is part 40 of 41 in the Flash Fiction: Signs of Life

Written in 47 minutes. And yes, I spent like three minutes searching for a song released in 1999 so that the song at the end of this part was chronologically accurate. You’re welcome.

Friday, February 5, 2000

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

“Are you sure?” Sonny asked. He stared down at the floor, not looking up. Not making eye contact with Jason, making him feel even worse at how things had turned out.

“There’s a chance she might be lying,” Jason acknowledged, “but she probably had this as a backup plan. The Quartermaines are going for the jugular in the divorce and custody — and Carly knew you weren’t likely to do her any favors with that.”

“Not in a chance in hell—”

“If she’d kept the baby,” Jason said gently, “she’d be fighting custody battles on two fronts. I honestly think she cut her losses. She wasn’t able to get out of town with Michael and live to fight another day. She thought I’d wait until the paternity tests came back. She planned on more time.”

And she hadn’t been wrong, Jason thought with some bitterness. Jason had been ready to wait until the last minute to come forward with all of this. What did that say about him? He dragged a hand down his face. “Listen—”

“It’s her choice at the end of the day,” Sonny said. He finally met Jason’s eyes. “And I don’t—I don’t blame you. Okay? I know I said I did, but I thought about it, and you know, you could have been right. Maybe a paternity test says it’s AJ’s kid. Better for everyone. Why blow up the situation if you don’t have to?”

“Maybe.”

“And its not like I really wanted to bring a kid into this world with that woman,” Sonny continued. “We’d have spent eighteen years screaming at each other.” He went over to the minibar, poured himself a drink.

“Sonny—”

“Even with all that,” Sonny murmured, “I still had a moment—where I thought back to Lily. When she told me about the baby. I didn’t love her the way she deserved, but I would have tried so hard for that baby.”

“I know you would have.” Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, at least Carly is finally somebody else’s problem.” Sonny raised the glass in Jason’s direction in a mock toast, then drank.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason drew his brows together, confused, when he pushed open the door and found Elizabeth watching television on the sofa. “I thought you had a class.”

“I ditched it,” Elizabeth said. She rose to her feet and crossed to him. “I wasn’t going to be able to concentrate until I knew how things turned out.”  She wrinkled her nose. “Not well, I guess.”

“She had an abortion,” Jason said, tugging off his jacket and hanging it up in the closet. “Ned  served her with the papers for the divorce and custody, so—”

“I don’t know what to say,” Elizabeth said finally. “Did—is Sonny okay?”

“Yeah.” Jason scratched at the corner of his brow. “It’s probably a good thing.”

“Probably.”

“Just—I don’t know. Would Carly have a made different choice if I hadn’t stayed quiet?” And what if Elizabeth hadn’t come around to talk sense into him? What if Jason had slipped into his old patterns, and to keep Sonny’s child safe, he’d done what Carly wanted? He didn’t know how he felt about that possibility.

“Maybe.”

“Or maybe it’s like I told Sonny—this was always in her back pocket. She could have an abortion for another month or so—”

“Longer,” Elizabeth corrected him, and he frowned at her. “New York is twenty-four weeks. I looked it up when I—” She folded her arms. “Bobbie gave me a morning after pill, but there wasn’t any guarantees, so I wanted to know. I mean, if I’d gotten pregnant after that, I think I would have terminated.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway. She had time.”

“Yeah.” Jason shook his head, clearing his thoughts. “It’s over. She’s been served, and she knows that I’m done. She’ll have to sink or swim on her own.” He drew Elizabeth close to him, framing her face in his hands. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything—”

“If it wasn’t for you,” Jason said, resting his forehead against hers. Her hand slid up his chest. “If it wasn’t for you—” he didn’t know how to finish that statement. How to put any of this into words. He kissed her instead, pressing her closer, wanting to stay just like this for as long as he could.

They stood there for a long, quiet moment, and Jason thought of something. Of a silent promise he’d made to himself a few weeks earlier. “Wait here,” he said, drawing back. He took her hand in his, kissed the inside of her palm. Elizabeth smiled at him, but her eyes were a  bit confused.

Jason crossed over to a table where she’d left a radio and stacks of her CDs and cassettes. He made a face as he looked through them. He didn’t know anything about music or which song were slow or fast — He could pick one at random, but— Finally, he looked at Elizabeth. “Which one is your favorite?”

“My favorite?” Surprised, she went over to him, took the CD he was holding, tipping her head. “Why?”

“Just—” Jason sighed. “At the No Name,” he clarified, “when we danced. You wished we were somewhere else.”

“And I said that the first time we danced, it was about someone else.” Elizabeth smiled at him, her eyes lighting with amusement. “Is that what you want? Something to dance to?”

He squinted. He couldn’t tell if she thought this was stupid idea or — “Yes. That’s what I want.”

“All right.” She set the CD in his hand down, then flipped through a few of the others stacked. She opened a case, put one into the radio, then messed with the buttons. “Here. This one.”

It’s amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark

He took her hand as the music filtered through the penthouse, and drew her against him, the way they had that night at Kelly’s. But it was different now. He was comfortable sliding his hands around her waist, and her cheek against his heart—her hands on the sleeves of his sweater.

Try as I may, I can never explain
What I hear when you don’t say a thing

They swayed slightly, and Jason just let the rest of the world fall away. There was nothing left to worry about. Sorel was out of their lives, Carly was no longer a threat—it was just the two of them.

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me

He wanted it to be like this all the time—coming home to see her face, to know that he could say anything to her and Elizabeth would always find a way to understand, even when he didn’t. That her face would never change — she knew who he was and what he did. What he was capable of.

The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all

“I was thinking about what you said,” he murmured, and Elizabeth stirred, stepping back just a bit so that their eye could meet. “When we found out we didn’t need the entire year.”

“What I said?” she echoed.

All day long, I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near you drown out the crowd

“You said you didn’t want us to just drift,” Jason continued, tucking her hair behind her ears. He would never get tired of touching her, of letting his fingertips trail down her soft skin.

Her eyes searched his, then she nodded. “Because it needed to be a promise,” Elizabeth said. “I didn’t like the way you’d told me about it. The way Sonny had phrased it.”

“That we should just stay married until we didn’t want to be anymore,” Jason clarified. She nodded.

Try as they may, they can never define
What’s being said between your heart and mine

“It keeps one foot out the door,” Elizabeth said, her fingers tightening on his sleeves. She swallowed hard. “And I don’t want that for us. To constantly worry that this is the fight, this is the moment when we’ll decide to walk away.”

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me

There’s a truth in your eyes saying you’ll never leave me

“I don’t want that either.” He tilted her chin up, kissed her, long, lingering. “I can’t ask you to marry me,” he murmured against her lips. “You already did that.”

“I did.” He could hear the smile in her voice, felt the curve of her lips against his own.

“I love you,” he said, and he felt her gasp. Then Elizabeth pulled back, their eyes meeting. “I love you,” Jason repeated. “So I’m asking you to stay. To make the promise. I want it.”

The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

“You—” Elizabeth swallowed hard. “I—” She closed her eyes, then opened them again, tears dampening her lashes, making her eyes sparkle. “I love you. And I want that promise, too. I want to stay.”

July 13, 2022

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the ZFlash - Watch

Written in 37 minutes.

 

 

Elizabeth switched off the engine, reached into the passenger seat for her purse to loop            over her head, then got out of the car to meet Emily who had driven her own car. “The diaper bag is in the trunk—I really shouldn’t even bother,” she said with a sigh, unhooking Cameron from his booster seat. “Why am I dragging them both to day care for half a shift?”

“Because it’s good for Cameron to get back into the routine,” Emily said, popping the trunk to grab the bag for Jake. “And for you to be away from Jake.”

“I like the hospital,” Cameron said, grinning at her. “Can I come work with you?”

“No.” Elizabeth went to the other side of the car, while Emily took Cameron’s hand, and lifted Jake from his car seat. She pressed him close for just a moment. Her sweet precious little boy who had nearly disappeared forever—Oh, God. Then put him back into the car seat, lifting the carrier from the car.

“You don’t have to do this. You don’t even have to come back full-time next week,” Emily told her gently. “The only time you’ve been to work, I was home with the boys. I know it’s hard to leave them with people you don’t know. That aren’t family.”

“I just—I don’t have a choice. I have to get back to work—”

“You said Jason offered child support,” Emily reminded her. “To help the case in court, to make it look like he was involved—”

“He is involved—”

“And with Lucky not even offering a cent voluntarily—which you don’t want—anyway—” Emily pressed her lips together. “You could get a nanny. Someone whose only priorities are the boys—”

“That’s—” Entirely too tempting, just as it had been when Jason had offered the child support as an option. Of course, he wanted to give her too much, and it would let her stay home even longer. But— “I like my job. And daycare is good for the boys. Cameron learned to talk faster, and he’s so good with other kids.”

“Okay.”

“So let’s stop arguing about this. I’m only here for four hours, and you’re going to be late.”

“All right.  Hey, Cam, hold Aunt Em’s hand, okay?” Emily said. “What are the rules in the parking garage?”

“Hold hand, stay close. No running,” Cameron recited. “I know everything, Aunt Em.”

“I know you do—” They started towards the bank of elevators, but they only managed to get a few paces away  from their cars when Emily stopped, her eyes wide. She shoved Cameron lightly towards his mother. “Stay here.”

“Em—” Elizabeth shifted Jake’s carrier to one hand and held Cameron close. “What’s wrong—”

“Just—” Emily waved at them, then went closer to the wall, then looked at Elizabeth, swallowing hard. “These are the overnight cars, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. I see Patrick’s, and I know he had the graveyard in the ER—Em—”

“Okay. Go drop the boys off,” Emily said, pulling out her cell phone. “I need—” Her voice faltered. “I need to make a call.”

“Mommy?” Cameron tilted his head  up. ‘What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, sweetheart. Let’s go to daycare.”

She hurried the boys as quickly as she could into the daycare facility on the first floor, then left a quick message for Epiphany before rushing back to the parking garage. She’d only been gone for maybe ten minutes, but by then hospital security was on the scene, joined by police officers. There was a flash as a camera went off.

“Emily—” Elizabeth joined Emily, talking to one of the guards. “What’s—” Her words fell off as a stretcher wheeled past her, a doctor she recognized from the morgue. “Oh my God—”

“I saw her foot,” Emily murmured. “As we passed.” She shuddered, closing her eyes. Elizabeth watched in horror as a body was lifted onto the stretcher—into a body bag. The long, dark hair, the olive-skin. The bruises on her throat.

“That’s Leyla—” She pressed her hands to her own throat, feeling a strange burn. “Leyla. Has she been here all night?”

“No way to know yet—” Emily folded her arms. “How many times have we walked in this parking garage?” she murmured. “I was here just last night. Alone.”

“A million times,” Elizabeth answered, watching as Leyla’s face disappeared when the body bag was zipped. Walking alone at night —

“I’m going to need you both to come down to the station,” Detective Harper said as he came over from the scene. “Just to make a few statements.”

Nothing traveled faster than bad news, so by the time Emily and Elizabeth arrived at the station to give their statements, Nikolas and Lucky were in the squad room. Nikolas turned towards them. “Lucky called me as soon as it came over the scanner that you’d found a body.”

“Where are the boys?” Lucky asked Elizabeth, and she frowned at the absence of bitterness. “Did they see anything?”

“No. No—they’re at the daycare. I—” Elizabeth exchanged a trouble look with Emily. “I really don’t think we should talk about anything else until we give our statements.”

“Yeah, and we should probably wait for our lawyer,” Emily added. Harper, who had come in behind them, scowled.

“What do you need a lawyer for?” he demanded.

“You don’t need Diane for this,” Lucky told Elizabeth,  the sympathy gone now. “What do you have to hide?”

“It’s not about hiding anything,” Emily explained patiently. “I just don’t talk to the police without a lawyer. Not after what the PCPD did this summer—”

“Neither do I,” Elizabeth said coolly. She glared in the direction of the interrogation room, remembering that terrible day, the  horrifying moment as she stood alone in that room, listening to Lainey and Lucky accuse her of hurting her son. “So when Diane gets here, we’ll make the statement and that’s it.”

Nikolas sighed. “Fine. I get it.”

“It’s bullshit,” Lucky began but Harper waved him away.

“Whatever. I should have expected to see Morgan’s rat lawyer showing up here sooner or later—”

“What a lovely greeting,” Diane said as she swept inside the squad room. “Shall we get started?”

Elizabeth was relieved that her instincts had panned out — Diane had them in and out of the station within thirty minutes, their signed statements in evidence. Elizabeth had seen nothing, and Emily had done nothing more than call in the scene. Diane gave them a ride to the hospital to get the boys and their cars.

“Honestly, I don’t know why they dragged us all the way down here,” Emily said as Diane pulled into an empty space. “I’ve got a thousand missed calls from my parents. I need to go put out those fires.”

“Epiphany told me not to bother with my shift,” Elizabeth said, “since I’ve missed most of it. Go ahead and take care of it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Emily loped off towards the elevators, and Elizabeth turned to Diane. “They hauled us in because of Jason, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Diane said, nodding. “That’s my suspicion. It’s no secret you’re in a divorce and custody battle with a fellow officer. With what  happened at the trial, between the acquittal and Lucky’s—shall we say, embarrassment—they’re not going to do you any favors.”

Elizabeth sighed. “He’s really not going to make it easy.”

“No. I’m going to win at the hearing,” Diane told Elizabeth gently. “But that doesn’t mean it ends. He can stall your divorce, he can appeal the custody—as long as Lucky has decided to make your life miserable, the system can—and likely will—help him.”

“He’s acting like we had some sort of perfect marriage,” Elizabeth murmured. “But it wasn’t. He’s had more affairs than I have—and mine was just one night, Diane.”

“I know. We’ll get through this, but it won’t be pretty.” Diane squeezed her hand. “Now, go get the boys and enjoy your unexpected day off.”

Elizabeth’s heart lifted slightly when she saw a bike parked at the curb of the house, and Jason on the steps.

“I hope it’s okay,” Jason said, coming over to help her when she parked the car. “I was with Diane when you called, and—”

Elizabeth unfastened Jake from the car seat and handed him to his father. “It’s more than okay.”

July 11, 2022

This entry is part 4 of 22 in the Flash Fiction: Invisible Strings

Written in 32 minutes.

 

 

Elizabeth wanted to call the words back nearly as fast as they’d fallen from her lips — refusing to marry the man she’d traveled across the country to wed was the absolute height of insanity, and clearly, she wasn’t in her right mind.

In fact, she opened her mouth to say so, but then closed it. She’d come here to marry the man who had advertised for a wife. Not the man who stood in front of her, with kind eyes. He pitied her, nothing more, and Elizabeth could not—would not—be someone’s wife out of charity.

“Miss Webber,” Jason Morgan began, his brows drawn together in surprise. “I think we should discuss this further—”

“There’s nothing to discuss.” Elizabeth rose to her feet and crossed to the window overlooking the dusty street. Port Charles was so different than the world she’d left behind, with its close and cramped buildings. She could look out this window and see the world beyond the handful of streets. The mountains, the water of Grand Lake—

She’d wanted this to be hers, but it had been nothing more than a dream. How strange to learn that she was still capable of those—

“I feel responsible,” he began, and she closed her eyes. “And, as I said, I did make a promise—”

“To your grandmother.” She turned, jumping slightly as she found him no more than a foot away. He moved quietly. Elizabeth cleared her throat. “You made a promise to your grandmother, and it’s admirable—”

She stopped speaking when he took her hands in his, the roughness of his skin startling her. She curled her fingers inward, embarrassed at their condition—

But Jason had already noticed her injury. “What happened?” he wanted to know.

“Textile loom,” she murmured. She pulled her hand away, fisting it behind her back. “I was fortunate not to lose more.” She cleared her throat. “Mr. Morgan, I thank you for your consideration—”

“I don’t understand why we can’t at least talk about it,” Jason cut in. She closed her mouth. “You came here to start a life with me—”

“With the man from the letters,” Elizabeth insisted. “You make it sound as if—” She took a breath. “That was quite different. I thought that I was coming here to marry someone who had actively looked for a wife. Can you truly not see the difference?”

Jason pressed his lips together, nodded. “I do. But I was looking—”

“You said your grandmother asked you a year ago,” she reminded him. “You must not have been looking hard—and don’t tell me that you decided once you saw me,” she added when he opened his mouth. “You feel responsible. You said so yourself—”

“I was looking, but not very hard,” Jason admitted. He reached for her hand again, resting her balled up fist in his palm. “Do you want me to arrange for transportation somewhere else? Back to New York? Maybe in San Francisco?” He tilted his head. “I will, of course. You’re free to do as you wish.”

She stared at her hand in his, then slowly uncurled it, allowing it to lay flat against his palm. If she returned to New York or anywhere back in East, there was little respectable work outside the mills and factories. She knew that was no life for Cameron. Would it be different in San Francisco? Or anywhere else?

She closed her eyes, then slowly drew her  hand away once more. “I thank you for your consideration,” Elizabeth said softly. “For your kindness in handling a difficult situation,” she continued. “I must rely on your good nature a day or two more while I consider where to go next.”

Jason tipped his head to the side. “You’ll have the rooms along as you need them, but—” He squinted. “Can I speak bluntly?”

She frowned. “Yes, of course—”

“I find you physically attractive,” Jason said, and her eyes widened. “I would not be asking you out of pity or offering a marriage in name only. In fact, I came here to offer you exactly what you’re asking. A few days to get yourself together and then to help you go wherever you chose.”

“You—” She couldn’t form the words. “I don’t understand.”

“But I think that we could help each other.” Jason reached for her hands once more, but this time, he laced his fingers through hers, tugging her just an inch closer so that their bodies brushed. “I do want a family,” he continued. “And you want one for your son. For yourself.  I can give you that.”

“And you—” Her voice was nearly breathless as she absorbed this turn in the conversation. “You would want to—” He wanted her? “I mean—”

“I changed my mind the moment you decided to reject me,” he murmured. Her eyes flew to meet his. “I’m sorry for what’s happened. Back in New York. With my cousin. But we can make the best of it. I’m asking you to let me try.”

Make the best of it. Hardly a romantic proposal. But she hadn’t expected romance, had she? And she hadn’t expected this—this feeling—this swirling, fluttering pull that had been gone so long— She’d hoped for friendship, for warmth, and companionship. She’d hoped for Cameron to have someone he could look up to.

She wanted somewhere to belong, someone who wanted her. And this man she scarcely knew was offering it.

“I—” She licked her lips. “Are you sure?” she breathed. “I would not want you to feel obligated—”

“I don’t.”

“Then—” Elizabeth nodded. “All right. Yes. I can—I will.”

Jason dipped his head, closing the short distance between their mouths and kissed her, softly, gently. She melted against him, sliding her arms around his neck, letting herself feel for the first time in years. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe she would regret it—

But, oh, just maybe — this was the answer to all her prayers. Did she deserve that much?

July 8, 2022

This entry is part 39 of 41 in the Flash Fiction: Signs of Life

Written in 51 minutes.

Thursday, February 3, 2000

PCPD: Squad Room

“Wait here,” Jason murmured to Elizabeth by the doors. “I’m just going to talk to Alexis, and then we’ll get out of here.”

“All right.” Elizabeth caught his hand as he started to walk away. “Hey.” He looked back at her. “None of this is your fault,” she told him. “It’s not.”

He squeezed her hand, then released it. She was wrong, of course, but he appreciated the attempt. If he’d told Sonny weeks ago, if he’d found a way to do it more quietly, he could have kept this from blowing up.

But instead, he’d waited. He’d been selfish, trying to protect himself and Michael, and not doing what was right. Now Sonny had been arrested for assault and trespassing, Carly was in the wind, and Michael’s life was going to be destroyed anyway. All Jason had done with his silence was delay the inevitable.

“Hey.” Alexis emerged from the interrogation room with a sigh. “Alan’s holding firm on the charges of trespassing, and right now, AJ’s not in the mood to deal.”

Jason scrubbed his hands down his face. “They’ll back down eventually,” he muttered. “To protect the name. The last thing they want is to be splashed over the papers with all of this.”

“You’re probably right. When Edward gets down here,” Alexis continued, “I suspect he’ll talk to Alan. AJ’s angry. Humiliated. Which he has a right to be, I guess—” She bit her lip. “I don’t think I can get Sonny out today. Maybe later tonight if I can get a quick arraignment, but—”

“That’s fine.” Jason glanced back at Elizabeth, then at Taggert who was glaring in her direction. “I need time to track Carly down and it’s easier if—”

“Why bother?” Alexis wanted to know. “What purpose—”

“I don’t care about her,” Jason interrupted. “But Carly’s angry. And panicking. She does her worst damage at this point. Shooting Tony, having me arrested for kidnapping—” He shook his head. “And she’s going to take it out on me. The last time she did that—”

“Right.” Alexis held up a finer. “Excuse me.” She stalked towards Taggert who had just stood. “Going somewhere?” she asked coolly. Taggert tore his eyes away from Elizabeth and looked at the attorney.

“I just thought I’d ask—”

“She’s represented by counsel and there’s an injunction against this department. You’re not allowed to breathe in her direction until the internal investigation against Capelli is completed,” Alexis reminded him. “And we’re still reserving our right to sue—”

“I didn’t—”  Taggert took a deep breath. “None of that is my fault—”

“No?” Alexis arched a brow, then tapped the shield he wore on a chain around his neck. “This makes it your fault. You were the lead officer on that search and you knew from prior encounters that Capelli was overly aggressive and angry with my client. You let him into that penthouse. You let him go upstairs to search her personal posessions. You let her go upstairs with him—”

“She went on her own—”

“Protect and serve,” Alexis cut in. “You stayed downstairs to harass Jason, and you let Capelli loose. Her wedding dress, by the way, couldn’t be repaired.”

Taggert grimaced, then looked over at Elizabeth again who just stared back at him. He returned his attention to Alexis. “You and I both know she’s protecting him. That she knows something about Moreno’s murder—”

“Prove it,” Alexis challenged. “Until then, stay away from my clients. Slapping a badge on your chest doesn’t make you a good man. You should know better than that.”

Jason waited for Alexis to back into the interrogation room before joining Elizabeth again. “Hey. Let’s get out of here.”

“Definitely.’

Quartermaine Mansion: Family Room

AJ stared at the minibar, at the decanter of vodka that was kept there. The glass tumblers by its side.

He’d thought Carly’s pregnancy was karma—the universe returning the favor and allowing AJ some revenge. He’d get to raise his brother’s child. He deserved that much, didn’t he?

But he’d been right that day with Carly — she was the punishment he deserved for what he’d done to his brother, what he’d done to his family. He’d been in this room with his parents, trying to block out the sound of their disappointment, the vision of their disgust—and Jason had been there, trying to make peace.

He’d give anything for that moment back, for just a chance. He’d go upstairs and sleep off the drunk, he’d wake up with a hangover but maybe then he’d go to rehab—

But there was no redemption. You couldn’t be forgiven for murder, and it didn’t matter if Jason hadn’t died. His brother, his beloved little brother, would never come home. It was worse, somehow, than death.

He deserved what Carly had done to him, and maybe he deserved even worse. He deserved to die himself, didn’t he? What kind of father could he ever be with his past, with his crimes?

As if in a trance, AJ reached for the vodka and poured himself a glass.

“Don’t—”

AJ turned and found Ned in the doorway, his hand up. “Don’t do it, AJ.”

“What’s the point?” AJ asked. He closed his eyes, wrapped both hands around the glass, letting the warmth of alcohol seep into his body. “Why bother staying sober?”

“For your son,” Ned said gently. He reached AJ and took the glass away. AJ didn’t fight. “Carly was a mistake. You did your best to give Michael a family, but that’s over now. She’s given you what you need to get her out your life for good. We’ll find her, AJ. You’ll serve her with papers, and it’ll finally be over.” Ned poured the vodka back into the glass. “Carly’s not worth this.”

“I—” AJ swallowed hard. “I wanted it to work. I really tried.”

“I know you did.”

“I even asked Jason for permission,” he said. He met Ned’s eyes. “After you talked to me — I thought — I’ll get Jason’s blessing. And instead—”

“Instead, Jason decided to come forward. He must have been waiting. Maybe he thought it was your child. That there was a chance. Did you tell him there wasn’t?”

“Yeah.” AJ managed a laugh. “Yeah, I did. I tried to do the wrong thing in the right way. I guess I got what I deserved.” He exhaled slowly. “I won’t drink, Ned. Not tonight.”

“That’s enough then. We’ll take care of tomorrow when it comes.” Ned put his arm around AJ’s shoulders. “Let’s go upstairs. We’ll go see Michael, okay?”

“Okay.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason set the receiver down and put his head in his hands. Nothing. No sign of her. How the hell had Carly been able to disappear?

He glanced over when Elizabeth came through the door, her bag slung over her shoulder. “Hey. How was class?”

“Fine.” She dumped the bag on the sofa, then leaned against the side of the desk where he sat. “No luck?”

“No.” Jason leaned back, looking towards the ceiling. “She did this before. When Michael was born. She disappeared.”

“I remember.”

“There were decisions that had to be made about Michael. About his health. And he didn’t even have a name. I could have told the truth then.” He tilted his chin back down to look at her. “I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d promised her,” Jason said. “And I knew what the Quartermaines would do. She’d never get the baby back. They’d used her leaving against them, and I just thought—she deserved a chance. But I should have told the truth.”

“You’re saying that now, two years later, because you have the advantage of knowing what she was capable of,” Elizabeth said gently. “Give yourself a break, Jason. You did the best yo could at the time, and Michael’s better off for it. Maybe there were other times you could have told, but you’re only human. And you loved him. I know how much you still love him. He’ll always be a little bit yours.”

“I just—she’s out there,”  Jason said slowly, “angry, scared, and panicking. And planning.”

“Jason, what can she do?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “I mean, to you? To Sonny? Or the Quartermaines?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He didn’t really have all that much to take, he thought. He had Lila and Emily. He had Elizabeth. What else could Carly really do? He reached out for Elizabeth’s hands and drew her down to sit in his lap, holding her close. She tucked her head under his chin. He traced her wedding ring with the tip of his index finger.

“You’re doing the best you can, Jason. Carly, Sonny, and AJ are adults who can make their own mistakes.”

“Yeah. I’ll just feel better if she’s somewhere where she can be watched.” Jason exhaled slowly, then stroked Elizabeth’s back. “But there’s nothing else I can do until she makes a mistake and we find her.”

“Then I think—” Elizabeth shifted until she was straddling him, one knee on each side. “I think we should find something else to do.” She arched a brow. “I’m really tired of talking about Carly.”

“Me, too.” Jason grinned then, and swallowed her gasp with his mouth as he abruptly stood. He set her on the desk, and she parted her legs so he could get closer.

“You know, the desk is on my list,” Elizabeth teased as she nipped his lips. “Right after the shower.”

Friday, February 4, 2000

Morgan Penthouse: Master Bedroom

The call came early the next morning — so early that the sun hadn’t yet broken through the clouds. Elizabeth stirred, then groaned, shoving her face deeper into the pillow. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled.

Jason slid his arm from beneath her and reached for his cell on the nightstand. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Call me if she moves.” He hung up and rolled back towards Elizabeth. “Hey.” He brushed his lips over her hair. “I have to go.”

“Okay,” she mumbled. She shifted onto her side to peer at him blearily. “Call me if you need me.”

“Go back to sleep.” He kissed her gently, then went to confront Carly, promising himself this would be the last time.

Motel

Carly yanked open the door and smirked at him. “Took you long enough. You’re getting slow.”  She stepped back, as if she meant to let him in.

“I’m not staying,”  Jason said flatly. “You can come back with me, or I’ll wait until you leave, then follow you. I’ve already called the Quartermaines to tell them where you are.”

“So AJ can serve me?” Carly rolled her eyes and leaned against the doorway. “Or so Sonny can?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well, you can tell Sonny not to bother.” She tossed back her hair, then glared at him defiantly. “He has nothing to do with this—”

“Don’t lie to me,” Jason said tightly. “Not again—”

“I’m not,” she shot back. “I did what I should have done weeks ago. Lucky for me, New York doesn’t have a waiting period because the last thing I need is to be fighting two custody battles. So I took care of it.”

Jason stared at her for a long time, then swallowed hard. Waiting period. New York didn’t have a waiting period. “You had an abortion.”

“The right to choose and all,” Carly said. She folded her arms. “Go ahead. Judge me. I don’t care.”

He exhaled slowly, then shook his head. “I’m not going to do that,” he said, and she blinked at him. “You’re right. It’s your choice. It’s always been your choice. You’ve made all the choices, and I’ve just followed your lead. I guess we’re all better off if you’re not dealing with Sonny in court.”

She clearly hadn’t expected that. “Wait—”

Jason glanced behind him at the sound of another car pulling into the empty space next to his bike. He stepped aside, waiting for Ned to get out, a sheaf of papers in his hand. “Good luck, Carly. You’ll need it.”

“She’s all yours,” he told Ned as he passed him.

“Thanks.” Ned turned to Carly and handed her the paperwork with the divorce and custody petitions. “You’ve been served. Have a nice day.”

July 6, 2022

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the ZFlash - Watch

Written in 43 minutes.

 

 

Confronting Lucky had felt good at the time, but as the day continued, Jason started to have his doubts. Elizabeth had warned him that her custody issues with Lucky were going to get bad, and he’d known that Lucky was trying to stay in Jake’s life. The last thing Elizabeth needed was Jason getting in the middle when he was so close to being in Jake’s life full-time.

The worry that he’d done something to harm her chances gnawed at him long enough that he decided he needed a second opinion. Unfortunately for him, Diane wasn’t in the mood to help.

“I cannot discuss Elizabeth’s case with you,” Diane sniffed as she swept into the office at the warehouse. She wrinkled her nose as she took in the dingy, cramped room where Jason did the books, but offered no verbal opinion. “You wanted her to have the best attorney possible. That comes with some drawbacks—”

“I’m not—” Jason scowled and shoved himself to his feet. “I’m not asking for state secrets. Or even anything about her case.”

“No?” Diane arched an eyebrow. “Then what exactly am I here for?”

“I’m asking as Jake’s biological father,” Jason said, his teeth clenched, “what can Lucky do about visitation and can he keep me away my son?”

Diane pursed her lips, folded her arms. “Speaking in general terms, stepparents don’t usually have a lot of power to push for visitation or continued contact. It’s unfortunate when there’s a longstanding relationship, but the court defers to biology.” She hesitated. “There’s a nuance to this case that a family court judge might entertain as Lucky is the parent on the birth certificate and has provided support as the father for the last three months.”

Jason’s heart sank. “So he can win.”

“If I were in court arguing for your right to visitation,” Diane began, “I would win. You’re the biological father looking to establish contact.  Beyond that, Jason, I honestly can’t tell you much more. You’d be better off asking Elizabeth. I can’t even meet with both of you sine you are not party to the case. Any meeting with a third-party won’t attach attorney-client privilege.”

He was frustrated by that answer, but Diane was devoted to her profession, and he wanted Elizabeth to have everything she needed to get Lucky out of her life. It wasn’t her fault. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Elizabeth is my client,” Diane reminded him as she picked up her purse. “I plan to give her the best advice to maintain full custody of her boys.”

“That’s a goal,” Jason said with a nod, even though he wondered if the best way for Elizabeth to keep the boys and get rid of Lucky would be to eliminate Jason from the equation. What would he do if that was the answer?

Robin marked the patient’s dosage adjustment in a chart, then handed it to Leyla Mir, the nurse on duty. “Thanks,” she told her. “That’s effective with the next round.”

“I’ll take care of it.” The pretty, dark-haired woman disappeared around the corner, and Robin turned to Emily.

“Nikolas wants me to go to dinner with him,” Emily said, with a sigh. She flipped through the charts at the desk. “I told him I’d think about it. Am I insane? Should I just go for it?”

“As the queen of overthinking everything,” Robin said, “I am definitely not the person to ask for advice.”

“After everything we’ve been through—” Emily set down her pen. “It would be stupid to waste time. You know? After losing my dad this year—” Her voice faltered slightly, then her tone firmed. “But I don’t know. I don’t want to go back. Or rest on nostalgia.”

“I get it. Jason and I dated way past our expiration date,” Robin reminded. “Everything about that last year was just postponing the inevitable. And look at Lucky and Elizabeth. They kept trying to go back, and where are they know? Miserable and fighting bitterly in court.”

“Yeah. That’s a good point. Right now, I’m lonely,” Emily admitted. “That’s why Elizabeth and I moved in together. Nikolas wants me to remember how good it was, and he’s not wrong, but it was also terrible. At he humiliated me at the end—” She took a deep breath. “I just can’t.”

“Fear of being alone can make you do terrible things,” Robin said softly. “I put up with Carly and lying about Michael because I thought no other man would ever want me with the HIV. I’m so glad I got out of it, even if I had to burn everything down around me.”

“I’m glad you did.” Emily made a face. “If you hadn’t told AJ about Michael, Jason might have ended up with Carly. That would have been a disaster.”

Elizabeth answered the door with Jake perched on her hip and half-twisted away from the door to remind Cameron that he couldn’t just touch everything because it was in front of him—she barely registered Jason at the door before Cameron reached out for one of her grandmother’s glass sculptures she’d left on the coffee table by mistake. “Cameron—here—” She shoved Jake at Jason and hurried across the room.

“What did I tell you—” Elizabeth snatched up the dolphin, and Cameron blinked up at her with his wide blue eyes. “Cameron.”

“But it’s fish. I like fish.”

Elizabeth put the dolphin into the curio cabinet she’d brought from Audrey’s house and closed the door. “It’s glass.”

“A glass fish,” Cameron corrected. “Makes it different.”

“Glass—” She shook her head, counted to five, then tried again. “Gram’s glass animals were one of her favorite things. You know how your train is your favorite?”

Cameron nodded.

“What if I let Jake crawl around and touch your train and he broke it? By accident. Would that be okay?”

“No. He’s a baby. Trains are for big kids.” Cameron jabbed a thumb into his chest. “I big kid.”

“Exactly. Trains are for big kids. He gets stuffed animals, you get the train, and I get—” Elizabeth gestured. “Glass animals.”

“Oh.” Cameron studied the now closed cabinet with all the animals tucked away safely. “Glass animals for really big kids.”

“Yes. Really big kids.”

“Okay.” Cameron beamed at her, his tiny baby teeth flashing. Then he looked past her. “Hi, Jase.”

Elizabeth turned to find Jason still holding Jake. He’d closed the door and stepped down the two steps into the living room. “Hey. Sorry about that.”

“No problem. Hey, Cam.”

“Why don’t you go play with your trains?” she told Cameron. “Aunt Em and I finished the playroom last night.”

Cameron nodded and started the climb to the stairs.

“I wasn’t expecting you, was I?” Elizabeth asked. She started to reach for Jake, then stopped herself. Jason should get to hold his son as much as he wanted. She folded her arms behind her back. “I’ve been distracted — I’m supposed to go back to the hospital full-time next week—I’ve only been part-time for the last month—and we’re still unpacking—” She sighed. “Not that you need an appointment or anything—”

“No, I came over to talk to you. And you’re fine.” Jason hesitated. “I ran into Lucky earlier today.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and went over to another box with her grandmother’s glass collection. She knelt down and started to unwrap them. Jason set Jake down on the baby blanket, arranging him on his back so Jake could wiggle and reach for the toys tied to the plastic arch above him.

“That must have been fun.”

“Yeah, well, I usually ignore him,” Jason admitted. She looked up at him. “I didn’t this time. He’s going after Cameron and Jake to punish you. I mean you told me that, but—”

“Yeah, he’s telling his lawyer that he loves them, but he’s not paying an ounce of child support and he hasn’t even asked to see Cam since we moved out, much less Jake. Diane says it’s going to screw him in court, but I’ll guess we’ll see.” Elizabeth sat back on her heels. “I’m sorry, Jason.”

“It’s fine—”

“It’s really not. None of this would be happening if I hadn’t been stupid and weak last fall. If I had just told you the truth from the beginning or—”

“We can’t go back.” Jason knelt down next to her, stopping her as she reached for another animal to unwrap. She met his eyes. “Regrets don’t solve anything, okay? I also didn’t have to listen to Carly. I could have told you no in February. You’re not the only one who made mistakes.”

“No, but—” She closed her eyes. “Diane keeps telling me that it’ll be okay. Lucky’s getting a hearing only because he’s Jake’s legal parent. The court will order a paternity test—that’ll take care of it.”

“I talked to her,” Jason said. “But she wouldn’t give me anything. I get it—she’s not my lawyer, but—”

“Oh. I should have—” Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “If you tell me what you want to ask, I can find out. But she’s already told me Lucky can’t win. If you weren’t in the picture, he might get visitation with Jake. But you are. And, like I said, Lucky hasn’t even tried to see the boys. He’s going to argue I wasn’t faithful—” Her cheeks flushed. “And, no, technically in August, I wasn’t. But I’ve got Maxie. And this year—” She bit her lip and their eyes met again. “The court doesn’t really care about emotional affairs.”

Emotional affairs. Like admitting that they loved one another and had for a long time. Jason exhaled slowly. “They won’t?”

“No. Because I can honestly say that nothing physical happened, and then Lucky will have to explain about Sam. Like I said — I’m going to win,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just going to suck for a while. But you being around Jake—that’s going to help. So you can come whenever you want. You don’t even have to ask—”

“Thank you.” Jason released her hand and they both looked over at Jake as he kicked his feet and giggled, his tiny hand latching onto one of the toys, releasing it to watch it bounce back, then repeating it. “Thank you,” he said again.

It was late that night when Leyla Mir completed her shift and headed to the parking garage. Her feet were aching, and all she could think about was running a hot bubble bath and soaking with a book —

She only had time to hear the scratch of something against the concrete floor before something wrapped around her throat and her airway was choked off. She dug her fingers into the thin strap at her neck, but she couldn’t get beneath it—

Then she was being dragged backwards—and then—

There was nothing at all.

July 4, 2022

This entry is part 3 of 22 in the Flash Fiction: Invisible Strings

Written in 40 minutes.

 

 

Elizabeth left the room to the bedroom cracked in case Cameron woke, but she was relieved that he’d slipped into a much deeper sleep. She had quite enough problems without adding a cranky child into the mix.

She paced the minuscule sitting room, the skirts of her calico dress brushing against the chaise lounge. What would she do if Jason Morgan returned and told her he’d changed his mind? How would she manage? This wasn’t like New York where she could find a factory job—

She stared down at her hands, the tips of her fingers heavily calloused from three long years working in the textile looms. At the missing tip of her left index finger. She’d been fortunate not to lose the entire hand—flashes of that terrible day hovered in her dreams, the searing pain, the deep fear of what would happen to her little boy—

Elizabeth couldn’t return to factory work. It was too dangerous and left Cameron unprotected. She turned towards the ajar door, biting her lip. Had it been one thing to read about her son in the letters, another to be confronted with the reality? She could have lied. Could have called herself a widow. Who would ask questions?

That’s what she’d do in the next place, Elizabeth vowed, beginning to pace again. And if she was ever fool enough to pursue marriage again, she’d maintain the lie. No one thought badly of a widow—and wasn’t that exactly what she was? Why did it have to matter that Alexander had died before their vows? She’d planned to marry him—

A choking sob rose in her throat, and Elizabeth swallowed it, closing her eyes. It would do no good to become hysterical. She didn’t even know for sure that anything was wrong. Perhaps Jason was just…uncertain. And hadn’t he written to her of his reserved nature? He was a quiet man.

Still—

When the knock came, less than thirty minutes after their arrival, Elizabeth hurried to unlatch the door. Jason stood there, his hat in his hands, and a look in his eyes — The pit in her stomach only grew.

“There are a few things we need to discuss,” Jason said, his voice pitched low. “Can we—”

Her lip trembled, and she nearly lost her composure—but then something strange happen. The hysteria dried up, and all she could find was rage.

“Of course,” Elizabeth said flatly. She stepped back and allowed his entrance, closing the door behind him. “You’ve come to tell me you’ve changed your mind, haven’t you?” She turned to face him, and he opened his mouth. “Was it my son? Did you take one look at my little boy and decide you’d promised too hastily to overlook my past?”

Jason’s sandy brown brows drew together. “No—”

“Because I’ve decided I have no need of someone who has to forgive me for what I’ve done,” Elizabeth retorted. She lifted her chin. “I don’t understand a world that punishes women and children for the lack of a silly piece of paper. You’re no better than my family, than everyone I left in New York.” Then the tears threatened again, because that wasn’t entirely fair.

She sank onto the chaise lounge, some of the rage fading. “No, that’s not true,” she murmured. “They were worse. They knew Alex. They knew of our plans.” Her hands fisted. “We would have been married the day he died, and no one would have blinked when Cameron came along seven months later. But a horse threw him, and now I must be punished for the rest of my life.” She took a deep, but shaky breath. “Their rejection is worse, but that doesn’t make you any less cruel for knowing the truth, promising me it would not matter, and then changing your mind after I’ve given up everything—” Elizabeth lunged to her feet. “Well, you don’t have to change your mind and reject me because I’m changing mine, and I’m doing it first—”

“There’s been a mistake,” Jason cut in, his tone gentle. He set his hat on a nearby table, then raked his fingers through his hair. “I never wrote any of those letters, Miss Webber. I didn’t advertise for a wife.”

Elizabeth stared at him, the mounting horror settling in. She slowly sat back down, trying to understand the words he’d spoken but they weren’t making any sense. “I—I didn’t just show up here. There were letters—I can get them—and there was an advertisement—I kept it—”

He stopped her as she pushed past him, intent on fetching their correspondence. “I don’t doubt any of that. I said I didn’t do it, but my cousin did.”

“Your cousin—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, swaying slightly. His hands moved to her shoulders, keeping her up right. “How—why?”

“Sit down. I’ll attempt to explain—but let me make it quite clear, Miss Webber—” He waited until she’d sat down again, taking a seat of his own in one of the wooden chairs at the tiny square wooden table. “I don’t care about your son’s birth or whether you were married to his father. You’re correct. There’s nothing to forgive you for, and I apologize if my cousin used those words when he wrote.”

“He—” She took a deep breath. “I think you need to tell me what’s going on.”

The plan had been to calmly explain the terrible misunderstanding, apologize for the idiocy of his cousin, and arrange for her transportation where she wished to go. And then Elizabeth Webber had opened the door, with that dreadful look in her eyes. She’d known why he was there—but had supplied her own reasoning—

And it had changed something in him, listening to her blast him for judging her past, then recounting her past with that haunted look in her eyes. Jason’s family had had its issues, and there were reasons he’d left the family home in  her in town and bought his own land, but he’d never felt rejected—

“A year ago, my grandmother made it clear that she wanted my cousin and I to marry and settle down,” Jason told her. “And I agreed. We both did. But Dillon hoped that if I were to marry first, she’d give him a bit of space. So he…”

“He arranged for a mail order wife,” she finished. “Why—”

“Because we love our  grandmother and we understand why she’s asking.” Jason cleared his throat. “Cholera swept through the area about two years ago. And it decimated the town. My family—” Even now, he could hardly speak of it. “My grandfather. My parents. My brother. His wife. My aunt—Dillon’s mother.” He forced himself to finish. “My sister and my nephew were the last.”

“I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth breathed. “How devastating.”

“We nearly lost my grandmother. I—” Jason shook his head. “Dillon and I are all she has left, and she wants to see us settled before she goes. I also think—” He sighed. “She’s lonely. The house was filled with her family before, and it’s just her and Dillon now. I moved back to my place around the time she started asking.”

“Your cousin wrote all the letters posing as you,” Elizabeth said. “Did he really think this would work?”

Dillon, Jason thought, was smarter than he looked. He’d thought she was lovely the moment he’d laid eyes on her at the train station, but Port Charles had its share of physically attractive women. That didn’t mean he had to marry any of them.

Then she’d let her fury fly, her eyes sparkling with righteous rage at even the hint of insult to her child. Now, she sat in front of him, those same wide blue eyes damp with tears and sorrow for his family’s losses.

“I think,” Jason said carefully, “that he thought you were always planning to marry someone you didn’t know very well, so you wouldn’t notice that I didn’t say much about the letters. And that he thought my promise to my grandmother would convince me.” He paused. “I am very sorry about what he’s done. He’s put you through so much trouble—

“And I’m sorry,” Elizabeth cut in, her face flushed. “I said such terrible things to you—”

“You believed I had ill feelings towards your son. I expect nothing less. The thing is, Miss Webber—” Jason hesitated. “I think, despite Dillon’s actions, that the best way forward is to marry.”

“What?” Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

He didn’t understand it either—he’d come here, quite firm in his decision, but — “You had planned to marry someone you didn’t know,” he reminded her, “and I told my grandmother I’d marry this year. I think—” He nodded. “I think Dillon might have done us both a favor. I’d like to make the arrangements as soon as possible—”

“That’s very kind of you—” Elizabeth held up her hand and he stopped. “But I must refuse.”

July 1, 2022

This entry is part 38 of 41 in the Flash Fiction: Signs of Life

Written in 20 minutes.

Thursday, February 3, 2000

Quartermaine Estate: Driveway

Jason slowed the bike as they approached the main entrance of the mansion, but even before he’d switched off the ignition, he could predict the disaster laying ahead.  One of Sonny’s cars was parked haphazardly near the garage, the driver’s door hanging open. The front door to the mansion was wide open —

And he could hear the shouting from where they stood.

None of this had anything to do with him, Jason realized as he stood next to the bike. Sonny might be his friend, but it wasn’t really Jason’s job to run after him. And Carly and this baby were nothing to him.

But his grandmother was inside, and she didn’t deserve any of this.

“Let’s go.” He took Elizabeth’s hand and headed in.

Sonny hadn’t made it further than the foyer—AJ and Ned were blocking his progress, and Alan was standing behind them, fuming.

“I want to see her now!” Sonny bit out. “Either get out of my way or—”

“I’ll be damned if I let you anywhere in this house,” Alan cut in. Sonny lurched forward again, and AJ shoved him back, the younger man’s eyes slightly wild, his hair disheveled. “I’ll have you arrested—”

“Sonny—” Jason reached for his partner but Sonny shoved him back.

“Not without talking to that—”

Ned grimaced as Sonny came forward, and this time Sonny threw a punch, landing a solid blow to AJ’s jaw as Ned ducked out of the way.

“Damn it—” AJ swore, then leapt at Sonny. The two of them began a fist fight, rolling around on the ground, trading punches, jabs, and kicks as Ned struggled to separate them.

“That’s it!” Alan strode to the phone and snatched it off the receiver. “I’m calling the police—”

“I’ll go find Carly,” Elizabeth told Jason reluctantly as she slipped around the fracas and Jason moved in to break up the fight.

Elizabeth checked in the front parlor, then in the family room where she found a worried Lila with an irritated Reginald, her ever present manservant.

“Oh, darling—” Lila held out her hands, and Elizabeth squeezed them. “If you’re here, I hope that means Jason is. He’ll know how to sort everything out. He always does.”

“I know,” Elizabeth said with a rueful sigh. “He’s dealing with AJ and Sonny. I thought I’d try to find Carly before Sonny can—” Not that she cared much, but like Jason, she wanted to contain the situation somehow.

“Don’t bother,” Reginald said tightly. “She’s gone.”

“Gone?” Elizabeth echoed. “How—she’s not upstairs either?”

“As soon as Mr. Corinthos barged in, I came to find her,” Lila said, her voice shaking. “She was in the gardens, heading for the garage.”

“And her car is gone.”

That wasn’t good. Elizabeth went back to the foyer, relieved to find that Jason and Ned had separated AJ and Sonny, though both men were still tossing insults. She met Jason’s eyes and lightly shook her head, hoping he’d understand.

“I don’t care what crime you think was committed against you,” Alan told Sonny, his eyes burning. “You have no right to come into this house an attack my family. If you were dumb enough to sleep with another man’s wife, then you deserve every piece of misery coming your way—”

“She had no right to lie—”

“She had every right,” Alan sneered. “Isn’t that how Jason justified stealing Michael for over a year? The right of a mother? I may not want Carly anywhere near my family, but don’t pretend you didn’t lie for Jason, either.”

Jason flinched, then closed his eyes, his grip loosening sightly at this reminder that it had all started with him.

Elizabeth scowled at Jason’s father, but kept her mouth shut as she crossed the room to stand by Jason. She’d been in Port Charles long enough to know Alan had no business casting stones at anyone else. After all, Jason was the result of an extramarital affair, and she knew AJ’s paternity had been in doubt as an infant.

Officers from the PCPD arrived then, and hauled Sonny out in cuffs. Elizabeth waited until he was clear before leaning up to whisper in Jason’s ear. “Carly took off as soon as she heard Sonny in the hall. Lila saw her go, and Reginald confirmed her car is gone. She’s gone.”

Jason winced. Now Carly had time to plan the next step, and he really didn’t want to think about what she might have planned. She had to know he’d told Sonny. He had to find her  before she had time to plot her revenge.

June 29, 2022

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the ZFlash - Watch

Written in 34 minutes. 

 

 

Elizabeth stepped off the elevator, patient charts in her arms, and stopped short. Robin Scorpio stood at the nurse’s station, an arm around her younger cousin, Georgie Jones, whose cheeks were streaks with tears and her eyes red and puffy. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Robin said, giving Georgie’s shoulders another squeeze. “Georgie’s just having a tough day.”

“Chelsea’s parents came to get—” Georgie’s voice broke and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Epiphany won’t care about me missing a few days?”

“Of course not, sweetie.” Robin kissed her forehead. “Let me take care of it. I’ll talk to her, and you head home and pack for New York, okay?”

“Okay.” Georgie hugged her again, then disappeared onto the elevator.

Robin sighed, and joined Elizabeth at the counter. “Georgie’s roommate at PCU was the girl who was killed a few days ago,” she told Elizabeth. She reached for a chart, opened it, then just stared down at blindly. “They roomed together last year, and Chelsea had just come up for the new fall semester.”

“Oh, man—”

“Yeah, Chelsea was a sweet kid. And really good for Georgie. She needed someone to get her mind off everything that happened—with—” Robin flashed a weak smile. “With Maxie, the break up with Dillon, the hotel—anyway. Georgie’s going to head down to the city for the funeral.”

“The paper says the cops don’t have any leads.” Elizabeth shuddered. “That it might have been random.” It wasn’t safe to be alone after dark, she thought, her mind straying a bit as she remembered another night, long ago. Another girl.

“I hope not. I mean, it’s a tragedy either way,” Robin added, clicking the top on her pen. “But if it was random, what’s stopping it from happening again?”

“There’s a scary thought.”

“Yeah, well—I need to track Epiphany down and get Georgie off the volunteer schedule.” Robin forced a smile on her face. “We need a break from all this doom and gloom. Ever since the trial—”

“Even before that,” Elizabeth murmured.

“It’s been a long year, that’s for sure. You get a baby sister, and I’ll get Kelly and Lainey. We’ll do a Girls Night—”

“Not Lainey,” Elizabeth cut in sharply and Robin flinched. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make things awkward, but I’m just not ready to move on—”

“I was hoping with some time and space—”

“I’d forget?” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. All I’ll ever remember is precious time being wasted while Lainey and Lucky tried to convince me and the PCPD that I’d done something to hurt Jake.”

“Elizabeth—”

“There was no evidence of post-partum depression,” Elizabeth retorted. “Nothing except me being tired and distracted. And she never apologized. She just said she was doing her job—”

Robin exhaled slowly. “I know it felt like you were being attacked—”

“I was being attacked, and Lainey was supposed to be there as my friend. No one asked for her professional opinion—” Elizabeth closed her mouth. “I don’t want to put you in the middle, Robin. I really don’t. But I’m not ready to forgive or forget.”

“Fair enough. I don’t know if I would be in your position either,” Robin admitted. “And I certainly don’t want to make things harder for you. I know the last few weeks have been hard enough.”

“Exactly. I have to get back to work.”

Jason jogged down the steps at Elm Street Pier, then stopped abruptly when he realized that Lucky Spencer was coming from the opposite direction, turning the corner from Bannister’s Wharf. He thought of just ignoring the other man, turning around to avoid him but—

It was too late.

“Well, well, well.” Lucky sneered, hatred twisted his features. “I was wondering when I’d run into you—”

“Look, Lucky, I don’t want to get into anything—” Jason loathed this sorry excuse for a man for every piece of misery he’d brought into Elizabeth’s life, but the last thing he wanted to do was make anything worse for her and the custody hearing.

“If you think you’re going to waltz into my family and take over—” Lucky jabbed Jason’s chest with his index finger. “You better think again. I’m not letting her get away with what she’s done—”

Jason just remained silent, remembering Elizabeth’s anguished expression the other day. There was some truth to her words — she had lied to Lucky about Jake, and Jason had let the lie continue.

“She humiliated me in front of the whole damn town and now she thinks she’s going to take my boys away from me? Not a chance in hell, Morgan. She took everything from me, and I’m not going to rest until I’ve made her bleed—”

Jason clenched his jaw, but did nothing more than wrap his fingers around Lucky’s wrist and shove him back lightly. “Just remember,” Jason said quietly, “that you’re not innocent either, Lucky. I’m sure your attorney has informed you it’ll be an uphill battle to even get visitation with Cameron, much less Jake. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“The minute that bitch lied to me about my son—”

“Was that before or after you nearly killed her on the docks by shooting at me?” Jason asked, his tone more pleasant than he felt. What he wouldn’t give to make this piece of shit disappear. “Or you drained the bank accounts to go into rehab for your drug problem? Or had an affair with a teenager who stole drugs for you—”

Lucky’s eyes burned. “Shut up—”

“Or when you accused her of hurting Jake and wasted time while some crazy woman got further away with him?” Jason cut in, and Lucky flinched. “And because you couldn’t stand being wrong, couldn’t stand that I’d brought him home, you made sure to violate my parole. I don’t know, Lucky. Do we really want to stand here and pretend that anything Elizabeth has done comes close to your crimes?”

“At least I’m not a killer,” Lucky growled, and Jason smirked.

“We both know that’s not true. You think you’re better than me because you have a badge?” Jason stepped back. “As far as the system is concerned, I’m a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen, and you’re harassing me.” He fisted his hands at his side. “Now I’m done with this conversation.”

“You stay away from my boys—”

Jason was done with the conversation. He’d said what he wanted to, and maybe more than he should have. He turned towards Pier 52 and the warehouse, leaving Lucky seething.

Mac Scorpio dragged his hands through his hair and closed his eyes. “Nothing came back from the lab?”

“No DNA under the nails, no footprints on the scene.” Detective David Harper sat across from the commissioner and shoved the autopsy report across the table. “The most we have is that we think the suspect is taller than the victim.”

“Great, round up all the guys taller than five foot six, and we’ll have him by dinner.” Mac sighed, looked at the photo on his desk of Georgie on her graduation day the year before. She was a wreck over all of this, and he just wanted to give her—and Chelsea Ray’s family some closure.

“We’re still doing rounds at the campus, but no one is sticking out yet. She was well-liked, friendly, but hadn’t been dating. There was a guy—they were still in the flirting stage,” Harper continued, “but his alibi checks out. He was back at the party. I’m sorry, Mac. I don’t think it was personal. Or at least someone she knew.”

“Christ. We don’t need a random killer out there picking on coeds,” Mac muttered. He’d lock Georgie in her damn room if that was the case.

“I hear you. We’ll keep at it, but right now? We’re dead in the water.”