Wednesday, November 3, 2004

General Hospital: Pediatrics Ward

With the knowledge that Elizabeth would begin the preparations for the transplant that would take place in the morning, Ric managed to convince Alexis to go home and take a nap. Sonny told Jason he would make sure he’d get Sam home and if Jason could make sure Elizabeth had anything she needed, he would appreciate it.

Jason, however, was grateful for the opening his friend gave him to have a conversation with Elizabeth. When the hallway was clear, he stepped towards her. “Is there anything you need?”

She nodded and with a smile, she took his hand and led him into a utility closet. “I just wanted to be alone with you,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his wait and standing on her toes to kiss him. He buried his hands in her hair, threading his fingers through the silky strands. There was never enough time for this, could never be enough time to sate his thirst for her.

“Mmm, we really don’t have enough time for this,” Elizabeth laughed as his mouth trailed down her neck. “There are some things we need to talk about and with me going into surgery this afternoon, there’s not much time to work it out.”

“What things?” Jason pulled away a little.

“There’s Cameron for one. I’m not going to be in any position to take care of him for a few days at least and my grandmother’s out of town for a conference in Manhattan. Emily’s…she’s just in a whole other world right now.” Her eyes brightened. “But if Sam offered to take care of him–as sort of practice, why you’d have to help right?”

“Cameron for a few days?” Jason had to take a deep breath. “Really? We can pull this off?”

“It would be natural. Sonny told you to make sure I had everything I needed.” Elizabeth smiled up at him. “I can’t really imagine a better place for our son to be while I’m recuperating than with his father.”

Jason hesitated. “I think I might have to tell Sam. About Cam. And you.”

“If you trust her.” Elizabeth slowly moved away from him and crossed to the other side to create distance though there was little to be gained in the room. “This situation has always been your choice,” she murmured.

“What would you rather I do?” Jason asked, a little irritated. “Shout it from the rooftops that while I was engaged to be married, I had an affair with you? That I fathered a child and didn’t claim him until well after he was born?”

The words stung but she masked them and looked away. “Let me know about Cameron because I have to make arrangements soon.” She put her hand on the doorknob but his hand pressed against the door to keep it closed.

“I didn’t–I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I hate this. I hate pretending we mean nothing to each other. I hate that I have to hide how I feel about you, about Cameron. If I hadn’t screwed it all up in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“It wasn’t all your fault.” She sighed and fell into his arms again, trying to commit the feeling to memory. “First I walked out and then when we were so close to working it all out, I picked that stupid fight.”

“Yeah, but I’m the one who got married first.” He kissed the top of her forehead. “Give me an hour to talk to Sam at the most. And then I’ll pick up Cameron.” He paused. “I love you, Elizabeth, I want you to believe that.” He kissed her eyelids and brushed his mouth over hers. “I need you to believe that.”

“I do,” she replied. She deepened the kiss just for a moment. “We’d better go.”

General Hospital: Alexis’s Apartment

Alexis exited the bedroom, towel drying her hair and looking more rested after a brief nap and a shower. “That smells good,” she called to Ric in the kitchen.

“It’s just a couple of a sandwiches,” he replied, carrying a plate and a glass of water to the small table behind the couch. “Eat,” he directed.

Alexis sat and stared at him for a moment. “She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?” she asked quietly.

Ric covered her hand with his. “She’s going to be great. And when she’s home and she’s healthy again, we can talk about the future.”

“Future.” Alexis rubbed her fingers idly over his bare fourth finger. “We didn’t take time for a real wedding. Do you regret that?”

He lowered himself into a chair next to hers. “I don’t regret that we’re married. That we’re not going to doing a stupid dance around each other anymore or trying to deny what we both feel. I regret that Kristina couldn’t be there.” He picked her hand up and kissed her fingertips. “So when she’s home again, then we can do it right.”

“When she’s home again,” Alexis murmured. She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Go to work.”

“Work?” Ric shook his head. “No, I should go back to the hospital with you.”

“You’ve been at the hospital day and night for a few days. You can at least go and check in. You do want to be re-elected next year, don’t you?”

“Unless my wife wants to give me a run for my money.” Ric smiled and pointed to her plate. “I’ll go in if you eat.”

Alexis picked up the sandwich and bit into the sandwich with relish. “Go.”

General Hospital: Brooke Lynn’s Hospital Room

Lucas hesitantly knocked on Brook’s door, noting first that it was empty of visitors and second that Brooke looked worse than he’d thought she would.

She looked at him through empty eyes but managed a weak smile. “First line of attack?” she quipped.

Lucas smiled and held out the bouquet of daisies he’d hunted up. “Your favorites, right?”

“Mmm,” Brooke fumbled with her free hand to bring the bed up and Lucas took a seat. “Thanks.”

“Everyone wanted to come,” he said after a moment. “But no one…no one really knows what to say.”

“Yeah. I can imagine it’s really hard on them,” Brooke said, staring at the scratchy white hospital blanket.

“It is.” Lucas sighed and clasped his hands between his knees. “Brooke, this happened to us too. We love you. I’ve never seen Dillon look so upset or Georgie and Maxie so helpless. You’re our best friend, Brooke, and the last thing any of us want to do is hurt you.”

“I know.” Brooke glanced up at him. “They’re…they’re not telling me anything here. Have…they found him?”

Lucas reached over and took her free hand in his, pretending not to notice as she flinched at his touch. “They found him. He’s in custody now. There’s no way he’ll be able to get out of this.”

Port Charles Police Department: Interrogation Room

Mac sat down and stared Diego Sanchez for a few moments before flipping the file open. “Let’s just cut right to the chase here.”

“Let’s.” Diego leaned back and slung an arm over the back of the chair. “She wanted it.”

Blood boiled in the commissioner’s veins but he ignored it. “Brooke Lynn Ashton was found in the kitchen of Kelly’s Diner. She had a broken nose, broken arm, concussion, and a few bruised rips. Not to mention that she was raped. There’s no doubt about that.”

Diego snorted. “So she liked it rough.”

A muscle ticked in Mac’s jaw but that was the only emotion he showed. “You can give us a semen and blood sample or we can obtain a warrant for it. It’s your choice.”

Diego shrugged. “I don’t care. Her word against mine.”

Mac closed the file and stood. “The daughter of Ned Ashton, granddaughter of Tracy Quartermaine and great-granddaughter of Edward Quartermaine. Do you really want that to be your defense?”

Diego’s lips curved into a malicious smile. “You don’t know anything about me, do you Commissioner? I’ve got connections of my own. One phone call and I’m out of here.”

“Mm.” Mac ignored that and left the room.

Ric Lansing was conversing with Lucky Spencer and cut off the younger detective. “Mac, I just got caught up on the Sanchez case.”

“He’s a cocky son of a bitch,” Mac muttered, tossing the file on a desk. “Says Brooke wanted it Likes it rough. It just…it kills me knowing my girls thought of him as a friend. Felt sorry for him, Georgie did.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “How’s Kristina?”

“She’s getting her transplant tomorrow,” Ric answered. “We found a donor so Alexis told me to come in for a few hours.”

“Congratulations on the marriage.” Mac said after another moment. “Didn’t really see that coming.”

“Me neither,” Ric admitted. “But here we are. How is it looking evidence wise with Sanchez?”

“They recovered semen from Brooke, and scrapings under her fingernails from where she scratched the perp. Diego’s sporting some scratches on his face. It’s a pretty solid case and since he’s basically just making it his word against hers that it was consensual, I don’t see a problem.”

“Is Brooke…all right? Otherwise, I mean.”

“As all right as she can be considering she was brutally raped by someone she thought was her friend.”

Harborview Towers: Morgan Penthouse

“I am so glad that Elizabeth was a match,” Sam said, settling on the couch with an oversized bowl of ice cream. “I mean, I was totally willing but it’s just safer for everyone. Kristina’s not using an experimental treatment, I’m not inducing labor…” She grinned at the man she considered her best friend. “I think she’s an absolute angel.”

“Hmmm…” Jason sat in the arm chair adjacent to the couch. “She mentioned she’d need someone to look after Cameron for a few days. She’ll be in the hospital overnight and then somewhat weak for the next few days.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “I could take care of him. I need the practice and you’re just incredible with babies, right? We could so take him. Did you tell her that?”

“I mentioned you…” Jason stopped and dragged his fingers through his hair. One lie too many. “Sam, there’s something we have to talk about.”

“Sounds serious.” Sam licked her spoon. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s…nothing’s wrong.” Jason stood and started to pace, a move that was so un Jason like that Sam stopped and stared. “There’s really no way to say this except to just say it. Cameron’s my son and Elizabeth and I are…we…” He didn’t know how to put it into words. Lovers? Together? Dating? In love?

Sam set the bowl down on the coffee table and laced her fingers together, unable to hide the surprise in her face. “If Cameron’s your son, then…”

“We had…we had a thing last fall. After her divorce to Ric and her accident, we were…we were working things out. We didn’t tell anyone because at first, it was just too…too much. It came out of nowhere, I was engaged, she was just getting out of a divorce. We weren’t even sure it wasn’t just…a distraction.”

“Mmmmm…” Sam sat back. “And yet, it’s a year later. You’re not married, she’s not married, but Cameron’s your son.”

“We had an argument after Courtney decided to set the date for the wedding. She accused me of using her to forget about Courtney and we–it just went from bad to worse. We ended it and…I married Courtney. I figured I had nothing left to lose.”

Sam snorted. “Men,” she muttered. “So, the baby?”

“For some reason, her doctors screwed up her due date and put it at late July. She assumed it was Zander’s baby because of the dates and after she married Ric, I guess we both figured we’d put the whole thing in the past.”

“But she found out Cameron wasn’t Zander’s.”

“Shortly before she left Ric, they readjusted her due date and the dates matched. But by the time she found out, I was married and I guess…she didn’t know what to do.”

“So she left Ric and left town to have the baby.” Sam leaned forward and propped her chin on her elbow. “But didn’t tell you.”

“I don’t blame her,” Jason said quickly. “It couldn’t have been an easy decision. And she came clean when she came home. But by then…” he trailed off.

“You were tied to me,” Sam murmured. “But everyone knows this isn’t your baby. Why didn’t you come forward?”

“At first, I didn’t think Elizabeth wanted me to. That she kept Cameron from me for the same reasons she had walked out two years ago.” Jason leaned against the desk. “But we finally…we really talked about it this time. Admitted mistakes and said things we probably should have years ago. In the end, we knew we wanted to be a family.” He exhaled slowly. “That was in July.”

“So what’s keeping you?” Sam asked softly.

“I have to protect her. I have to protect Cameron. I’m in no place to take on a family publicly. Do you know what Carly would do to Elizabeth?” Jason shook his head. “Elizabeth can handle herself, I know that. She shouldn’t have to. And…Sonny’s not real understanding about me having my own life lately. I didn’t really understand that until I was sneaking away to be with Elizabeth and Cameron. If I disappear for a little while, he gets angry and I just…I have to find a way for Sonny to accept that I get to have my own life and that I’m not willing to sacrifice my family for his anymore.”

“Elizabeth really is an incredible woman. I mean, she knows I live here, that you’re practically going to be a father to this baby and she just sits with her son wherever you’ve stashed her, waiting for you to give her the time of day.” Sam pursed her lips. “If I didn’t know Elizabeth, I’d think of a few other words people would describe her with.”

Jason scowled. “I know. And when it does come out, people will do the math and realize that Cameron was conceived while both of us were tied to other people. I don’t give a damn what people think but Elizabeth deserves better.”

“How often do you get to see them?” Sam asked quietly.

“I try to stop by once a day but sometimes a week will go by. Last night was the first night I’ve spent there in almost a month and I didn’t even get there until late.” Jason scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m telling you this for a few reasons. One, you’re going to give birth any time now. You need to be able to get in touch with me at all times.”

Sam nodded. “Sounds reasonable. What are the others?”

“I think that Elizabeth is reaching the end of her patience,” he said after another moment. “She didn’t ask to be treated like some kind of…”

“Mistress?” Sam said dryly. “Concubine? Second wife? Hey, if we lived in China, you could so get away with this stuff.”

“I don’t think of her that way. She’s too important to me.” Jason sighed impatiently.

“I’m beginning to understand that.” Sam hoisted herself off the couch. “For months, you’ve been distracted. You’ve stared off into space and you’ve disappeared for hours at a time. I couldn’t for the life of me understand what was wrong. But now I do.” Her lips curved into a wry smile. “You went and got yourself a life. And from what it sounds like, it’s a good life. One you deserve.”

“I hope so,” Jason murmured. “Sam, you’re the only one who knows. No one else does. Not Emily, not Elizabeth’s family. No one else knows.”

“I’m not about to take out a newspaper announcement.” Sam fisted her hands on her hips. “I think that Elizabeth should recuperate here after her surgery so that she’s not too far away from her son. As for her reaching the end of her patience, we’ll work on that.” She bit her lip. “I know telling me was more of a necessity than anything else. But you really could have lied. Or gotten another cell phone and only given me the number. But you chose to tell me the truth and it means a lot to me that you trust me. I want to see you happy, Jason. I think out of everyone that I know, you deserve it the most.”

General Hospital: Surgery

Steven smiled as he watched a nurse administer the IV drop for his sister. “You ready to do this?”

Elizabeth nodded sleepily. “Yep.” She crooked her finger to motion him closer. When he leaned down, she whispered loudly, “I have got the cee-utest doctor.”

He laughed. “You’re amazing, little sister. Just close your eyes and go to sleep.”

Elizabeth nodded and followed his instructions. “Tell Cameron I love him,” she murmured. “And Jason…”

Steven frowned. “Tell Jason what?” he asked.

But Elizabeth had already fallen into a deep slumber. Steven reached for the long needle to begin the procedure.

← Chapter Two | Chapter Four →