Part 1

Azure. Lapis. Aqua. Turquoise. Cerulean.

Scarlet. Crimson. Brick. Vermillion.

Pine. Emerald. Sea Foam.

Ochre. Sunflower. Lemon. Gold.

Titanium. Eggshell. Ivory.

Black. Gray. Silver.

Elizabeth's fingers nimbly danced over the tubes of paint on the shelves in her studio. She could see the vivid colors in her mind, could smell the oil of the pigments, could feel the texture on her skin, and she turned away from them. They mocked her, sitting there all pristine and ready for her to paint. The problem was she didn't know which tube was lemon and which tube was scarlet. And she didn't know if she ever would again.

Ever since waking up in the hospital two weeks ago after someone plowed into her with their car, she had been living in a world of darkness. The doctors had run tests, and spoken such platitudes as All signs indicate that when the trauma goes down you should be able to see again, you just need to be patient and give it time. Time. As if that was easy for them to say. They had things they could do with their time. They could work, go outside and not worry about running into things, sit down and read a book, or turn on the TV and watch anything they wanted to.

Elizabeth was stuck in a room of darkness. The outside was a scary place, full of unknown obstacles and dangers that looked perfectly harmless to the seeing person. Sure, she could listen to music, or books on tape, but there was only so much of that a person could do until they just went a bit loopy. And the occupational therapy she had begun a couple of days ago did nothing to alleviate the feelings of isolation and uncertainty when she came home.

At one time she loved her studio. It was her place of independence and refuge when Lucky was dead and Jason was her friend. It was the place she came to hold onto those feelings when Lucky was pushing her to be a model and didn't seem to understand that she didn't want to stand in front of a camera and have millions of people looking at her. It was a place she once believed that anything was possible for her. Now, it was merely a crutch because she didn't know where else to go.

Divorced, jobless and blind, the studio was all she had to hold onto for some sense of normalcy. Some sense of history of herself. The problem with that was the studio was about her art. Canvases lined against the wall waited for paint to be applied, waited for vision to become form, and she was no longer capable of doing that. Her paintbrushes were as useless to her as the car that Ric had bought her while they were married and insisted she take during the divorce. She'd sold the car; she didn't know if she would be able to sell the art supplies, even if she never regained her sight.

Her grandmother wanted her to move in with her. Ric had been sniffing around thinking she would be so frightened and lost she would be willing to forget that he'd kidnapped Carly Corinthos and locked the pregnant woman up in a room in their house. Or that he'd lied to Elizabeth, about Carly, about her own fertility, about his vendetta against Sonny. No matter how afraid Elizabeth sometimes felt, she was never going to take Ric back. The restraining order she'd taken out against him when he wouldn't leave her alone and had taken to following her around the hospital and then after she'd been released had been quite a blow to the D.A., and a bit of an embarrassment to the city. Lucky informed her that the mayor had told Ric it was his job, or harassing his ex-wife. Not surprisingly, Ric chose his job.

And while Elizabeth loved her grandmother, she just felt like a helpless failure if she moved in with the older woman. Her studio may not be the greatest, but she was learning the layout of the place and the area surrounding it. She also knew the place was safe. The door Jason had installed after her kidnapping was still in place, and it really would take a canon to get through it. So, while it wasn't the best place, she was learning. And she wasn't willing to leave it yet.

Maybe if she ever gave up on the idea of regaining her sight she'd move out. In the meantime, Linda, her therapist, had visited her home and made some suggestions on how Elizabeth would better be able to adapt and be self-sufficient. She had a cane, she was recognizing the size of the cans in her pantry, and on the days she didn't want to eat soup, or a frozen dinner heated up in her microwave, she headed to Kelly's where Penny always gave her the correct change and a cup of free hot chocolate along with a few minutes of idle talk and gossip.

So, for now it was a wait and see adventure. Wait and see if her sight would ever come back, if she'd ever be normal, if people would ever stop trying to treat her like she was a pathetic, broken doll in need of sympathy and coddling. And it was a wait and see if the police ever found the car that hit her, and the driver that left her lying bleeding and bruised on the side of the road. A partial impression of the license plate had finally faded from her leg, but the police had taken the numbers and letters and started a search of the area. So far, they'd found nothing.

It wasn't that surprising, just a bit disappointing. One more crime against her that wouldn't be solved and everyone would silently tsk over and shake their heads. Poor Elizabeth Webber, victim again. It made her want to cry sometimes, sometimes it made her want to laugh. Sometimes she wanted to rage and yell and destroy everything at the sheer unfairness of it all. Sometimes she just wanted to curl up into a little ball and stay there forever. Maybe if she didn't move, didn't emerge from her house, didn't emerge from her shell, nothing more could happen to her.

Mostly though, she wanted to go to sleep and wake up to find the past weeks had been nothing more than a nightmare. A bad dream she could wake up from, shudder as the cobwebs and memories faded away, and then blink and rub her eyes in the bright sunlight streaming in. But with each morning that passed and she woke up to face nothing but darkness again, she began to wonder if it would ever happen. Would the doctors finally admit defeat and say that she would never regain her sight? Would she one day be walking down the street with her guide dog and forget that she'd ever been an artist, that the world had been full of color? Would her fingers one day be calloused not from splinters and stretching canvases, but from reading Braille?

Sitting in her dark, silent studio, Elizabeth pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and tucked it around herself. With a watery sigh, she shifted and settled into the couch and closed her eyes to take a nap. And as she did each time she went to sleep, she said a silent prayer that this time she'd wake up and the world would be fixed.

Part 2

"Let's go say hi to Sonny and Carly. Let them know we're back."

"Okay," Jason nodded to Courtney's suggestion, watching as she fidgeted slightly as the elevator rose to the penthouse level.

The nervousness and tension that had been in her three weeks ago when she came to him and suddenly wanted to go to the island appeared to be back. After a couple of days down at Sonny's casino, with the beach and the sound of the surf outside their window, she had finally calmed down. Although she jumped each time the phone rang those first few days. As wonderful as the time away with Courtney was, Jason knew they couldn't stay there forever. Despite what she'd less-than-subtly hinted at when he said they needed to go home.

The entire trip home, her agitation had increased the closer they got to Port Charles and he wondered if she wasn't really as over the miscarriage as she'd assured him she was. Maybe he should have suggested she stay on the island a little longer. Sure he would miss her, but her happiness was important to him. Maybe he'd suggest she go back, maybe with Carly this time so the two friends could spend the days shopping together.

When they stepped off the elevator, he nodded at Max who stood in front of Sonny and Carly's door and the Italian knocked then allowed them to go in. Carly and Michael were sitting on the couch and Sonny emerged from the kitchen with a towel carelessly tossed over his shoulder.

"Courtney!" Carly squealed with pure delight. "Jason."

"You're back," Michael thrilled as he jumped off the couch and raced towards Jason.

"So how was it?" Carly asked Courtney as the blonde sat down on the couch.

"It was great," she smiled, her eyes a little pinched, her mouth a little tight with that blasted ever-present tension Jason wished he could abate for her.

"Come up with Michael and me and tell me all about it while I get him ready for bed," Carly coaxed. "You know these two will want to talk. And then we can all spend some time together after Michael's all tucked in."

His girlfriend didn't even look back at him, just followed after Carly and Michael, once the reluctant boy finally released his uncle and was persuaded to head upstairs. Jason sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, before turning to look at his friend. Sonny said nothing as he walked across the room and poured two glasses of bourbon.

"I've got beer, but you look like you could use a shot of this," he said as he extended the glass towards Jason.

"Thanks," the younger man nodded as he accepted the drink.

"So how was it?" his friend asked. "Really?"

"It was good," he quickly said. "For about two weeks. The first couple of days we were there...I don't know what it was. She was tense, she was anxious, and even though we both told her I wouldn't have to come home every time the phone rang she got nervous and jumpy. But she finally settled down and we enjoyed ourselves."

He allowed himself a brief smile. "I taught her to skin dive and she seemed to really enjoy it. She liked the casinos, she liked the time we just spent together. When I said we needed to come home..."

"She got all nervous again?" Sonny filled in when Jason trailed off.

"Yeah," he breathed out on a sigh. "I don't know what to do for her, Sonny. I mean...I think she's still really hurting about the miscarriage, and I don't know what to do for her. She wants to talk about it, but it's just...it's just not real for me. So I hold her and I assure her I'm not mad. But it's like...it's like she hates being here in Port Charles."

His friend said nothing, just took a drink of the amber liquid and swirled the cut glass tumbler around in his palm. "I'm sorry, Jason. I...I'm not blaming you, but this is one of the reasons I never wanted my sister in the life. She says she can handle it, but there are times..."

He trailed off and left the rest unspoken, but Jason understood. It was a common lament he himself felt at times. That while Courtney was strong, she had a hard time dealing with his business and everything it really entailed. "I thought about suggesting she and Carly go back down there. Spend a little more time. Maybe she'd open up to Carly about things she won't to me."

Sonny cast a glance at the stairs before looking back at Jason. "Maybe," he said softly, almost absently. "Give her a little time; see how she settles back into being home."

Jason finished his drink and rose, really wanting a beer and turning for the kitchen. He was a little surprised when Sonny followed after him, casting another glance at the stairs. Once the bottle was retrieved and the top twisted off, Jason regarded his boss. "What's going on?"

"Listen, something..." Sonny sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Something happened while you two were gone."

"What?" he immediately asked. "Alcazar or Faith try something?"

"No, it's...it's not business."

When the older man looked down at the floor and took the towel off his shoulder before tossing it on the counter, Jason peered at him questioningly. "Sonny?"

"Elizabeth Webber was hit by a car the night you guys left," he said softly.

Jason's eyes widened and he rocked back slightly on his heels. "Jeez," he breathed out, once it seemed to process. "Is she okay? What happened to her?"

"She was hit crossing the street in a cross-walk, driver never stopped."

Son of a... "How badly was she hurt?"

"Surprisingly only minor scrapes and bruises," Sonny said mirthlessly. "Aside from the partial impression of the license plate on her leg that didn't fade for several days."

"What?" he snapped. He could only imagine how fast the car must have been traveling for an impression to be left on her skin for that long.

"Yeah, gave the police a nice clue for their investigation. It also exonerates Faith Roscoe and Ric Lansing because their plate numbers don't match." Then his friend looked down once more and actually shifted on his feet. "There's...there's more though, Jason."

"More?" he questioned. "I thought you said she only had minor scrapes?"

"Well, she was lucky she didn't have any broken bones," Sonny pointed out and Jason conceded the point with a nod. "But...but when they took the bandages off her head..."

Sonny let out a harsh breath and his eyes were filled with sorrow when he said, "She couldn't see once the bandages came off. She...she hasn't regained her sight."

Now Jason did lean back against the counter near the refrigerator. "She's...she's blind?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

Sonny nodded just once.

"Do they know if she'll see again?"

Sonny could only shrug. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since she's been released from the hospital. All I know is what I overheard the couple of times I was there. The doctors are hopeful that once the trauma and the swelling goes completely down that she should regain her sight."

"Should? She should be able to see again?" he hissed. "In other words, they don't know."

"I guess she's going to some sort of therapy," his boss shrugged again. "She took out a restraining order on Lansing 'cause he wouldn't leave her alone after her release. Figured since she was blind she'd forgive him and move back in with him."

Jason remembered that night on the docks, before he and Courtney left, when he talked to Elizabeth. She had sounded a bit lost, but her determination was strong when she said she was through with Ric. He could imagine how she was sticking to that now. Especially given all that Lansing had done to her.

"Is her grandmother helping her out?"

"I don't know," Sonny admitted. "She's in her studio, that's all our snitch at the police department told me when he told me about the restraining order. Apparently Elizabeth is at the studio."

The older man cast a glance at the kitchen door and then stepped closer to Jason, lowering his voice slightly. "Listen though, there's another problem on this."

"What?" Jason's brows dipped down in confusion.

"The partial plate the police got, they're searching all cars in the area with those numbers in sequence. It's a blind search, but it's all they can really do since Elizabeth couldn't describe the car. All she said was she was starting across the street, the car came out of nowhere, she was blinded by the headlights, and then she was hit. Doesn't know what color the car was or anything, except the police figure it was a dark colored car since it didn't stand out against the night. But with the lights..." Sonny shrugged. "Who really knows."

"So what's the problem?" Jason asked.

"The plate partially matches Courtney's car," he said.

"Courtney's?" Jason echoed in disbelief. "But we were gone."

"That's what I told the cops," Sonny nodded. "But the accident actually happened before you guys left. I lied and said you were already gone...but you weren't."

"So they search the car," Jason shrugged. "When there's no damage, no blood or hairs, they'll clear her anyways."

"It's not that simple," his friend sadly shook his head. "Her car is missing."

His head tipped to the side in study and disbelief. "What?"

"The guards say that Courtney left in her car earlier that night. She never brought it home. You brought her home, and said you guys were going to the island."

"She never said anything about her car," Jason said, almost to himself. "She just called me up and asked me to meet her. Asked if we could go to the island."

"Right," Sonny nodded. "If her car was stolen, don't you think she would have said something?"

"I..." Jason trailed off and looked at the door, imagining Courtney upstairs with Carly and Michael, and then looked back to Sonny. "You don't think she hit Elizabeth, do you?"

"I don't know what to think," Sonny replied, stunning Jason with his answer. "Especially when I got a call from our doc who said that Courtney had called him the day you guys left and asked if he could help her out. You know those pills her doctor gave her after the mugging and the miscarriage? Well, she asked Doc Brown to get her a prescription because she couldn't get a refill from her doctor. Said her doctor didn't believe she was really in pain still."

"You think she's on drugs?" he asked in disbelief. "You think she was high and hit Elizabeth?"

"I don't know, Jason," Sonny ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, I don't know. But you have to admit it's strange. She takes her car out, doesn't come back with it, doesn't mention it being stolen, suddenly she wants to go down to the island. You said she's nervous and jumpy, especially when the phone rings, and she's now all nervous when you guys come back."

"No," Jason shook his head.

"She's been acting a little off ever since we got back from South America-"

"Because she had a miscarriage, Sonny," Jason said forcefully low. "You know how Carly was."

"She was taking pills, Jason. She asked our doc for some, but never said anything to us."

"That doesn't mean anything," he shook his head again.

"The plate numbers-"

"Mean nothing," Jason said with determination. "Hundreds of cars could match up. Just because we can't find her car doesn't mean anything. No. She isn't on drugs and she didn't hit Elizabeth."

"Are you sure?" Sonny asked.

Jason stared at him wide-eyed. Not believing. Not really believing that Sonny was suggesting that Courtney, his sister, was capable of such a thing. She wasn't. She would never hit someone and leave that person lying bleeding on the side of the road. Not even Elizabeth. No matter what had happened between the two women, Courtney could never do something like that.

He stalked away from Sonny, intent on getting Courtney and going home. Stopping in the doorway, he turned back to the other man, still standing in the kitchen. "You're wrong. Her car was stolen. That's all there is to it. That's what you told the cops, right?"

"I said that's what I figured happened. Couldn't say for sure since Courtney hadn't mentioned it and you guys were on vacation. Guards won't say anything about her leaving with it that night."

"Good. Then that's the story. I'll...I'll mention this to Courtney in the morning in case the cops find out we're back and come around to question her," he nodded. "But whatever really happened..."

He shrugged and trailed off as he heard Courtney and Carly's voices drifting down from upstairs. "She didn't do this, Sonny. You know her. I know her, and I'm telling you, she couldn't do something like this."

"Okay," Sonny nodded and followed after him slowly. "Okay. We'll keep looking for the car, quietly."

"Good," he nodded, and then looked up as the two women came downstairs. "Then that's the end of that."

He walked over and put his arm around Courtney, telling himself that the tension he felt as he pressed her against his side was really just fatigue. Sonny wasn't usually a conspiracy theorist, and as with most theories, this was one was simply not true.

Part 3

Blast Sonny and his unfounded paranoia.

Jason was really going to kill him for this. For planting these seeds of doubt in his mind about Courtney, about the accident...and most of all, about the pills. He hadn't wanted to believe any of it could be true, had adamantly denied that there was any shred of possibility, let alone evidence. He stood by her when the police came and questioned her about the car, told her he believed her when she told him it had been stolen and that all she wanted was some time alone with him after everything that had happened - the miscarriage, Emily's cancer, their distance from each other - and just wanted to be with him. And he had believed her.

He ignored Sonny's pointed questions and not-so-subtle observations and he believed his girlfriend. Yes, it was tragic that Elizabeth had been hit and was blind. He'd spoken with Emily, found out how Elizabeth was doing, and even went by her studio to see her one day - he found out later that she was a doctor's appointment and that was why she hadn't answered the door when he'd knocked or called out to her. But Jason refused to believe that there was any way that Courtney could be responsible for the accident. It could have been some kid out joyriding who was petrified of being caught. It could be anything.

But because Sonny's words did linger in his head, echoing around during the times he was alone at the warehouse supposed to be going through invoices, he wondered. And he hated himself for even entertaining the notion. Courtney had been acting a little erratic before they left. And since they came home. She had been given pain killers after her mugging, and she'd called their doctor and tried to get more when the doctors at General Hospital wouldn't give her a refill. And she'd been feeling very insecure after the loss of their baby, and his renewed friendship with Elizabeth.

He still remembered that morning he came home and Elizabeth was there, still in the same dress she'd been in for Emily's wedding and their talk in the hospital's chapel, and Courtney was screaming at her. Elizabeth came by, as a friend, to tell him that Emily had seemed to have a breakthrough during the night and they didn't think she was going to die, and all Courtney could go on about was how Elizabeth was trying to get Jason back. Courtney accused him of wanting Elizabeth, his perfect, ideal woman, back so that he could go off with her and start a family. Elizabeth could give him the child Courtney never could, and she just knew she was out the door as his girlfriend.

Despite his reassurances that he and Elizabeth were over and that he loved Courtney now, she hadn't seemed to believe him. Anytime he had to leave on business, she accused him of running off to see Elizabeth. He'd almost been tempted to start avoiding Elizabeth, just to ease Courtney's fears, but when he saw his old friend on the docks that night and they talked about the past and what they'd nearly lost in Emily, he knew he couldn't. He wasn't going to flaunt his friendship with Elizabeth to Courtney, and it certainly wasn't like Elizabeth was the kind of friend he sat down and had coffee with - he wasn't really a sit down and have coffee kinda guy - but he wasn't going to avoid her. And he wasn't going to go back to the anger and arguments they'd once lived in.

And just because Courtney was insecure and still hurting over her miscarriage and finding out she couldn't have children, didn't automatically mean she'd hit Elizabeth with her car. But the suspicion that she was on drugs was growing stronger every day. And with that suspicion came the following one that perhaps she'd hit Elizabeth while high and hadn't even realized it. And if that was true, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

He'd begun watching Courtney and he'd been disturbed by what he saw. He saw the same tremors and shakes in her that he'd seen in Emily back when she was on drugs and needed a fix. Courtney would become erratic, snapping and irritable, and half an hour after she'd go upstairs to go to the bathroom, she'd be completely different. She'd be mellow, her movements almost thick and sluggish, her eyes slightly glassy. And Jason realized he'd missed all the signs for weeks. She'd been like this before the island, while they were there on the island, and especially since they got home and the cops came to question her about her car. She was upping the dosage.

He'd asked her if everything was alright, how was she was doing physically since the miscarriage and her mugging, giving her opportunities to confess to him what was going on with her and hoping she'd take them. He wasn't surprised, but was disappointed, when she said everything was fine and that there was nothing wrong. She didn't want to leave the house, hardly even went over to Sonny and Carly's, and she'd begun sleeping a lot.

It appeared Sonny was right. At least about the drugs.

The question was, who was she getting them from? She hadn't gotten them from their doctor, and the man was under orders not to give her any pills and to contact Jason if she asked for any. Was she getting them from a dealer? He didn't see how it was possible when she didn't leave the house long enough to make a score.

He felt sneaky and underhanded, but he'd asked Carly to take Courtney shopping. He said that she needed to get out of the house, spend some time with her friend, and Carly was only more than happy to oblige him. Claiming he had some work to do, he stayed at home and promised that when she got back, they'd go out to eat and maybe go for a ride on his bike. And as soon as they left, and the guard downstairs called and told him that the limo had pulled out of the garage, he'd begun searching through the house and her belongings.

All the while praying he was wrong. But knowing he wasn't.

She was good at hiding them, but he knew they had to be around here someplace. But he'd searched the bathroom and the bedroom, even looking between the mattress on her side of the bed and through her closet. He looked in shoe boxes and old Wyndam's bags, but so far, he wasn't finding anything. So he headed across the hall to the guest bedroom and started going through things there. And there, in the closet, in her suitcase that she'd brought back from the island - the extra one to hold all the things she'd bought - were bottles upon bottles of pills. All prescribed by their doctor at the casino and filled at the local pharmacy. Enough to last her for a long time. Probably until the next time she asked to go to the island.

Grabbing one of the full bottles and doubting she'd miss it, he closed the suitcase and pushed it back into the closet. He was numb when he went down the stairs and across the hall to his friends' penthouse. Not even bothering to knock, he opened the door knowing Sonny would be alone with Michael at school and Carly out shopping.

"Jason?" the older man asked, a bit surprised at his sudden appearance.

He said nothing, just crossed the room and sat down on the couch, stunned and beating himself up for not having seen it before. Sonny followed after him and sat down in the chair, leaning forward and bracing his forearms on his knees. "Jason? What's wrong, man?"

With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed the bottle to Sonny who caught it with bewilderment and then looked at it. After reading the label, his friend leaned back in the chair and let out a breath. "Oh man, I'm sorry, Jason."

"You were right," Jason said flatly, not looking at the other person in the room. "She's on drugs. Has been for a while. And it's getting worse. I don't know if it's because the addiction is getting stronger...or because of guilt."

"You think she...that she might have hit Elizabeth?" Sonny asked softly.

"I don't know," he breathed out. "When the cops came, she said the car had been stolen. It had obviously been stolen after we left, that's why she didn't report it. Not that she would have trusted them to find it anyways. And since you had already talked to them while we were gone, she didn't bother making a report."

"All plausible," his friend agreed.

"Except that her hands were shaking from needing a fix and she wouldn't look me in the eye after the cops left and we were talking about Elizabeth." Jason leaned forward and scrubbed his hands over his face. "I didn't want to see it. I didn't want to believe that she was capable of such a thing. That she could be taking drugs, or that she could have hit and blinded Elizabeth. That my fiancée was capable of running down my friend on the street."

"So what are you going to do?" Sonny asked.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "I need to find the car. I need to see if there's damage on it. If I confront her with the drugs, which we're going to have to talk about anyways, she'll deny it. I know she will. Or she'll make excuses. And...and it would be so easy, so easy to just take care of this. Make this all go away. The cops will never find out anything, we'll get her help for the drugs, everything will be okay."

He paused and closed his eyes, guilt already swimming through him. It must have shown on his face because Sonny softly voiced it. "Except for Elizabeth."

"She's blind, Sonny," he whispered raggedly. "And even if it wasn't Elizabeth, even if it was some stranger that Courtney hit... The Quartermaines covered up my accident and A.J.'s part in it for so long. Couldn't have one of their sons going to jail, or Heaven forbid even rehab, and staining the good family name. I had my head rammed into a tree and forgot who I was and A.J. never paid for his crime. Jason Quartermaine loved his brother; otherwise he never would have climbed into the car with him that night thinking he could save him."

He looked up at the ceiling, then over at his friend whose eyes were sympathetic, completely non-judgmental. "I love Courtney, but she ran down a person on the road, ditched her car and never said a thing. She was off on the island having a great time while Elizabeth was waking up blind in the hospital. I was on the island, too. Courtney got pills from our doctor there. You should see the suitcase, Sonny. She's got enough in there to open her own pharmacy.

"If I cover this up..." he trailed off and swallowed raggedly. "If I cover this up, make this all go away and pretend that it doesn't matter that Courtney was high and got behind the wheel of a car knowing she shouldn't be driving, then am I any better than the Quartermaines? They didn't want to believe Emily was on drugs and she almost jumped off the roof thinking she could fly. Alan was on drugs. A.J. was drunk. Every time they just covered it up and buried it and acted like it was no big deal."

His hands clenched into loose fists on his thighs and he could feel his neck knotting up with tension. "I don't want to hurt Courtney, or you, but...but Elizabeth..."

"Is your friend, and she's blind, and her life has been completely changed, just like your life was completely changed from Jason Quartermaine to who you are now."

"She's an artist," his voice dropped almost to a whisper. "That was something she loved so much, you should see her when she talks about a painting she's working on. And that could be lost forever."

Sonny nodded quietly. "It's a bad situation all around, Jason. I don't want Courtney to go to jail, she'd never survive. But she's got to get some help."

"I know," Jason agreed. "And we've got to find her car. We could be worrying over nothing-"

"But your gut says we aren't. That's the same thing I felt."

He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. "I gotta get out of here. I...I don't know what to do about Courtney. About the pills, about the accident... I just gotta get out of here. I need to go for a ride."

He stood, suddenly feeling caged and trapped and that if he didn't get out of the room soon he'd explode. He was almost to the door when Sonny's voice stopped him. "Do you want me to call you when the girls get back? Or do you want me to talk to Courtney about the drugs by myself?"

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked down at the brass fixture. "I... Call me when they get back. I can't dump this off on you. I'm going to have to face her, and it might as well be sooner rather than later."

Part 4

Sixteen steps. Turn right ninety degrees. Ten steps. Turn left ninety degrees. Twenty steps until top of four stairs leading down to docks.

At step twelve she realized she'd horribly messed up, again. Her thigh smacked into something metallic, and hard, and she scraped her shin as she stumbled to the side, trying to keep her balance. Arms windmilling, she fought to keep from falling on the unknown ground, but after a few seconds, lost the hopeless battle. She went down. Hard enough to jar her teeth together and add a headache to the growing list of ailments already bothering her.

She wanted to cry, but refused. She was done wasting tears over her blindness. But after a month, she was no more used to being blind than she had been when she first woke up. Maybe it was because she kept wishing that one day she'd open her eyes and she'd see the bright sunlight streaming into her studio. Maybe her occupational therapist was right and she really wasn't putting her heart into learning the things Linda was trying to teach her. She still couldn't remember if a bill folded with the left corner down was a five or a ten, no matter how many times she'd been told.

She'd tried to explain to Linda that she felt that if she accepted the older woman's lessons, than it would mean that she'd given up on the possibility of ever seeing again. And if Elizabeth did that, she might as well just go ahead, sell her studio, move in with her grandmother and become a hopeless, pathetic cripple. She was not going to do that. She had to believe that this would get better, that the swelling in her brain would go down, the pressure around the optical nerve would decrease, and she would be able to see the pathway from her studio to the harbor so she could actually see the water and not awkwardly feel her way forward to sit and listen to it, imagining if the seas were blue or dark gray.

"Elizabeth?"

She froze, still on the ground, and stared firmly ahead. Didn't turn her face up with her sightless eyes towards the voice. She may not have heard it for nearly a month, but she would know Jason Morgan's voice anywhere. "Jason," she replied flatly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she could hear his voice get closer.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice saccharine sweet and deadly acidic. "I just love sitting in a filthy alley somewhere because I once again can't remember how many steps I'm supposed to take before I turn. One would think that with the number of times I leave my stifling apartment to come down to the docks that I wouldn't still keep tripping over things and ending up on my butt."

She heard him sigh and she added one of her own, smacking the ground beneath her and wincing as she drove little bits of gravel into her palm. "I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just frustrated."

"It's alright," he answered gently. "I imagine that this has been hard for you to deal with. I heard..."

He trailed off, then sighed. "Can I help you up? It doesn't look real comfortable sitting there."

She gave a humorless laugh and nodded. "Sure."

"Okay, I'm going to take your hands and help you up," he said, and even though he'd told her what he was going to do, she was still surprised when he reached for her hands and tugged her up gently.

"Do you want to go back to your studio?" he asked. "Your shin looks like it could use a bandage." He turned one of her hands over in his. "Your hand too."

"How bad are they?" Elizabeth asked. It was odd, any other person and she would have been pulling back, declaring she was alright and she didn't need any help. But Jason wasn't pushing, and he didn't sound like he pitied her, and she found herself trusting him. Trusting someone for the first time in a month.

"Not too bad," he told her. "Still I-"

"Could they wait for a bit?" she questioned. "I...I'm not in a hurry to head back up to my studio. I really wanted to just sit and listen to the water in the harbor for a little while."

There was a brief pause and then Jason answered. "I suppose they can wait. Just don't forget to clean them when you get back."

She smiled. Real and genuine and nodded again. "I won't."

"Could I...could I walk with you?" he asked.

She hadn't wanted very many people around her. Emily would come over and sit with her, bring music for them to listen to, take her anywhere Elizabeth wanted to go, and even though she knew her friend meant well, she often told Emily no. But she found herself nodding once again. "Sure."

He slipped her hand into his arm and covered it with his opposite hand. Then without saying much, he led her towards the stairs, down them, and then to the bench that she loved to come out to and sit and just be. He sat beside her, and must have sensed that she wasn't in the mood to talk right away, but she could feel his presence beside her. And it comforted her.

"So," she said, quietly, enjoying the silence around them. "How have you been since I saw you last? When I was in the hospital Emily said you and Courtney were down on the island."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I...I didn't know about your accident until we got back. I came by to see you one day, but Emily told me later you were at a doctor's appointment."

It oddly touched her that he'd stopped by to see her. She was long over the stage of wishing he'd drop his girlfriend and declare that he was miserable without her in his life, but after fighting with him for so long and then finally ending it, it had hurt that she'd sat for days upon days in the hospital and never heard anything from him. Or about him. Until the day that Emily stopped by and said that Jason had called her and she finally knew where he was. She told Elizabeth she hadn't mentioned the accident to Jason because he and Courtney seemed to be trying to work through some of their problems, and Elizabeth had agreed that he needed to focus on his fiancée.

Still, the fact that he'd come by to see how she was doing, and had talked to Emily about her, made her feel...something. He hadn't forgotten about her. Their talks hadn't just been flukes. He was being a friend. And she was grateful for it.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "Even though I've been released I feel like I still spend most of my time there. I'm actually kinda glad I can't see the drab walls."

"Have they said anything about you getting your sight back?" he asked, his voice slightly strained.

Her shrug this time was a little more forced, a little less easy. "They don't know. Tony's run so many CAT scans on me I should qualify for frequent flier miles or something. They thought that there would be some change by now if it was going to happen, but they're still not ruling anything out. Meanwhile Linda keeps trying to get me to stop fighting her classes."

"Linda?"

"My occupational therapist," she smiled a bit bitterly. "In fact, I had a session earlier this afternoon. She thinks I'm not taking them seriously enough...as evidenced by the fact that I'm still bumping into things when she'd already mapped out my walking paths and I've got my handy cane here."

She tapped the ground with the collapsible stick and knew that Jason's pale blue gaze had immediately focused on it. "I just...I just feel like it's giving up."

"Your sessions?" he asked.

"Like I'm accepting that I'll never see again and I've just decided to roll over and stop fighting. Like I should just accept the fact that I may never see again. That I shouldn't be angry about it. That I shouldn't be mad that some idiot came out of nowhere and ran me down and took away my entire world. That I should be glad I'm still alive and not care about the fact that everything is permanently dark."

Her voice had risen and her breathing was coming in harsh gasps, and she felt the unmistakable burn of tears behind her eyes. "Linda thinks that maybe I should consider a special care facility. Somewhere I can live twenty-four hours a day while they teach me how to be blind."

"Elizabeth," Jason said softly, his large hand covering her smaller one that was curled into a tight fist on her thigh. "It's okay to be upset, and it's okay to not want to accept what happened to you. Nobody is saying you should."

"You haven't been talking to my doctors," she said bitterly.

"I'm sorry that they're giving up and pressuring you to do something you're not ready to do yet," he told her.

She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For dumping all of this on you," she laughed nervously. "I feel like all I ever do is complain. I mean, I know I'm lucky to be alive. The crash could have been so much worse. I could have had broken bones, a broken neck. I could be facing a lifetime of not being able to walk instead of just not being able to see...and yet..."

"You're an artist, so what you see has always been important to you. You take the world and you put on canvas, and you help others to see the beauty that you do."

This time the tears that stung her eyes had less to do with frustration than with the simple fact that Jason understood why losing her sight had been so hard. Linda had told her that she could try other mediums of art. Clay or marble, something tactile that she could do with her hands. And the woman hadn't understood when Elizabeth shot down the suggestion before she was even done. If she'd wanted to do clay or marble or metal, she would have done that already while she could see. She liked painting. She liked sliding her brush through the color that she'd chosen and directing the bristles across the blank canvas, bringing her vision inside her to life. Jason understood what that loss meant.

She nodded shakily. "I had been on my way to my studio that night to paint. After we'd talked, and I'd blown Ric off after yet another of his jealous tirades against you and a pathetic attempt to get me to take him back, I...I found a flyer for a show he'd helped a gallery put together while we were married. Of course, the whole reason he had organized it was to keep me busy painting so I wouldn't realize that he had Carly chained to a wall in our house."

"Elizabeth..."

She shook her head and held up her hand. "I was angry, and I felt foolish, and yet I just had this desire to go paint. Even if it was horrible and I threw it away afterwards, I just had so many emotions that I wanted to release. Maybe I wasn't paying attention when I started across the street...maybe I didn't see the car was already there..."

"Stop," he told her, his voice strained and rough. "It's not your fault. Sonny and Emily told me you were in a crosswalk. The driver...the driver should have been paying attention."

There was something in the hitch of his voice that quivered through her and she turned her head automatically, as if she'd be able to search his face. Yet there was nothing before her, as there had been for the past month. "Jason?"

He let out a breath and she narrowed her useless eyes. "Jason? Are you alright?"

"No," he said, stunning her with the answer and the rawness it contained.

She heard him stand and wondered what was going on. "Come on, we should get you back to your studio so I can take care of those cuts."

Elizabeth hesitated when he reached for her uninjured hand. "Jason? What...what's going on? I... You've been a friend to me lately and I'd like to return to the favor. If something's wrong can I help you? Or should I not ask?"

"Come on, Elizabeth," he said again and she allowed him to help her stand. "I... Thank you for being concerned, but this...this is something we shouldn't talk about here. Let's go take care of your leg, okay?"

She mutely nodded and went along with him back towards her building. He hadn't ignored her, he hadn't said he couldn't answer her question, he said it wasn't something they should talk about here, meaning the docks. What did that mean? Did that mean they talk once they got back to her studio? And why did that thought suddenly send shivers down her spine?

Part 5

As she walked beside Jason back to her studio, she could feel the tension rolling off him. Elizabeth didn't need to see, or be overwhelmed by the pressing silence surrounding them, she could feel the stiffness in his arm, the stiltedness in his walk. And she knew that anytime Jason Morgan got like this, that it meant something unpleasant was about to happen, or something already had happened and he was dreading telling her what it was.

He'd been tense like this when he came to her that day in January and told her they couldn't be friends anymore, and then when he finally walked out of her life for the first time. She hated when he got like this, always wondered if she had done something to make him angry - like the night she'd slept with Zander - or if one of his enemies had made a threat against her and he was responding. But she didn't know what could be causing his tension now. They weren't dating, they hadn't seen each other in a month, this was the first time they'd spoken, and the only thing they'd talked about was her accident. So what about that situation could bring about this kind of reaction?

As they reached her studio, she fumbled with getting her keys out of her pocket, and then shifted through them, reaching out to feel for the deadbolts. She was half surprised that he hadn't offered to take them from her and unlock the door like everyone else had, and then she remembered that Jason wasn't like that. Even if he pitied her blind fumblings, he wouldn't degrade her further by treating her like she was incompetent. He merely stood silently by as she struggled with the locks, and then followed her inside when she finally got them open.

"Where's your first aid kit?" he spoke for the first time once they were inside and she turned to flip the locks out of habit.

"On the shelf by the microwave," she told him. "But Jason, it's okay. You don't need to do this."

"Yes, I do," was all he said and she heard his footsteps move away from her.

She sighed and shook her head, then slowly crossed the room to where her sofa should be. She was surprised when she actually counted the steps right and didn't trip into the furniture. Little miracle. She'd take it right now.

Jason was gentle and caring as he came back and told her what he was doing. The peroxide stung in her cuts, but he worked quickly and efficiently, and in no time at all, she was bandaged up. As she thanked him, and he did his customary It was nothing routine, Elizabeth had finally had enough.

"Jason?"

Her voice was a little sharper, and she heard his movements still as he was cleaning up the first aid supplies. "Yeah?"

"What's going on?" she asked him, turning on the couch to aim her body where she thought he was sitting. "I thought we were doing better. That night in the chapel, that night on the docks when we talked and seemed to let go of the past and the anger. We were doing better, right? I mean, without all the...stuff."

"Yeah, we were," he said softly, his voice dropping a bit and becoming rusty and rough.

"So then what happened?" she demanded, almost panicky. "What's going on? We were talking and then suddenly you just shut down on me. You listened to me like you always do and...I just want to return the favor. If something is wrong, I'll listen. Let me be the friend that you've always been to me; you can talk to me."

He sighed, deep and harsh and she was a bit frightened. Not for herself, it wasn't that kind of fear. It was for Jason, for whatever was bothering him. He carried things so deeply, that when something troubled him, it weighed on him, pressed him down until sometimes she was afraid it would swallow him if he didn't tell someone about it.

Stepping out on a limb because she could only think of one thing that would trouble Jason this deeply she asked, "Is something wrong with Carly or Sonny?"

"No," he said softly.

"Then is something wrong with Courtney? Are you guys alright?"

He rose abruptly from the couch and she turned blindly, wondering where he'd gone. She always hated when people paced around her and she couldn't see where they were. She'd always be startled when their voice came from somewhere she wasn't expecting.

"Jason?" She tentatively reached out in the only way she could.

"I think Courtney's on drugs."

She was startled, but it wasn't from where Jason's voice sounded, it was the words that he said. "Wh-what?"

"I...I found these pills. Prescription pills, but she had so many of them, more than any doctor would prescribe for someone."

She remembered Emily one time telling her about her drug addiction when she was younger. Elizabeth had met the younger woman shortly after the worst of it was over, but she knew that Emily had done dangerous things, that had worried her entire family and Jason. "I'm sorry, Jason," she said softly. "I'm sure that you're worried about her; especially knowing what Emily went through."

"I am," he admitted, "but it's not just that."

"Then what is it?" she asked, her forehead knitting in confusion. Wasn't the drug addiction enough to be worried about?

"I... She was out..." He let out another harsh breath and she heard her artist's table creak. Figured he was leaning against it. "What do you remember about your accident, Elizabeth?"

"My accident?" she questioned in confusion. "Not much, really. I was crossing the street, suddenly headlights appeared and I couldn't get out the way, I was hit. The car never stopped."

"Courtney and I left for the island the night you were hit," he voiced softly.

"Okay," she murmured, not understanding.

"She called me and asked if we could go down to the island. It was sudden, I was surprised, but I agreed. She hadn't been dealing well with Carly's kidnapping, her miscarriage, everything going on, so I agreed. I thought it would help her."

A part of her, that deep jealous part that she had never gotten to know that kind of Jason Morgan's concern, hurt. But it was overridden by the part of her that knew that Jason cared about Sonny's sister, otherwise he wouldn't have asked her to marry him. And since he hadn't yelled at her foolish choice of marrying Ric the last time they'd spoken, she knew she needed to be supportive of him right now. "Did it?"

"Did it what?"

"Did it help her?" she asked.

"I thought so," he sighed. "But I realized that she was addicted to pills the entire time. She was on them before we left and I never even realized it."

She paused, about to say something, and closed her mouth. Something was beginning to pick at the back of her mind and she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something told her to keep quiet and let Jason keep talking.

"Her car..." He began and then stopped, stuttered a few more times with what he was trying to say, but what he did say filtered into Elizabeth's mind. And it clicked.

His tension. His stuttering. His trying to explain to her. She bet anything right now if she could actually see, Jason wouldn't be able to look her in the eye. But his guilt would show clearly on his face. And it burned her. It slammed into her so fast it made her chest hurt, her head snap back and her eyes fill with tears while her throat closed. Disbelief. Hurt. And anger. Surprisingly, there was a lot of anger. More than she thought she still had in her to direct towards Jason Morgan.

Meanwhile, he was oblivious to what was happening, because he kept stuttering and stopping...something that Courtney had never done.

She stood up, and the abrupt motion must have startled him because he trailed off and stopped. "It all makes sense now."

"What does?" he asked, his voice sounding hesitant and confused.

"What you're doing here," she snapped at him. "I am so stupid. All that time down there on the docks...here I was thinking that you were really concerned about me. That it was genuine."

"Elizabeth? What are you talking about? I do care, I am concerned about you."

"Right," she scoffed and shook her head. "Right."

She turned and stalked away from him, hoping that she wouldn't ruin the effect by stumbling into something. But luckily she turned at the end of the couch and paced behind it, placing the sofa between her and that lying piece of scum.

"You're here because you're concerned about Courtney. She was driving the car, wasn't she? That's why she called you and asked to go to the island. She wanted to get out of town and you helped her. Did you help her ditch the car, too? Take her down for some surf and some sand while I was lying in a hospital bleeding? While I woke up blind!"

"Elizabeth," he tried to cut in. "That's not-"

"You haven't changed at all, have you? You only come to me when you need something. Need a place to hide, come to Elizabeth. Need to yell at someone, blindly accuse someone, come yell at Elizabeth to tell you where Zander is, or Ric. Need someone to keep your dirty little secret, ask Elizabeth." Her words were bitter and hate-filled and she hoped Jason choked on them. "But this isn't like keeping some cheap little love nest a secret so you can keep on having your affair. This is my life. This about me being blind! But you don't care, do you? You don't care at all as long as Courtney's protected. Isn't that right?"

"That's not what I'm doing," he said, his own voice rising. "I didn't come here to ask you-"

"Didn't you? I mean, that's why you told me about the drugs, right? Why you told me that Courtney wasn't doing well after the miscarriage. I don't care!" she shouted at him. "I miscarried too. I was pushed down a flight of stairs, Courtney willingly jumped off a boat. What right does that give her to act like her pain is worse than anyone else, than mine? But I didn't get high and go driving around and blind someone."

She turned her back, leaning against the couch, her hands shaking as she shoved them through her hair and dislodged the ponytail she'd put in earlier. "All you care about is me not turning in Courtney, right? All that matters is that Courtney doesn't go to jail. That's the only reason you came over here. You came over to ease your guilty conscience. Elizabeth is blind, she'll never paint again, go say a few kind words, pat her on the head and try to get her to understand why yet again her attacker will never go to jail. Only this time it wasn't my fault."

She turned and glared in what she hoped was the direction Jason was in. "It's your fault. You're the one who's making the decision to protect Courtney...but I guess that shouldn't surprise me. After all, that's what you do. You take care of your family and friends. Never make them pay for their crimes. Never make them take responsibility for their actions. Have a son who rams another one's head into a tree, cover it up and don't even send him off to rehab."

She paused and cocked her hip out to the side, "Oh, wait, that's the Quartermaines. But hey, since Alan's blood flows through your veins I guess you can't fight genetics. You make me sick. For all your anger against the Quartermaines, you are nothing more than a hypocrite. You'll help Courtney, you'll keep her out of jail, tell her it's all okay, that you know she didn't mean to get high and climb behind the wheel of her car and run down your ex-more than a friend, it's no skin off your nose. The two of you will live up in your cozy little penthouse, and pretty soon you'll forget all about poor, blind Elizabeth until you guys see me on the street and then you'll feel guilty, but not guilty enough to feel too bad about covering up her crime."

He was silent and she fell quiet, her breathing hard and labored as if she'd just ran a marathon. She expected him to say something, anything, but he remained silent and she knew she'd pegged him right on the nose. "Were you planning on offering me money?" she asked contemptuously. "Well, let me save you the trouble. I don't want your blood money; I wouldn't take if it meant that it would keep me from living in a cardboard box. So take your thirty pieces of silver and get out of my sight."

She laughed, bitterly as she caught her little joke. "Oh wait, Courtney already took that. Get out of my house, get out of my life, and don't ever come near me again."

He didn't move and that made her angry. "Do you hear me?"

She fumbled along the back of the couch, intent on finding him by any means necessary and shoving him out of her apartment. "Do you understand me, Jason? I don't want you here. Get out! Do you hear me?"

"I..." his voice was strained, and it cracked, forcing him to clear it roughly. "I...I understand. I'm going."

"Good," she shot at him. "Go home to your fiancée and your family and just forget you ever knew me. It won't be that hard, you've had a lot of time to practice it. It shouldn't take you that long to go back to acting like the selfish bastard that you are."

She heard the locks click, and the door scrape across the floor as it opened and closed. She waited, making sure he wouldn't come back, that he was gone, and couldn't hear her. And then she sank down onto the floor, sobs racking her frame. She thought he was different, she thought they'd fixed what had been broken, that they were getting back to the friends they used to be. The Jason she knew would have never done that to her. It just proved to her how wrong she really was. And made her wonder if she ever really had known Jason. Or if she really had just made him up in her mind.

Part 6

When Jason arrived at the underground garage of Harborview Towers, he was still angry. The ride from Elizabeth's studio hadn't been long enough to purge the emotion out of his system. The cliff roads were calling, but he'd already been away from home long enough and he knew that instead of giving into the impulse crying out for the numbing roar of the wind in his ears, he should return home. Carly and Courtney would probably be getting back soon and he knew he needed to be there with Sonny when they talked to Courtney. He couldn't dump this off on Sonny and make it the other man's problem; he had to face the woman he was engaged to.

He really should have gone along the cliffs when he left instead of winding up down by the water and right near Elizabeth's studio. What did he hope to accomplish seeing her before his men had even had an hour to search for Courtney's missing car? He didn't know, but when he found himself along the pier, he hadn't left. He thought maybe the sound of the water would help calm him. Instead, he'd run into Elizabeth. Sitting on the ground, hurt and lightly bleeding because she couldn't see the world around her, he'd helped her. Helped her because it was what he always seemed to do around her, and because if, if, it was Courtney's fault that the artist was blind he could no more turn his back on her than he could Michael.

He knew it had been a mistake to tell her about Courtney. Had known it, and yet done it anyways. He knew that without proof, he should refrain from saying she had or hadn't hit Elizabeth. But he hadn't wanted to find out later that Courtney's car had been the one to leave the impressions on Elizabeth's body, that Courtney had bee the driver that hadn't stopped and called for help, and most of all he didn't want Elizabeth to find out and realize that Jason had been there talking to her, had probably known, and hadn't said anything. He didn't want her to accuse him of lying to her, of trying to cover it up.

Instead he just made everything worse because she thought that's what he was doing anyways. She thought he had come to her to ask her not to say anything to the police. She thought that he was choosing someone else over her, that he didn't care about her. That he wouldn't be affected watching her stumble around her studio because she couldn't see where she was going. That he would be impassive if he saw her walking down the street with her bright orange and white cane. That he could somehow just shrug his shoulders and walk away because his friend had her entire world turned upside down and the doctors didn't know if it would ever be made right again.

He was hurt by her accusations. Not so much by the words, by the comparisons to the Quartermaines, because he had made those same comparisons sitting on Sonny's couch, but he was hurt that they still hadn't repaired the breech between them. That the months of anger and hurt that had existed between them hadn't been done away with and buried like he'd hoped after their time talking in the chapel and then again on the docks. That Elizabeth would so quickly, and so easily assume he was there to pay her off, or tell her he was sorry, but he was more concerned about Courtney - and by extension Sonny and Carly - and wouldn't do anything to help her. He couldn't blame her for the conclusion she'd jumped to, but he couldn't say that it didn't hurt when she did.

The last time he'd been to her studio he had yelled at her, told her she was protecting a rapist, angry with her because she hadn't automatically believed him about Ric and wouldn't help him look for Courtney. Given that stellar performance, it's no wonder she assumed the worst about him now. It made him realize how far he had sunk from the principles she'd once was so sure he possessed, and how closer to the mark her accusations about the Quartermaines were. Was he really the kind of man now who would help a drug addict hide her crime and ignore the innocent victim in all this? If it hadn't been Elizabeth, would he be so bothered by Courtney's actions?

He was a bit frightened to think what the answers might be.

So as he climbed off his bike and bypassed the elevator, hoping to work off some of his anger and his tension by running up the stairs, he was angry with himself and the whole messy situation. But he had to get control of that anger, so that when Courtney arrived home he could confront her about her drug addiction. Most of all, he knew she needed help. If left untreated, the addiction would hurt her and others. He couldn't let that go on. And he felt that with Sonny's help they might just be able to reach her.

He was winded by the time he arrived on the penthouse level, but the anger had tapered off, was back under control. With a few games of pool, he might even be able to further relax himself so that he would be able to have just the right approach for Courtney. She'd deny her addiction, and be frightened and he just wanted her to get the help she needed. While he knew that if her car was found and possibly matched to Elizabeth's injuries they would have to deal with that, right now he was concerned about getting her sober.

"Afternoon, Mr. Morgan."

He looked over to find Lou by Sonny's door. After Carly's kidnapping and Faith's attempts at power grabs, the penthouse door was guarded 24/7. Having guards in the lobby wasn't enough for Sonny anymore; there were guards permanently on the penthouse level. Jason dipped his head, "Lou."

He stopped though, when he saw Courtney's guard outside their door. He looked at the man, then back to Lou who was the guard on watch. "Is Sonny in?"

"He had a meeting down at the warehouse," the guard told him. "Said he knew you were out, he would take care of the meeting with the foreman and then he would be back. Mrs. Corinthos and Ms. Matthews arrived after he left."

"Okay," he nodded wearily. He was grateful that Sonny hadn't called him to come back and take the meeting, was grateful that the man was being a friend to him and knew that he'd needed time alone. But he wasn't sure he was ready to face Courtney so soon, especially without Sonny. Sonny had been the one suspicious that Courtney was on drugs; he'd had more time to process the situation. Jason was still reeling from it, and from his encounter with Elizabeth.

He was half tempted to wait for Sonny in the older man's penthouse, but knew that if Carly was there, she would endlessly question him about why he was there instead of in his penthouse with Courtney. It was better just to deal with the situation. He simply wouldn't mention the drugs, or his nagging doubts about Elizabeth's car, until Sonny returned.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find the living room empty. Normally Courtney spent her time either reading magazines she borrowed from Carly, or watching TV. She didn't exercise anymore because she claimed her neck was still bothering her, so the punching bag was shoved into a corner of the room collecting dust. Maybe she'd come home and decided to take a nap. Carly could wear out a normal person on a good day, given the drugs Courtney was on, she probably tired easier than usual.

Not wanting to wake her if she was asleep, he slipped off his boots and jacket and made his way quietly upstairs. He would just check on her, and then he'd go downstairs and work until Sonny got back and called. When he reached the top of the stairs though, he heard voices. Both of them female, both of them slightly agitated.

His forehead creased in puzzlement wondering what was going on between Carly and Courtney and he walked closer. The women were in the master bedroom and he could hear their voices clearly through the partially closed door.

"Are you sure? Are you really sure, Carly?" Courtney's voice was pitched with mild desperation.

"Courtney, it's been taken care of. The car will never be found."

Car? Did they mean Courtney's car?

"You're sure? One hundred percent sure? I can't have Taggart digging around and finding it."

"Taggart couldn't find his head with a flashlight and a well drawn map," Carly scoffed. "He's not going to find your car."

"You didn't see him. You were in the bathroom at Kelly's and he came up to me, said he wanted to let me know that the police were searching for my car. Since it was missing. He said it like I was just another citizen who'd lost a car, but you didn't see his eyes. He was all but saying that when they did find my car they would be able to prove that I hit Elizabeth."

"They won't find your car," Carly repeated, her voice stronger this time. More confident. "I took care of it."

Jason's eyes widened and he stepped back slightly.

"No you didn't," Courtney snapped. "Lorenzo took care of it. How can you trust him, Carly? He may not have pushed it over the cliff into the water like he said he would. He could be holding onto it, waiting until just the right moment to use it against Sonny and Jason. He's obsessed with destroying them."

"He won't, Courtney," her friend tried to soothe her. "He knows this is important to me. He knows that I don't want anything to happen to you, and he knows that this isn't the way to try to hurt Sonny and Jason. He promised me."

"Oh, he promised you," Jason heard his fiancée mock the other woman. "That's just great. I feel so much better now."

"Will you relax?" Carly said strongly. "Lorenzo took care of the car. The police will never find it. And they'll never be able to prove that you were the one who hit Elizabeth Webber. I told you what to do when you called me that night. I helped you take care of the car, you got Jason to take you out of town giving you a nice alibi, and though the police will search around, they won't find anything. You don't have to worry about going to jail."

"No, I just have to worry about Elizabeth using this injury to try to get Jason back," Courtney bit out venomously. "She's after him. You know she is."

"Of course she is," her friend agreed. "She knows she was a fool for walking out on Jason and now that she sees he's so happy with you, and she realizes that she was stupid for ever believing Ric and marrying him, she wants him back. She's blind, she's helpless, she's living in a dump, of course she's going to try get him back."

"She is such a tramp," Courtney seethed. "You should have seen her when she came here that morning. She just wanted to tell Jason that Emily had woken up. Yeah, right. I saw them in the chapel. She was crying all over his shoulder and clinging to him, acting all pathetic and desperate. And she had the audacity to come into my home and ask to see my fiancé."

There was a low growl and something skidded across the floor and pinged off the wall. Jason could only listen in stunned disbelief as the two women in his life that he loved and trusted the most were discussing the crime Courtney had committed and then covered up. And the fact that Carly had involved Lorenzo Alcazar, given the man ammunition over their family. Courtney was at least right about that, Carly wasn't thinking clearly in regards to Alcazar. She thought the other man wouldn't try to use this to his advantage. Jason knew this would be just the kind of thing one of their enemies would want. Pull this out at the right time and Sonny would be hurt and willing to make a deal.

But Courtney had hit Elizabeth with her car, had known she'd done it, and she and Carly had covered it up. And they were blaming it on Elizabeth, claiming she was trying to steal Jason away from Courtney and that somehow justified what had happened. He didn't feel like his legs could hold him and he leaned heavily against the wall. Unable to do anything more but listen as they continued on.

"And then sitting there by him on the docks. They were so close together, talking oh so chummily. Even Ric could see it. He said that she'd try to get Jason back and I needed to keep Jason occupied, so that Ric could have time to get Elizabeth back. Said I should try to have a baby or something, that would distract Jason. It hurt...it hurt so much when he said that because I want to have a baby. And if I could, I would get pregnant right now just so that I would be sure not to lose Jason."

"Sweetie, I know it hurts," Carly murmured.

"But that wasn't all of it. Alcazar was there, and he was taunting me, said that it was my fault I lost the baby. That it was my fault I couldn't have any more. That if I hadn't acted so irrationally, I'd still be pregnant with Jason Morgan's baby and I wouldn't have to worry about losing him. And he was right. If I'd kept Jason's baby, there would be no way he would look twice at Elizabeth, blind or not. He would be with me, and we would be planning our wedding."

"Well, maybe you should be doing that anyways," Carly said. "If you're married, even if Jason somehow finds out that you hit Elizabeth, then he won't leave you. He'll keep those vows he made to you."

"I've tried to bring up our wedding, but he hasn't seemed very excited. That's how I know Elizabeth will win. Jason's already slipping away from me."

"Let me talk to him," Carly tried to reassure Courtney. "He listens to me. After all, I got him to propose to you the first time, didn't I? Jason just doesn't see the things that he needs to do until someone points it out to him. I learned that from watching Robin with him and while I hated her with a passion, she at least understood that about Jason. And I've used that to my advantage, and I'll use it again now. I know just what to say to him. I'll say you're still hurting and that you feel he doesn't want you anymore since you can't have children. His guilt will eat him alive and he'll be jumping at the chance to prove to you that he still loves you."

"Do you think so?" his fiancée asked, hope entering her voice.

"I do," her friend affirmed. "It'll all work out. You'll see."

"I hope so," Courtney said, as Jason felt sick revulsion entering him. "Because with Elizabeth still alive and kicking, I can't take a chance of her winning him back."

Part 7

Sonny wasn't used to seeing his best friend like this. Jason Morgan was a man all about control. Sonny had ordered him to kill numerous people that had crossed the line in their organization, and he knew that those orders had been carried out expertly and efficiently. Jason was the best man in the organization for tracking a man down for days, hardly sleeping, hardly eating, hiding out in squalled conditions all to get the perfect chance to strike. He had been called a robot and a machine by their enemies for his precision and lethal efficiency.

He didn't show many emotions to other people, especially those that didn't matter. The cops and his family called him cold and emotionless because he would shut down and not rise to their taunts and barbs. And even those closest to him rarely saw a crack in the perfect shell of Jason Morgan. Sonny had only seen it a few times, and each time he had he knew it was because of deep, suffering personal pain that Jason tried not to show because he considered it a weakness, but simply could no longer hide. Handing Michael over to A.J., coming in on Sonny and Carly after they'd slept together; the list was small.

But as Sonny stepped through the front door of a small, run-down bar called the River Rat and saw Jason sitting by himself in a corner of the empty bar - the owner who called Sonny before scurrying away into the back said that Jason had paid an obscene amount of money to have the bar to himself - he knew that this was one of those times he was going to see his friend in pain. And he wasn't sure how to deal with the situation, or help the other man who was going to fight his mere presence and wouldn't want anything akin to comforting words. But Sonny wasn't going to leave Jason alone, even if his friend fought him. Whatever had driven him here, it was something big, and Sonny wasn't going to toss him into the waters of despair to fend for himself.

He had a strong suspicion that whatever had led to Jason's downward spiral was connected to the situation with Courtney's pills and Elizabeth's accident. It wasn't a matter of if, Sonny knew, it was a matter of what he was going to find out. And if he would be able to deal with the information regarding his sister, when Jason obviously hadn't been able to handle it.

Ignoring the grime on the floor, and the wooden chair next to the table littered with empty beer and booze bottles, Sonny pulled out the seat and sat down. He didn't say anything right away, just waited for his presence to filter through the fog and alcohol haze surrounding his best friend. It finally did, and as expected, Jason lifted glacier cold blue eyes to his and said, "Go away."

"I can't do that, Jason," Sonny shook his head. "I won't do that. Something happened...and even though you may fight me, I'm not going to leave you like this. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I'll just sit here until you're ready to go home."

Or passed out. Given the current condition his enforcer was in, he didn't think he'd voluntarily leave. Which was why Max was waiting outside in the car and would be around to help when Jason's body finally succumbed. In the meantime, he reached for a glass, wiped it out with his fingers and tried not to think about what he couldn't see, and poured himself a shot from the nearest bottle. He intended to nurse it slowly, or at least pretend to, and just wait for Jason to either speak or fall asleep.

Twenty minutes passed in such a manner. Jason went through the alcohol like a baby through formula, and Sonny nursed his original glass. So when Jason suddenly stood and tipped the table over, sending the bottles and liquid to the ground in a crashing cascade, Sonny blinked in surprise but outwardly gave no other response. He'd let Jason rage and scream, yell at him if needed, and then he'd pay the bar owner even more than Jason had given him to take care of the damage.

"What are you doing?" Jason growled, rounding on Sonny while clutching a beer bottle in his hand. "Didn't you listen to me? I told you to go away! I just want everyone to go away!"

Even though Jason was leaning over him, Sonny didn't move his seat. He merely looked up sincerely at his friend and shook his head. "I told you, Jason, I'm not leaving. But I'll sit at another table if that's what you'd like."

He thought Jason was going to say something, but instead, the younger man spun abruptly on his heel and sent the beer bottle sailing through the air. It exploded against the wall like a glass grenade and Jason spent the next five minutes destroying everything he could get his hands on. Glasses and bottles flew, tables were kicked and tipped, chairs were used to smash against the hangings on the wall. But the alcohol caught up to Jason as he picked up a chair and raised it over his head. Instead of flying forward to inflict more damage and destruction, it slipped from his hands and hit the wooden floor with a thud, and then Jason's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground beside it.

Even though he was worried, Sonny sat for a minute or two more to make sure that Jason didn't get up in another burst of anger. Then, rising from the shelter behind the bar where he'd escaped when he'd been hit with a stray piece of glass, Sonny cautiously approached his friend and lowered himself to the ground. The suit was already probably ruined, what did it matter if he sat in a puddle of alcohol. What mattered was taking care of Jason.

He'd expected to see the younger man's eyes closed in exhaustion or defeat, but instead they were wide open and staring at the wall with hardened anger. "She knew," he croaked out when Sonny joined him. "She knew."

"Who knew?" the mob boss asked.

"Courtney. She knew she'd hit Elizabeth."

That simple confession punched Sonny in the gut and if he hadn't already been sitting, he'd have ended up on the floor. And if the booze wasn't all destroyed, he would have started searching for a bottle. But this wasn't about him right now, this was about Jason. "Did she tell you?"

Jason laughed bitterly and scornfully. "Oh no. She told Carly. In fact, Carly's known all along. Ever since the night Courtney called me up and played me like a fool to whisk her off to the island."

Sonny tried to swallow around the lump that formed in his throat. Carly knew? Somehow it didn't entirely surprise him, but it hurt bitterly.

Oblivious to what was going on with Sonny, Jason was now on a roll and he kept on talking. "They were home from shopping, and they were talking. Talking about the car, talking about Elizabeth, talking about me like I was a dog they could lead around wherever they wanted."

He sighed harshly and rubbed his hand over his face, not noticing that he had a piece of glass in his palm that left a thin slice on his cheek. Blood bloomed immediately and began to trickle down from the wound. "Courtney called Carly after she hit Elizabeth and left her on the side of the road. Carly came and agreed to help get rid of the car. Somehow Alcazar got involved and told Carly he'd take care of it. Courtney was worried that he hadn't sent it over the cliffs like he promised Carly he would, that he would try to use it against us later."

Sonny closed his eyes and felt anger grow hot and fast within him. His wife had gone to his enemy, had given his rival potential damaging power over them and the organization. His sister's suspicion was the first intelligent thought she'd had in this whole mess.

"Then," Jason stopped and cleared his throat, his eyes now starting to look glassy. Not with alcohol, but with pain and the first hint of tears. "Then they were blaming Elizabeth. Claiming that she wanted me back, that she'd try to steal me from Courtney, that because of the miscarriage and the fact that she couldn't have any children I would walk away from Courtney. She...blamed everybody but herself, from being on the drugs to the fact that she got into the car and drove while being high. They were so hateful..."

He turned to look at Sonny, and the older man was surprised by the move and by the pure grief and misery that he saw on the younger man's face. "They were so hateful against a woman who is blind. Who can't even walk outside her home without running into something, who's so afraid of not being able to see colors again, of not being able to paint."

He swallowed and tears swam in Jason's eyes. "You should see her. She's all alone, she's so afraid, she's so angry...and my fiancée did that to her."

Clearly Jason had gone to see Elizabeth and guilt was eating at him, adding to the depth of emotions already threatening to overwhelm him. Sonny reached out hesitantly, almost changing his mind, and then rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. He felt tremors, whether from anger or grief he didn't know, running through the younger man's frame.

"And there they were, going on like it was Elizabeth's fault. That they almost hated her because she'd survived. You should have heard them...they..."

Sonny could only imagine what Carly had said against the woman she had seemed to hate for years, for no good reason. It all seemed to start when Jason refused to see Carly after the night she slept with Sonny. He remembered Elizabeth, 18 years old and not even a year out of high school, bravely helping Jason and standing up to everyone who could possibly jeopardize his recovery. And she never even flinched when she lost people from her life or Nikolas Cassadine announced to the entire hospital Christmas party that she and Jason were sleeping together. Ever since that moment, Carly had hated the younger woman. He could only imagine how she'd fed Courtney's hatred.

"She said if she could, she'd get pregnant to make sure I'd never leave her."

His mouth parted slightly at Jason's strangled sentence, the pain of the situation clearly weighing on him. To know that his sister who had lost a baby Jason never even knew about was now talking about deliberately getting pregnant to trap him, that had to burn deeply no matter how much Jason said the miscarriage wasn't real to him. And to say it to Carly who had tried to trap Sonny with a fake pregnancy when he was going to divorce her for the first - or was it the second? - time...it made Sonny seethe with anger on behalf of his friend.

"Then Carly said that we needed to get married. And if Courtney couldn't convince me, then she could. Because I did whatever she wanted me to. She got me to propose, she got rid of Robin, she got rid of..." Jason let out a harsh breath, and the tremors that picked up in his body were now anger. Sonny could tell by the harsh set of his friend's jaw, by the hands that were curling into fists on the floor, scraping through the shattered glass and not stopping. "After everything that I have done for her... She claims she's my best friend and I know she's not, but I don't correct her. But this time...to finally hear her talking about my life, when I have given up so much for her. I walked away."

Sonny nodded, now understanding the strange bar, the solitude and the liquor. He had turned his back on Carly. And Sonny was pretty sure Jason had turned his back on Courtney. After hearing what had transpired, he was ready to do the same. His wife had gone to his enemy, had helped his sister cover up a crime against a woman whose only fault was being someone whom Jason cared about - even if it wasn't romantically anymore - and they both didn't even seem to care that Elizabeth's entire life had been changed. All they cared about was themselves. As usual.

"I hadn't wanted to believe it," Jason spoke, his voice lost and full of pain. "Even when I knew that it was probably true, I kept wanting to make excuses for Courtney. I wasn't going to cover it up or pay off Elizabeth like she accused me, but I just wanted to believe that Courtney hadn't done it deliberately."

"I know," Sonny told him softly, speaking for the first time since Jason began. He hadn't wanted to believe it either.

"I just...I can't be around them. After everything that they've done, after all that I've forgiven, after seeing Elizabeth...I can't even stand Courtney or Carly anymore."

The camel's back had finally broke. Whether it ever mended and Jason let them back into his life again - which Sonny wasn't going to lay odds on either way - things would never be the same. He would always remember this moment, he would always remember Elizabeth, and because this had nothing to do with business, Sonny wasn't going to say one word or judgment against his friend. Not when he felt like doing the same. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to face Carly now. Despite the fact that she was pregnant with their baby, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to look at her and not see the woman who had involved his enemy and helped his sister cover up a crime. He was afraid he wouldn't be to ever get past it. He was pretty sure Jason never would.

"Come on, Jason," Sonny said when his friend fell silent and his head slumped dejectedly towards his chest. "Let's get out of here."

"I'm not going back there."

"Of course, I wouldn't even suggest it. Let's get you to a house, sleep it off, figure out where to go from here."

Knowing he couldn't lift his friend, Sonny pulled himself to his feet and went to call Max inside. While the guard helped Jason to stand, and then got out him out the door on wobbly legs, Sonny pulled money out of his pocket and placed it under an empty beer mug on the bar. Then he pulled out his phone and called Meyer. He didn't care what time of the night it was, they had to move quickly.

"Meyer," he clipped out when the other man finally answered. "I need you to call the men on this. Get men searching along the cliffs, get men in the water if you have to, look for Courtney's car. Get a list of all Alcazar's property and search it for Courtney's car as well, check to see if he's shipped anything out of town, out of state, whatever. My sister's car has to be found, and found soon."

He took a breath and let it out on a heavy sigh. "And I want the guards doubled on Carly and Courtney, new guys, guys they don't know, guys they can't sweet talk. Tell the men they are not to let either of them out of sight, and that they'll be rewarded for their loyalty to me."

He took one last look at the bar, and the destruction left behind, and knew that everyone's life was about to explode in the same manner.

Part 8

As the car pulled into the garage of the Towers building, Jason gave no outward indication he even knew where they were. He did of course, but he figured that Sonny was reacting enough for the both of them. His friend shifted on the leather seat, tugged at the cuffs of his shirt - pulling them just so beneath the edge of the jacket sleeve, and then smoothed the legs of his pants. If Sonny didn't knock it off soon Jason was going to find a pair of handcuffs and stop the nervous twitching. In the two days since Sonny had pulled him up off the floor of the River Rat and taken him to a safe house to sleep it off, Jason had a lot of time to process the conversation he'd overheard between Carly and Courtney.

The men in their organization also had plenty of time to search for Courtney's car. It wasn't in the water where Alcazar had promised Carly it would end up, oh no, it had ended up in a warehouse the arms dealer owned. Last night it had been taken, and Jason had spent hours along with their tech guys going over the Mustang convertible. Hair, fiber and most damning of all, blood, was all there on the bumper and hood, pure and undiluted. And it all matched to Elizabeth. The wonders of having prime access to a state of the art laboratory that put a rush on the samples collected from the automobile. They matched up perfectly with the blood sample provided to them by an insider at the hospital.

What sickened Jason was the dent to the hood, the crack on the windshield, all indicators of how hard Elizabeth's body had been struck. How Courtney thought she could ever claim she had no idea what happened was beyond him. He was sure she'd try, cry and beg and plead, but he didn't care. He didn't care about Courtney, and he didn't care about Carly, the person he cared about was the one person who figured he had completely disregarded and forgotten about her. He would prove to Elizabeth she was wrong, but first he had to deal with the two women responsible. He didn't care that Carly was Michael's mother; he now knew that with Sonny as the little boy's father, he could still be in the boy's life and never have to deal with the lying blonde again.

When the car stopped, Sonny's movements did as well, and the two men shared a look of resolution. The situation would be dealt with today. The repercussions wouldn't be as neat and clean as the break that would occur, but they both were set, determined to carry through with the scenario they'd arrived on during the course of the day as they waited for the lab results to come in. Jason didn't envy Sonny, he couldn't kick Carly out of his life as easily as Jason planned to get rid of Courtney, because Carly was carrying Sonny's child. It was going to be a messy couple of months, and would get even worse after the baby was born. But it was going to happen, that had been their first agreement.

They ascended in the elevator in silence, each man taking the last few moments of calm before chaos and clamor would break out. When they stepped out of the car on the penthouse floor, Max stepped forward to greet them. He had arrived back on post that afternoon to ensure that Carly and Courtney were there when they came home.

"They're in your penthouse, Mr. Corinthos," he said quietly and without emotion.

Sonny simply nodded and with one last look at Jason, strode resolutely towards the door and opened it with flourish. The two women were sitting on the couch, magazines and bags of potato chips surrounding them, their freshly polished toes were propped up on the ottoman and they both looked up when the men stepped across the threshold.

"Sonny," Carly was the first to respond. She stood and came quickly towards her husband. "Where have you been? Are you alright? When the guards came and got your clothes two days ago they wouldn't tell us anything about where you were or what happened. We've been worried sick about you."

Courtney had yet to speak, though she stood by the couch. Jason could tell by the look in her eyes that she'd had a pill recently and he wondered if Carly even knew that the other woman was on drugs.

"We're fine," Sonny said, evading his wife's attempts to kiss him and inspect him for wounds. "We're glad you're both here. Jason and I need to talk to you."

Carly's eyes narrowed in confusion slightly and she cast a glance back towards her sister-in-law which prompted Courtney to shuffle forward slightly. Jason pierced her with a glare as she wobbled slightly on her feet, and Courtney rubbed her forehead before dropping her hand to twist her fingers together. "Jason? Are...are you okay?"

"No," he said bluntly in response to her question and she wobbled back a step as her eyes flared momentarily with fear. "I'm not."

"Jase?" Carly hesitantly asked. "Sonny? What's going on?"

"We know," Jason said, taking the lead on this since it was his fiancée who hit his friend. "We know that you hit Elizabeth, Courtney, and we know that you helped her get rid of the car, Carly, by calling Alcazar."

"Wh-what?" Courtney stammered and looked immediately to Carly for help.

"Jason? What are you talking about? Courtney's car was stolen."

"Unless Alcazar stole it after Courtney ran down Elizabeth on the street...I don't think so," he shook his head. "It was in one of his warehouses, Elizabeth's blood was still on it, Courtney and your prints were all over the car, but no one else's."

"Well, then one of his men stole it, obviously," Carly tried to bluff her way out of it. "They stole it and hit Elizabeth with it and figured they'd try to use it against you and Sonny somehow."

"Oh, I'm sure Alcazar was planning on using it against us," Sonny nodded in lethal agreement. "But he didn't have to steal the car, did he, Carly? We pulled your cell phone records for the night Elizabeth was hit. After you got a call from Courtney, you made a call to Alcazar. You went to my enemy and helped my sister cover up a crime against an innocent woman."

His voice had dropped to a dangerous growl, and Carly wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach. "Sonny it's not how it seems."

"Oh really?" he cut her off. "So you didn't call my enemy and hand him the perfect means to blackmail me with?"

"He was supposed to get rid of the car," she cried desperately, futilely hoping he would understand.

"And you didn't think to call me, or Jason, or one of our men?" he asked deceptively sweet.

"I couldn't take the chance that Jason would turn on me because it was Elizabeth," Courtney said pitifully from her position by the couch. "I was afraid he would find out who I hit and turn me into the police."

Jason nodded. "I can see why you would be afraid of that. I mean, after all, I was obviously cheating on you with her, right? I was going to leave you because you couldn't have children, and go to her because she was fertile. Did Ric convince you of that, or was that the drugs?"

She gasped and stepped back, raising a shaky and unsteady hand before her. "What?"

"I heard you," he told her simply, looking down at the floor while he slipped his hands into his jacket pockets and pulling the leather taut. "You and Carly talking about how it was all Elizabeth's fault, how she was nothing more than a tramp who would try to get me back now that she was no longer married to Ric, and how you would try to get pregnant if only you hadn't been so stupid as to lose the first baby. I know about the drugs because I found them, I talked to the doctor on the island; I talked to our doctor here after you tried to get more. You were high, you were upset, you didn't trust me no matter how many times I told you I loved you and wanted to be with you, and you got into your car when you were in no condition to do so. You ran down a woman on the street, the fact that it happened to be Elizabeth..."

He shrugged painfully. "Well, that was just a bonus, right? If she died, then she would be out of my life forever. But she didn't die, she just was blinded. By you."

"Jason you have to understand," she begged him, tears cresting her eyes like a broken dam and streaming down her face. "Ever since the miscarriage you've been pulling away from me. I saw you in the chapel that night, she came by our house, and I knew it was just a matter of time. I was broken and Elizabeth would always be perfect. I...I wanted to believe you, I wanted to believe that our love was stronger than what you had with Elizabeth...but I was scared. I was so scared."

He nodded, not caring if he lulled her into believing that he would buy her excuses. "But the fact is, Courtney, is that you never trusted me. Not with my job, not with my life, and not with my friends. You...you did to Elizabeth what A.J. did to me. And you lied. You lied to me, asked me to take you down to the island when you were really running from the crime, and you went to my enemy. You trusted a man that you claim to hate because you say he killed your baby, yet you wouldn't trust me."

Licking his lips he swallowed. "You never trusted me, I see that now. And so it makes this a whole lot easier to say. Whatever I might have felt for you, whatever love there may have been, it's gone. You killed it like you could have killed Elizabeth. There will be no wedding. You can keep the penthouse if you want it, I'll have my things cleared out of there by the end of the week."

He turned to Carly, the woman he had known for nearly as long as he'd been Jason Morgan. The woman who had been his escape, and then slowly became his prison warden. Her eyes were wide, rimmed with moisture and darting nervously from Sonny to him. "You...you never understood me at all, did you? You claimed you did, claimed you knew me better than I did, but all you saw was a puppet. I'll admit, you were better than Robin, but in the end, you two were no different. You knew this would hurt me, and yet you did it anyways. And then you bragged about how you could get me to do whatever you wanted."

He pulled a hand out of his pocket and rubbed at the headache forming in his temples. "It was my fault because I let you do it. But it's over. You are nothing to me, Carly, just like Courtney is nothing to me. Your tears, your pleadings, your emotional blackmail by mentioning Michael's name...they mean nothing to me anymore. You're lucky you're pregnant, because that means Sonny gets to deal with you. If you weren't and it was up to me...you would be going to jail along with Courtney tonight."

"Jail?" both women gasped.

Sonny's grin was twisted and evil when he turned to his sister. "Before we showed up here tonight, a Good Samaritan found your car hidden down an abandoned road covered with brush. They saw the blood and figured they should call the police with the license plate number. I'm sure the plate number raised a flag as soon as it was entered in and Taggart is probably out there right now taking a look at it, seeing the dent in the hood, the crack in the glass, the blood on the bumper, the clothing that matches what Elizabeth Webber was wearing that night, and he's probably calling a judge to get an arrest warrant for you."

He looked over at the door and sighed while he shook his head. "The guards aren't going to let you out of this penthouse tonight. So there will be no pills, no escape. You'll stay right here until the cops show up to arrest you and take you to jail.

"And as for you," he turned to look at Carly. "Well, I thought long and hard about what I should do with you. You went to my enemy. Even if Courtney was afraid Jason would turn on her, you still took it upon yourself to interfere with my business...and worst, you involved my enemy. I can't trust you, Carly. You swear to me you'll change, you promise me that you won't get involved...and yet every time you lie."

He drew in a breath and rasped his hand across his mouth. "Marco?"

"Sir?" the man asked as he materialized from the kitchen.

"Is Mrs. Corinthos' bag packed?"

"Sonny?" Carly's eyes were wide and she stepped forward and grabbed his jacket. "What are you doing?"

"You're going to the island," he told her, his eyes showing no real emotion. "I don't think they'll find out your involvement right away, but I can't be sure. So you're going to the island...your doctor has already transferred your medical records there. Your stress levels are high, you're calmed by the ocean...you're going to stay there until you give birth."

"And then?" she asked, her arms now defensively around her stomach.

"Then," he shrugged indifferently. "Then you come back so that you can get your divorce settlement. With your history of postpartum, you'll abandon your children once again, and if the police decide to arrest you..."

He trailed off, undaunted by her tears and her pleadings. "There's nothing really I can do about that. I'm a single father trying to adjust to his wife's mental health and leaving him. I had no idea you were involved in my sister's crime when you went down to the island this morning. I'm deeply grieved for your obvious break with reality."

"You can't do this, Sonny!" she yelled at him. "I won't let you."

"Have a nice trip, dear," he said with a little wave of his hand. "Marco, you'll be with her until the day she delivers. You understand your orders and are prepared to carry them out?"

The guard nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir."

"Alright then," he said. "Jason, you should probably get your things and go. And you," he turned to Courtney, "and I will be having a nice family dinner when the police come with your arrest warrant."

Jason took one last look at the two women he once thought would be in his life forever and that he would always love. And then oblivious to their cries for help, understanding and forgiveness, he walked out of Sonny's apartment and towards his own. He was never coming to the place, even if Courtney went to jail. It was time to prepare for the next phase of the plan that had developed while he was working things out at the safe house, convincing Elizabeth that he was genuine in his concern, and his vow to help her any way he could.

Part 9

"That was a good session today, Elizabeth."

She smiled, even as she fought the urge to roll her useless eyes and say something sarcastic, and instead turned towards the sound of her therapist's voice. "Thank you, Linda."

"You're making some good progress. I'll stop by your studio in two days and we can see if there's anything we need to change or adapt there, alright?"

"That'll be good," she nodded, her hands finishing straightening her cane. She listened to the sound of the hospital around her and got her bearings. "I'll see you then."

The orange and white plastic slid along the ground as she counted off the number of steps to the elevator. Linda had good reason to sound like a surprised and pleased woman. After talking to Jason four days ago and realizing that her former friend was going to help his fiancée cover up the crime of running Elizabeth down with her car, she had found a surprising determination to concentrate on her therapy. If she was going to be blind because of Jason Morgan's girlfriend, then she was going to be the best blind person she could be. She would learn to read Braille, she would be able to figure out how to live on her own and not stumble around like a fool, she'd learn how to be able to walk down the street with her head held high because she wouldn't be afraid of what might be out there.

She wasn't going to hide away in her studio broken and useless. She would take charge of her life, figure out what she was going to do and only rely on her grandmother for things like making sure her checkbook was balanced and she was buying corn in the grocery story instead of peas. She wouldn't shrink away from run-ins with Jason or Sonny or the women in their lives. She would show them that she was a survivor and that she wasn't going to move to Minnesota for a special school for the blind, and she hoped the hypocrites would choke on their guilt every single time they saw her. She was through with them.

She pushed the down button and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. Thankfully none of her grandmother's co-workers came up to her to see if they could help or express their sympathy. After being falsely cheerful and not hitting her therapist for her condescending pride, she knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with anybody else. No matter how well meaning they were.

The elevator dinged signaling the arriving car and she listening carefully to see which doors opened. When she heard the whoosh to her left, she turned and started for the car, hoping it wasn't too crowded.

"Elizabeth?"

She paused slightly, then squared her shoulders. "Hi, Emily."

Her friend stayed silent while she navigated her way onto the elevator, then said, "Lobby's already pressed. Unless you needed another floor?"

"No," she shook her head. "Lobby's where I'm headed. Going home after therapy."

"How...how is it going?" Emily asked a little hesitantly.

"Fine," she nodded. "I finally realized that I needed to stop fighting it and let Linda teach me what she can. I mean, who knows if I'll ever get my sight back. Tony didn't sound very hopeful yesterday after my latest round of tests."

There was a brief pause and then Elizabeth decided to break the nervous silence her friend had fallen into. "So what are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Emily said in relief. "I had some tests today as well. Jason brought me since Nikolas had a meeting and sometimes I get drained after all the poking and prodding they do."

Elizabeth couldn't help it, but she stiffened and now realized the identity of the other, silent, person on the elevator. "Jason?"

"Hello, Elizabeth," he said softly.

She nodded her head and turned away from the two, before calming herself and saying, "I'm glad you're doing better, Em. And I'm glad Jason was there for you. Courtney must not have needed him to fetch her more pills today."

The car's descent stopped and the elevator doors slid open after a series of chimes announced their arrival. She didn't care if she stumbled; she was getting out of there as quickly as possible. Using her cane more, she blindly headed in the direction of the front doors, angry and desperate to get outside. A strong hand softly grabbed her elbow and pulled her several feet to the right and she felt the air temperatures change signaling she was now going through the doors. Once she was outside, she wrenched her elbow away from Jason and stalked away from him.

"Elizabeth?" Emily called out, uncertain and confused. "Did you need a ride home?"

"Not from Jason I don't," she shook her head. "I'll get a cab. If you could just point me in the direction of one."

She heard frantic whispering between the brother and sister and then Emily called out. "He wasn't going to ask you to cover up for her. And if you'd drop your stubborn pride for five seconds and listen to him, you would find out that Courtney was arrested two nights ago for your hit and run."

She whipped around, her sightless eyes glaring daggers in Emily's direction. "Excuse me? You don't know anything about what's going on right now."

This time it was Emily's gentle touch that took hold of Elizabeth and steered her in an unfamiliar direction. "Jason brought a limo with him this time. He's already in the front seat. Will is standing here holding open the door for us. Get in the car and let me take you home. And then we can talk."

"Emily," Elizabeth shook her head and tried to pull away, but her friend refused to let go.

Elizabeth felt her hand being stretched out until it came in contact with the edge of smooth metal. "We're here at the door. Go ahead and climb in, Elizabeth. Don't fight me or I'll explain the whole thing right here in front of the hospital."

"I always knew you were a true Quartermaine," Elizabeth groused after she was inside the limo and against the opposite door. "Is Jason really in the front seat?"

A mechanical whir sounded in front of Elizabeth and Emily called out. "Elizabeth doesn't trust that you're really in the front seat, Jason. Why don't you and Will set her mind at ease."

Jason stayed silent, although she heard a shifting on the leather seat, but the driver spoke up, "He's here beside me, Miss Webber."

"Fine," she said in quiet sullenness and waited for the whir to signal that the divider was being raised. When the car began to move she turned to accuse in Emily's direction. "Alright. Nice bit of blackmail there, so explain."

"The police arrested Courtney two nights ago after they found her car down an abandoned road. An anonymous caller phoned in the tip to the police. Jason was at the house and told me he'd broken off his engagement with Courtney because he overheard her and Carly talking about your accident and he couldn't believe they had lied and covered it up. He's living at Jake's and he's definitely kicked both Carly and Courtney out of his life. The police haven't called you about this?" Emily questioned.

Elizabeth looked away, remembering the message from Taggart on her answering machine yesterday, asking her to call him back. She hadn't done so because she was tired and disappointed after her appointment with Dr. Jones and she went to bed and fell asleep. She hadn't wanted to hear another pointless and empty update from the cops.

"She was arrested?"

"They found your blood and skin on her car," Emily said softly in response to Elizabeth's timid question. "They saw the damage and took her in. Lucky told me today that they noticed her erratic behavior last night after she'd been in custody for twenty-four hours and tested her and realized she was on drugs."

She closed her eyes and sagged back against the seat. Courtney's car had been found. Elizabeth didn't have any pretensions that it was because of Jason. If the police hadn't found the car that hit her in the month since her accident, she didn't think it had been down the abandoned road all that time. The PCPD were idiots, but they weren't that incompetent. Jason and his men had found it and they'd left it where it would be found. They'd probably even arranged the Good Samaritan phone call. He'd turned in his own fiancée to the police and hadn't helped her escape. No, Courtney wasn't his fiancée anymore. According to Emily, Jason had called off the wedding, moved out his house and into Jake's. And since Courtney was still in jail, it didn't sound like Sonny was doing anything to bail his sister out.

It was a lot to suddenly take in because Elizabeth had convinced herself after kicking Jason out of her studio four days ago that she was right about him. He was going to protect Courtney, forget that she'd been high and hit Elizabeth, and do everything in his power to cover up the blonde's crime. That hadn't happened, and Elizabeth felt the burning sting of tears come to her eyes as she realized that this sounded like the Jason she used to know. The man who was honorable and she could depend on. Had he done all of it because she'd yelled at him, or was he planning on doing it all along and had merely come to tell her the truth about Courtney so she didn't find out from somebody else?

The car stopped and Emily quietly cleared her throat. "Elizabeth? We're at your studio. Do you want me to come up?"

Elizabeth shook her head and wiped at the tears that had leaked from the corner of her eyes. "No. I...I think I'd like to be alone for a little bit and think about all of this. I...I was apparently wrong about a few things and... Call me tomorrow?"

"I will," Emily promised and the seats creaked a moment before Elizabeth found herself wrapped in a fierce and comforting hug. "I'll call you tomorrow."

The door opened and it took a little bit for Elizabeth to get herself out of the contraption and get her bearings. The guard walked her to the front door of her building, no doubt on Jason's orders and it gave her enough time to find her keys and get her composure. She slipped into the building and started up the stairs, thinking that maybe she hadn't been so deluded after all.

"She'll be alright," Emily said softly with a smile as she and Jason stood together by the limo and watched Elizabeth disappear into the building before them. "She knows the stairs and once she gets inside, she'll...she'll be alright."

Jason didn't say anything, just shifted slightly as he continued to stare at the building.

"She was just hurt," Emily continued. "What she said in the elevator...what she said to you that night. She was hurt, Jason. Her whole world has been turned upside down."

"I haven't given her a reason to trust me," Jason said, his voice rough and low. "For so long I ignored her, or I only talked at her to yell at her. We barely started talking like we used to, so..."

So she was entitled to be angry, her brother probably meant. Regardless of what Jason and Elizabeth's relationship had been like up until two months ago, she knew it still hurt Jason that the petite brunette had lashed out at him. Add that to the betrayal and hurt he felt from what had happened with Courtney and Carly - Emily didn't know everything, just enough to know that both women had wounded her brother deeply - and Jason felt that Elizabeth's anger was warranted. Even if it hurt him.

"She said she was apparently wrong about a few things and she needed to think. I told her about the police finding the car and Courtney being arrested. She realizes that you and Sonny didn't help Courtney."

Jason turned for the car, and opened the door for her. Emily knew he was trying to end the discussion, deflect the situation away from him and what he might be feeling, but she wasn't going to let him get away with it. She waited until the door was closed and Will was driving towards the Quartermaine mansion.

"I'm calling her tomorrow," she said and didn't miss the way Jason tensed slightly before adopting a look of neutral disinterest. "If I were you, and wanted to get rid of the guilt I felt and the self-loathing at my fiancée running down my friend and blinding her, and if I wanted to talk to her and make sure she was alright and try to fix things between us...I wouldn't let more than a day or two go by before I called her."

She looked at Jason and waited until he gave into her piercing gaze and finally looked at her. "But that's just me," she shrugged. "I mean, she'll never realize that you truly are a decent man if you stay away from her."

Silence filled the car and she looked down at her nails before going for one last shot. "But what do I know. Maybe you don't care what Elizabeth really thinks of you."

Part 10

"You sure you're alright?"

Elizabeth nodded, but she didn't attempt to plaster a fake smile on her face. After more than five weeks of being blind, rapidly closing in on her sixth week, she'd hit her saturation level. She was tired of trying to ease her friends and family's minds by acting like she was fine, that she was resilient, that she was at peace with her new life. She was tired of smiling when she felt like frowning, she was tired of reining in her temper when she grew frustrated, and she was tired of trying to appease all the worriers who hovered around her like she was a newborn learning how to walk.

Yes, her life had changed. She was tired of people talking about it. She was tired of them trying to give her encouraging pep talks and platitudes and trying to make her, and themselves, feel better. She was just so tired of it all.

"I'll be fine, Lucky. Thank you for taking me to the store today. Grams was going to do it but she got called into the hospital."

"No problem," he told her sincerely as he handed her the last of her shopping bags and told her what she was unpacking. "I'm glad you called."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen you in nearly a week," he told her. "You've been avoiding my phone calls."

"I've talked to you, Lucky," she sighed. "But I just don't feel like talking every day, okay? I...I appreciate you coming over that day to talk to me."

The day after her run-in with Emily and Jason at the hospital, Lucky had stopped by and filled her in on all that had happened with Courtney. Taggart had called her as well, but the older cop seemed to understand that a visit from a friend might be more what she needed at that time. Lucky told her how Courtney was now in a detox program at the county jail, that she'd pleaded not-guilty because her lawyer seemed to be trying to garner sympathy for her with her drug addiction due to losing her child, but Scott Baldwin wasn't buying it.

Of course Baldwin was looking at it as a major victory over Sonny and Jason. Sonny's sister going to jail for vehicular assault, driving while under the influence, and drug possession - apparently they'd searched the penthouse and found her stash of pills, and there wasn't anything Sonny could do to protect her. Elizabeth knew there were things Sonny could do, but he apparently wasn't going to. Courtney hadn't been whisked out of the country like Carly had been. Lucky said the police wanted to question his cousin because Courtney called her after the accident before calling Jason and then Carly called Lorenzo Alcazar, but Sonny said that Carly had gone down to the island for the remainder of her pregnancy because of stress-related complications and also because he thought it would be good for her mental health which her doctor was worried about. He couldn't really go against doctor's orders to bring her back before she delivered, but would gladly bring her home after she'd had the baby in a couple of months.

The funny thing was, Elizabeth believed him. She suspected something was afoot with Sonny and his attitude towards his sister and wife and it surprised her. It downright stunned her that Sonny wasn't covering up their crimes, that Elizabeth wasn't being tossed aside like some meaningless piece of trash. Considering that she had dropped off Sonny Corinthos' radar a long time ago and when she went to him to ask him to back off with Ric so the two of them could enjoy their marriage and their new baby on the way and Sonny had acted like she was a traitor and had never been a friend to him, she was more than a bit surprised that his sister was going to stand trial for the crime of running Elizabeth down.

Coupled with Jason calling off his engagement and moving back to Jake's, and Elizabeth knew enough about the two men to realize that something had shifted between them. She just couldn't think of why it had happened. Why now did it suddenly seem like Jason and Sonny were the men she knew at the beginning? Men who valued friendship and honesty and were loyal to those who had been loyal to them? Elizabeth no longer fit in that category so why weren't the two of them doing everything in their power to get Courtney cleared of the charges?

Emily had tried to tell her it was because Jason had finally reached his limit with Courtney lying to him. Funny since Jason had turned into a liar himself, and had been friends with the Queen of Lying, Carly, for years and had never seemed bothered by it. What made this time so different? She'd fully expected Jason to stand by Courtney, make excuses because of the miscarriage and the drugs and say he was sorry to Elizabeth, but continue on with his fiancée firmly by his side and ride off into the sunset on his Harley. Jason always seemed to be sorry for something that had happened to Elizabeth. Sorry that she'd gotten a bomb placed in her studio, sorry she'd been kidnapped, sorry she was hurting and confused about Lucky...all things that he had no real control over. But the time that he'd lied to her, and let her feel that she wasn't important in his life, he'd never apologized to her.

And he hadn't been by to see her since the day they ran into each other on the docks, and he hadn't spoken to her - more than her name - at the hospital. Ric or Lucky would have taken that opportunity to tell her she'd been wrong about them, but instead it was Emily who had to tell her about Courtney's arrest and Jason calling off the engagement. Her friend had called and stopped by a couple of times since that encounter, and while Emily wasn't overly singing her brother's praises, she was definitely dropping Jason's name more than was normal. Elizabeth just didn't even have the energy or the desire to fight with Emily about it and tell her to stop it. Instead, she just let Emily have her say and never responded.

Because if Jason truly cared about how she was doing and truly cared about how she felt, he would have stopped by. And since he hadn't, Elizabeth had her answer. He was sorry she'd been hurt, but he wasn't overly concerned. He certainly didn't feel the need to explain himself to her...and Elizabeth was just done trying to come up with reasons to blame Jason or make excuses for him. Yes, Elizabeth had gotten mad and yelled at him, but now that he knew she knew the real truth, he still didn't care enough to come by. If he expected her to seek him out to apologize for her wrong assumptions, well Jason Morgan could keep on waiting. She was tired of having to fight for him in her life, and she'd learned long ago that Jason didn't consider her worth it enough to fight for her.

And in the grand scheme of things, it was better this way. She'd continue on with her therapy, she was doing much better walking with her cane and learning things Linda was trying to teach her, and she'd continue to go to the doctors until they finally realized what she had. She wasn't going to get better. She wasn't going to get a miracle. She wasn't going to get her sight back. And Jason would continue on with his life, whatever it was without Courtney and Carly in it. He had no place in hers; she had no place in his. And because his ex-fiancée had blinded her and she'd yelled at him, they weren't even going to try to be friends anymore. They'd just have awkward, brief encounters on the docks or at Kelly's, and that would be their life. She'd resigned herself to it.

Because she just didn't have energy to do anything else. Not when she was doing all she could to adjust to the new permanence of her life.

"Well, I think that's the last of it," Lucky said, crinkling up the shopping bags and putting them in the trash. "Anything you need me to do before I head off to the station?"

"Actually, there is," she told him, surprising herself and she was him as well. "There are some brown bags near the closet. Could you take those for me? I know there's a Goodwill bin on your way to the station from here."

"Okay," he said, his voice a little hesitant and unsure. "Getting rid of some old clothes?"

She stayed silent because she knew he'd find out his answer soon enough. She heard the thick, heavy paper crunch, and then a breath from Lucky. "Elizabeth? These...these are your art supplies. Are you sure you want me to take these?"

She leaned against her artist's table that she knew she'd be getting rid of soon and nodded as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her denim skirt. "I'm sure, Lucky. It...it's time."

"Time, time for what?" he demanded.

"For me to be realistic," she replied. "I hear the note of despair in Tony's voice after each appointment goes by and there's no change in my condition. The swelling is virtually gone; they could hardly even detect it on the MRI yesterday. Whatever happened to me, I'm not going to get a miracle recovery."

The bags thumped on the floor and she could hear him walk towards her. "You can't just give up, Elizabeth. Things could still change."

"They won't, Lucky," she shook her head and she could only imagine the look of grief and sorrow on her friend's face. "I...I've accepted that. I got my miracle when you came back from the dead...but sometimes even miracles don't always turn out the way we expect them to. It's been nearly six weeks. There's been no change. I don't see any pinpricks of light like Tony was hoping I might. I still am stuck in this pitch black night. And I'm not going to paint again. So why should I keep the supplies? So I can tormented by them? Give them to Goodwill or the Community Center. Let them be used for a children's art class. I've got to face reality and utilize my space better. Having art supplies is merely a waste of that space."

"You're letting her win," Lucky pleaded with her.

"She won the moment she hit me," Elizabeth replied. "I'm just tired of pretending she didn't. I can't keep deluding myself by hoping things are going to change."

She heard him take a breath to try another argument and she shook her head. "Please, Lucky, just do this for me. Don't fight me, don't tell me it's all going to be alright, that I'm going to get better, that I just have to give it some time. I'm so sick and tired of people telling me that. I'm so sick of them acting like all I've done is cut my finger and I just have to wait for the bandage to come off and everything will be okay. I'm blind, Lucky. I've accepted it, why can't the rest of you?"

"Because we don't want to. Because we refuse to," he told her sounding angry. "This isn't who you're supposed to be, Elizabeth. You're an artist; you're too full of life to just accept that you'll never see again. It's too soon to throw your hands up in defeat. Nikolas was telling me about a specialist in England he read about, he wants to fly him in to meet with you. Let him do that, okay? Go see this doctor."

"Why?" she shouted. "So I can hear from him as well that there's no hope for my condition? Tony Jones is a good doctor and I can hear what he's telling me."

"He was wrong about Jason," Lucky said, and she could only blink that he would even mention the other man's name. "Doctor's don't know everything, Elizabeth. They can be wrong. Why are you giving up?"

"It's my life, and my choices," she said. "Are you going to take the supplies or not?"

"I'm not," he told her and she heard him move, start across the room. The metal bolts of the lock slid back and she knew he was leaving. "I'm not going to participate in this."

"Why?" she demanded as she started across the room, careful because she didn't have her cane beside her. "Because I'm not acting the way you want me to? Because I'm not being perfect, perky Elizabeth and I'm not being an eternal fool hoping for something that's never going to happen."

He flung back the door and she heard Lucky's voice move away from her. "Because this isn't you, Elizabeth."

"You don't know a thing about me then, Lucky Spencer. How dare you act like this! This is my choice, my life and if you can't accept that, then fine. Leave!"

She heard angry footsteps going down the hall by the time she reached her door and grasped onto the frame. She was angry and she could feel that she was flushed. How dare he! How dare he be mad at her because she'd decided to give away her art supplies. She'd made a decision. Didn't he have any idea how hard it was for her to realize that she'd lost that part of her life? Did he have any idea the number of tears she'd cried as she'd packed up those bags? Did he think she'd taken this idea lightly and was just pouting like a child threatening to run away from home?

She spun away from the door and shuffled her feet along the floor, hoping to find the bags Lucky had abandoned. If he wasn't going to help her out, then she'd just take care of them herself. So much for being a friend, she scoffed and tossed her hair. Her feet collided with the bags at the same time she heard footsteps approaching the door open door and stopping. If Lucky had come back, then he'd see her strength and resolve. She'd had it with people who acted disappointed in her because she didn't meet up with their ridiculous notions of how she should be.

She picked up the bags and turned her spine stiff and straight. "If you've come back to apologize, Lucky, save your breath. I'm sorry if I disappoint you. I'm sorry if you think I'm giving up. I am so sick and tired of acting like I'm fine all the time, so you know what...just leave me alone. I don't care what you think."

There was a moment's pause as she moved towards the door and the table where she'd put her purse. And then someone softly cleared their throat. "Elizabeth? Is...is this a bad time?"

She jerked to a stop and stared blindly at the voice in the doorway. Un-freaking-believable. "Jason? What are you doing here?"

"I...I wanted to talk."

Part 11

Jason stood at Elizabeth's doorway and swallowed roughly. He knew that showing up to see her, at any time - but especially after not come by for a week after seeing her at the hospital - wasn't going to be easy. And right now she looked upset. She thought he was Lucky come back to fulfill some request and obviously she was upset at Spencer, and he knew that his presence was going to simply add fuel to her fire.

"I came by to see you," he told her softly. "I was hoping we could talk."

"About what?" she demanded sharply, her arms crossing defensively in front of her while her sightless blue eyes stared harshly just over his shoulder.

"Can I come in?" he asked, trying to move this conversation out of the doorway.

She paused for a moment and then flung her arms out to the side while huffing. "Fine. Whatever. I don't care."

Turning, Elizabeth tangled her feet with the bags before her, but stayed upright as she moved towards the couch. He stood by helpless as he watched her, knowing that if he reached out to help her it would only make the situation worse. She'd think he pitied her and thought she was helpless, and he knew enough of her temper to want to avoid that. Negotiating to the couch, she flopped down on it, still full of anger and distrust and looked up.

"Well?" she cocked her head to the side. "What did you want to talk about?"

Sighing, he closed the door, and then stepped further into the room. He thought about sitting down on the couch beside her, but changed his mind and grabbed the stool from in front of her artist's table. "I wanted to see how you were," he began. "And I wanted to apologize."

"How I'm doing?" she asked, her voice a mixture of sweetness and acid. "I'm just fine, Jason. Just dandy. My therapy classes are going well. I'm learning how to be a good, little blind girl. My therapist is so proud of me."

"Elizabeth," he tried to cut in, to stop the angry and hurtful recitation.

She, however, wasn't going to listen. "I'm weighing my options on keeping the studio versus selling it. I mean, there's really no point to keep it since I'm getting rid of my art supplies. I'll just be left with a big, open space that while it seems advantageous to get around, is actually sometimes very hard because there are no corners and defined space. So, I'm checking into the cost of some Section Eight housing. Section Eight is disabled people in case you didn't know."

Jason licked his lips and swallowed, telling himself that he deserved some of this anger. But it still hurt. And it especially hurt to see her having such self-directed bitterness. Or maybe that was all for his benefit. "Are you done?" he asked.

"Done?" her eyebrow rose sharply.

"With the guilt trip you're trying to give me?"

Her mouth pinched dangerously together and she growled. "I don't know, Jason. Should I be done? Or should I keep going? So you didn't protect Courtney...am I supposed to thank you for that?"

"No," he shook his head. "I didn't do it for your gratitude."

"You did it because it was right?" she challenged.

"Yes," he acknowledged. "She was high. She knew she was high and she still got in the car. How does that make her any different than A.J. and what happened to you any different than what happened to me? She knew it was you when she hit you and she didn't care."

Elizabeth blanched slightly and leaned back in her seat. He knew that information had to hurt her and he didn't want to hurt her, but she was letting him speak and he was going to get out as much as he could before she cut him off again. "She was so sure that you were going to try to steal me from her and she didn't care that she ran you down and left you there. And then she used me to get her out of the country. Do you have any idea how I felt when I heard that? My word, Elizabeth, I know that things haven't been good between us for a long time, but do you honestly think that I wouldn't care that you'd been hit by a car, that you could have died, and that it was my girlfriend who had done that to you?"

Her mouth opened slightly and she shook her head mutely, her face softening into confusion and uncertainty. "When Sonny told me what happened to you...I just... It hurt. To know that you'd been hurt. At first I just thought it was some random driver, and that... I never wanted you hurt or in danger from me or my life, or when Ric was doing things to get back at Sonny and you were caught in the crossfire. But this...this was so random and... And then I found out that it wasn't. I didn't want to think that it was Courtney, not because I was going to protect her and cover up the crime like you accused me of, but because I wondered how I could be so wrong about her."

He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face and knew that this next part was going to be hard. "Do you remember when I broke into your house that night and you held the gun on me, and yelled at me and told me to get out because you were so sure that Ric didn't have Carly?"

She swallowed thickly and her eyes turned moist. "Ye-yes."

"And do you remember when we talked the night before you got hit and you said you had been wrong about him and were sorry for how you'd yelled at me?"

"I'd been blind," she admitted bluntly. "I didn't want to think that you were right because it would mean I'd been wrong about who he was and I'd married him anyways."

"That's how I felt about Courtney. When Sonny told me he suspected she was on drugs, and then the discrepancies in her story about her car...I didn't want it to be true. Not because I didn't care about what had happened to you and I was choosing her over your health, but because I didn't want to face at that time that I'd been wrong about her. That I hadn't seen what was going on. That I'd been living with someone who was capable of that."

She closed her eyes as two tears squeezed out of the corners and nodded her head. "I understand all about that. I really do."

"I hadn't meant to run into you that night. I'd gone riding to clear my head, to try and figure out how to deal with Courtney, and I knew that I was going to have to send people to look for her car. But I saw you," he told her, his voice thickening, "and I couldn't walk away from you. And then I couldn't lie to you. I didn't want you to hear later that it was Courtney and think back on that night and wonder why I hadn't said anything. And instead I just made you angry."

"No," she shook her head with a wry, little laugh. "I did that all on my own. I just jumped to conclusions and wouldn't listen to you and just figured I knew what was going on. You may not remember, but I can be pretty stubborn and don't always listen to people."

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "I...I remember."

"And so you stayed away because I'd told you to, and because I'd yelled at you. I'm sorry about that, Jason."

"No," he shook his head strongly. "No, don't apologize. I could have tried harder to let you know what was going on, but I didn't. Because it was just easier to stay away. I'd been doing that for so long with you that it was just easier...but it doesn't mean it was right."

He paused and suddenly the air felt thick between them. He wondered if she was suddenly thinking about the night she'd walked out of his penthouse as he unexpectedly was. How he'd taken her words at face value and just let her go because he thought it was easier that way. And he wondered why he was suddenly thinking about that now when so much had changed between them and so much had happened in their lives since then. Clearing his throat raggedly, not believing now was the right time - if there ever was - to get into that, he looked around the studio. And noting the lack of art supplies he remembered what she'd said about getting rid of her art things and possibly selling her studio.

"So you…" he cleared his throat again and Elizabeth's gaze rose from her lap toward him. "So you're getting rid of your art things?"

She sighed and her shoulders rose slightly. "Yeah. Lucky...Lucky was here earlier and let me know how much he thinks that's a bad idea...but I just... It's time. It's been six weeks since the accident and the swelling has almost gone completely away and the doctors still can't figure out why I can't see. And I...I can hear that they don't think that I will. They try to be encouraging, but it just feels like a lot of empty promises and I'm not believing in those anymore."

Shifting on the couch, Elizabeth drew her legs up towards her. "I...I think my sight is gone for good. And if it is...then the art supplies are just useless clutter."

He looked down at the bags on the floor and the bare shelves around them. "I...I'm not sure what to say. I remember that winter I was shot and you were in here painting, I remember finding you in the park with a sketchbook in your hands... It will be weird not to see you like that."

Her smile was watery and a bit sad as she picked at the fabric of the couch with her thumbnail. "I know. I...I feel like Alice and the looking glass is broken. That I can't get out of Wonderland and I'm stuck in a place that isn't right and I don't belong there. But I can't get out...and I'm just...I'm tired of trying to find the right hole, or the right door, or the right pill to take to get back to where I was. That's why I stopped fighting my therapy. Because if I'm going to be blind, then I need to know how to do things for myself. It's why I didn't move in with my grandmother or Emily and Nikolas when they offered."

He knew she was independent, and he admired her for trying to find a way to live on her own. Even if he did worry about her...but then he didn't think he'd ever stop worrying about her. But he wouldn't let her think he pitied her.

"So that's what's in the bags?" he asked.

"Yeah. I asked Lucky to take them and give them to the community center or something and he just..." She sighed and looked away absently. "I can understand why he was upset. He thinks I'm giving up...that I'm letting Courtney win. And maybe, maybe I am. Maybe I'm resigning myself too soon to a lifetime of darkness. Things change all the time and I could wake up tomorrow and start to see again, the doctors don't know. But it's...having my art supplies around hurts."

"Hurts?"

"Back when Lucky was being brainwashed and I dropped out of school, I didn't really paint. But I had my studio and it was my place of refuge and I could paint, even if I didn't. Now...now I want to paint, but I can't. I don't know what the colors are, and I can't see if I'm putting the picture that's in my head down correctly. I was never into abstract and I don't want to become the blind artist. And knowing that all these things are there and I can't use them...it's a painful reminder of what I've lost. And if I never get it back, I don't want to be hurt every day when my fingers skim over a tube of paint of the bristles of a brush."

"I understand," he told her. And he did. It was why he destroyed his room at the Quartermaines because he didn't understand that life anymore, because he saw that room as a representation of why everyone looked at him with sad eyes and pushed him to be someone he wasn't anymore and never would be. It was why he left and lived in a boxcar in the woods and worked on the docks when he had a trust fund he knew he could have accessed. His old life didn't make sense and neither did Elizabeth's to her. While she could still imagine scenes in her head, she didn't have the ability to paint them anymore...not the way she wanted. "Do you want me to help you get rid of the stuff?"

She looked at him, a bit surprised. "Would...would you?"

"I will," he told her. "I can take those things now and come back with a truck and load up the rest, or take it all at once. And if...if you want to move, I can help you do that too."

Elizabeth gave him a tentative smile. "Thank you. I...you can take the bags to the community center. I was going to sell the other stuff. Maybe...maybe you could help me write the ad?"

"Yeah," he told her, his throat strangely feeling coarse at the thought of her not being able to make sure a newspaper ad was placed correctly. But he pushed it aside, glad that she seemed to at least no longer be upset with him and was asking for his assistance. "I can do that."

Part 12

Some days it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

As Elizabeth walked out of the hospital and towards the bus stop, she told herself once again that when she woke up with the headache that started two days ago, she just should have rolled over and gone back to sleep. But she had a session with her occupational therapist and yet another appointment with Dr. Jones, and so guilt had pricked her conscience and she forced herself to get up. Last week Linda had started teaching her how to use the city's bus system, and had wanted her to come to her appointment today by bus. Elizabeth should have just called a cab to come get her. In fact, she should just call a cab now.

Her head hurt, she was tired, and all she really wanted to do was crawl back into bed and try to sleep away the pain. Instead, she'd been forced to endure an excruciatingly long appointment with Dr. Jones who had been worried about her headache and ran lengthy tests, including another CT scan. This scan hadn't gone well, because Elizabeth had a mini freak-out halfway through the scan and began crying and begging for them to get her out of the tube. Dr. Jones said it was probably due to the lack of sleep she'd mentioned because of the headaches and he wanted her to monitor them and call him if they got worse. He gave her a mild prescription and so she got that filled at the hospital's pharmacy before she left.

The only good thing about the day was that she hadn't run into her grandmother, or any of her so-called friends. None of them, except Jason, could understand why she refused to move in with one of them when she gave up her studio. They said that if she was giving up her art, and Lucky had once again given her an earful regarding that particular decision, then they could certainly help her out. She didn't know why it had been so hard for them to understand that she liked her independence, that she didn't want to be waited on hand and foot and treated like she was a pathetic cripple just because she couldn't see. Jason seemed to be the only person who supported her and helped her move her belongings without giving her a major fight about it.

Of course, Jason was just another reason her friends and family were arguing with her. Nikolas and Lucky couldn't understand why she was talking to the guy who had treated her like dirt and then shacked up with Courtney - the woman who hit her and blinded her did she forget? - mere months after Elizabeth walked out. Her grandmother didn't understand why now of all times, she seemed to falling back under Jason Morgan's spell when she had finally gotten away from him. None of them seemed to remember that Ric had done horrible things to her and other people as well, all they could focus n was Jason was a criminal and it was his fiancée that had run Elizabeth down on the street. Only Emily seemed to understand why she was talking to Jason, but that hadn't stopped her friend from offering her a place to live with her and so Elizabeth was avoiding talking to her.

It didn't seem to matter to anyone in town that Courtney had been arrested, that for all the ways they threw around and spouted that Jason was a criminal he hadn't protected her from the charges or gotten her out of jail, and that her trial was being fast-tracked and scheduled to start just after Thanksgiving. Nobody seemed to care about that, all they wanted to do was lecture Elizabeth because she was talking to Jason Morgan again and had actually been decent to Sonny Corinthos when he saw her one day at Kelly's. Apparently to their way of thinking, she was a weak-minded individual who would fall into Jason's arms and become his little blind mob moll.

A sharp pain rose up in Elizabeth's skull, streaking across her left temple and settling in for a stabbing pain right in her forehead and Elizabeth stopped and gripped her cane in one hand and her head with the other. She was going to miss her bus at this rate, but that was all secondary. What mattered most was staying upright and not ending up on her knees heaving her breakfast all over the concrete because of the severity of the pain. Not sure if this had anything to do with the accident, or if Elizabeth was just experiencing a particularly nasty headache on its way to being a migraine, Tony hadn't really known what to tell her. She'd wanted to punch the neurosurgeon in the mouth for his wretched sympathy. All she wanted was for the pain to go away.

Finally able to move, Elizabeth turned slightly to her right and swung her cane out in a sweeping arc. She hoped to connect with a building that she could lean against while she called a cab. She wasn't doing a bus today. The last thing she needed was to sit on a noisy, rumbling bus as it lumbered along the street, constantly stopping and releasing the hydraulics that would open and close the doors. She just couldn't do it.

Finding the building, she leaned heavily against it while her fingers fumbled slightly with her purse before locating the zipper and pulling it back. As the metal teeth parted, she slipped her hand into the cavity and searched for the slim, metallic case of her phone. She'd call the operator, have them connect her to a cab service and just wait for someone to come pick her up. But as she flipped her phone open and let her fingers trail lightly over the keypad, she found herself dialing in a number that had been drilled into her head instead of zero. Refusing to back out and not press the send button, she did, and then brought the phone up to her ear as the hollow ring carried to her.

"Hello?"

"Jason," her voice was shaky with relief she didn't fully understand.

"Elizabeth?" he immediately said. "What's wrong?"

"I...I...I need a ride," she told him quietly.

"I'm on my way," he told her. "Where are you?"

"I'm about a block from the hospital."

"Okay. I'm at the warehouse, so I'll be there in five minutes."

She wanted to tell him not to hurry, that she knew it took more than five minutes to make it from the docks to the hospital, but instead she blinked back tears of relief and said, "Thank you."

Then she closed her phone and slipped it into her purse before sagging down to the ground. As she rubbed her temples all she could think was that Jason would be here soon and she could go to her apartment and things would be better.

As Jason neared the hospital, he slowed his motorcycle, keeping an eye out for Elizabeth. She sounded small, unsure, in need when she called him and he was glad he'd made her memorize his cell phone number and made her promise that she would call him, no matter what time, if she really needed something. When he helped her move out of her studio and into a nice one bedroom apartment in a safer neighborhood that was close to a major bus line, he'd felt a little better about her. She wasn't in a high crime area; she was close to a grocery store, a bank, and the bus where she could connect up with any of the lines to take her anywhere she needed to go.

He admired her independence and her determination, even though he saw sometimes she was frightened. But she was driven to succeed and she wasn't going to have anybody tell her she couldn't do it just because she was blind. Her fight was definitely lit, and she was standing up to her friends who wanted to pity her and coddle her along, and it was no longer about showing him up, as she'd admitted to him a couple of weeks after they finally talked and seemed to work through things, it was about proving to herself that she could succeed no matter what.

He braked quickly and pulled the bike up to the curb when he finally spotted her. Sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest, her hands cradling her head. She looked like a lost child and he couldn't believe the people that were walking by her on their way to wherever as she sat against the building. He killed the engine and swung his leg over as he pushed past a businessman yammering away into his cell phone so he could reach her side.

"Elizabeth?"

She raised her head and he frowned when he saw her pale features pinched and lined with pain. "Jason? You sure didn't take long."

"I told you five minutes," he said solemnly. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and looked like she was going to deny it, but then he could see her change her mind and she dropped her head slightly. "I have a headache."

He frowned as he shifted his stance beside her, "A headache? It must be a bad one if you're sitting on the ground."

"It started a couple of days ago," she sighed and rubbed at her forehead seeking relief. "It hasn't gotten better."

"Is that why you were at the hospital?" he asked, truly concerned now. "What did they say?"

"No," she shook her head, "I had an appointment with Tony anyways today. I told him about the headache and he ran some tests." She paused and swallowed. "He did a CT and before I flipped out and demanded to get out of the tube, they didn't see anything different from the other ones. They don't know if this is from the accident or just a bad headache."

Jason turned to scowl at hospital, wanting nothing more than to go in there and tell all the doctors, especially Tony Jones, a few things. Elizabeth was clearly in pain, and they were all sitting around on their thumbs doing nothing for her. Typical Tony Jones behavior. When in doubt, wait and run more tests.

"They gave me some pills, and I wanted to go home and take one then go to sleep. But it just hurts and I didn't want to ride the bus today. I was going to call a cab," she said, and then stopped. When she continued, her voice was smaller and softer and he dipped his head so he could hear her. "But I found myself dialing your number instead. I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Just the ledgers," he told her. "I'm glad you called. I'll gladly take you home, Elizabeth."

"Thank you," she told him in pure relief and gratitude.

He stood and then reached down to help her to her feet. "Come on. I'm just..."

He stopped as he looked at the bike. Normally, he wouldn't have thought twice about giving Elizabeth a ride on it, especially since she had once loved it so much. But with her headache, the last thing she probably wanted was to sit on his Harley and listen to the engine and feel the vibration come up from the engine. "You know what, I'm going to need to call a guard to bring a car. Or I can call a cab, but the guard will probably be quicker."

"Jason?" she questioned softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he tried to assure her. "It's just I have my bike and with your headache, that's probably the last thing you want to ride on."

Despite the pain, a small smile fleeted across her lips. "Your bike?"

He found himself matching her smile. "Yeah. I can give you a rain check, if you want."

"I don't want a rain check, and I don't want you to call a guard to bring a car. I want to go home," she told him.

"On my bike?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah."

"What about your headache?"

"What about it?"

He regarded her for a moment, and then shook his head as he chuckled. "Alright. Come on."

Her smile was small, mostly dimmed by the pain, but he could see the pure joy inside her at the mention of his bike and the prospect of a ride. She still had the bug apparently. He stopped and got out the helmet he kept, and handed to her. "Do you need any help?"

"I think I remember how this goes," she said as she relinquished her purse so he could stow it.

He climbed on and then turned and helped her up behind him. "If your head feels worse, tell me and we'll stop."

She nodded and he started the engine, not revving the engine loudly like she used to giggle to, and with a quick check of the traffic, eased the bike back onto the street. He kept the speed steady, scanning for potholes to avoid and started towards her apartment. When they were stopped at a red light waiting to turn left, Elizabeth tapped him on the shoulder and leaned forward as he turned his head towards her.

"Jason?" she shouted over the engine. "Could you take the long way?"

Part 13

Jason pulled his bike up to the curb outside the courthouse and killed the engine. He was late and he hated it. Courtney's trial was going on and he wanted to be there for Elizabeth, but he got held up at the warehouse today. Somebody, most likely Alcazar, was actively working to piss him off. A shipment of coffee arrived two weeks ago wet, soggy and moldy, last week a shipment dealing with their other business just up and vanished into thin air, and today the forklift wasn't working. Kinda hard to be working when someone had deliberately sabotaged the hydraulic line along with the fuel pump.

He'd already been at the warehouse early that morning, going over the receipts and books when the workers came in to start the day and prepare for the morning's coffee delivery. He'd been alerted to the problem with the forklift by the foreman and as he took a look at it and realized the extent of the damage, he'd been forced to call Sonny and tell him what had happened and that he'd have to stay to make sure things were fixed. Sonny had cursed a blue streak and nearly came in, but Jason told him to go to the courthouse and be there for the trial and to tell Elizabeth he'd get there as soon as he could.

The two men were usually there in the courtroom every day of the trial, sitting behind the prosecution's bench, next to Elizabeth, and pointedly ignoring Courtney. The message couldn't have been any more clear to everyone in town. Courtney was on her own, Sonny and Jason were firmly supporting Elizabeth, which in a perverse way meant they were supporting the D.A. Stranger things had happened, but it was certainly enough to set every reporter's tongues wagging that Courtney Matthews had been abandoned by her brother and ex-fiancé for the victim in the crime.

It was a bit uncomfortable at times to sit next to Audrey Hardy, Steven Webber, Nikolas Cassadine and most of all Officer Lucky Spencer, but they did it, because it was for Elizabeth. And their show of solidarity and support hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone, and it certainly hadn't gone unmentioned by Elizabeth and the rest of them. While Jason hated Lucky for many reasons, the chief among them now because the man was a cop, they put aside their differences when they were in Courtroom Number Three.

As Jason walked quickly towards the courtroom, he hoped that he hadn't missed too much today. The trial was winding down, Courtney was looking worse every day, and some jurors had even taken to openly glaring at the blonde during testimony. Even without the nudge Sonny had made to the trial judge, it looked clear that she'd be going to prison for a good amount of time. Which was just fine by Jason. He'd severed his ties with her completely and there was definitely no love lost on his part.

"Jason."

He stopped and pivoted, startled to hear Sonny's voice outside the courtroom and he immediately wondered what had happened. Technically it was his day to cover things since Sonny had dealt with the supply threat yesterday while Jason was in court, but he was sorely tempted to tell Sonny to take care of whatever it was, or send Max to deliver the message, he hadn't missed a day yet of court and being there for Elizabeth, he wasn't going to start now.

"What?" he asked as he walked towards his friend who was standing near a side hallway. "What's wrong?"

Sonny tipped his head over his shoulder and Jason looked up. Frustration immediately bled away into concern as he saw Elizabeth sitting on a leather padded bench, her eyes closed, her fingers rubbing her temples and her face pinched with pain. Another headache. He looked at Sonny and could read the worry in the older man's eyes, "How long?"

"We've been out here about twenty minutes," Sonny answered. "It hasn't let up despite her taking one of her pills as soon as we got out here. It's gotten worse, actually. I...I'm ready to take her to the hospital and put my fist through Tony Jones' face. Did...did you tell her about the doctor in Madrid?"

Jason nodded, his forehead creased with worry. For the past five weeks, Elizabeth averaged two or three headaches a week. They didn't last for days, the medication Tony had prescribed, usually took care of them within a couple of hours and it could be days before she had another one. But the medication made her queasy to her stomach, turned her mouth to cotton and left her feeling disorientated at times. Not exactly pluses in Jason's book, or hers either, but she was at least not laid up in bed for days at a time. Yet the doctors could find no cause for the headaches, even though they'd run so many tests Elizabeth practically looked like a junkie with tracks and had admitted her to the hospital several nights. Jason was beyond frustrated with the doctors, and he'd gone looking for anyone else who could help her. When he'd told her the other day about a specialist in Madrid that Sonny had found who might be able to help her, she said she'd think about it. Maybe this would convince her to let them fly the man over to take a look at her.

Jason crossed the marble floor, treading lightly so that his boots wouldn't thud and echo and cause Elizabeth's head to throb worse than it already had to. He crouched down before her and placed his hand on her knee gently. "Elizabeth?"

"Hey, Ja-Jason," she said, attempting a weak smile, but abandoning it before it could even take root.

He sighed, not knowing what to say or do. Asking how she was, when the answer was clear on her face, was pointless, and he knew enough from her past headaches that nothing except time would lessen the pain. He looked at Sonny, who just shrugged his own helplessness and Jason stripped off his jacket as he rose to sit beside her on the bench. "Does the medicine seem to be working?"

She shook her head just a fraction, clearly not wanting to move it too much.

"Do you want Sonny to get your grandmother?" he asked. In fact, he was surprised Audrey wasn't out here hovering and trying to make Elizabeth feel better.

"She's not at court today," Sonny answered when Elizabeth stayed silent. "Had to work."

"Okay," he nodded. "Sometimes a cold washcloth helps. Do you think you could wet a couple of paper towels in the bathroom and bring them to her?"

Sonny shook his head. "I'll wet my handkerchief. I'll be right back."

Jason thanked him silently and then turned his attention to Elizabeth as his friend quietly walked towards the men's room. "I know you don't like the hospital, but if this doesn't get better..."

He trailed off and left it unspoken. A couple of times her headaches had been so bad the only way they'd been stopped was by taking her to the hospital and administering stronger narcotics then she had. Elizabeth seemed to whimper quietly as she pulled her feet up onto the bench and curled into Jason's side. He wrapped his arm around her and brought his hand up to lightly rub the base of her neck. Sometimes his touch just seemed to make things worse and he watched carefully for any signs that it might be the case today.

"I just want them to stop," she whispered the plea into the silent hallway. "Some days I think maybe they've gone away and then..."

"I know," he said softly back. She once went five days without a headache and it had caused everyone to slightly hope that maybe whatever it was that was causing them was gone. But they came back so strongly she'd been admitted to the hospital for the first time. "Maybe...maybe the doctor I told you about could help, Elizabeth."

She frowned and he immediately stopped rubbing her neck, thinking that the pressure of his hand was causing her more discomfort than help. "I...I know you just want to help, Jason," she said softly. "But...it's hard knowing that I can't pay..."

"Shhh," he told her, tentatively renewing the motion of his hand. "You know I would pay, but the doctor also waives his fee sometimes. When we told him about your condition, he said your case fit his parameters and he might be able to include you in a study they're doing outside of Europe."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, but said nothing. While there was no doubt that he or even Sonny would pay anything this man asked if only he could help Elizabeth, the study information was the truth. And he was glad that she seemed to trust him again these days enough not to express her doubts.

Elizabeth shifted on the bench, turning her back more towards him and leaning back heavily. She stretched her neck to the side, and Jason moved on the bench, drawing her back so she could pillow her head on the jacket he'd placed on his lap. "Better?" he asked.

"A little," she confessed. "My neck tightens up sometimes. I...it's just like thousands of tiny needles are being poked into my head."

She groaned and placed her arm over her eyes, wrapping her free hand around her wrist and pulling it tight. Sometimes pressure helped temporarily, sometimes it didn't. Soft footfalls alerted him to Sonny's return and when the older man saw Elizabeth laying down, he reached out and flipped off the lights in the hallway.

It was force of habit with them sometimes. They knew it didn't matter if the light was on or off to Elizabeth. It was just instinct, or reflex for them. Turn off the lights in the hopes of alleviating her pain. Elizabeth couldn't have known that she was sitting directly under a light and that when she rolled over on her back she would have been staring straight up into it. Sonny seemed to realize what he'd done as he approached and had to slow down and squint in the darkness and he shrugged at Jason while giving a sheepish grin.

"Here, Elizabeth," he said, reaching out to place the dampened, folded cloth, on her forehead.

"Thank you, Sonny," she murmured appreciatively. "I appreciate you being here, and helping out."

"Anything for you, Elizabeth," he said. "I...I know it's probably a little too late to tell you this, but I'd do anything to help you out."

"You are," she told him quietly. "And it really helped that you turned off the lights."

Part 14

If Elizabeth never saw the inside of another hospital again, it would be too soon. Well, technically she didn't see it, but she could smell it, she could sense it, she could feel it surrounding her. If she ever got out of here, she swore that the next time she would voluntarily set foot back inside a hospital it would be to give birth. And considering her prospects of that happening were slim to none at the moment, she was pretty confident that she wouldn't be coming back to a hospital any time soon.

She had no idea the chaos that would descend upon her life all because of an innocuous statement. She thanked Sonny for turning off the lights in the hallway of the courthouse. The phrase hadn't registered with her brain when she said it, she was still caught up in the throes of a headache that made her want to puke, then crawl into bed and hide under the covers for days. But Jason and Sonny sure caught the phrase, and instantly their whole demeanor changed.

Jason stopped rubbing her shoulder lightly, and actually stiffened underneath her. She hadn't noticed it for a few seconds, and then when she felt the statue-like way he was sitting, she furrowed her brows and innocently asked what was wrong. That's when Jason let out a cautious breath and asked how she knew Sonny had turned off the lights. Had she heard the small, faint hum of the lights stop, had she heard the switch, did she maybe even feel the loss of the heat from the light they were under? And she wondered for a moment why Jason was pelting her with questions, and then she thought, and then she herself froze and she shakily let out a breath of her own and said that it actually got darker. She hadn't heard or felt it, she'd seen it.

Sonny flipped the lights, and she could tell - however faintly it actually was - that there was a light right above her and the presence of the light was hurting her head. Sonny turned the light off, she could sense the absence of the illumination. It was faint, she couldn't see shadows or anything like that, but with the light directly over her head and shining down in her eyes, she could actually tell the difference when the light was on and when it was off.

It was so overwhelming that she began to cry. For over two months she'd lived in absolute darkness with no change in her condition, and now she could tell there was a difference in her surroundings. She didn't know if this meant her sight would eventually come back, or if she'd forever just be able to distinguish a change in illumination. But the fact that something was happening...it felt like nothing short of a miracle.

And the doctors, once Jason and Sonny insisted she come to the hospital to be checked out and examined, called it a promising sign. It didn't matter that the light had to be bright for her to notice it. A soft reading lamp didn't register to her; even the lights on over the sink in the bathroom didn't make a difference. It was only a bright, strong, powerful light, usually directly overhead, that she would notice. That and the annoying light the doctors kept shining into her eyes, usually with all the other lights out. She could sense that invasive, annoying, sucker every single time.

And she'd had a lot of those lights shined in her eyes in the week that she'd been back in the hospital. Her headaches had remained strong and practically debilitating so she was on stronger medications, plus the doctors wanted easier access to her for all the tests and procedures they scheduled for her. She was tired of the hospital, she was tired of all the hopeful words from the doctors, she was tired of all the enthusiasm and platitudes of great news from her family and friends, and she was just so tired. Tired of the noise, tired of the encouragement, tired of the you'll get your sight back in no time, I'm sure attitudes from everyone surrounding her.

She wanted to scream at them, and actually had done so this morning, that this may not mean anything. That just because she could see powerful lights now didn't mean she was going to wake up tomorrow and be able to see their faces. It didn't mean that she'd be all better soon, and that the woman they all knew would be back. It didn't mean what they were hoping it meant and she was tired of them acting like it did. She was tired of trying to pretend that she believed she'd be able to see again, when the chances were she still may never do so. And she was tired of having to act all cheerful and that this was the best thing she'd ever heard when they were around.

They'd all retreated this morning, hadn't come back after lunch, and she knew dinner was approaching by the way her stomach was beginning to churn, and still she was all alone. She wasn't sure what was better. The constant chatter and useless prattle of the people that she just knew cared about her, or the overwhelming and oppressive silence that left her with way too much time alone and way too much time to think. Because of the headaches which she was still plagued with, the nurses were respectfully quiet when they came in to take her temperature and blood pressure, and they always closed the door when they left so as to not aggravate her head. She usually would appreciate it, but today it getting to her and she just wanted to cry.

No, she knew why she wanted to cry. She hadn't seen Jason in two days. Two nights ago, he dropped by with dinner from Kelly's for the two of them, and stayed with her until the nurses insisted he leave because it was half an hour after visiting hours ended. When he stood, he came over to her bed and waited by her side while she shifted and pulled the covers over her more, and then she felt just the faintest whisper of his hand over her hair - she wasn't even sure if she felt his touch, or just the heat from his hand - and he said, in that quiet, gentle voice of his, that he would see her later. She hadn't expected later to be days instead of hours.

Elizabeth knew he was busy, she knew he had things for Sonny and the warehouse and the business that he had to take care of, she knew he had a life of his own and she couldn't expect him to spend every moment of every day with her. She was just his friend after all; it wasn't like they were anything more. And after not being his friend for so long, she had just been so grateful to have his presence in her life back. She hadn't realized how quickly she'd become attached again so that a nearly 48 hour absence was killing her. She turned her head as the first whimpers came, and tried to muffle them in the pillow. It quickly seemed futile as the tiny whimpers and sniffles, turned into larger sobs.

So caught up in her own pity and misery, she at first missed the commotion coming down the hallway towards her room. When she did finally hear the noise outside her door, she figured it was due to another patient and the obvious group of people would soon pass. It wasn't until her door open and a cacophony of noise spilled into her room, that she realized the circus was in town for her and she shifted on the bed and wiped her eyes, looking instinctively at the door, even though she couldn't see what was going on.

"Jason, I really don't think this is appropriate," her grandmother's agitated and even slightly condescending voice was the first to break through the melee.

"Jason, maybe Audrey's right," Monica's voice carried, concerned, yet also hesitant. The other voices seemed to quiet down now that they were inside her room and people seemed to be remembering to take turns speaking.

"Audrey is right," Dr. Jones clipped out. "It would not be in Elizabeth's best interest to leave the hospital. Her headaches are barely even being managed, not to mention the testing she still needs done."

Leave the hospital? What did Dr. Jones mean? And clearly Jason was in the room, but he had yet to speak.

"As her grandmother, I don't like this idea at all. And if she does leave, which I'm not saying she should, then she should come to my house and certainly Steven and I could take care of her."

"Audrey," Bobbie tried to soothe, "you and Steven have to work. Jason has flown in a specialist from Europe, who would be with Elizabeth all the time, as well as his own nurse and a nurse Jason has offered to hire. She would have constant care with this doctor, even more individualized care than she has right now."

Specialist from Europe? Elizabeth bit her lip. Did Bobbie mean the doctor from Madrid? Did Jason fly the doctor in here, or is that why he was gone for nearly two days, convincing the doctor to come now?

"Why don't we ask Elizabeth what she wants?" Jason's soft, yet authoritative voice finally said. "After all, it's her medical care, and she's old enough to make her own decisions."

She felt, rather than saw, everyone in the room turn to look at her, and she tried not to look like she hadn't a clue as to what was going on. Quiet footsteps that were undeniably Jason's, echoed in the room and she turned towards the sound of them and waited for Jason to join her by her bed. "Ja-Jason?"

"I went and got the doctor," he said softly. "He's agreed to examine you, and he doesn't need for you to be in a hospital. He's brought some of his equipment and if you give your consent, he'll have access to all the tests Dr. Jones has already run. But it's up to you, Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth, we know nothing really about this doctor and what he's doing," her grandmother tried to argue.

"His methods are highly experimental and his findings are slightly suspect," Dr. Jones interjected. "There's no guarantee he would be able to help you."

"But there's no guarantee you can either," Elizabeth said softly. "You've run so many tests already, and you can't tell me anything solid about what's happening. If this doctor that Jason found...if he can-"

"Oh, Elizabeth," her grandmother tsked.

Elizabeth ignored her and looked up imploringly at Jason. "I wouldn't have to stay here? You'd hire a nurse to keep my gram from worrying."

"You don't have to stay here, and I've already got a nurse lined up for you," Jason said softly, reaching out and covering her hand.

"Then I'd like to meet with the doctor. I want to leave."

"I'll get the paperwork started," Bobbie said.

"I want you to know, Elizabeth," Dr. Jones said. "That as your doctor, I strongly advise against this."

She didn't even turn towards the sound of the peeved older man's voice. "I understand. I'm checking out AMA. But I'm leaving."

Her grandmother huffed, and Tony muttered under his breath about believing in the wrong doctors, but they soon left the room when Monica forcefully ushered them out the door saying that Elizabeth had made her decision. Both Jason and Elizabeth were quiet until they heard the soft click of the door and the noise faded. "Thank you," she whispered.

His thumb brushed over her cheek, erasing the last of the moisture tracks there. "You're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, I wasn't sure if I could get him to come with me, but I knew we needed to try something different. Dr. Jones would have just kept running tests, hoping to find something, and I could see how much you hated being in the hospital."

"I really can leave?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes," Jason said, and she could hear the promise and smile in his voice. "You can go home."

Part 15

"You can go home."

Elizabeth wanted to ask, but honestly was afraid to, when the penthouse became home.

When Jason supported her leaving the hospital, he said he'd take her home. She just assumed that meant her home. Her new apartment that she was familiar with, that she was comfortable in, that she knew. Instead, the limo drove them to the Towers where Emily was waiting with what Elizabeth suspected was nearly her entire possession of pajamas, lounge pants and sweat suits. Then her friend ushered her upstairs, helped her into a pair of comfortable pants and a shirt, and said that the doctor would be here in a little bit to examine her.

A nurse soon arrived and began prepping her for the doctor's arrival, and then was there when the soft Spanish baritone voiced doctor asked her questions, listened to her answers and then began her treatments. He didn't promise results, but he gave her something Elizabeth hadn't felt in a long while. Hope. It began so small and grew so slowly, that she was surprised one day to find it was there. She hadn't noticed its beginnings, but one day she realized that she was actually feeling hopeful. That Dr. Reyes might actually be able to help her see again, and if he couldn't, then he might be able to help her find comfort from the headaches and the light sensitivity that kept her room shrouded in darkness.

Jason had done as he'd promised everyone in her hospital room that night nearly a week ago. He'd found a wonderful doctor who put her at ease and didn't treat her like her case was hopeless, and he found a nurse who constantly attended her. The nurse administered her medications, as well as helped with the slightly more mundane tasks of helping Elizabeth find her way to the bathroom so she could shower and get dressed. Under Marie's gently voiced guidance, she learned the layout of the guest bedroom she was staying in, how many steps it was to the bathroom, and which drawers held which clothes in the dresser located 12 steps from her bed.

The one thing Jason hadn't done, was come see her. He'd brought her to his home, set her and the doctor up in the comfort of his penthouse, and then disappeared. Again. Same place, different scenario. It felt like when Sonny faked his death and Elizabeth waited for days and nights on end desperate to hear from him, to know he was alright, that he was safe, that he wasn't lying bleeding in an alley somewhere after he'd been out hunting down Sonny's killer. Instead, he'd been secure in a safe house watching over Brenda, talking to Sonny, or worse, he'd been comforting Courtney. Either way, she'd felt like the world's biggest fool.

"Fool me once, same on you; fool me twice, shame on me," Elizabeth murmured quietly as she sat in her bedroom.

Marie was downstairs fixing Elizabeth lunch, and she was grateful for the reprieve of company. She was going stir crazy listening to the soft rustle of pages as Marie read quietly in the corner, or the faint scritch of the pen as the nurse made notations on the charts in preparation for the doctor's arrival. Elizabeth wanted out of here. She wanted to wander around, to feel fresh air and sunshine on her skin, but the doctor was concerned about her light sensitivity and worried the sunshine could make her headaches worse, and Elizabeth had no desire to wander around Jason's penthouse.

Because the last time she was here, she knew that the simple, understated decorations and furniture had been replaced by rugs and knickknacks and furniture she never expected Jason Morgan to own. The leather couch was gone, a china hutch stood behind the pool table, and carpeting covered the stairs. She told herself she didn't leave her room because she didn't have a mental layout of the place she was trapped in; in reality, she knew it was because she didn't want to be around reminders of Jason's life with Courtney. So what that he'd ended his engagement with the blonde and she was thisclose to being convicted for Elizabeth's accident? He'd begun an affair while she was married and so was he, he'd bought Courtney a secret loft where they met for clandestine affairs, and then he'd moved her into his house and let her redecorate it. It was too much for Elizabeth to handle.

Too much to realize that the simple, clean room she'd appreciated and once envisioned sharing with Jason was gone, and he obviously didn't care enough to return it to the way it once was. And it was too much to be around so many reminders of the woman who had blinded her and stabbed her in the back long before she ran Elizabeth down in the street. So, Elizabeth stayed hidden away up in her room, away from the evidence of Courtney, and also tried to tell herself she was keeping her memories locked up. But she wasn't. She remembered every moment she shared with Jason; the good and the bad. And instead of dwelling on the bad as she had done for months while married to Ric, she found herself remembering the good.

Their rides, the pool lessons at Jake's, the nights out talking on the bridge. Elizabeth took a deep breath and sighed. She remembered the night downstairs, on Jason's simple brown leather couch when she thought they were finally getting it right. That after years of bumps and hiccups, absences and false starts, they would finally get their chance. I want to be with you, too was going to be a prelude to her telling him she was in love with him. She wasn't going to tell him that night, she was going to show him, so that when she said the words, he would know beyond everything in his life that she meant it and it wasn't just words.

Instead, he proved that he didn't trust her or care about her. She was shown that yet another man she thought she could count on had lied to her, and that she was just an insignificant ant in his life. He married someone he didn't love to make Carly and Sonny happy and began sleeping with his sister-in-law, thus shattering all illusions she'd ever held about Jason Morgan. Of course, to be fair, she'd slept with and married a kidnapping, abusing rapist. Out of the two of them, she didn't know who had gotten the worse end of the deal.

Elizabeth thought she'd put it all behind her. She divorced Ric, was planning on putting her life back together, and had maybe, maybe begun to repair her damaged friendship with Jason. She knew it wouldn't be easy with him being married to Courtney, they'd never get together for coffee or bar-b-ques, but at least they'd be able to run into each other at Kelly's and not freeze the chili with their disdain. Funny how a little thing like a car accident can change it all. She ended up blind, accused Jason of covering for her attacker, and instead he proved he was the man she once believed he was. He didn't protect Courtney, he ended his engagement, and he became the friend again she had missed for so long.

So why did it feel like they'd backslid? She was alone in the penthouse with strangers, and Jason was anywhere but here. She didn't know where he was, she refused to ask the doctor or the nurse, and she wasn't going to debase and humiliate herself by asking a guard where he'd disappeared off to. If he cared so much, he would have told her something. Apparently, Jason didn't care as much as she thought he did. Sure, he'd acted concerned, tender and even gentle with her, but in the end, it all came down to one thing. Jason Morgan didn't want Elizabeth Webber. Certainly not in the way she wanted him.

She hadn't even realized her feelings towards Jason had changed that much. She told herself it was just friendship. That she was simply happy she had him back in her life, that she could talk to him, that she didn't have to pretend, that they could share a comfortable silence and maybe a few bike rides. She was glad she had that back. She never expected anything more. Not after their last disastrous attempt. But as with everything connected to Jason, her heart seemed to have disengaged from her head and went running wildly ahead.

She realized all of her more than friends feelings had come back, just as strong or stronger. She was well on her way to being in love with Jason again, and she felt hurt and disappointed and called herself all kinds of foolish for not protecting herself better. After sitting around listlessly, alternately wishing he would come and cursing him when he didn't, Elizabeth didn't know what to do any longer.

Clearly, she couldn't tell him how she felt. Not when he would never feel the same. While Courtney may have been a drug addict who ran her down on the street and left her for dead, she had been right when she told Elizabeth she'd made up her and Jason's relationship in her head. They were friends. Nothing more. And obviously their friendship only went so deep because Jason thought nothing of abandoning her in his house and running off to do who knew what without so much as a see you later or a good-bye.

So, Elizabeth resolved that she would be polite, yet reserved if Jason ever deigned to show up again. She would accept his help in the form of the doctor, accept his food and his boarding, and then when the doctor was finished - whatever the results may be - she would pack up her belongings and move back to the security of her apartment. She would figure out how she would support herself, and when she saw Jason on the street or he came over to her place, she would only let him get so close. He continued to hold her at a distance in his life; she saw no reason why she shouldn't get to do the same. And if he complained, then she'd tell him he could walk right on out the door if he didn't like it. She was done letting him set the rules and the parameters for their friendship, it was time she took control.

She wasn't going to be a lovesick fool over a man who clearly didn't want her. She wasn't going to sit around in the dark anymore hoping and praying he'd come to her and talk to her, and show she was important. She wasn't going to let Jason Morgan have this much effect over her anymore. She'd nearly died once, emotionally, when she realized the truth about their relationship. She wasn't sure she had the strength now, with everything else going on, to put herself back together a second time. Or would it be a third...or no, fourth - if one counted the times she was heartbroken and devastated when Jason left town. Losing Lucky hadn't even hurt this much.

"Miss Webber?"

She turned, surprised to hear the doctor's voice instead of Marie coming back with her lunch. But it was good the doctor was here. She could make her request before she lost her nerve.

"Doctor Reyes, I'm glad you're here. I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes, of course," he said congenially, as she heard him pull a chair closer to her.

"I understand your hesitancy about letting me go out during the day because of the light sensitivity issues I'm having."

"Hm-mmm," he murmured when she paused slightly.

"But honestly," she said with a little laugh. "I'm beginning to go stir crazy. I would love to just take a walk outside and breathe some fresh air. So...what if I went out at night? With all the men that Jason has, I'm sure I'd be perfectly safe. Marie could even come to make sure I didn't stay out too long or get too tired, or didn't get a headache or something."

He was quiet for so long Elizabeth was sure he was going to say no. She didn't know why he'd do so, unless he was just one of those over-anxious doctors who wanted to control his patients, but she'd never thought so of the man. But she really hoped he'd say yes, because she didn't want to have to try and sneak out of the house. She knew she'd never make it unseen.

"I think that it might be arranged, Miss Webber," Dr. Reyes finally said. "Some fresh air and exercise would probably do you some good. If not in terms of your physical well-being, then you clearly need it for your emotional. If a patient is unhappy, I find that their progress is sometimes slowed down. You're doing so well I'd hate for you to stall in your treatments. I'll talk to Mr. Morgan when I see him."

"Or you could just talk to the guard on the door," she said casually. Because who knew when the doctor would see Jason. "I'm sure that he'd be able to arrange it."

"Hmmm," the older man mused. "I suppose you're right. Alright, Miss Webber. I'll speak with him and with Nurse Watson, and we'll get it all arranged for tonight."

"Thank you," she smiled genuinely at him. She was glad that had gone so easily. Maybe taking control of her life and proving to herself she wasn't an idiot waiting around for Jason might be a little easier than she first thought it would be.

Part 16

Jason pulled his bike into his reserved spot in the garage underneath the Towers and with tired frustration ran his hands through his rain-dampened hair, slicking it back towards his scalp. Judging by the sounds drifting into the concrete structure, he'd managed to outrun the worst of the storm that was just beginning. At least he didn't have to add wet and miserable to his already miserable existence.

The day after he'd moved Elizabeth into his penthouse and set up her room and the care she would receive from Dr. Reyes, Sonny had called him over to his penthouse. His friend's face was grave, and Jason knew that something bad had happened. What, he wasn't sure, but he knew it wasn't going to be quick or easy to deal with. He would have to be gone, possibly out of town, to handle whatever had come up, and Elizabeth...he wouldn't be able to talk to her and help her during this time.

What Sonny said next, though, surprised him. Jason wouldn't be leaving town, Sonny would be. Carly had given birth. Her months of isolation on the island, kept virtual prisoner in a cabana on the far side, no contact with Sonny except through occasional notes through the guards, had gotten to her. Combined with his threat that he would take their child and leave her to face the responsibility for her actions regarding Elizabeth's accident, it had all proved too much for her. She'd grown desperate, frantic and had tried, unsuccessfully to flee before she went into labor.

After labor...it appeared that Carly's previous history of post-partum had worked against her. She had once again sunk into depression, or more accurately madness. Sonny had gone down to the island to see their child, and found a wife who was crazed, wild and threatening. She attempted to harm Sonny more than once, and then tried to take her own life. Sonny was tortured, because while several months ago he may have threatened a perfectly sane Carly with sending her away as punishment for her crimes, he was now faced with a truly insane wife. Neither man believed Carly was that good of an actress to be faking this whole endeavor.

Leaning forward, Jason braced his hands against his thighs and sighed heavily into the stillness around him. Caroline Benson, the woman he'd met one night at Jake's and began a loveless, nameless affair with, was fully gone. Lies, manipulations and marriages had transformed her into Carly Corinthos, but her mind had finally snapped and Jason knew if he saw her now she would bear no resemblance beyond physical to the person she'd once been. He would find no traces of the woman he'd once known buried deep inside. Sonny would have to take longer than planned to sort out the mess, thus keeping him away from Port Charles for at least a week more.

In the meantime, Lorenzo Alcazar, who was undoubtedly watching every move Sonny make, had seen his rival's absence as the perfect time to make his move. Take over attempts, shipment hijackings, drug plantings and more had begun and Jason was spending his days, and nights, running around town trying to stay one step ahead of the cops. The Families were unhappy, customers were grumbling, and it was only through years of skill, and he admitted luck as well, that they hadn't been busted with a kilo worth of heroin this morning.

Lorenzo Alcazar had signed his own death warrant. The days of trying to brush off an annoying fly were over. Unless Jason and Sonny acted quickly and decisively, they would forever be in jeopardy with the law and more importantly, the underworld community. When Jason finally made Sonny see reason about that today, Sonny had given the order Jason had been waiting forever for. Lorenzo Alcazar was going to wake up tomorrow morning to a host of federal and local law officials busting down his door to arrest him.

Firearms violations, drug infractions, RICO and other federal charges, combined with the PCPD getting good solid evidence regarding several real, and manufactured, crimes Lorenzo had been involved with since his arrival in Port Charles. The biggest of which, to Jason anyways, would be his part in the conspiracy to hide Courtney's car after she hit Elizabeth. This would lead to the news and confirmation of Carly's role, something that had been suspected by the police and D.A. during the trial, but they had been unable to confirm or fully pursue because of Carly's medical condition necessitating her removal. Now that she had safely delivered Sonny's son, they were in reality offering her up to the wolves.

While Jason felt no pangs of conscience regarding Alcazar, indeed it was coming too late to his way of thinking, he hadn't fully reconciled himself to Carly's fate. No matter what she'd done, he would still view her as Michael's mother, and now this second, as yet unnamed, child's as well. He had promised her he would do everything in his power to protect Michael, and her as well, and he knew that allowing her to be arrested would be violating that promise. But he didn't see any other way around it. She had crossed a line he couldn't let her come back from. She had conspired with Courtney to hide the younger woman's crime, and the fact that it was against Elizabeth and they felt justified in their actions because of their petty jealousy of her, only added to Jason's solidified resolve. Carly had made her bed, and it was time she was finally forced to lie in it.

While he knew that Michael would be hurt because of his mother's absence, he would adjust to it, as he had done in the past. The new baby would never know of Carly, except through stories and pictures. Jason knew that Sonny would care for both boys, love them and raise and do all he could to make up for their mother's absence. And when he faltered, because Jason knew the guilt would make his friend stumble, he would be there to help him and make sure he went on. His new promise to Michael, was to help him see that he was still surrounded by love even his mother was gone.

But there was someone else he had a promise to, even if he had only just begun to acknowledge it inside himself. He had a promise to Elizabeth. He had vowed to himself that she would have the best medical care available, no matter what he had to pay to procure it. He had filled that promise, but he had failed on the second part of it. And that was to be there with her and help her as she went through the treatments, and dealt with the fear and uncertainty she felt from the headaches and the change of being able to distinguish light.

He hadn't seen her since he'd taken her to his penthouse and entrusted her to Emily's care to get her settled in her room. In between the time his sister took her upstairs and the doctor came down after his initial multi-hour examination, Jason had been summoned to Sonny's house and had received the news. The doctor told Jason Elizabeth was asleep, and so reluctantly he'd left to take care of things, promising himself that he'd see Elizabeth soon and explain as best he could to her what was going on.

Six days later he was finally going to get that chance. Unless she was already asleep. He hadn't been to his penthouse but a couple of times to grab new clothes before he headed back out the door to spend countless hours at the warehouse, or meetings with the families, or stakeouts to deliver the goods to bring Lorenzo down. He hadn't had the time to do more than grab a quick shower, grab several more t-shirts and a pair of jeans and rush back out the door. And since those visits were in the middle of the night, he had avoided Elizabeth's room. She was most likely asleep, and even if she wasn't, he didn't have time to give her a proper explanation that she deserved. And so rather than do something half way, he hadn't done anything at all.

Wearily, every muscle in his body speaking of his fatigue, he climbed off his bike and slowly made his way towards the elevator. With each floor that it rose, Jason left behind his worries for the business, and took on new ones. He began to wonder what he would say when he saw Elizabeth. While he'd been dealing with business, and all the while remembering and reminding himself how much he'd hated being in charge the year of Sonny's absence, he'd been forced to put Elizabeth out of his mind. He had to devote his entire focus on the immediate problems before him.

Now that he had managed to secure a resolution to the immediate threat of Lorenzo Alcazar, he could allow himself to think of Elizabeth. And he had to admit he was nervous about the prospect. He had abandoned her. He knew it, and he could guess that would be Elizabeth's reaction as well. Memories of another night when he headed towards his penthouse expecting to find her inside but instead was greeted by her suitcases hit him and he closed his eyes as the piercing pain due to her anger and abandonment hit him. While they hadn't made promises to each other like they'd made on his couch before Sonny's fake death, they had worked to rebuild their friendship.

And he hadn't kept up his end of the friendship. She had no way of reaching him except through a guard, which she hadn't done, but he'd also made no effort to leave her any message. He had felt that it would be awkward to convey to her what he wanted her to know through a guard, especially since the message would have to be oral instead of written, and so he'd held back. Now, he wished he hadn't. He wished he'd said at least something. And so nerves, unlike anything he'd ever really experienced before, hit him.

Stepping off the elevator, he nodded briefly to the guard at his door, and then with a deep breath stepped inside. The penthouse was dark. It wasn't that late, but given the nature of the people staying there, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Elizabeth was bothered by bright lights; he'd learned that much from a brief conversation with the doctor. She seemed to keep to her room upstairs, so naturally the nurse would be there as well. And the doctor had a desk in his room so he probably spent the majority of his time there.

Lighting streaked through the sky, illuminating the room briefly, and when Jason didn't see luggage piled up at the base of the stairs, he let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. This wasn't that night so long ago. Tossing his keys on his desk and stripping off his jacket, he headed towards the kitchen, able to make his way due to innately knowing the layout of his penthouse, and the occasional flashes of lightning. Retrieving a beer, he made his way back out into the living room and sat down on the couch, letting out a sigh and taking a long drink.

"Hello, Jason."

He startled, nearly spilling his beer down the front of his shirt, at the disembodied voice that came from the other end of the couch. He sat up straight and turned, his eyes widening as he saw Elizabeth sitting in the far corner of the couch, shroud in shadows, even as a jagged bolt of lightening cut through the sky.

"Elizabeth," he said her name in a rush as he reached out and placed his bottle on the coffee table. "I didn't know you were there."

"Obviously," she drawled, her voice flat and a prickle of unease danced up Jason's spine. "Of course, I'm not sure if you mean the couch or here in your home."

He closed his eyes briefly. Elizabeth was mad. He could tell it in her voice, even as she tried to hide it behind disinterestedness. Standing, he crossed to his desk and pulled the gold chain for the lamp there. The click echoed in the room, silent except for their breathing and a distant rumble of thunder.

"There's no need for a light," she said scornfully. "They don't do me any good."

"I wanted to see you," he said. "So I needed the lamp on."

"Hmmm," was all she said as she turned her head away.

She was dressed in jeans, a sweater and a jacket, sturdy shoes on her feet and he figured it wasn't meant for just wandering around his penthouse. "Were...were you going somewhere?" he found himself asking.

"I was," she replied hollowly. "Until the storm came up. Dr. Reyes arranged with the guard on the door for me to take a walk outside tonight so I could get some fresh air. I feel trapped in here and it's too bright outside during the day. Just my luck that a storm came up as we were about to leave."

"I'm sorry," he said.

She laughed, and he frowned at her, wondering what had caused her to go from hollow intonations to laughter suddenly. "Elizabeth?"

"You're sorry. I know you are. You always are. Get a hangnail, you're sorry. Trip and fall, Jason's sorry. Get run over by his fiancée and Jason's always sorry." Her voice was rising with each phrase she spoke, and scorn was entering it with each passing second. "Get yourself married to the biggest loser on the planet and get overdosed on birth control pills, and once again, Jason'll tell you he's sorry. You know the funny thing though? When Jason does something, when he actually has a need to apologize for his behavior and not someone else's or just a random occurrence, he never seems to apologize. I wonder why that is."

A flash of lightening illuminated the sky, and the room, and he saw her wince and turn her head from facing the doorway. For a moment his concern outweighed his confusion over her bitterness, and he opened his mouth to ask her if she was alright. But she stood and faced him, her hands on her hips and her face schooled into one of utter contempt.

"Why are you here, Jason?"

"I-"

"I mean, you've been gone for almost a week. I wondered if you'd forgotten you lived here. Or maybe, once again, you were avoiding the place because I was here."

"No-"

"You hadn't forgotten you lived here, or you weren't avoiding me?"

"Both," he said quickly before she spoke over his words again.

"Really?" she arched her brow. "You sure coulda fooled me. And you know what? You did. All this time I thought the Jason Morgan I knew was back. Turns out, the man that lives here, in this penthouse, is a complete stranger to me, and the Jason Morgan I saw at my apartment is nothing more than an illusion. So you fooled me, Jason. Once again...Jason Morgan pulled the wool over Elizabeth Webber's eyes and she was too blind to see it. Such a stupid, stupid girl."

Part 17

Jason couldn't stop the groan that escaped his lips as Elizabeth railed against him, clearly on a roll and not about to stop for a second. Memories of that night in her studio all those weeks ago when she yelled at him before finally letting him explain that he wasn't there to ask her to cover for Courtney washed over him. And long buried ones, along with the full force of the feelings, quickly broke the surface from the grave he thought he'd buried them in. He remembered that night when he came home from the police station after Sonny returned from the dead to find her bags packed and her ready to yell at him before she walked out.

Why did it always com to this? Why did she always immediately jump to anger with him without ever giving him the chance to explain?

Then Jason sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Because he rarely explained. He rarely fought, he just let her yell and walked away to nurse his pride and lick his wounds in private. He never got angry in return. Well, he was done doing that. If she wanted to fight, he'd give her one back. He was done letting Elizabeth have her say without letting him do the same.

"Would you stop?" he shouted, surprising himself - and obviously her - by the intensity of his voice.

Elizabeth snapped her mouth shut, and blinked at him before turning away. She turned back quickly when a flash of lightening lit up the room brilliantly.

"Geez," he huffed out. "Why do you do this, Elizabeth?"

"Do what?" she bit out.

"Lie in wait, your anger worked into a frenzy and then just strike out at everyone. Especially me? I'm so tired of having to defend myself against your anger when if you'd just wait and ask a question instead of flying off the handle all the time, maybe, just maybe you'd get your answers."

His voice was a growl and he stalked away from his desk, his boots heavy on the floor. He had to get away from the desk before he was tempted to smash something.

"I know that you're mad your walk was canceled-"

"That's not why I'm mad," she snapped.

"Then why don't you tell me," he challenged. "Why are you sitting here in the dark waiting to pounce?"

"Because you abandoned me," she yelled, and then paled and stepped back. Her mouth opened a few times and then she apparently decided to go with saying it all. "Every time I think I can count on you and trust you...you abandon me. And I'm so tired of the back and forth of it all."

"I know I should have said something to you," he sighed, his guilt from earlier rising up and pricking through his anger. "I...I never seem to handle this right. But you know I can't tell you things like where I'm going or what I'm doing."

She angrily shook her head and spun around, taking two angry steps forward before she stumbled into the hearth of the fireplace. "You don't get it, do you? You have never understood this, have you? It isn't about the business. I don't care about the work you do for Sonny, I have never wanted to know. I understand who you are and what your work means to you."

She turned, and glared in what she thought was his direction, but it wasn't. He wasn't about to say it though, it would only make her embarrassed and angrier. "I found you bleeding in the snow, but I never asked for details. I never pressed you to tell me why you were angry with Carly and Sonny, although I figured it out later. I had a bomb in my studio, I was kidnapped, I was shot, I was stopped on the docks by Sorel. And I never cared. I knew that there was danger surrounding you, but I trusted you enough to do all that you could to make sure I was safe. You just never understood that I wasn't bothered by your business or the things that happened to me. Because the worst thing that I ever experienced in my life happened one February night long before I ever became friends with you."

"You say you weren't bothered by the business, but you left because of it, Elizabeth. The night you found out Sonny was alive, you walked out my door and you told me we were over." He thought they were past this, he never saw a reason to bring up the past, but if she was going to get mad at him and fling the past in his face, then he'd do the same to her. Maybe it was petty, but he wasn't in any mood to judge it or stop it tonight.

"You are such an idiot," she spit out, as she pushed away from the fireplace and stalked towards the pool table. She bumped into the side of the couch, but she righted herself and kept going. He could follow her movements by the dim light from his desk and the flashes of lightening that were becoming more frequent and getting closer.

"I didn't leave because of the business. I left because of you. I left because you didn't respect me."

His eyes narrowed at her and he wasn't going to let the charge go unanswered. "I respected you. I more than respected you."

"No, you didn't," she shook her head, breathing heavy in her anger. "You may have respected me as a woman, you claimed you respected and trusted me, but when it came right down to it, you never did. Or you never would have tried to rule my life like you did."

"I never did that. I think you're confusing me with Lucky. I never had my brain scrambled by a big, shiny rock."

"No, you may not have overtly controlled me like Lucky, but you did it just the same. You made decisions for me, you didn't listen to me, and you treated me like a child and refused to believe that the things I was telling you were what I actually meant. I know I gave you mixed signals, but you took control and dictatorial decrees to a whole new level. We couldn't be friends because you decided it was too dangerous. I couldn't be around you because you were hurt and angry and you didn't trust me enough to believe in what I was saying. And it all comes down to the fact that you didn't respect me, Jason. Just like you don't respect me now."

"That is not true," he growled at her.

"Really, Jason? Then why, why in all that time that Sonny was alive, you were guarding Brenda and Courtney, could you never once take a minute out of your time to tell me you were alright? Do you have any idea how much I worried about you? Our last conversation...we talked about the day I found you bleeding in the snow. Do you know how many nightmares I had about you lying in an alley somewhere, bleeding or dead because you were taking on so much responsibility on your own? That you were out there hunting down Sonny's killer in your grief and loyalty to your friend instead of sending out the guards to do it...that you would die without knowing just how much I cared about you, how much I loved you because I was too much of a coward to tell you that night on the couch? And I never saw you, but I heard from Carly and Courtney how you sure had enough time to see them, to talk to them, to make sure they were okay. But the woman you'd promised to respect and care about and claimed you wanted to be with...you couldn't even take five seconds to let her know you were okay?"

When the next bolt of lightening cut through the sky and lit up the room, he could see the tears coursing down Elizabeth's cheeks and he was stunned. Stunned at the pure anguish in her voice, and her admission that all those months ago she'd been in love with him and hadn't told him. "Elizabeth-"

"So when I heard the news that Sonny was alive, Zander was sitting next to me. And he asked how long I'd known. I had to tell him it was just as much a shock to me, and I could sense his pity. I got pity from Zander because my boyfriend hadn't told me what was happening. And I waited, for hours after he'd taken off, for you to come home or for you to call. And you know who did call? Courtney. Courtney called to say thank you for taking her home from the police station and ask if she'd left her scarf in the car, and I had to tell her you weren't here yet. That you were probably meeting with Sonny. And then she filled me in that Sonny and Carly and you had been at the station and Sonny asked you to take her home. And I felt like a fool. I felt like an absolute fool. You saw all these people, and you never called me, you didn't come to the penthouse.

"So when I left," she ground out at him. "I didn't leave because of the business. I left because you made me feel like an idiot. You didn't respect me enough to even let me know you were alive. You put everyone else and everything else before me and then just expected to walk in here and have everything be just fine. I left...not because of who you are or what you do for Sonny, but because I refused to stay in a place where I wasn't respected by the man who claimed to care about me. Who promised just days before that he would respect me. I knew that if I didn't leave then you would never respect me and I wasn't going to go through that again. I went through it with Lucky; I couldn't go through it with you."

The room fell silent except for the thunder that was getting closer and more frequent. Elizabeth had her back to Jason now, her face buried in her hands.

"Why didn't you say something?" he demanded. "The next day when I went to Kelly's to talk to you, why didn't you tell me what was really going on instead of saying you didn't know me and all that other crap?"

"Because I was stupid and I was hurt and I reacted badly. I wanted to hurt you, even though I knew I shouldn't. I figured you'd try again in another day or two. All that time during the Face of Deception, you never listened to me, you saw me, you made sure I was alright. I figured you'd do the same. You'd come to talk to me and I'd be calmer and I could tell you everything. But you never did. You married Brenda, you started sleeping with Courtney and I knew that I was right. If you'd respected me, you never would have done those things, so you must never have respected me or cared about me like you claimed."

"Don't put words in my mouth, Elizabeth," Jason angrily bit out.

Her shoulders stiffened and she turned jerkily. "Why not? I have to do something, because you never say anything."

"I say what's important."

"And if you don't say something, then it must not be important?" Elizabeth demanded. "So I guess the fact that you didn't say anything to me when I was here counts for something. And the fact that you left now and I never heard from you for nearly a week says something as well. Just because you don't say the words, Jason, doesn't mean you're not speaking volumes. Your actions have been pretty clear."

"I was wrong," he shouted at her. "Is that what you want to hear? I was wrong then, and I was wrong now. I knew when I was coming up here tonight that I had done the wrong thing. I should have said something to you, or to someone. I just didn't want to pass a message to you through a guard and have to tell them everything to tell you. You can't read and I can't type Braille, so what was there left for me? Tell my personal feelings to a guard or your nurse and have us all be embarrassed?"

"I don't want deep, heartfelt declarations...I wanted to know you were alright. That you were alive. You abandoned me here in this penthouse surrounded by memories of you and the woman who ran me down and blinded me and I never heard from you. No 'I'll be out for a while here's how you can reach me', no indication from the guards or the nurse that you'd even ever been home. For all I knew you were living at Jake's where you'd been staying after you moved out of here and this was just a convenient place to dump me off with the doctor. If you were going to do that you should have just taken me to my apartment. That's what I thought you meant anyways when you said I could go home."

Jason brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to release some of the tension that had settled behind his eyes during this fight. "You're right," he released on a heavy breath. "I should have left a message for you. I just...I didn't think this would take this long. Sonny had to leave because Carly gave birth and had a break from reality. She tried to hurt herself and Sonny. I guess all the time she was down on the island she kept thinking about Sonny's threat when he said that once she gave birth they were getting a divorce and she was going to have to pay for her part in covering up Courtney hitting you."

"Oh, Jason," she said softly, turning towards his voice. "I...I'm sorry. She...she really went crazy? It's not just an act trying to get sympathy from Sonny?"

"No," he shook his head. "Sonny said it's real. So...it changes the plans he had in place for her after the birth. And then...then there were problems with the business that have been taken care of hopefully, but things were tense. And I didn't want to just make it a rushed phone call to you and I only came here twice to shower and pick up clothes that I'd dropped off when I decided to bring you here. I...I should have called though. Even a quick call would have been better than nothing, I realize now."

Elizabeth brought her hands up to her face and wiped her cheeks before resting her fingers at her temples. "I guess...I guess we both just fell back into old patterns, huh? I...I shouldn't have just jumped to conclusions. You think I would have learned that lesson a couple of months ago when I accused of wanting to cover up Courtney's crime. I just...being here alone, I had a lot of time to think. And unfortunately I dwelt on the bad memories from the distant past instead of the good memories from the recent. I'm sorry, Jason. I'm sorry for yelling...and I'm sorry about Carly."

"I-I'm sorry, too, Elizabeth. I should have called you, or left a message with a guard. I kept thinking it would be over soon and then I could see you and talk to you and each day that went by I kept saying it'd be over tomorrow and I'd see you then. But it wasn't over, and it wasn't fair to you to make you keep waiting because of it. Ishould have called. And I should have respected you more."

The anger had bled from the room, leaving just the two of them and the weight of their words to each other. Her words ran through Jason's mind. Despite her anger, she'd been more truthful than she probably realized and he now understood her actions better that October night. It wasn't that her walking out still didn't hurt him on some level, but he now understood better why she did. And he had to readjust his thinking. It wasn't the business that had driven her away, it was him. He'd ignored her, and he'd abandoned her, and he made her feel less than what she truly was in his eyes and in his life. He could have been in any line of work and treated her that way and she would have responded the same. It had been a personal failure of great magnitude.

He was dimly aware of Elizabeth moving, of her movements being stiff and jerky with embarrassment. Jason was still in the cycle of processing her words, her revelations, her charges made against him. Silently, she crossed to the balcony doors, and fumbled with the wooden blinds Courtney had hung. He heard her pulling on the strings and he raised his head, watching her. She must have been trying to make sure they were closed as tightly as they could, but they still let in light. Every time the lightening flashed through the sky, the room would illuminate like the blinds weren't there and she would wince and cringe before the thunder even sounded.

There was barely any time between flash of light and the boom of thunder, and Jason knew the storm was right on top of them. There was a lightening rod attached to the building, but it didn't stop him from saying, "Maybe you should come away from the windows."

She laughed slightly. "That's only for a tornado and hurricanes."

"But the light hurts your eyes," he said, giving that as a reason for her to move.

"Yeah, it does," she admitted, turning slightly. "I...I should probably just head up to bed."

Neither of them seemed to move; the moment seemed to stretch. It was like they were suddenly unsure of how to speak to each other now that the anger was gone and the embarrassment hadn't faded. Without conscious thought, he took a step towards her and that seemed to break the hold on her feet. She suddenly moved, reaching out to feel for the pool table. She was almost there when they both heard the crack of the lightening.

It wasn't that Jason saw it, he heard it. The charge through the air, the sound of it as it struck somewhere near on the building, possibly the balcony. The splitting sound of thunder came next and he stumbled back. When his vision cleared after the blinding flash, he didn't see Elizabeth's silhouette against the door and immediately he was moving, skirting the pool table to help her up. She'd probably been knocked off her feet by the blast.

When he rounded the table, he saw her on the floor, not moving. "Elizabeth?"

She didn't answer, and he knelt down beside her. "Elizabeth? Are you alright? Can you stand?"

His eyes narrowed when she still didn't answer and he frantically began to feel, reach out in the darkness to ascertain if she was alright. When he encountered blood on the side of her head, he jerked his hand back, recoiling in shock and fright. He yelled for the doctor, hoping that the man was upstairs and then tenderly reached out for Elizabeth again, softly calling to her and begging for her to wake up.

Part 18

Seven hours.

Seven long hours that Jason had been pacing and waiting for news on Elizabeth. He was ready to split his skin, impatient with worry; he hated waiting. Worst of all was the fact that he was waiting for Elizabeth to regain consciousness and for the doctor to tell him what damage had been done to her by the blow received to the side of her head.

As he stood in the living room of his penthouse, he couldn't stop his eyes from repeatedly going to the smear of blood on the side of the pool table. The lightning blast had hit the corner of the balcony, destroying the concrete and mortar out there; a construction crew would have to come and repair it before anyone could go outside again. Luckily, the damage hadn't been too severe and there was no danger to the integrity of the penthouse. Either the blast itself, or the glare from it, had thrown Elizabeth off balance and she'd fallen, striking her head on the wooden edge. The doctor immediately responded to his calls, instructing that Elizabeth be taken upstairs to her room where he had equipment waiting, and Jason hadn't seen him since.

He wondered if he should have insisted they take her to the hospital, where a full arsenal of equipment was available to them. But the doctor had dismissed Jason's suggestions, and he had acquiesced. If Elizabeth didn't wait up soon though, he was going to renew the request, and if necessary, take her there himself so as to insure she'd recover.

He turned away from the pool table and scrubbed his hands over his face. This was his fault. He shouldn't have been arguing with her. No matter how angry, and then surprised, her words had made him; he shouldn't have risen to her bait and responded with anger towards her. She didn't deserve it, she never did.

"Jason?"

He looked up, surprised to see Max standing in the living room. Silently he stared at the guard, wondering what the man needed.

"I just came on duty," the tall man said softly. "Pete filled me in on what happened. Is there any word on Miss Webber?"

"No," he replied woodenly. "There's been no change."

"Do you need anything?"

Jason sighed and looked around, debating quietly and then slowly nodded. "Get a couple of men. I need some things moved. But tell them if they can't do it quietly, then don't bother showing up."

Max merely nodded at the odd order, and then backed out of the room.

In the time since Elizabeth had been taken upstairs, and Jason had been banished from the hallway of his own home after pacing outside her room for two hours, he'd moved around restlessly. Unable to sit, or read, and unwilling to play pool, he'd prowled the penthouse, Elizabeth's words flowing through his head. Sometimes they were faint echoes, soft whispers that teased the corners of his mind and allowed him to process her words, and sometimes they were harsh shouts that overwhelmed him and stole his breath away.

Elizabeth had loved him. Of all the things that she had said to him, that was the one that surprised him the most. He always thought she cared for him, might someday come to love him as he'd loved her, but he never thought she actually did love him. She never said the words, he was too afraid to hope. After all, she'd told him over and over and over how much she loved Lucky. But she'd never said the words directed towards him. So he'd never known.

She hadn't walked out because she was frightened of his job and the life he lead; she walked out because she hadn't felt that she was a part of it. He hadn't shown her just how much he truly needed her, and because she hadn't fought as hard to carve herself out a niche in his life as every other woman before and after her had, he'd just assumed she hadn't cared as much as the rest of them. He never realized that she needed him to fight for her as much as she was fighting. That if he'd shown some sign, she would have increased her efforts. But she hadn't wanted to turn him into Lucky where she'd fought and fought to be in his life, only to be pushed away because of some programming Helena Cassadine had done to him, and hurt her every time she tried to be with him. Elizabeth had said the words, but because she hadn't told Jason over and over again and worn down his defenses, he'd just assumed she didn't mean the words that strongly. Never suspecting that she was weary of fighting for a man who may not love her as much as she loved him; that she wanted to keep some sort of dignity and pride.

It always seemed to come down to fear with them. Both of them were so afraid of opening their hearts to the other, that they'd never said what needed to be said most. She never said she loved him, and he never responded in kind. He had been waiting for her to say the words, ready once she did to tell her how deeply he felt about her. And every time she'd asked him what he was feeling...he'd hedged and hadn't spoken the complete truth because he was afraid of putting it all out there and overwhelming her. Or worse, facing her rejection because she didn't feel the same.

And so they'd drifted apart, fallen in love with other people because it was easier. And in the end they'd both been hurt. Ric had destroyed Elizabeth's trust and put her into the hospital, and Courtney had lied to him and ended up injuring a very dear friend.

A soft knock pulled him back to the room, and he looked over when the door opened and Max walked in followed by several more men.

"Take those boxes by the door," he said with a wave of his hand. "Give them away, or just throw them away. I don't care. I don't know what Courtney did with the furniture that was in here before, if it's gone, I'll buy different stuff. But take everything out of here except for the pool table and my desk and chair. Make sure you get the rug out from underneath the pool table. I want it all gone, but be quiet because the doctor is upstairs with Elizabeth and they don't need to be disturbed."

"Alright," Max said. "What about... Do you want us to clean the side of the table?"

Jason looked back to the blood, visible in the bright lights which now flooded the room as they awaited both dawn and word on Elizabeth, and shook his head. "I'll clean it later. Throw the rug away."

The men nodded, and Jason headed for the stairs. He was going to insist the doctor give him an update on Elizabeth.

Sixteen hours.

The sun was getting ready to set on a long day of waiting, leaving them faced with a long night of waiting. Elizabeth lay quiet and still in her bed once again, a small bandage at her temple the only thing that indicated she wasn't just peacefully sleeping. Dr. Reyes felt that her injury wasn't too severe, but had agreed with Jason that they should do a CAT scan just to rule out deeper injury. Jason had set it up at Mercy Hospital because he didn't want any of Elizabeth's friends or family to catch wind of her procedure. He knew he couldn't give them a good explanation of what had happened to her, nothing that would satisfy them anyways, and he wasn't up to listening to their fussing over Elizabeth or berating him for his actions.

They'd quietly slipped into the hospital, and out again just the same. The doctor had received the results a few hours ago and said there was no worrisome bleeding and the swelling wasn't that severe. She should wake up soon, it was just hard to say when. The only thing he didn't have any good answers for was what this would do in terms of her headaches and eyesight. Would the headaches be worse? Would her ability to see light be gone? Or would her eyesight miraculously be back? It was a wait and see, and after sixteen hours of waiting, Jason was going beyond impatient.

The doctor and nurse had retreated from Elizabeth's room, saying they'd be just down the hall and would check in often, but there was no need for constant supervision. That was fine with Jason. It allowed him to sit with her without someone else in the room hovering.

He sat by her bed, sometimes holding her hand, sometimes reading to her, sometimes just silently watching her. She never moved, never gave any indication she knew he was there or was about to wake up soon. He wondered if this is how she'd been after the accident, and knew that her grandmother and friends must have been beside themselves with worry as they waited for her condition to change.

Leaning forward in the chair beside her bed, he cleared his throat softly as he prepared the break the silence they'd been in.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I'm sorry I was yelling at you. I hate when we fight. I thought we were past it all, but obviously we weren't."

He looked down at his hands clasped and dangling between his knees. "Despite the way it happened, I am glad we talked. I never knew how you really felt last year...I just assumed you left because of my work. I didn't realize it was because of me. I...I guess I have a few things to work on in being your friend."

Letting out a deep breath, Jason closed his eyes. He didn't want to say these things to her unconscious body, and he felt awkward doing so. He knew that these things really needed to be said to her and so he saved the rest of his words and leaned forward to grab the book he'd placed on the table beside her bed.

Before he could open the book on Italy to where he'd left off an hour ago when he'd stopped reading, he heard quiet footsteps and a soft tap on the partially opened door to her room. Max stood there, looking shamefaced for intruding, and Jason sighed as he stood. "I'll be right back," he said to Elizabeth.

The two men walked to the stairs and down them into the cavernous living room. All the furniture and decorations Courtney had placed there were gone, but the old couch and coffee table had been given away long ago and Max was going to go tomorrow to the store Jason had used before and pick out new things. The rest of the penthouse would be done later.

"Sorry to disturb you, Jason," Max apologized. "But we just got word that Alcazar was arrested. Cops seem to have done everything by the book; Baldwin's holding a press conference tomorrow. I'm sure the cops will stop by wanting to question you, but the guards downstairs and Pete know that you're not to be disturbed unless they've got a warrant. They'll just say that you're with Miss Webber and her doctor, as you've been all week."

"Thank you," Jason told the man who had stepped up today to handle anything that arose with the business. "Any word from Sonny?"

"I talked to Johnny," he replied. "Told him about Miss Webber, Johnny said he'd pass it along to Sonny. Johnny also said that they were nearly done down there. Sonny thought he and the baby would be coming back in a couple of days. There are no orders from Sonny for you, so you can spend the time with Miss Webber."

The tired and worried man nodded, and then thanked Max once again before heading back upstairs. He was glad there was nothing Sonny wanted him to do, he wasn't sure he would have left to do it anyways. This way, he wasn't faced with the possibility of disobeying.

As he entered Elizabeth's room, he was surprised to see the nurse standing beside Elizabeth's bed. She looked up, frowned upon seeing him, but then her face changed when the doctor entered right after Jason, pushing the younger man slightly to the side. "What happened?" he asked immediately.

"I heard some noises," the nurse said in passing as she moved around to the other side of the bed and let the doctor examine Elizabeth.

"Is she waking up? Is she in pain?" he demanded, unable to move from the wall by the door, but watching intently.

"We don't know yet," she answered, not looking at him. "But I think she was speaking when I entered the room."

Part 19

She groaned as she drifted back into consciousness and shifted on the bed. The entire troupe of dancing hippos from Fantasia had made themselves at home in her head, and her body, and she regretted the small movements she made before she remembered the reality of her situation. She knew that she'd woken up a couple of times before this, she even vaguely recalled the doctor asking her questions, but she could never seem to pry her eyes open, or stay awake long enough to acknowledge them beyond incoherent mumbles. But this time felt different. Elizabeth knew she was awake now, and she wasn't sure what was better. Brief moments of consciousness, or a longer one.

Slowly, and gingerly, she shifted her body, relieving the kink in her back and half sighed and half groaned at the change. Her head throbbed with each passing moment and she didn't know if it was one of her headaches, or from the fact that she'd obviously fallen and struck her head on something. She remembered the blinding flash of lightening and remembered being knocked off her feet, and she thought she remembered hitting something as she fell to the ground. It was all a bit jumbled still, and her head hurt as she tried too hard to process it.

She brought her arm up, her muscles protesting every second they moved, and rested her hand on her face. Her fingers were light as they felt around, locating the bandage on the right side of her head, confirming the feel of surgical tape on her skin. This helped explain the headache.

"Elizabeth?"

The voice was soft, tentative, but there was no mistaking it was Jason's. Her hand stilled and she breathed out. "Jason?"

"Yeah," he said, relief coloring his voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Could you make the hippos go away?"

There was a long pause and then he said, "What?"

"The hippos dancing on my head." Knowing he wouldn't get the reference that had slipped out, she sighed. "My head hurts."

"I can get the doctor if you want," he offered.

"In a minute," she stalled him. "I'm not ready to poked and prodded yet. I'm still trying to wake up. What happened?"

"You...you hit your head on the pool table when the lightening struck," he said wearily, as if it was his fault she'd fallen.

"Lightening struck the building?"

"The balcony," he confirmed.

"Wow," Elizabeth breathed out. "I've never been that close to lightening before."

Jason remained silent, and time seemed to stretch between them. As her brain began to make more sense of what was happening, Elizabeth became more coherent and she felt as if her eyelids were no longer glued shut. She had no idea what she'd encounter when she opened her eyes, but she wanted to do it first with Jason in the room and not Dr. Reyes. Cautiously she let her lids flutter open and then immediately regretted it, squeezing them shut as her brain was assaulted.

"Turn off the lights, please," she pleaded on a desperate whimper.

Jason immediately scrambled into action and then she heard him settle back into the chair by the bed. "Are they off?" she asked.

"Everything but the light over the sink, and I've got the door mostly closed," he assured her.

"Thank you," she sighed, and once more tentatively opened her eyes.

The brightness was gone, no longer sending stabbing pains into her head and she sighed again. This time louder. "Well, I guess I know I can still see light at least."

"Yeah," Jason said, his voice sounding thick to her ears. "Any...anything else?"

She turned towards the sound of his voice and blinked. Maybe it was just that her eyes were fuzzy. Opening them, she blinked again, and then once more. "I..."

He leaned forward and she blinked and moved back on her bed. "Elizabeth?"

"I...I can see you."

She felt him still immediately. The words hung between them, surprising them, neither of them sure what the implications meant. "You...you can see me?"

"I can't see your face...but I...I can see your outline. I...I can see you against the light coming from the background. When you moved...I saw your shape move."

Tears fell unbidden down her cheeks. Quickly she raised her hand, holding it up in front of her, and she could see the vague outline of it against the light. She couldn't see definition, couldn't see color, but she saw the fuzzy outline of a hand and five fingers. "I...I can see my fingers wiggling."

"I'm getting the doctor," Jason resolutely told her, standing.

She watched his outline move across the room and then disappear into the hall. She couldn't make out any details about his face, or what he was wearing, but she definitely saw the outline of him moving. After months of nothing, she was just marveling at the fact that she saw vague shapes. Apparently it was only when they were close and in motion, because as she wide-eyed looked around the room, she couldn't make out any of the furniture she knew as in the room. But she could hold up her hand and slowly wave it back and forth, seeing the impression of her hand move before her eyes. It was almost like a ghost image, a shadow really, but it was there. And she could see it.

"Miss Webber?"

She turned back towards the door and saw three outlines silhouetted against the light in the hall. One was smaller and slender, most presumably the nurse, and one was slender, but taller than Jason - her doctor. But the one she focused on most was the unmistakable outline of Jason. He stood, unsure, behind the nurse and doctor and she wished, she wished more than anything that she could see him. That she could see his face and the emotions she knew would be playing over it, but try as she did, she just couldn't see it.

"Dr. Reyes," she replied, and consigned herself to the tests and questions she knew would be coming. She wished she could spend more time with Jason, could talk to him and apologize for the fight they'd had, but she knew that the doctor, and Jason, would insist that she be examined first. She just hoped that Jason didn't disappear on her again.

"Jason?"

He dropped his pencil, surprised by the voice he heard behind him and spun in his chair, already rising from his desk. Elizabeth stood, on shaky legs, on the middle landing of the stairs, her cane in one hand, the other on the banister.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned, stopping a couple of steps below her. "What are you doing out of bed? Come on; let's get you back to your room."

"No," she stubbornly refuted him. "I...I snuck out because I wanted to talk to you. I don't want to go back to my room yet."

"Then let's get you to the couch," he firmly said. "You're recovering from a concussion, you shouldn't be standing."

He took her arm and helped her down the steps, anxious as she tentatively moved her feet. Once she reached the bottom, he felt a little better, but wasn't going to rest completely easy until she was sitting on the couch. He led her forward, until she was at the edge, and then released her hand so she could feel the couch for herself. Her slender fingers pulled back at first when they came in contact with the cool leather, and then returned, to lightly dance over the rich, mahogany material. She shuffled her feet a bit, and then bent at the waist to sit down.

"You changed your couch," she said, her voice a bit small.

"I did," he confirmed, as he walked around the coffee table and then sat down on the couch as well. He was close to her, but not too close to crowd her and make her uncomfortable.

"What else did you change?"

"I got rid of all the furniture Courtney put in," he said. "All the pictures and stuff. So it's back to my couch, a chair and the pool table."

Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at the offending table that had injured her, the blood cleaned off, but he considered getting a whole new one at times. "The only change I kept was the blinds on the doors, because I know the light hurts your eyes still. But I bought ones that cover the glass better."

"You didn't have to do all this, Jason," she said quietly.

"I did, Elizabeth," he told her. "For me. Courtney is out of my life, just like Carly is. I never really liked the changes Courtney made, but I didn't complain because I knew they made her happy. She's going to jail, we're not getting married, and I don't want to have the stuff she picked out in my house anymore. I...I like a simple leather couch that I can actually lay down on."

A whisper of a smile crossed her face. "I like a leather couch, too. But now I'm going to have to learn the layout of a whole new room."

"I'm sorry," he said, before he saw the small twinkle in her eye. "But there's less furniture for you to have to worry about."

"Hmmm, I guess there will be some advantages then," she replied. She sighed and leaned back, nestling into the leather of the couch. "It's so nice to be out of my room."

"I know you hate being cooped up, but the doctor just wants to make sure you're alright," he said. "He's going to want to run another CAT scan."

A small frown tugged her lips. "I know. I just...I just want to go to General Hospital and have everyone find out, ask what happen and then get all excited when they find out I can see vague shapes."

"That's why we're going to Mercy," Jason informed her. "It's where we took you when you fell and were unconscious. I won't tell you to contact your family until you're ready, and I won't force you into a situation you aren't ready for."

"Thank you," she said softly, as she reached out her hand, fumbling over the leather towards him. He slid his hand over and was surprised when her cool fingers curled around it. "Thank you, Jason, for everything you've done for me."

She let out a breath. "For being with me, for finding Dr. Reyes, for bringing me to your penthouse...for everything. I...I am so lucky to have a friend like you. And I...I wanted to apologize for yelling at you a couple of days ago."

"It's alright," he quickly said.

"No," she quickly retorted, her voice strong and firm. "No, it's not. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that. I don't have a right to sit around waiting for you, yelling at you for things you aren't under any obligation to give me. And it certainly wasn't fair for you for me to yell at you about the past. The past is over and it can't be changed and I understand why you say to just let it go sometimes. I wasn't fair, or even nice, to you, Jason, and I really, really apologize for that."

He moved his hand, so that his fingers were now wrapped around hers and squeezed. "Elizabeth, it's alright. I...I always wonder why people hang onto the past and yell at others for it, but sometimes...I can see why they do it. I needed to hear those things."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," he told her. "I needed to understand why you were upset with me, now and all those months ago. I always thought it was because of the business, and I realize now that I wasn't a very good friend to you."

"But you were, Jason," she cut in, her still sightless eyes wide and pleading. "I'm just a selfish person and I was hurt so I wanted to make you hurt."

"Elizabeth," he shook his head. "Don't. Don't feel like you have to hide or dismiss what you said. You were finally honest with me, and I don't regret hearing it. I...I needed to hear it. If we're going to be friends again, we can't be hiding things from each other. I...I'm sorry that I was so harsh with you, too."

"No, you said things I needed to hear as well," she told him, her eyes dropping.

"See?" he asked. "You won't blame for what I said, and I won't blame you either. Those things, however harsh they were and how much we regret hurting the other person, needed to be said. Because now they're out there, we're not holding onto them, and we can let them go."

"Yeah," she nodded, leaning her head against the cushions. "I...I just regret the way they were said."

"It doesn't matter," he shook his head. "They're said, we know them, and now we move on."

"That's what I want," she said, a wisp of a smile tugging the corner of her mouth. "I've missed you as my friend, and I was sitting up there in my bed after the doctor left hoping I hadn't lost you."

"No," he told her sincerely. "You haven't lost me as your friend. And you won't."

"I'm glad. Because you're the one person who I feel really understands me and how I feel right now. I couldn't have...I would have hated to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her. "But you are. You need to get back to bed before you fall asleep on my couch and the doctor gets mad at me."

"But your couch is so comfortable," she murmured, curling on her side. "I remember taking many naps on it when I was here before."

"Yeah, well, after your concussion has healed, then you can take naps on it," he said as he stood and tried to pull her to her feet. "But until the doctor says otherwise, I think the best place for you to sleep is in your bed."

"Spoil sport," she grumped sleepily, her body limp like a rag doll.

"Come on," he said, and wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting most of her weight. "Can you make it up the stairs or do I need to carry you?"

"Mmmm," she mumbled, her head listing onto his arm.

"Forget it," he said to himself, and bent down to hook his arm under her legs. "We'll never make it upstairs if you insist on being so stubborn."

She was asleep before they made it to the top of the stairs. As Jason carried her into her room, he was glad that there weren't any linger effects of their fight. As much as he never understood the need to rehash the past and yell at someone for it, he was glad that he and Elizabeth seemed to have finally put it behind them. They weren't the same people they were then, but they couldn't go on ignoring it. Maybe now that it was finally behind them, they could move forward unencumbered by it. He knew that they were going to have a difficult enough time with the present with her condition and the changes that were going to come to him and Sonny with Carly and Courtney gone, not to mention everyone in town seemingly against his friendship with Elizabeth. But he felt that they were better prepared to face it, and that they could deal with whatever came their way.

Part 20

How does a self-proclaimed Christmas freak deal with the holiday while being blind? By doing her best to avoid the holiday.

Elizabeth was doing all she could to forget that Christmas was less than two weeks away. She avoided the radio so she couldn't hear the carols playing, she avoided the corner of Rosemont and Adams on her walks outside the building because there was a huge Christmas Tree lot and the smell assaulted her senses, and she was wracking her brain to come up with an excuse to avoid going to her grandmother's house Christmas Eve and day. She knew her grandmother would go all out for the holiday and she didn't want to have to put up with it. She couldn't go shopping for friends or family and she didn't want to take Emily's pity offer to pick out gifts for Elizabeth, and she certainly didn't want to have to try to guess what was inside the boxes she was given and feign excitement over the offerings people made to her.

In fact, she decided one morning as she woke up to the nurse humming along with Christmas tunes, that she would be perfectly happy to leap ahead a month and end up in the middle of January. Then she could avoid Christmas and New Year's Eve and just be on with her life without the holidays looming over her head. That would suit her just fine.

There had been no improvement in her condition since she woke up after hitting her head a couple of weeks ago. Well, that wasn't completely true. The headaches that had plagued her had abated. Mostly that was due to the experimental drug the doctor was administering. She didn't spend days in bed wishing her headache would either go away or her head would just explode so she could be relived of her misery, lights didn't bother anymore, and she was able to get around better since she was no debilitated. She could still determine vague shapes and outlines, especially against bright backgrounds, but there was no improvement in clarity or definition. She couldn't even make out color. It was just a black mass against a background.

The doctor was encouraged that she could now see that, but Elizabeth wasn't. Not when she felt like she was stuck in limbo. The doctor ran tests, waited for the results, and Elizabeth and Jason waited for his prognosis. Day after day after day. She was sick of it all. What if the only reason she saw outlines was because of the fall? Did that mean she should try to fall down and hit her head again in the hopes of gaining more...or would she wind up back where she was before? What if she was condemned to a lifetime of being teased? Of being able to see outlines and phantom images moving around her, but nothing else. Would that really be an improvement over complete and total darkness?

She hadn't told any of her family or friends yet about her breakthrough, only Jason and the guards knew. And she intended to keep it that way. She knew without a doubt that everyone would be excited, encouraged, hopeful and would proclaim that it would be just a matter of time before she'd have all her sight back. And of course, she knew that when that happened everyone would expect her to move out of Jason's house and kick him out of her life. She wouldn't be a cripple anymore; she wouldn't need to associate with the big bad mob enforcer. She could go back to the way she was. Which meant the way everyone else wanted her to be.

Courtney's trial had concluded while Elizabeth was unconscious, and the sentencing would take place in a week. Since she had been found guilty, the judge wasn't inclined to wait around forever to sentence her to her fate. Or maybe that was Jason and Sonny's doing. She didn't know, and she didn't ask. It was easier that way, for all of them. Besides, Jason and Sonny had enough to deal with now that Sonny was back with his children and Carly had been committed to a mental institution and Scott Baldwin was building a case of conspiracy and interference against her. She was being labeled as Courtney's accomplice in all of the papers - according to her nurse who happened to mention the headlines to her one morning - and Sonny was quietly working to secure a divorce. Combined with Lorenzo Alcazar's arrest and trial set to start after the first of the year and the tongue-waggers of Port Charles had not had so much excitement in years.

The only sad part to the whole business was Bobbie had stopped coming by or calling to check up on her. While the nurse understood the hurt her daughter had inflicted on Elizabeth, and knew that Sonny would honor his promise to never keep her away from her grandchildren, Bobbie felt that her loyalties lay with Carly during this time. And since Sonny wasn't protecting Carly and was divorcing her daughter, that meant he was the bad guy in Bobbie Spencer's book.

Sonny was having to adjust to and deal with having a newborn in the house without his mother around, and Jason - because he'd gone through that with Michael - offered his help when he could. Both men had invited Elizabeth over to Sonny's penthouse, but because she couldn't see she felt she was more in the way than being helpful. And she was also avoiding the place because the one time she did go over there, Michael asked if she wanted to look at his picture he'd made in school. She'd turned away so the little boy wouldn't see her tears when Jason had quietly explained that Elizabeth had been hurt and she could no longer see. And very shortly afterwards, she'd escaped the Corinthos penthouse and stumbled back across the hall to Jason's where she'd crawled into bed and allowed herself to wallow in pity while crying in her bed.

Jason had been doing all he could to help her, without making it seem like he was hovering over her. He went for walks with her when he could, sat and talked with her when he was home and didn't have to go over books for the warehouse, and was doing his best to make up for being gone when she'd first arrived. She felt like the past was well and truly behind them now; they'd gotten their hurt and anger out in the open, dealt with it and moved on. There weren't a lot of awkward moments and pauses when they wondered what to say next, they were able to talk easily and freely for the first time in a long time.

There was only one problem with all their time together...her feelings kept wanting to take flights of fancy and go beyond just friendship. She kept thinking back to the time when Jason had been shot and he'd stayed in her studio before Christmas, and the deep bonds of their more than friendship had been forged. Their roles were reversed now, she was the injured party and Jason was helping her and protecting her from the citizens of Port Charles because she didn't feel that she was up to dealing with them. Christmas, no matter how hard she fought to ignore it, was coming up, and with that fact brought memories of decorating a tree, her shopping for a globe for Michael, and the fight with Nikolas at General Hospital where her friend had declared to the whole hospital that she and Jason were sleeping together.

She knew that now, after four years had passed, that she and Jason were different people. After all, she'd been married and divorced, so had he - even if his marriage to Brenda had been a sham. He'd been engaged to another woman until recently, and their friendship had not resembled anything it once had been. They were barely getting back on solid ground where they weren't fighting with each other. They needed to get to know the new Jason and Elizabeth. While they didn't need to focus on the past, they couldn't labor under the disillusions of the past. The person she had been back when Jason was shot was four years older and wiser now, the same with him. It wasn't fair to either of them to act like they hadn't changed. Elizabeth had been down that road with Lucky before and she knew that it only led to heartache.

She wanted to get to know Jason again. Acknowledge and reconcile the differences and then forge new ground to walk forward on. The last thing she needed was her feelings creating problems for them. She couldn't mistake Jason's help and friendship as something more, and she couldn't let herself become so attached to him so that she built her whole life around him in the aftermath of tragedy. She'd been down that with Lucky before as well after the rape. She had to learn to stand on her own, to keep Jason's friendship, but not hope for something more. She didn't know if that would ever come - because who knew what would happen in the future - but the timing certainly wasn't right for it now.

The problem with that was constant contact with Jason was making it hard for her to keep her head on straight. Especially when they sat for hours and talked downstairs. It was almost like she could pretend the doctor and nurse weren't there, that it was just the two of them, and it was the way it could have been a year ago if their whole fight over Sonny's death had never happened. She realized last night that she needed space. She needed space so she could get her head back on straight and get clarity on the reality of the situation. She would still be Jason's friend, but she didn't think that she could be just his friend if she was living with him. In her condition, she kept wanting to make more of the situation than there really was, and it wasn't fair to her or him.

The only problem was, she didn't know how to broach the subject with Jason. How to tell him that she appreciated all he'd done for her, bringing the doctor the States, letting her stay with him, taking care of her after her fall, but that even though she was still blind, and the doctor may want to keep treating her, she needed to move back into her apartment. There was no manual for that, and she was afraid of offending Jason by making it seem that she was ungrateful for all that he'd helped her with.

With a sigh, she crossed her arms and leaned against the door leading out onto the balcony. Repairs had been made quickly to the structure after the lightening strike, and one of the workers had accidentally left a piece of blue plastic outside that Elizabeth had seen fluttering in the breeze one day. She'd sat and watched it, floating up and down - the blue of the tarp providing enough contrast against the sunshine and snow on the new balcony that she could see it - and so Jason had surprised her by going out and purchasing several 'wind ornaments' that he hung outside so she could see them dance around.

There was one object, she didn't know what it looked like and Jason had tried to describe it to her but she wasn't able to picture in her mind, that was an intriguing shape for her to watch. It provided a nice contrast, twirled freely on the anchor that attached it to the roof of the balcony, and she found it calming to watch the twisting object. It was something she could focus on, without too much concentration, and while she focused on that, her mind was able to empty itself of the worries and concerns that plagued her at other times. Maybe the dancing shape in the wind could help her figure out how to move out of Jason's house without seeming desperate to avoid him.

"Elizabeth?"

She closed her eyes, blackness enveloping her and chasing away the shadows she'd been watching. She hadn't heard Jason arrive, and she wondered how long he'd been there watching her. Turning, she smiled in his direction. "Hey, Jason."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she frowned slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"I could see your face in the reflection and you looked like you were in pain."

She shook her head quickly to assure him. "No, I'm feeling fine. I was just thinking."

"Must have been pretty serious."

She shrugged and hoped she conveyed enough nonchalance to put him at ease, and also to get him to stop questioning her, "I don't know about serious, I guess I was just lost in thought. You're back early. I thought you said you'd be gone a couple of hours."

"Actually," he said as she heard his footsteps move closer towards her, "I was gone longer than I hoped I'd be. I left over three hours ago."

"Really?" she questioned, surprised that she'd lost track of that much time. "I guess when you can't see a clock, time becomes pretty meaningless."

"I guess," he agreed, and stopped near her. She could tell he was close because she could smell the leather of his jacket, but she didn't feel like he was crowding her. "The weather is supposed to be pretty good tonight; no forecast of snow and it's actually not that cold outside."

"Oh," she nodded, wondering why he was mentioning all this. "That...that's good."

"Would you like to go for a ride tonight? It's been a while since we've been out, and I thought maybe you'd...maybe you'd like to just get away for a little while."

Get away for a little while. It actually sounded wonderful and her smile was bright as she looked up at him and nodded, "Sure. I'd like that."

Part 21

Elizabeth Webber had a beautiful smile. One with so many ranges to it; many of which he'd never seen directed at him. She could be playful, ecstatic, seductive, coy...he supposed it was the same with all women, but lately he found himself dwelling on Elizabeth's. Mostly because it was a rare thing to see a truly thrilled, light up the room, I'm excited and I want the whole world to know kind of smile from her.

It was understandable, he supposed, given everything going on in her life, but it didn't mean he wasn't bothered by it. Because Elizabeth had had enough things happen in her life to dull her smile, she shouldn't be sad. She was a woman made to smile. And because she wasn't, he seemed to search for ways to bring one to her face.

When he'd come home this evening and saw her standing at the balcony doors, a look of deep sorrow on her face, Jason couldn't let the challenge go unanswered. He was going to bring a smile to her face tonight, one way or the other. He didn't think this was an occasion to sit and talk, as much as he'd enjoyed their talks over the past couple of weeks now that they were no longer fighting. Tonight she needed something more. And he remembered the one thing that was sure to put a smile on her face. His bike.

When they started out, he'd been doubtful if the trip would actually work. Elizabeth seemed distant, going through the motions. He'd gone father than he'd planned, taking the curves as fast as he dared given the cold weather and the chance that there may be ice on the road he couldn't see. And eventually the bike worked its magic. He began to hear her laughter, and then her joyous screams, and when she loosened her hold on him enough to allow her to tip her head back towards the heavens and let out a delighted yell, he knew he'd succeeded. When they stopped at the bridge and he turned to look at her, he was gratified to see a full-blown, genuine smile from her that could have lit up a small city.

She sat for a while, just soaking up the moment, and he was content to just let her have it. Clearly she had something troubling her, and while he hoped she'd share it with him, he wasn't going to force her to. He just was glad to have given her something else to feel and think about for a while. Maybe she'd talk to him, maybe she wouldn't, he wasn't sure what she'd do right now. He hoped that for a little while, she wouldn't fall back into the pensive mood she'd been in when he came home.

He walked slightly behind her, ready to reach out in case she encountered a branch hidden beneath the snow, as they moved through the woods. She told him she wanted to see the trees, and he'd led her to a small grouping of them and then stepped back to let her explore. Her nimble fingers trailed lightly over the snow-covered branches, and occasionally she'd step close and bury her nose in the pine needles she held gently in her hand. When she would pull back, her eyes would be closed and he could tell she was holding the scent deep in her lungs for as long as possible before letting it out in a slow stream that caused a light mist to escape her slightly parted lips.

While she had been hiding from Christmas, she seemed to be genuinely enjoying the moment. And Jason was glad he could give it to her. That even for a short time, he'd helped her relax and forget what was troubling her.

The problem was, the more time they spent together in the forest, the more he was becoming troubled.

He didn't know what it was at first, just a general unease that began to settle over him as he watched her. It wasn't a fear that she would trip and fall, or that she would get too cold, it was something that clawed its way into his gut and slowly spread over him. An foreign feeling, that taunted him with a memory he couldn't quite name, until in one moment when she laughed and tossed her head, causing her hair to fly over her shoulder, it hit him.

He was attracted to Elizabeth. He'd always known she was a beautiful woman, had never really denied it. But beauty and attraction weren't synonymous. But the feeling that spread through his blood, warming him from the inside out, was one he thought had long faded and died in him. It reminded him of the days Elizabeth would run to him and then pull away and he stood by helplessly, desperately wanting to tell her how he felt, yet holding back because he knew she wasn't ready to hear it and that she was confused over Lucky's behavior. The closest he came to letting her know was the day in the park when he said he wanted more than a friendship with her. And then she'd walked away saying she didn't want to be free. He'd tried to kill and bury the feeling in the year he'd been away, but it hadn't left him, and when he returned last year and realized she wasn't with Lucky any longer...

As he watched her walk, her hands brushing lightly over the pine branches, he found himself admiring her for more than her strength in the face of adversity. He admired her beauty, he admired her soul, and it frightened him. Frightened him that after all their time apart, after their relationships with other people, that he could find himself right back in the position of wanting her. And not just physically. He wanted an emotional connection to her, the ability to talk about anything, to sit and hold her hand and know simply by the pressure of her fingers against his what she was thinking about.

He told himself it was wrong. That he was confusing the past for the present. That it was simply because their relationship had never reached the level of intimacy they'd reached with other people, that they'd never gone beyond a few kisses and deep talks, that he was mistaking the ease with which they were now communicating as the basis for something more. He told himself that this wasn't right. Not just the right time because of her injury, but that it wasn't right for them.

They were friends, and he could appreciate, now that she was back in his life, just how much he'd missed her friendship. But he told himself that to try for something beyond that wouldn't work. They had never worked that way; something always interfered, pulled them apart, and just because she was staying in his penthouse now and didn't want to see a lot of other people, didn't mean that would always be the case. Eventually she'd either be healed, or she'd figure out how to put her life together and move on, and then she'd be gone. Friends would come between them, not permanently, but they wouldn't have the deep connection and undivided time they had now. To risk trying for something more just because of the circumstances they were in wasn't the right thing to do.

"Thank you." Elizabeth's voice was soft in the forest as she turned to locate him. "I didn't even realize that I needed this until you brought me here."

"I'm glad," he said, hoping that he could control himself enough to force his conflicted thoughts and emotions away and be the supportive friend she needed. He frowned slightly as she took her gloves out of her pockets and fumbled a bit before pulling them on. "Are you cold?"

"Just my hands," she shook her head. "But I couldn't feel the needles and snow through the gloves so I had to take them off. Everything is so amazing here. The quiet, distant sound of the river under the bridge, the feel of the cold air against my cheeks, the smell of the trees. I can't stand to smell the Christmas trees in the lot by the penthouse, but here I love the smell. Maybe it's because here they're where they should be, in nature and not waiting for someone to take them home and decorate them for the holidays."

"This is my favorite tree," he said, a wisp of a smile crossing his face as he remembered the Christmas in her studio when she brought home that scraggly looking tree.

"I remember," she said wistfully and turned away, hiding her face behind a chocolate curtain of hair. "Can we go back to the bridge?"

"Sure," he told her, unsure of what just happened, but thinking that maybe movement would be good. As they stood there and her face lit up as she described the scene in the senses available to her, he'd nearly stepped forward to tuck her hair behind her ear and brush the snow off her collar that she probably wasn't aware of. And he knew that if he touched her, he would be undone. His fingers would against his will seek out the soft skin of her cheek and then he'd probably end up doing something foolish like kissing her.

He offered Elizabeth his arm and they silently made their way out of the forest and back to the stone bridge at the edge of the estate. When they were back in unobstructed territory, she relaxed her grip on his arm, and when they stopped by the railing of the bridge, she released her hold. He wasn't entirely sad to see her go. Distance. He needed some distance to not ruin things between them.

Crossing her arms, Elizabeth leaned forward, resting her elbows on the stone edifice and she sighed into the space before her. "It's so quiet and peaceful here. I like when I can just get away from a lot of noise. Sometimes it becomes a bit overwhelming."

Jason knew that she wasn't speaking to hear him say anything back, and so he leaned against the bridge himself, silent and contemplative.

After several long minutes had stretched between them, Elizabeth softly cleared her throat. "I've been thinking about the future."

He turned to watch her, and saw her looking in his direction with a mixture of hope and confusion on her face. "Oh?" he softly asked.

"I've been thinking about what happens if my sight doesn't continue to improve. If I just keep seeing shapes and shadows." She fell quiet for a little bit, and then continued. "I don't know that I ever expected this much to happen, despite all the doctors saying that all I needed to do was be patient and I should improve. I was getting used to the idea that I had a new life, and I was working on finding a way to adapt and adjust. I...I feel like that's where I'm at again."

"You do?"

She nodded. "I don't think I can spend the rest of my life sitting around hoping that things will get better. It's been weeks. It seems like something should have happened by now if it was going to. And I'm not exactly looking to go hit my head again to see if that causes any changes."

"No," he said strongly and emotionally. He knew that she'd said the last part in jest, but he knew he couldn't watch her be hurt again and wonder what condition she'd be in when she woke up.

"Doctor Reyes' treatment has helped with the headaches, and I just...I wonder how long I can keep submitting to tests when he isn't able to tell me much more than Tony Jones was able to. I don't know that I want to."

"You shouldn't do anything you're uncomfortable with," Jason told her.

"So I think I'm going to talk to the doctor, see what he can honestly tell me, and then I'm going to have to make decisions."

He closed his eyes, somehow knowing what those decisions would be. An hour ago, he would have argued against them, but now, after his realization he wasn't sure that it was a bad thing. Elizabeth was independent; she obviously wanted to see if she could make it on her own. And while he enjoyed being able to talk to her more, he knew that those talks and their friendship didn't have to stop if she moved out. Space might not be such a bad thing right now.

"You're thinking about moving out," he said.

She stilled and then nodded. "I am. I...I set up an apartment before the headaches started and you brought Doctor Reyes over to treat me. His medication is helping with those headaches, and if nothing changes... Jason, I will always be grateful that you did all you did for me, getting me out of the hospital, taking me to your house...but I have to see if I can truly live on my own. I have to figure out what kind of life I can really have. Just like you couldn't hide out in my studio forever the winter you were shot-"

"You can't hide out in my penthouse forever just because you can't see."

"You understand," she breathed out, the surprise and relief showing clearly on her face.

"I do," he confirmed. "But I would like you to wait to make any decision until we...you've talked to the doctor."

"I promise," she told him.

She was looking at him, her eyes wide and full of emotions he couldn't all name, and before he realized what he was doing he took a step towards her and started to raise his hand as if to touch her face. As soon as he realized it, he stopped, immediately lowered his hand and cursed himself. He wanted to kiss her. But he knew he shouldn't. So instead he turned partway towards the bike and said, "We should probably go back."

Part 22

On Christmas Eve, Jason found himself of two minds on how quickly Elizabeth should move back to her own apartment. In the days that had followed their ride to the bridge, he went back and forth between wishing she would stay forever, and other times wishing she would leave the next day. He'd tried to make sense of the war between his reason and his longing, and found himself failing miserably at it.

In the end, it ultimately came down to Dr. Reyes' pronouncement. The doctor, encouraged by apparent effect of the medication on Elizabeth's headaches, felt that she wasn't in any danger if she didn't see him every day and wasn't under the constant supervision of his nurse. It seemed that he'd hoped for more improvement in Elizabeth's sight, especially given the ability to see shadows that had followed her accident, but he also said that medically there was no reason for that improvement to have occurred or for more to be expected. It could always happen, but he seemed to agree with, and accept, Elizabeth's pragmatic view on the situation. It may happen, or it may not.

He agreed to stay in the United States for a while longer yet, he was interested in traveling to New York City and Boston and consulting with some other leading experts in the field, but assured both of them, Jason especially, that should anything arise in Elizabeth's condition he would return with the utmost speed. This seemed to satisfy Elizabeth, especially when he said that his nurse would stay in Port Charles and would check on the patient every couple of days and inform him of her condition, and in the end, Jason had to yield to her. She felt that it was time to get on with her life, and as much as he was split on it, he knew he couldn't hold her back. So it was with a resigned attitude that he made arrangements with Max for Elizabeth to move back to her apartment the week after Christmas.

He'd thought that once the decision had been made it would be easier to deal with somehow. But, like all things with Elizabeth, it never was. She still haunted him, filled him with longing and as much as he didn't want to avoid her, he had welcomed some increases in responsibilities that took him away from the penthouse. He was never gone for long, and he always made sure to inform her when he was going out and approximately when he would be back, but they no longer spent as much time with one another. There were times he thought he could see relief on Elizabeth's face, and then other times he imagined he saw regret. He put it down as merely his confusion coloring his judgment regarding her, and the fact that they were still learning to read each other once again. Her emotions didn't always play as clearly across her face as they once had, and it had been some time since he'd studied them as in the past, he was allowed to not be as certain of her as he was before.

Strangely, though, their interactions had deepened in quality, as the quantity had diminished. He hadn't realized it, until a couple of days ago, but they had focused on getting to know each other again. Not dwelling on what had caused them to be apart, but instead savoring the learning of all the subtle changes that had occurred during that time. Elizabeth didn't ramble as much as she did before, she was a little more introspective and contemplative, and she asked him more questions than she had before. Never comfortable talking about himself, Jason had tried to avoid the questions, or giving in depth answers. Until he saw that she was angered by his reticence and had turned sullen herself. Because he didn't want to be the cause of her unhappiness, he had began to talk about himself more, to share with her more of his thoughts about the subjects she posed, and in turn, she had shared things about herself that he hadn't known in all the years of their friendship.

The problem with this growing knowledge was that Jason was discovering it wasn't just a physical attraction he felt towards Elizabeth. He was forced to abandon the view he'd, wrongly, held in his mind of her being a naïve 18 year old who hid him in her studio, or a confused 20 year old torn between innocent first love and the prospect of something more. Elizabeth had matured, and he found she held opinions and notions that he'd never suspected her of. Some of them directly shattered the illusions he'd had about her in his mind, however unknowingly he'd formed them. They didn't agree on everything, but she challenged him, she respected what he said and didn't try to make him feel like he was wrong, and he found he respected her a lot more for it. Courtney, and especially Robin, had always treated him like he was some school boy they needed to correct wrong in. If he didn't agree with them, they would try, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, to make him see the error in his thinking and bring him around to their point of view.

Elizabeth wouldn't. She would merely tip her head to the side, her sightless eyes holding a clear indication of her pondering; he could almost see her taking his statements and holding them in her hand, shifting them, weighing them, balancing them against her opinions, and sometimes she'd crinkle up her nose and shake her head in disagreement, and sometimes she'd softly say she hadn't thought of it that way before and she would have to think about it further. She didn't argue with him and try to change his mind, she didn't belittle his opinions, and because he didn't feel defensive, he found himself listening to her opinions and convictions with more openness than he might have. And he even found himself changing his opinion, or at least being more open to it.

He now realized that seduction wasn't always about physical actions, but mental ones as well. Elizabeth was more mature now, and her emotional growth merely added to her physical maturation. He realized that he was a lot of danger from these thoughts, and so he often found himself downstairs long after she had gone to bed playing pool in an attempt to harness and tame his mind. Anything to keep from focusing on the flimsy door that was the only thing standing between him and her in a bed. He couldn't give into physical temptations, and he was realizing they were greater than they ever had been in regards to Elizabeth, simply because he'd gotten to know her better.

In a couple of days she would be moving out, and the physical separation would benefit him greatly. It would break the cocoon around them, and show him that once again when the real world intruded on them, things would cool down and settle down to where they always did. He and Elizabeth would be friends, but her friends and family would demand more of her time and he would go back to his rightful place in her life. A friend, a good friend she'd called him last night, her best friend in fact, but a person was only ever intended to be a friend.

With a sigh, he realized that the pool games weren't helping tonight and if he was going to torture himself, he should just do so in his bedroom. It was late, everyone was asleep, and there was no point in standing down in a darkened room staring at the stars for something he couldn't have. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he turned for the stairs and froze, hoping he'd stifled his groan at the sight of Elizabeth slowly making her way down the stairs. Despite the cold outside, it was kept comfortably warm inside his penthouse and Elizabeth may have flannel pants on, but she was dressed in a spaghetti-strapped tank top. He closed his eyes and hoped that she wouldn't discover his presence because he didn't need this temptation tonight.

Elizabeth paused on the stairs, not sure what it was that told her someone else was in the room, but certain all the same. And just as her senses told her that she wasn't alone, she immediately knew who her companion was. Jason. She was hoping he'd already be in bed tonight when she came down. After having Max take her earlier in the day to her apartment to pick up Jason's Christmas gift and then finding herself lost in the memories and emotions she'd been trying to hide and bury the past couple of weeks, she was not mentally up to an encounter with him tonight.

Yet, she also knew that she would at least need to acknowledge him, even if she was blind and couldn't see him. "Jason?"

Silence stretched on for agonizingly long minutes and she wondered if she'd been wrong, or if Jason would choose to ignore her, but then a sigh, almost inaudible, filled the room and his soft voice acknowledged her. "Elizabeth. Is everything alright?"

"Yes," she responded quietly, making her way towards the pool table and the sound of his voice. "Everything's okay. I just couldn't sleep and was growing tired of sitting in my room."

By now she was at the pool table and delicately ran her fingertips over the felt, encountering the scattered balls near the edges. He'd clearly abandoned one of his nightly games in the middle. Without thought, her hand settled on a smooth orb, and she absently rolled it back and forth across the top of the table. "If you were on your way to bed, don't let me stop you. I've slept for a bit and I'm wide awake now. I...I'm used to waking up in the middle of the night with only myself for company."

She heard concern in his voice when he asked, "You're not sleeping well?"

"Oh, I sleep fine," she tried to assure him. "When I actually do fall asleep. I...I've spoken with Dr. Reyes about this, but the past couple of weeks I've been waking up nearly every night and can't go back to sleep for several hours. So I usually get up, wander around, it's easier to cope with my insomnia if I'm active as opposed to lying in bed hoping I'll fall back asleep."

"Is it from the medication?"

She shrugged. "He doesn't know. I've gone through this before. Usually I would paint then...so now I just have to find new ways to cope. I'm sure I'll straighten out soon."

Probably around the time that she moved back to her apartment and wasn't around Jason every day. When her heightened hearing didn't hear the water in his shower turn on and her over-active artist's imagination put her anatomy classes to use and began to envision him in it. When she didn't see the shadow of his hand move towards her face and she found herself holding her breath to see if this time he touched her or just dropped his hand back down to her side. When she wasn't tormented of discovering new things about Jason and feeling that she was once again reaching an understanding of him, of the true person he was, all the while realizing that he was someone she would never have.

There were times he heard a hitch in his voice, a note that echoed something she thought was long destroyed, a note of longing, possibly even wanting in him. Usually that vocal inflection occurred when his hand would, seemingly without his permission, move towards her. Then he would realize what he was doing, drop his hand and his voice would - probably without him realizing it - give away a note of struggle.

It was a good thing she was moving out. She was finding it harder and harder to be reserved around him, to not tell him that her feelings for him were growing, and he - however insensible it seemed to her - was struggling with something as well. It appeared to be a physical fight for Jason. She understood on some level, she was a woman living in his home, Jason had always seemed to have a woman living in his home - women he'd had physical relationships with. And since she was the only person that he hadn't, she guessed it was natural that there was a hint of that coloring their interaction. He'd just broken up with his fiancée, Elizabeth and Jason had kissed but nothing beyond that...it seemed that it was awfully sudden for him to looking to scratch an itch, but who really knew?

All she knew was that she would misinterpret any action on his part to mean something greater than he probably meant. The times when she saw and felt his hand come towards her, she told herself firmly not to read anything into it. He never touched her, and he never would. He wouldn't hold her cheek with infinite tenderness like he had in the past, because while she didn't believe that Jason was doing anything to help her out of mere pity, she also knew that any feelings he might have once held for her were long in the past. They had their friendship back, that was all they had between them. He didn't yearn for her like she did for him, and he never would.

She couldn't be the kind of person Jason needed. She...she was broken. Jason had always worried about her safety, often pushing her away from him because of it. That was back when she could see, did she really expect Jason would get involved with her now that she was blind? Who cared if she could see shadow? Shadows wouldn't help her with anything, because by the time she could see them, the threat of his enemy would be too close and she would be injured, or worse. She knew enough about Jason's character to know that he would never pull her into his life, not when she was whole, and especially not now that she was blind.

They were friends. That was all they would be. And the sooner she moved out, got away from his constant presence and could get control of her emotions again, the better they both would be. He hadn't made the offer, but she fully expected she'd have a guard when she moved out. That was just who Jason was. And she couldn't blame him. She'd been living in his house, he would protect her from any threat his business might bring to her. And because of those threats, their relationship would never progress to anything deeper. They would meet, they would talk, they would go for rides. But they would never fall in love.

Maybe one day Jason would find someone who could be everything Elizabeth couldn't. Someone that Jason could share his life with, because he deserved it. And just like he had done for her when she told him she wanted to be with Lucky, she would put on her best smile and tell him she was happy for him. Because that was what love was about. She loved him enough to want him to find happiness, and since it would never be with her, she would not be bitter when he found it with someone else.

But that acceptance was a long way off, and it wouldn't begin forming until she reclaimed her independence. And so, as much as she hated the thought of leaving Jason in just a couple of days, she knew that it was ultimately for the best.

Part 23

Not for the first time this evening did Elizabeth wish she'd just stayed home. That she she'd listened to her instincts that said a nice quiet night of listening to the radio or a book on tape was the thing to do instead of leaving her apartment. Instead, she'd let herself be cajoled, and guilted, by Emily into coming to the Port Charles Hotel for a New Year's Eve celebration she and Nikolas were hosting along with her family. Emily said that this would be a good time for her to see her friends and family that she hadn't since she'd moved into Jason's apartment and now that she'd moved out, she'd be able to spend time with them. Hopefully by doing it in one evening when they wouldn't be able to spend as much time with her, talking and fussing over her, wouldn't bother as much and it might keep them away for a little bit and help her get settled back into her place.

Her friend had been persuasive, she could flit from person to person, spend a few minutes talking to them, but they wouldn't be able to get into deep, heartfelt conversations, and she'd have the initial meetings over with. She'd hopefully be able to hide, at least until she could come up with a way to tell them all, her ability to see shadows and close movement. It had sounded like a good idea, or maybe Emily had just worn her down with her constant calling since she'd moved back into her apartment a couple of days after Christmas with the help of Jason and his guards.

But Elizabeth knew, when she forced herself to be honest, that the real reason she'd accepted Emily's invitation was because she didn't want to be home alone on New Year's Eve. That she didn't want to be the pathetic blind girl who was too afraid to go out, and so hid away inside her house. And because Jason hadn't called, despite telling her as he left that day that he would call in a few days and they'd get together and do something, and she didn't want to be as ridiculous as a high school girl pathetically calling up her crush and asking to get together and do something, she made plans for the evening. Because she wasn't going to sit around hoping that Jason would call her up and ask her to do something.

She wasn't going to put her entire life on hold, passing up other opportunities, just because she hoped Jason Morgan would call her up and ask her to do something on New Year's Eve. The only problem was, she would much rather be dressed in jeans and a sweater on the back of his bike, than in a ridiculous dress Emily had gifted her with, standing around feeling awkward as she talked with her friends and family. She didn't want to dance, despite her brother, Lucky, and Nikolas all asking her, because she felt self-conscious and she was pretty sure they were just asking out of obligation because she was sitting by herself most of the evening at a table on the side of the room. It was like taking your cousin to the prom because there was no one else to go with. Thanks, but no.

"Elizabeth?"

She turned and looked over at Emily, seeing the silhouette of her friend against the lights in the room, and told herself to smile at the bright and bubbly tone of the other woman. "Hey, Em."

"Can I get you anything?" she asked.

Elizabeth held up her crystal cup of 7-Up and shook her head. "No, I'm good. Can't really have alcohol with the medication."

"Are you having a headache?" The other brunette's tone was concerned, yet not alarmed, probably because she knew Elizabeth didn't want a bunch of people to suddenly hover over her.

"No," she assured her quickly. "Haven't had one in over a week. I just can't have anything too strong and I'm not really into champagne."

"Alright," Emily said, not sounding entirely pleased, but thankfully not pushing. "Well, I need to go check on a couple of things. The ball drop is in about twenty minutes and I need to make sure everything is in place."

"Okay," Elizabeth beamed once again. "I think I might just get a breath of fresh air before then. So don't worry if I'm not sitting here."

Emily murmured her acceptance and then quickly scurried off. Elizabeth continued to sit, slowly sipping her 7-Up so that it wouldn't empty too fast and someone would immediately come to fuss over her lack of beverage and offer to fill it up. She watched shadows of people walk past her, and in the distance, couples dancing in the center of the room. Midnight was twenty minutes away. Emily had described the balloons, confetti and streamers that would fall so that she wouldn't be startled, the staff was going to pass out party hats and noise makers and of course, there would be the obligatory New Year's kiss.

She had to get out of here before that happened. She couldn't stand around with her brother, her gram had already headed home, and get a peck on the cheek from Stephen or her friends because they felt like they had to. She had to leave. She'd already told Emily she needed some air, it wouldn't be that hard to just call a cab and slip out of here, leaving a message for Emily to find later, and avoid all of this. If she told her friend she'd gotten tired, she was sure everyone would understand and forgive her.

Decision made, she abandoned her drink, picked up her purse from the table, reached to the side of her chair and grabbed her orange and white cane, and stood. She hadn't checked her coat, so she draped it over her arm, and turned in the direction she vaguely remembered Emily telling her the balconies were. Hopefully she'd be able to find one unoccupied by lovers, and make her phone call.

After only a few stumbles around obstacles, she felt the cool glass panes of the French doors and opened it up a crack and slipped out. The cold air immediately hit her and she quickly fumbled with her coat and slipped it on. At least her arms wouldn't be cold. She listened carefully, even murmured a soft 'evening' in case there was anyone outside, but nobody answered. And she was pretty sure she was alone. Her shoulders sagged with relief and she moved farther away from the door so that someone wouldn't bump into her should they step outside.

Opening her purse, she pulled her cell phone out, and her fingers hovered above the keypad for a moment. She could always call the operator and ask for a taxi company, in fact that's what she should do. But she was tired, she wanted to get out of here before midnight and she knew that there was one person who could absolutely make that happen. So instead of dialing the operator, she punched in a different number and held her breath.

"Morgan."

"Jason?"

"Elizabeth?" he said, a bit of surprise in his voice and in the background she heard Sonny's voice.

Suddenly she felt stupid; she shouldn't have called. He was with Sonny. She shouldn't have bothered him. She opened her mouth to apologize for bothering him and claim she'd misdialed, but he beat her to it.

"Elizabeth?" he asked again, this time a bit of worry creeping into his voice. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she forced herself to say. "Everything's fine. I...I was calling to ask a favor."

"Anything," he immediately replied, "You know that."

She did, and that's why she'd called Jason, even if she was a bit uncomfortable. "Thank you," she told him. "I...I'm at the Port Charles Hotel and I was wondering if I could get a ride home. I don't feel really feel like staying for the entire party and I know it's going to be next to impossible to get a cab right now."

"Alright, I can be there in just a few minutes."

"No," she quickly said, then softened her tone. "No, Jason, I can hear Sonny in the background. If you're doing something with him, you don't have to leave. A car and a driver is fine with me."

He was silent for a moment, and then he said, "I'm not busy, Elizabeth. Michael invited me to come over because he was determined to stay up to midnight, but he fell asleep half an hour ago. Sonny and I were just sitting around doing nothing. In fact, I think he'd appreciate if I left so he could get some sleep too."

She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and scowled as she forgot about the lipstick Emily had helped her apply. "Are you sure? I know you haven't had a lot of time with Sonny, I really don't want to interrupt."

"Elizabeth?"

"Yeah."

"Wait for me in the lobby. Don't wait outside."

She closed her eyes and rested her hip against the concrete railing and finally agreed. "Okay. Thank you, Jason."

A click sounded in her ear, and she knew he'd hung up. Slowly, she closed her phone and slipped it into her purse, then took a deep breath of the frigid December night. She knew Jason would be here soon, but she also knew she had a little while to just stand out here. Which she was going to need to hopefully cool the heat of the blush off her cheeks.

As much as she told herself not to, she couldn't help feeling giddy. Her stomach was in knots, the good kind, that she couldn't suppress no matter how much she told herself she should. She'd hoped that Jason would come and pick her up, and he was. Even though she'd given him several outs, told him that he could just send a guard, that she all but wanted him to stay and spend time with Sonny if that's what he'd rather do, and instead, he was leaving his friend to come to her. He was picking her up on New Year's Eve and even if it was just as they were driving to her apartment, they were going to be together at midnight.

She knew he didn't understand, or really participate in, the whole celebration. He wouldn't feel obligated to kiss her, although the silly, irrational part of her said she certainly wouldn't turn a kiss from him down, he was just giving her a ride home. But she would rather be with him at the start of the new year, than in a room full of people that she just didn't feel connected to. In fact, she couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next, than with Jason. In a way, it reminded her of the New Year's Eve they'd gone riding and then he'd barged into her studio and dragged her down to the docks in her pajamas because there was a bomb in her place. Simply standing on the docks next to him, dwarfed in his leather jacket, had been a great time.

She told herself that all she wanted was the same comfortable feeling. Spending the evening with one good friend, as opposed to distant ones and a roomful of strangers. Someone who truly understood her and didn't push her to be anything she wasn't, her more than a friend. Elizabeth told herself that it really didn't matter that Jason hadn't attached a sexual connotation to that phrase, that he just saw her as an honest friend, someone like Sonny who understood him and that he liked to be around. That would be good enough for her for tonight.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, she turned and made her way back to the doors so she could hopefully slip through the ballroom and out into the lobby to wait for Jason to arrive. The heat of the room was oppressive after the refreshing chill of outside, and she was tempted to take her coat off, but decided against it because she'd just have to put it on again. Soon enough she'd be in the lobby and it would be better than an overcrowded, overheated room. She edged along the perimeter of the room, hoping she was unobtrusive in the swirl of the celebration and just when she was about to rejoice, a voice called out.

"Elizabeth?"

She paused and turned slightly. "Hi, Nikolas."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she said with a slight smile. "Everything's fine."

"Good," he said, and she felt his hand touch her elbow. "Did you want to sit back down, get ready for the countdown?"

"Actually," she shook her head, "I'm gonna go. I'm really exhausted."

There was no mistaking the disappointment as he said, "Oh. Did you want someone to take you home?"

"No," she shook her head again. "I called someone. I didn't want to make anyone leave on my account. I'm...I'm sorry if I'm not the best of company. I just haven't been sleeping well and the medication sort-of makes me tired."

"Does the doctor know?"

She told herself not to bristle at the unhappy note in his voice; she knew he really didn't approve of the doctor Jason brought over from Spain. "He does. Unfortunately, it's one of the possible side effects. I knew that when I started taking it, but since it stops the headaches and I haven't had one in over a week I don't mind putting up with being a little more tired. I'd rather have that than the debilitating pain I was still having despite the medication Tony prescribed."

Nikolas let out a breath and she could tell she'd made her point. "Okay. I...I just was concerned about you. Do you want me to wait until the cab comes?"

"I don't want you to miss the party," she tried to deflect him. "Just walk me to the lobby and I'll be fine. The driver knows I'll be inside."

"You sure?" he asked, even as he helped steer her out of the room. She felt the change of temperature and noise levels and knew that they'd left the party behind them.

"I'm sure," she assured him. She didn't want a possible confrontation between Nikolas and Jason, no matter how much she knew the younger man was just looking out for her. At least it wasn't Lucky that she'd run into. Nikolas would want to get back to the party and Emily, and she really hadn't lied to him when she said the driver would meet her inside. She just didn't say it was Jason that was driving her home.

"Tell Emily I left so she doesn't worry, okay?" she said with a slight smile.

As she'd hoped, the mention of Emily changed Nikolas' demeanor. She knew he'd be anxious to get back inside to her. "Alright," he agreed. "I'll let her know. I'm glad you came, Elizabeth."

She saw him lean closer and then felt a slight warmth as he brushed his lips across her cheek. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Nikolas," she told him sincerely. "Tell Emily the same."

She heard his footsteps retreating across the lobby, and she finally allowed herself to relax. It hadn't been that difficult to get him to leave and she was glad for it. Now, all she needed was for Jason to arrive.

Part 24

As Jason pulled up in front of the Port Charles Hotel, he turned off the bike and sat for a moment while taking a deep breath of the frosty night air. While he may not feel the cold, it did affect his body. And tonight he was glad for it, because he needed an equivalent of a cold shower. It was true that he'd just been sitting around with Sonny, talking about nothing in particular after Michael had fallen asleep despite his best efforts. He listened to Sonny talk about Carly and the institution she was in and the divorce proceedings, they talked about Morgan and Jason tentatively shared some tips that he'd tried with Michael to calm him as a baby, and they sometimes simply sat and sipped their drinks in companionable silence.

So when Elizabeth called and he all but bolted for the door, he was grateful that his friend hadn't teased him about his eagerness. Sonny had listened to him several times in the past couple of days haltingly talk about his regained friendship with Elizabeth, and the struggles he was having not pursuing a deeper relationship. Sonny had first assumed that Jason was resisting Elizabeth because she was blind and he was trying to keep her safe, and while that was in part true, Jason had admitted that he was afraid to try for more. That he wasn't sure it was what Elizabeth wanted, or needed, in her life and he wasn't going to burden her with his feelings.

Yet, he couldn't explain the immense feelings that came over him when she called and asked for a favor. Sure, he could have claimed he was busy and sent a driver, but he gave into the impulse to see her. To simply be in the presence of her that he'd been denying himself since she moved out. He'd picked up the phone and nearly called her too many times to count, he'd driven down her street and almost stopped in just to see her, but in the end he always either hung up the phone or forced himself to drive on. How was he supposed to get the perspective and the control he needed back, if he was constantly around her? He wasn't ready for that yet.

However, he simply couldn't turn down the opportunity, especially when it was couched in terms of a favor for her, her needing something. She'd called; he would give her a ride home. And somehow it felt right, that they should spend New Year's Eve together, be together as a new year came to pass. It reminded him of the only other New Year's Eve they spent together, but this time there would be no bomb in her building. Hopefully though, they'd get to share a ride together.

Feeling calmer and cooled after his ride, he swung his leg over the bike and headed for the front door of the hotel. The doorman cast a disparaging glance at him in his jeans and leather jacket, but opened the door for him none-the-less. Immediately his eyes scanned the lobby of the hotel and he was relieved, and pleased, to see Elizabeth sitting off to the side. He wouldn't have to go into the party, and she hadn't changed her mind, or tried to wait outside for him. She was exactly where she should have been, and the only thing that could make the scenario better if they both were away from the Quartermaine hotel, the hordes of people, and it was just the two of them flying over the cliff roads.

"Elizabeth," he said softly as he approached her, and he saw her face light up in recognition of his voice.

She stood, clutching her purse, and Jason suddenly found that his tongue was welded to the top of his mouth and his throat was filled with sand. He should have realized she'd be wearing a dress. It wasn't that he was annoyed that she hadn't mentioned it, or hadn't thought of it, it was the way the dress fit her.

Deep midnight blue, long, sequined, and tight. The material fit her like a second skin, hugged all the right curves in all the right places, and the light reflected off the tiny sequins sewn onto the fabric, so that every time she moved, it looked like liquid light coming towards him. She was beautiful, and it was a very good thing that she wasn't able to see the look of pure desire that flashed onto his face and took up residence. She probably had no idea the image she presented. And it was doing nothing in his resolve that they should just be friends.

"Hi, Jason," she smiled at him. "Thank you so much for coming. Are you sure you weren't busy? I...I wouldn't have minded a driver."

"No," he managed to say and not sound like he'd swallowed half his tongue. "It was no problem. But I...I didn't think about you being in a dress. I, uh, brought my bike."

"You did?" There was no mistaking the pure joy that was on her face at that announcement. "I was hoping you would."

"I...I'm not sure how you'll be able to ride," he hedged, even as he reached out to lightly cup her elbow and guide her around the table by the chair she'd been in.

She waved her free hand through the air as she lightly laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that. Just lead the way to the bike."

"You sure?" he asked as they walked towards the door.

The doorman opened the door for them and they stepped outside. Elizabeth took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing it as she tipped her head back. Her eyes were closed and he could only describe the look on her face as blissful.

"Yes," she finally said in answer to his question. "I love your sister, but I never should have given into her guilting me about attending. It was too crowded, too noisy, too...everything. People kept talking to me, slightly awkward, not quite sure what to say to their blind friend, trying to be cheerful, without being too cheerful lest they offend me because I can't see. I was never so happy to leave a place."

She nibbled her lip and looked down for a moment. "I even flat-out lied to Nikolas claiming that the medication I was on makes me tired so that he wouldn't try to talk me into staying at the party longer. I know he just meant well, but...I just wanted to leave. So, thank you for coming to get me."

"You're welcome," he told her sincerely as they stopped by his bike. He looked at her and he looked at the dress, and he still didn't see how she was going to sit down on it. Shifting slightly, he cleared his throat. "We're here...at the bike. I still don't think that the dress-"

"Forget about the dress," Elizabeth shook her head. "It was a gift from Emily to me so I'd come tonight. And, again, I love her for wanting to help, but the dress seems absolutely impractical. Where would I ever wear it again? And it's heavy because of all the sequin. Do you have a knife?"

"A knife?" he questioned, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, a knife. I know you're strong, but with all the sequin on the dress, it'd probably just be easier to cut it along the seams rather than try to rip it."

Jason stood there, not sure he'd really heard her correctly. "You want to cut your dress?"

"Actually," she laughed, "I think you better do it. Since I can't see I'd more than likely end up stabbing myself in the thigh or something. Honestly, Jason, I know it's from Emily, but I don't really care about the dress. I want to go...on your bike."

He found himself reaching for the knife he always carried in the cab of the bike, even as he was still shaking his head. Opening the blade, he contemplated the whole thing, before slowly kneeling down beside Elizabeth and reaching for the bottom of her dress. "Okay...how high do you want me to go? Your knee?"

"I think you're going to have to go above that so I can sit."

He swallowed and was surprised to find his hand trembled slightly. She really had no idea what she was asking. She was asking him to practically undress her, right there in the middle of the street. Even worse, was the fact that this was not going to help his resolve to just be her friend. The only way this could be any more intimate was if they were in his room and he was pulling the zipper down before laying her in his bed. He could not think about that. This was Elizabeth.

While there was no denying there'd once been a physical attraction between them, he could still remember that night in her studio when they'd tumbled onto her couch and almost slept together, that had passed. For her, he was sure. Just because he was struggling with it once again, didn't mean he was going to act on it. Their friendship wasn't about that. Their relationship was built on respect, and he respected her too much than to push her for something that would just be a heat of the moment action for her. If they slept together, they'd never be the same. She'd regret it, he'd curse his out-of-character impulsiveness and they'd lose all the ease they had with one another. He wasn't going to do that to her or to them. He would conquer this, it might just take a little time.

Steadying his hand, he held the hem of the dress taught and slipped the blade into the fabric and with a word of caution to her just so she wouldn't be surprised, he began to cut. Slowly the fabric fell away, revealing her leg, shimmering in the soft light from the front door of the hotel as it reflected off her pantyhose. When he reached her knee, he asked if she thought he should do more and she nodded. Which was when he discovered she wasn't wearing pantyhose at all, but garters and stockings. He closed his eyes and gripped the handle of the knife tightly telling himself to rein in his thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand.

Elizabeth. Friend, nothing more.

He repeated that mantra over and over as he gently instructed her to turn around so he could get the other side. He didn't go quite as high as the previous time, because he didn't want to see the lace top of her stockings again, but she wouldn't be able to tell they weren't perfectly matched. Closing the blade, he stood up, and took a step back, inhaling a deep breath through his nose to calm himself down.

Elizabeth shifted, moving her legs to test the new freedom of her altered dress and he had to close his eyes to stop seeing the flashes of her uncovered legs. Roughly he cleared his throat and said, "We should go."

She smiled, clearly having no idea what torture she'd just put him through, and nodded brightly. He reached for the helmet and handed it to her, ready to help if she needed it, but secretly relieved when she didn't. He climbed on first to steady the bike and then reached back to help her on. Gripping his arm, she then grabbed the material of her dress and swung her leg over. He clasped the handlebars tightly, telling himself it was to keep the bike from falling as she situated herself, but in reality it was to keep him hands from wandering back to help her tuck the dress around her.

When he glanced over his shoulder, to ask if she was ready, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of her legs, molded up behind his, exposed to the world in nothing but her silk stockings. The barest hint of garters was available and he had to swallow twice before he found enough breath to ask if she was ready to go.

"Yes," she bubbled at him. "Can we take the long way?"

He should tell her no. Tell her he didn't want her to get cold, that he had to get up early in the morning, that he just remembered he had something he needed to take care of for Sonny, but he ignored that part of his brain. Instead, he smiled slow and easy, even though she couldn't see it and told her they'd go as long as she wanted.

Part 25

The ice struck without warning.

As they flew along the cliff road, Elizabeth held tight to Jason. She told herself it was just to be safe. Even though Jason wasn't taking the curves as fast as he might have during the summer when the roads were clear, the slightly diminished speed did nothing to lessen the feeling that they were flying. So, she was just being cautious as she held tight to his torso, her hands splayed across his leather jacket.

She loved that she could feel the strength of his body, even under the thick leather. She just wished that it wasn't winter and the only impediment between her and him was a thin t-shirt. She knew it was wrong to feel this way, she told herself she was only being set up for disappointing heartbreak, but she firmly told that part of her brain to shut-up and go home for the night. She had a chance to feel Jason Morgan in her arms, and she was selfishly going to take it.

She knew she'd been playing with fire earlier. Talking about her dress and asking Jason to cut it along the seams for her. She'd watched his shadow hesitate as it came towards her, she actually felt her dress tremor slightly and could only determine it was because his hands - which were firmly holding the fabric at the time - were shaking. Jason Morgan was shaking. Could it really be true? Could he be affected? Maybe it was because she was so relieved to be out of the stuffy ballroom, annoyed because she'd been there in the first place and stuck with all of her well-meaning friends, that she'd thrown caution out the window.

Whatever the reasons, she'd provoked Jason. She could recognize that now, at the time she'd just played along in the moment. She'd seen the tense set of Jason's shoulders perfectly silhouetted against the street lamp, she'd heard the change in his voice, heard his sighs he'd tried to contain and heard him swallow. Not taking the time to analyze them then, she'd just done what she could to provoke more reaction. Analysis came later, on the back of his bike, as she first encountered his stiff and rigid posture, before feeling him finally relax as they drove on. What did all of this mean? Was it possible that he was attracted to her?

Tonight, Elizabeth let her vanity be fed, and as she pressed herself against Jason more closely than was actually needed, she decided to take attraction. After feeling broken, less than whole, sometimes not fitting in her own skin, this was something that echoed to her soul. Because she was attracted to Jason - his mind, his personality, and what she could remember of his physical attributes; and she decided that even if it was just for tonight, she was going to allow herself to believe that Jason might actually be attracted to her. Never mind that it was probably just physical, not as deeply based as her feelings for him, she needed to feel desirable tonight. And Jason was safe because he was disciplined and she knew she needn't fear that he would try to impose himself on her. Although I wouldn't stop him if he tried. Not tonight.

The bike shuddered, slipped, and she could feel Jason fight for control.

She was going to relish in tonight for as long as possible. She wasn't going to mention that her legs, only covered by the thin silk stockings she'd put on, were cold. She wasn't going to let Jason know that she could barely feel the leather beneath her bare, frozen fingers. If he was willing to drive, she would hang on for as long as possible. Pressed up against him, her head resting on his back, her arms firmly around him in the only lover's embrace she would ever know with him.

The whole feeling changed though, when the bike slipped, and she felt Jason tense. It wasn't the uncomfortable tension from earlier that evening when his voice was thick, hoarse with hidden feelings. Now, there was nervousness flowing off him, even as he tried to control it and the bike. She held on tighter, not from desire, but from concern. She pushed aside her fanciful thoughts and turned her mind towards picking up the cues of his body so she could follow him. She didn't make any wild movements; she tried to lean when he did, shadow her body to his to keep their weight balanced in a harmony that would allow Jason to regain control.

She trusted Jason. Knew that he had been riding for nearly as long as he'd been Jason Morgan and there was a connection between rider and machine. Of course he'd be worried for himself, but the worry would be amplified simply because he had a passenger with him. She wasn't going to distract him by screaming at him, demanding to know what was wrong, she would save all comments until he had the bike under control and stopped. Then she would show him her faith in him was unshakeable and justified because she knew he would deliver them to safety.

The wheels had just started to grip dry ground again, when a second patch of ice arose.

The bike was slowing, had been ever since they'd hit the ice. But they were traveling fast and even she knew that you didn't slam on the brakes when encountering ice. And even though it felt like hours, it had only been mere seconds since they'd crossed the ice and began to lose traction. Hitting a second, and instinctively she knew, more dangerous patch so soon afterwards before Jason had the bike fully under his control was not good. The bike hadn't slowed enough, he hadn't exerted his dominance over the bike, Elizabeth was truly frightened now.

It didn't help when Jason spoke, his voice sharp with worry and demanded of her, "Hang on, Elizabeth!"

Then, the moment changed, the fight, no matter how valiant, was lost. The bike began to fall, slide out from under them, and they were helpless except to go with it.

Metal screamed, time slowed, then raced forward at an accelerated pace, and there was no way to cushion the bone-jarring impact of their bodies.

Elizabeth had no idea how long she'd been unconscious. Except that when she finally managed to awake and take inventory of herself, she was cold. All residual warmth from Jason was gone. And she was alone. In the middle of a deserted road - she could feel the asphalt under her body - she had no idea of what she was supposed to do.

Her eyes opened, encountering gray darkness. Not a new situation; nothing that could help her. She gingerly tested her limbs, grimacing as sharp pain shot through her left shoulder and down to her fingertips. With her right hand, she felt her side, noticed that the coat she was wearing had been worn down and she could feel blood and torn flesh under her stiff fingers. She felt her head and face and encountered warm, sticky patches of blood, but couldn't discern how severe the injuries were. Superficial or deeper? No time to worry now, she had to move, had to find Jason.

"Jason?" she called, wondering where he was. If she hadn't woken to find him by her side, then...

There was no answer and she pushed herself up with her good arm, fighting off the dizziness she was hit with as she changed positions. Her hand fumbled briefly before releasing the straps of the helmet and tossing it away so she could hear unimpeded. "Jason?!"

The headlight from the motorcycle was still on, and she could make out its position to her left. She shifted onto her knees and had to stop when dizziness hit her again, this time threatening to send her back into unconsciousness. She had to fight it, had to stay away, had to find Jason. If he wasn't answering he had to be unconscious as well. She wouldn't allow herself to even consider any other possibility.

She took a deep breath, and then slowly raised her head. Shaking her head to force the spots from her vision, she stared hard at the shape on the ground between her and the bike. It was large, it wasn't natural, and she told herself it was the best shot of actually being Jason she had, she had to take it. Knowing she couldn't stand and remain conscious, she began to crawl, ignoring the stabbing pain in her body, rough gravel under her palms and knees and stabbing pain in her shoulder, and forced herself to close the distance between herself and the shape.

The closer she got the more distinction she could make. It wasn't just a shapeless mass; she saw Jason's boots, the odd angle of his right leg, and the jacket-covered back. It was still cloaked in grays, but she saw the definition.

"Jason?!" she called again as she got closer and finally touched him. Feeling the solidness under her fingers told her it wasn't just an illusion or a dream. She had found Jason.

She rested her head on his arm, taking deep breaths to quell the nausea from pain and fight against the blackness creeping back into her mind. Deep breaths in through her mouth, burning her lungs that were already on fire, as she tried to keep awake. Finally feeling she wasn't in danger of blacking out, she turned her attention to Jason. Tugging on his arm, she pulled him onto his back and ran her hands over his face, searching for blood or injuries.

"Jason! Wake up!" she cried. "I need you to wake up. I can't do this by myself. I need you here with me!"

He remained still and motionless, even when she encountered and probed patches of blood. It was warm and she could feel his breath, so she knew he was alive. He just needed to wake up. He had to wake up. He had to be able to call Sonny. She didn't have the mob boss's number memorized, or her guard's. The guard's number was in her cell phone and she had no idea where her purse was or how she'd even find it.

"Come on, Jason," she said plaintively as she dropped her head onto his chest. She brought one small fist up and without any force to cause harm, she hit him, "You have to wake up!"

Telling herself to remain calm, and in control, she knew that if he couldn't wake up to help her, she had to help them both. She looked down, wondering which pocket his cell phone would be in and praying it hadn't been broken in the fall. She searched, and nearly cried in relief, when she encountered his phone in his jacket pocket. She only hoped that Sonny's number would be programmed into it, and that Jason hadn't avoided the function out of fear of numbers being discovered by the wrong people.

Pushing a button on the phone she sighed and sagged with relief against Jason's body when the faint light of the LED display cut through the gray in front of her. "Please, please," she chanted as she pressed the numbers to bring up "Speed Dial 1". Jason's phone model was like hers and she could only hope this worked.

The phone began to ring, and the longer it went on, the more despair settled into her bones and tears finally rained down her cheeks.

"Hello?"

"Sonny!" she exploded in relief, gratitude, and extreme pleasure as she heard his voice.

"Elizabeth?" he asked, no doubt confused as to why she was calling from Jason's phone. "What's wrong?"

"We crashed," she told him, the cold and shock sinking into her and making her begin to shake. "I can't wake Jason up. Please...you-you have to help him."

"Where are you?" he demanded.

"On the road...a-along the c-c-cliffs."

"We'll be right there, Elizabeth," he told her. "Talk to me, okay? Tell me what's going on."

Sagging in relief, Elizabeth laid her head down on Jason's chest and closed her eyes. Her head was throbbing, colors were swimming before her eyes, and she couldn't keep her head any longer. Sonny was on his way. It was all okay now.

Part 26

Sonny hated phone calls in the middle of the night. Nothing good ever came of them; especially in his line of work. It wasn't so much being dragged out of bed that annoyed him, although he did hate to leave his soft, warm sheets, it was the certainty that whatever pulled him out wasn't going to be resolved quickly and allow him the luxury of returning to sleep. And considering that Sonny had barely laid down when Elizabeth's phone call came in, his mood at that moment hadn't been pleasant.

Then he heard her words. She and Jason had crashed. It wasn't Jason that called, it was Elizabeth. A blind woman who probably didn't know his number had called him on Jason's cell phone and disturbingly he never heard Jason's voice. All annoyance was set aside, replaced immediately by concern and organization. Sonny let Leticia know that something came and he wasn't sure he would be here when the boys woke up; he wrote a note to Michael ensuring him how much he loved the little boy so he wouldn't be frightened. Then, hastily dressed, he opened the front door and immediately began calling the guards into action.

One guard was dispatched to bring their doctor to the safe house nearest the cliff road, one guard was sent off to New York City - via helicopter - to retrieve Dr. Reyes so he could examine Elizabeth, and another guard sent to get the nurse still in town. Then Sonny and two more men started out up the cliff road, anxious and determined to find Jason and Elizabeth.

They found them; the accident wasn't something they could miss, no matter how dark the night was. Jason's bike was laid out on its side, the headlight still on, illuminating the eerie scene. Jason was unconscious on his bike, and Sonny could tell by the odd angle of the younger man's right leg that it had suffered a break. That wasn't going to please Jason to wind up in a cast. Elizabeth was draped over Jason's frame, her dress that she'd worn to the New Year's Eve celebration torn and dirty. Sonny hoped she hadn't passed out as well, because he had a lot of questions he really wanted the answer to.

When the Yukon stopped, the guards flew out the doors, blankets in hand and a first aid kit, while Sonny followed them at only a fractionally more sedate pace. He arrived just as the blankets were being draped over the pair in the middle of the road, and he crouched down to look at his friends.

"Elizabeth?" She stirred slightly, but didn't respond. "Elizabeth?!"

The sharper voice got through to her and slowly she raised her head, turning her face towards the sound of his voice. "Sonny?"

"We're here now, sweetheart. What happened?"

"I-I don't know," she frowned. "I think we hit some ice as Jason was driving. I blacked out for a little bit and when I came to I found Jason and couldn't get him awake. I found his phone and called you."

"Why didn't you call 911?" he asked.

"If I hadn't been able to reach you, I would have," she said, taking a deep breath and dropping her head back onto Jason's chest. He had a sense she was staying awake simply by sheer willpower in order to answer his questions. "But you know he hates hospitals, and his family would have been swarming all over the place and you wouldn't have been able to see him. I...I didn't want that for him. Or me...I don't want my family hovering around."

Her lips quirked, "Besides, I knew you'd get here faster than an ambulance."

He couldn't help the grin that covered his own lips. How she had been able to think about all of that clearly after just suffering an accident was beyond him. Or maybe she'd just reacted instinctively as she knew Jason would have; in case of emergency, call Sonny. Whatever the case, he would take care of the both of them. Which meant getting them out of the cold and into the Yukon so they could head to the safe house.

"Elizabeth?" he said, "we're going to take you to a safe house where the doctor will be waiting to examine you and Jason. Dr. Reyes will be coming shortly as well. You need to let the guards put Jason into the back of the car."

The guards were standing by, having returned from fixing up the back of the SUV, and were just waiting for the petite woman to move so that they could move their boss. Elizabeth blinked lazily at Sonny as if she didn't quite understand what he was saying, or maybe was just reluctant to move. Either way, he knew he had to get her to move, so he reached out to grasp her shoulders and pull him towards her so the guards could reach Jason unimpeded. Slowly he moved her, and the guards carefully picked up Jason and took him to the truck. Elizabeth turned her face, and then her entire body to follow their progress and he knew she was just following the sounds of their feet over the asphalt. But when they disappeared around the back of the SUV, she turned and looked at him pleadingly.

"You'll take care of him, right?" she begged, her hand slipping out of the blanket and reaching for his own. Her fingers were like ice, but she seemed oblivious to her own discomfort, more concerned about Jason. "He has to be alright, Sonny."

"He will be," he assured her, signaling for a guard to come back and get Elizabeth. "You know Jason; he's too tough to stay down for long. Now come on, let's get inside the car and get you warmed up. The doctor needs to take a look at you as well."

How could one of his safe houses not have a bottle of alcohol? There wasn't even a bottle of wine or cooking sherry. Instead, all Sonny found were cans of soda and bottles of juice. The closest he could come to alcohol was hoping that one of the really old bottles of juice in the back of the pantry had started to ferment. Clearly this was a kid friendly safe house for Michael and a guard to come to, and he wondered who had decided that there would be no alcohol. So he was stuck nursing a glass of ginger ale of all things as he paced the living room like a caged tiger waiting for word on Jason and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had insisted she was fine, that she didn't need to be examined, but when Marco returned with Dr. Reyes' nurse, the older woman had effectively ushered Elizabeth into a bedroom and they hadn't been seen since. He'd heard a lot of hushed conversations as he paced down the hallway, glaring at the door Jason and the doctor were ensconced behind, but nobody apparently saw fit to tell him how either person was. The guards had retrieved Jason's bike from the middle of the road, and only a couple were around the perimeter of the house. It was a single car accident, moving the bike wasn't going to get them into trouble with the law - though Sonny was sure that Taggert would have tried to pin something on them, and there was no threat so they were fine with minimal security. The biggest worry right now was the health of the two people down the hall.

"Mr. Corinthos?"

He looked up, at Dr. Reyes who came bustling in through the door followed by Pete who had been sent to retrieve him.

"Dr. Reyes, I'm glad you're here. Your nurse is with Elizabeth in one of the rooms. She and Mr. Morgan were on his motorcycle when they hit a patch of ice and had an accident. I'm sure you want to examine her."

"Of course," the Spaniard answered immediately to Sonny's lightly hinted command. "Just show me her room."

Finally glad to feel useful, he led the doctor down the hall and pointed to Elizabeth's door. Just as he was ready to turn and resume his paced circuit of the living room, the door to Jason's room opened and Dr. Rice opened the door and smiled at Sonny.

"He's awake; you can come in and see him."

Sonny immediately entered Jason's room, pleased to see the scowl on his best friend's face, accompanied by his open eyes. "It's good to see you, Jason."

"I'm fine," the younger man immediately said, "But he won't let me get out of bed."

"You have a broken leg, Mr. Morgan," the doctor said patiently. "I can tell even without the x-ray. We do need to x-ray to ascertain the extent of the damage, and then wait for the swelling to go down a little bit before we can put on the cast."

Turning towards Sonny, the doctor continued. "In the meantime I've splinted it, but he really needs to stay off it."

Jason snorted at this comment and Sonny knew that he would ensure his friend followed the doctor's orders, no matter how surly the patient was. And knowing Jason, it was going to be a hard task, but he wasn't going to have his friend injuring himself just because of stubborn pride. "I'll make sure he takes care of himself."

"Other than that," the doctor said, pleased with Sonny's assurances. "He's doing fairly well, all things considered. His head wound really isn't that worrisome to me, despite him being unconscious. Just keep an eye on him and call me if he seems to have any problems. I'll send some crutches back with your man, and I want to see him at my clinic tomorrow for x-rays. I've left some medication for the pain."

Sonny knew Jason would balk at it, but thanked the doctor anyways. The older man shuffled his bag in his hands and said, "If you'd like me to examine Miss Webber now..."

"Thank you, but her doctor has arrived and is examining her now. I'll have Marco take you back to your clinic, Dr. Rice."

It didn't take long for the arrangements with the guard to be made, but by the time Sonny returned to Jason's room, the younger man was scowling and looking very impatient. "How's Elizabeth?" he asked as soon as Sonny walked through the door.

"As far as I know, she's alright," Sonny told him. "We brought her nurse and she was looking her over before Dr. Reyes arrived. I'm sure after he's examined her he'll let us know. She was a little scratched up, but didn't seem too hurt."

Sonny paused and then let the corner of his mouth quirk up. "I think she was more concerned about you since you wouldn't wake up. She found your phone and called me because she knew you wouldn't want to end up in the hospital where your family would hang around like vultures."

Jason shifted on the bed and looked away briefly and Sonny couldn't help shaking his head. These two were so in sync, so easy to read, but it was clear they both were denying - to themselves and each other - how they really felt about the other person. He wasn't going to interfere, but these two would certainly drive him to distraction if they kept up this game.

"Mr. Corinthos?" The interruption by Dr. Reyes saved Jason from having to respond and Sonny from having to deal with the awkwardness his comment created.

"Yes?"

"Miss Webber would like to speak with you," the elderly man told him.

Frowning slightly, he looked over at Jason and could read the request in his friend's eyes. "I'll see how she is and then I'll let you know."

"Don't tell her about my leg," Jason requested. "At least not right now."

"I won't lie to her, Jason," was all he said before standing and following the doctor.

When they entered Elizabeth's room across the hall, Sonny blinked to adjust his eyes to the dim lighting inside. Elizabeth was sitting up on the bed, her dress discarded over the back of a chair and now dressed in some clothes the nurse either found or brought with her. Elizabeth's face immediately turned towards him, but she didn't say anything. Quietly the nurse slipped away from the side of her bed and crossed the room to the doctor, ignoring Sonny as he took a seat on the edge of Elizabeth's bed.

He opened his mouth to ask how she was feeling, but the words died when he saw Elizabeth's hand start to move. With unerring precision, she reached out and covered his hand on his knee. Startled, his eyes flew to her face and he saw a watery smile greet him. "Hey, Sonny. Long time, no see."

Part 27

The longer Sonny was gone, the more Jason scowled with impatience. He knew his friend wasn't ignoring him, hadn't forgotten about him, but he hated waiting. He wanted to know that Elizabeth was alright, that she wasn't hurt, that she hadn't been too frightened when he'd been unconscious after the accident. He wanted reassurance from Sonny, since he didn't think it was likely that he'd get reassurance from her. She probably wouldn't be let out of bed, and he definitely wasn't going to be able to make it to her room. Despite his annoyance with the doctor, the other man's insistence that his leg be set in a cast and he be given crutches, Jason knew his limitations. And he knew he couldn't walk on his broken leg. It couldn't be ignored like a broken arm, his leg hurt and until he at least got it in a cast, or got some crutches, he knew he wouldn't be able to get around on his own.

And that annoyed him greatly. Because he wanted to see Elizabeth. He wanted to see for himself, talk to her himself, know for certain that she was alright. Not hear second hand accounts that would be filtered or hiding the truth.

"Just a second," Sonny's voice carried in from the hallway and Jason jerked his gaze over towards the door.

Sonny stepped inside and before Jason could open his mouth, Sonny reached out and turned off the overhead light, plunging the room into near darkness. His friend stepped back out and he could hear the other man moving around. Then he reappeared, with Elizabeth by his side.

"Okay," Sonny said softly to her. "I'll help you to the chair, and then I'll turn on the light in the hall so that it filters in for you. Alright?"

"Thank you, Sonny," she told him, her voice soft yet sounding strong.

Jason could only watch mute as she was led to his bedside, and Sonny quickly drew up a chair for her and helped her sit down. Then he stepped back and brought his hands together briskly. "Alright...I'll just let the two of you talk."

Elizabeth turned in her chair and reached out for Sonny beside her. "Thank you again."

Sonny leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, giving her a dimpled smile. "You're welcome, Elizabeth."

Then, without a word to Jason, and barely a glance, Sonny left the room. The hall light switched on, bringing a little more light to the room than the dim lamp on the dresser, and Jason took the opportunity to study her in more detail.

Her hair had been pulled away from her face and put up in a ponytail, and her make-up had been washed off her face. Her skin was a little paler, and a small scratch stood out over her left eyebrow, along with a spot on her chin that had been bandaged. She was wearing a loose shirt and even baggier pants, so he couldn't determine the extent of other injuries she might have. He really hoped she hadn't been too banged up in the crash. He'd tried to control the bike, slow the speed when they hit the first patch of ice, but when they encountered the second, he knew they were going down. He didn't care what happened to the bike, or what happened to him, his main concern was to try to minimize the injuries to Elizabeth. The fact that she was walking had helped to ease his worries somewhat.

"Hey," she said softly, finally breaking him out of his inspection of her, and the trance he seemed to fall under every time he was around her.

"Hey," he returned, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," she shrugged. "A little banged up, but not too bad."

"Elizabeth."

She sighed at the one word, but apparently had heard the deeper meaning in his tone. "Alright, I have a cut on my arm where the jacket wore down, and I have some scratches on my legs. I was out for a bit after the accident and my head hurts, but the doctor says I don't have a concussion, the helmet protected me."

She sighed again, this time it sounded more watery, and then she looked at him with eyes so luminous and full of liquid emotion that he seemed to steal his ability to breathe. "I was so scared, Jason. When I woke up and I called for you and you didn't answer me...I was so scared. I knew you were hurt and all I could do was pray that you weren't...that...that you were still alive. I knew I had to find you, to make sure you were alright. When I sat up and saw the light from the motorcycle was still on, and I could see a shape lying on the ground...I prayed that it was you."

"Elizabeth-"

"And when I crawled closer and saw your leg bent like it was and when you didn't answer me," she stopped and gulped in a ragged breath. "I knew I had to get you help. I knew I had to call Sonny so he could take care of you."

Jason closed his eyes, a bit overwhelmed by her words. Hurt, unable to see, scared, she hadn't worried about herself, she'd worried about him. She had called Sonny to take care of him; she hadn't called an ambulance. The thought warmed him, even while he told himself he was unworthy of her worry and concern. That she should have been taking care of herself. And he cursed himself for not being awake to help her, to comfort her, to calm her down in what had to be a scary moment for her.

"You did real good, Elizabeth," he said finally, trying to reassure her now and calm her down. "Thank you."

"I had to know that you would be okay, Jason," she told him. "I couldn't have stood by and let you be hurt. I couldn't have survived if you were gone. I...I need you too much for you to be gone from my life. I had to know that you were being taken care of."

"Hey, hey," he said softly, feeling helpless as her tears began to fall and her shoulder shook with suppressed sobs. "Come here, Elizabeth. It's okay...I'm alright."

He held out his hand to her, ready to grab her own as she stood so he could steady her and direct her towards the bed. He needed to be able to touch her, to reassure her in the only way he could. But she didn't take his hand; instead she crossed the short distance between the chair and the bed and sat down on the side. Then she surprised him further by leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him, holding him tight as she cried against his shoulder. Jason brought his arms up around, holding her tightly and relishing the fact that even if it was for just a brief moment, Elizabeth was in his arms.

Gradually her tears subsided, and he expected her to pull back, but she didn't. She laid her head against his shoulder and just held him close still. He certainly didn't mind as it allowed her to remain in his arms for a while longer. He needed to feel her beside him, to know that she was there and that she wasn't hurt. When she did begin to move, Jason loosened his hold and let her sit up. He wasn't going to let her know how difficult it was for him to let her go.

She brought her hand up to wipe her face, but he moved it aside and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "It's okay, Elizabeth," he told her. "I'm alright."

"Are you really?" she asked earnestly. She seemed to peer at his face intently. "When you didn't wake up..."

"I have a lump on my head," he told her, knowing she would worry even more if he didn't at least tell her the truth. "It hurts, but I'll be alright."

"You should wear a helmet," she said automatically. Then she smiled wryly and shook her head, "But I guess you wouldn't be you if you did. Does it hurt?"

"Not too much," he answered.

She twisted slightly, shifting her body so she could look over her shoulder better and her gaze fell on his leg. "What about your leg?" she asked. "Is it broken?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at the ponytail on the back of her head. Her hand reached out and hovered just above his leg...with unerring precision. "Elizabeth?"

"When I saw you laying there...your leg was bent at such an odd angle. I knew it wasn't natural."

"Elizabeth?"

She continued on, lost in her own thoughts and words. "That's why I knew I had to call Sonny. Because even if I could have gotten you to wake up, I knew you wouldn't have been able to walk."

He reached out and touched her shoulder, pulling gently to turn her to face him. "Elizabeth? How...how did you know about my leg?"

She blushed and dropped her gaze as she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

"Elizabeth?"

Raising her gaze back up to meet his, she took a breath. "I...I could see it, Jason."

He blinked once, twice and settled back on the pillows propping him up. "You could see it?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I...things still aren't really clear...it's like there are still shadows around the edges of my vision, but I can see."

"You can?"

She nodded, her eyes filling up once again with tears. This time he knew it wasn't from pain or worry about him, it was from joy that something that had been taken from her life had come back. "Colors are faint, but I can see them. It's...it's kinda like looking at everything through really thick gauze. Nothing's really crisp, and my peripheral vision is pretty much non-existent. But if I'm looking at something directly...I can see it."

He couldn't seem to find any words; nothing would express his feelings at the moment. He knew how big of a breakthrough this was, how she had given up hope that she would ever be able to see. She'd been so afraid she would be stuck in a world with just phantom shadows and blurred movements. And now...now she could see. It wasn't perfect, he didn't know if it would improve over time...but he could see the joy on her face as she spoke. The relief, the excitement, the pure magic she felt as she explained to him.

He was still searching for his words when she shifted slightly, sitting up straight and raising her hands. Gingerly, as if she wasn't sure she should do it, she brought her hands up to his face. They rested lightly on his cheeks, just the barest touch of her fingertips, but he felt like live wires had been laid on his skin. Then, her hands began to move, across his forehead and eyebrows, back down to his cheeks and then along his jaw. He didn't breathe until she pulled her hands back and dropped them in her lap.

"Sorry," she said as she blushed again. "I...I just never thought I'd be able to see your face again. I thought I would just have to rely on my memory forever. And even in those few short months...I had already forgotten things."

"It's okay," he told her softly, missing her touch, and yet telling himself it was for the best that she'd removed it.

"I can't describe how I feel right now, Jason."

"I can see it on your face," he replied. "And in your eyes. I can see your excitement."

"Dr. Reyes doesn't know it will improve," she said after a minute, her voice deepening briefly with a hint of disappointment. Then she shrugged her shoulders and her eyes brightened once more. "But I never...I never thought I would see again. I've missed so much...I feel like I'm discovering things all over again. I...I'm so glad, though, that the first person I saw was you. I always hoped that if I ever could see again that you would be the first thing I saw."

He didn't know what to make of her stunning revelation. Her voice was so deep with heartfelt emotion that he struggled to control himself. Told himself not to read too deeply into what she was saying, to look for a deeper meaning behind the words.

Elizabeth leaned forward and placed her hands on his cheeks again, this time her soft palms cradling his jaw. "You have been so...I couldn't have made it through these last months without you, Jason."

"Yes, you could have, Elizabeth."

She shook her head and said, "Don't argue with me. You have been my best friend, the person I could count on, I didn't have to pretend with you or censure what I was feeling. I know I sometimes didn't treat you the best-"

"That's alright," he tried to assure her.

"No, it's not," she told him sincerely. "I'm trying to say thank you, so shut up and just accept it. Stop pretending that what you did doesn't matter, because it does. It matters so much to me. You helped me get through these last months, and I...I hope that you'll be there to help me through the next ones."

"I will," he promised her. No matter how tough they were, no matter what his feelings for her were, he would be there for her. Because she wanted him to be there and that was that.

She leaned forward and embraced him again, hugging him tightly. He brought his arms up around her once more, closing his eyes to the sensation that coursed through him. "Thank you so much, Jason," she whispered, her breath soft, tantalizing puffs over his skin. "Thank you so much...for everything."

He brought his hand up, and smoothed it over her head as it rested on his shoulder. He encountered her ponytail and forced himself not to loosen it or entwine his fingers in her hair. "You're welcome, Elizabeth," he told her, his chest tightening with emotion. "You're welcome."

Part 28

Jason Morgan was a surly patient. It must have been the fever and infection that kept him from acting like a complete bear when he was staying in Elizabeth's studio the winter he was shot, because she didn't remember him acting this bad back then. She was tempted to crush up a pain killer and slip it into his drink just to get a little break from his churlish attitude, but knew that as tempting as it sounded she would never do that. She could never do to Jason what Ric had done to her when he'd crushed up birth control pills and caused her to overdose. Even if Ric hadn't done such a despicable thing to her, she still wouldn't be able to do that to Jason, because she knew how much he'd hate it and she would never violate his trust in her.

But it was a tempting thought. A very tempting thought.

She smiled as she carried a tray with food out of the kitchen and into the living room of Jason's penthouse, skirting around the pool table that she could now see. Sure the felt on top was a soft, muted green and she had a hard time distinguishing the balls scattered across the surface, but she could see it. And she was very happy about that. So happy in fact that she didn't even care that she was once again living in Jason's house. She knew that Sonny could hire a nurse for Jason, but she also knew that Jason would fight that nurse every day and try to push himself beyond what he should be doing. He wouldn't do that with her.

And so she'd willingly volunteered to move back to Jason's when they were all at the safe house and Jason was grousing after returning from the doctor's clinic where he'd had x-rays taken of his leg and his cast put on. Sonny offered to send him down to the island, Jason refused. He'd made his refusal as he looked over at her, and she knew it was her holding him in Port Charles. Sonny realized that as well, and extended the offer to Elizabeth, but she turned him down. Somehow she could just sense that Jason didn't want to leave town. Maybe it was because of Michael and Morgan, maybe it was because Carly had lived at the island for so many months, maybe it was because that was where he'd taken Courtney after the accident. Whatever the reason, she knew he didn't want to go there, so she knew that saying no would keep Jason in Port Charles and keep Sonny from pushing.

Although, when her family and friends heard she'd moved back in with Jason, she'd been tempted to tell Sonny she changed her mind. First had come the well-intended comments about the accident, how things could have been worse. Jason should have known better than to ride his bike during this time of the year, she could have really gotten hurt and she at least should have known better. It didn't matter that she had been the person to keep Jason from calling for a car and had insisted they take his bike and that they not go straight to her apartment, it obviously was Jason's fault.

Then when people realized that she could see, however dimly, they nearly smothered her with their comments and attentions. Her grandmother wanted her to go back and see Tony Jones, forgetting the doctor Jason had brought over from Spain. Then she wanted Elizabeth to move in with her, forgetting that Elizabeth had refused all such offers when she couldn't see. Her friends kept making comments on how great this was, that since her eyesight had improved so much, it was only a matter of time until she got it back completely. And pretty soon she'd be painting again, and wouldn't that just be wonderful? She was grateful she was staying at Jason's then because it kept people, aside from Emily, from just dropping by all the time to share their exuberance. And when she grew tired of talking to them on the phone, she simply turned the ringer off with Jason's full blessing.

She liked that it was mostly just the two of them once again. Since she was busy taking care of herself, and Jason, she was able to keep herself distracted from her feelings. By heating up the meals that Sonny brought over, or keeping Jason from getting up when he grew restless and bored just sitting on the couch, she was mostly able to keep her mind from dwelling on her feelings for Jason. She had been afraid she'd said too much, given too much away the night of the accident, but he hadn't acted any different so she must not have spooked him. She was glad for that because she didn't want to lose Jason as her friend.

"Jason, what are you doing?" she asked as she neared the couch and was able to see him more clearly. He was hitting his cast with a look of pure frustration on his face.

"It itches," he groused, as he once again knocked on the plaster right above his shin. "Since you seem horrified at the thought of me sticking anything in my cast, I'm stuck with trying to get at least some friction by hitting it."

She couldn't help laughing at the petulant look on his face, which only caused him to scowl more. "I'm sorry," she said, as she set the tray down on the coffee table. "I know how much they bother you. But if you think I'm giving you a wire coat hanger so you can gouge your skin, you've got another thing coming. I'm sorry that they're annoying you, but do you think you can take a break from beating on your cast long enough to have some lunch?"

"What is it?" he asked, eying the bowl warily. "Please tell me it's not soup. It's my leg, Elizabeth, not a gunshot wound."

"It's not soup," she smiled as she picked up the bowl and handed it to him. "It's Ruby's chili, just the way you like it. No crackers, no cheese, no sour cream...just plain, ol' chili."

"Thanks," he grinned, and it warmed her soul to be able to see it. No matter how faintly. It was a beautiful sight that she had been afraid was lost to her forever.

Once he had his food, she picked up her own bowl and sat down on the end of the couch, careful not to jar his leg. Because her eyesight was still very faint, she wasn't able to sit in the chair near the fireplace and still see him. That's the reason she gave herself, and him, for sitting on the couch. But he didn't seem to mind, and both of them had expressed gratitude that Max had enough foresight to get the longest couch he could find. That way Jason as able to sit comfortably, and she didn't have to worry about bumping his injured leg.

Lunch passed by in companionable silence, the same as it had been for the three weeks since the accident. An occasional comment was made, but neither of them felt the need to fill the silence that surrounded them as they ate. They had finally gotten that ease back in their interactions, that one where with a look or a tilt of the head they were able to communicate more than they could have with hours of words. It was just another reason she was glad her eyesight had returned. She had missed being able to see the different expressions play out across Jason's face. For someone others thought had no feelings, she had seen a myriad of them. Even if she didn't always understand them, she always counted herself lucky to be among the few that Jason felt relaxed enough to express himself with.

When lunch was over, she gathered his bowl and set it on the tray on the table. She knew he was feeling restless; boredom was becoming a bigger factor with each week that passed. Even though Sonny brought over the ledgers and contracts from the factory, giving Jason something to focus on for a while since he couldn't be out and doing things, she knew that his patience was wearing thin. Jason liked to be active; inactivity had never really suited him. He liked motion, challenges, something to do, and she was having to come up with more and more things to keep him occupied and off his leg. The doctor didn't want him doing more than traveling to and from his bedroom, which had been relocated to the ground floor, and trips to the bathroom for at least the first month. His leg had been broken in two places and even with the cast, the doctor wanted him to remain off it. It was as much as the doctor knew he'd get since Jason would never submit the traction the doctor had preferred.

Elizabeth knew from the clock she'd checked in the kitchen before coming out, that Michael would still be in school for another hour or so, and Sonny had left just before lunch for a meeting. This was Morgan's naptime, or Elizabeth would have called Leticia to bring over the baby to occupy and distract Jason's time. It was time to pull out the heavy artillery until Michael arrived home and could spend time with his uncle talking about school or his latest attempts at mastering hockey.

"So," she smiled at him after she cleared her throat. "What do you feel like doing today? Scrabble? Boggle? Or would you rather work on the book of crossword puzzles Max dropped off earlier this week?"

While Jason would gladly play any game that Michael brought over and asked to play, and Elizabeth was certain that by this time there were more games in Jason's closet than there were in Sonny's, she knew that if she was going to distract him with a game, he wasn't going to want to play Sorry. Jason liked challenges and puzzles, and word games provided what he needed. They made him think and almost made him forget that he was playing a board game. It didn't matter that he soundly trounced her on each game; to her it was important that he was distracted. And given the way that he was no longer pounding on his cast complaining about his itch, she figured she was already distracting him.

"We don't have to play a game," he shook his head.

She knew he'd be reluctant, but she also knew that if she left him to his own devices he would begin to focus on his itch again and the fact that he couldn't scratch under his cast. She knew from experience that the more you focused on something you couldn't do, the more you wanted to do it and the more you couldn't think of anything else. When Jason got in that mode, it wasn't a pretty sight. So, she cocked her head to the side and broke out her teasing grin.

"What's the matter, Morgan?" she laughed. "Afraid that this time I might actually beat you and break your perfect winning streak? I'll have you know that I've had my nurse reading me words from the dictionary. I'm just aching to break one out on you. You're not going to deny me, are you?"

As she hoped, he began to chuckle and shook his head. "Alright. Go grab Scrabble, Webber. And we'll see just how well you do this time."

She thoroughly expected him to beat her once again, it wasn't just that she couldn't seem to come up with 30 point words like him; she also had a bit of a hard time reading the letters. It was why her doctor told her not to read books or newspapers right now while her eyes were still adjusting. She may eventually end up with glasses, but he wasn't making any firm diagnosis yet. She could only play this game for a limited time before the strain of making out the letters on the tiles began to give her a headache, but she figured she only had to distract Jason long enough for Michael to arrive home or for Morgan to wake up. A small headache was a small price to pay for helping Jason.

Part 29

It was a wonderful thing being in love and knowing the person felt the same way.

Of course, that wasn't the situation here. Sonny looked at Jason and Elizabeth as they sat in his penthouse, Jason on the couch playing Battleship with Michael and Elizabeth sitting in the chair holding Morgan, and realized that while they were in love with each other, they had no idea the other one felt the same way. Their feelings were quite obvious to him. He saw their looks when they thought no one was looking, especially the person they were staring at like a moonstruck teenager. But to two people whose hearts were bruised, skittish and sheltered, they were completely oblivious.

It was such a frustrating feeling. To see what was right before them, and not being able to make them realize it. He knew that if he, or anyone else said anything, both would deny their feelings. They would say they were friends. No matter that half the town would tell them that the two of them had never been just friends. There had always been something more between them. Regardless of the situations, the people around them, or between them, Jason and Elizabeth had never been simply friends. There was something deeper, something more that permeated their relationship, even when they fought it or tried to deny it.

So he wondered why they were denying it now. Were they unsure of how the other one felt? Were they scared? Were they hurt emotionally? Or were they simply masochists who loved to torture themselves and everyone around them? Each day, Sonny put different odds on which was the front runner in that particular messed up race.

Today, Sonny thought it was a good thing that Elizabeth's eyesight hadn't improved enough to be able to see clearly across the room. She could now see farther than she had a couple of weeks ago, and that was farther than when she first regained her sight, but it hadn't completely improved. She couldn't see details clearly from the distance of her chair to Jason's position on the couch. And that was probably the best. Because if she could see the pure longing on Jason's face as he constantly looked up and watched her holding Morgan, she would either be out the door so fast the papers on his desk would be blown off in a tornado, or Sonny would be dragging Michael upstairs so he didn't see his uncle in a compromising position on the couch.

It was a good thing that the little red-head boy was too engrossed in his game to realize that his uncle was only halfway paying attention. Jason was in danger of losing his last ship, while Michael still had three safe, simply because he couldn't tear his eyes away from a petite brunette feeding a baby his bottle. Sonny knew Jason claimed he couldn't imagine things because of his inability to dream, but he'd lay good money down that right at this moment, Jason was trying to picture what it would look like if this scene were playing out in the penthouse across the hall with a little blue-eyed baby. Would it be a girl with Elizabeth's curls, or a boy with Jason's dark blond hair?

"Sonny?"

He blinked himself out of his thoughts and looked up at the sound of Elizabeth's soft voice. She was now holding Morgan against her shoulder as she softly patted his back, trying to coax a burp from the little boy. "I think he's asleep."

Nodding, Sonny stood and walked over to Elizabeth. With her eyesight still not the best, especially anything that wasn't straight on, she didn't trust herself to climb the stairs while holding the baby. It was a scenario that had played out several times in the last couple of weeks, and he knew that she wanted him to take the young boy and put him down in his crib. Carefully he took his infant son, smiling down at him when he remained asleep and only scrunched up his face at the slight jostling.

"I'll be right back," he told her, grateful that she felt more at ease around his family than she had a couple of months ago.

She picked up the remains of the bottle and nodded, "I'll just go put this in the kitchen."

When he stepped back and turned for the stairs, she quickly scrambled out of the chair and headed out of the room. She may not be running away from him or his children like she had when she couldn't see and felt out of place with them, but she was still running. Although, now she was running from a man who couldn't chase her because of the plaster encasing his leg. As Sonny reached the landing and turned to continue up the stairs, he looked back down at the room and saw that Jason's head was raised, his gaze firmly on the doorway Elizabeth had disappeared through. It caused the older man to wonder that even without the cast, would Jason chase Elizabeth?

Now that time had given him the distance and perspective to view the situation better, he realized that Jason hadn't chased after Elizabeth that October she walked out. At the time Sonny was so wrapped up in his life, Carly, Brenda, Alcazar's threat, and he never saw what his friend was going through. One minute Elizabeth was staying in Jason's penthouse, and the next she was gone causing his best friend to go into a tailspin. He married Brenda, got involved with Courtney, picked up the pieces of Sonny and Carly's life and fought with Ric, but there was something different about him. Sonny hadn't noticed it, or looked for it, at the time, but Jason had shut a part of himself off. And he figured it was because of Elizabeth.

Everyone might have assumed he was oblivious, but Sonny wasn't. Jason got involved with Courtney too fast for it to have been based on real feelings. Oh, they might have developed later, but in the beginning, Jason was hiding from his feelings from Elizabeth by getting involved with someone else. His friend didn't talk about it, but he knew Elizabeth left after his return from the dead. Something that Elizabeth hadn't known, a fact that more than likely hurt her and fueled a lot of her anger towards him and Jason in the months that followed. Things had really spiraled out of control there for a while, but he hoped that they were on their way to fixing themselves and getting back on the course that everyone should have taken then.

He knew that he couldn't fix what went wrong, but he could hope for the best now. It was why it was hard not to try to help them along. As much as he wanted to give them both nudges, well-timed and well-placed suggestions and observations, he told himself he had to refrain. In order for their relationship to truly work out this time and be stronger for it, Jason and Elizabeth needed to work through this on their own. Carly had pushed and pushed Jason towards Courtney, Sonny couldn't now attempt to fix all that by pushing him towards Elizabeth. Jason needed to make a decision; he needed to take a stand. And Sonny couldn't smooth things over with Elizabeth; she needed to find that road for herself. It was just so hard to watch them when it was clear to him how they felt about each other.

With a small sigh, he placed Morgan down in his crib and tapped on Leticia's door to let her know that the little boy was asleep upstairs. Then he headed back for the stairs, slipping his hands in his pockets. When he rejoined the trio downstairs, Elizabeth was sitting beside Michael, peering over the little boy's shoulder at the grid of red and white pegs, while Jason sneaked surreptitious glances at her.

"No helping him win," Jason chided the pair gently, a smile clearly evident in his voice. Elizabeth was right; Jason was much more manageable when he was around Michael. The little boy provided a good distraction from his irritation with the large, cumbersome cast that was being replaced next week with a smaller one that would allow him greater mobility.

"I never even looked at your ships," Elizabeth huffed with a smile. "So I'm not telling him where your last ship is, I'm just giving him some suggestions based on places he hasn't sent his missiles to yet."

"Nothing wrong with her being his admiral," Sonny laughed as he poured a drink of water.

"E-2," Michael said as he looked up at his uncle.

Jason huffed and glared at Elizabeth and then said, "Hit."

Michael laughed and in short order dispatched Jason's last ship, thus ending the game. When Jason put the last red peg on the top of the plastic casing, signaling defeat, he turned to her and grinned. "Thanks, Elizabeth!"

"You're welcome," she laughed. "Now, off to bed with you, Michael. It's past your bedtime and you've got school in the morning."

Surprisingly, with little fuss, he stood and headed to the stairs, but not before hugging Uncle Jason goodnight. When he had disappeared upstairs, Jason turned his focus to the woman still sitting on the couch, squinting slightly as she pulled pegs out of the holes before dropping them in the designated space. "Here," he said, "I'll do that."

She nodded as she handed over the game piece and then stood. Ostensibly it was to stretch her back, but Sonny had seen the way her eyes flared slightly as Jason's hand brushed over hers when reaching for the game. She was a scared rabbit putting space between the two of them while trying to act that she wasn't doing so. Either Jason was oblivious to the action, or he was pretending he was and wasn't hurt. Sonny sighed and turned back to the wet bar to set his glass down.

"Thank you for dinner, Sonny," Elizabeth smiled at him as she twisted her fingers together in front of her. "It was delicious."

"You're welcome," he told her. "You know you guys are welcome to come over any time. I can't believe you'd prefer a frozen pizza me."

"Hey," she smirked. "Jason likes pizza. So does your son, you know."

He just laughed and nodded, then watched as she gave herself away. She turned immediately to Jason the moment he set the game box aside on the ottoman and reached for his crutches. "You ready?"

Jason nodded grimly, then levered himself off the couch and situated the crutches under his arms. Elizabeth walked slightly in front of him, making sure that Michael's shoes were out of the way, and then headed for the door.

"Goodnight, Sonny," she sang out, as she opened the door and disappeared through it so she could head across the hall and make sure Jason's door was open.

"Goodnight," he said, then turned to Jason. "Night, man. Let Max know when your doctor's appointment is and he'll take you there, okay?"

"Elizabeth's already informed him," Jason smirked. "Twice."

Sonny merely nodded in reply to his friend's words and mumbled goodnight as he headed towards his own penthouse. Neither of them seemed to realize it, but the two of them were acting in all ways like a couple. The concern, the awareness, the looks...to anyone who didn't know the situation they would appear to be together. Yet they weren't. They were painfully on opposite sides of a giant chasm, and Sonny wondered which one of them would be the first to jump. Because something, or someone, had to give soon.

Part 30

"Jason?"

He paused, turning his body slightly to call out over his shoulder, "I'm in the kitchen."

Elizabeth appeared a moment later, a frown marring her face as she passed through the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing a sandwich," he shrugged.

As expected, but he had been trying to avoid, Elizabeth scurried forward and shooed him out of the way as she took over the task. She turned to the refrigerator and pulled out the lettuce and tomatoes before moving back to the counter. With a sigh, he leaned against the table and crossed his arms, his crutches tucked against his side.

"Elizabeth," he said, "you don't need to do this."

She placed the bread in her hand on top of the sandwich and deposited it neatly on a plate, then turned and reached for the chips on the counter. Smiling at him over her shoulder, she said brightly, "I don't mind, Jason."

"Well, I do," he huffed out, then regretted it when her smile slipped off her face.

"Jason?"

The confusion, and note of pain, in her voice lanced through him and made him feel like a heel. Scrubbing his hand over his jaw, he tipped his head back as if the ceiling would be able to give him the answers to this situation. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth," he sighed. "I didn't mean to snap."

She set the plate down on the table with a bit of trepidation and then immediately scurried back away from him. Great, now she was frightened of him. Just great. Pulling out a chair, he sat, and then pushed out another one with his crutch. "Would...would you please join me?"

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she hesitated for a fraction of a second, before nodding and taking the offered seat. Leaning his elbow on the table, he dropped his head into his hand for a second, then straightened. "I'm sorry," he told her again. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful for all the help you've given me."

"I was glad to help," she cut in gently.

"I know," he told her, honestly and truly grateful for all that she'd done. "But I don't want you to feel that you have to wait on me. With this new cast I'm able to get around more and I can do things for myself, like fix a sandwich."

A flicker of pain flashed through her eyes, but she quickly tucked it away. "I...I know you can. I just...I don't mind helping you out. You've done so much for me that I...it's the least that I can do."

"Elizabeth," he said, tipping his head to the side in an attempt to catch her gaze, "you don't owe me for anything that I've done."

"But you did so much," she protested. "Coming whenever I needed you, helping me through my headaches, getting the doctor and getting me out of the hospital. I...Jason, you don't know how much it meant to me for you to do all that."

"I'm glad I could help you. I'm your friend and you know I'll always do what I can to help you," he told her. "But you don't have to pay me back."

"Well you're my friend too," she told him, her voice firming up from its earlier timidity. "And I know you say I don't owe you, but I want to help you. I know you would try to push yourself too hard, too fast and I don't want you to do that. I don't want you to jeopardize your recovery."

"I'm doing a lot better," he smiled gently at her. "You made sure I stayed off my feet and the doc was pleasantly surprised by how well I'd healed. He doesn't think I'll have to have this cast on for as long as he first thought."

The smile she gave him was bright and full of her relief. "I'm glad. But that doesn't mean you can start pushing yourself now. If I can continue to help you out, I'll do that."

"I'm not going to sit around and ask you to wait on me hand and foot when I am capable of getting up and doing some things for myself. Besides, if I don't do anything, I'll just have more muscle loss than I'm already going to have.

"It was a sandwich, Elizabeth," he teased gently. "It's not like I tried to figure out a way to ride my bike."

She let out an embarrassed laugh along with her smile. "Alright. I'll stop hovering over you. I'm sorry."

Reaching out on pure instinct, he covered her hand to prevent her from standing up. "I don't mind that you care. It's...it's nice to know that you're concerned. But really, I'm okay."

Her shoulders relaxed and he knew that they had fixed this. He did like Elizabeth's concern for him, but he also didn't want her to feel like she had to serve his every whim and want. He was capable of getting things for himself, and he also knew he needed a little bit of independence and distance from her. At some point the cast was going to come off, and they'd have to deal with their living arrangements again. As much as he didn't want to, he needed to remind himself that Elizabeth living in the penthouse wasn't a permanent situation. Fixing an occasional meal would serve to remind him of that.

"I really am glad you're doing better, Jason," she smiled, as she stood. When she turned towards the counter and he could see she was intent on putting away the fixings, he sighed.

"Elizabeth," he told her, causing her to stop. "I can clean up the kitchen."

She bit her lip, then nodded and turned for the living room. "Then I think I'll head off to bed."

"Night," he told her as she left the room. He set his pastrami on rye down on the plate and let out a long, slow breath. He was going to need strength to deal with her continued proximity, especially when she mentioned places like her bed. Mental images he was better off suppressing did not need to invade his mind right now.

"Elizabeth?"

She turned from the window as he closed the door behind him and set the file in his hand down on the desk. Since he still wasn't fully released from the doctor's care, he was still only dealing with warehouse business and Sonny had called him over to discuss a supply problem with their distributor before headed off for a meeting. When he left, Elizabeth had been asleep on the couch, her thick lashes resting against her cheeks with a beauty that made it hard for Jason to walk out of the penthouse instead of sitting beside her and taking her into his arms. Since their encounter in the kitchen nearly a week ago, Jason was finding it harder and harder to hold onto his strength and reserve around her.

Their level of ease and friendship had increased to the point that Jason was having a hard time not telling her how he felt about her. He wanted to let her know that he didn't just like having her there because she was his friend and was helping him, but because he loved her. He liked that her hot chocolate had once again taken up residence beside his coffee, that he loved the smell of jasmine that drifted out of her bedroom after her morning shower, and how he loved how they could sit together on the couch and talk about anything or nothing with perfect ease. He liked knowing that when he got back from a meeting with Sonny, she would be there, filling up his home with her presence.

"Hey," she smiled at him, leaning her shoulder against the wall near the terrace doors. "I thought maybe you'd be playing with Michael when I woke up and found your note saying you were at Sonny's."

"He's at practice," he shook his head as he crossed the room towards her, but kept the pool table between them.

"Ah," she murmured as she turned back to the doors. "I forgot how incredible this view is."

He closed his eyes, remembering that day, back when they were tentatively striding forward in their newfound honesty with each other; back when he hadn't lied to her and she wasn't yelling at him. Unable to stop himself, he skirted around the table, and stopped a few feet from her. Looking over her shoulder out at the harbor, he then let his gaze drift down to her. He remembered her standing there that day, looking out the window at Alcazar's yacht bobbing gently in the water. He remembered the beautiful softness of her shoulders that had beckoned to him, begging him to touch her. It would have been so easy to trail his hands down her arms, pull her to him and kiss her. She wouldn't have resisted him, he knew that now, but he thought that she had wanted Zander so he'd refrained.

Now he had to refrain because she didn't feel the same. Once upon a time she might have longed for him to throw his restraint to the wind and show her that he cared for her. Now, he knew she wouldn't welcome it. She cared about him as a friend, nothing more. The pain of that knowledge made his fists clench at his side and a lump the size of a football lodge in his throat. Here was the perfect setting in his mind, and he once again had to force himself not to act on it.

"Jason?"

He opened his eyes to find Elizabeth staring at him, her forehead bunched in concern. "Are you alright?"

He nodded, unable to speak. He had to get out of here. Uncurling his fists, he settled his hands on his crutches and prepared to leave, but Elizabeth stepped in front of him, preventing his retreat. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he told her, trapped between her and the pool table.

"It's not nothing," she shook her head. "Your face...you looked so miserable. Are you in pain? Have you been pushing yourself too hard?"

"I'm fine," he tried again to get around her, but she placed her hand on his arm and stepped even closer.

"Jason," she said. "Please...don't hide from me."

Closing his eyes briefly, he swallowed all his emotions, and he hoped his desire, down and then looked at her. Gently raising a hand, he meant to settle it on her shoulder to assure her he was fine. Instead, it drifted up to her cheek, tenderly cupping the soft skin. She blinked in surprise, but then leaned her head into his hand just a fraction, her eyebrows still furrowed. The movement proved to be his undoing.

Leaning forward, he brushed his lips across hers for the briefest moment of time. The pressure was light, but it burned his skin as if he'd touched live wires. He pulled back slightly, looking at her to gauge her response. Her eyes were closed and her face mirrored the time he'd kissed her at Vista Point. This time he wasn't going to walk away. Dipping down a second time, this kiss was everything the first wasn't. It was long, it was urgent, it was full of the longing and passion he felt for her and his heart wanted to burst when she met him for every move, every force of intensity. And then suddenly it was over.

His eyes flew open to find Elizabeth standing back by the door, her deep blue eyes filled with passion and also with fear. Fear of his own lanced through him, squeezing him in its cold fist. "Elizabeth?"

"I...I can't," she said, her voice shaking with pure panic.

"Elizabeth, wait," he called out to her as she suddenly scrambled into action and raced across the room. "Please."

She paused, turning only slightly to face him. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I didn't mean to frighten you. Please...can we...can we talk?"

"I can't," she shook her head, her whisper now sounding tortured. "I'm sorry, Jason...I can't...you don't...I..."

Her eyes were large and miserable as she finally looked at him before turning and wrenching the door open before disappearing into the hall. He heard the door to the stairwell bang open and her frantic feet slapping against the concrete before the heavy door slammed shut. He stood against the table, unable to move, able to only stare at the door standing open to the hall. Once again, Elizabeth Webber had fled his penthouse, unable to stand the sight of him.

Part 31

The soft knock on the door signaled the person she was expecting. Although she didn't feel up to this visit, she knew it was just best to get it over with. Like ripping off a bandage all at once instead of a little at a time, there was no point in putting this off. There wasn't any way she could hide from it, or hide the miserable state she was in. She knew her eyes were red and puffy from crying most of the night until she finally fell into a fitful sleep that left her feeling exhausted and worn out, and then resuming the tears when she woke up and stumbled into her shower.

With heavy feet, she crossed to the door and opened it, walking back to the couch before Emily was even over the threshold. Her friend came in, setting the suitcases Elizabeth had asked her to pack and bring over from Jason's down before closing and locking the door. As Elizabeth collapsed onto the sofa and pulled a throw pillow onto her lap, she looked over at Emily and saw the younger woman regarding her with a mixture of sympathy and annoyance. She figured she deserved the annoyance more than she deserved the sympathy.

"Thanks for bringing those over," she said, forcing herself to speak and not hide in mute silence.

Emily nodded as she came over and sat down on the couch, kicking off her shoes and making herself comfortable. "You ready to tell me what happened? Why you called me at dark thirty and begged me to go to Jason's and pack up all your clothes and bring them here?"

Dipping her head as more tears welled up into her eyes, Elizabeth sniffled miserably and asked, "Did you see Jason?"

"I did," Emily confirmed.

"How is he?"

"Miserable," she said bluntly. "He looked hopeful when I opened the door and then when he saw it was me his face just crumpled. He looked like he'd been awake all night and just sitting there in the dark drinking nothing but beer. When I told him I was there to get your stuff, he...he closed off. Wouldn't even look at or talk to me when I came back downstairs."

Elizabeth whimpered and buried her face in her hands at Emily's words. She deserved every ounce of guilt she felt right now for doing that to Jason. She knew it would hurt him when she ran last night, but she did it anyways. And she knew it would hurt him even more when she sent Emily over to get her things, but she was too much of a coward to face him. She didn't know what she'd say to him, what she could possibly tell him that would excuse what she'd done, or would explain to him why she ran. So instead, she hid out and sent someone else to do her dirty work, knowing it would crush him all the more.

"Sweetie," Emily said, scooting closer and putting her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. "What happened?"

"Jason kissed me last night," she said, her voice catching on a plaintive hitch.

"Isn't that a good thing?" her friend asked hesitantly.

"No," she wailed, tears coming even harder.

The younger woman was silent for a moment and then cautiously asked. "Did he...did he hurt you? Did he..."

Elizabeth's head snapped up, her eyes dark and blazing as she stared in disbelief at Emily. "No! How could you even ask that, Emily? Jason would never hurt a woman like that."

"I know, but what else am I supposed to think, Elizabeth, given the way you're acting and how my brother looked this morning? Please," she pleaded, "tell me what happened."

"He kissed me," the tearful brunette repeated once more. "And it was wonderful."

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed, feeling even more miserable than she did before. "I am."

"Elizabeth, I don't understand," her longtime friend confessed. "Listen, I'm going to make some hot chocolate while you gather your thoughts. Because I don't understand how if you're in love with Jason, and my brother is so clearly over the moon for you, and the two of you kissed...why is that a bad thing?"

"Jason isn't over the moon for me," Elizabeth shook her head as the other woman stood and headed into the kitchen.

"What?" Emily snapped. "Are you blind? Of course he is."

When she just stared at her friend, Emily suddenly clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, Elizabeth, I didn't...I was just...it was a figure of speech."

"I know," she said softly. "That isn't... Jason doesn't love me, Emily, and he's not over the moon for me. It's just the situation we were in, and he's...it's easy to confuse gratitude and guilt for something more. I did it with Zander, that's what Jason's doing now."

The hot chocolate was abandoned and the younger woman marched back to the couch and sat down with a determined flourish. "Jason does not confuse gratitude for love."

"Maybe not love," Elizabeth conceded, "but I sometimes think Jason's gratitude clouds our relationship."

When Emily merely arched a disbelieving brow, Elizabeth sighed and shook her head before looking away. "I saved his life and I think he feels he owes me for that. And I've helped him out before, and so I think that all of that, combined with the fact that it was Courtney who hit me and then me taking care of him after he was hurt...I think that he just let the circumstances get to him and he got carried away."

"I think you want him to feel that way. That makes it easier for you to deny what's really going on."

"I know what's going on," she shot back at her friend.

"No, you don't, Elizabeth," Emily shook her head. "Did you ask Jason, or did you just assume and run?"

When she looked down at her hands, Jason's sister nodded and said, "That's what I thought. I think you want to say that Jason's confused, that he just got caught up in the little bubble you two were living in and that he really didn't mean what he was doing because it's easier for you to hide that way. You don't have to admit how you feel, or how terrified you are."

Elizabeth stood and walked over to the window, not even bothering to move the curtains aside to pretend she was looking out. She heard Emily shift on the couch behind her and her friend let out a heavy sigh. "Elizabeth, I know that you're frightened, but Jason would never hurt you."

"He already has," she whispered. "Back...back before Courtney and Ric...back when we finally admitted that we had feelings for each other and that we wanted to be together. He...he hurt me so badly, Emily."

"Back when he lied to you, and then he didn't fight for you but got married to Brenda and got involved with Courtney."

Her heart felt like it was shattering all over again as she said raggedly. "Yes. I...I barely survived that. And Jason and I talked and I'm not mad at him anymore for what happened...but I'm terrified. Every time we admit that we feel something for each other beyond friendship...we always seem to get hurt. Back when Lucky was being brainwashed, I hurt Jason when I wouldn't leave town with him and I hurt myself because I wanted to go with him but I was scared and I felt that I couldn't abandon Lucky when he needed help the most. And then..."

She turned and pushed her hands through her hair as she faced her friend. "And then that September when I wasn't with Lucky, he understood I didn't want Zander and here...here was our chance. And then he didn't trust me, he didn't respect me, and I...I hurt him as well by yelling at him and saying truly awful things and we ran. But when he got involved with Courtney so quickly afterwards...I just...I felt like dirt, like I'd never mattered."

Emily remained silent as Elizabeth kept talking, on a roll now as she paced across the room. "And now...it's so confusing, Em. Courtney was his fiancée until a couple of months ago and the only reason he ended things with her is because she hit me and left me to die on the side of the road. Just like that," she snapped her fingers, "he was done with her and he was my friend again. And it was almost like that year in between had never happened. He was acting like the man I thought he was, that I'd fallen in love with. But you don't just jump from a fiancée to your ex-almost girlfriend that quickly, do you?"

"Maybe for Jason, it is that simple," Emily said gently. "He isn't like most people, he...alright, maybe this past year he's been a little abnormal, but usually he knows exactly what he wants. Why is it so hard for you to believe that what he wants is you?"

"Because...because it's easy to think that when we're hanging out in his penthouse. It was like that when he stayed in my studio those two times. But...but we can't live like that all the time. He has to do things for Sonny and how do I know that he won't ignore me again the next time something big comes up and he has to track somebody down?"

"Because you told him how he made you feel and Jason will remember that," her friend said simply as if it really would be just that easy.

"I wish I could believe it as easily as you do," Elizabeth sighed, moving back to sit on the couch, feeling exhausted and drained. "I'm just so scared of once again being left all alone in his penthouse, or even worse not living with him and him never stopping by or calling. And I know that I'm not being fair or rational, especially when I feel that even if Jason does by some miracle love me, I'm the last person he needs in his life."

"Okay, we just jumped the track here," Emily shook her head, confusion showing clear on her face. "What?"

"I've hurt Jason so much," Elizabeth began.

"He doesn't care. He's hurt you, and yet you still love him," Emily cut in to point out.

"But...back when I couldn't see anything, I convinced myself that Jason and I would never work out. I know that his life is dangerous and I know that he would want to assign guards to me, but did I want to be the blind girlfriend? He already feels so protective towards me, what would life have been like if I was blind? Would it really have been a life or him endlessly sheltering me from every little thing?" She shook her head, knowing she wasn't making much sense to Emily. "I want Jason to enjoy his life and whoever he shares it with. I...I just felt that he wouldn't be able to do that with me if I was blind; that he wouldn't even get involved with me because he wouldn't risk the danger."

"And now?" her friend prompted.

"I don't know," she said miserably. "Now...I just don't know, Em. I can see more, I know Jason will always worry about me, I'll always worry about him, I accept who he is and what comes with his life...but even with all that, I still..."

"You're afraid you'll try and fail, like you feel the two of you failed last time," the younger woman said simply. "The problem with that logic, Elizabeth, is neither of you really tried last time. You both said you would, but neither of you really did. He ignored you and made you feel expendable; you didn't listen to him or give him a chance to explain. And then you tried to ignore your feelings by jumping into relationships too soon. You have another chance now."

Another chance. While Elizabeth desperately wanted to believe her friend, the corner of her soul that was so afraid of once again being hurt refused to quiet down. She had nearly been broken last time, what if they tried again, really tried as Emily suggested and they still failed? She didn't know how she'd be able to survive then.

"Don't be too afraid to try, Elizabeth," Emily encouraged her. "What kind of life will you have if you are so afraid of trying, that you spend the rest of your life hiding?"

Standing, Emily then knelt before Elizabeth and placed her hands on her friend's knees. "Think about what I said. I want both you and Jason to be happy, and I now understand that you need each other in order to be. Jason seems to have stopped hiding his feelings; he seems to have stopped running if he kissed you. Now the question is, are you going to take the same chance he did?"

Straightening once more, Emily leaned forward and kissed Elizabeth's forehead, then let herself out of the apartment. The confused and scared brunette continued to sit there, worrying her lower lip and thinking about what her friend had said. Jason may have kissed her, but had he really stopped fighting his feelings, or had he merely been caught up in the moment? He did ask her to stay, to talk to him, but she just ignored him and ran. As much as she would love him to come to her apartment and really tell her how he felt, she didn't expect him to. He had made a move, and she rejected him, why would he put himself out there again and come to her.

No, she knew that the ball was most definitely in her court and if she and Jason were ever going to truly work things out, she would have to go to him. But could she let go of her fear? Could she trust enough in the two of them, or would she just continue to hide out like Emily accused her of doing?

She really wished she could go back and repeat the last 24 hours. The only problem was, she wasn't sure if she'd change Jason kissing her, or her response to it. And until she could figure that out, she knew that if she went to go see him, she'd only make a bigger mess of things and hurt the both of them even further.

Part 32

Two days after Emily left her apartment, Elizabeth sat in a cab parked in front of Harborview Towers. Her bottom lip was red and swollen and she was certain she'd taste blood soon if she didn't stop torturing it, but she kept on chewing. It was a hard thing to prepare to face one of your biggest fears.

"Hey lady, youse can sit here all day for all I care," the cabby said, calling her attention to the burly man in the front seat, "but you are aware the meter is runnin', right?"

She nodded, the motion jerky with her nerves, and then reached into her wallet, the folded money easily telling her which denomination she was pulling out, and handed a twenty across the seat. "Keep the change," she told him. "For all your troubles."

Then, taking a deep breath, she grasped the handle and pulled it, allowing the door to swing free. Stepping out before she could lose her courage, she flashed a smile to the guard who stepped towards the lingering car, and then headed straight for the double doors that would lead her to the lobby. The guard quickly scurried back to his post as doorman and opened the glass doors for her, giving her a brief smile before his stoic mask descended once again. The guard inside the lobby, his suit coat not buttoned to allow him easy access to the gun she knew was strapped to his shoulder, tipped his head in her direction as she crossed the marble tile and pressed the button for the elevator. Once she was inside, she let out a shaky breath and clasped her hands in front of her to stop them from trembling as the car ascended towards her destination.

As she watched the numbers slowly blink with each floor they passed, she inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth to calm the swarm of snakes that had awoken in her stomach. She had to keep the calmness that had descended on her this morning as she finally figured out what she was going to do and what she was going to say to Jason. If she let her nerves overtake her, she knew she'd just end up stammering and butchering her way through the encounter. With a soft ding, the elevator signaled her arrival on the penthouse level and she straightened her shoulders as she stepped out.

Max had moved forward when the car arrived and he relaxed when he saw it was her. She smiled tremulously at him, nervous about encountering one of Jason's friends after her behavior towards him, but told herself not to back down. "Good morning, Max."

"Morning, Miss Webber," he said, his expression slightly grim. Well, that was to be expected, she had bolted out of his boss's house and Max was one of the few guards who would be close enough to know how that had affected Jason. It was only natural he'd be wary about what this encounter might bring.

Elizabeth turned towards Jason's door, but the guard's voice caused her to stop. "He's not in there, Miss Webber."

Shoulders drooping, she turned back to face Max and said, "Oh. Is he meeting with Sonny? I'll...I can wait if you don't think it would be long. Or I'll...I..."

Her courage began to fail her and she forced herself to say, "I can just come back another time. Don't...never mind, I know you'll tell Jason I was here. Just tell him that I...that I'll come back when he's not busy."

Sympathy spread out over the Italian's face and he closed the distance between them. "He's not at Sonny's either, Miss Webber."

Fear began to clutch her insides, but she told herself to squash it down. "Is...is he at Jake's? He...he shouldn't be climbing those narrow stairs with his crutches."

"He's not at Jake's," Max shook his head.

"A...a safe house?" she asked, moisture threatening to fill her eyes as her heart began to whisper to her what she hoped wasn't true.

"He's out of town," the guard said, confirming her worst fears. Jason was gone. He'd left.

"Oh," was all she was able to say as Max's form swam before her eyes. She turned, hoping the elevator was still at their level, but stumbled into the small decorative table in the foyer. Max reached out to steady her, and a sob tore through her throat at the man's touch.

"It's okay, Miss Webber," he said softly, a handkerchief materializing before her.

"No, it's not," she shook her head, knowing he wouldn't understand. She'd done it again. She'd driven Jason out of town. She rejected him, and he left. Without saying goodbye. She'd hurt him so badly that he'd left rather than stay where he knew he wasn't wanted.

Just like last time, it wasn't true. She did want him, but this time, she was coming to tell him that. She'd woken up this morning; intent on going to Jason's and apologizing her heart out before groveling at his feet to please tell her that it wasn't too late, that she hadn't ruined them. That he still felt the same way the night he kissed her. Even if he hadn't said anything, she had felt everything he wanted her to know. He loved her just like she loved him. She was going to admit it to him, tell him exactly how she felt, ask him if they had a chance. And now he was gone. She'd lost him. Again.

Shaking off Max's hold, she had to get out of there. She wanted to curl up in a ball and just die, but she couldn't do that here. It was going to be bad enough when Max gave Jason the report her coming to the penthouse and then crying, she didn't want to completely lose control in front of the man. The guard tried to stop her, steady her on her feet before he released her, but she wouldn't let him. She surged forward, desperate to get away, and ran into the same table, this time sending both of them crashing to the ground.

"Max?"

Sonny's door had opened, and the older man stepped out into the hall, his silk shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows as he'd obviously been sitting at his desk working.

Max looked up from where he was crouched by Elizabeth, trying to help her up and said, "I told her that Jason was out of town."

She shot to her feet, wanting nothing more than to get away from the man she'd once again taken Jason from, and backed towards the elevator. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Elizabeth," Sonny said softly, coming towards her, his face dripping with pity. "I don't care about the table. Are you hurt?"

She was dying, but she didn't think that's what Sonny was asking, nor would he care about. Shaking her head, she tried to evade him, but Sonny was stronger and firmer in his resolve and he took her arm, pulling her close to him as he led them both back to his penthouse. Max closed the door behind them, and Sonny guided her across the living room to the couch, easing her down onto it and reaching for her wrist she was cradling in front of her. She flinched when he rotated it, but didn't cry out, she wasn't sure she could make a sound in her numb shock.

The older man stood, disappearing to the wet bar for a moment, and when he came back, he placed his handkerchief filled with ice on her wrist, before handing her a glass filled with amber liquid. "Here, take a sip of this, Elizabeth," he said gently as he brushed the hair back from her face. "It's alright."

"No," she whimpered, unable to stop herself. "He's gone. Jason's gone."

"Yes," he said and she folded forward, burying her face in her knees.

"I drove him away again. I'm so sorry, Sonny. I didn't mean to...I really didn't."

"You didn't make him leave, Elizabeth," he tried to console her as he swept his hand over her back.

"You don't have to lie," she said, her voice muffled by her skirt. "I...I hurt him. I didn't mean to. I never mean to. But I do it anyways. I...I came to apologize to him today, to tell him I was so sorry. It's April all over again."

"Elizabeth, listen to me," Sonny insisted, gently tugging on her shoulders to make her sit up and face him. "You did not run Jason out of town. I made him go."

She frowned at him, wondering if the older man hated her that much for hurting his best friend. When she sucked in a breath and went to open her mouth, Sonny placed his finger over her lips to silence her. "Our manager at the casino called and said there was a fire in one of the gaming rooms, along with a...few other things. One of us needed to go down there and Jason was torn. He...I won't lie and say he hasn't been a bit down since you left, but he was reluctant to go. And with his leg, he said he'd stay here with the boys, but I pulled the trump card of being the boss and sent him down there. I knew he needed a distraction, other than my children."

If that was supposed to make her feel better, it didn't work. To know that she'd made Jason want to hole up in his penthouse, not do his job, to be distracted and unavailable to Sonny...she hated herself for doing that do him. "I'm sorry, Sonny," she once again said.

The older man gave her a warm, sympathetic smile and shook his head. "It's okay to be frightened, Elizabeth."

"No, it's not. I ran from him, Sonny. I hurt him. He didn't deserve that, he just...he..."

"He spooked you," he supplied.

She nodded, and then whispered, her cheeks heating with a blush. "I love him. I just...I never thought he could love someone like me and when he...it surprised me and my first instinct was to run. But I..."

"You came here today to talk to him," Sonny surmised. "And found out he wasn't here."

She nodded, straightening and wiping the tears off her cheeks. Now that she knew Jason hadn't run from her, but that Sonny had sent him out of town, she felt a little better. Hopefully he wasn't intending to disappear like the last time, but somehow, that tiny knowledge that she hadn't sent him fleeing caused hope to spark inside her. Yet, she had to ask, "Is...is he coming back?"

"He is," he said with such surety that warmed her and she didn't even think about doubting.

Resolved, she firmed her back and looked at Sonny with pure determination. "Then I'll wait. As long as he's coming back, then I'll wait. I'll be here when he gets home. But if you hear that he's planning on running, on not coming back...you better tell me, Sonny. Because then I will have no choice but to follow him."

"I don't doubt you would," the older man chuckled. "But I don't think that will be necessary."

"It better not be," she said. "Because I don't intend to lose him, Sonny. I...I was miserable, and when I decided to come here, I stopped being miserable. That's how I knew it was right."

"Are you sure you won't be miserable while you wait?" Sonny asked, a small quirk at the corner of his mouth.

"I might be, but as long as I know he's coming back, I'll make it."

Leaning back slightly, he ran his hand over his mouth, his eyes searching hers. "No, that won't do at all."

"Sonny?"

"There's no point to make either of you wait. How soon can you pack a bag?"

In all seriousness she replied, "Why wait that long?"

Part 33

Jason Morgan was an unhappy man.

A fire in part of their casino, deliberately set by a two-bit hood hoping to horn in on his and Sonny's territory, was merely the least of his problems. The hood had been found, he was too dumb to be able to hide out for long, and a message had been given. Complete with brass knuckles and broken teeth. The hood's, not Jason's. It hadn't mattered that Jason had a cast on, the man was too much of an idiot to be a problem for a less-mobile enforcer. Near the end of the beating, the coward had been begging for Jason to kill him, but that wasn't the plan. The plan was to leave him alive, as a message to anyone who thought about coming after Sonny's territory. And if he was stupid enough to try something like this again, then he'd be shot as a further message for their rivals.

Now, Jason just had to deal with the tedious task of refurbishing the casino. Their crews were working around the clock, because casinos never sleep, to take care of the damage. New carpet had been laid today, the walls had been repainted yesterday, and tomorrow the new craps tables would begin to arrive. The room should be fixed and back open for business by the end of the week. Sonny would be pleased.

They hadn't spoken since Jason left, not that there'd been any reason to. Sonny trusted Jason to take care of business on the island, and Jason really didn't have a desire to speak to anyone back home. He didn't want to hear from anyone who might inadvertently ask him about Elizabeth, or mention anything about her. He'd come down here as a way to hopefully escape his demons, but they'd dutifully followed behind. Her haunted eyes, her broken voice, and most especially the sight of her running out his door, were always there, ready to invade his mind and sanity whenever he slowed down long enough to think.

He'd finally realized that trying to deny his attraction to Elizabeth was like trying to empty the harbor with a teaspoon. He couldn't be just her friend, he wanted more. He wanted to give her more, he wanted to be more; and instead he'd ended up with nothing. She ran, and then continued to hide by sending Emily to get her belongings. As tempting as the thought was to keep on traveling and not go back to Port Charles when this job was over, he knew he couldn't do that. Sonny needed him there, and he couldn't abandon his friend. He'd just have to figure out a way to live in a town where he knew Elizabeth didn't want him. Again.

Wearily, Jason climbed onboard the private elevator, and leaned against the sleek, mahogany paneled walls as it whisked him up to his room. The worst part of this trip was that he had too much time to think. He could only do so much with the reconstruction efforts. The foreman was efficient, and Jason knew he didn't need to make the man uneasy by hovering around. Even just sitting in the room, watching the men work was making them nervous, and nervous workers weren't efficient workers. So, Jason prowled the back rooms of the casinos, going over the books, reading the security logs, and trying to distract himself with work. He couldn't go down to the beach, he couldn't swim, and he'd never particularly liked just riding around in a speed boat. His cast wasn't just keeping him from riding his motorcycle; it was keeping him from being able to enjoy his usual pursuits while down here. Pursuits that would have helped chase the thoughts and memories of Elizabeth away.

The petite brunette was once again the cause of his sleepless nights. She had invaded his senses, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget her. Even staying in the casino as opposed to the cabana, where he'd stayed with Courtney when he brought her here after she hit Elizabeth, didn't change things. He'd never stayed in the casino, didn't like the buzz of energy and people that drifted up no matter how high and how well insulated the private floor was. The ocean was too far away, the sounds too muted, but he knew that he couldn't stay in the cabana. Even though he'd gone there and felt nothing for Courtney, his feelings for Elizabeth were too strong to allow him to remain.

When the elevator reached the top floor, Jason was surprised to see a guard positioned on the floor. He always had the floor to himself, and the gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans at the small of his back negated the need for an armed guard for himself. No, this guard was for someone else, Jason realized as his eyes narrowed slightly.

He would have heard if Sonny was planning on coming down here. But given the current situation, he knew that Sonny would be staying home, not wanting to leave Morgan behind, and certainly not up for traveling with the infant. One of the other guards wouldn't need a guard stationed in the hallway. Whoever was here was being treated as a guest, and protected. He couldn't think of who that could be, because he didn't dare hope for the person he wanted.

"Mr. Morgan," the guard said as Jason approached him.

"Raul," he acknowledged the man. "What's going on?"

"There is a visitor," the man said, stating the obvious. "Mr. Corinthos called and said she would be coming to see you. She's in the private sitting room."

"Thanks," he murmured to the guard.

Maybe Emily had come down to spend time with him. Even as he thought that, he knew he was wrong. The only person that Sonny would send down to their private island, now, during a time of territorial unrest, would be Elizabeth. But why? What did the older man hope to accomplish? Did he call Elizabeth and plan this, thinking he would be helping Jason, or did Elizabeth ask him to send her here?

Eying the room where he knew Elizabeth was waiting for him, Jason shook his head, then turned and headed for his bedroom. He wasn't trying to hurt her by avoiding her, but he needed a few moments to collect himself before he saw her. The pain of their last encounter was too fresh, and he didn't want to lash out at her, inflicting his anger on her for purely selfish reasons. She didn't deserve it, no matter how hurt he'd been.

Half an hour later after Jason had showered and changed, he stepped back out into the hall. Raul was still in the hallway, silent and stoic, his eyes betraying the only indication that he knew Jason was there. Adjusting his crutches, and then propelling himself forward, he stopped before the guard. "Is she still in there?"

The Latino nodded, and opened the door for his boss, then quietly stepped aside. Jason maneuvered himself into the room, and stopped a few feet from the door. He knew that Elizabeth had to have heard him, but she didn't give any indication. She was sitting on a chair, just out on the balcony, her feet tucked up underneath her. Gazing out into the night, she didn't seem to be aware of the curtain billowing around her, or that he was staring at her, drinking in her beauty.

"When Sonny sent me here the first time," she said so softly Jason had to strain to hear her, "I never saw the casino. After all, I was supposed to be dead; it wouldn't do for too many people to see me, even if this was Sonny's private resort."

He frowned, her words not making any sense. When had she been down here before? The lump in his throat that had prevented him from speaking when he first entered now dissolved into confusion. Before he could speak, though, she continued on, her voice still soft and distant. "The casino's nice, but I figured you'd be down in one of the cabanas along the beach, closer to the ocean."

His frowned deepened and he took a couple of steps towards her. Her heavy sigh filled the room, and caused him to stop, regarding her curiously. "I knew when Sonny sent me down here, that this wasn't going to be easy. I hurt you, I know that Jason."

She darted a quick glance at him, but then quickly looked away. "I was prepared to do anything, say anything in an attempt to apologize to you, to make it up to you. I am sorry."

This time her gaze lingered a little longer on him, but it once again retreated to the inky darkness off the balcony. "You scared me, and you confused me. When I couldn't see...I'd convinced myself that no matter what I felt, you didn't need someone who was broken like me. Someone who couldn't see, that you'd always have to worry about protecting from your enemies. I mean, what could be a bigger liability than a blind woman?"

She let out a breath and shook her head. "And then I convinced myself that the feelings were all just one-sided. Of course I fall in love with you again, you were the person who helped me, and I could talk to you like I'd been able to before...maybe I was just confusing the past with the present. It didn't mean that you were, or that you felt the same way. I would be content to just be your friend, no matter what else I felt."

The lump had reformed in his throat, stealing his breath away. She loved him? She'd had feelings for him?

"But when you kissed me," she said, and looked back at him, even if she couldn't keep her eyes on him for longer than a couple of seconds. "I felt everything. I felt your fear, your confusion, but most of all, I felt your love. And it scared me, and it confused me; you felt the same way I did. Only you were braver than me. Because you were willing to take that chance, and I wasn't ready yet to let go of my fear, to risk trying again."

"Elizabeth."

"I know that it's too late," she said in a rush, as if almost afraid to let him speak. "I heard you talk to the guard, and I heard you leave...I really believed you wouldn't even come in here."

"Elizabeth," he tried again, taking a few more steps toward her.

"I...I'll go, Jason," she said, standing nervously and scooting away from his advance. "I know that I hurt you too badly...and I know you don't want me here..."

He knew if he had any chance of getting to her, he needed to do something drastic. So, he dropped his crutches, and taking advantage of her surprise at his action, he walked - unaided - towards her. Thankfully, he only had to take a few steps before he was able to reach her, grasping her forcefully. Her startled eyes flew to meet his, and she sucked in a breath.

"Where did you ever get that idea?" he asked. Then he didn't give her a chance to speak as he covered her mouth and kissed her.

Part 34

A warm hand in the middle of Elizabeth's back began to tickle the edge of her consciousness. Jason's lips were still moving deliciously over her own, detouring at times to taste the skin of her neck, and so she'd been mildly surprised to feel the warmth of his hand spanning her back. When it suddenly became clearer to her befuddled mind that it wasn't impeded by her shirt, because her shirt was no longer on, she told herself that she needed to take charge of the situation.

"Jason."

An incoherent mumble was the only sound he made, and as he found a particularly sensitive section of her neck, she nearly forgot what she was trying to say. "Jason. Jason...stop."

His actions slowed, then stilled altogether and he didn't release her from his hold as he looked up at her. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him, then glanced down briefly and blinked in surprise. He was no longer wearing his shirt either. "We...we need to slow down."

His eyes, which had been gazing at her with a delightful clouded expression, slowly regained their focus. She knew the moment he realized their relative state of undress because he stiffened, and then stepped back. Suddenly cold, and feeling very exposed, she looked around frantically for shirt. She found Jason's, several feet to the right of where they'd been standing and she grabbed it, along with the crutches he'd dropped earlier and turned to hand them to him. His eyes darkened, and she was strongly tempted to clutch Jason's shirt to her chest to cover up her purple lace bra, but instead all but flung the objects at him and quickly turned her back. Thankfully she spied her shirt, and desperately retrieved it, not turning around to face him until she had tugged it back into place and had taken several deep breaths.

She turned to look at him, knowing her cheeks were flush with both desire and embarrassment and shakily tucked her hair behind her ear. Before she could speak, Jason sighed and said, "Elizabeth, I'm-"

"Don't," she shook her head, commanding her feet to move, bringing her closer to him. She refused to let them dissolve into embarrassment and distance, derailing the progress they'd made this evening. "Don't apologize for something you're not sorry for."

When he shook his head and looked like he was going to speak, she effectively stopped him once more. "I'm not sorry either. I just...I just think it's a little too soon."

He nodded his acceptance and agreement of her statement, and she found herself able to relax and breathe once more. "Let's sit down, okay?" she asked, wanting him to get off his leg. It would also make the necessary conversation easier if they weren't standing around awkwardly.

Once they were seated, Elizabeth turned, curling her legs underneath her, her knees resting on Jason's thigh. She reached out, taking his hand in hers and for a moment just stared at it, marveling over everything that had taken place. She could touch him, without fear of offending him, or embarrassing herself over showing emotions she had once believed he didn't share with her. It had been so long since they'd been this at ease with other, this relaxed and comfortable. It reminded her of the night she sat in his penthouse and admitted to him that she chose him over Zander and wanted to try a relationship. Despite the way that turned out, she still held fond memories of that moment. The way that Jason had looked at her, gently caressing her cheek, the look in his eyes and the husky tenor his voice had taken when he admitted he wanted to be with her as well.

Now, all these months later, they were once again sitting on a sofa, their hands entwined together. She was struck by how large his were in comparison to hers, the rough feel of his skin, the calluses caused by the work he did. She knew that his hands were rough both from the time he put in at the warehouse, but also from the jobs he did for Sonny...and she didn't care. What he did wasn't who he was to her. She would worry about him, and she would always hope that every time he walked out the door he would return, but she wouldn't let it keep her from what she wanted. She would trust in him to know what he was doing, to not take unnecessary risks, and hope that with the prospect of him knowing she cared for him and was waiting for him, he would guard himself a little better.

Looking up, she found Jason watching her, a mixture of awe and delight showing on his face. He raised his own eyes from their hands and she felt the full force of his gaze when they met hers. "I love you," she said, her voice soft yet strong. She delighted being able to say that to him, knowing that he wouldn't be scared off by her admission.

Jason swallowed, and then raised his free hand to gently brush the backs of his knuckles along her jaw. "I love you, Elizabeth."

Tears clouded her vision, her joy and relief washing over her as she heard him finally say out loud what she knew he felt, but still wanted to hear. She blinked rapidly, but his fingertips were already there, wiping away the few tears that had escaped. The admission of their feelings was still so new to them, that their movements were slow, almost dreamlike as if they were afraid of moving too quickly and shattering the moment they had created. Yet, Elizabeth knew that there were things they needed to say. They needed to be said so that they could move forward, not weighted down by the past.

She leaned into his touch, and smiled up at him. "I'm sorry for running."

He shook his head and she knew he would absolve her, but she didn't want that from him. She knew she had his forgiveness, but he needed to see her penitence, to understand and not just shuffle it to the side. She brought her finger to his lips, and said, "Let me say this, Jason."

Surprised at her insistence, he nodded and she took a deep breath. "I am sorry that I hurt you. Both when I ran, and also for sending Emily to your place to get my clothes. I...I was surprised and I was scared. But I'm not anymore. I know that you love me. That night...I couldn't believe that you would. That after everything that happened to us, that you could still possibly want someone like me. It wasn't fair to you what I did, and I don't want you to pretend that everything is better."

"It is better, Elizabeth," he insisted. "Yes, it hurt, but I also realized that you needed the words. You once told me that you didn't know how I felt about you because I never spoke clearly, never answered your questions directly. I know that you need to hear the words."

She nodded, her eyes shimmering again with liquid emotion.

"I didn't tell you how I felt, because I was scared too," he admitted. "I can see how me suddenly kissing you would be confusing. Was it just the moment, was there something more? That's why I asked you to stay."

"I'm sorry I didn't," she said, feeling foolish for all the hurt she'd given to both of them. If she'd only been willing to take a chance, they could have saved themselves several days of uncertainty and pain.

"Next time, remember that," he said, the slight upturn at the corner of his mouth lightening the mood enough so that they didn't descend into maudlin. "I know we promised to try before, but this time...this time I mean it. I'm not going to hide from you, and I won't let you push me away."

"I promise I won't overreact, that I'll give you a chance to explain," she smiled at him.

"When we get back, it's going to be different," he told her. "I'll take you out on dates."

"I'm not asking you to be someone that you're not," Elizabeth told him with a shake of your head. "I don't want you to think that you have to act a certain way…I love you the way you are. I'm not trying to change you."

"I know," Jason smiled. "But you deserve this. I...I would like it if you stayed at the penthouse. Security wise, it's the easiest. I know that you don't really like the guards, but…but people are going to know that you were living there, they're going to know that you're my girlfriend, I want to keep you safe. I'm not trying to stifle you."

"I know," she said, pulling back slightly.

"So, already having the guards in the building makes things easier. But," he paused, dropping his gaze to where his thumb began to sweep over her knuckles, "most of all, I also want you there because I like having you there. I like walking through the door and seeing you there, or at least the evidence that you're somewhere in my home. When the cast comes off, I won't be around as much as I am now. There may be nights that I'm away, or that I'll come home late, but knowing that you're there... But I'll understand if you want to go back to your apartment."

Elizabeth licked her lips, her throat thick. It wasn't just for ease of security, for convenience that Jason wanted her to stay. He wanted her to stay in his penthouse because he wanted her there, yet he was leaving the choice up to her. Briefly, she weighed the options and in the end, it wasn't really a contest. She wasn't making her decision because she was afraid if she wasn't there Jason would forget about her, she made her decision because she wanted the same thing Jason did. She liked being at his penthouse, she liked knowing that he would be coming back to her, and she liked being able to be there for him.

"I'll stay," she said, when she finally got her vocal cords to obey her brain. "I like your penthouse, I like the simplicity of it, but most of all, I like that you're there. No matter what your place looked like, as long as you're there that's all I need. I hardly ever stayed in my apartment, so giving it up isn't hard to do. I just have one condition."

"I'll still take you out on dates," he smiled at her. "Just because we're living together doesn't mean I don't want to do this right."

"That wasn't what I was going to say," she shook her head. "But I like that. What...I...I think that I should keep my room."

She blushed and looked away briefly. "I don't know that either one of us is honestly ready, and I especially don't want to rush into this."

Twisting her lips to the side, remembering her past experiences with Zander and Ric, she didn't want to rush sleeping with Jason. She wanted their first time to be special, not in anger over Lucky and Sarah, or desperate because they were reunited after a misunderstanding, or even because it was expected. She wanted it to be spontaneous, to be natural, to be right for them. And if she moved into his bedroom right away...it wouldn't be.

"I don't sleep with people on the first date," she said with a teasing smile, hoping to keep the mood light and not have disappointment between them.

"Alright," he agreed, bringing his hand up to linger on her cheek before sliding through her hair. It hooked around the back of her neck and he used his hold to tug her closer, brushing his lips across hers. "But what about the second date?"

Part 35

Jason Morgan was a romantic. If the PCPD ever suspected, they would never believe it. Elizabeth hadn't believed it at first. Because she never understood, through her hurt and anger, Jason's relationship with Courtney, she always figured that whatever Jason had done for the blonde who blinded her was because she wanted it, or because Carly had told him what to do. After all, she'd once overheard the two women talking about how Courtney wanted him to do something and Carly gave her tips on how to get exactly what she wanted because Jason would never think of it on his own.

They were wrong. Jason was capable of thinking on his own, and he came up with some beautiful things. Or maybe it was because she was merely happy to spend whatever time she could with him, and she didn't care for fancy, outrageous things. She didn't need to fly off to a foreign country to watch the sun rise, she didn't need to be whisked off to New York City to get into a sold out play, and she didn't even need to be taken out in a limo to the best restaurant in Port Charles. All she needed was Jason.

It began when they were down on the island. Jason asked if she wanted to go back, and she told him that unless he was on the plane beside her, she wasn't going anywhere. Since he had to oversee the repair of the casino that meant they weren't leaving. And that was perfectly fine with her. They didn't dress up and go down the casino, they borrowed one of the hotel's cars and Jason proved that maybe he is just a little crazy as he navigated them to some out of the way spots on the island. Letting her drive. Sure, it wasn't the bike, but it was kinda fun being in charge. Of course, she had to secretly admit she would be glad when Jason got his cast off and he would be allowed to drive again, whatever the vehicle.

He told her the history of places, introduced her to the locals and their cuisine, and they enjoyed just sitting on the balcony of the hotel, listening to the waves as Jason pointed out the stars and the different constellations. They had their first date, and beyond, on the island, but Elizabeth still slept in her room, alone, every night. She wanted it that way, and Jason didn't pressure her. She wanted to get back to Port Charles and deal with life in the real world, where her well-meaning friends wouldn't be happy she was ignoring their reactions about dating Jason, and he would have to find the balance between his job and her. She wanted to be back in that environment before taking the next step.

When they finally did arrive back at Port Charles, things happened like she'd figured they would. Her family and friends couldn't believe that she was moving in with Jason, of her own choice, to pursue a relationship with him. Only Emily was truly excited for them, and she helped run interference when Lucky and Nikolas got a little overbearing. Jason got his cast off, and began doing more things away from home. He was down at the warehouse more, and he had other things to take care of. But he would call when he could to reassure her, and they continued to go out on dates. Bike rides, trips to Jakes, and even a few surprises. They passed their second date in Port Charles, but Jason never pressured her. He respected her need to feel comfortable, even though she knew it had to be hard on him saying goodnight to her in the hallway.

The first time he had to stay out all night Elizabeth paced the penthouse until nearly dawn when she finally fell asleep exhausted on the couch. This was the first time he hadn't been able to call, couldn't tell her how long he might be, and even though Sonny did his best to reassure her, by the second night, she was more than just a little worried. She knew she would always worry for Jason's safety, she loved him, and she couldn't help worrying. But she didn't worry about their relationship. She knew he wasn't ignoring her, she knew that even if there was something going on that he couldn't tell her about he wouldn't avoid her, she never once doubted that he loved her and wanted to be with her. Her worry wasn't about being abandoned and left alone, it was solely for him and the life she knew was dangerous yet wouldn't think of asking him to leave behind.

When he came home, tired, exhausted, and whole, the joy he had at seeing her there waiting was clear on his face. She didn't bombard him with questions, didn't smother him with her concerns, she simply held him close and told him she loved him and she was glad to see him again. Then she told him to go shower and get some rest. If he was surprised to see her lying in his bed under the covers when he came out, his hair still damp and his body clearly fatigued, he didn't show it. He merely tipped his head to the side in question, but complied when she told him he needed to sleep. His body succumbed within seconds, and she curled up beside him, content and able to sleep now in the knowledge that he was there. When they woke up hours later, they didn't leave the bed even though they were hungry; something more important was happening between them. The next day, Elizabeth moved out of the guest bedroom and into his.

She never regretted waiting, and she didn't regret loving him. No matter who in Port Charles told her that she deserved better, she would simply smile and shake her head while telling them, "I deserve to be happy, and that's with Jason."

No matter who tried to tell her that he was too dangerous, she ignored them. When the Ruiz family came to town, brought in by Alcazar to try and unseat Sonny, she was secure enough in her love for Jason to accept the extra guards he assigned her and to respect him enough to stay at the penthouse. He wasn't trying to stifle her, he was trying to protect her so that he could do his job and keep Sonny and his family safe. And when Manny Ruiz breeched security in the building and Sonny came to her and told her to take the boys to the island, she packed the quickest bag of her life and went without needing to talk to Jason. She knew he would want her safe, and he would want Michael and Morgan protected. He was finally able to call two days later and she could hear the love and gratitude in his voice as they talked about Michael swimming and Morgan beginning to crawl.

When the threat had been eliminated, Jason joined her down on the island, and then surprised her with a trip to Italy. A thank you gift from Sonny for watching out for his boys. She finally saw that the light was different in Italy, and even though she now wore glasses to clear up the lingering problems with her vision, she was glad simply to be able to see it. And of course, she finally got her dream of seeing it with Jason. Because she couldn't envision seeing Italy with anybody else.

They stayed for two months, and the night before they left, Jason surprised her once again by proposing to her under the stars. He told her that he knew she would always stand beside him, but he loved her and wanted to do right by her. He didn't want people to say she was just his girlfriend, or worse, his mistress; he wanted people to call her his wife. And some day he hoped to be able to call her the mother of his children. That night they began trying for a baby.

They married a month after returning from Italy, a quiet, simple ceremony at the church with Father Coates presiding. They invited only a few family and friends, even less attended, but it didn't matter to them. They were now married, making official what had been in their hearts for months. Edward Quartermaine tried only once to use her to bring Jason back into the fold, she told him that he wasn't a part of her family and if he ever bothered her again she would let the guards do a whole lot more than just throw him out of the building. Her family was Jason, and anyone who didn't understand that he was the most important person to her simply didn't have a place in her life. Her grandmother finally realized that, and stopped disparaging her choice, and Elizabeth stopped ignoring her calls.

Life was by no means perfect, but it was the life she wanted, and the life she refused to give up. Jason refused to let her walk away when she was angry, and she refused to let him shut her out. Almost a year had passed since she'd woken up in the hospital, alone, afraid and unable to see. She'd been down the rabbit's hole and back again, and even though she never thought it would happen, she finally found contentment in her life. She and Jason had found their way back to each other, and this time they made it work. Maybe she had never made it back from Wonderland, but if that was the case, she didn't care at all.

The End