Thank you to all who replied on the first chapter. Until I get Worlds On Fire done, I'll be alternating the two, which means each story gets updated about once a month. I apologize for the slowness which will be with updates, but I just can't crank out the stories like I used to. Life has gotten too busy. So those that will stick with this slow process, I am very grateful to you.

In the first chapter, Sonny has decided Jason must die for his disloyalty in taking the organization time and again because he didn't like what Sonny was doing. Claudia overheard and was pleased becuase she knows without Jason around looking for the person behind Michael's shooting, she has a better chance of survival. Ric wants Jason out of the way because he's an impediment to Ric truly being Sonny's right hand man and brother. And Jason was shocked that people thought he was back together with Sam and told Sonny that there was no way he was going there again. Sonny just thinks it'll be fun to torment the guy before he dies...'cause he's a swell guy that way.

And that's what happened last week on Glee. I mean...now you're all caught up.


Back Chapter -Here-





Chapter 2

Jason knocked on the brightly colored door and waited. It wasn’t long before Carly threw it open enthusiastically and grabbed his arm to pull him inside.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he sat down on the couch where she’d dragged him to. “You said it was urgent; I got here as soon as I could.”

“I need your opinion,” she said as she sat down beside him. “I need to know if I’m doing the right thing, Jason.”

He tipped his head and asked, “About what?”

“Am I doing the right thing with Michael?” she demanded of him desperately.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Looking at her he asked in exasperation. “You called me over for this? You made it sound like there was a crisis, Carly. I thought something was wrong.”

“There is something wrong, Jason,” Carly insisted. “You’re the only one I can talk to about this. You’re the only one who can help me.”

“Carly,” he sighed once again with a shake of his head. “Why do you do this? You have a husband you talk to; you should talk to him. Jax loves you and Michael and he would talk to you. You could talk to Sonny-”

“No, I can’t,” she insisted angrily. “Sonny doesn’t understand this. He’s so filled with guilt about what happened to Michael that he can’t function. I-I know I wasn’t fair to him at first, but he refuses to make decisions or do anything about Michael. He leaves everything to me and sometimes I wonder, am I making the right decision? Am I truly doing what’s best or am I letting my emotions rule me? Sometimes I need to talk to someone and have them talk to me and not just placate or leave every decision up to me. How am I knowing if I’m really doing the right thing?”

Jason swallowed at her words, at the uncertainty that colored her voice. It touched a part of him because it was an echo of the many times Elizabeth would express doubts and ask him to help make decisions. He would always say she had the most to lose and so he would push it back on her, but the reality was he was frozen just as much as Sonny. How could he be responsible for the hurt rained down on innocent lives?

“Why can’t you talk with Jax?” he asked, fighting his feelings and trying to redirect her. “He’s your husband; he would talk with you and help you make sense of things.”

“But he doesn’t understand,” she said plaintively. “He loves me and my children, but he has never liked Sonny or this life. He doesn’t always see clearly in these times. He thinks I’m getting stuck in the past as much as Sonny refuses to even acknowledge it. He thinks we should focus on Morgan, on our family and the baby, and do the best we can for Michael, but he doesn’t look into new procedures or go to visit Michael as much as I do. Should he have to be stuck in a bed forever if there’s something we can do to help him?”

“The operation is risky,” Jason breathed out.

“So we shouldn’t even try?” she demanded of him. “We should let fear trap us and never let us move forward?”

“How will you feel if the operation doesn’t work?” he asked wearily. “What if he doesn’t wake up, or is even worse? What if the procedure kills him? Will you be able to live with that?”

“And what if it works?” she asked, grabbing his arm. Her hand convulsed around it tightly. “What if it works and he could wake up and recover and be back with us? What if it could happen and it doesn’t because we’re too afraid to take that chance? How are we supposed to live with ourselves wondering what could have been but we threw it away because we were too scared to do anything? We wouldn’t be living; we’d just be pretending while we stuck our head in the sand.”

His friend paused for a moment and her hand twitched. “You should understand how hard this is… I know what you’ve given up, Jason.”

“Carly,” he rasped out with a shake of his head. She couldn’t bring up Jake and compare their situations. It was because of Michael that he’d walked away from his own son.

“I know how much you love Michael and I know how hard it was when he wasn’t your son anymore. You try to act like you’re okay just being his uncle, but I know how hard it is each time you see him. We could be making this decision together-”

She stopped when he stood up abruptly and glared at her. “You think this is just about Michael? That he’s the only child I’ve given up?”

Her eyes widened and she stood up as well, her hand covering her mouth. “Jason…I didn’t mean…of course you would think about…I know how hurt you were when you gave up Jake.”

“At least you can remember his name,” he said. “And he’s why I can’t help you make this decision. I’ll support you in whatever you decide, but I can’t make the choice for you. I’m not his father…I can’t even be one to my own son. So stop trying to make me a bigger part of your children’s lives than I already am.”

“You’re my friend,” she insisted.

“I am,” he told her, “but I’m not your husband or the father of your children so stop relying on me for everything. Rely on your husband because I have things I need to do to protect everybody.”

He turned for the door and she called after him. “I’m sorry, Jason. I wasn’t… I just needed your help.”

Letting out a sigh and not entirely concealing his irritation he said, “Well I have things I need to do.”

“I’m going to do it,” she declared as he put his hand on the doorknob. “If you won’t talk to me, then I have to follow my gut; I’m going to do it.”

Jason didn’t say anything, he just opened the door and went to his bike. Starting it and releasing the brake, he spun out of the driveway angrily. Why did she do this to him, and why did he let her?

~*~*~


“Elizabeth, could I talk to you for a minute?”

She looked up at Patrick as he stood on the other side of the nurses’ station and nodded immediately. “Of course.”

He gestured to the empty waiting area and she followed him. Robin and Epiphany soon joined them and Elizabeth wondered what this meeting was about. Patrick let out a tired breath and ran his hand through his already messy hair.

“Robin knows I’ve been talking with Carly a lot lately about Michael’s condition,” he began and Elizabeth felt her stomach clench as it did whenever a subject got near to Jason. “There’s a new technique we’ve learned about that we think might help Michael. We’ve discussed it with her, given her information to read and she spoke with another doctor as well. She’s decided to go with the surgery for him; I just got off the phone with her.”

Her palms became clammy as Patrick went on, explaining about the procedure and its expectations. He also outlined possible complications and Elizabeth felt her heart ache for Carly; this had to be so hard for the other mother. She had witnessed Carly’s anger and sorrow when Michael had been shot and went into his coma. Now, a year later, there was a procedure that could potentially help him, but it also carried a great risk.

Elizabeth had always worried about Cameron and Jake’s safety when she was with Jason. Even though she trusted Jason and would have gone forward with him, she could also remember her fear. She could remember that heart-stopping moment when she was in the operating room and she saw Cameron on the table instead of Michael. Then Jake had been taken again and nearly died in an explosion. It had been harrowing and that was when she and Jason had decided to part ways, even though they still loved each other and it was a hard decision for them to make.

She had kept her distance from him since that day in the courthouse, even though she was hurting; she felt it was the best for her boys. They would be out of the line of fire, not targeted by Jason’s enemies, so they could grow up to be healthy and happy children. That way she would never have to be in the same position as Carly; a position that no mother should ever have to be in.

It was simply that it was hard for Elizabeth to live with their decision. Jason could still be with Carly and her children, and Elizabeth knew that he would be at the hospital for Michael. This was going to be hard, extremely hard, to see him sit by Carly at Michael’s bedside supporting her and her children while Elizabeth barely had any acknowledgement from him. And she knew she would encounter Jason based on Patrick’s requests.

“I’d like you two to be on Michael’s team,” the doctor said, looking at her and Epiphany. “You helped with his original surgery; I’d like you on this next one. I’d also like you two to be the main nurses on his case, pre and post-op. I don’t want endless nurses shuffling through his room and having to familiarize themselves with his case; this is too important to lose a test result or not know what a change in his vitals means. I know we will have to have other nurses, but, Epiphany, I want you to work this schedule so that you and Elizabeth are the main ones handling his case.”

It was a testament to how important everyone thought of this case when the normally prickly charge nurse merely nodded her agreement instead of arguing with Patrick over the requests he was asking her to make to the schedule she’d already done. “Okay. I’ll take nights, put Elizabeth on days so she can be with her boys and I’ll make sure that we only have one or two other nurses on the case.”

Elizabeth was grateful to her friend and boss for giving her days so that she would be able to put her boys to bed in their rooms at night, but she also dreaded it. During the day she would see Carly, and possibly Jason. She was a professional and she would focus on her patient and provide the best care she could for him, but she couldn’t deny it would be difficult to focus solely on Michael when Jason might be in the room.

But she would do her very best because the patient came first. This boy deserved a good life, and if she could help him recover from all that had happened, then she would do it. Even if it hurt her.

~*~*~


Lucky stepped off the elevator and stalked towards the nurses’ station. Elizabeth had her head bent as she worked on a chart; she was focused on something else and didn’t notice him immediately when he stopped in front of her. When he cleared his throat to get her attention she startled and looked up at him in surprise.

“Lucky. What are you doing here?”

“When you called you didn’t give me a chance to talk,” he said, placing his hands on the counter and leaning towards her.

“So you came all the way down here instead of just calling back, or calling tonight?” she asked him, her eyebrow drifting upward. “I’m at work, Lucky. I’m busy.”

“Work that is now going to include Michael’s case and being his nurse,” he charged her. “What are you thinking, Elizabeth?”

“Thinking?” she shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“Being anywhere near Michael’s case,” he clarified for her pointedly. “I thought you were done getting involved in all that.”

“You think I went to Patrick and asked for this assignment?” Elizabeth asked in a hiss as she came around the counter and dragged him over to the side, away from everyone. “Patrick asked for me to be on his surgical team and to be one of Michael’s nurses because I was in on the first surgery. He wants the same nurses working the case so that it’s less disruptive for Carly and so that we can watch for any changes, no matter how subtle.”

She shook her head and said, “Epiphany redid our schedules for this case. That’s what I told you when I called you. My schedule has changed and that means your time with the boys has changed. I wanted to let you know since you were planning on taking the boys for the next couple of evenings when I was supposed to be on duty.”

“I don’t want you on this case,” he told her insistently. “That way you won’t be around Carly or Sonny-”

“Or Jason,” she cut in and closed her eyes. “Yeah…that’s obvious. But you don’t control me, Lucky, and I’m going to do my job. I like working with Patrick and Robin.”

“I thought we were trying to work on us,” he said, his brows furrowed.

Her eyebrows shot up in response. “What? Lucky, no…no. We’re friends and you’re a wonderful dad to the boys, but…that’s it. You…you were interested in Rebecca not that long ago and now suddenly you think we’re working on us? Why would you think that?”

She shook her head as she took a breath. “Stop doing this, Lucky. Stop trying to make me feel guilty for something I’ve already told you. I’ve got get back to work.”

Then she walked away and didn’t look back and Lucky couldn’t believe it. She would defy him and take this case. Oh, no, they would continue this conversation later.

~*~*~


He looked up when the man sat down across from him and tugged at the sleeves of his lightweight blazer. A hint of some twisted bracelet at his wrist disappeared but he didn’t study it closely. Neither of them wanted to prolong this meeting. With an arch of his brow, he indicated for the other man to speak.

“I hear you’re heading to the States to help someone with a little problem.”

With a slight shrug he said, “I was looking for a change of scenery. The chance to do a little work…seemed like a good opportunity.”

The other man quirked his lips. “Yes, you seem like a very magnanimous person.”

“So why did you contact me?” he asked, lifting a brow while he raised his glass to take a drink.

“I thought I would offer my services to you,” his companion answered.

With a shake of his head he answered, “I work alone. I don’t need to contract out.”

“No, no,” the other man shook his own head. “I wanted to offer my…knowledge about the lay of the land and the people.”

“Oh?” he wondered, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. “What do you know?”

“Quite a few things,” the man across from him replied. “I know the man you’re going to help and the problem you’re going to face.”

Then the man smirked as he leaned forward as well. “I also know something important regarding one of the major players…and a child.”

Raising his brow he asked, “What kind of information? I don’t tolerate anyone who hurts a kid, and I certainly don’t hurt them myself. Anyone who does is the scum the earth and deserves to be punished.”

The other man chuckled and leaned back. “A killer with a conscience; how noble. But that’s not what I was referring to.”

The sandy-haired man then went on to explain the facts about a child that one of the players would desperately like to remain a secret. He listened impassively, even while inside he reeling and deciding how he would best use the information. When the man across from his finished, he arched a brow expectantly.

“Thank you for the information,” was all he said as he reached for his wallet. He took out some money to pay for his drink and placed it on the table as he stood. “It doesn’t change my original objective, but it widens the scope.”

The other man looked baffled, but didn’t say anything or try to stop him as he left. He wouldn’t have stopped anyways; he had a plane to catch to Port Charles. There was a job he needed to do.

Edited 1 time by RTNAdmin1 04/03/10 6:10 PM.