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Jason stepped out of the bathroom, his toothbrush in his
mouth. He
didn’t ask what all the screaming was about, his face
showed his
questions clearly enough.
Carly glanced at him and suddenly became angrier than
before. She was
angry at the feelings she had for him, and angry at the
feelings she had
for her mother. She wanted to hate her mother and
wanted to be in
control with Jason. She wasn’t able to get a grip
on either of those
emotions and it was driving her crazy. She picked
up the telephone this
time, and yanked its cord out of the wall. Lifting
it over her head,
she heaved it over to the other side of the room where
it smashed loudly
against the wall and landed with the telephone book.
“Jesus Christ, Carly!” Jason exclaimed, grabbing hold
of her arms and
pinning them at her sides.
Carly struggled against him, all of a sudden feeling claustrophobic.
“Let me go!” she grunted, twisting and turning furiously
to relieve
herself from his grip.
Jason only tightened his grip. He had no idea what
went on in Carly’s
head, ever, and certainly understood the tendency to
throw things and
scream, but the look in her eye was dangerous and he
was genuinely
scared for her. The way she’d acted the night before,
and the way she
was acting now, told Jason that she was teetering precariously
on the
edge. If she fell, and did something stupid, he’d
never be able to
forgive himself for not protecting her.
“Dammit Jason, you’re hurting me, let me go!” Carly
screamed, wrenching
herself form his grip that loosened with her words.
She stood in front
of him, glaring at him, her breath coming in short gasps.
She had to
get out of there. Where to, she had no idea, but
Carly knew if she
didn’t get away she’d take her rage out on Jason.
Jason stared at her, trying to read into her mind.
Her eyes were wild
and scared. She looked like a caged animal that
needed to be let free
in order to survive. He focused on her, hoping
to bring her down with
his tone. “Carly,” he murmured, reaching one hand
out to her. “Please.
Let me help you.”
Jason’s voice was low, barely audible, but Carly knew
what he was
saying. She stared at his mouth as he spoke, but
shook her head
furiously. No, she couldn’t let him help her this
time. She couldn’t
let anyone help her. It was all too much to bear,
and if she didn’t get
away she felt like she’d lose it completely.
“I—Jason, I have to go,” Carly muttered, her eyes darting
from him to
the door. She was suddenly nervous. The room
was swallowing her whole.
Its walls were pushing in as the ceiling was collapsing.
Carly suddenly
felt sick again, and ran to the bathroom, slamming the
door behind her.
Jason shook his head. His heart ached as he heard
the sounds of her
getting sick again. He knew exactly how it felt
to be completely out of
control, but somehow, Carly didn’t trust him to help
her. Jason wanted
to help her so bad he didn’t know what to do or how to
do it. Without
thinking, he tipped his face toward the ceiling and closed
his eyes.
“Please, God,” he whispered, tears springing to his eyes.
“Please let
Carly be okay. Help me to help her…I have to help
her.” Jason didn’t
even know if he believed in God or any higher power.
Carly had told him
about the bible one night, a conversation that had stemmed
from when
he’d asked her why she said “Jesus Christ” and “god damn
it” all the
time. Carly didn’t seem to take her
belief in God too seriously,
although she’d admitted to praying when she wanted something.
Well, Jason wanted to be able to help Carly more than
anything in the
world right now. So, this praying thing, it couldn’t
hurt.
He snapped his head back to attention when he heard the
bathroom door
creak open. Jason took a step forward, his hands
out, his concern
evident in the tears that had pooled at the corners of
his eyes.
Carly had come out of the bathroom, intent on pushing
past Jason and
rushing out the door, never to be seen or heard from
again. But the
tears in Jason’s eyes stopped her. Instead, she
did what her heart told
her to, and let him envelop her in his arms.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief and glanced up at the
ceiling again,
mouthing a slight ‘thank you’. He then buried
his face in her hair,
breathing in the sweet smell of her shampoo. He
thought about how good
it felt to hold her like this, to be the one that she
turned to when she
needed someone. He wanted to be that person all
the time. He knew
Carly was fiercely independent and determined to keep
it that way. He
understood those feelings. But if there was one
thing he learned after
his accident, it was what a gift it is to have someone
you can trust and
lean on. Until Carly, he’d had no one. And
he’d never felt so alone
and scared in his life. Having someone in your
life was a blessing,
that Jason knew. And Carly was something he wasn’t
willing to give up
without a fight.
Carly let Jason hold her. She closed her eyes and relished
in his
embrace. It was so hard for her to admit, even
to herself, that she
needed him. But the feelings were so strong, sometimes
they seemed to
be suffocating her. Jason was someone who was lucky
enough to be given
a second chance. He had been born again, and everything
was new. He
could build a whole new life, just the way he wanted.
Most people’s
cards were dealt to them. Jason was practically
able to pick his cards
from a spread out deck. And that, Carly was afraid,
she’d ruin. He
needed someone without so much baggage. Someone
who could lead him to
good places. It seemed all Carly ended up
at were dead ends.
She took a breath and pulled away, ready to return to
Port Charles. It
was frustrating, and scary, but it seemed like it was
the right thing to
do. It seemed just as right as running had seemed
the night before.
Carly laughed a little at this thought. She knew
she’d change her mind
again, probably once they got back to town. But
if there was one thing
about Carly that she couldn’t and never would change
about herself, it
was that she was spontaneous, and she followed her instincts.
“I’m ready to go back, Jason,” she said, her eyes lowered
to the floor.
“I’m sorry to have dragged you all the way out here,
but I think it’s
best if I go back and face my mother.”
Jason nodded, truly understanding.
Carly laughed a bit, but her face grew serious again quickly.
“I mean,
even if it’s bad, at least I’ll know, right? I
mean, what do they call
that? Closure? You need to know how things
end, whether they’re bad or
good. Then you can move on. Well, who knows?
Bobbie might be alright
or she might suck, but no one will be able to say I never
tried, right?”
Jason nodded again, then moved to toss the discarded clothes
that had
landed on the floor the night before into the duffel
bag. “I think
you’re right,” he said, glancing up at Carly. “I
know you came to Port
Charles to find her, and it didn’t really make sense
to me to run away
once you did, but I figured you knew what you needed
to do.”
Carly laughed out loud at this. She flopped on the
edge of the bed,
propping herself up on her elbows and watched Jason pack.
“I *never* know what I need to do,” she lamented, looking
at him
amusedly. “That’s why I get into trouble all the
time. But I just do
what I think I *should* do at the time. I do the best
thing for *me*.
I’m very selfish Jason.”
Jason looked at her, raising his eyebrows. “I know.”
Carly laughed again. “Shut up,” she said, tossing a pillow at him.
“What is it with you and throwing things?!” Jason asked
incredulously, a
hint of laughter in his voice as well. He caught
the pillow with ease,
and tossed it lightly back to her. “Would you please
stop doing that so
much? You could hurt someone.”
Carly giggled, getting off the bed. “Whatever…”
she muttered,
disappearing into the bathroom to retrieve their toothbrushes.
*~*~*
When Jason pulled the motorcycle in to a gas station,
Carly jumped off
the bike practically before it stopped moving.
She felt like throwing
up again the closer they got to Port Charles.
Jason’s words didn’t help any.
“We’re only a little over a half hour away,” he said,
watching as Carly
glanced around at her surroundings.
Carly made a face at this, and covered her mouth.
She turned on her
heel and rushed toward the door marked ‘women’ on the
side of the mini
mart.
*~*~*
When Jason finished pumping the gas, he shaded his eyes
from the sun and
peered toward the mini mart. He hadn’t seen Carly
resurface from the
bathroom and sauntered over to check on her. Pushing
the bathroom door
open with his elbow he saw it was empty. A flash
of panic evaded his
mind.
“Carly?” he called, stepping inside the mini mart and
looking down each
aisle. Seeing no one, the panic grew stronger and
he raked his fingers
through his short hair. Where the hell was she?
She wouldn’t just
disappear on him, would she? He spied a diner across
the street and
headed toward the doors of the mini mart.
“Hey buddy,” the cashier growled. “You owe me $6.59 for the gas.”
Jason grunted and hurriedly pulled a bill out of his pocket,
not caring
what it was, and threw it on the counter.
*~*~*
Carly darted through the woods behind the gas station,
running as fast
as she could. It was as though someone was chasing
her. She had no
idea why she was running, or what she was running from,
but the need was
deep inside her. She couldn’t stop. Carly
was so afraid, more afraid
than she could ever remember being. She felt that
if she stopped, the
earth would open up and swallow her whole.
*~*~*
Unsuccessful in finding Carly in the diner, Jason stormed
back to his
motorcycle and kicked the tires in frustration.
Part of him was worried
that some sick stranger had taken her. But most
of him knew that she
was scared to go back to Port Charles, and she had probably
split on him
on purpose.
Jason knew Carly could never feel the way he did about
her. She was
hiding behind a thick shell of armor that she hardly
ever let down.
Maybe, just maybe, when she was really sad she had let
him in and he had
seen the real her. But mostly she was just angry,
and when she was
angry, she closed herself up so tight that no one had
a prayer of
getting through to her.
He sat on the curb next to his bike, staring out into
the desolate
street. There had to be a place she would go that
he could find her.
‘Think, Jason, think!’ he commanded himself, hitting
his forehead with
his outturned palm. Nothing was coming to him.
He felt near tears. He
was as scared, angry and frustrated, as he had been that
morning he’d
woken up in the hospital bed in General Hospital, knowing
nothing and no
one.
*~*~*
Carly found herself at the doors of a woodsy looking lodge.
Where had
it come from? She had no idea, but didn’t care at this
point. Her
longing for human contact was as strong as her longing
for solitude at
this point. She realized, at this juncture in her
life, that because
she always wanted two extremes, she’d never be happy.
No one could ever
call her a fence rider, that was for sure.
Chuckling to herself, mostly because of all of the ridiculous
disappointments she’d endured over the past twenty-four
hours, she
pulled open the door. It was dark inside, although
the day was
brilliant. There were no windows, it seemed, and
the only lights were
dim lamps on the tables and a few dim lights that hung
above the bar.
Everything inside was wood: the tables, chairs, the bar,
even the
barstools were all oak or pine, or something. Carly
had never been much
of a tree person.
Heaving a large sigh, she took a seat at the bar, eyeing
the bartender.
He was busy chatting with a few of the patrons at the
end of the bar.
Carly didn’t really care. Her stomach was still
queasy from the alcohol
the night before. But *something* was needed to
calm her nerves.
One of the men the bartender was talking to waved at her.
Carly looked
around. She pointed to herself, wondering what
he could possibly want.
The man nodded, and gestured for her to go over.
Carly hesitantly got up off the barstool she’d chosen
and replaced
herself on an empty one near the stranger and his friends.
They seemed
harmless. There were two men besides the one that called
her over, all
dressed relatively well in polos and khakis. They looked
like they’d
just stepped off the golf course. There was also
a woman with them,
obviously involved with one of the men, who was also
dressed
conservatively in a long skirt and a cashmere sweater.
The bartender finally took notice when Carly was sitting
closer. She
ordered a ginger ale, hoping to settle her stomach a
bit.
“Ginger ale?” the man who’d motioned her over teased,
raising his
eyebrows at her choice.
Carly became defiant. “So?” she remarked, sitting
straighter on the
stool, tipping her chin up and gazing down at him with
a haughty stare.
The man chuckled, holding up his hands in mock surrender.
“Just a
curious choice. This is a *bar* after all.
I’m Taylor.”
Carly softened a bit, lowering her gaze. “I’m Carly,”
she relented,
holding her hand out for him to shake. “And it’s
two o’clock in the
afternoon, I don’t think that’s so curious.” Carly watched
as he sipped
on his beer, what looked to be a black and tan.
“Now, I’d say *that’s*
a little more curious…isn’t that a little heavy for the
middle of the
afternoon?”
It was Taylor’s turn to be defiant. “I don’t think
so,” was all he said
on the matter. He changed the subject, gesturing
toward his friends.
“This is Preston and Heather,”
Carly nearly laughed at the names. Preston, Heather
and Taylor? They
were definitely fresh off the golf course.
“…and that’s Jason over there,” Taylor finished off, taking
another
large swig of his beer.
Carly was shocked at the name. Her eyes went wide,
and she quickly
directed them to the floor. She took a small sip
of her ginger ale and
regained herself. Jason was a common name, it was
no big deal. She
tried not to feel guilty about ditching him. It
was nearly impossible.
Carly had no idea what she was doing when she’d climbed
out of that
small bathroom window and made a run for it in the woods.
One would
have thought Jason had kidnaped her, and that was far
from the truth.
She had just all of a sudden felt trapped again.
The closer they got to
Port Charles, the farther she knew she needed to be.
Carly looked up, grinning sheepishly. She nodded
at the friends Taylor
had just introduced her to, then gestured to the bartender.
“I’m ready
for my drink now,” she said, pointing at a bottle of
Jim Beam behind
him. I want my good friend Jim over there.
The bartender looked at Taylor and raised his eyebrows.
“We’ll have to
keep an eye on this one won’t we?” he mumbled.
Carly rolled her eyes at this and shifted in her seat.
“I can handle
myself thank you very much,” she retorted, putting her
hands around the
glass that the bartender placed on the bar. As
he poured the liquid in
straight from the bottle, Carly could feel its coolness
as it filled up
the glass. She knew it would make her feel warm
inside, and that’s what
she needed. To forget all of her problems and feel
completely warm.
Then she could pretend she was on some deserted tropical
island with no
Bobbie Spencer’s, no Luke Spencer’s, no past, no future,
just the sun,
the sand, a bikini, and the roaring ocean.
As soon as the bartender had finished pouring the drink,
Carly gulped
nearly half the glass. She eyed her new friend
Taylor, as if daring him
to comment. He didn’t, but watched her with intense
curiosity.
“So, did you guys just walk off a golf course or what?”
Carly inquired,
somewhat rudely. She didn’t care. She had
nothing to gain from these
people except maybe a little company while she drank
which wasn’t even
necessarily what she wanted right now.
Taylor wasn’t offended, instead he just laughed.
“As a matter of fact…”
he began.
Carly cut him off with a loud boisterous laugh.
She threw her head back
and laughed almost hysterically, drawing stares from
the rest of the
trust fund bunch.
“Where the hell are we anyway?” she managed to choke out.
She saw the
girl, Heather, lean over to Preston and whisper something.
Carly
ignored this. She stared at Taylor, expectant of
an answer.
“Meadow Hills,” he replied, tossing her a coaster.
Carly read it. It
seemed she’d stumbled onto a golf resort, boasting that
it was only 35
miles outside Port Charles.
Carly groaned at this. A half-hour away from town
was not far enough.
Jason sat at the gas station, his head in his hands.
What was he going
to do? He couldn’t believe Carly had taken off
on him. He had no idea
what to do. He could not think of one place she would
have gone. It
made him realize how little he knew of her. Part
of him was so angry he
was going to head back to Port Charles and forget the
whole thing. But
he couldn’t. Something was stopping him.
An intense need for her. To
know that she was okay, to know exactly where he stood
in her life.
Because if he never saw her again, he’d wonder for the
rest of his life
what could have been. And if he did see her again,
he was going to make
damn sure that she never disappeared on him.
Jason used the seat of his motorcycle to pull himself
into a standing
position. He took one last glance around the gas
station, and even
settled his gaze on the run down bathroom, as though
daring her to walk
out of it as though the last hour had never happened.
When she didn’t,
Jason heaved a huge sigh, forcing himself to be composed,
before
straddling his bike and tearing off into the night.
*~*~*
Carly was on her sixth straight Jim Beam when she finally
tried to get
up to use the restroom. She stumbled from the barstool
dizzily, and
grabbed onto the edge of the bar for support. She
smiled sheepishly at
the bartender, not having realized how drunk she was.
As if reading her mind, her new friend Taylor, who wasn’t
turning out to
be such a silver spoon sucker as she thought, chuckled.
“Those high
Beams will blind you,” he said, grasping on to her arm
to help steady
her.
Carly looked at Taylor’s hand, where it was pressing into
her skin. She
was just fine with the bar right there, and he really
didn’t need to be
holding her like that. She felt extremely uncomfortable
all of a
sudden, and wished Jason were there to whisk her off
into the sunset
like usual. She shook her head vigorously at this
thought. No, Jason
was better off without her, that was for sure.
She had too much
baggage, and he had none. She would only bring
him down.
She stood defiant at this thought, certain she was doing
the right
thing, although never seeing him again only served to
bring tears to her
eyes. She couldn’t wipe them away fast enough.
“I knew you had one hell of a story,” Taylor said quietly,
removing his
had from Carly’s arm but reaching out to wipe away a
tear from her
cheek.
Carly swatted his hand away. She managed to squeeze
herself out from
between her barstool and the bar. She eyed him
viciously and spit the
words out with so much force it even surprised herself.
“My story is none of your business. I don’t know
who exactly you think
you are but I don’t know you from Adam so back off!”
Taylor took a few steps away from Carly, and watched,
open mouthed, as
she slowly, precariously made her way to the bathroom.
*~*~*
Jason had been to every bar and restaurant in a thirty-mile
distance
that went the opposite direction of Port Charles.
He had a feeling if
she had run, it would be as far from PC as possible.
Now, the possibility of Carly hitching a ride to god knows
where was
becoming more and more real to him. If she had
gotten into someone’s
car or worse yet, a trucker’s rig, he’d probably never
see her again.
He’d seen the way the truckers looked at her whenever
they’d stopped on
the road. It made him sick to think of any of their
hands on her.
Jason tried to push away the image of Carly crying for
help as some
creep attacked her, or alone in the woods, scared because
it was almost
dark. He felt tears spring to his eyes at these
horrible thoughts, and
he pulled his bike over to the side of the road to regain
himself once
again. It seemed that was all he did when he thought
of Carly. He
spent his time getting ahold of himself. She definitely
sent him to
places he’d never been, made him feel things no one had
ever, or
probably would ever, make him feel again.
A sob choked in his throat. He couldn’t hold back
any longer. Getting
off of his bike, he wandered around on the side of the
road, where the
dirt and dust swirled around him in the ever-increasing
wind. He let
the tears fall and had to blink to see through them.
Feeling
ridiculous, but out of options, he tipped his face skyward
and prayed,
for the second time that day.
Jason prayed long and hard for Carly’s safety, and asked
God that if he
wasn’t able to find her, to at least give him some sort
of sign that she
was okay. Jason felt like he’d never be at peace
not knowing whether or
not Carly was okay. She was as lost a soul as he
was, and although he
knew he could take care of himself, he sometimes had
doubts about the
clarity of the decisions Carly made.
*~*~*
Carly splashed cold water on her face and leaned over
the bathroom sink,
trying to get a grip on herself. She was dizzy,
so dizzy. Her
reflection was swimming in front of her. She blinked
a few times, and
tried to push thoughts of Jason out of her head.
Glancing at her watch,
she realized it had been at least four hours since she’d
left him at the
gas station. It was past six o’clock and the sun
surely was setting by
now.
What was Jason doing? Carly wondered. She
wondered if he’d just ridden
back to town. He was probably sitting in the boxcar
right now, eating
cereal out of the box and brooding about nothing in particular.
She grinned a bit at this thought. She would give
anything to be with
him right now…they could read the paper together then
she could explain
what had been going on in the world before he was “born”.
But being
with Jason meant being in Port Charles, and Carly wasn’t
sure she could
stomach that right then.
Carly laughed a bit. God, she couldn’t stomach anything
right then.
She was so wasted it was hard to see straight, much less
deal with
serious and stressful circumstances. She laughed
more when she thought
of Bobbie, and how happy she’d been to see Carly.
Happy. It was
absolutely insane. Carly felt her stomach gurgle
and she suddenly felt
sick again. She splashed more water on her face
and tried to ignore
what seemed like an endless stream of women coming into
the bathroom.
There really was only the occasional patron, but each
interruption
rubbed Carly’s nerves raw.
She finally felt steady enough to venture out into the
bar. There were
definitely more people there now, but it was still relatively
uncrowded.
She retook her place on the barstool, noticing now that
Taylor was at
the other end of the bar talking to some other poor sap.
Carly rolled
her eyes at this, trying not to feel offended at the
lack of attention
she was now receiving.
She ordered one more drink from the bartender, promising
that it was her
last one. Taylor’s friend, the one he’d introduced
as Jason, took the
barstool next to her. Carly groaned inwardly.
He seemed the most aloof
of the group, if you didn’t count Heather, who was shooting
her dirty
looks all afternoon, no doubt for moving in on ‘her men.’
She introduced herself and tried to sound as disinterested
as possible.
Jason only seemed to want to know her story, why she
was there, where
she was from, and where she was going. Carly was
bored of this topic,
and annoyed that it was really none of their or their
fat wallets
business.
“I’m actually from Vegas,” she lied, giving this Jason
a wide smile and
settling in for the story, as it would come to her.
“I’m a performer.”
Jason’s eyes widened, and Carly couldn’t help but compare
him to her
Jason. His eyes were the same blue, icy and cold,
seemingly
uninterested in everything around. But this Jason
held an expression,
one of extreme captivation, one that Jason Morgan never
wore. Other
than the eyes, there were no similarities. This
Jason had dark, almost
black hair, olive skin and a huge grin. He was
okay looking, not
particularly handsome, but it was his eyes, contrasting
with the rest of
his dark features, that drew Carly in.
At Jason’s inquiry, Carly told her story. “I’m a
dancer in one of the
shows. Have you ever heard of Heatwave? It’s
at the Maxim.”
Jason’s eyes grew wide again, and his grin spread across
his face.
“Isn’t that a topless revue?” he asked, searching his
mind for any
information on Heatwave. He knew it was a relatively
new show, and it
was dubbed one of the hottest on the strip.
Carly giggled and nodded. Her grin quickly faded
when she felt a sharp
pain plummet down into her stomach. She nearly
gasped at its force.
Her hand involuntarily flew down to her abdomen, and
her eyes grew wide
and scared.
“What is it?” Jason asked, his expression growing concerned.
He leaned
forward and put a gentle hand over hers that was placed
on her stomach.
Carly shook her head, pushing his hand away. The pain
was gone, it
vanished as quickly as it had come. “It’s nothing,”
she murmured,
slightly embarrassed. She took a large swallow
of her drink, ignoring
the spinning in her head.
As the alcohol hit Carly’s stomach, the pain returned,
this time sharper
and more insistent. Everything in front of her
blurred out of focus.
Her head was swimming. Carly blinked a few times,
trying to regain her
focus. It was impossible. Her stomach was
burning with severe cramps.
“Oh god,” she breathed, not meaning to, but unable to
fight the intense
shooting pain that was coursing through her womb.
Carly stumbled off the barstool, waving away Jason’s insistent
pleas to
help. She made the seemingly endless journey to
the bathroom once
again, unaware that her new friend Jason had asked Heather
to follow
her.
Once safely inside the women’s restroom, Carly collapsed
on a plush
chair near the door. She put her head in her hands
and sobbed at her
complete and utter lack of control of the situation.
She had no idea
what was happening to her, but the pain was becoming
too much to bear.
Carly groaned, leaning forward and pushing her stomach
inward. She was
beginning to feel faint. ‘Don’t pass out, don’t
pass out,’ she
admonished herself, trying to clear her head.
Carly began to panic when she felt a warm sticky liquid
on her thighs.
She looked down in horror at the blood that was pooling
underneath her,
staining the chair, her jeans, everything. She
bit down on her lip,
trying not to scream. She didn’t notice Heather
walk into the bathroom
at that moment, or hear her calling her name. Carly’s
mind went blank.
Her eyes closed of their own will. Blackness enveloped
her, and she
passed out.
*~*~*
Jason pulled his motorcycle up against a chain link fence,
parallel to
the parking lot that housed a lodge with a sign above
it boasting the
name Meadow Hills. It was a golf resort, and Jason
was sure he wouldn’t
find Carly here. He breathed a heavy sigh, more interested
in finding a
beer to steady his nerves than Carly at this point.
The longer he
searched for her, the more he was convinced she’d hitched
a ride and was
probably half way to Chicago by now. Or any other
big city where she
could just change her name again and become anonymous.
Jason practically growled in frustration as he entered
the lodge. There
weren’t may people there, and the ones that were looked
to Jason like
they could all easily fit in with the Quartermaine clan.
He chose a barstool near the door and ordered a beer.
His head had
begun to pound, whether from anger, nerves, or stress
Jason didn’t know.
Nor did he care. He put his fingers up to his temples
and rubbed them
gingerly while he waited for his beer.
Although he generally wasn’t paying much attention to
the other patrons,
a commotion at the other end of the bar grabbed Jason’s
attention. When
he heard a female voice yell out, “Taylor, we need your
cell phone, it’s
Carly!” the hair on the back of his neck immediately
stood.
Jason looked over at the guy who was sitting near him,
obviously Taylor,
as he jumped up, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.
Could it be
*his* Carly? Carly surely wouldn’t know people
like this? Or would
she? Jason realized he didn’t know a thing about
her. He realized it
every day with each new surprise she sprung on him.
Why should this be
any different? ‘Because it’s not her, that’s why!’
he told himself.
Even so, he couldn’t keep himself from checking it out.
The walk to the
crowd of people at the other end of the bar seemed endless.
His legs
felt heavier with each step he took. The closer
he got, the more his
heart began to pound in his chest.
Jason was almost to the bathroom, where the thickest group
of people
stood, when he heard her weak voice.
“Jason.”
Jason’s heart leapt into his throat and he instantly felt
tears spring
to his eyes. It was her. It was Carly.
His Carly. He pushed past the
crowd to get to her. But he wasn’t prepared for
what he saw.
Carly lay there, a crumpled heap on the bathroom floor
in a pool of
blood. There were two men kneeling beside her.
One was the man Jason
recognized as Taylor, he was on his cell phone, presumably
with 911.
The other man was leaning over her, brushing her hair
out of her face
and whispering “I’m here.”
Jason was furious at this, although he had no idea why.
He pushed his
way in and kneeled on the other side of Carly.
“Carly,” he said gently, turning her head to face him.
“Carly, it’s me.
Open your eyes, please.”
The man Jason didn’t recognize reached out and pushed
Jason’s shoulder.
“Who the hell are you?” he challenged, his blue eyes
flashing.
Carly moved her head under Jason’s hand. “Jase…”
she whimpered again,
her eyes fluttering but not quite coming open.
Jason looked away from the angry stranger and concentrated
once again on
Carly.
“I’m right here,” he murmured, taking one of her hands
in his and
squeezing it tightly.
“You’re right here?!” the stranger exploded.
“I’m Jason, she’s talking
to me!” With that, he leaned over, pushing Jason
completely backward.
Seeing the look of complete fury that over took Jason
Morgan’s face,
Taylor put a hand between them. “Look, let’s settle
down. The
ambulance is on it’s way, if either one of you care.”
He turned to
Jason. “Who exactly are you?”
Jason took a breath, forcing himself to calm a bit before
answering. He
wanted to shout, ‘Who am I? Who are *you*?!’ but
instead, explained.
“I’m her friend, Jason. We live in the same town.
I know she doesn’t
know you guys.” Jason added the last bit in, to
show who exactly needed
to be the most concerned about Carly’s welfare.
Before either one of Carly’s new friends could respond,
Carly began to
stir again. Her face contorted into pain.
The ambulance sirens could
be heard in the distance. “Oh god…” she moaned,
her eyelids slowly
opening.
He was fuzzy at first, but Carly could just make out Jason’s
features.
Her Jason. She smiled weakly when she realized
he was really there.
“Jase,” she said weakly. “Jase, I’m so glad you’re
here.”
Jason nodded, tears welling in his eyes again. He
motioned for her not
to talk. He could tell she was weak and any amount
of energy spent
pained her. He brushed a few stray hairs back behind
her neck and tried
not to look down at all the blood. There
was so much of it. He felt
sick just thinking about it.
“You hear that? The ambulance is here,” Jason said,
smiling for Carly’s
benefit, as the sirens pulled closer, obviously in the
parking lot.
As they carried Carly out on a stretcher, Jason refused
to leave her
side. Before they shut the doors to the ambulance
Jason took Carly’s
hand in his and held it to his lips.
“Don’t leave me, Jason,” Carly begged, already beginning
to slip into
grogginess from the IV they had dripping into her arm.
Jason smiled again, keeping her hand to his lips.
“I won’t,” he
murmured against her fingers. “I’m gonna follow
the ambulance all the
way to the hospital okay? I promise.”
Carly nodded, and smiled slightly before closing her eyes
and giving in
to the wave of blackness that shrouded over her.
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Innocence
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