Monthly Archives: August 2020

August 12, 2020

This entry is part 16 of 16 in the series Flash Fiction: Whatever It Takes

No time for typos. Written in 20 minutes.

By the time Jason arrived with the clean up crew, he found Elizabeth standing over Ric’s body. Blood was dribbling out of Ric’s mouth, and his eyes were still open, the film of death clouding them.

Elizabeth met his eyes when she came through the door. “Where’s Lily?” She tucked the gun she’d still been holding back in her purse holster, then strode over to him. “Is she okay? Where—”

“With Steven across the hall.” Jason took her by the shoulder as a few men came in and started to wrap Ric in the plastic tarp. He searched her eyes, then looked up and down—not a mark on her, a hair out of place—

He pressed his lips together, looked at Ric’s body, then back at Elizabeth. “That’s why you wanted to meet him alone,” Jason said, exhaling. “You were planning this.”

“He was never going to stop,” she murmured. She also looked back at her ex-husband, at the man who had never, ever accepted her right to say no, to walk away, and build a new life.

“I never—I would have done this—” His throat was tight. “I didn’t want this for you—”

“This was my battle to fight. Not yours. He came after you because of me.” Her voice trembled. “He stole our daughter because of me. I needed to finish it. I need to see her—she’s okay? You said she’s okay?”

“She is.” Jason put an arm around her shoulders and led her out of the penthouse, away from Ric Lansing for the last time. “She’s—she’s been called Isla this last year.” He stopped her before they went inside. “She’s in perfect health, but she doesn’t know us.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, scrubbed her hands over her face. “Isla,” she repeated. “She’s—she’s not even a year old. We—we could—we could go back to—”

But now it felt wrong. Lily had been the name they’d chosen together for their little girl, their dream, for their future. She’d wanted to honor Jason’s grandmother, Lila—

This little girl didn’t know them.

“We could,” Jason said slowly. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Let’s just go inside and take it step by step.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, twisted the knob, then opened the door. Inside, her brother was sitting on the sofa, the baby in his lap. She was smiling at him, a stuffed dog in her hands, an ear in her mouth.

The baby turned at the sound. She smiled. Elizabeth choked back a sob. It was her little girl, the little face she’d seen in the photograph—older now, the hint of fuzzy blond hair a little longer now—curling around her ears. She had her daddy’s sunny blonde hair, his blue eyes—

“She looks like you,” Jason told her. Elizabeth blinked, then laughed. “What?” he asked, his eyes crinkling with confusion.

“I was just thinking that she looked like you—your coloring—”

“She has your face.” Jason walked over and without a word, Steven handed the baby to him. “Hey, Isla,” Jason said softly, bouncing her slightly. “Remember me?”

The baby ducked her head, pressing it against Jason’s chest, then smiling at him. She babbled something, waved the stuffed dog.

“That’s right, that’s from me,” he murmured. Elizabeth recognized it now — he’d given it to her the day they’d learned she was pregnant. Baby’s first toy.

It had been sitting in the nursery for over a year, waiting for their daughter.

“This is Mommy,” Jason told her. The baby crinkled her eyes, shook her head. “I know, you have another Mommy—”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, her heart aching. Oh, God—it would be so easy for their daughter to adjust to Jason—she’d never had a father—no other person to replace—but she already had a mother.

“This is also your mommy,” Jason told her. He walked over to Elizabeth. “This is Elizabeth.”

“Hi, baby.” Elizabeth reached out, touched her skin. Oh, God, she was real. She was really—she was here. This wasn’t another waking nightmare. “Hi.”

She babbled, smiled at Elizabeth, then tucked her head against Jason to give Elizabeth the same smile she’d given Jason a moment ago.

“Your name, it’s—” Elizabeth swallowed. “You’re Isla.”

Something that sounded like yes emerged from the babble as Isla lifted her head, waved the dog ear at her.

“Can I give you a hug?” she asked. “I’d like—I’d like to hug you.”

“Dog,” Isla said with a nod. She held out her arms, and Jason transferred her into Elizabeth’s embrace.

And Elizabeth held her daughter for the first time. She held her tight, cupping the back of her head, pressing her cheek to her daughter’s. It didn’t matter what her name was—didn’t matter that today, Isla didn’t really know who she was.

She was holding her little girl.

Elizabeth opened her eyes, looked at Jason. “Thank you. For bringing her home.” His eyes were red, and she could see the tears clinging to his lower lashes as he nodded. He smoothed his hand down Isla’s back. Their first time standing together as a family.

—

A few hours later, they put Isla down for her first night in the nursery. Elizabeth had rocked her to sleep in the rocking chair, just as she’d dreamed for so long, Jason leaning against the door frame.

As Isla’s beautiful blue eyes closed, Elizabeth looked up at Jason. “We’ll have to take turns putting her to sleep,” she told him. “We have so much time to make up for.”

He nodded, then hesitated. “I never should have left six months ago,” Jason told her. “I never dreamed—I never thought she was—I wouldn’t have—”

“I know. Neither of us dreamed this might be possible.” Elizabeth bit her lip, letting her finger drift down Isla’s soft cheek. “It would be easy to hold on to the anger, to the bitterness. To the way I’ve felt for six months. The divorce is supposed to be final in a few weeks.”

She met Jason’s eyes again. “I’m not letting Ric steal more time from me. I’ll call Justus in the morning and withdraw the petition. We deserve—we deserve a chance to be a family.”

Jason walked over, then knelt beside the chair to kiss Isla first—her eyes crinkled slightly, but stayed closed. “I love you,” he told her.

“I love you, too.”

August 11, 2020

Your Update Link: Desperate Measures, Part 17

Good morning! It’s been a very annoying 24 hours. I was supposed to have Zoom job interview yesterday and then I realized that the principal said Monday, August 11. I was working on this week’s Bullet Journal spread, and uh, it turns out Monday is August 10. So at 10 AM I suddenly found myself wondering — when exactly does this principal think our interview is? There I was, all washed, dressed, and ready — and it’s today instead. The universe is against me.

In other news — that third episode tag isn’t quite ready and I’m annoyed because it was supposed to follow Friday’s show with Jason’s accident and will make much less sense now. Luckily, through reading your comments, it looks like 85% of you are not watching currently so you probably won’t notice. Heh. I’ll try to work on it today and get it finished. It’s my favorite of the three, so I’m definitely writing it.

MAD WORLD! I finally finished reading the draft yesterday but it took FOREVER, lol. I didn’t finish until after 9 and I had to get to bed to get for my interview. I’m going to sit down today and start sketching out the big changes I wanna make. As you guys know, this story is ALREADY a beast with forty chapters and 235k. Based on my initial read, I’m going to have to add anywhere from 5-7 to chapters.

I’m still not sure how it’s going to affect publication. I was pleasantly surprised that the middle chapters I was sure would need the most work aren’t that bad — the first few chapters need more work — but the rest of the chapters need tweaks and additions. That makes me feel a lot better about getting a full beta draft done on time.

For Fool Me Twice, I spent some time on Saturday and Sunday working on it, but not yesterday. Today, I’ll be getting back to my daily 25 minutes sprints and hopefully adding a second one to spend a full 50 minutes on discovery.

There are two videos on the channel that got uploaded, but I want to put separate posts with their text highlights. My schedule is getting a little crunched, to be honest, because this interview is on a different day than I was expecting. The only reason I can fit Flash Fiction in today is because I’m washing my hair at 9 AM, then letting it lightly dry until after Flash Fic because it’ll be faster to dry it.  I’ll be back with them later.

This entry is part 17 of 20 in the series Flash Fiction: Desperate Measures

Written in 20 minutes. No time for typos.

Jason was already in motion from the second that Sam had shoved Cameron aside—Drew had leapt for the teenager, covering him with his body while Jason tried to get to Elizabeth—

But his reflexes weren’t as quick as they’d been once and Elizabeth was just a little too far away—

He tackled her to the ground, then rolled her, as she pressed her hand to her abdomen, her face pale with shock, breaking out in sweat and tears.

Jason covered his hand with hers, trying to press down, his heart pounding as the blood continued to gush—

“Elizabeth—” He cupped her head with his hand, trying to make eye contact but hers were already rolling back in her eyes—

“Get away from her!” Sam cried. She was closer now, her voice shaking even more. “She has to pay! She protected him! She took him back!”

“Elizabeth, look at me—” Jason said, ignoring her, angling himself so that he was between Sam and Elizabeth—to shoot again, she’d have to put a bullet in him—

“Mom!”

Cameron tried to rush at his mother, but Drew held him back with one hand, drawing his weapon with the other. He stared at his wife, at the mother of his child—then slowly raised the gun. “Put it down, Sam.”

Sam blinked, turned away from Elizabeth, towards Drew. “Don’t you understand?” she demanded. “Why don’t you get it? I had to kill Danny’s last chance—”

“Don’t make me do this,” Drew begged. Cameron swallowed hard as he watched Jason carefully lift Elizabeth in his arms, taking advantage of Sam’s distraction. He was going to get to her to the ambulances—the PCPD was still at the motel—surely someone had heard the gunshots—

“She has to pay!” Sam sobbed, her hands were shaking. “She has to—” She turned back but Jason and Elizabeth were gone. “No!” she screeched. She started to run—but Drew rushed after her, tackling her—the gun went flying and Cameron scrambled to get it off the ground, away from Sam’s clutches—

“She has to pay!” Sam continued to sob even as Drew sat up and started to rock her back and forth, his face creased with tears of his own. “She has to…”

—

Chase met them halfway with a squad of officers—they had heard the shot and were rushing towards them. Jason barely took a second to tell them what they’d find — he knew Drew would protect Cameron, but Elizabeth’s eyes were closed, she was pale, and losing blood fast—

He broke out of the woods, finding another ambulance there. He laid Elizabeth down on the ground as paramedics rushed him, pushing him out of the way.

Jason couldn’t stop it—couldn’t fix it—had to trust that they knew what they were doing—

Cameron crashed out of the woods, almost tumbling into Jason. “Mom! Mom!”

Jason grabbed his arm before the teenager could rush towards them. “Let them—let them work—”

“We need to get her to GH,” one of the medics barked. In a flurry of activity, they had Elizabeth on the stretcher and were hustling her towards the ambulance. Jason dragged Cameron towards the SUV.

——

Jason was pacing the emergency room, his hands and shirt stained with blood. Cameron was sitting blankly on the chair, staring straight ahead. Elizabeth had made it to the hospital and was in surgery—

But she was still in critical condition and might not survive.

Another stretcher came into the ER, and Jason could hear screaming and crying even from the waiting room. He put a hand for Cameron to stay seated as Sam was rushed past them, restrained to the gurney, pulling and resisting, her hair whipping back and forth. Drew was with her, tried to follow — but a doctor pushed him back.

Drew turned to Jason, swallowing hard as he took in the blood. “Where—is she—”

“Surgery,” Jason said flatly. He turned to Chase and Jordan Ashford who had walked in after Sam and Drew. “What do you want?”

“To take statements—” Chase began, but Jason shook his head and walked away to sit next to Cameron.

He wasn’t talking to anyone until Elizabeth was out of surgery. A few minutes later, a nurse told them to go upstairs, to the surgical waiting room. Drew looked back at the cubicle, looked at Jason and Cameron.

“I should stay with her,” he told them. “I’m sorry—I just—”

“Come on, Cam,” Jason said, taking the still quiet teenager’s arm and lightly directing him towards the elevator.

As they boarded, Cameron finally spoke. He looked at Jason with loathing. “You should have killed Franco years ago. And Sam never should have been allowed near my mother or brother after everything she did to them. I will never forgive you for this. If she dies, it will be your fault. ”

Jason exhaled slowly, then pressed the button and closed the doors. “I know.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

August 10, 2020

Your Update Links: Darkest Before the Dawn, Part 12 | This Is Me Trying

Happy Monday! Sorry for not posting the episode tag yesterday. I woke up SUPER late because I accidentally stayed up until 3 AM on Saturday night (LISTEN I AM AN ADULT I DO WHAT I WANT). I knew I had to really focus on getting as far as possible in rereading Mad World, so I just put it off and then never got a chance to get back to it.  I still need to add it to the Alphabetical List & Alternate History page. I’ll do that today.

Like Strong Enough, I included an in depth recap. It’s not exactly tied to Strong Enough, but you could see them existing in the same universe. It’s not Jason/Elizabeth — more of an explanation of the Jake shares debacle, LOL, and getting Elizabeth and Sam in a scene together. I hope you enjoy This Is Me Trying. I should have the third tag, If Wishes Came True, tomorrow or Wednesday. (And yes, I’ve been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift’s folklore, why do you ask?)

I’m working on rereading Mad World today, so that’s obviously the priority. I have lots of thoughts, but I want to wait until I’m done rereading to share them. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!

This entry is part 12 of 16 in the series Flash Fiction: Darkest Before the Dawn

Written in 20 minutes and no typos.

When Spinelli stepped off the elevator that afternoon, Elizabeth had a pretty good idea what he was going to tell her. His normally relaxed and spirited expression was muted as he approached her at the hub.

“Hey. Can we find a place to talk?” he asked, glancing over at the student nurses behind Elizabeth.

Elizabeth winced, the nodded. “Yeah, I can take a quick break. Sabrina, Felix — if anyone needs me, tell them to page me.”

“Sure—”

She walked Spinelli over to a conference room where she locked the door behind them, not wanting anyone to interrupt them. Her palms damp, she rubbed them against her scrub pants as she turned to face him.

“Well?”

“You were right,” Spinelli told her. He handed a print out to her. “Ellie found the original test in the computers. The markers on the maternity test indicate that the child tested is related to the mother.”

Elizabeth drew in a sharp breath as she looked down at the sheet, then frowned. “There’s—there’s more than one test—”

“Because Brad ran three DNA tests,” Spinelli told her. “One for Sam and Danny, then another for Danny with…two other men.”

Her heart began to pound, her mouth was dry as Elizabeth scanned the results — “These are initials—Brad tested Danny against Jason and Franco—”

“And Franco against Jason,” Spinelli finished. “The baby Tea Delgado is raising belongs to Sam, that’s true. But he’s also definitely Franco’s child.”

“And Jason isn’t—” Her fingers tightened, the paper wrinkling in her grasp. She looked at Spinelli. “They’re not related. He’s not Franco’s brother.”

“Which is a relief,” Spinelli admitted. “I know that was weighing on Jason. I mean, there’s a whole lot of questions — why would Heather lie—and what exactly was she lying about? Is there still a twin brother out there or was that all a lie?”

“Oh, man—” Elizabeth exhaled. “Okay. Well—well, I have to—I have to tell Jason.”

“We could do that,” Spinelli said. He hesitated. “Or we could take it right to Sam. Leave Jason out of it for now. That would—that would make it easier for you, wouldn’t it?”

Tears stung her eyes. “Easier yes,” Elizabeth murmured. Because taking the news directly to Sam put Sam in charge of the choices. She could go to Jason, she could elect not to—but to take it to Jason—

It meant Jason could give the news to Sam. To look at her and tell her that the child whose death he blamed himself for was alive.

“But it’s not the right thing to do,” Elizabeth finished. “Because Jason was the one who saw the possibility. And he—he feels so terrible for what happened last year. For not being there for her—”

Carefully, she folded the paper and met Spinelli’s eyes. “Not letting Jason be the one to make up for that—not letting him have the chance to make this choice, to look Sam in the eye and give her back her son—it’s just me not trusting him.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I don’t—I don’t want to be the consolation prize. If I don’t let Jason do this—if I don’t trust him—then it’s like…winning a contest no one else entered.” She bit her lip. “That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“It does. You know Stone Cold loves you,” Spinelli told her. “He always has.”

“Never doubted that,” she murmured. “But love was never the problem.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Thank you for this,” Elizabeth told him. “I’ll make sure Jason knows you helped—that Sam knows it. But I think I need to tell him alone.”

——

She wanted to wait. She wanted to take the rest of her shift—to just close it down and not think about it— what was one more day?

Elizabeth went back to the hub, the test results burning a hole in her pocket. She tried to complete her paperwork, attempted to answer questions for Sabrina and Felix, the nursing students assigned to her—

But she couldn’t.

Holding this truth back because she was scared of what it would do to her and Jason — how was that different than what Sam had done to her once upon a time?

Sam had been desperate to keep Jason, had let Maureen Harper walk away with Jake, and not tell anyone—Elizabeth had lost three weeks with her little boy—three precious weeks she’d never get back.

If she did this to Sam now—if she waited even one more day—was Elizabeth any better?

She took out the DNA results. Stared at them, then reached for her cell phone.

——

Elizabeth waited for him on the roof like she had months ago with the original results. It was colder now—she’d had to stop for her jacket—the bitter December wind made the air feel like ice this high up—

But it felt right. This was there she’d handed him the false results.

Jason closed the roof door behind him. “Hey—” He approached her, dropping a kiss on her lips. “You’re cold—” He took her hands in his, warmed them. “What’s wrong? What’s the emergency?”

“The lab tech I told you—I’ve mentioned that he’s been weird the last few months?” Elizabeth told him. “Always jumpy, always looking at me weird—”

“Did he—” Jason frowned, drew his brows down as his tone chilled. “Did he do something?”

“Yeah, but not to me. I realized—I realized—his behavior started after he ran those tests for me.” Tears stung her eyes, but then froze before they could fall. “So I asked Spinelli to get me the original results.”

Jason blinked, stepped back. “What?”

“Tracy donated a lot of money to the hospital from ELQ,” Elizabeth continued. “And I think—I think she did it so Brad Cooper could keep his job. In return—” She handed him the results. “He gave us fake results. Danny’s alive, Jason. Sam’s son is alive.”

August 8, 2020

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Wishes Came True

Inspiration

On Tuesday or Wednesday (August 4/5 2020), my Twitter timeline was lit up with fans wondering why Jake didn’t have ELQ shares. I didn’t see the scene until Friday and realized then that we have no evidence for Jake not having shares — the way Valentin’s conversation was set up, it just looked as though he was more interested in Danny and Scout. I started to think about why that was — I think Jake either has shares that Valentin knows he could never get his hands on (controlled by Liz or Jason, both are no a go for him) or Jake doesn’t have shares which I guarantee Liz could spin as not having shares until he’s an adult or having a trust fund or something. Anyway — I just wanted to put my own spin on it.

ETA: On Tuesday, August 11, 2020 — Michael voted Jake’s shares at an ELQ Board meeting. So…VICTORY IS MINE. I wrote this on Saturday, August 8. No way I could have known it except I KNOW ELIZABETH WEBBER

Timeline and Setting

For those of you not watching the show, this could be loosely set after my Strong Enough episode tag, and I’ve written it as if Jason and Elizabeth did, at least, briefly discuss the POA at the hospital. Check out that episode tag for some information about Jason’s storyline at this point on the show and Elizabeth’s participation. For Sam, she’s currently on parole for killing Shiloh last year. Her parole officer is strictly enforcing the no association with felon part of Sam’s parole. Jason and Sam have broken up because Jason feels like it’s not worth the risk of Sam losing the kids and going to jail again.

Sam has been increasingly desperate to get this parole lifted. Valentin, meanwhile, lost control of Cassadine Industries when Nikolas returned from the dead and revealed that Valentin was not Mikkos’s son, but Helena’s bastard (I think). Valentin is trying to get control of ELQ through a hostile takeover. He has a lot of shares already and offered Sam a trade — he’ll get her parole conditions lifted in exchange for Danny and Scout’s voting proxy (knowing it was unlikely she’d sell outright.

Note: I, uh, realize that I keep referring to Elizabeth by her maiden name in these tags. I…am going to do my best to avoid any mention of the man with whom she has currently entered a legal contract. I think we’ll all be happier the longer we can pretend it isn’t a thing

I hope that helps give you guys context!

They told me all of my cages were mental
So I got wasted like all my potential
And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad
I have a lot of regrets about that
I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere
Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here
Pourin’ out my heart to a stranger
But I didn’t pour the whiskey

Thursday, August 6, 2020

 Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Martin Grey took a seat across the table from Valentin Cassadin and reached for the carafe of coffee in the center of the table to fill his cup. “Well, how did your meeting with Sam Morgan go?”

Valentin pressed a napkin to his lips, dabbing gently. “Encouraging. It might take a day or two for her to think it over, but I’m confident that she’ll come around.” He lifted his brows. “Were you able to find out about the last Quartermaine great-grandchild? Jake Webber?”

“I was. I’m afraid that’s likely a no go,” Martin reported with a shake of his head. “You were correct—his shares are not controlled by his mother.”

“That would actually be good news for me.” When his lawyer merely raised his brows, Valentin picked up his own coffee. “His mother despises me. That’s precisely why he was at the bottom of my list. There’s very little I can offer Elizabeth Webber.” He grimaced. “Five years ago, I could have handed her the world. I could have given Jake and Jason back to her—”

“You knew Helena had kidnapped them both?” Martin leaned back in his chair. “Just how involved were you with all of that?”

Valentin merely smiled. “That’s not important. Who controls his shares now? Jason? That’s the most likely.”

“Not Jason. As I said,” Martin replied, “it’s a non-starter.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“Aiden—” Elizabeth sighed as her ten-year-old son blinked at her, his ice cream cone dripping down his wrist. “Why are you like this?”

Aiden shrugged and sat on the bench while she searched through her purse for the wipes she carried around, even though her children were half-grown.

“Elizabeth—”

She glanced at up the familiar voice, then managed a smile as she saw Danny and Scout hopping onto the bench beside Aiden, and Aiden showed off his melting ice cream. She looked over at their mother, ambling up with her hands in her pockets.

“Hey. Sam. Uh—” She squinted. “What’s up?” She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked to Sam—

And Elizabeth actually liked it that way. Jake got to hang out with his dad, brother, and cousin, and Elizabeth could avoid all contact with Sam — finally. Drew—when they’d thought he was Jason—had seemed to think it was time for them all to move on.

Jason didn’t share that opinion.

“I was hoping you had a minute to talk about something. I—I’m having kind of a problem, and I feel like—” Sam made a face. “I feel like you might be the only person that can give me the perspective I need.”

Despite her best intention, Elizabeth nodded. “Let me just give these to Aiden before he takes a bath in that ice cream.” She gave the wipes to Aiden, then left the three kids on the bench, and joined Sam at the table.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Um, yeah. Mostly. You know, it’s been hard since I got home.” Sam bit her lip. “Since we got the parole conditions.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “Did Jason tell you he’s giving his power of attorney to Carly?”

“Yeah, he mentioned it at the hospital yesterday.” Elizabeth tipped her head to the side. “Is that what this is about? Because, honestly, Sam, I’m really not here to get in the middle of it. Jason and I are friends—I have no dog in this fight—except, of course, hoping none of us ever have to worry about it—”

“Oh. No. I’m okay with all of that.” Sam waited. “That’s a lie. If it wasn’t for this stupid parole, Jason and I would be together. And this wouldn’t be happening—”

Well, this turned out to be a great idea. Elizabeth leaned back slightly. “Sam, I really—”

“But that’s not why I’m—that’s not the point. And you’re right—that has nothing to do with you.”

“Exactly. So let’s just—” Elizabeth made a circle with her finger. “Get to the point, you know? Is something wrong?”

Sam took a napkin out of the stand and started to shred it into pieces. “I remember when Jason first went into the pier. Like five minutes later, AJ came home, and he and Tracy were fighting over shares, and they wanted Jason and Danny’s shares—God, it was awful. I hated it.”

“Is there a problem with ELQ shares?” Elizabeth frowned. “I haven’t heard anything. I wasn’t involved back then. Jake got his shares a few years later—”

“That’s kind of what I wanted to ask you about. Jake’s shares. Um, he can’t control them until he’s eighteen, right? Would you—” Sam met her eyes. “Would you ever trade their proxy? For something you knew would help your entire family?”

Alarm bells began to ring in Elizabeth’s head as she took a hesitant breath. “Sam—look, you really gotta be careful. The shares—you think what happened eight years was terrible—I’ve watched the Qs use these shares as weapons for decades. Honestly. I didn’t want to be part of it—I signed away Jake’s proxy almost as soon as I took control.”

Sam furrowed her brow. “What? Why? To who? Does Jason have them? He didn’t want them when I—”

“No, I gave them to basically the only Quartermaine I actually trust,” Elizabeth told her. “I gave the proxy to Michael. He loves ELQ, and it’s his last link to AJ. I knew he’d always have ELQ’s best interests at heart, and he loves Jake. Having that out of my hair, knowing I never have to be involved—that Jake doesn’t have to think about it—it’s the best decision I ever made.”

“Michael,” Sam repeated. “That’s—you’re right. He—he loves ELQ,” she murmured. “And Jason loves Michael.”

“Sam, if someone is offering you something in exchange for the proxy—I want you to think very carefully about who’s offering it and what you’re being given. No one does anything without an ulterior motive.” She made a face. “I know you’re not supposed to talk to Jason but talk to Alexis. Or Ned. Or someone else. I’m not involved with ELQ.”

“No, but you know what it’s like to make a sacrifice for something you really want.” Sam arched a brow. “Sometimes, it’s worth it.”

“And sometimes,” Elizabeth said gently, “you learn that if you have to break someone else to get it—what I did five years ago, Sam, I paid a heavy price. Be sure you’re ready for it.” She got to her feet. “Don’t do anything you can’t take back.”

She looked over at Aiden. “Let’s get going, Aiden, Gram is expecting us for dinner.”

Your Update Links: Whatever It Takes – Part 15 | Strong Enough

That’s right – I have a surprise ficlet (Strong Enough) for you guys and even more interesting news — it’s the first of at least three stories I was inspired to write by watching four episodes of General Hospital this week.

I want to take a moment for you to digest that statement because I am as shocked and appalled by it as you are. I watched FOUR episodes of GH yesterday and was IMMEDIATELY inspired to write episode tags. Just so there’s no misunderstanding — these episodes were not from 1999, 2002, 2006, or even 2012 — They were episodes that aired August 3-6, 2020.

THIS YEAR. I WAS INSPIRED BY THIS YEAR‘S SHOW. I AM VERY CONFUSED.

So today, I have the first episode tag for you. It fits between Wednesday and Thursday’s episodes, after that gorgeous Sonny and Elizabeth scene (wait. did i just say that about something on THIS SHOW??) in the hospital and before Jason’s scenes at the courthouse on Thursday with Chase and Jordan. If you’re not super sure what’s going on with the show these days, I’ve included a recap in the timeline portion of the story. This is the level of detail that I hope my timelines will have going forward. Let me know if it helped.

Tomorrow and Monday, I will update with the next two episode tags. I did a quick Twitter poll last night to choose the order because I honestly had no preference — I WANT TO WRITE THEM ALL. YOU GUYS WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.  If you want a preview of the next two stories, I already posted their info on the Alternate History page. Just skip to 2017-Present.

Please enjoy. I will see you guys tomorrow with This Is Me Trying.

This entry is part 15 of 16 in the series Flash Fiction: Whatever It Takes

Written in 22 minutes. No time for edits or typos.

Shortly after Elizabeth left for Harborview Towers and her meeting with Ric, Spinelli finally had success in tracking the serial number of a phone registered in Sam’s name—

He gave Steven and Jason the address, and for the entire drive to the warehouse located on the docks, Spinelli made sure to let them know it was probably a dead end, that Sam was likely long gone, and he should not be held responsible since he was being asked—

“Spinelli,” Jason said, flatly, his fingers curling around the steering wheel. “Shut up.”

“Shutting up.”

The warehouse had once belonged to Mickey Roscoe, an enemy of Jason and Sonny’s from years ago — a warehouse that Jason and Sonny had then bought and converted into a safe house. No one but Jason and Sonny knew about it.

The fact that Spinelli had tracked any trace of Sam McCall to this address was a sign that she had been there at some point —

He pulled into the parking lot, littered with a few other cars so that the warehouse never looked neglected and completely empty. Jason knew all of those cars — he’d helped move them there after buying them at various auctions —

Except for a plain white Honda parked haphazardly near a back door.

He drew in a sharp break, threw the SUV into park, and looked at Steven. “You ready?”

Steven checked the barrel of his gun, then shoved it into his holster. “Yeah. Spinelli, stay behind us.”

“When did you start carrying a gun?” Spinelli asked as they climbed out of the car. “Am I the only one who doesn’t have one?”

“The last time I gave you a gun,” Jason said, “you shot yourself in the foot and me in the leg. Stay behind us.”

They inched towards the back door, keeping close to the edge of the building. Jason didn’t know what they’d find inside—maybe Sam was dead and Lily was gone again—he wouldn’t put it past Ric to kill her—

And then he heard a woman’s soft voice, the thin whine of a baby.

He stopped—just before the door. Looked at Steven, then down at his gun. If his daughter was inside — would this be her first memory of him? A gun?

“I’ll cover you,” Steven said, understanding. “Let me go first.”

Jason hung back, lowering his gun to his side —

Steven kicked open the door—someone screamed, the baby started crying — Jason came in behind him —

Sam was sitting in on a sofa, her eyes wide and terrified, a little girl clutched in her arms, crying.

“Are you alone?” Steven demanded.

Sam nodded, her cheeks stained with tears. “I—I was supposed to meet someone here to help me get out of the country. B-but I don’t think they’re coming.” She pressed her face into the little girl’s blonde hair.

Blonde hair.

This little girl was supposed to have been Sonny and Sam’s daughter.

Jason stared at her. “That’s my daughter.” Her terrified eyes met his. “Isn’t she?” he demanded, his voice slightly harsher.

Sam’s lips quivered. “I didn’t—I just wanted to be a mother,” she gasped. “He said I could keep her, and I wanted to be a mother—I wanted my little girl—she was dead—but he gave me—”

“So you took my sister’s baby.” Steven scowled, shoved the gun into his holster. “Give me her. Now—”

“Please let me say goodbye—please she loves me—”

Jason stopped Steven from just taking the little girl from Sam. He knelt in front of her, looking at the upset baby—at her face—he touched her soft skin.

“You didn’t call her Lily, did you?” he asked Sam, gently. The little girl blinked, her cries ceasing at his soft voice.

“N-No. I—I—her name is Isla,” Sam breathed. “Are you—please—don’t take her from me—”

“That’s my daughter,” Jason told her. “Elizabeth’s daughter. You made us grieve her for a year, but you know she’s not yours.”

Sam squeezed her eyes shut, then rocked Isla against her for a moment before nodding. “I just couldn’t stand it, couldn’t stand it, I love her so much but she’s not mine and I knew it every time I looked at her and saw you—” She kissed the baby’s face.

“I’m tired,” she murmured. “Tired of running. Tired of borrowed time.”

She gave Isla to Jason, then buried her face in her hands.

Jason picked up the little girl, wrapped his arms around her, and pressed his cheek to the top of her soft curls. He looked at Steven. “Call Elizabeth. I’ve got our daughter.”

“On it,” Steven managed, his voice rusty.

——

“Let me live—” Ric laughed. “I’ve always enjoyed your sense of humor.” He sipped his bourbon. “If there was any truth to this—if you’d told Jason what you suspected, I’d be dead, and you know it—”

“Who do you think made sure I got the security footage from our apartment?” Elizabeth said coolly. “Who do you think held my hand while I watched you put the pills into the champagne—”

Ric stared at her. “But—”

“I told Jason not to kill you because I couldn’t stand anyone knowing. Couldn’t stand thinking about it.”

He shook his head, but his confident air had been disturbed. “No—he wouldn’t—I wouldn’t—”

“Some men—when a woman tells them no—” Elizabeth tilted her head, smiled. “They listen. I’m not surprised you don’t understand.”

The phone in her hand buzzed and Elizabeth, never taking her eyes off Ric, pressed the button to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Bits, we got her. Jason’s holding your little girl right now. She’s safe, perfect—she’s beautiful. We’ll be right there—”

“Good. I’ll need a cleanup crew.”

“Bits—”

She hung up the phone, put it in her pocket as Ric scowled. “Clean up crew? For what—stop—”

Elizabeth put her phone in her purse, then removed the gun, and shot him—

Ric still looked surprised as he clutched his chest, staring at her. “You—you—”

“And some men,” Elizabeth murmured as he fell to the ground, and the life bled out of him, “don’t mind letting a woman do her own dirty work.”

August 7, 2020

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Wishes Came True

Inspiration

I watched four episodes of General Hospital today (August 7, 2020) and I was inspired to write three different stories. It’s upsetting, and I’m gonna need you guys to support me through this strange moment of liking the show. I’m sure it will pass. It was so lovely to feel like — oh, the episode’s over but man I have just this one idea that could have made it better!

Timeline & Setting

If you haven’t watched the show in a bit, here’s a brief recap. Sonny’s dad, Mike, has Alzheimer’s and has been taken to GH to have a feeding tube put in. Watching Sonny struggle with this decision inspires Jason to make a decision about his own end of life decisions, and for various reasons, asked Carly to have his power of attorney. Elizabeth has been one of Mike’s nurses and counsels Sonny about the feeding tube. Earlier, Felix told Sonny about a patient with Alzheimer’s on a feeding tube and ventilator. The patient is Yvonne Godfrey, someone that Mike connected with at the nursing home and, in their dementia, had a marriage ceremony with.

Jason and Carly came to the hospital to talk to Sonny about the feeding tube and came in at the end of Elizabeth’s conversation with Sonny.

Maybe that’s the point
To reach the point of giving up
‘Cause when I’m finally
Finally at rock bottom
Well, that’s when I start looking up
And reaching out

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

General Hospital: Nurse’s Hub

“I think I broke a law today.”

Elizabeth Webber frowned, looked over at her co-worker and friend. “Again? Felix, I don’t have bail money—”

“Funny,” Felix DuBois said dryly. He leaned against the counter and folded his arms. “I might have violated a few privacy laws.”

“Felix—”

“I swear, I had a good reason. Let me explain, and then you tell me whether or not I gotta find a lawyer, okay?”

“Let’s hear it—”

“I saw Mike Corbin’s name on the schedule for a procedure today,” Felix began, “and, well, I got curious—you know, I really like Mike—” He hesitated. “He was supposed to have a feeding tube put in—”

“You took Sonny to see Yvonne Godfrey.”

Felix winced, then nodded. “Yeah.” He scratched his temple. “I made it seem like casual conversation, but I kind of spilled, uh, everything. I just didn’t want Sonny to do the feeding tube—”

Elizabeth picked up a chart. “Don’t do it again,” she told him. “I’m serious—these patients trust us, and it’s not like Yvonne and Mike actually got married. Sonny wasn’t entitled to that information—”

“I know—”

“But—” She offered him a faint smile. “I might have done the same thing if I had thought of it.”

“I knew you’d have my back.”

“I don’t think Sonny’s gonna tell anyone, so you’re probably in the clear.” She checked her watch. “I have to drop these off. I’ll see you later.”

After leaving the charts with the resident on call, Elizabeth walked past the waiting room again. She stopped when she saw Jason sitting alone on the sofa, where she had spoken to Sonny earlier. “Hey—I thought you’d left earlier. Are Sonny and Carly still here?”

“Uh, yeah.” Jason blinked, looked up at her, then stood. “Hey. Yeah, they’re still with Mike. I was just thinking about—” He exhaled slowly, looked at the floor, put his hands at his waist. “Thank you. For talking things over with Sonny.” He looked up, and their eyes met. “He’s been struggling with this, and it’s hard for Carly to really—I don’t know. Whatever you said—”

“He was already halfway there. I think I just helped him be okay with it. I meant it—I always liked Mike.” She smiled. “He always told me I’d have a job at Kelly’s if I needed to go back.”

“I almost—” Jason smiled. “I almost forgot you’d worked there. It’s been so long—” He looked off in the distance, towards the elevators. “Feels like another lifetime.”

“Sometimes, I think it was.”

“Uh, do you have a minute?” Jason asked. “I wanted to talk to you about Jake.”

“Yeah, sure. What’s up? Do you need to cancel this weekend—”

Jason shook his head, folded his arms. “No, it’s just—with Mike—I’ve been thinking about my own decisions. You know? Who would—I don’t want anyone to worry about what I’d want,” he told her. “To see Sonny dealing with this decision—I don’t want it for anyone.”

She wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter—but the life he lived—of course, it mattered. How many bullet wounds and injuries had she patched up for him in the twenty years they’d known one another? “Are you thinking about a living will?”

“Yeah, but also—” He paused. “I don’t have a legal next of kin,” Jason told her. “Jake and Danny—they’re not old enough—and I know there’s Monica—but after everything she’s gone through, losing Emily and AJ—Alan—”

“You don’t want her to have to make that decision about another child. Yeah. I—I know we got a miracle with Jake,” Elizabeth said, and they shared a look—both remembering that terrible night and the fight they’d had about turning off life support. “But I’ll never forget what it felt like. So—is it Sam? Is that what you wanted me to know—”

“It didn’t—” Jason shook his head. “We’re not married, and we’re not—” He grimaced slightly. “We’re not going to be together. At least—not for a long time. And giving her that responsibility when we’re not married because she’s Danny’s mother—it doesn’t feel fair to you—”

“Oh—” Elizabeth put up a hand. “No, Jason. I wouldn’t even think of that way—”

“I know I made a lot of mistakes,” he continued. “And I wasn’t always fair—to either of you—I love both my sons. I don’t want them to ever think I chose one over the other, and I thought—” He looked away. “And it also can’t be Sonny after all of this.”

Elizabeth nodded, and with a slight laugh, she said, “It’s Carly, then? Last woman standing? You know she’ll never turn off the machines.”

“She might have trouble doing it,” Jason admitted with his own hesitant smile. “But I’m sure you’ll be there to remind her that it’s what I want.”

She rolled her eyes. “And then I’ll have to hear about how I killed you for the rest of my life. Gee, thanks.”

His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out. “I’m sorry, I have to go—there’s someone I need to meet.” Jason paused. “Thanks. For understanding about the POA.”

“I know how much you love Jake, Jason. And he loves Danny, too. I’m glad you’re thinking about the future and making sure that they never have a reason to doubt how much you love them.” She waited. “Let me know if Sonny needs anything. The next few days—if Mike doesn’t start eating—” Elizabeth sighed. “You know where to find me.”

“Always. And—” Jason studied her expression for a moment. “You know where to find me, too, if you need anything.”

They traded a smile before he went to the elevators, and she went back to work.

 

Your Update Link: Desperate Measures, Part 16

If you’ve visited this page after getting the email update notification, then you get to see the title, and yes, you are not wrong. You’re not hallucinating. Yesterday, I finally FINISHED the first draft of this massive insane mess, lol. After 653 pages, 235k words, and arounf 100 hours of my blood, sweat, and tears — Book 3’s first draft is done and available at Patreon for $3 and up tiers. It is, I repeat, a giant mess but it’s there if you want it.

Fool Me TwiceWhile I take two days off from Mad World, I’m digging in more deeply to Fool Me Twice discovery and am super excited about the Jason scenes I planned yesterday. I found a REALLY great way to revisit the AJ murder mess that lets me not only revisit Jason’s early history, but Sonny and Carly’s relationship with Michal AS WELL AS Liason history with Jake and their friendship AND MONICA GETS TO SCREAM AT CARLY. LOL. I am freaking pumped to write that section of the story.

Filmed vlogs for Mad World and Fool Me Twice — Mad World will be up tomorrow, I think, and you’ll see today’s episode of FMT in about a week — there are still two more episodes from last Friday that need to be posted.

See you guys tomorrow!