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.

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