Journey Online

A/N: Lol I didn’t get anyone who wanted to write the next chapter in my story. Oh well, looks like I’ll be writing it! I’ve been really down lately, so I apologize for not getting this out earlier… Btw, I decided to ignore Carly’s night with Ric even though I think I mentioned it earlier. Finally! Some Journey interaction!

Jason walked down the long corridor towards the desk where he asked the lady in the pale blue dress something that Gabby couldn’t quite make out. She heard the woman reply with a room number, but wasn’t able to get all of it. Jason nodded and sat down on the couch in the lobby area. Gabby, meanwhile, grabbed the first magazine she saw and pretended to be engrosses in the latest issue of O, while keeping her eye on Jason’s handsome figure. From what little Gabby knew about him, she was pleased that he made Courtney happy.

Jason looked down at his watch and scratched his head. He had noticed Gabby minutes earlier and was sure that she was only pretending to be interested in whatever fashion magazine she was holding. Whoever she was, Gabby was always finding some way to get herself into trouble. That Jason could already tell. He approached the desk once more after some time had passed to see if Ric was having visitors yet.

Gabby grimaced as she struggled to make out Jason’s words with the receptionist. The look on his face told her that he was determined to do whatever it was that needed to be done. Gabby was sure that Christian had something to do with it. Perhaps that was who Jason was trying to see.

“As I said earlier, it’s 213, but he’s not to have any visitors for at least another hour.”

That was all the information that Gabby needed. It had to be Christian who was in the hospital, no doubt because of Jason. If for whatever reason, Jason couldn’t finish the job, she would. For all of his lies and the hurt that he caused, Christian deserved what she was prepared to give him: death. Gabby walked confidently away from the magazine stand, unaware that she was now being followed by a man with startling blue eyes.

“How are you feeling?” Sonny asked his baby sister. It had been a long night and the sun was beginning to creep into the small hospital room, despite the curtains that were drawn at the windows.

“Much better,” Courtney answered honestly, “There’s not much pain, but I think the baby’s hungry.” She smiled to herself as her stomach let out a small growl. Sonny glanced at the plate of food that lay on the table near Courtney’s bed and gave her a questioning look.

“Then why don’t you eat something?”

“That!” Carly sputtered as she entered the room, holding a large bouquet of flowers and a basket that looked suspiciously full of food. “No way Sonny. Pregnant women don’t enjoy hospital food. If you can even call it food!.”

Carly set the bag of food and the bouquet on the table and began to arrange the flowers in a pretty vase.

“They’re beautiful, Carly,” Courtney said, “Thank you.” Carly looked up at her sister-in-law without saying a word, and gave a small smile.

“Where’s Jason?” Carly asked as she continued to play with the arrangement of flowers.

“Probably taking care of business, right Sonny?” Courtney asked with a small laugh as Sonny shook his head yes. Jason always had to take care of business, but Courtney didn’t mind, as long as he came back to her in the end. It was all part of who he was and Courtney wouldn’t change a think about the man that she loved. He was always there when she needed him, but she has also learned to watch out for herself.

“Jason will be back,” Sonny reassured the two women. His best friend always kept his promises and Sonny knew that he wouldn’t abandon Courtney. Nevertheless, a part of him couldn’t let go of the fact that Courtney was always going to need his protection if she stayed close. She deserved to have a loving life away from him and the danger that he posed to her. But for now, at least, he would let her live as she chose.

Gabby stared into the window of room 213 and placed her hand on the knob. She opened the door quietly and took a peek at the face of the man who lay on the bed. Her breath drew in sharply as she realized who he was-and he definitely wasn’t Christian. Ric looked up at the brunette woman and his eyes opened with shock that matched her own.

“What the hell is going on here?” Gabby demanded suddenly. Her eyes were full of confusion, anger and most of all-hatred. Realization hit her when Ric didn’t respond, “You! You bastard! Christian works for you, doesn’t he?” Silence followed her words because Ric was too surprised to say anything.

“What’s your problem?” she yelled, “Don’t you get it? Have you ever gotten it? Do you see what your life is doing to you?”

Ric continued to stare.

“Last time I saw you, I hoped and prayed that I would never see you again. You were supposed to be turning your life around. Maybe become a Harvard lawyer!”

“I did,” Ric responded simply.

“Did you? That wasn’t good enough for you? You just had to take away someone else’s money-someone else’s life? Do you realize that Christian put my best friend in this hospital?”

Ric stared at Gabby, unsure of how to respond, “Best friend, Gabby? You mean Sonny Corinthos’ sister, Courtney Matthews?”

“Courtney and I grew up together, Ric. So f---ing what if she’s the sister of a mobster. That gives you the right to intentionally hurt her?”

“She wasn’t supposed to fall down those steps!” Ric answered angrily, “Don’t blame me for what Courtney did to herself.”

“You’ll never change, will you? Weaseling your way into someone else’s family so that you can screw them over like you did to mine. Always thinking of yourself with no disregard to others. When you ordered her kidnapped, did it ever occur to you that she might be hurt?”

Gabby glared at Ric, the man who had always disappointed their family.

Jason observed the scene, unable to hear either Gabby or Ric’s words. One thing remained clear-Gabby and Ric were familiar with each other and obviously, it wasn’t a pleasant partnership. A sick feeling entered Jason’s stomach as a thought formed in his mind. He’d been wrong about Christian in Barcelona-but Gabby? She had been the one to “mysteriously” find a very hurt Courtney. Had she been in on the plot all along? Perhaps Gabby knew much more than she was willing to tell. The anger boiled inside of Jason as he watched her argue with Ric Lansing, who had foolishly endangered the love of his life.

Gabby yelled something at Ric one final time before storming out of the room and right into Jason. Jason grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into the empty room next door. “Tell me everything you know! Now!” he said forcefully.

Gabby had never experienced this side of Jason, although she had guessed that it existed. She gulped as Jason held his tight grip.

“What is it that you need to know?” she asked, her voice shaking.

Jason tilted his head towards the room where Ric lay. “How do you know Ric Lansing?”

“Ric? You mean Enrique?” she asked, confused, “That son of a bitch in there is my cousin.”

“Cousin?” Jason asked, loosening his grip, but not quite all the way, “You two seemed to be in a very heated argument.”

“Yea, well, not every family gets a long as well as they should,” Gabby explained impatiently as she removed her arm from Jason’s hand, “I haven’t seen or heard from him in years. He’s obviously gotten involved with the mob again.”

“So, Enrique is it? He’s been involved with the mob?”

“As a teenager he ran with the town gangsters. Tried to take over my father’s business after his father, my uncle, died. Our family threw him out after he attempted to take everything of ours away. Last we heard, he’d been accepted into Harvard Law School.”

Jason was unsure whether he should believe her, but he could sense the truth in her eyes. “Ri-Enrique-he’s a dangerous man, Gabby. Be careful.”

“Yea, I know,” she replied as she walked out of the room that Jason had pulled her into, “I will.” Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his hair after Gabby left.

Carly motioned Sonny out of Courtney’s hospital room, telling him, “It’s just going to be some girl talk! Go somewhere else and ‘take care of business,’ ok sweetie?” Sonny knew that it was no use to fight against his wife, so he left them alone.

“What is it, Carly?” Courtney asked, confused as to why Carly had shooed Sonny away so quickly. Carly took out the food that she had brought into the hospital and handed it to Courtney.

“Here, take this. I know that you’re probably really scared to tell Sonny that the baby is Jason’s,” Carly began, “and I just wanted to tell you that I’m going to be here supporting you.”

Courtney looked at Carly, nearly speechless. “Do you think that-that Sonny’s going to be really angry with Jason and I?”

“I can’t lie to you and tell you that everything is going to be okay because I know that it won’t just be okay. You’re going to have to wait until Sonny can accept the facts, which may take some time, but he’ll come around. I’ll do everything I can to make him see things from your point of view. He just wants the best for you.”

“I know. When Jason and I were together in Barcelona, things just-everything happened so fast. I mean, one day we ran into each other by accident and then a few days later we were back together and things got crazy and Jason had to leave.” Courtney paused as she remembered how beautiful the night that she and Jason had conceived their baby had been. “It was so hard to let him go again and I don’t-” Courtney’s words were interrupted by a light knock on the door.

Jason smiled as he walked through the door and saw Courtney again. She was everything to him and he wasn’t going to let him lose her, and now their baby, ever again. They had both walked out on each other too many times, and Jason finally knew that the love between them would never go away and could never be replaced.

“I know that you two have a lot of talking to do,” Carly said, “and Courtney, think about what I said.” As Carly exited the room, Jason took his place next to Courtney’s bedside.

“So how is mommy doing?” Jason asked, his eyes sparking.

“I’m fine, but we missed you,” she replied. Jason reached over and brushed the hair out of her face as he continued to look at her with pure love in his eyes.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead before sitting back into his original position. “Courtney, I want-I want to be with you, and with our baby and I understand if you say that you don’t want our child to be put into danger because of the way that I choose to live my life, but I’m always going to love you. Falling in love with you was the best thing that ever happened in my life and if you want to come live in the Penthouse with me, or if you want to go back to California-I just, I want you to be happy.”

“I’m happy when I’m with you,” Courtney responded as she reached up to touch his face, “and if you want to be part of our child’s life-then that’s what I want too. There isn’t anyone or anything that can stop us from loving each other and being together, and I know that Jason, but Sonny needs to be told that-”

“Yes and the sooner that I explain to him, the better for you,” he interrupted.

“We,” Courtney said quickly, “are telling Sonny. I’m not going to let you do it alone.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, concerned.

“Yes,” Courtney replied, “and there is no better time to do so than right now.”

“I don’t want you to cause extra stress for you or-”

“Jason, either I tell him myself, or we tell him together,” Courtney said firmly.

“Tell me what?” Sonny asked as he walked through the door, but from the looks on their faces, he already knew the answer.

Jason reached for Courtney’s hand, giving her the strength that she needed. Before Courtney could start, Sonny cut in. “I don’t want to fight with you anymore. I can’t control the people that you love and if you want to be together, go ahead.”

Courtney’s eyes lit up at Sonny’s words, but she knew that Sonny needed to know the complete truth. “Sonny, we don’t want to hide anything from you, which is why we wanted to tell you that-that well, we’re going to be a family.”

Sonny’s eyes grew a little wider as he realized what Courtney’s words meant.

“I’m going to be a father,” Jason said, his voice full of emotion, “The child that Courtney is carrying is my baby.”

Sonny looked slightly confused and a little angry, but his expression changed with his next words, directed at Courtney, which shocked both Jason and his soul mate. “Then I guess your baby is going to have the best damn father in Port Charles.”