Chapter Six

Jason Morgan looked into the woman’s blue eyes and nearly lost himself. His heart was in his throat and he felt as if he were going to choke. Here she was, she was standing right in front of him, holding his bloody hands in her soft, small ones. Their eyes were locked together, neither looking away, just the light of recognition and love shining through their depths.

Courtney could barely breathe as she stared into his eyes, those gorgeous orbs she’d seen so many times as visions from the dreams bombarded her every hour she was awake. And, here he was, standing in front of her, as real as anyone could be. Her hands still held his, the blood from the cuts on her palms. He exists, and he’s exactly as he was in the dream., Now, here he is, standing right in front of me.

“Did you realize you were bleeding?” she asked, although not exactly knowing how she managed to.

Jason’s eyes finally removed themselves from her gaze, although not willingly, and found his hands. “Yes, I did. But it didn’t matter.”

The emotion in his voice told her so much more than he realized. He was hurt, emotionally, but then there was something else there, the same thing she’d heard in the dream when he’d whispered “I love you.” It took everything in her to keep from holding him, just so she could try to melt whatever was hurting him away.

Jason saw the same look in her eyes that had been in the dream, but found that odd, since that had been a dream, and this was obviously reality. But, why was she looking at him like that?

“Well, you’re cut. Can I help you clean them up?” her gentle voice asked, still not sure how she was able to talk. But this man, the man she was sure she loved, needed to get his hands cleaned and bandaged.

He didn’t speak an answer, he didn’t know how after seeing her in the flesh. After responding the first time, his mouth seemed to glue itself shut. He couldn’t talk. Jason just nodded his head, the only way he could think of to respond.

“Okay, I’ve got a loft over in that building and some first aid supplies.” Carefully, she let go of one of his injured hands but kept the other one in one of hers as she guided him away from the docks and into the building where her new home was.

Her hand still held one of his, he noticed, and it felt nice. The mind behind the blew eyes was flying a mile a minute with the growing realization that the woman who’d appeared in his dream was real and she was here, guiding him to her loft. And, the startling thing was, she seemed exactly the way she was in the dream, sweet, caring and kind. Everything about her was the same, from the way she held herself, to the way her eyes looked to the way she spoke. And, if it was possible, he’d fallen deeper in love with her than he had been before.

Courtney could feel the man’s eyes on her as they climbed the stairs to the loft, her hand holding his, leading him to the place she now called home. He’s real, she thought again in amazement. How was it possible for someone to be exactly how they were in a dream if you’d never met them before the dream? She felt exactly the same with him, comfortable and at peace, all her walls were down, not like she was around most people who were around her, even Perry. Here I am, acting as if he and I are together and in love. We just met! But, I feel as if I’ve loved him forever. Unbeknownst to Courtney, her dream man felt the same way.

She unlocked the door to the loft and led him inside, letting go of his injured hand to shut the door behind him. Jason looked around her place, seeing every bit of who he knew she was in how it was decorated. It was colored in creams and light greens, almost minty, except for the dark wood of the coffee table that seemed to fit anyway. It was soft, comfortable and homey. He thought back to his penthouse, with barely anything in it except his pool table, desk and couch. This looked much better, even if he did like his place.

His tongue finally came loose for the second time since seeing her. “Nice place.”

A smile lit her face as she said thank you and he thought he might just melt right there. Morgan, you really are pathetic, he said to himself. This woman was doing things to him no one else had ever come close to doing, already. Looking down again at his hands. He saw why she was so concerned. They looked as if he’d taken a knife and randomly stabbed and sliced the flesh of them. Some had stopped bleeding but there were others that still did so.

Courtney came back into the living room with a first aid kit and bandages in her hands. “Here, I’ll fix those up,” she said, and he walked over to the edge of the counter where she stood.

“Thanks.”

“No problem”

Neither spoke as she applied triple antibiotic ointment to the cuts after cleaning them and wrapped them with gauze. Jason didn’t take his eyes off her as she bandaged his wounds and Courtney was trying her best not to look at him, because if she did, she knew how hard it would be to look away and his hands needed attention.

It was a long five minutes but they got through it. “There, you’re all fixed up. Just don’t go punching anymore walls anytime soon.”

“Heh, thanks for the tip, and the help.” Jason responded. She was sweet and her sense of humor was cute, definitely a good thing that he could appreciate. It was the same as his, he knew.

“You’re welcome. Would you like something to drink?” She was at the refrigerator, pulling out a small pitcher of tea, one of the few things she had in it. Jason accepted what he took as being an invitation to stay gladly. After she’d poured them both a glass of the liquid, she took hers to the living room and sat on the couch. Jason awkwardly followed her, not knowing if he should or not, if it would seem odd to her. But, she didn’t seem to mind when he sat down next to her. In fact, she seemed to like that he did.

Ever since those moments on the docks, they’d had a sort of unspoken connection and both knew that they loved each other, but neither knew that the same night they’d dreamt about the other, they’d shared the dream, or event that they felt the same way.

Courtney gazed at the man next to her, who had his glass of tea in both hands in front of him, just staring at it. He wasn’t much of a talker, really, but the awkwardness they both felt, even while feeling comfortable with each other, was cute.

“So, do you mind telling me why you were beating up the wall?” she asked in a casual, concerned voice. She knew that a question like that could sound patronizing and didn’t want it to come off as being so.

Jason had to smile, inwardly, at her question. Normally, with any other woman, besides Carly, he would just keep silent. He knew he could tell her anything and she wouldn’t judge him. But, there was also business tied into this and he didn’t want to tell her that. “Well, I was mad.”

Again, she chuckled. “Yeah, that was obvious. I meant what made you that angry.” Courtney took a sip of her drink and looked up. He was staring at her, with those gorgeous baby blues. Earlier, he’d been subtle about it, after the first time their eyes had locked, but now, he did it just as blatantly as the first time. Okay, I’ll play this, she said to herself. If he wants to stare, then I get to stare back. Her tactic was more direct. Courtney looked the man straight in the eyes, focusing on the deep, black pupils, something she knew made people uncomfortable. Just testing him, to see if he could keep up with his staring with her doing so right back at him.

Jason could take that and looked back down at the glass in his hand, heart beating a million miles an hour and so hard he was sure that all of Port Charles could hear it. “It was something with my work,” he responded finally, telling more of the truth, mostly just to break the silence and give his mouth something to do. If he didn’t, he was sure that he would wind up with his lips on hers.

Courtney nodded, sensing that it wasn’t a subject he wanted to talk about. That was understandable, though, since the man had been pretty angry.

A shrill ring pierced through the air, making them both jump. It was Jason’s cell phone. Sighing, he dug it out of his pocket and answered the beautiful spawn of technological advancement. “Hello…yeah, I’ll be right there.” Why did Sonny have to call now, of all the times in the world to call? Here he was, in the same room, on the same couch, as the most perfect woman in the world and his boss had to call.

“Umm, I’m sorry, but I have to go. Work,” he said, getting up, but not really wanting to and doing nothing to hide it from her.

Courtney was disappointed. Even though they hadn’t talked much, she could feel that they were getting somewhere. “That’s okay.”

“Thanks, you know, for stopping me on the docks.”

“No problem. If you’re ever angry again, try using a punching back. They don’t bite back.” Courtney replied, a hint of teasing in her voice and a smile on her face. She saw a small one form on his lips and her heart beat faster.

“Goodnight,” he said. If he didn’t leave now, Jason didn’t think he ever would.

“’Night”

Jason opened the door and walked out, looking back at her just as the door was about to close. He saw her standing there, a smile still shining on her face.

It wasn’t until he was back at his bike at the warehouse that he realized he didn’t know her name and she didn’t know his.