Caroline walked into the room behind the doctor and let out a sigh of releif
when she saw her sleeping son. He didn't have any tubes in him or anything.
"Oh Thank God." she cried and went over to his side and gently pushed the
hair put of his face.

"You're son was extremly lucky Mrs. Morgan." The doctor said from the
doorway. "I'm quite shocked that he came out of such an accident with just a
few scartches. He must have a guardian angel."

"Yes he does." She said with a smile "He has my mother."

The doctor smiled and left the rom. Caroline pulled out a chair and sat next
to Michael. Her back was to the doorway so she didn't see Jason appear in
the doorway. He was going to say something, but he decided to just watch
them.

"I'm positive that your grandmother, Virgina was watching you and protected
you." Caroline said as she held her sons hands. "She's probably watching
over all of us. I know she's so proud of you. Maybe even as proud as I am.
She's probably the reason you're so great. She must have put in a good
word for you with the big man. He probably felt like he owed her, you know
for giving her such a rotten child."

Caroline dropped her head as tears began to fall and she said "I'm so lucky
you and Lilly are nothing like me. I can hear Virgina now. 'There goes my
daughter again, chasing a fantasy. A silly fantasy. Lying to herself and
everyone around her." Caroline shook her head and took a deep breath,
trying to stop the tears, but it didn't work. "There I go, making everything
about me again. Michael so many people love you. That waiting room is
packed. And baby I love you so much, and so does your father. No matter
how he feels about me, he loves you. Always remember that."

Caroline brought Michaels hand to her face as she began to sob. Suddenly
she felt a jacket being draped over her shoulders and two stong arms
embraced her from behind. She leaned back into them sobbing and Jason
held her untill the nurse told them that it was time to leave Michael alone, so
he could rest. Caroline stood slowly and left the room, with Jason right
behind her. She walked into a deserted waiting room and sat on the couch.
Jason stepped in and looked around. "I never knew that this was here."

"Most people don't." Caroline replied quietly. "I found it when I was a nurse.
I came here to be alone all the time."

"Do you think that we should go tell everyone that he's alright?" Jason asked

"I can't to it Jason." Caroline said quietly "I can't face them, not after the
scene I just threw."

"I think everyone understands Caroline." He watched her draw his jacket
toghter around her tiny body. He sat next to her and reached out to push
some hair out of her face

"Don't" She whispered as tears fell down her face. "I know out there I was
clinging to you, but I was just scared and I needed something familar." she
said

"Why'd you say that?" he asked quietly. "To Michael. You said no matter
how I felt about you. What did you mean? I love you with all my heart. And
what did you mean about chasing a fantasy."

"I didn't know you were listening." She said quietly.

"You still said it." he said placing a hand on her back and began rubbing it.

"Jase, I'm just so confused. I never believed that if you love someone with all
your heart, that you could cheat on them. But you chaeted on me. With her.
The woman you had pledged your undying love to so many times." Caroline
said tearfully

"But that was before I fell in love with you." Jason said.

"Jase you fell in love with me AFTER Robin left but the moment she came
back, it was as if nothing had changed." Caroline replied. looking down

"But everything had changed." Jason said, he cupped her face in his hands
and forced her to look at him. "That day when I got home I told Robin how I
felt and I made her leave, because you are part of me. Theses past few
weeks I've been walking around feeling as though a part of me is missing."

Caroline pulled away and stood up as she began to cry and cried out "I feel
like I'm lost in the woods, and I have to pick a path to get out, but I can't
choose. Jase, I just don't know which paths are made of lies and are just
going to disappear."

Jason walked in front of her and said "All I've ever wanted to be was the one
to pull you out of those woods."

"And for so many years you did. But know, Jase I feel my heart breake
everytime I'm near you and I just don't know if I can trust you."

"Why can't we give our love another chance?" Jason asked grabbbing her
"Why can't we start over?"

"We've gone too far." She said pulling away "Done too much, felt too much
to just start over. You're talking about building a new fire over ashes. It's
impossible." She started for the door.

"Caroline don't punish yourself for something I did." Jason said quietly. She
turned to look at him and he contiinued. "It wasn't you. Don't hurt yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Caroline asked

"It's been 3 weeks since we last saw each other and you' must have dropped
20 pounds."

"I'm not trying to punish myself." She whispered "I just, I don't know......"

"When was the last time you ate something?" Jason asked

"I'm not starving myself Jason. I'm not." Caroline said strongly

"Than tell me why you're so skinny." Jason demanded.

"I don't have to take this. You lost the right to ask me personal questions
when you took a roll in the hay with Ms. Scorpio."

She went to open the door and had it halfway open, but Jasons strong hand
slammed it shut. He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to him
"You listen to me, I won't let you self destruct. I won't allow it. You can
leave me. You can break my heart. You can hate me, you can give up on us
but I won't allow you to give up on yourself or hate yourself." He shook
Caroline and yelled "Do you hear me? I won't let you."

Caroline began to sob and Jason quickly pulled her into his arms and rubbed
her back as he said "I wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to
you."

Caroline pulled away and said "Something already did. The man I love broke
my heart."

She threw his jacket at him and walked out of the room.
Ever After -Chapter 10

Early the next morning Jason walked into the waiting room to see Caroline
sitting, filling out Michaels dischagre papers while Lilly slept in her lap. Jason
took a deep breath and walked over to her. "Hi." he said.

Caroline looked up and quietly said "Hi."

There was a long awkward pause that was interuppted by Michaels joyus
cries "Mommy! Daddy!" He cried as Amy wheeled him into the waiting
room.

His cries woke up Lilly who smiled and said "Michael you're all better."

"Yup" Michael said with a grin

"Nope." Caroline said handing the forms to Amy "He is not all better.He
needs plenty of rest. That means no horseplay. Am I understood?"

"Yes mom." the together

"Are we going home mommy?" Lilly asked

"No baby, Michael's still too sick to go on a plane ride." Caroline explained
"Grandma Bobbie and Jerry are away so I thought we'd stay at their house."

"No mommy." Lily cried out. "Not that home, our home here, with daddy!"

"Yeah mom." Michael said "I want to stay with dad. I feel bad for all the
mean things I said."

Caroline looked up at Jason and once he nodded she turned away quickly
and said "O.K. Daddys it is." She said with a smile that never quite reached
here eyes.
 

Later that day the Morgans sat around the coffee table playing Monopoly.
Michael was doing amazingly better and Caroline had to tell him twice to
calm down.

Throughout the game Caroline had refused to look at Jason and
acknowledge the fact that he had been cheating to help her win throughout
the entire game, something he never did, and they both knew it. Jason kept
looking at the thin shadow that was left of his wife and saw that she was
sweating a lot and kept rubbing her head.

Suddenly Renaldo opened the door with a pizza box, Jason brought it to the
table as the kids sat down and Caroline got the paper plates. She opened the
box and Jason sat down. She served Lilly and Michael, shut the box and sat
down. Jason stared at her, but never made eye-contact because she was too
busy pretending to help Lilly. Finnaly with a sigh Jason got up, took two
paper plates, put a slice of pizza on each and put one plate in front of
Caroline and one in front of his seat. He shut the box and sat down.

The kids were gobbling their food quickly and Jason watched as Caroline
continued to pretend to be helping Lilly and ignoring her plate. He slowly ate
his pizza, never taking his eyes off of her. She felt his eyes boring into her.
Finnaly she decided that she'd just take a walk. She casually stood up and
just as she was about to push her chair out so she could move away she
heared his voice. He said it quietly but forcefully and there was no mistaking
how serious he was. "Sit down Caroline."

The kids stopped eating and looked at their father and mother. Caroline was
half standing and she quickly turned to look at him. He was staring right at
her and their eyes locked and in the same voice he said "Now."

It was the voice he used when dealing with business. It was his way of daring
someone to defiy his orders. Caroline slowly sat down. But she never
touched her food.

As the kids were finishing up Jason quietly said "Go upstairs and play with
your new nintendo game." They nodded and quietly went up the stairs.

Caroline didn't move for a moment. She knew Jason was still staring at her,
although she refused to look at him. Finnaly she stood up slightly, reached
over the table and began collecting the dirty plates. "Sit down Caroline."
Jason said in that voice again, and Caroline complied.

Slowly he stood up and walked behind her to the pizza box. He took out
another slice and put it on her plate with the other uneaten slice and said
"You're not going anywhere untill you eat both these slices."

Caroline looked up at him with tears in her eyes and stood up "You have no
right to order me around."

"Caroline sit down."

"No!"

Jason put his hands on her shoulders and forced her down. She tried to
stand, but he kept his hands on her shoulders and held her down. "Caroline."
He said in that voice. "I've never physically forced you to do anything. I
didn't try to stop you from leaving me or any other time. But I meant what I
said yesterday. I won't let you self destruct. If I have to I will have Renaldo
tie you to that chair and I'll force feed you. Am I understood." Caroline didn't
move "Caroline?" Jason asked wth an almost threatning tone in his voice as
his hands tightened on her shoulders.

With tears pouring down her face Caroline picked up the slice of pizza and
slowly brought it to her mouth, and took a tiny bite, slowly chewed it as
though it was rubber and finnaly swollowed it. Jason replied by taking his
hands off her shoulders, but she knew better than to move. Jason walked
around the table and sat across from Caroline and just stared at her. He saw
that tears were rolling down her face like floods and she was still all sweaty,
but he just stared at her with ice blue eyes. She stared at him for a few
minutes and then began to say "Jason, please, you don't understand, Let
me..."

She was cut off by Jason raising his hands and he said "Eat it on your own or
I'll have you at GH with an IV in your arm so fast, you won't have time to
come up with a good exuse."

She looked down and slowly, still crying, ate one whole slice of pizza and
looked up hopefully at Jason. "Eat the other Caroline." He said. She did,
very slowly, and when she was done, he walked over to her and said "I
know that you planned on staying at your mothers house, but she's out of
town and I can't ask her to watch you, so you're staying here tonight." Never
once did that tone leave his voice nor did his eyes soften.

Jason and Caroline tucked their childen in to bed and Jason led Caroline to
the bedroom that he used to sleep in before he and Caroline had moved into
the master bedroom. "I had Renaldo get you some things to wear, since I
know you didn't pack before you came out here."

Caroline stared at him hatefully and seethed "In case you've forgotten Jason,
I'm mad at you. Not vise versa, you did something wrong. Not me. You're
keeping me here against my wishes. I demand you let me go now, or I'll have
you brought up on charges of kidnaping."

Jason didn't even flinch as he replied "Renaldo and Johnnie are at the door.
Both have been instructed not to let you go without my permission first. I'll
see you in the morning Caroline, for breakfast."

With that he turned on his heels and walked out of the room. Shutting the
door behind him.
 

Jason couldn't sleep and finnaly at some point in the middle of the night he
decided to go check on Caroline. It had been the hardest thing he'd ever
done, not reaching out for her when she was crying at the table. He just had
to make sure that she was alright. Clad in sweat pants and a T-shirt, he
walked down the stairs, through the living room to her door. He lightly
opened it and saw her bed was empty. He saw a light coming from under the
door that led to the private bathroom. He quickly opened the door and saw
Caroline throwing up.

Pity, anger, sadness and fear all filled his eyes as he realized he needed to be
firm. He grabbed her from behind and carried her into the bedroom as he
said "That's it Caroline." he held her and barley paid attention to her pahetic
attempt at a struggle. "You're going to the hospital."

"No. Jason, please." her lifeless voice pleaded. "Let me explain."

He set her on the bed and faced her as he said "You've got two minutes."

Chapters 11-12
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