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FreeBird

Chapter 9

He hadn't really remembered what heartbreak felt like until right now. And even of what he remembered, it had never hit him so ruthlessly. The wind felt like it had been punched out of his body and he stood in the doorway, unsure of how to interrupt their sleep. Before his eyes lay a horrible sight. Sam was on her back in nothing but sweats and a sports bra, her head turned towards the man who was closely snuggled at her side, one of his hands rested comfortably on her bare stomach. The perfect picture of love, he thought to himself. As jealous as he felt, he couldn't deny what the two of them shared. If he was anyone else, he would probably bow out now instead of fighting this losing battle. But he wasn't anyone else, he was Johnny Zacchara and he was going to fight for her until there wasn't any fight in him left.

He was planning to clear his throat to try and signal his presence when he saw Jason stir, his eyes fluttered open and they were instantly captivated by the woman before him. Johnny watched as Jason was entranced by her and then brought his hand up to wipe pieces of hair out of her face. He carefully ran his hand over her cheek, running his thumb along her mouth before she stirred too, turning her head in the opposite direction. Jason's eyes stayed glued on her face as he watched her with a love that would never break.

Johnny had to remember that he had to breathe in order to survive and sucked in a deep breath, gaining attention from the man. Jason moved his hand away from Sam slowly, as if he didn't mind being caught in the act and sat up.

"I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm good at being quiet." He replied stoically.

Jason rubbed his face tiredly and let out a small sigh. "Her ribs are bruised."

"I see." Johnny noticed the bruise on her side as soon as Jason had moved his hand from the spot. "I have a doctor coming to look at her in about half an hour." Johnny removed his coat and tossed it in a nearby chair, his jaw stiff and tight.

"Look, I'm sorry about…" Jason waved at Sam. He knew Johnny had probably saw him admiring her.

"I get it." Johnny answered tightly, loosening the buttons at the top of his shirt. "Look, I get that you still love her."

"But you don't like it." Jason acknowledged, standing to his feet.

Johnny gave a half smirk as he snorted. "Not anymore than you like me loving her." Despite everything, he kept his half smile. "I might get jealous but I can't get mad. If I were you I'd be making moves on her every chance I got." Suddenly, his face got serious. "It's not right what happened to you."

"It's a product of the business...what happened to me." Jason corrected.

"Well, it wasn't fair no matter how much you being in the business justifies it. Someone took you away from your family and now you want it all back. I get that." His brows creased. "And as much as I want to hate you for it, I don't."

Sam moaned and shuffled in her sleep. "Jason…" She mumbled his name before her eyes fluttered open.

Johnny kneeled down in front of her, hoping to hide the way she'd just gutted him. "Sorry to disappoint." He whispered jokingly, wiping her hair out of her face and smiling happily.

"Johnny!" She exclaimed, lifting up too fast, forgetting about her bruised side until she felt the sharp pain tearing into her. She let out a small screech as she grabbed the sore spot, falling back down onto the bed.

Johnny was instantly concerned. "It hurts that bad?"

"You know how it's always more painful the day after. I just need to take it easy." She smiled, trying to ease his worry. "I'm so happy to see you." She ran a hand through his ruffled hair like she'd been wanting to do for days now.

He smiled too, kissing the hand of hers he held in his. "You have no idea." He kissed her forehead.

Sam frowned instantly, remembering the night before. "Where's Jason?"

Jason cleared his throat from behind them. "I'm right here. I'm gonna go uh...shower." He scooted away quickly. Unlike Johnny, not only was he jealous, but he did get a little mad watching Johnny touch her. A part of him wanted to rip the guy apart.

Sam looked up at Johnny and smiled softly, patting the spot on the bed next to her. "Lay with me."

Without hesitation, he climbed in next to her, cupping her face with his hand carefully. He couldn't stop watching her face, looking at every inch of it, soaking all of her features in, silently seething at the small cuts and bruises. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." She put a hand on his face and moved her head forward, kissing his lips softly. "Danny's gonna be so happy to see you."

"Likewise." He whispered. "I've got a doctor coming to check on you soon. I wish you would've gone to the hospital last night, I don't like that you were in this much pain." He had a worry line between his brows as he searched her face with his tired eyes.

She ran a thumb over the wrinkle trying to smooth it out as she shook her head. "What if they were waiting for me to do that? I'm pretty sure they think they hurt me a lot worse than they did." She stifled a yawn. "They were surprised when I turned the tables on them."

"What do you mean?" He mumbled quickly.

"I fought back. I got one of the guys in this crippling leg lock." Her voice cracked as she tried to verbally convey the effects. "They had me handcuffed to a chair on the plane." She started explaining animatedly, releasing her hands from him so she could use them for demonstration. "Turns out, two of the guys were brothers. I happened to have one of the guys little brother detained. I talked them into giving me their guns. I knocked the guy out, I shot myself out of the cuffs and got up, luckily, Jason came in-"

"Wait a minute, is this actually what happened?" He asked, laughing lightly as he watched her.

"Uh, yeah. I wasn't about to let them take off with me." She said like it was obvious.

"So you had them detained and Jason came to save the day," he hid his bitterness, "why didn't you kill the guys?"

"I just wanted to get out of there." She justified.

"Sam, they could still be out there." He tried to hide the fact that it stressed him out more that these guys were still alive. "For all you know, they could be closing in on us right now."

"I don't know. Whichever Cassadine sent them, they seemed scared to death of him." She informed. "They were pretty scared about losing me so I'm guessing they're either skipping town or dead."

"How do you know it was a 'he' and not Helena?" He wondered.

"They kept saying 'he'." She remembered vividly. Even the smell of their breaths on her skin when the said it close to her face. "And whoever 'he' was, said to make sure that I was alive upon delivery."

His brows furrowed and he looked confused. "Really?"

"Yes. And only if I fought were they to hurt everyone else." She'd found something suspicious about it also. "When I had his brother in that leg lock, he would not shoot me for fear of his boss. They really fear him. It has to be Stavros or Victor."

"So they pointedly came after you?" Johnny covered his face with his hands as he took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. "Sam…"

"To get to you, Johnny. But its okay. I'm here now." She grabbed his arm, trying to unveil his face. "I'm fine."

"No, you don't understand. I'm scared to lose you. I've never felt so threatened in my life. I…" He let out a breath and looked up at the ceiling. "Losing you would send me over the edge."

"You're not gonna lose me, Johnny. Get real. I survive. That's what I do." She gave him a little smirk and studied his face with her eyes before her smile brightened. "I missed you."

"Good." He half joked, kissing her quickly.

"So you trust Aldo and Dezi to get things done?"

He clenched his teeth hesitantly. "Actually, Julian has been helping me out a lot lately." He told her, narrowing his eyes at her. "I left him kinda in charge."

Her smile dropped. "Julian as in the bastard that impregnated Alexis with me?"

"He's not a bad mobster, though."

"He was when he was ruining Morgan's life." She mumbled.

"We took down the Ivanov's in less than an hour." He informed her. "He walked into a death trap with me when I went to go convince the Kovalev's that I didn't make a move on them."

"You went there?" She asked concerned. Her heart dropped knowing that he was there.

He nodded. "He went with me. And he talked a lot of shit to them, too." Johnny smirked at the memory.

Sam frowned as she looked at his face. "Are you admiring him?"

His smirk dropped. "No, he just...he's...a cool guy to do business with." He sighed. "And he's doing everything to protect your mother and sisters. I mean, I got guys on them but he does, too. He's even got guys on Kristina."

Sam felt some gratitude for that. "Well I suppose that's...good."

"He loves you." Johnny murmured.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Johnny, please, don't."

"Just thought you should know." He said resignedly, lifting up. He looked down at her bruise and moved down so that his mouth was hovering over the darkened skin. "You know what would make this feel better, right?"

"Pain killers?" She suggested looking down at him.

"Something better." His grin was growing.

"Don't. Even." She thought she already knew what he was going to try to do and she shook her head. "Have you ever had bruised ribs? Do you know how much this hurts?"

"As a matter of fact I've had bruised ribs dozens of times." He lightly brushed a few fingers over it and she winced. "I'm just going to do it softly…" He warned, bringing his lips down to her skin.

She braced herself, waiting for a pain that never came. He lightly brushed his lips over her injured skin, his eyes glued to hers as he did so. She ran a hand through his hair as she watched him and realized she was one of the luckiest women alive. Her smile was soft as she ran a hand over his face.

"I can't believe you thought I was gonna hurt you." He snorted sounding exaggeratedly offended, kissing his way up her body.

"Well, you're really rough sometimes." She justified, almost whining.

He bit his bottom lip as he hovered above her, his face just inches away from hers. "You like it rough."

She smirked as he leaned down to kiss her and she couldn't help but get lost in how good it felt to kiss him. She planted her hands on his face as he pulled away. "I probably smell horrible. Sorry but, you might have to bathe me."

"I hate my life." He smiled wildly back at her.

Chuckling, she lifted her head to kiss him again. It was amazing how everything that was wrong seemed to disappear around him. He seemed to have the same feeling by the look on his face. "Will you be my wife? For real, this time." He chuckled, kissing her neck as he held himself over her, sure to watch for her bruises.

Sam didn't understand the lump that got caught in her throat. "I...am your wife." She answered with a struggle.

"It's not legal, though. Legally, you're married to Jason right now." Just saying it made him jealous.

Divorcing Jason sounded unreal to Sam. She shook her head. "We don't have to do it right away."

He read the look on her face and moved back over to his side next to her, the worry deepening on his face. "But we already got married. It's kind of like just making sure it goes through. I mean, you do want to be married to me, right?"

"Yes, of course, I just-" She stopped abruptly and didn't know what to say next. "I don't-it's just a piece of paper, it's not a big deal."

His eyes widened. "Being married to me isn't a big deal?"

She sighed heavily. "That's not what I meant. You know that's not what I meant. I'm just saying that...Jason just got here. I don't want to ask him for a divorce already."

Johnny stared at the side of her face. "You mean, you don't know if you want one."

"That's not what I meant." But her eyes didn't match her words.

"I get it." Johnny sighed heavily. "I get it. Maybe I'm just pushing the whole marriage thing because I know that. I feel like I'm losing you."

She put a hand to his face and made him look at her. "You're not. You can't." Kissing his nose, she smiled. "I'm yours."

Johnny kissed her quickly, but he didn't feel convinced.

Johnny rubbed at the stubble on his chin as the doctor took the stethoscope away from Sam's stomach. Scratching his balding head of snow white hair, he shook his head with a little frustration. "I would need an ultrasound." The older man huffed, looking up at the man standing next to them. "I don't hear a heartbeat or anything, but it could just be because its too early to hear it clearly without the proper equipment. There's no bleeding so that's a good sign, but sometimes when there's trauma like this," he motioned to her now bandaged ribs, "the reaction can be delayed for at least a week."

The crease between Johnny's brows deepened. "So you can't give me anything for sure until you get an ultrasound done?"

"Yes."

Johnny flicked his hand at the man. "Then make it happen."

"She'll have to come to the hospital. It will be awfully suspicious for an entire ultrasound machine to come up missing for a couple of hours." He scoffed. "And I'm not specialized in-"

"Look, I can't go-" Sam started but was abruptly interrupted.

"What hospital?" Johnny talked over her.

The man reached into his big, brown coat and pulled out a small card. "Here. Call me when you get there, I'll sneak you through the back."

"We'll be right behind you." Johnny promised and nodded as the man walked out. He looked down at Sam and could already see the disapproval on her face. But he shook his head. "Sam, I have to know that you and the baby are okay."

"I know, Johnny, I just," she sighed, "I feel like we're putting everyone else in danger." And maybe she was afraid of hearing something she didn't want to hear.

"We're going to be cautious." He promised, grabbing her coat from the door of her bedroom. "We'll be really cautious."

Hearing the hitch in his voice, she gazed at his big eyes. "You're worried, aren't you? You think something's wrong." Or maybe she was projecting her fears onto him.

His jaw clenched and he looked away briefly. "Come on, Sam. Something's off about the way he was talking. I can read people really well." He paused as he watched her look down into her lap. "You can too."

Her head started shaking. "We can't think like that. We can't." She pushed the negative thoughts aside. "The baby is fine."

As if he had to to give her some kind of comfort, he nodded. "I'm sure the baby is okay."

His words were hollow and vacant and she wanted to be angry but she couldn't. His lack of faith did nothing to deter what was already settling inside of her. She hadn't been blind to the doctor's nervousness and concern. His underlying sureness. He'd probably been all too familiar with Johnny's rage from hearing negative news and wanted to save himself the honor of being on the receiving end.

He opened her coat and jerked his head at her. "Let's go."

Wordlessly, mechanically, she walked to him and let him slip the coat over her shoulders.

There was a soft knock at the door before it cracked open, Danny's head poked around. "Is Mommy okay?"

"Mommy is great." Johnny shifted into a completely different mood, walking towards him and swooping him up easily. "She needs to rest, but other than that, she's fine." His kissed the top of his head and smiled at him.

Danny smiled at his mom and then back at Johnny. "I missed you."

"I missed you more." Johnny countered, kissing him again.

"Are you going to stay with us forever now?" Danny asked him.

"I still have work to do, but pretty soon, we're all going to be together again." He rubbed at Danny's hair, messing it up on purpose.

"And then we can go to Disney World?"

Sam laughed, though a pain lined it. "Oh, we're definitely still going to Disney World." She struggled to stand up from the bed, taking Johnny outreaching hand for support before walking up to him. "You have been so brave, you deserve it."

There was another soft knock and the door opened wider, revealing Jason, standing there in his black long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. His eyes watched her and she saw the concern dancing in them, she gave him a soft smile. "I'm fine for the most part." She answered his silent question and she felt almost like she was lying.

His eyes fell down to the bandaged side of hers and then quickly back up to her eyes. "The baby is…"

"I have to go get and ultrasound to be…" She didn't want to talk too much around Danny.

"You're going to go get an ultrasound?" He questioned. It didn't sound like everything was okay.

"I have no choice." She started walking closer to him. "I have to know if my baby is okay." She said quietly, trying to hide the knowledge from her son.

Johnny looked down at Danny. "Mommy has to go get pictures of the baby in her tummy. Do you think you could stay here and hang out with Georgie and Jason and Spinelli and Ellie?" He did a great job of making all the names sound exciting. Danny's face lit up and he nodded and Johnny glanced over at Jason cautiously before clearing his throat. "I'll take him to the room with them."

When he walked away, Jason swallowed hard and stared at Sam. There was so much he needed to say, so many ways he needed to touch her. "Sam…are you sure everything is okay?"

"That's what I'm going to find out." She stared back at him as he somehow got closer to her and her mouth fell open as she tried to speak. "I shouldn't have slept with you last night."

"You were in pain. I wanted to help you." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "I didn't want him to walk in on us like that. I'm sorry."

"Like what?" Sam didn't even know that Johnny had known they slept in the same bed together.

"I was...I was holding you." He informed. And his eyes sparkled when she didn't look as disappointed as he thought she would.

Sam shook her head when she noticed the hope in him. "Jason, I'm sorry if I'm...if I'm leading you on or…"

"You're not leading me on." He stated and then stepped closer. "You have feelings for me, Sam. You still do."

Sam felt surprised that he'd said that and stepped back. "What-I-I-"

"I can feel it. There's something here." He moved closer to her and had to stop himself from grabbing her face. "You still love me."

Sam''s mouth opened and shut a few times before she shook her head, closing her eyes briefly and letting out a deep breath. "We can't do this. We can't talk about this."

"Not talking about it doesn't make it any less real." He stepped into the room when she did. "Laying with you last night reminded me of why I fought so hard. Why I needed to come back. Why I had to. Sam, I love you and I'm not gonna stop."

Clutching her head in her hands, she shook it again. "Jason, I can't...I don't know…"

"I don't expect you to dump everything you've built with Johnny and come running back into my arms. As much as I want that, I don't expect that." He was standing so close to her he could feel her heat. "But I need you to choose. Not right now, not tomorrow…" Swallowing hard, he put a hand on her face "I can't keep not kissing you because I don't know what you want."

Sam's eyes were wide as she looked up into the familiar blue orbs in amazement. He was hard to resist, he was breathing heavy and it was everything she had hoped for at one point in her life. To be here again with him, in this position, ready to kiss him. "Jason," before she could say anything there was someone clearing their throat at the door.

Sam pulled away from him quickly, her eyes darting to her "husband" in the doorway. "Johnny." She knew he was hurt and maybe angry as the muscles in his jaw rippled but he forced a smile.

"I'm gonna go get everything ready." He whispered, but he couldn't step away.

Sam nodded quickly and walked towards him. "I'll help." She slid past him and disappeared from the room.

Johnny swallowed hard and felt like a little kid being left out of a grown up conversation as he eyed Jason. Their gazes met and he tried to win the silent contest but lost, looking down at his shoes. At the end of it all, as much as he wanted to hate the guy, he couldn't. Jason hadn't done anything wrong.

"Thanks." Johnny said softly. "For everything." Without giving Jason a chance to respond, he hurried away.

Sam sat on the edge of the rickety hospital bed gnawing on her bottom lip. She gripped the thin mattress tightly, trying to hold onto some form of sanity during the excruciating wait. Something wasn't right. She could tell during the ultrasound. And after. The doctor had insisted on taking her blood afterwards and his brow creased in the middle, something it hadn't done the whole time she'd been around him. And he wouldn't look at Johnny, no matter how his eyes bore into him as he explained everything to her. She knew something was wrong and since they'd left the house, Johnny refused to believe in his doubts from earlier anymore. Maybe now though, it had actually hit him.

The hum of the machines around them was driving him insane. Johnny sat across from her, one leg bouncing nervously as he stared at her. Focusing on the only light that could guide him through a cloudy night. Her face. But she looked so worried and uneasy, he felt like looking away at the same time.

It seemed like they had been waiting forever, but checking his watch for the fourth time, it confirmed that it had roughly been twenty-five minutes. He let out a sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Relax." He sighed, leaning forward and touching her bare leg with his hand. He was talking to the both of them really. She looked how he felt.

She pulled the hospital gown up over her shoulder and sniffled, her eyes darting across his face in seconds. "I'm relaxed." She lied in a harsh, raw tone. "I just think that something is wrong." She was drowning in so many things. Guilt, being the primary emotion. She was the one who tried to keep the faith earlier, now all of it had been lost somewhere along the way.

"You've been saying you feel fine this whole time." Johnny reminded her, trying to convince them both. "Mother's intuition. You're fine."

"I did. But not anymore." She swallowed hard and shook her head. "I can tell when doctors don't want to give me bad news. I've been through it enough times." Her eyes welled with tears but she quickly blinked them away.

Johnny sprang to his feet, grabbing her shoulders and bending his knees to be eye level with her. "Sam, can you calm down? I need you to calm down. Nothing is gonna happen. Everything's fine." He could only hope.

She just looked away from him. He didn't understand. "My baby's gone." She whispered brokenly and then squeezed her eyes tight, dropping her head. "God, I shouldn't have fought back. I shouldn't have-"

"You got away from them. You don't know what kind of place they were leading you to. You did the right thing." Wiping strands of hair out of her face, he kissed her temple. "Stop trying to blame yourself. This isn't your fault."

There was a soft knock at the door before it slowly crept open, the doctor cleared his throat and looked down at his clipboard, avoiding Johnny's eyes still. She noticed. And that was when she knew that everything was about to go up in flames for her. Her life was about to take a turn she wasn't prepared for because she felt fine. She'd felt fine this entire time. She felt okay, she felt no change in the life growing inside of her so why was he about to tell her differently? She could smell it on him. The sadness, the regret. The hopelessness. Doubt.

Before she'd made a conscious decision to do so, she leapt from her spot on the bed, her eyes wide and watery. "Get out." Her voice shook as she pushed the doctor away from her. "Go! Get out!"

Johnny grabbed her, thoroughly shocked at her reaction. "Sam." He hadn't noticed the doctor's hesitation, he'd been too fixated on her.

Sam hissed at the pain Johnny's grip caused to her side and crumpled against him, shaking her head. She wasn't hysterical. But that's where she wanted to be. It was hard to feel anything when you were hysterical, too many emotions were rushing through you at once. But this, she could feel every ounce of pain and it paralyzed her. "Johnny, get him out!" She screeched.

"Mrs. Zacchara, I'm sorry." The doctor pled with a lost cause. He didn't know this woman, he knew Johnny for years but he wasn't familiar with her. But he felt for her. He felt her pain. He wished he hadn't.

Johnny froze when the doctor apologized and his eyes narrowed, his brows wrinkled together. "Sorry for what?" The doctor was quiet. "Tell me." No response. "Tell me!" Johnny boomed.

The bass in his voice even startled her. This was probably why the doctor had avoided his eyes. Johnny's temper was erratic and crazy.

"Her hCG levels," he swallowed hard, "they are too low to indicate any progressing pregnancy. I'm almost certain that she's in the early stages of a miscarriage."

Sam's chin trembled as she shook her head. "Maybe it's a mistake. You should take another test. Try again."

Her voice was so shaky and unstable that Johnny looked down at her to make sure it was still her. "Can you try again?" He questioned, looking back up at the old man.

"I could but, we did tests with her urine and blood. Same results." He looked on sadly. "I'm sorry."

Sam finally stood up straight and sucked in a deep breath, placing her hand over her belly and wiping the wetness from her face with the back of her other hand. "Alright." She sniffled, nodding vehemently. "Okay."

"Any day now, the remains will start to eject themselves." He explained carefully. "We could just remove them now to avoid any more visits or…"

"How long will it take?" She questioned quickly.

"I'm not sure. This would be a more risky procedure for you given your history." Clearing his throat, he stepped hesitantly closer. "But you will need down time, which I'm aware that you don't really have right now." He cleared his throat. "I could meet up with you for the final check up."

Johnny shook his head, tucking one of his hands in his pocket, the other arm draped protectively over Sam's shoulders. He sniffed quickly. "I have as much time as you need. Don't rush through anything. Take your time." He still couldn't believe what they were saying. "So there's no chance at all…?"

"I'm almost certain there isn't. I mean, sure you could wait a week or so to see what happens but it does put her at risk, given her past. And it's very unlikely that the outcome will be in your favor." He looked at Sam, meeting her eyes apologetically. "I'm so sorry. I don't believe this stemmed was from yesterday's events. This more than likely was the aftermath of the car accident or something else that happened a few days ago. Trauma is horrible in the first trimester."

"I know." Sam nodded mechanically. Too much had happened within the past few days for her to pinpoint one event. "Let's just do the procedure so I can get out of here." She sounded cold and that brought tears to her eyes.

"You will be under anesthetics." He informed, shuffling through the paperwork in his hands. "Normally I wouldn't do this within such short notice but-"

"Don't rush. Make sure you do everything right and carefully. I'll worry about the time." Johnny reminded, his face defeated. His voice broken.

"Okay, I need to go secure and sterilize an operation room under the radar." He walked towards the door. "I'll be back within the next twenty minutes."

"Okay." Sam whispered.

Johnny nearly collapsed into his chair and covered his face with his hands, taking a deep breath. He rubbed at his stubbly chin after uncovering his guilt-stricken face. "The Cassadine's are dead."

Sam just stood there, staring at him complacently. "Johnny…"

"They're dead." He assured her, his jaw clenching. He looked past her, not at her.

Those avoiding eyes, like the doctor, she noticed. He was afraid to see all the hurt on her face. All the sadness and pain. Guilt. She turned away from him. She wouldn't taunt him with her facial emotions. "Johnny, it just wasn't the right time."

He looked at her back. He could do that. As long as he didn't have to see in her eyes what she was going through. "It was."

Sam wasn't going to break down. At least not in front of him. She wasn't going to put him in a position that he wasn't sane enough to handle. She splayed her hand over her tummy, trying to come to terms with the fact that this was happening. She was used to feeling pregnant already. It was hard to believe that not too long ago they'd been happy. Excited and ecstatic. That they had plans to teach Danny how to ice skate and let him pick out a Christmas tree. He was going to pick a gift for his grandma and wrap it for her himself while Johnny snuck off somewhere and wrapped Sam's gift that he would have pretended he never got.

Everything was falling to pieces right before her and she never turned back to face him, to look at him. She'd never felt such a disconnect with Johnny in the entire time they'd been together.

The door crept open and Jason sprang to his feet, watching as Sam walked in ahead of Johnny. She seemed smaller, tiny. More than usual and he couldn't help but notice the paleness of her skin and the plainness of her face. He frowned, tucking the gun he had been sitting on the couch with away in his pants.

"What happened? Is...everything okay?"

Before Johnny could answer, Sam nodded. "Everything's fine." She forced a smile at him as she walked past him. "I'm going to shower then we should get on the move." Half of her sentence faded around the corner of the hallway.

Jason frowned and looked to Johnny for answers. Johnny swallowed hard, not sure why he felt so obligated to tell Jason anything. It was almost like Sam was with Jason, too.

And maybe she was.

He was a part of their relationship and in some weird way Johnny accepted it. "She had a miscarriage." He couldn't find a kinder way to break the news.

Jason's face fell before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Wow." He breathed the word. "She's probably devastated."

Johnny nodded softly. "She's trying to hide it."

Jason waved a hand towards the bathroom as they heard the door finally shut and the shower start. "Right now she's breaking down." He told him surely. "A lot of the time, when she takes showers and the water starts right away...that's what she's doing. She's crying."

Of all the things Johnny knew about Sam, he never knew that. "How do you...know that?" Johnny felt like having his own break down.

After thinking about it, Jason shrugged softly. "I don't know." He said quietly. He didn't remember when he found out, he just knew.

Johnny was fighting back his own emotions as he looked down at the floor, trying to concentrate on the sound of the bathroom. To see if maybe he would hear her. His brows were furrowed as his eyes darted across the floor when he heard what he thought was a muffled sound. He was sure it was just his imagination, but it still felt cruel and like a stab to the heart.

Jason held true sympathy in his eyes. "Look, Johnny...I'm sorry…" He swallowed hard. "About the baby."

Johnny believed him and nodded blindly. "Thank you." He started on his way to the hall and into the room that had the most of Sam's things there. He closed the door softly and walked to the bathroom door in the corner, raising his hand to rest flat against the wood. He could hear the water beating down on the tile of the tub and then he heard the faintest sniffle.

Frowning, he forced himself to knock lightly. "Sam?" He didn't want to ask how she was, because he knew the answer. "Sam, can you open the door?" He sounded helpless. "Sam, I'm so sorry that this happened." When he got no response, he dropped his forehead on the door and closed his eyes. "I don't know how to help you. I don't know what to do or say…" Taking a deep breath, he stepped away from the door, deciding that he would give her some space.

His eyes searched the door as lovingly as if it was her and he sighed again. "I love you." He said loud enough for her to hear it before walking away.

Sam stepped out the room, the brightest fake smile on her face before she turned the hall corner. She could hear the bubbly laughter of the two children from the bathroom where she stared at herself in the mirror for at least ten minutes. She was sure the bags under her eyes were still noticeable and she was going to blame it on fatigue and soap, even if everyone knew better than to believe her.

To her surprise, everyone was sitting around the small table in front of the couch eating what looked like soup and crackers. Inwardly, she felt a genuine smile brewing. Spinelli, Jason and Johnny were all talking. Comparing notes she guessed and Ellie sat off to the side, listening to them and trying to calm the two clueless children down as their excitement for whatever reason was boiling over. They seemed hyper as they chased each other around the small living room.

No one noticed that she was walking up and she was thankful. She zipped her tight gray hoodie even higher up on her chest as she got closer to the small group of people and Ellie smiled brightly. "Hey." She acknowledged.

Sam gave her a smile back, bringing her arms up to circle around her lithe body. "Hey."

Johnny and Jason simultaneously turned to look at her, Johnny standing from the arm of the couch he had been sitting on. He didn't want to smother her so he just motioned towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." She decided.

"There's soup."

"That's fine." She was smiling at Danny and avoiding those dark, worried eyes of Johnny's.

"I'll serve you some and then we have to head out." He slid past everyone.

Sam wanted to reach out to him, but something invisible held her back. She didn't know if it was the impending numbness inside of her but it was something. She could only watch the back of him as he disappeared into the kitchen. She felt another set of eyes boring into her and her eyes darted to Jason. For some reason, she knew that Johnny would tell him the moment that they walked into the safehouse. His eyes held a sadness that was all too familiar and she looked away, taking a seat next to Spinelli quickly, sinking into the plush sofa.

"How is the Fair Samantha fairing?" He chortled nervously, turning his body towards her and giving her a warm smile.

"I'm fine, I guess. I'm just tired." She sighed and looked up at Johnny when he made his way back towards her. He sat a steaming bowl in front of her and the smell made her stomach growl. She hadn't realized how hungry she had actually been. She leaned forward and blew the steam away softly, deciding it was too hot to try to eat right then.

"There's crackers, if…" Jason offered, preparing to stand.

"No, I'm fine." She shook her head, smiling fleetingly his way. "So, I know we have to leave before they find this place," she started, glancing down at her lap before looking up towards Johnny, finding it difficult to make direct eye contact, "but what is the plan? Are we going to just skip from safe house to safe house, or…"

"I don't know yet." Johnny sat on a chair across from her and next to Jason. "I'm waiting for Julian to call me. To see if he's got any leads or if he's located the Cassadine's." He talked quiet, in part because of the kids. "Right now, there isn't a definite plan." His voice lowered considerably as he looked away, accepting that she wasn't going to look at him.

"Shouldn't he know something by now?" Jason questioned.

"I don't know. I don't know when he made his move or if he just cased things out first." He shrugged and glanced at Sam, obviously his mind was preoccupied. "But if he doesn't call me within the next couple hours, I have to get you guys out of here and…" He looked to Jason. "I have to get back."

"What could be the hold up?" Jason wondered in a low tone.

"I don't know." Johnny looked down at the phone in his hand. "I should probably call him."

"When did he plan to go?" Sam spoke softly, her voice cracked and she felt like when everyone looked at her, they sympathized with the pain she didn't want to feel. Her face hardened, she wanted to look stronger than what they thought.

"As soon as possible." Johnny's eyes bore into her and a crease of worry hovered above his brows. "I hope nothing happened to him."

Sam heard the genuine concern and it tugged at her chest. "He's fine. He always is." It was in her nature to reassure him.

That seemed to ease him a bit and he stood up. "I'll give him a call. Try to get some of that down." He urged, hesitantly walking past her. He stopped against his will and glanced around the room before bending over to be discreet. "Do you need to rest? How are you?" He wanted to kiss her, touch her, something. But he felt out of place. Like she didn't want the affection.

She shook her head and looked down at her lap, clearing her throat a little. "No, I'm fine. We can leave if we need to."

When he disappeared, she sighed heavily and started at her soup. Ignoring the pair of cobalts piercing the side of her face. She sucked the hot broth from the spoon quietly as Spinelli excused himself and walked away. She saw Jason stand and walk next to her, he sat down beside her and she wished she could have ignored him. But he sighed softly and she could smell his skin. He was invading her.

"Uh...Johnny...he told me what happened." He spoke carefully. "At the hospital. With the baby."

Jason was never one for subtlety. "I know." She answered quickly, still eating her soup.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sam." He was genuine.

She knew he meant it. "I know you are. So am I." Nodding a few times, refusing to look at him, she took another spoonful into her mouth.

Jason cleared his throat and moved his face closer to her. "So is he."

Frowning slightly, Sam finally turned to him. "What is this?"

He seemed confused. "What is what?"

"You, vouching for Johnny." She scoffed slightly. "Look, I don't need you to do that."

"I know you love him." Jason shrugged carefully. "I know you don't want to hurt him or shut him out." Even though sometimes he wanted to hurt him and shut him out.

"How do you know that?"

"Because, you're not like that." Jason said easily. "Trust me, Sam. I love you. More than anything in this world. I would give anything just to hear you say that to me, but I'm not gonna let you shut him out when I know how much it hurts to lose a child. Your first child." He looked away from her, when he felt himself getting too emotional.

She looked at his face caringly then. "Jake." She whispered his name with a breath of air.

His eyes turned to meet hers and he nodded. "Jake...Jake was my second child." It didn't lessen the blow, though. "It hurt to lose him. Just like it hurt to lose Lila." He gave her a serious look. "Just like its hurting him to lose the baby you just did. And he doesn't wanna show that because he's scared of not being there for you." He searched her face with his eyes. "I know that feeling all too well."

"Everything is just happening so fast. Really fast." Sam sighed heavily and sat back, covering her face with her hands. "I don't…" She trailed off, wondering if he was the right person to be confiding this kind of information in.

"Tell me." He coerced.

"I don't want him to have to deal with this." She admitted with a big breath of air.

"With what?"

"This pain. This hurt. The guilt." Her voice cracked and she sucked in a breath, trying to contain herself before saying the last part. "The feeling of inadequacy."

"Inadequacy?" He didn't know if he fully understood.

"Of not being able to hold me together when I'm falling apart like this." Slowly, she turned back to look at him and their eyes locked easily. "Because only one person has ever been able to do that."

Jason felt his heart lurch and he even sat up straighter. "I…"

"Johnny has gotten me through so much. The pain of losing you. The fear of being in love with someone again, especially in this type of business. But only you-"

"Mommy!" Dan ran up to her, out of breath as he jumped into her lap. "Georgie's coming! She's gonna get me! Help!"

Sam grabbed onto him, instant happiness splaying over her face as she held onto him. "Oh no you don't." She told him, lowering him back onto the ground. "If you hide over here then Georgie's gonna get me, too." She played along.

"Not with Jason here. He's strong." He reached out for the bulky man. "Georgie's not stronger than Jason." He abandoned his mom.

"I'm not so sure about that." Sam countered as Georgie came around the side of the couch, recklessly plowing into Sam with an infectious laughter. Sam hoisted her up too, ignoring the ache in her side.

"You're running from a girl?" Jason questioned the boy as he settled onto his lap.

"Girls are tough." Danny informed him. "You have no idea."

Sam and Jason burst into laughter. "Actually, I do." Jason told him, looking over at the giggling brunette. "Your mother is probably the toughest one I've met." They smiled softly at each other while Danny grimaced.

"My mom's not a girl. She's a mom." With a confused expression he lept from Jason's lap and waited for Georgie to follow suit before taking off again.

Sam shrugged humorously. "I guess I'm not a girl."

Jason chuckled and watched her smile. It was real. "You're a mom." He quoted Danny. "A great one."

She couldn't stop staring back into those blue eyes. "Thank you." Instinctively, she covered her hand with his.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and found his name quickly. Then he put it to his ear and listened to the ringing anxiously. By the fourth one, he was ready to toss the phone into the wall until he heard someone pick up. He heard fumbling in the background before he heard Julian's gruff voice come over the line.

"Hey Son," he answered jokingly.

Johnny felt relieved but tried to hide it with a snort. "Seriously?"

"Why are you calling me? Do you not think I can handle the job?" Julian sounded offended.

"Well, I need updates. I need to know what's happening. I was about to hop on the next flight back." He rested his back against the wall behind the closed bedroom door and sighed. "What's going on?"

"For starters, the place you thought they were hiding out at...you were right." Julian confirmed easily. "At least that's what my men are saying. They've spotted Victor leaving and coming a few times."

"What about Stavros and Helena?" Johnny was hopeful.

"Nah, we haven't seen them around here yet."

Johnny was surprised. "You're there? Now?"

"We're staking out the perimeter." He reworded. "Not too much traffic around. But we did get somewhat of a break."

"What is it?"

"Maxim Baskov."

"He's dead." Johnny remembered.

"Yeah, well, apparently he left some interesting evidence with his wife." He cleared his throat. "In exchange for protection, she gave us vital information about who her late husband was working with."

"The Ivanov's." Johnny shrugged knowingly. He already knew this.

"Wrong. The Cassadine's. Specifically Stavros. Apparently Stavros is really looking forward to taking you out." Julian chuckled softly. "The last information he took to the Cassadine's were pictures of Sam and Danny and he was going to tell them that Sam ran away with Jason and left you high and dry."

"Why would he tell his wife this stuff?" Johnny wondered.

"Would you tell Sam?" His partner countered.

Johnny couldn't help but understand that and feel bad at the same time. He only told Sam everything because he could, because she understood him and trusted him as he did her. Because she was everything to him. He felt bad that her husband had fallen victim to the business, just like he could any day now. And they were probably in love. This definitely hit home. "I would tell Sam."

"Exactly. He knew if they killed him his wife would tell everything she knew. She said Morgan was purposely resurrected to put a rift in your family and aid in making your life a living hell. Have you looking left while they come and shoot you from the right."

"Well he's doing his job." Johnny muttered.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" His genuine concern could be heard.

"Yeah, everything is great." It didn't sound true.

"Are Sam and Danny okay?"

"They're fine. It's just Sam…" He didn't know why he felt like he wanted to tell him. Maybe he needed someone to talk to and for the first time in a long time, he couldn't talk to Sam. "She had a miscarriage."

"My god." He took a deep breath, taking in the information. "Alexis and Molly, they're going to be devastated. This has been their concern the entire time Sam's been gone." He felt out of place to mention his own sadness from the news. He didn't feel he'd earned it.

That hurt Johnny even more. "God, I should have been more careful with her. I should've…"

"Don't blame yourself. You know exactly whose fault this is. It's the assholes that we're going to pump lead in." Julian's sadness was rapidly transforming into rage. "I'm going to hurt those son of a bitches if it's the last thing I do."

"Don't let the anger cloud your judgement, alright? You've got to go into this with both eyes open or else you'll do things sloppy. And we can't afford to have things done sloppy." Johnny swallowed hard and listened as Julian breathed heavily through the phone.

"Don't blame yourself, Johnny. This isn't your fault." Julian reminded softly but sternly. Still enraged but trying to control it.

Johnny nodded to himself and closed his eyes for a brief second, taking in the advice and pinching the bridge of his nose as he did. "Look. We've got to get out of here and get to the next safe house. When you've detained them let me know."

"Will do." Julian replied easily. "Hang in there."

"I'll try." He paused. "Make sure Baskov's wife is taken care of. Not just with protection. Help her out with whatever she needs. On me."

Julian could tell that Maxim's death was starting to hit home. "I will."

"Thanks." With that, Johnny hung up the phone and took a deep breath, readying himself to go back into the living room and face the music of reality.

Johnny came from the room and spotted their closeness right away. He was doing his best at not being openly jealous and understanding her predicament, but not being the one next to her at a time like this bothered him. He was so used to protecting her and making her feel better, he felt useless without doing it. Tucking his phone in his pocket, he cleared his throat rather loudly, getting every adult's attention in the room.

"He's making his move tonight. So we should probably start heading out." He announced. "It's already getting dark so we should head out before its too late."

"Of course." Ellie agreed right away, looking up at Spinelli. "I'll start gathering everything and get Georgie ready."

Sam stood up carefully. "I'll get Danny ready."

"I've got it." Jason nearly cut her off. He wanted to do the little things with the kid that he never got to do.

Johnny was going to say the same thing but decided that with Jason helping Danny, it would give him time to talk to Sam. He nodded once and everyone scurried away except for him and his "wife". "Look, Sam…I'm here if you need me." It hadn't been what he intended to say, but it came spilling out of him like truth.

"I know, I just…" Slowly, she walked towards him. She wanted to apologize and she hoped that the look on her face did that for her. "I need to make sure all of my stuff is...ready."

Johnny hid his heartbreak with a solid nod and moved out of her way. "Okay." He watched as she walked past him and then ran a hand through his hair, biting on his bottom lip. He'd never felt so far away from her before. "Sam, wait." He called before she walked around the corner of the hall.

Sam stopped hesitantly, holding onto the doorway before half turning to face him. "What?"

He walked closer, his face drenched in emotion. "I love you, alright? No matter what." His eyes searched her for some kind of recognition that she understood.

Sam sighed, guilt winning over as she closed her eyes. "Johnny, I'm sorry." Shaking her head, she grabbed his hand.

"Don't be. I understand what you're going through." He looked at her squarely. "Trust me."

"I know, this hasn't been fair to you. I-"

"Sam, stop." He put a hand on her face. "Don't worry about me."

"That's not possible. I love you too much. And I know you feel guilty. I can't let you." She put her hand over his and closed her eyes. "There's just so much that I don't want to say to you. You'll feel worse and I can't...I can't let you feel like that."

In a way, he understood. He wouldn't want her to feel at blame for something that happened to him either. But he didn't care. She always came before him and if it would make her feel better to let out her frustrations on him, he didn't care. "Sam, just do what you have to do to feel better. Don't worry about how it's going to make me feel. Not right now." Helplessly, he rubbed at her face, hoping she was coming around to letting him in.

Reluctantly, she moved his hand from her face. "I will when I'm ready." She met his eyes.

He nodded, closing his eyes as his forehead dropped to meet hers. "Okay." He whispered back. He was going to accept that for now. "Okay." Grabbing her face with both of his hands, he pressed a rough kiss to her forehead and then one to her temple. "Alright." Rubbing at her face one last time, he looked at her and let go of her, walking away.

Sam covered her face with her hands and sighed heavily.

Stavros hung up the phone and sighed, rubbing at his head. "Those imbeciles aren't answering."

"So much for you handling it, I see." Victor sneered, sipping from his cup of tea.

"Oh shut up." He seethed, hopping to his feet. Clenching the phone in his hand, he looked over at his mother who stood by the window. "Mother, I have to go. I have to do this myself."

Helena looked over at him with a small smirk. "Don't be ridiculous, dear. You've barely gained back your strength." With a slow stride, she walked towards them. "I guess the old saying is true. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

Stavros lit up with a sense of malice and excitement. "You'll bring her to me?"

Her smirk fell quickly and she glared at him. "Of course not. Your extracurricular activities are not high on my priority list." She snarled and then rose her chin. "I am only interested in taking over everything here that there is to take over." Her small smirk returned. "And disposing of those that hold no value to me. Sorry, darling, but your bastardly little crush falls into that category."

He narrowed his eyes and tossed his phone onto the chair. "Then leave her to me."

She eyed him snidely before rolling her eyes and waving a hand his way. "Fine. But I am going to start my portion of misfortune in Port Charles." Propping a hand on her hip, she walked gracefully towards Victor. "If you want to draw out the vermin, you have to set a trap that they just won't be able to escape."

"I doubt Zacchara or Morgan are going to let the woman out and about while there's chaos everywhere." He grumbled.

Helena laughed theatrically. "If I hit home close enough, they won't have a choice. She won't take no for an answer and that's when they'll no longer hide. It's the perfect plan."

"And then once we kill Johnny, we can shut down his organization. Dismember it piece by piece." Stavros suggested from across the room.

"My dear. I don't need him dead to dismember it. I can do it with him watching from the sidelines." Her chuckle was dark and mischievous. "I've talked to a few of my people. They actually get things done."

"So you've been sitting on this all along?" Stavros asked angrily, walking up behind her.

"I was only giving you a chance to prove yourself." Her brow cocked as she turned to give him a once over. "Obviously, you are not back to your original self yet. Don't worry, son," she patted his cheek, "we can't all be so good at being evil." With that, she walked around him and walked towards the doorway.

"I want to retrieve her myself. I want to take over the organization and takeover the Cassadine heir." Stavros almost yelled, like he was pouting.

"You want everything, don't you? Though you've not earned a bit of it." Victor finally chimed in, scoffing from his seat. "You'll have to do more than beg mommy for big boy things."

"You, shut up." Stavros gritted.

"Helena…." Victor warned her, knowing that she had better control her son before he did.

"Stavros. Dear. Come with me." She waved him over. "You and I are going to take a little trip."

His eyes lit up like a little boy at the prospect of getting out of this house. "Where are we going, mother?"

"You'll see." She ran a hand along his back as they walked out of the large room.

Jason walked up behind Sam quietly as she sat out in the cold, snowy night. A blanket shielded her body as she sat under the patio cover, watching the icy land in front of her. Johnny was inside with Danny and everyone else was winding down. He noticed that he hadn't seen her much, hadn't heard her voice as much as he'd like when they were making plans and planning precautions.

"It's cold. Out here."

She smiled sadly and turned to look at him. "Doesn't bother me."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really." She admitted.

His brows furrowed in concern. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

She almost laughed. Of course she was. "I miss my mom and my sisters. I miss Patrick. I miss my friends. My house." Sighing, she shook her head. "I feel like this is just a really crazy dream." She glanced at him with a small smile. "I mean, the dream has its perks," she said pointedly, "but the rest is just this horrible turmoil that I can't escape from. We've driven across the country and are moving from place to place and I have never felt more boxed in or trapped." She brought her arms out of the blanket and rubbed at her temples with her fingers, closing her eyes. "It's like, I can't get away from anything that's happening. Yet, I'm away from everything that's happening."

He sat down in the chair across from her, the worry in his eyes covering her. He wanted to help her. "Sam, Johnny's just trying to protect you. I know you feel caged in but if anything happened to you…"

"If anything happened to anyone." She rephrased. "I am not the only person at risk here. There's Danny. Spinelli, his family. Even the doctor that helped us. What if they find out?" She almost looked as if she wanted to cry. "I'm just driving along and leaving all of this horribleness in my wake. I-" She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

"What?" He urged her to continue.

"I'm not pregnant anymore." The words slammed into the bottom of her stomach like a ton of bricks and she almost broke.

He looked at her sadly, his face dropped. "Sam…"

"No." Her tone changed. "I'm not pregnant anymore. I'm not fragile. I'm not something that needs to be treated like this delicate little flower." Swallowing hard, she looked him straight in the eye. "I need to help. I need to be on the front line." He was shaking his head and her voice was raising as if to talk over his physical refusal. "Jason, I need to be out there. I need to do something! Anything!"

"You have Danny." He countered.

"And so do you. And so does Johnny." She refused to take that as an answer. "I want to do this so that Danny can go home. I need to help, I need to make this stop." Grabbing her head, she flung the blanket off of her and stood up. "I can't sit around here and feel sorry for myself and drive myself crazy wondering how I lost the baby and what caused it. Was there something I could have done differently, was there something I could have changed. Losing my baby again. Again." Her face fell when she emphasized the word. "I need it to be for a cause. I need to do something that will help me cope with this loss. I can't just sit here."

Jason stood up, pulling her into him. "Come here." She was hurting and he knew he couldn't make it stop. He rubbed at her hair as she rested her head on his chest. "Just relax."

Sam buried her face in his chest, reveling in the smell and familiarity of him. He felt nice wrapped around her and these hugs used to give her clarity. She was able to take a breath and realize that maybe her grief was talking. She did want to contribute, but maybe her grief had said more than she wanted to. She inhaled deeply again, wrapping her arms tight around him as he softly rocked her, his head resting atop of hers. The soft strokes against her hair lulled her into a numbness.

She felt his head move and then felt his lips pressing against her forehead. Then the side of her head. Her dreary eyes looked up at him as he tilted her chin and she felt the betrayal consuming her before she even felt his lips touch hers. The soft, sensual home she hadn't been to in awhile tapped into senses she had forgotten about. Initially, she pulled away quickly and shook her head. Looking up at him and begging him to pull away because she couldn't. But he wouldn't and she knew it. His hands cupped her face and tucked beneath the dark curtains of her hair. He pulled her face to his, hungrily kissing her like she was a drug he couldn't resist anymore. She kissed him back, she tried not to but she did.

He pushed her body up against the wall behind her, pressing himself into her like he would take her then and there. Her hands lifted up to his face, pulling him into her, ignoring the pain in her side. She could taste him and it was raw and uncensored. He loved her. So strongly that he couldn't not kiss her anymore.

Jason couldn't breathe, almost. Her hands touching him, encouraging him, letting him, was enough to solicit his undying eagerness. He had wanted this since the moment he looked at her. Her wanted to taste her again and here he was, yet he was haunted by her initial reaction to seeing him. Let me go. He heard her tell him from the other day. The flash of how sure she looked when she'd said it, how much she loved Johnny. How happy she was to be with him. Those flashes alone pushed him away from her in an angry huff.

Sam pressed herself against the wall, hoping to make herself small and unrecognizable as she covered her mouth with her hand, in total shock of what she had let herself do. She knew right from wrong, there was no excuse for this. "Jason, I'm so sorry…" Tears clouded her eyes as she shook her head from side to side. "I'm so sorry."

"No. I-" Shaking his head, he backed away before turning and darting back into the house.

Sam watched the spot where he had been standing and couldn't believe herself. What had she done? What had she started? What had she done to him? He seemed as shocked and appalled as she did. She wanted to go check on him, but right now wasn't the right time. And Johnny...she had to tell him. God, she was so stupid. She covered her face with her hands, she almost felt like punching herself.

"Sam."

She jumped and looked towards the door, Johnny standing there with the palest face. Her heart crumbled beneath her chest. He saw her and Jason. She was sure of it. "Johnny. I…"

"It's Alexis." He swallowed hard as he came towards her. "And Molly."

Her mind went completely blank as she shook her head, stepping up to him instantly. "What do you mean? What happened?" Her face creased in a frown. "Are they okay?"

"There was an attack. At their house…" Tears dropped from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

Sam panicked when she saw that. She clutched her stomach. "No. No, no, no, no." Her head moved from side to side as she struggled to keep herself upright. "Are they okay? What happened? Johnny, what happened?" She rushed through her words, begging for answers.

"Molly's in critical condition. They don't…" His voice hitched in his throat. "They don't know if…"

Her legs gave out from beneath her, but he caught her. He held her up. "Johnny...what...no, no. No."

"Molly's in bad shape. Your mom...she is, too." He pulled her into him. "Sam, I'm so sorry."

A sharp shriek ripped through her as she clutched onto his body. She wanted to sob, something was stopping her. Looking up into his eyes, seeing the genuine fear and hurt made her realize how real this was. "Johnny, no!" She whispered desperately.

"I know, I know, sweetheart. God..." He hugged her as his shaky voice whispered. He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay. But nothing he did or said would make him believe that anymore. Nothing was going to be okay.