Disclaimer: Characters and settings are the property of ABC/Disney and the writers/producers at General Hospital. No copyright infringement is intended.

I wrote this about eight years ago. Decided to revisit and revamp it.

I'll probably have the whole story posted by the end of the weekend.

Let me know what you think.

Jen

Running Scared

Chapter One

The docks

Carly sat on “their” bench and stared out at the water thinking of what she had seen tonight at Kelly’s. Did Jason love Liz? Why was he dancing with her? What did it mean?

She had finally made the decision, albeit selfishly, to leave AJ and fight for a future for herself and Michael with Jason, and now it was too late. He had moved on.

She had no idea that while she was contemplating their future, Jason’s life was hanging by a thread. She finally decided to go to Jason’s penthouse and wait for him. Jason was the only one that would have the answers. Sitting out here in the cold was getting her nowhere.

PH2

Carly sat staring absently into the fire, lost in memories of ….

Jason and Michael at the beach in Florida……

Jason and Michael playing in the park………..

Jason and Michael in Sonny’s penthouse when he was a baby………..

The first time she held him.

Michael’s first word, Dada, of course.

She and Jason had been a family once. Would they ever have it again?

Was Sonny right about her? Was she really that terrible? She’d loved Jason the only way she knew how. But what if he didn’t love her?

Carly sighed resolutely as she made a life altering decision. It was time to stand on her own two feet. It was time to discover who Carly, no Caroline, really was. She knew she wasn’t a horrible person. She knew she’d been hiding behind the wall she’d built years ago. Was she strong enough to let the wall crumble? Could she survive without her defense mechanisms?

She would trust Jason. She knew there had to be an explanation for what he was doing with Liz. She’d wait for it and for him.

She turned and looked at the door when she heard the elevator doors open. She had left the door slightly ajar, knowing that Johnny was out there in case he was needed.

After a few minutes, when no one came in, she decided to go and investigate.

PH4

Jason stumbled slowly into Sonny’s penthouse to find him nursing a drink and waiting for Hannah to show up.

Sonny looked up at him as Carly came in the door just as it started to shut. He groaned his annoyance. “Carly, get the hell out of here.”

Carly looked from Sonny to Jason, ignoring Sonny’s disdain for her. She moved closer to Jason noticing that he was in obvious pain. “Jason, what’s wrong?” Sweat was pouring off of him as he clutched his side. She sucked in a breath as she looked up into his eyes. The agony in those beautiful blue eyes. She knew without him telling her what was wrong with him. “You’ve been shot.”

Hearing that, Sonny immediately set his drink down and moved over to them to see for himself.

Jason groaned in pain when Carly moved his hand aside. He didn’t want her to see this, but he was grateful she was here. Every time he needed her, he she was. Ready and able to take care of him.

“Oh, baby.” She looked up at Sonny with tears in her eyes at the thought of losing her man and helped Jason over to the couch. “Sonny, you have a doctor or something, right?”

Sonny nodded and immediately picked up the phone. “Just lay him on the couch and strip him from the waist up, I’ll get the doctor over here.”

Carly helped him sit down and gingerly removed his jacket. A single tear slid down her face as he grunted in pain. “I’m so sorry, baby, I know that hurts.” She tucked her hair back behind her ear and looked up at Sonny, her nursing instincts kicking in. “I need scissors and a first aid kit.”

Sonny nodded wordlessly and handed her a pair of scissors from the desk then took off for the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit she had requested.

Jason touched her hand when she pulled his shirt free from his pants. He waited until she looked up at him to speak, his voice gruff with pain. “I never wanted you to see this side of the business.”

Carly put a silencing finger to his lips. He was going to need every bit of strength he had to get through this. Fighting with her about the business now was a waste of his energy and her time. She loved him, damn it. Where the hell else would she be but at his side when he needed her?

“Don’t talk. Save your strength.” She lifted the scissors and cut his shirt up the middle. “And don’t be ridiculous. You can’t shelter me from this, Jace. If I can call a dock strike, I can handle this." She smiled up at him in an attempt to put him at ease then helped him out of his shirt.

She stood as she pulled the ruined tee away from his shoulders to his back. Praying to God for an exit wound. “Okay, I need you to lean forward just a bit. Can you do that?”

She waited for his nod. Knowing he would have to be able to endure her gentle prodding. She moved forward to let him rest against her as Sonny came back into the room. “I’m just gonna make sure you have an exit wound.” She checked his back and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the wound. He wasn’t bleeding that badly, she hoped that meant that the bullet had missed all vital organs.

She guided him back, using his shirt to press against the back wound, in an effort to stop the bleeding. “Sonny, go get towels.”

Sonny lifted a brow at her barked order. What did he look like? An errand boy? He scowled even as he headed back to the bathroom for towels.

Carly opened the first aid kit and set about carefully cleaning his wound. “Okay, baby, this is gonna sting.”

Jason cursed and stiffened in pain when she used an antiseptic on his wound.

Carly bit her lower lip, hating to cause him any more pain, but knowing she had to if he was going to survive this. “I know. I’m sorry.” She looked up at Sonny with tears in her eyes when he handed her the towels. She motioned for him to lay them on the table behind her. “Where the hell is that doctor?”

Sonny moved beside her after laying the towels on the coffee table. “He’s on his way. What can I do to help?”

Carly huffed out a breath, reluctant to do more without the doctor here, but knowing an infection could be just as deadly as blood loss. “We need to move him forward a little bit so I can clean his back wound. Can you support him?”

Sonny nodded reluctantly. “Are you sure we should be doing this?”

Carly sighed as she shook her head. “No, but we don’t have a choice. He could get an infection at any time and we have to move fast to prevent that.”

Sonny moved to help Jason lean against him. “You heard the lady, she wants to torture your back now.”

Carly snorted, knowing the ‘lady’ part was a taunt. “I wish it were yours.”

Sonny actually laughed out loud, finally seeing that there was more to her than met the eye. He still wasn’t sure that she was good enough for his best friend, but she obviously didn’t scare easily either. “If it was, I doubt you’d be so sweet. Hell, Carly, you’d probably pour salt on my wounds.”

Carly smiled in agreement with him as she cleaned Jason’s back. She rubbed a soothing hand over his arm when he tensed. “I’d probably just let the wolves eat you alive. Fresh meat.” She glanced up at Sonny briefly, considering. “Although, they’d probably choke to death on you.”

Sonny and Carly both breathed a sigh of relief when Johnny knocked on the door announcing the doctor.

The doctor moved around them as Carly laid a couple of towels on the couch. She and Sonny helped Jason lie back for the doctor to examine his wounds. Carly moved to sit with Jason’s head lying in her lap while she held one of his hands in silent support. Sonny stood at the end of the couch watching the doctor admire Carly’s attention to Jason’s wounds. The doctor looked at Carly. “I assume you did this?”

Carly nodded, not sure if he was happy with her work or wished she hadn’t touched his patient. “I tried to clean it up as best I could with what I had.”

The doctor nodded distractedly at her explanation, continuing to examine the wound, clearing it of superficial debris. “You did fine. You know how to fill a syringe?”

Carly nodded automatically, surprised he was asking for her help.

“He’s going to need Demerol for the pain and there’s Lidocaine with Epinephrine in there to deaden the feeling for when I clean this wound and stitch him up. Can you handle that?” He gave her the dosages when she nodded and turned his attention back to his patient.

Carly moved Jason’s head slightly to reach for the doctor’s medical bag. She prepared both syringes and retrieved what he’d need for the sutures and irrigation.

Sonny watched her with fascination. Jason was right about her once again. She was good in a crunch. She didn’t balk at the blood. She didn’t freak out. She’d handled it all with ease. She’d taken control of the situation like it was an everyday thing. He begrudgingly admitted that he had to admire her courage and strength.

Carly set everything the doctor would need on the table beside him. All the while soothing Jason when he jerked from the doctor’s ministrations.

“Go ahead and give him the Demerol and then we’ll roll him to clean the back wound.”

Carly swabbed a spot on Jason’s arm clean with an alcohol swab then administered the narcotic. She brushed a kiss over his forehead then moved to help doctor roll him forward to clean his back wound.

They worked to stitch up his front and back wounds then covered them with a gauze dressing while Sonny cleaned up around them. Tossing out Jason’s bloody shirt and the bloody towels they had used.

The doctor handed Carly a bottle of antibiotics and gave her instructions on Jason’s care before rising to take his leave. “You must be a nurse.”

Carly chuckled derisively. “No, I leave that to my mother.”

The doctor shook his head in wonder. Some ER somewhere was missing out on one hell of a fine nurse. It was a rare talent to be able to handle this kind of fast paced care with the steady hand that she had. “Well, you should be. You’re efficient and you keep your cool in a hectic situation. You did a fine job.” He picked up his bag, nodding briefly to Sonny for services rendered, and walked out allowing Johnny to close the door behind him.

Jason turned his head to look at her. He could barely keep his eyes open, groggy from the drugs and loss of blood. “Thanks, Carly.”

Carly smiled down at him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Grateful that the worst was now over. “You have enough strength to make it to your penthouse?”

Jason nodded, not quite sure, but knowing he didn’t want to stay here on Sonny’s couch when he could be in his own bed with Carly there to watch over him. “Yeah.”

Carly looked up at the closed door. “Johnny.”

Johnny opened the door immediately after hearing Carly’s call.

“Come help us get Jason over to his penthouse.”

Johnny looked at Sonny for confirmation, not really needing it, but knowing his boss hated that he and some of the other guys didn’t hesitate when she called for help. No matter what Sonny thought of her, she was Jason’s girl. And they all liked her. She took good care of them. All of them. And she made sure Jason did too.

Sonny nodded his confirmation. “You heard her.”

Carly winced when Jason grimaced as Sonny and Johnny helped him to his feet and out the door. She followed behind them carrying Jason’s jacket. And made it as far as the elevator when the doors opened to reveal Hannah. Carly glanced briefly at then men in front of her, glad that they had made it into the penthouse without Hannah seeing them. As much as she would love to take the stupid bitch down, she decided to ignore Hannah’s presence and headed for Jason’s place.

“What are you doing here, Carly?” Hannah arrogantly crossed her arms over her chest as she stepped out of the elevator. “Come to tell more lies about me?”