Fic: See What You Believe (GH, Jax/Brenda, Lanaverse)
Title: See What You Believe
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 98 - Writer's Choice
Pairing/Character(s): Jax/Brenda
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Any characters first appearing on General Hospital do not belong to me.
Word Count: 932
Spoilers/Warnings: Part of the extended Lanaverse.
Summary: “We’ve been searching for a young girl, nearly ten years old, one that would have been placed with your order since she was an infant. We believe that she is our daughter.”
Author's Notes: Written for theechochorus.
“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” - St. Augustine
May 2009
Jax and Brenda were ushered into an empty office by a nun.
“Please wait here,” she instructed with a gentle smile. “I’ll have Sister Maria Rosa join you shortly.”
She walked briskly out of the office, and Brenda turned to Jax with an anxious expression on her face.
“What if it’s not her?” she fretted. “What if we’ve come all this way and it’s another dead end?”
Jax took Brenda’s hand in his much larger one. “If it’s not her, we’ll keep looking. We’re not going to give up on finding her, Brenda.” He stared deeply into her eyes, trying to reassure her. “You believe me, don’t you?”
She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. “It’s just gotten so much harder, every time we think we’ve found her and it’s another dead end.” She blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the tears. “I just don’t know how many more times I can get my hopes up, and have it not be her.”
Jax cupped Brenda’s chin and wiped away the tears that had trickled out. “It’s going to be her this time Brenda, I’m certain of that.”
From behind them, the door open and the head of the convent school walked in. Jax and Brenda quickly rose to their feet.
“Please sit,” Sister Maria Rosa said in heavily accented English. “I understand you wish to inquire about one of our pupils?”
“Yes, Sister,” Brenda said quickly. “We’ve been searching for a young girl, nearly ten years old, one that would have been placed with your order since she was an infant. We believe that she is our daughter.”
The nuns face was impassive. “We have several girls with that history in our care.” She looked back and forth between Jax and Brenda. “Why are you searching for her now?”
“She’s our daughter,” Jax spoke up. “She was taken from us when she was born and we’ve only recently found out what might have happened to her, and our search led us to your school.” He leaned forward and said earnestly, “Please Sister, can’t you tell us whether or not you think there’s a chance she might be here?”
“Perhaps,” the Sister said grudgingly. “How do I know that your story is true?”
Brenda reached down pull a thick portfolio out of her bag. “The documentation we’ve been able to put together is all in here. Reports from attending physicians attesting to my having given birth, and the child being taken away immediately. Similar accounts from people that used to work for the man who did this, who believe that she was placed in your care.” She slid it onto the desk. “Of course we’d be willing to submit to DNA testing to prove that she is in fact our daughter, should she be here.”
Sister Maria Rosa accepted the portfolio and opened it, flipping quickly through the pages. “I’ll need to study this more closely, but we do have a young girl in our school that fits the description you’ve given me.”
“Could we see her?” Brenda asked eagerly. “I know I’d recognize my daughter if I could just see her.”
The Sister looked hesitant. “I’m not certain that’s a good idea. What if she’d not your daughter? I don’t want this child to get her hopes up that her parents have finally come for her.”
“A picture then,” Jax suggested. “Surely there’s no harm in showing us a picture of the girl.”
“No, I suppose there isn’t.” Sister Maria Rosa picked up the telephone. “Could you please bring me Isabella Alcazar’s file?” She looked back over at Jax and Brenda. “That should only take a moment.”
“Isabella Alcazar?” Brenda asked anxiously. “Did I hear that correctly?”
Sister Maria Rosa nodded. “Yes. Is the name significant?”
“The man who took her away from me was named Alcazar,” Brenda said angrily. She turned to Jax. “That’s her, I know it!”
Jax reached over to clasp Brenda’s hand to keep her in her chair, and stop her from running out into the school to find the child. “You just have to wait.”
The door opened and another nun walked in carrying a manila folder. Silently, she passed it to Sister Maria Rosa and walked back out of the room.
Sister Maria Rosa opened the folder and extracted a school photograph, which she handed over to Jax.
Jax took the picture with trembling hands, and looked down.
A young girl with glossy dark hair and vivid blue eyes smiled up at them. She looked like a much younger version of Brenda, with bits and pieces of Jax mixed in, particularly in her smile and eyes.
Brenda’s reaction to the photograph was to start weeping, and to clutch Jax’s hand tighter.
Jax’s own eyes were damp when he looked up at the Sister. “How soon can we arrange for testing to confirm that Isabella is our daughter?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Immediately, I suppose. Are you that certain?”
Jax’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Have you looked at her? Don’t you see the resemblance to Brenda?”
She nodded. “I do, but such things can be coincidences.” She rose. “I’ll go speak with our school doctor. I’m sure he can arrange for a blood sample to be drawn so that the testing can begin. Excuse me.” She let herself out of the room.
Brenda looked up at Jax with a wide smile, though tears were still falling from her eyes. “We found her,” she said tremulously, throwing her arms around Jax’s neck and clinging to him tightly.
Jax stroked her hair and whispered back, “I know.”
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 98 - Writer's Choice
Pairing/Character(s): Jax/Brenda
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Any characters first appearing on General Hospital do not belong to me.
Word Count: 932
Spoilers/Warnings: Part of the extended Lanaverse.
Summary: “We’ve been searching for a young girl, nearly ten years old, one that would have been placed with your order since she was an infant. We believe that she is our daughter.”
Author's Notes: Written for theechochorus.
“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” - St. Augustine
May 2009
Jax and Brenda were ushered into an empty office by a nun.
“Please wait here,” she instructed with a gentle smile. “I’ll have Sister Maria Rosa join you shortly.”
She walked briskly out of the office, and Brenda turned to Jax with an anxious expression on her face.
“What if it’s not her?” she fretted. “What if we’ve come all this way and it’s another dead end?”
Jax took Brenda’s hand in his much larger one. “If it’s not her, we’ll keep looking. We’re not going to give up on finding her, Brenda.” He stared deeply into her eyes, trying to reassure her. “You believe me, don’t you?”
She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. “It’s just gotten so much harder, every time we think we’ve found her and it’s another dead end.” She blinked rapidly, trying to clear away the tears. “I just don’t know how many more times I can get my hopes up, and have it not be her.”
Jax cupped Brenda’s chin and wiped away the tears that had trickled out. “It’s going to be her this time Brenda, I’m certain of that.”
From behind them, the door open and the head of the convent school walked in. Jax and Brenda quickly rose to their feet.
“Please sit,” Sister Maria Rosa said in heavily accented English. “I understand you wish to inquire about one of our pupils?”
“Yes, Sister,” Brenda said quickly. “We’ve been searching for a young girl, nearly ten years old, one that would have been placed with your order since she was an infant. We believe that she is our daughter.”
The nuns face was impassive. “We have several girls with that history in our care.” She looked back and forth between Jax and Brenda. “Why are you searching for her now?”
“She’s our daughter,” Jax spoke up. “She was taken from us when she was born and we’ve only recently found out what might have happened to her, and our search led us to your school.” He leaned forward and said earnestly, “Please Sister, can’t you tell us whether or not you think there’s a chance she might be here?”
“Perhaps,” the Sister said grudgingly. “How do I know that your story is true?”
Brenda reached down pull a thick portfolio out of her bag. “The documentation we’ve been able to put together is all in here. Reports from attending physicians attesting to my having given birth, and the child being taken away immediately. Similar accounts from people that used to work for the man who did this, who believe that she was placed in your care.” She slid it onto the desk. “Of course we’d be willing to submit to DNA testing to prove that she is in fact our daughter, should she be here.”
Sister Maria Rosa accepted the portfolio and opened it, flipping quickly through the pages. “I’ll need to study this more closely, but we do have a young girl in our school that fits the description you’ve given me.”
“Could we see her?” Brenda asked eagerly. “I know I’d recognize my daughter if I could just see her.”
The Sister looked hesitant. “I’m not certain that’s a good idea. What if she’d not your daughter? I don’t want this child to get her hopes up that her parents have finally come for her.”
“A picture then,” Jax suggested. “Surely there’s no harm in showing us a picture of the girl.”
“No, I suppose there isn’t.” Sister Maria Rosa picked up the telephone. “Could you please bring me Isabella Alcazar’s file?” She looked back over at Jax and Brenda. “That should only take a moment.”
“Isabella Alcazar?” Brenda asked anxiously. “Did I hear that correctly?”
Sister Maria Rosa nodded. “Yes. Is the name significant?”
“The man who took her away from me was named Alcazar,” Brenda said angrily. She turned to Jax. “That’s her, I know it!”
Jax reached over to clasp Brenda’s hand to keep her in her chair, and stop her from running out into the school to find the child. “You just have to wait.”
The door opened and another nun walked in carrying a manila folder. Silently, she passed it to Sister Maria Rosa and walked back out of the room.
Sister Maria Rosa opened the folder and extracted a school photograph, which she handed over to Jax.
Jax took the picture with trembling hands, and looked down.
A young girl with glossy dark hair and vivid blue eyes smiled up at them. She looked like a much younger version of Brenda, with bits and pieces of Jax mixed in, particularly in her smile and eyes.
Brenda’s reaction to the photograph was to start weeping, and to clutch Jax’s hand tighter.
Jax’s own eyes were damp when he looked up at the Sister. “How soon can we arrange for testing to confirm that Isabella is our daughter?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Immediately, I suppose. Are you that certain?”
Jax’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Have you looked at her? Don’t you see the resemblance to Brenda?”
She nodded. “I do, but such things can be coincidences.” She rose. “I’ll go speak with our school doctor. I’m sure he can arrange for a blood sample to be drawn so that the testing can begin. Excuse me.” She let herself out of the room.
Brenda looked up at Jax with a wide smile, though tears were still falling from her eyes. “We found her,” she said tremulously, throwing her arms around Jax’s neck and clinging to him tightly.
Jax stroked her hair and whispered back, “I know.”