Anna sighed a ragged breath of relief as she made that plane to Salem. Only five minutes had made the difference. She almost hadn't made it and would have had to wait another six hours for the next flight. That she had made this flight was a miracle. It had not been easy to disentangle herself from the advertising campaign that she had been working so diligently on, but when she explained that her husband was seriously hurt and in the ICU, everyone understood. And quite frankly, she didn't give a damn if Dimera Advertising did lose the business. She didn't give a damn if she ended up penniless, living out of a cardboard box. All she cared about was getting back to Tony.

For what must have been the hundredth time, she burst into an embarrassing state of tears. The man sitting next to her on the plane shifted uncomfortably, obviously not wanting to be witness to a hysterical woman. But she couldn't help herself.

Tony had been out of her life for so long before. It was too cruel of fate to bring him back into her life, only to sweep him away again. And she felt like it was her fault. She had stayed away from him for too long, spent too many evenings over hot cocoa with Carrie and Austin in Switzerland. With Will having come back to Salem, they seemed especially eager for her company; and it was nice to be needed. But she should have known. She should have known that somehow Stefano would play mind games with Tony and get him into trouble. Oh, she knew that his fall on the pier was supposedly "an accident", but she didn't buy it. Stefano had never wanted Tony to escape that island, and he certainly had not wanted Tony to play any part in the Dimera Empire.

Anna was not the most religious woman in the world. She usually preferred to sleep in rather than actually make it to church. But now, she closed her eyes and prayed. God, I know I've done bad things in my life, she begged silently. But don't punish Tony for them. Please, I'll do anything…please…

-----------------------------------

As she raced from the taxi into the entrance of Salem University Hospital, Anna was fervently wishing that she was not wearing high heels. Tripping and breaking her neck would do Tony no good! And her narrow red skirt was doing her no favors either. Every second seemed like an agonizing eternity as she stood in the elevator, waiting to get to the third floor. She shuddered, remembering that the last time she had set foot in the hospital was when Stefano had come out of his coma and had gassed everybody. And now here she was again in this place, courtesy of Stefano Dimera.

As the elevator doors opened, Anna was actually face to face with the monster that she was thinking of.

Stefano's dark eyes were wide in shock at the sight of her. He had been crying, Anna realized, feeling more nauseous than she had already been feeling. Things must really be bad if Stefano Dimera was in tears.

"Anna?" he asked in shock.

"Get the hell out of my way!" she growled, pushing past him. "Where's Tony?"

EJ, standing beside his father, answered grimly, "Room 305. Hurry."

Unheeding of her heels, Anna ran to Room 305, fighting back a hysterical scream.

Entering the room, the first thing she was aware of was a loud frantic beeping sound of hospital equipment. Oh, God, she panicked. He's dying!

Anna's view of Tony was completely blocked off. Getting a good look at her, Anna realized it was Nicole Walker Kiriakis, EJ's fiancé.

"What's going on?" she asked shrilly. "What's happening to Tony?"

As Nicole turned to face Anna, her expression changed from that of a satisfied cat to a frightened mouse. For a brief millisecond, she wondered why on earth the woman had been looking so smug under these circumstances. But it didn't matter right now.

"Tony?" she cried out desperately, racing to his side.

The sight of her husband stunned her. She had never seen him look so deathly pale. He had all manner of tubes connected to his body. And despite everything, he was still a sight for her sore eyes. She thanked God that he was still alive, that there was still some time for them, no matter how brief.

For some reason, Tony was in a state of agitation, his eyes narrowed in anger and his heartbeat racing. That explained the manic beeping of the heart rate monitor.

"Sweetheart…" she begged, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it by the bed. "Why are you so upset? Aren't you happy to see me, huh?"

"He can't talk."

Anna glared at the blonde woman who had no place here. For some reason she couldn't put her finger on, she had a bad feeling about what had transpired before she had arrived. And Nicole had everything to do with it.

"Could I be alone with my husband, please?" Anna asked coldly.

"Of course."

Nicole left with seeming reluctance, closing the door softly behind her.

Now that they were finally alone, Anna had to fight harder than ever to keep from crying. Usually, Tony was the one who always gave her the shoulder to cry on. But for his sake, she had to be strong, calling on an inner courage that she wasn't sure she possessed. Taking his weak hand in both of hers, she kissed his palm lovingly. Holding his hand against her cheek, she took a few deep breaths. That's what Tony always told her to do when she was upset. To take deep breaths…

And she was okay, she told herself. She was here by Tony's side now. It would be okay…no matter what…

When Anna looked up at her husband at last, she saw tears streaming down his face. Somehow that bothered her even more than seeing Stefano cry. But she was relieved to see that his heart rate was lowering back to normal.

"I can't leave you alone for a second, can I?" she scolded, half-heartedly. "You'd better get well soon, Tony, because you're not getting out of taking me to New York City that easily! And I'm too young to be a widow."

For a moment, he looked as if he were about to laugh…but then his eyes cringed in pain. Apparently, the anesthetic could only help him so much.

"I'm sorry…" she said quickly. "Sorry."

For a while, Anna sat in silence, stroking his hair gently.

"I know it must be hard, but you should try to rest…if you can…"

Tony flinched, making his objection to the idea well known. And he squeezed her hand as a signal.

"I'll be here, Tony. You know how hard it is to get rid of me. Will you close your eyes, please?"

With a labored sigh, Tony grudgingly closed his eyes.

"That's a good boy…" she soothed. "We should just pretend we're somewhere else for a while. Where should we be?"

Anna considered.

"I know. We could be at Blondie's. Remember Liz's night club? And we were dancing together. Remember how happy we were then?"

She began to hum softly.

"What are you doing the rest of your life?" she crooned softly, like the way she used to sing lullabies to Carrie. "North and south and east and west of your life. I have only one request of your life…that you spend it all with me…" Suddenly, her voice began to choke up with fresh tears. So she just kept humming for a while.

Tony's breath was less labored. He seemed to have fallen asleep at last.

Anna bit her lip until it bled, but she could not hold back the violent sobs that seemed to take over her whole body. She had never been so afraid…

-----------------------------------

"Anna?"

The voice came from out of a fog amidst the constant beeping of the heart rate monitor – the beeping that was both a source of annoyance and reassurance at the same time. Not awake but not really asleep, she moaned slightly, sitting up in the uncomfortable chair.

"Lexie…" she murmured softly.

"Anna, maybe you should go down to the lounge and rest a bit. If anything happens, I'll call you."

Anna shook her head fiercely. Tony needed her around to keep the gargoyles like Stefano and Nicole away.

Lexie sighed and studied Tony's chart. "I have some good news," she said with a soft smile. "Tony's stats seem to be improving. I think you're the best medicine he could have."

Anna began to sob again. God, how many tears could one person cry?

"Is he going to make it?" she asked, desperately.

"It's too soon to say, Anna…but every bit of improvement helps at this point. Tony's so lucky to have you in his life."

"No…" Anna protested. "I'm the lucky one; even when I was too stupid to know it."

"How's Tony?"

Anna looked back to see Dr. Kayla Johnson standing in the doorway of Room 305.

"Kayla!" she cried out, standing up. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Anna and Kayla exchanged a long tearful hug. Just looking into her friend's bright blue eyes reassured her somehow.

"Lexie called me in to help with Tony's case," Kayla informed her. "We're going to do all we can to stabilize him. Stefano Dimera's not too crazy about me being involved, but…"

"I'll deal with Stefano," Anna said, too upset to care about possible consequences. "Just do what you can to save my husband."

"I will," she assured her. "I promise. Why don't you go with Steve and get something to eat? You have to take care of yourself. It won't do Tony any good if you get sick too."

"If I eat, I'll just throw up…" Anna protested.

"Come on, Anna…" Steve urged. "We can get you some herbal tea for your nerves. Let Lexie and Kayla do what they need to do, okay?"

Turning to kiss Tony's cheek, Anna then reluctantly left Tony's room, allowing Steve to lead her to the hospital cafeteria.

Once seated with their tea, Anna could only stare morosely at the drink, feeling completely drained.

"Tony's a tough dude," Steve said, trying to raise her spirits. "I know he'll get through this."

Anna nodded with a confidence she did not feel.

"I'm so grateful that Kayla's here. Really."

Steve took her hand, squeezing it with reassuring strength.

"Kayla can work miracles," he repeated. "And I know that first hand because look what she managed to do with a bum like me!"

Anna smiled, brushing away more tears.

"I used to be a bum too, you know," she confided. "Until I met Tony."

"You?" Steve asked, laughing. "I don't believe it."

"It's true. Tony taught me how to depend on myself rather than just using others. He taught me to value myself. A lot of people think of Tony as just Stefano Dimera's spoiled son, but he's really a wonderful human being, a good teacher…"

"I'm sure he is…"

Steve's voice was quiet and compassionate.

"And he's been tortured so much by having that monster as a father. I've seen it first hand."

"But he survived all of it! And he'll survive this too. You just have to have faith."

"I'm trying. I really am. I guess I always put on this front, you know. That all I care about is travel and clothes and spas. But without Tony, I'm nothing. He was always the strong one…you see? And seeing him in that hospital bed, I…just…"

EJ suddenly appeared at their table.

"Anna, you must go downstairs right away. It's Tony…"

"Is he okay?" she asked frantically.

"I don't know. We must hurry."

"Oh, God…I knew I should have never left his side…I knew it…"