Author's Note: I officially suck at life. I am aware of this. I haven't updated in forever. I probably don't even remember where the story was supposed to go—but the beauty of it is? I can make something else up :) Oh and I know for a fact my Dante's not a dumb as the one on the show. So no covering for Sonny will be going on when I get around to that. Just a warning in case you're a Sonny worshipper. So consider this the first of many new chapters of this fan fiction..hopefully you'll see others from me once I work out plotting for other ideas I have. Enjoy, read and review if you're still out there! It takes so little time and it really makes my day!
Maxie had been pacing back and forth for what felt like forever. Lulu had been trying to get her to change her clothes for the past two hours or so and Maxie wasn't leaving—even if she looked like something out of a slasher flick. She had to stay and find out that Dante was going to live and hopefully that Sonny would be as well. Although, she honestly wasn't that worried about Sonny because he was a rat bastard who deserved to die. She just didn't want to deal with the accusations that she'd killed him when it was an honest-to-god accident.
"Maxie, come on..you can't stay here in those clothes. You look disgusting and do you really want Dante to see you like that?" Lulu asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't care how I look" She snapped, as she stopped pacing. "I just want to know that he's going to live. I know, I'm normally self-absorbed and completely into how I look. I know, but I can't leave without knowing what happened to him one way or another. He's either alive and going to make a full recovery—or he's dead and I'll have another person to visit at the cemetery" She said, as she ran a hand through her blonde hair.
"Fine. Fine. We'll keep waiting. Is there anyone we should call..or?"
"I don't know. Dante didn't talk much about his family. I know his mother is Olivia Falconeri..and he has a bunch of Uncles and cousins. But I think they're back in Bensonhurst" she sighed, feeling useless and helpless all at once. She hated that feeling. It was the same feeling she'd gotten when she'd found Cooper hanging or saw Georgie lying on the ground motionless.
"Where is Olivia, anyway?" Lulu asked, looking around and not seeing her.
"I'm not sure..I thought I saw her talking to Mac before. But that was an hour and a half ago. They can't still be talking"
"Maybe she went to the chapel to pray.." Lulu trailed off, never finishing her sentence because she saw Patrick coming down the hallway. "Maxie—Maxie, look!"
Maxie looked up and spotted Patrick. She wasted no time in rushing over to him. "Patrick? Patrick. Is he dead? Tell me!" She said, frantically.
"Maxie..I can't tell you anything, you know that. You aren't family or his wife"
"What? I don't care? You owe me one for all the times you screwed Robin over! Tell me or I'll..break your hands!" She snapped, with a crazy glare in her eyes.
"What? You can't break my hands...Maxie, these are magic!" He snapped right back.
"I don't care if your hands were insured by the President of the United States! They don't matter to me! I can and will break them if you don't tell me"
Patrick looked around the room and didn't see anyone other than Maxie and Lulu. "Alright, He made it through surgery. He's not out of the woods though, Maxie. We could still lose him. But he's stable for right now. The bullet barely missed his heart" Patrick told her.
"Where is he? Is he awake?" She asked. "Can I see him?"
"He should be coming out of it in a little while. He's down the hall, three doors to the right. But his family should really see him first"
"Well I'm all for his family seeing him first. Maybe you could teleport them all here from Bensonhurst! We don't know where Olivia is..she's disappeared. Last anyone saw her? She was with Mac. So she's not here and he shouldn't be alone. So can I go or do I have to stand here and talk to you?" She asked, as she tapped her foot, impatient as hell.
He sighed. "Fine, you can go see him. But don't say anything to upset him when he does wake up and when a member of his immediate family does show up? You may want to consider going for coffee..or changing your clothes" He said, gesturing towards her fashion statement. Blood was so not in this season or last!
"Right, well..I'll change later because it's not that important and thanks Patrick. You know for coming around and seeing things my way which is the only way there is" She said, before heading off to Dante's room. She arrived a few minutes later and stood outside for a long moment-just looking inside. He looked terrible and seeing him that way? It frightened her. He was always so strong and he made a big deal about how tough he was. He didn't look so tough at the moment. She took a deep breath before walking inside the room and closing the door behind her. Maxie made her way over to the chair next to the bed and sat down .
Maxie took his hand and held it in her own. Whenever Olivia arrived, she'd let her take over for awhile and go get cleaned up. But she was nowhere to be found at the moment and he couldn't be left alone. Especially if Sonny had decided to have Jason or one of his other goons come and finish Dante off. Jason didn't scare her—why would he? He had exactly two facial expressions, wore one leather jacket, three different colored shirts, and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bullet if he tried. Jason tried anything? She'd kill him with her bare hands.
She sat there in silence for about fifteen minutes or so before she heard a voice.
"Blondie.."
Maxie looked up and saw that he was awake, she felt tears filling her eyes, and did her best to quickly wipe them away. She couldn't cry right now. She had to be strong. She had to be there for him—whatever he needed. "Hey. How are you feeling?" She asked. "Stupid question, I know—but I'm not the smartest girl in the world"
"Like..I got..shot in the chest" he breathed. "And why do you always..gotta do that? You're..plenty smart"
"Oh yeah, I'm a regular Rhodes scholar—what with falling in love with an undercover cop who got himself shot in the chest and uses pick-up lines circa 1980 to pick up girls" She said, as she brushed some hair out of her face.
"Those lines..are classics..what are you talkin' bout'.."
"You're right..I should've turned into a puddle of goo the time you used "I'm no Fred Flinstone, but I can make your bedrock" on me"
"Ya, you shoulda..would've..made things easier..but then we wouldn't..be us, right?" He said, wincing.
"We don't have to talk right now, Dante..maybe you ought to just rest.."
"Rest? What..and wake up later..where you will..insist none of what..was said..was said?" He asked, weakly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ya..know..what I'm talkin' bout'
She sighed heavily. "Dante, you being shot..it doesn't magically erase what we said earlier. I know it's normally my style to just gloss things over and pretend they didn't happen—especially if it's something that's emotional or unhappy. But..I'm not going to forget that we said I love you, just because you were bleeding all over my dress when it happened"
"So you...you do..remember"
"Yeah, I remember and you know what? I meant what I said. I love you, Dante. Maybe I should've told you before . But I was scared that I would lose you. I'd either mess things up with my patented Maxie way of things or you'd die and leave me like Cooper and Jesse did.." She trailed off, taking a breath. "But then I saw you lying on the ground..shot..and bleeding and all I could think was that if there was ever a reason to tell someone you love them—it would be because you might never get another chance to" She said, as her voice wavered. "I never told Georgie enough. I never told her how wonderful she was and she died not knowing. I couldn't let you die on me and not know that I loved you"
"Hey...hey..I didn't..I didn't die..I'm here..with a hole in my chest..and probably lookin' like Casper..but I'm not dead..you can uh..tell me..and show me all you want..ya know when I get betta"
"Don't worry I will and I'll nag you to death too. Never let you out of my sight and follow you around like a fangirl" She said, laughing lightly.
"I could get real used to that..y'know..you followin' me round'..you gonna wait on me too? " He asked, feeling sleepy again.
"Oh yeah, I'm gonna become the next Martha Stewart—only with way better fashion sense and every day I will promise to burn your toast and bring you half the paper because I've removed every mention of Sonny with either a scissor or a magic marker"
"That's gonna be real interestin' to see...you..waitin' on me hand..and foot..and a newspaper with a bunch of holes in it"
"You don't think I'll do it! I am—super insulted"
"No..you aren't.." he said, swallowing. "Can you..look in my..coat..my..phone's in..there..I wanna..call my Ma.."
"Dante, your mother already knows. She was there. Don't you remember? She'll be here soon. I promise"
"Just..please?"
She sighed as she got up from the chair and went over to his jacket. He hadn't elaborated on which pocket it was in or even if it was on the outside or the inside. So she felt all the pockets and the first one she found, she stuffed her hand inside and pulled what she thought the phone was out. But instead it was a small box. She opened the box up and looked inside. "Oh..my..god..Dante..what..what's this?"
"What's..what's..what?"
"This?" She said, in a high pitched voice as she walked over to the bed with it. There was a ring inside.
"Oh..that..I..That's Maxie's ring..Ma.." he said, apparently having gone off into delusion land. Great. He was delusional!
"Maxie's ring? What.."
"You..rememba..I told you..I was gonna ask her.."
"Ask her what? Ask her what?"
But before he could finish his sentence he'd fallen back asleep.
"Oh my god, he was going to propose" she said, under her breath. "Oh..what do i do with this..what do I do with this.."
"What do ya do with what?" a voice said and Maxie looked up to find Olivia there.
"Uh...nothing, nothing at all..I just..Dante..phone...and I gotta go" She said, before stuffing the box back in his pocket and bolting from the room.
