"We did everything we could, and he seems to be doing just fine. The damage to his spine wasn't as severe as we initially thought. He'll make a full recovery. It will take him a few months however. He's going to need physical therapy. His ribs should heal up nicely in just a few weeks and his arm will be out of a sling in six weeks. The contusions on his face are not as dire as they first appeared either. He had one deep gash on his face that bled profusely, but we stitched that up as well. He's still under anesthesia, but you can see him now if you'd like to."

I took off once he finished talking. When I got to his room, room 221, I held my breath at the sight of him. He looked awful. Even with the blood cleaned off of his face, he looked terrible. He looked worse than he did the night of Felix's murder.

I sat by his side and waited. He'd wake up eventually and then I could start apologizing. An hour went by. He was still asleep. I glanced at the clock on the wall. 3:30 a.m. Fantastic. A knock at the door alerted me to Dad's presence.

"Veronica, honey you need to get some sleep."

"I don't want him to wake up alone Dad."

Dick poked his head around the corner. "I'll stay."

I do have finals in five hours. Sighing in defeat, I said, "Fine. But call me as soon as he wakes up. I don't care what time it is, I don't care if I'm in school. Call me."

Dick nodded. Dad drove me home. "What happened Veronica?"

I had no choice but to come clean. Well, mostly clean. I left out the fact there was a sex tape of Piz and me circulating. He didn't need to know that. It wasn't exactly vital. I did tell him about The Castle, and what they do to their possible candidates to get information on them. I told him about the connection Jake Kane has, but not to bother bringing him in for questioning because he's going to be leaving to be with Duncan soon. His eyes bugged out of his head a little with that one. I had to go into an entirely new story about Duncan and Jake. Then I told him about Gory and what happened in the cafeteria and why Logan was involved. It took me about half an hour to explain it all, and to my dad's credit, he didn't interrupt me once. By the time we got home from the hospital, I was ready to pass out.

"I'll save my questions for the morning," he said dryly. I could only nod, too tired to form words. When I hit the pillow, I must have immediately passed out because I didn't wake up until my alarm sounded. Wincing at the pain on the right side of my face, I sat up. Three and half hours of sleep; that's all I got. And now I have finals. I get beat up by the damn mafia and sit through nearly five hours of Logan's surgery and I still have to take a test. It seems so trivial at the moment, but regardless, it has to be done.

I walk into the kitchen, not bothering to take a shower. I don't care at the moment how I look when I go to school. I have no one to impress anyway. Dad's waiting for me at the counter. "I called the school. You're free today."

I took a bottle of water out of the fridge and sipped at it. "Do they let your daddy's get you out of tests when you're in college?"

"They do when he's the sheriff."

"Great. Am I that kid now? Can I start threatening people with jailtime?"

He nodded. "Yep. Welcome to the life of luxury."

"Hah! Cold showers and mob hits. Nothing more luxurious than that. I should go though. I have a final today." Dad looked down at his notepad.

"Nope. You have a makeup final in three weeks."

I sighed, partially out of relief that I had three weeks to study more and partially due to the fact it would be cutting into my summer break. Not that it really mattered; it's not like I had summer plans anymore.

"Why don't you go get some more sleep. I have to get down to the station."

"Right. How'd it go with the Fitzpatrick's?"

He shook his head. "Nothing new. No robberies last night. We're just waiting at this point. Don't worry about it. We'll get them."

I yawned. "Sleep my crime-fighting daughter." I waved him out the door. When I made it back to bed, I'd only gotten an extra forty-five minutes of sleep when my phone rang. It was Dick. "He's awake Veronica."

I made it to the hospital in record time. When I barged through the doors, I noticed Parker and Mac also in the waiting room. "When did you guys get here?"

"About an hour ago. Dick left a message on the machine for Parker telling her what happened."

Parker was sitting down, her arms crossed and her eyes vacant. "Parker?"

"Is this my fault?"

I was confused. "What? How is this your fault?"

"Dick called me the other day looking for Logan and I just ignored him."

I sighed. "He called me too. I found him that day. He was at the beach; he was fine. This has nothing to do with you."

"Then what happened?" I looked at Dick, who shook his head and looked away.

"I can't talk about it. But he's going to be okay."

She nodded. "I figured it was something you wouldn't tell me. That's alright. I don't need to know. We broke up you know. After he beat up Piz for you, I just…I'd had enough. When I saw you in the hall that day, I'd just broken up with him."

This is not the conversation I want to have right now, right here. "He's still in love with you Veronica."

I did my best to not roll my eyes. "Yeah, so I've heard. Look, Parker, we're just friends. That's it."

Nurse Noreen walked into the room. "Oh, Mrs. Echolls, you're back. You're husband was asking for you."

I smacked my forehead. Parker smiled. "Just friends?"

I will kill Dick. "Yes!" I stood up to go. Mac was talking to Dick in the corner. I beckoned him over. "Dick, you didn't tell Mac who took Logan, right?"

"Uhh…"

"Dick you can't just tell people that! What if they came after her too?"

He looked bewildered. I balled my hands into fists. "Just tell her not to tell anyone. And don't say anything to Parker. I already told her we can't tell her anything."

Dick rolled his eyes and walked back over to Mac who was staring at me. She smiled sympathetically. I made a call sign against my ear and mouthed that I'd call her later. She understood.

I followed the nurse back into Logan's room. He was awake, and still looked the same. It had only been five hours since I'd seen him last. When Noreen walked out, I sat down next to Logan.

"Ah, the Missus. So honey, how are the kids?" His voice was so raspy.

"I am going to massacre Dick." He sniggered and then winced. "Don't make me laugh. It feels like I'm dying when I laugh."

I bit my tongue. "Don't say that."

He looked somber. "Sorry."

"Have you talked to the doctor at all?"

He nodded. "Three months of physical therapy and I'll be tiptop. I don't think I'll have much of a future in track though."

I snorted. "I don't think that was ever in the cards for you."

"Are you going to tell me what happened? I don't remember much, and Dick seemed pretty clueless."

"It was my fault. It was Gory's family."

"Yeah, I got that. But they were asking me about you. I wouldn't tell them where you were, not that I knew in all honesty. They weren't really all that interested in me. And I see that nice shiner you're sporting. What happened?" His jaw was set and he was practically glaring at me. This is how he's always reacted if someone hurt me. I feel that sting in my chest again.

I told my story for the second time today. "I tracked down where the tape came from. That's why Gory was douching it up in the cafeteria the other day. It came from this organization called The Castle. They were trying to recruit Wallace and so they had a recorder set up in his room. That's how they got the tape of…well, you know. And anyway, to make a longer story less long, I found out information on the mob and so they wanted me gone. And now we've come full circle."

"Hmm, I think you left some things out there, Veronica."

"Nothing vital to this situation."

"Ahh, I see. I nearly die, and I don't even get the goods."

I felt my lower lip tremble. "Logan, I'm so sorry. I really am. You almost; and I- god I'm so sorry."

He lost his joking demeanor. "Veronica, this isn't your fault. You told me not to go after him. You told me he was connected. I chose to simply disregard your warning."

"But if I hadn't found the information I did-," He cut me off. "We could play this game all the way down to Adam and Eve Veronica. The fact of the matter is, I chose to fight for you anyway."

What a choice of words. Fight for me? He must have caught what he said, because he mumbled something under his breath. Thankfully, the doctor walked in at that moment.

"Well Logan, we'll let you go home in a couple days. We just want to make sure the swelling on your spine doesn't start back up. Now, normally we recommend that you have a live in nurse for these types of cases. But, I assume Mrs. Echolls you'll be doing the honors?"

Logan shook his head. "No, I'll hire a nurse or something."

"That won't be necessary. Of course I'll do it." The doctor nodded and left the room, leaving both Logan and myself dumbfounded.

"What did you just agree to?"

"Look, it's my fault this happened to you, and before you say it's not shut up because it is. The least I can do is help you out around your house. It's only temporary and I'll just take Dicks room. I really don't care if I'm putting him out. He can sleep on the couch or something."

"You do realize that we'll essentially be living together, right?"

I really don't understand why I said anything. Why did I just say I'd move into my ex-boyfriends house? Yeah, he'll need a caretaker. Yeah, justice calls for me to serve some time. But no, this cannot be a good idea.

"Yes, I realize what I've just done. I owe you this. I do." I do, right? I mean, there have been worse ideas in the history of the world. Nazism. That was definitely worse. Bras? Terrible, terrible idea. Moving in with Logan? Doesn't compare to Nazism. I think it's safe to say, that on the long list of horrible ideas, this is probably way down there.

"Veronica, I'll just get a nurse."

I probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. I was about to agree to this when something inside of me told me not to. Why? Why am I pursuing this tremendously awful idea?

"I'd rather you have someone who can put up with your b.s. I wouldn't want you damaging someone's precious psyche with your remarkable abilities." That's absolutely why. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

"Are you sure?"

Am I sure? "Yes," I said my voice cracking. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Really? Because you have your I'd rather be spelunking look."

"There you go again. This is my I'd rather be scuba diving in lava look. This is why I have to move in. You've forgotten my looks."

"I could never forget your looks, Veronica." Crap. This is why moving in is a bad idea. If Logan still has feelings for me, I could really be doing a number on his life. No. This will be fine. We're two adults.

"None of that. This is one guilty friend helping out a very broken friend, alright? This is just business."

He smirked. "Whatever you say wifey." My phone started ringing at that moment. Crap.

"Oh. Um. Hi, dad."

"Hey sweetie. I take it Logan woke up if you're not home?"

"Yeah, he's awake."

"That's great. How's he doing?"

"Oh, um, he's doing good. Hey Dad? Funny story."

"Your stories are rarely as funny as they are traumatizing. What's going on?"

Oh god. "Um, I'm going to be moving into Logan's for a little while."

Author's Note: I had a little bit more I could have added, but I liked leaving it off here. Are you excited to see how these new arrangements will pan out? Also, the next chapter is also finished, but it's going to be at least a few days before I have it uploaded.