Chapter 9

Doctors came from a Manhattan hospital to examine Michael. They spent a few hours with him, and they told us that he was doing well. They said he could be transferred to General Hospital in a week or so. He would stay at the physical therapy wing for a few weeks, working on getting stronger, working on his motor skills, and eventually, walking without canes or walkers.

After a few hours of tests, Carly and I were finally alone with Michael.

"Mom," he asked. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"You were at the pier, do you remember?"

He thought for a minutes and then said, "Yeah. I was there with Dad and Kate."

"Yeah," Carly said. I could tell she was trying hard not to sound angry.

"I don't remember anything after that," Michael said.

"Honey, you were shot."

"What?" he asked, confused. "At the pier? Who? Why?"

"We don't know," I said. We did know who shot him, but we didn't know if Ian Devlin was working for anyone, or why he did it. Even if we did know, Michael didn't need to know that.

"The important thing is that you're okay," I told him.

"Michael, we're so glad you're back. The doctors told us that you were never going to wake up," Carly said, starting to cry again.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you said."

"No, Michael, none of this was your fault. Okay? Don't think that for a second."

Michael nodded. Then he asked, "Is Dad here?"

Carly and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Finally I said, "We've been so wrapped up in watching you that we haven't called him. I'll go call him now."

I walked out into the hallway, and Carly followed him.

"Are you really going to call Sonny?"

"Yeah. It's not my ideal situation to have Sonny around Michael, but he is his father. Michael wants his dad, and I think Sonny has a right to know that he's awake."

"I just want my boy to be safe," she said.

"I'll call to see if I can get some guards outside Michael's door. Will that make you feel better?"

"Not as good as having you here with Michael and me."

"Well, you'll have both the guards and me."

"Okay," she said, reluctantly. Then she said, "I guess I should call my mom. Oh, and Jax, too."

"Jax?" I asked. "What does Jax have to do with this?"

"He loves Michael, and he would want to know that he's awake. And Michael still thinks Jax and I are married."

Great. I wasn't thrilled on having Sonny come here. In a perfect world, it would just be Carly and me alone with Michael here, but then to add Jax? I guess she was right, though. Michael didn't know that Carly and Jax were over, and we were together. We needed to pretend everything was the way it was before he was shot. We would tell him the whole truth eventually, but not now.

I called Sonny, and he said that he was on his way to see Michael. He sounded estatic, and it made me happy in a way. I was still furious at Sonny but having Michael here made everything better.

Carly and I let Sonny have a few minutes alone with him. Carly sat outside the door, refusing go any farther than that. So, I went and got us that pizza we had talked about. She said she wasn't hungry, but once she started eating, she couldn't stop. My Carly loves junk food.

Jax stopped by the hospital the next day. I thought there was going to be a fight, but he was pretty civil to me. I think he did it for Michael, but I didn't care why he did it. I was just glad that he didn't upset Carly.

"Did you tell him that we're divorcing?" Carly asked Jax after he was finished with Michael.

"No, I didn't want to upset him, even though I imagine he'll be happy to know that you too are together."

"Jax," I said, giving him a warning.

"I figured you two would tell him eventually." He looked at his watch. "I'd better be getting home. I have some business to take care of."

Before he left he said, "Carly, regardless of what happened between us, I really am happy that Michael is awake. I know how much you love your children."

"Thank you," she said.

After Jax left, she said, "Jason, do you want to tell Michael about us tonight?"

"What? Do you want to wait a little while?"

"I did, but I don't want to wait. I want us to be a family. Do you think he'll be upset?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay, then. Why don't we tell him now?"

"Okay," I said.

We walked into Michael's room, and I said, "Michael, your mom and I have something that we want to talk to you about."

"What, did somebody die or something?"

"No, nobody died," Carly said.

"Then what is it?"

"Michael, Jax and I are getting a divorce."

"Why? I thought you loved Jax?"

"I did love Jax, and I know that you liked him—"

"Yeah, I did like him, but that doesn't matter. Mom, are you okay? I want you to be happy."

"Good. I am happy."

Seeing as this could take about few hours because of Carly's excellent avoiding-the-question skills, I decided to step in and speed up the process.

"Michael, everything changed after you were shot."

"How?"

Just then, Bobbie came in. "I hope I'm not interrupting," she said.

"No, no, come on in," Carly said.

"I heard that one of my two favorite grandsons was awake, and I had to come and see for myself."

"Grandma!" Michael said.

"Michael, it's so good to have you back. I want to visit, but I want to talk to your mom for a few minutes."

"Mom, what's this about?" Carly said.

"Can you come outside? It'll just take a few minutes. I promise."

After Carly left the room, Michael asked me, "Jason, do you love Mom?"

"You know that I do."

"No, I mean more than friendship. You're in love with her. That's why she's getting a divorce from Jax."

"How did you know?"

"You haven't left her side all day. I know that's not unusual for you two because you're her best friend, but something just felt different. And then when mom started talking about getting a divorce from Jax, I knew."

"Are you upset?"

"Upset? Jason, I love you. And yeah, I liked Jax, but he doesn't compare to you. I know that you can make my mom happy."

"I'm going to do my best," I said.

Carly and Bobbie came back in. "He knows," I said.

"What? How?" Carly asked.

"He just knew. He asked me if I loved you, and of course the answer was yes."

"Michael, are you okay with Jason and me?"

"I'm more than okay with it. But, when you and Jason get married, please don't get divorced again."

"I promise," I told him, "that when your mom and I get married, it's going to be forever."

Bobbie forced Carly and me to go home and get some sleep in our own beds. She said that she was going to stay the night and watch Michael. She said she wanted some time with her grandson, but I think she just wanted us to sleep because we both looked tired.

When we got home, we thanked Mercedes for watching Morgan extra and we told her that she would be getting paid more than her usual salary. She said that that wasn't necessary because she was just happy that Michael was going to be okay.

After she left I asked Carly why Bobbie wanted to talk to her outside.

"Lulu told her about us being together, and she just wanted to say that she was happy for us."

"Lulu has a big mouth."

"Yeah, she does," she said, smiling. "I don't care because Michael is back, and I have my whole family with me! And everyone that matters is happy for us."

"Carly, I'm so happy. I didn't know that I could be this happy. And, nothing will ever happen to your kids, again. I'm not breaking that promise again."

"Oh, I like it when you get all protective of me and my kids," she said, pulling me in for a kiss.

"Oh yeah? Well, you better get used to it," I said, walking into the bedroom.

I started kissing her neck, and my hands were around her waist.

"We really should get some sleep," she said.

"Yeah, sleep," I said, making no attempt to stop kissing her or undressing her.

"Well, maybe not. We can sleep after," she said, her breathing becoming heavier. Soon we were completely undressed and on the bed. This time, we didn't bother with protection. We just made sweet, passionate love.

I didn't get much sleep, but I was okay just lying in the bed, staring at her sleeping. She was beyond beautiful. I got butterflies just by watching her. My arms were wrapped around her waist, my hands resting on her stomach. I thought that maybe someday I would be lucky enough to have a baby with her. I loved her children like my own, but I wanted to watch her stomach grow, knowing that the child inside of her was mine.

I wished all this not knowing that we had just conceived a child a few hours before.