Things continued more or less the same way for the next week or so

Things continued more or less the same way for the next week or so. Janet's friends and Mike kept vigil by her bedside all day and Eddie would visit at night. Hannah stopped mentioning to the gang that Eddie would stop by at night. She actually stopped talking to Eddie about it as well. He would arrive when she was asleep. They would pass each other in the morning with nothing more than a nod. It was strange but somewhat comforting.

This morning was different though. It was still before dawn, but Eddie ran out of the room in search of Hannah. She wasn't in her usual position on the waiting room couch by the nurses' desk. He ran toward the vending machines and found her coming back with two cups of coffee. Sometimes she'd bring him a cup and pass it to him on her way in to Janet's room. "Hey," Hannah said, as he ran to her. "What's wrong?"

"Hannah," Eddie sighed. "You have to come with me. Now."

Hannah nodded and followed Eddie down the hall back to Janet's room. Janet was still lying in bed, resting comfortably. "What am I looking at?" Hannah asked, looking at Eddie quizzically.

"She…she squeezed my hand. I asked her to and she did. She can hear us," he smiled.

Hannah sat down and held her friend's hand. "Janet?" Hannah said, tentatively. "Honey if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Hannah looked at Janet expectantly and then over at Eddie. "Please," she begged.

"Nothing?" he asked, coming closer to the bed.

"No," Hannah shook her head.

"She just did it," Eddie sighed. "I don't get it," he said shaking his head.

"You need to go to bed," Hannah told him. "How can you keep doing this? Night after night?"

"I'll be fine," Eddie said, forcing a smile. "I will be."

"You always say that," Hannah smiled, hitting his arm.

"And I am always right. She's going to wake up," he promised.

"How can you be so positive?" Hannah asked in utter amazement.

"Janet has to be okay," he laughed. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Hannah nodded, handing him his coffee.

"Yeah," he nodded.

And the day continued. Hannah didn't tell anyone what Eddie said earlier about her squeezing his hand. It didn't happen again.

Later that night, Eddie came in to Janet's room. He smiled at how sweet and innocent she looked lying in bed. "You remember when you did the "On The Waterfront" thing?" he asked laughing. "You were so nervous. And then once we started," he sighed. "Once we got together it was," he smiled and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "It was the way it was supposed to be. You and me. We were the way it was supposed to be. You know I miss you, right? I mean, I'm happy you're happy with Mike or whatever," Eddie sighed, moving his had through her hair. "I just miss you," he admitted. "I miss the way your house smells when you're making your cookies. I used to hate cookies," he laughed, shaking his head. "I miss the way your hair smells after you take a shower. Your shampoo. It is the sweetest smell," he laughed. "I miss the stupidest crap when it comes to you." He moved his hand to scrub over her his face. "Wake up, Janet," he whispered before he got up and walked out of the room.

Mike watched from the dimly lit waiting room as Eddie made his way out of the hospital. Hannah watched Eddie leave and looked over toward Mike, nervously.

"He comes every night?" Mike asked.

"Usually," Hannah nodded.

"You didn't want to maybe mention that?" he asked.

"This is hard for him," Hannah explained. "He really doesn't know where he fits into any of this."

"That's because he doesn't," Mike said, standing up and walking toward the coffee machine.

Hannah looked after Mike and couldn't help but nod in agreement. Mike was right.

"Ms. Daniels?" the nurse called. "She's waking up."

Hannah ran after Mike and drug him back to Janet's room. "They said she's waking up."

The nurses and doctors walked out of Janet's room. "She's waking up. Be patient with her," they warned Mike and Hannah.

Mike walked to her bedside and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips. "Janet?" he whispered hopefully. "I'm here sweetheart."

"Where…where am I?" Janet asked, before opening her eyes.

"You're in the hospital, Janet," Hannah whispered, coming next to Mike.

"You were in a car accident," Mike told her. "We were both headed to work. After New York," Mike sighed. "We were going to work. You were following me. And then…and then you were hit by a car. And then you were here."

"We've been worried sick," Hannah sighed. "Thank god you woke up, honey," Hannah smiled at her friend.

"Was Eddie here?" Janet asked.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Eddie. Has he been here? Where did this come from?" she asked, opening her eyes and looking at her bear.

Hannah looked at Mike quickly. "Eddie found it at his place. He said you liked to sleep with it when you were alone in bed." Hannah had told Mike she brought Janet the bear. "He brought it to you," Hannah said, clearing her throat.

"He's come here to see me?" Janet asked.

"He has," Mike said, speaking up. "He's been coming at night, I guess," Mike said, looking at Hannah. "Am I right?"

Hannah looked from Janet to Mike. "Yeah," she nodded. "He comes at night. To see you. To talk to you."

Janet smiled. "You have all been talking to me, haven't you?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "I'm so happy you woke up," he said, coming toward her bed and kissing her lightly on the lips. "I was so scared."

"It'll take more than a car accident to get rid of me," Janet joked.

"Mike, can you stay with her for a while?" Hannah asked. "I want to go home and get a shower. And then I want to get everyone together so that they can come and see you," she said to Janet.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I don't have work until five or so," he nodded.

Hannah ran over and hugged her friend. "I'm so happy you're back!"

Mike smiled at Janet and Janet waved Hannah goodbye.

"She's awake!" Hannah said into her cell phone as she drove to her house.

"That's awesome," Pizza Girl squealed into the phone. "Hannah said Janet's awake," Pizza Girl whispered to Phil. "I told Phil," she told Hannah. "Where are you?"

"I'm going home to get a shower," Hannah sighed. "After school I'm going to bringing Sam up to see her with Ray."

"Great," Pizza Girl sighed. "I'm gonna call Nick and head up with him. I'll make sure Eddie knows."

"Please," Hannah said. "I'll see ya later," she told her friend and hung up.

"Phil," Pizza Girl smiled. "Call Nick. Tell him the good news. I'm going to go up and let his highness know the news."

"Be nice," Phil warned as he grabbed his phone.

"Eddie?" Pizza Girl asked, walking into his room.

It was dark. The drapes were pulled closed. The television was on. Eddie was sleeping on the bed.

"Hey, Eddie?" Pizza Girl asked.

"What?" he asked, running his hands over his face. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Pizza Girl smiled. "She's awake. I just wanted to tell you."

"She's awake? I mean, she's okay?" Eddie asked, sitting up in bed.

"I don't know the details," Pizza Girl said. "Hannah just wanted to make sure you knew."

"You're going to see her?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Okay," he said as he laid back down.

"Get some sleep, Eddie," Pizza Girl said as she walked out the door.

Eddie closed his eyes and finally got some sleep.

Just like before, he came at night. "Hey Janet," Eddie whispered as he sat down. "Guess you're asleep. That's probably a good thing," he said, laughing to himself. "I'm glad you're awake," he told her. "You had all of us worried. Mike was barely making it to work. I think Hannah was taking off day after day from the vet's office. Phil's been a nervous wreck," he told her. "I'm glad you're better. Things wouldn't be the same in the Ridge if you weren't here, ya know? You know I hate how we ended. And I also guess I should tell you that I handled things poorly afterward. Rubbing your nose in every girl I met? That was low even for me. I was just upset. I do stupid crap when I'm upset. I know that's no excuse, but it is what it is. You know I brought your stupid teddy bear up to you last week. I remembered how you said you liked to sleep with it in bed when you were alone. I know you might not be thrilled with it right now because I gave it to. I just wanted you to have something familiar in here. When you're better we need to fight or yell or something about this Rooster Russo crap, okay? I mean we never really dealt with it, did we? We were together and then we weren't. We never really discussed much else. That's probably because I'm emotionally screwed up or whatever. Or…an ass, as Hannah puts it. So…anyway. I'm glad you were asleep. I don't know how much of that I would have gotten out if you were awake," he laughed. "I'm really glad you woke up," he said, standing up. "Sleep well, beautiful," he whispered before he pressed a kiss on for forehead. He smiled at her and then walked out the door.

When the door closed, she opened her eyes and smiled. She remembered when she was so upset on their first date when he had ended the evening with a kiss on her forehead. Tonight, however, his kiss was perfect. She closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep.