A/N: No JoLu this chapter, but I smell a confrontation next chapter ;) This chapter is dedicated to Bbananular in honor of her birthday (sorry I got it up to so late!)

Chapter 9: Avoiding the Issue

Lulu woke up in confusion, not sure where she was. When her mind cleared, she realized that she had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the waiting area. Her dad had been taken for more tests, and Johnny was still busy with the doctor. So Lulu sat down, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up with a stiff neck.

She slowly got up, working out the kinks in her joints. She saw Robin working on some charts behind the nursed desk and made her way over to her.

"Hey, Robin."

"Oh, hey, Lulu. You're still here?"

"Yeah, I was visiting my dad for a bit and then waiting to see how Johnny was doing. Could you tell me what room he's being examined in?"

Robin bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I discharged him about half an hour ago."

Lulu's face fell, but she composed herself quickly.

"But he did ask about you before he left," Leyla interrupted, overhearing their conversation. "He saw you were sleeping and didn't want to bother you. I told him about your wrist and that you were just fine."

"'Didn't want to bother me'," she muttered to herself. "I'm sure." To Leyla, she said, "Thanks for updating him. I appreciate it." She walked away from the station, dialing her cell phone as she made her way toward the elevator. When the other line picked up, she said, "You won't believe what Johnny did now."

When Johnny finally left the hospital, it was almost 4:00pm. The whole day had just passed him by. He was still a bit hung-over from last night, had a crazy headache, his knee throbbed to no end and, somehow, he was both starving and nauseous at the same time. As he got in the car, he told his driver, "Take me to Kelly's."

The driver turned around with a quizzical look on his face. "Are you sure you want to do that, boss?"

"Listen, I haven't eaten all day and I still need a freakin' cup of coffee." Plus, he wanted to make sure Georgie was all right. He saw Lulu at the hospital briefly – but she didn't see him. She had apparently fallen asleep in the waiting area while waiting to see how he was doing. He got one of the nurses to fill him in on her condition, and then he slipped away quietly.

"Whatever you say, boss."

The pulled up to Kelly's 10 minutes later. Johnny had shifted one of his crutches to the side so he could open the door when it swung open, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry – chivalrous one! It's you, " Spinelli exclaimed, as Johnny tried to regain his balance.

Johnny raised an eyebrow at his nickname. "'Chivalrous one'?"

"Well, in light of recent events, Wise Georgie stated that calling you the 'septic son' would no longer be acceptable, especially since you saved her and Fair Lulu from the evil clutches of the knucklescraper. For that, the Jackal will always be in your debt." He stuck out his hand in a gesture of friendship.

"I'm going to have to thank Georgie for that, I think," he replied, accepting the handshake.

"As much as I would like to stay and discuss the events of the day, I must rush off to Stone Cold," Spinelli said, opening the door so Johnny could enter Kelly's with no problems.

"Thanks," Johnny said. As Spinelli turned to leave, he stopped him. "Hey, could I ask you for a favor?"

"Sorry, kind rescuer. The Jackal only works for Stone Cold and the Godfather. If I were to partake in business of their enemy…" He trailed off in fear.

"No, no", he said, trying to stifle a laugh. "Something personal. Not business related."

"I think that would be okay."

"Could you hack into General Hospital's billing department? I want to get all of Georgie's and Lulu's bills from today sent to me."

"But shouldn't their insurance take care of everything?"

"It should, but Lulu's dad is going to be in the hospital for god knows how long and Georgie's sister was just attacked – I'm sure their insurance companies are swamped. Plus, I just want to do something nice for them after all the crap they've been through. Just don't mention it to either of them. This is between me and you. Is that okay?"

Spinelli gave him a shy smile. "That's okay by me. I will get right on it!" He bowed and took his leave.

Georgie smiled as she saw Johnny talking to Spinelli in the doorway. Her smile turned to a frown when she saw him make his way to the counter.

"Oh, Johnny," she sighed. "Look at yourself."

"It's not as bad as it looks. I'm more worried about you," he said, taking a seat.

"Just a bump on the head. No concussion or anything. I'm fine," she replied, pouring him some coffee. "Can I get you anything else?"

He put in an order to go and took a sip from his mug. "Now that's what I've been waiting all day for."

Georgie just smiled as she proceeded to wipe down the counter. "So," she said casually, "have you seen Lulu since this afternoon?"

"No, but I got an update on her condition from the nurses. She'll be fine."

"So, you saved her from Logan, made sure she got to the hospital –"

"Forced to go to the hospital is more like it."

Georgie snorted. "Like you would have gotten far on that busted knee of yours. Like I was saying, saved her from Logan, got her to the hospital, got yourself busted up in the process, check to make sure I'm okay and yet you didn't even bother to check on Lulu?" It sounds worse now than when she told me over the phone before!

"Lulu and I… can't see each other any more. I've been trying to get that through to her, but she's as thick as a brick."

"Why exactly is that?"

"It's not safe for her to be around me."

"Oh give me a freaking break," Georgie exclaimed. "Lulu has grown up around the mob her entire life. What makes you think you're so special?"

Johnny was taken aback a bit at her outburst. He recovered quickly, saying, "Well, my handlers have already kidnapped her once, my father tried to kill her and everyone else, and she's already been shot at since I've taken over the business. It's not safe."

"Let's see. You no longer have handlers because you're in charge. Your father is incapacitated."

"What about being shot at?"

Georgie shrugged. "Well, she's been kidnapped before and shot guns herself. She's friends with Jason and Sonny. It comes with the territory. I think you underestimate her."

"So what am I going to do the next time someone shoots at her because of me? Or uses her to get to me? What happens if she dies because of me?

"And what happens if she dies in a car crash? Or if she gets cancer? Or that crazy Text Message Killer gets her? All are horrible things and have the same exact chance of happening as the things you describe. Are you really going to live your life according to 'what ifs'?"

Johnny pondered Georgie's argument for a minute. She made some valid points. Would he be destined to be alone just because of his fears? Regular life could be just as dangerous as mob life – albeit in different ways. She got him thinking. But the fear won out. His nightmare from this morning was still fresh in his memory. Johnny sighed. "It's not that easy."

"God! And you called Lulu thick. You're worse."

At that moment, Mike came out with Johnny's food. "Here you go, son. On the house."

"Mike, I can't accept that –"

"I don't want to hear it. After what you did today, you at least deserve a free meal."

"Can I at least pay for any damages that I caused this afternoon?"

"What? One broken chair," he snorted. "No way. I'm billing Logan for that." The three of them had a laugh at that.

"Well," Johnny said, climbing back on his crutches, "I'm off. Thanks for the meal." He looked at the container wondering how he was going to get it to the car while hobbling along on the crutches. Georgie noticed his dilemma and jumped in.

"I'll walk you out to the car."

The short trek was made in silence. When they got to the car, Georgie opened the door and helped him get settled. Before he left, she spoke up. "Listen, Johnny – I don't care how dangerous or whatever your life is. You made a new friend today. From what I've seen you're a good guy. You deserve the best."

"You know, you're the second person today to say that."

"Well, it must be true." She leaned down to look him in the eye. "Just think about what I said earlier. Don't wind up alone and miserable thinking about the 'what ifs'. You'll end up as crazy as your father was."

She closed the door before he could answer, leaving him with that nugget of wisdom to feast on.