"Come back to me, Kellie Girl," Tyler said, stroking her hair. Her fever raging, all the while shivering. She was pale, almost a shell in some regards.
Tyler felt the change almost immediately, Kellie's skin cooled and the shivering stopped.
"Kellie," Tyler said, startled at the change. Then Kellie's eyes fluttered. She gasped for breath and tried weakly to remove the breathing mask with her free arm.
Kellie looked slightly confused trying to figure out where she was at, still trying to get the mask off.
"It's okay, Kellie girl," Tyler said, removing the mask. He leaned over kissing her forehead, "You came back. That's all the matters."
He could feel the wet tears coming down her face, slowly.
"Shhhh," Tyler said, wiping them away, "I got you. But I have to let the doctors know you're awake."
Tyler tried to move, Kellie limply grabbed his arm.
"Okay, okay, Kellie girl, won't go anywhere," Tyler said, searching for the call button and then pushing it as the nurse walked in.
"She's awake," Tyler said as the nurse checked Kellie's vitals, "And the fever's gone."
"I'll get the doctor," The nurse said, "But the monitors show her heart rate has stabilized and her blood pressure is normal."
The nurse left and then the doctor returned.
"I'll have to ask you to leave while I exam her," the doctor said.
Kellie tried to grip Tyler's wrist tighter.
"You have to let the doctor look at you," Tyler said, "I'll come back as soon as they're done. In the meantime, I'll go tell everyone you're awake."
Kellie nodded. Tyler went out to the waiting room where Lorenzo, Ric, and Sonny were waiting.
"The fever broke," Tyler said, relieved, "She woke up. The doctors are with her now."
"I want to see her," Sonny said, moving towards the room.
"Sonny, she didn't want me to leave ," Tyler said, apologetically, "I promised her I'd come back as soon as the doctors were done."
Sonny opened his mouth to protest, but Ric beat him to it. "You have time, Sonny," He said, "She wants her husband. That's as it should be."
"Not to mention ," Lorenzo said, "We don't know if she wants to see you."
The doctor came out.
"I don't know how to explain what changed," the doctor said, "But the infection looks to be clearing up finally. We'll run a few blood tests. But provided she doesn't have any setbacks, we expect she'll make a full recovery. She's a very lucky young lady."
"Thank God," Sonny said.
"Tyler, you can go back in until Dr. Collins gets here," the Doctor said, "Though I imagine she probably won't stay awake much the next few days. The infection took a lot out of her."
"Thank you," Tyler said, going back in the room.
"Once Dr. Collins examines her," the doctor said, "We'll see about more visitors. But not until them."
"Do you know who I am?" Sonny said, "I'm not waiting until the shrink says I can see my daughter."
"We'll take care of this," Ric said, "Thank you for the good news." The doctor nodded and left.
"As I mentioned once already, what if Kellie doesn't want to see you?" Lorenzo said, "Are you willing to risk her having a setback because you upset her?"
"As much as you hate it, Alcazar's right," Ric said, "We don't know what kind of shape Kellie is in or even what state of mind, Sonny. Right now just be grateful she survived. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go make some phone calls." Ric walked off, pulling out his phone.
Lorenzo waited as Sonny pondered what to say next.
"I really hate it when my brother's right," Sonny said, grudgingly, "And you."
"Let the doctors do what they need to and we'll go from there," Lorenzo said, "If it makes you feel any better, I want in there almost as much as you."
"Thank you," Sonny said, "I don't want to say this either. But thank you for taking of Kellie where I can't. Even protecting her from me." Sonny grimaced, "That one really hurts to say. If you ever say I said that, I will deny it."
"Wouldn't dream of it, Corinthos," Lorenzo said, "You don't have to thank me. She's my family too."
"I wish she would come to me instead of you," Sonny said, "If she'd come to me about leaving Port Charles, I would have tried to stop her. Convince her to stay. I would not only screwed up my daughter, I would have destroyed her . "
"We would have never let that happen," Lorenzo said, "Have you ever considered that maybe your relationship with Kellie will improve if lives her life outside of Port Charles and not chasing bad guys all the time."
"Is it so wrong to want her to live close by?" Sonny asked.
"No. But she can't," Lorenzo said, "Wanting that more than what she needs is what's wrong. Michael's shooting was the turning point for her and your part in it."
"Now hold on," Sonny said, "I never wanted…"
"Corinthos, while you may not have wanted Michael to get shot," Lorenzo said, "Even you can't deny, you made really poor decisions putting Michael in the line of fire. And marrying Claudia, we better not even go there. Kellie can't watch you make destructive decisions like that anymore. As much as it pains me to admit this, Kellie is as much of a part of our world as we are and as good as any of us, if not better at times. However, she also has a sense of right and wrong, most of us of don't have. Our life isn't something she wants, it's something she accepts because she has to."
"Lorenzo's right," Kevin said approaching them, "Now that we know she's going to recover, you need to figure out how to put Kellie's needs first and not the ones you imagine are her needs."
"In my head, I know everything you're telling me is the truth," Sonny said, a few tears forming, "In my heart, I don't want it to be. I want to believe that I can make it up to Kellie that I wasn't there for her growing up; that I wasn't there to protect her from her mom, the foster system, and Ethan until it was too late."
"You can't," Kevin said, "As hard as that is to accept, you can't make up for the past. All you can do is give her what she needs going forward."
"How do you make it work with Sam?" Sonny, composing himself, asked Lorenzo, "Sam obviously went through a lot before anyone knew you were her father. You two get along amicably."
"Sam and Kellie are two different people," Lorenzo said, "Compared to Kellie, Sam had a family she remembers growing up as dysfunctional as it was with Cody and her brother, Danny. The first real family Kellie had was with Tyler and his father in high school. Ethan ruined that for her. "
The other thing to consider is that Sam knows who she is and what she wants from life. Kellie is still trying to figure that out," Kevin said, "Once Ethan destroyed the life Kellie was building, the one she wanted, Kellie has never really considered what she actually wants in terms of her life and if she does it's with the idea that she can't have it."
"She's also more like you than any of us would care to admit," Lorenzo said, "It doesn't really help when you two disagree with each other."
"I can't argue with you there," Sonny said, "So then what?"
"I would suggest you take some time and figure out how you want to interact with your daughter before you see her," Kevin said, "Go to the hotel, get some sleep, shower. We'll see where Kellie's at then."
"Alright," Sonny said, reluctantly, "I'll go make some calls and wait until she's ready. Obviously, my way has never worked with Kellie. I'll try it your way. Will you call me yourself, Kevin, and let me know how she is? I know I'm not on her emergency contact."
"Yes, I will call you," Kevin said.
"Thank you," Sonny said and walked away.
Kevin went to check on Kellie and Lorenzo called Alexis.
Back at the hotel, Sonny made a call to Jason.
"Kellie pulled through," Sonny said, "I really don't know how right now, but she did."
"That's great news, Sonny," Jason said, "Sam and Carly will be relieved. How is she?"
"The doctors are with her now," Sonny said, "I haven't seen her yet. That depends on her according to Kevin."
"I think she'll see you, once she gets her bearings," Jason said, "You just have to be patient which isn't your strong suit."
"I'm starting to realize how badly I've screwed up with Kellie," Sonny said, "I don't know if I've ever really seen her truly happy."
"She's had a rough life," Jason said, "Most of it was not your fault."
"I need to start doing better for Kellie," Sonny said, "I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but the island is the only place I know of that Kellie's ever really been happy. Other than the casino, we moved a lot of our operations elsewhere before you took over. Is there any chance you might consider letting Kellie have the island?"
"That's not a bad idea," Jason said, "If you're serious. If she wanted to, she could run the casino as a legitimate business. Slater could help her until she's ready or run it for her if she has no interest in running it."
"I hadn't even thought of that," Sonny said, "I was just trying to give a place to escape to that's hers."
"The island's Kellie's if she wants it," Jason said, "Let's make sure she that she wants the island and the casino. She has to decide if that is something she wants."
"Thank you, Jason," Sonny said, "I can't express how much I appreciate this."
"We all want Kellie safe, well, and happy," Jason said, "I can't think of a better use for the island."