"She took a little turn last night." The doctor explained as Punk arrived at the hospital the next day to visit AJ. He thought he would leave Liesel with Elise for the day and just visit AJ by himself.

"What do you mean?" Punk shook his head.

"She wouldn't take her medication, and then she tried to attack me." The doctor said as Punk sighed, "I called a specialist from across seas, and he seems to always associate people talking about God and the devil, as people who are guilty of something." She said, "Is there anything you know of that April could be feeling guilty about?" She asked as Punk just shook his head.

"No." Punk said, "She's a saint. She has nothing to be guilty about." Punk said.

"But it could be a different type of guilt, Mr Brooks. A guilt that doesn't matter to you, but matters to her." The doctor said, "She's a lot better today. She even asked for you." He said as his head shot up, smiling to himself. That sounded hopeful.

"I just want her to get better, you know." Punk sighed, "I miss her. I don't like her being here." He admitted as the doctor nodded.

"I know." The doctor smiled, "It's small steps at the moment for her. Hopefully this time next week she'll have improved a lot more. As soon as I feel she's ready to go home, you'll be the first to know." She smiled as Punk nodded.

"Thanks." Punk said, walking on into the room that AJ was in, smiling as he seen the light was on and she had changed her clothes. She'd must have taken a shower earlier, because her hair looked damp, and she looked much more fresh than she had yesterday.

"Hey." Punk smiled as she smiled back, "How you feeling?" He asked her, walking into the room slowly after closing the door, walking over to her bed and taking a seat beside her bedside.

"Ok." AJ nodded, "I hate this place." She sighed to herself. She was feeling a lot better when waking up this morning. She had an idea of her whereabouts, and the first thing she desperately wanted was a shower, and that also helped too. She was so glad to see Punk… yes, she did know who he was at this present moment in time, and in these sane moments, it was hard to come to terms with the fact she could just switch and see him as someone completely different.

"I know you do." Punk nodded, "But you know you aren't well, right? I wouldn't have brought you here if you were ok." Punk said as she nodded.

"I know" She said, "Is… Is Liesel ok? Where is she?" AJ asked, having hoped she could see her daughter again.

"She's with Elise." Punk said, "I'll bring her tomorrow. I just thought I'd come myself today and see how you were. She misses you. I can tell." Punk said.

"I miss her." AJ sighed with emotion, "I'm sorry, Phil." She cried as he shook his head, wiping her tears and taking her hand.

"This isn't your fault. You didn't ask for this." Punk said, "I've got you, alright? I'm here to help you. I know that when you see me differently, it isn't you talking." He said, "You're gonna get better, and you're gonna come home soon. I promise." He kissed her hand.

"What if… What if I get it again and-"

"It's an illness that only occurs after child birth." He said, "It's not permanent. And tons of women get it." He convinced her, "The doctor did say that you'd get again after any other kids you have, but we don't have to worry about that right now."

"She also said it was genetic." AJ said, "Which means I could have gave it to Liesel." She cried.

"Hey, it's gonna be a while until Liesel has to think about this. You know me and her made a deal that she doesn't get married until she's forty. We have plenty time." He stroked her cheek as she laughed through her cries, drying her tears as he continued to tightly grip her hand.

"What about if… we want to have more children?" She asked.

"Then we'll deal with it. And plus, they'll be aware, and they'll keep a close eye on you. There could be ways to prevent it. Maybe start your medication straight away, I don't know, I haven't spoke to your doctor about it yet. But don't worry about it. Just… focus on you getting better." He said as she nodded.

"I must have really freaked you out." She laughed to herself for a moment as he smiled. He couldn't describe how glad he was to see her so, well, back to her normal self. He knew the illness was a come and go type of thing, but he was hoping this was the first step to her recovery.

"I was." Punk laughed, "I had no idea what was going on. You had me thinking you'd been possessed or something." He laughed as she smiled to herself, "Can I ask you a few questions now that you're feeling a bit bitter?" He asked as she nodded.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"The doctor said that, patients with this illness who come in talking about God, and the devil, are normally patients reflecting a lot of guilt." He said, "Are you guilty about something?" He asked.

"I guess." AJ nodded as Punk leaned forward, all ears, "The first few days home with Liesel, I just… I felt bad for-" She paused, "You'll hate me." She shook her head.

"I won't." Punk said, "You felt bad for what?"

"I felt bad for bringing her into the world. Into our family. Not… not you. You're everything I want for her." She quickly said, "But everything you come from, your father, everything. I felt guilty for bringing her into it. And then for some reason I started hearing things and… it's sort of hard to explain right now. I'm still not sure what I was really talking about." She admitted.

"You shouldn't feel guilty about that." Punk said, "Because guess what? You having our baby was the greatest moment of my life. My father can't touch her. Everything I've come from, I will do my damn best to make sure she doesn't know anything about it." Punk said, "I've… I've talked with my father, told him I was done with everything. With the job, with him." He said as AJ raised her eyebrows, "He's not dying… got misdisgnosed or something-"

"That's a shame." AJ tutted, rolling her eyes as Punk smiled, "Will he really leave you alone."

"I'm his son. What's he gonna do? Kill me?" Punk chuckled.

"Please don't joke about that." AJ shook her head, "He's a horrid man. I wouldn't even be surprised." She said.

"He's a coward really." Punk said, "I'm done with it." He said, "When you get out of here, it's you, me and Liesel. You can go back to dancing every day, every hour, every minute, and I'll keep going to college." He said, "And then we're gonna get a bigger house. Liesel is gonna get older, and you're gonna want another baby. And before you know it, we'll have our own little squad." He smiled as she chuckled.

"No more Jack?" She looked across at him seriously. She already felt a lot better just by knowing her boyfriend had finally pulled away from the evil world he had no choice in going to in the first place.

"No more Jack." Punk nodded as she sighed with relaxation, watching him lean over and press a kiss on her cheek as she smiled. She instantly felt a ton of relief that Punk was no longer involved with his father and his wicked plans. Maybe Punk was right. What was Jack really going to do? Kill his own son?


"How was she today?" Elise asked Punk who was getting Liesel ready to take home, having just changed her diaper and now currently strapping her into her car seat, softly pulling her delicate little arms through the straps to buckle her up as she let out soft little noises in the midst of her clearly enjoyable nap.

"Much better." Punk nodded, "She'd had a shower and something to eat. She was talking normally. I think it's just gonna be on and off days for her until her treatment is finished. I think she'll be able to come home some time next week." Punk smiled hopefully.

"That's good." Elise smiled, "I might go see her tomorrow." She suggested as Punk nodded.

"Where is Dean?" Punk asked curiously.

"He went out with Sami. We're just taking it slow, you know, for Toni. We've agreed to him just coming round after dinner for a few hours before she goes to bed. I don't want to hit her with him so suddenly." Elise said.

"It's a good idea." Punk nodded, "Is he still gonna work for dad?" Punk asked.

"I'm not sure." Elise shrugged.

"Next time you see him, if he comes round later or whatever, just tell him I've left, and I'm not working for dad anymore." Punk said as Elise shook her head.

"Seriously?" She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"I want nothing to do with it anymore. I have Liesel and April to be looking after." Punk said, "I should have left along time ago, but I never had a reason to I guess." Punk shrugged, walking out to the door with Liesel in her car seat.

"And what does dad think about this?" Elise asked. She highly doubted that her father would let her brother off so easily.

"I told him where we stood." Punk said, "He done his usual bullshit. Oh, Phil, you never really leave this place. Bla bla bla." Punk rolled his eyes, "But what is he gonna do? I'm his son."

"Just be careful, Phil." Elise said, "You know he has no heart. He might not hurt you, but what about the people around you." She said.

"He'll get over it. Hopefully he'll just accept the fact that I want to have a normal life." He said as Elise nodded.

"Maybe he will. But just… be careful." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"I will." Punk nodded, "Thanks for looking after her." He smiled.

"It was no problem." Elise said. She loved spending time with her niece. It was a pleasure to watch her today.


Punk was eventually on the route home, around five minutes away from the house as he drove carefully along the dark road. Liesel was in the backseat in her car seat, sound asleep, no doubt ready to waken in an hour or so for her bottle.

"Mommy's getting better, Liesel." Punk smiled, "She misses you. But she'll be home soon, I promise." He said in a soft voice whilst pulling up to the house, parking the car and taking her out the car in her car seat, smiling down at her as she was very much awake, but happily content staring up at him with those gorgeous eyes.

"I'll take you to see her tomorrow, huh?" He smiled, stroking her cheek whilst walking up the steps to the house and getting his keys out, "But first daddy's gotta sleep. And so do you." He smiled, walking in the house, "Yeah, yeah we do." He said in a sing song voice playfully whilst tickling under chin as she stared up at him. She'd yet to crack a smile, and he was hoping she would do it when AJ was here to witness it too.

"Ok, let's get you a bottle ready, huh?" He said, walking into the living room and placing her down in her car seat, suddenly noticing the bunch of flowers sitting on the coffee table that weren't there this morning.

He walked over and picked up the card that was attached to it, reading it as his nostrils flared.

These are for crazy train. Not you. Since you have decided to leave this business hanging, you should watch out. You've disgraced the Brooks name, and if I were you, I'd keep a close eye on that crazy girlfriend of yours, and that beautiful daughter. You might be my son, but they mean nothing to me. You're gonna regret everything. I promise.

Dad