"I should have known having you in his life would lead to this. I should have known having you in his life would kill him! How many times did he try to kill himself after knowing his father didn't want him? How many times did he try to kill himself over your stupid mistakes!? Joe, I'm afraid the number is high enough I lost count," Maria said, as a greeting. It had been a few days since the accident. Ponch hadn't woken up and she had just arrived.

Her flight having been delayed due to the weather. She was there now though.

"Hello to you too," Joe muttered. I deserve this.

"I worried when I found out you had been in contact with Frankie. I worried you'd hurt her, but I see you've refrained. You had to go for your son instead, can't hurt both at the same time, why not go for the younger twin?" Angry tears filled her eyes. "Why didn't you talk him out of this job? Did you want to see your son get hurt!? Do you still care that little about the precious life YOU created!?" She let out an angry huff. "I can't believe you'd just let him go through this. I can't believe you so willingly allowed your child to sign up for this job, that is basically signing up to get hurt and/or killed! What if he dies!? That's on you!"

Joe had sat silently. Holding his tongue. Being patient with Maria, but only because he cared about her. Because she was Rosa's sister. She raised his kids, when he was too chicken to. But now she wanted to blame him for Ponch's accident? "I don't control the road conditions. I also don't see how it would be fair to deny a qualified person a job, just because they're my child. Frank wanted this, Maria. Not because of me, it was his friends that really influenced him. He's a great officer, and I'm not going to sit by and listen to you tell me I shouldn't have hired him. I worry every second of the day when he's on those streets. Yes he's risking his life putting on that uniform everyday, but he chooses to. I never forced him. I can't chose what he does." Joe paused.

Maria only glanced at him, but then turned her attention to her nephew. He was more of a son to her than he was a nephew. "He was in an accident, Joe! He almost lost his life, don't sit there and tell me you haven't even thought about taking him off the streets! This is your son!" She didn't even try to keep her voice low.

"I want him off the streets just as much as you. I worry constantly, but like I said I can't take that away from him..." he glanced at Ponch. Though, according to doctors I might not have a choice now.

The doctor's were still running tests, but as it sat right now, they were certain of two things, it was unlikely his memory would be intact. It was unlikely he'd be walking anytime soon. The thought scared Joe.

oOoOo

Maria stayed a few hours, before getting called away for a conference call. She'd been working hard with Robert to bring to life a new line of clothing. They were in the process of getting a deal to sell in some of the local shops in downtown Chicago.

It wasn't too long after her leaving, that Joe noticed Ponch's eyes start to open. He was the only one in the room, as Jon was also out for a few hours. He'd sent Jon home to get some sleep.

Joe moved his chair closer to the bed, grabbing his son's hand. "Hey, I was so worried about you," he started. "I wasn't sure when you'd wake up, but I never left." He lightly squeezed Ponch's hand. "I... missed you."

A tear slid down from one of his eyes. He could see the pain in Joe's eyes. The worry...fear. He could hear Joe's voice, but somehow the words he spoke weren't processing. He could hardly even get out the word 'hi' to his dad.

His head was killing him, like someone was pounding on it with a hammer. The thumping at a steady pace. He wanted to scream, wanted it to stop. Why shouldn't he? It was okay, right?

He started to squirm, more tears rolling. Make it stop. Make it stop! He couldn't get the words out, instead he cried.

Joe squeezed his hand tighter. "Hey, do you need a doctor?"

Ponch looked at him, his eyes wide, filled with fear. He didn't know what he needed... but he wanted to know what Joe was saying. The pain in his head made it hard to concentrate. His thoughts screaming in his ears, made it impossible to hear what else was being said... and he didn't know how to just make it all stop.

Joe let go of Ponch's hand for a second, planning on leaving to get a doctor. He wasn't an expert, but he could tell something wasn't right...

As he stood, he could see Ponch's body starting to tremble. Shaking as if in fear. Fear of what? Joe took a step towards the door.

The shaking got worse.

He took another step towards the door.

Ponch let out a gasp, followed by a pain filled cry. He turned on his side, trying to curl into a ball. His head feeling worse than it had in the beginning. Even on his side, he couldn't stop shaking.

Joe stepped out, enough to get his body half into the hall. "We need a doctor, NOW!" After he'd gotten the words out, he rushed back to his son's side. "Hey, there's a doctor on the way. You're going to be okay," he said, hoping to be reassuring. He didn't know Ponch couldn't make out what Joe was saying at that moment.

Ponch continued to cry. He wanted the pain to stop. But even laying in this position did nothing. It only brought awareness to the pain in the rest of his body. Make it stop...he cried, not noticing he'd been able to get out the word stop.

Joe wasn't sure if it meant he wanted Joe to back off...or if he was talking about what he was dealing with. Joe hoped it was the second, because he wasn't backing off. "You're going to be okay," he said again, tears in his own eyes. "You have to be."