I put Max in his pram so I can tuck into my breakfast. It's delicious and very much needed, I guess breastfeeding does use a lot of reserves and soon I will have two at home to contend with.
"Go take a shower Ana; I will keep an eye on Max. I guess you will be going to the hospital today?" Gail asks.
"Yes, I think I will go in early, the hospital have said I can use the crèche for a little while each day so I can sit with Christian and Melissa" I explain.
"Ana, you know I will look after him for you" she offers.
"Oh Gail I know you would and I appreciate your help more than words can say but I would like him close by so when Christian awakes he can see his son" I hope she is not offended but I can see by her face she understands.
"Of course Ana, have they given any indication as to when his is likely to be able to respond?" she asks.
"He has responded to voices by squeezing my hand a couple of times and Grace thinks it will be in the next few days…" I stop as I can feel myself getting choked up "and then" I gulp "he has a lot of things to take in"
"I know you are worried about his reaction Ana, but go with the flow, don't rush telling him too much at once, be guided by Grace and the hospital staff" Gail advises me and I smile at her.
"Thank you Gail, How is Tayl...err Jason today?" I ask, I feel bad for not asking sooner.
"Recovering well, the wound is healing and he will start physiotherapy next week, quite a bit of muscle damage was done by the bullet and then the surgery to remove the bullet was traumatic too but all is going as expected" she tells me.
"Have you heard from Sawyer?" I don't recall seeing him since the day of the shootings.
"Jason has spoken to him and he is very well, fortunately he didn't need too much treatment and I think he is planning to return to work next week".
"Oh that's great news, I will have to catch up with him soon as I need to get a press release sorted via legal but would prefer him present when I meet with them" I think that is a sensible idea.
"Good idea, now go shower while he is still asleep" she shuffles me toward the bedroom.
I feel a little more refreshed after my shower, I put on some nice clothes, well ones that fit, some makeup to hide the dark shadows under my eyes and a little blusher. I put my hair up in a ponytail after I have added a wave to the length. I pack a small changing bag with some nappies, wipes and change of clothes for Max and go back out into the kitchen where I am surprised to see Peters sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of tea in his hands.
"Hello Peters; How are you?" he jumps as he takes a sip and slops some tea on the counter in his haste to stand up to greet me.
"Good Morning Mrs Grey" he splutters "I am well thank you" he coughs again "how are you?"
"Very well thank you" I politely reply.
"That's a very handsome son you have their Mrs Grey" he nervously says.
"Thank you Peters, very nice of you to say" I smile and hopefully put him at ease.
"I will be driving you to the hospital today Ma'am, Mr Grey has a heavy work load today" he tells me and I must look momentarily confused "Elliot Ma'am"
"Oh of course, that makes sense" I shake my head to disperse my confusion.
"Is that alright Ma'am?" he tentatively asks.
"Yes that's absolutely fine, I will be ready in about 15 minutes" I tell him.
Max yells out at that moment and is in need of a nappy change and a change of clothes, perhaps 15 minutes was a little optimistic I think to myself with a smile.
"Oh Max my little, little man, I can see you and your sister are going to give me some challenges in the weeks to come" I chuckle and he uses that slightly unguarded moment to bring up some of his breakfast, which now means I need to put him in the bath but as quickly as possible.
After about 25 minutes I hear a voice "Ana? Ana? Is everything alright?" Its Gail, come to find out where I am.
"In here Gail" I shout from the en-suite "Sorry we had accidents from both ends and needed to give him a bath"
Her head comes around the door "Oh bless, do you need me to get anything for you?" she asks.
"Two extra pairs of hands and eyes in the back of my head" I laugh loudly.
Gail is laughing "Hmm, that is a tall order, however I can take Max if you want to go change your top"
I look down and realise it is splashed with a mixture of stains; I nod, hand Max over and go to the closet to find another top. When I get back, Gail has dried and dressed him. We are ready to go!
"Not bad for the first day" I say "only 40 minutes late starting out"
Gail smiles and walks with me to the kitchen, Peters is waiting patiently, I strap Max into his car seat and indicate I am ready to go.
Max seems to love riding in the car, well so far. Peters is driving very conservatively which I am grateful for and we reach the hospital. I go straight to the Nicu to see and feed Melissa before dropping Max off at the crèche. I give them my mobile number and strict instructions to call if anything seems amiss.
In Christian's room I notice a change in something, I can't quite put my finger on what is different but I will check with Grace when she comes in. I sit down and begin telling him about Max and my first night at home, how he woke up three times and laughed at how late we were in leaving this morning to come and see him.
I look up at Christian and my breath is taken away when I see his eyes are open.
"Christian? Christian can you hear me?" I am almost shouting before I realise and tone my voice down to a more reasonable level. I look at him in the eyes to see if there is any recognition, he blinks and closes his eyes again.
"Ana? Are you ok?" Grace says as she enters the room.
"He opened his eyes Grace!" I am once again absolutely beside myself with excitement.
Grace hurries over, uses her pen torch to check his pupil response.
"Still a very slightly sluggish response but much better than yesterday so shouldn't be too long now" she says smiling.
"Grace, has something changed in here? Something moved or been taken away?" I ask.
"Oh just making space for the physio team to work their magic, although he has been on a vibrating mattress to prevent bed sores, his muscles haven't been used and it doesn't take long for them to stiffen making moving more difficult…."
My mind momentarily wanders to the vibrating mattress and how it feels. I am sure Christian will have something kinky to say about it.
"Ana, Annnnnaaaa"
"Oh sorry Grace, I was just thinking about the exercises he will need to do and what I can do to help" phew, nice save Ana.
"In your condition-nothing except encouragement, support and a swift talking to when he protests about doing these things" we both smile as we know that's exactly what he is going to do.
A knock at the door turns us both around; Kate and Elliot are coming through the door.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I say "Everything is ok?" I panic slightly.
"All good, just a check-up today" Kate says as I hug her.
"So where is my nephew? I hoped to see him today" Elliot looks disappointed.
"He is over in the crèche while I see Melissa and Christian but…" I check my watch "It's almost feeding time again so come with me but the best news….Christian opened his eyes not long ago" I beam.
"Really? That's fantastic news" Elliot walks over to his brother's bedside, where I see him say 'not long then now bro and we can carry on with our card game, I am still gonna thrash you'
I can't help but smile; I hug Kate again and tell her I am pleased everything is good with her bump. I can see she is nervously excited and I have to remind myself that she doesn't have that long to go now.
"How is Elliot doing with running all the businesses?" I ask "I know he wouldn't tell me if he was struggling so I thought you might have a sense of how things are"
"Oh surprisingly ok Ana, he seems to be keeping up with things. He can't do everything that is needed as Christian has to be the one to call the shots but most people that Elliot has been in contact with obviously know what has happened and are willing to wait for the time being. His staff seem very competent and in control" she tells me.
"Would you expect any less from Christian's staff?" I giggle.
"No I guess not" Kate laughs too.
"Right, let's go and see my Niece and Nephew then" Elliot says as he walks over to where Kate and I are standing.
"I am sure they will be getting hungry by now Ana" Grace smiles and waves as we walk out of the door.
Kate and Elliot sit with Melissa while I fetch Max from the crèche, they are both ready for food which always proves a challenge but as Melissa seems happy in Uncle Elliot's arms I start with Max. An hour later they have been fed, changed and thoroughly cuddled. I express again for a late feed for Melissa before saying good night to her and heading back to Christian's room.
"Ana, who is taking you home tonight? We can but we need to leave in the next couple of minutes" Elliot offers.
"Thank you Elliot but Peters is coming back for me in about an hour's time" I tell him.
"Ok that's good, you can spend a little more time with Christian" he smiles.
I hug and kiss them goodbye, promising to see them again soon and thanking them again for all of their help.
Max and I make our way to Christian's room. Carrick is outside reading the daily paper whilst drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hello Carrick, how are you?" I give him a peck on the cheek.
"Hello Ana, I am fine, oh hello young man" he looks down into the car seat at Max "How is my favourite grandson doing today?"
"We are doing great" I answer on both of our behalves.
"That's what I like to hear" Carrick responds with a smile.
"Any change whilst I have been gone?" I ask.
He shakes his head "Let me watch Max for a little while so you can sit with Christian"
"That would be lovely, thank you Carrick" I enter Christian's room, no one else is in there so I sit and begin talking, I yawn and rest my head down for a moment.
I feel a hand brushing over my head "whaaaat" I say slightly confused. I look around but still we are alone. Perhaps I was dreaming, I yawn again and turn my head to look at Christian and realize he is looking directly at me.
"Christian? Can you hear me?" I stand up.
"Ana?" he says in such a quiet whisper I almost don't hear what he said.
"Yes, its Ana" a tear rolls down my cheek.
"Hi baby" he croaks
"Hey Honey" I lean over and kiss his lips.
"Hmm, you smell good" he whispers "and taste good too".
"I must go tell Grace and Carrick you are awake, they will want to speak to you" I rush to the door.
"Grace, Carrick, he is awake and talking!" I exclaim excitedly.
They both rush into the room and I see Grace wipe her cheek, Carrick's head turns upwards and I see his eyes close for a moment, like in shear relief. A large sob escapes me and I sit down with my head in my hands, the tension of the last week comes flooding out.
A/N: Thank your for your support. Some people have asked me about update schedule, for now updates are going to happen every week on Tuesday.
Also I would like to give a shout out to Sasha Cameron for a great new story called "Fifty Shades of Blackheart". She has just started writing it and it's full of her usual witty style. It's set in the Regency era between 1795 - 1837 in England and features Sir Christian Grey as a rogue pirate along with a colourful slate of your favourite characters.