Within minutes more had come. Mike had returned, Bobbie had dropped everything to be with her grandson, and Maxie had returned, although she stayed outside for the most part. She gave a smile to Michael and told him that she was happy he was feeling better, but she knew that this was something that the family needed to do, and she wasn't a member of that family. Damian spent a few minutes in the room with the others before exiting and speaking with his girlfriend. "You didn't have to leave, you know."

Maxie disagreed, "It wouldn't have been right for me to be there while you and the rest of your family were celebrating Michael's recovery. That's something private, I'm just an outsider."

"In a lot of ways so am I," Damian retorted. "And I don't ever want you to feel that you're an outsider, Maxie. You're a part of my life and I don't care what they think. I love you, nothing's going to change that. Besides, Michael thinks of you as his friend, they wouldn't have minded you being in there."

"Still," Maxie said softly. "I just didn't feel that it would have been right."

Damian nodded, "I won't press the issue. If you feel like that about something I'm glad that you told me and were honest."

Maxie grinned, "You look so happy."

Damian almost blushed, "Why wouldn't I be? My little brother found his voice again. At least something bad finally found a way to get better again."

"Other things will, too. If you believe that they will, they will."

Damian looked away, "I don't want to think about that right now, Maxie. Michael's better, I don't want to taint the feeling with my animosity towards my father."

"He'll always feel it unless you find a way to get rid of it completely," Maxie commented. "Michael's got this air about him, like he knows what other people are feeling."

"He's very intuitive, this is true." Damian took a few steps towards the window. It was sunny outside, and the cold morning chill had since vanished in favor of a warm end of summer breeze. "He understands that we might not ever live in the same house again, but that it doesn't mean I care about him any less. That's all I want him to know, that I'll be there for him whenever he needs me."

"Damian," Michael said as he walked out of the room, Bobbie holding his hand.

"You sure you should be out of bed?" Damian asked. While the boy had spent the better part of two days in a bed he hadn't really moved since then. He appeared to be walking along fine, and Bobbie was there to assist him in case he needed it.

"I'm fine, promise."

"Really promise?"

Michael laughed, "Yeah, really promise." Michael held out his hand, "Here, I don't need this anymore."

Damian felt the cool metal of the chain fall into his hand. He looked at it, "Michael, I want you to keep it."

"I can't," Michael said. "Your mommy gave it to you before she died, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did."

"It's too important to give to me," Michael noted.

Damian smiled, "No, it's not. It's helped guard me at the times when I felt the most alone. But I don't need it anymore. I want you to keep it so that you can look at it and know that I'm with you somehow, even when I can't be there in person."

"You sure?" Michael asked.

"I've never been so sure about anything else in my life before, Michael. Keep it."

"You're not coming back home with me and daddy and mommy, are you?" Michael asked, his voice already sad.

"I have my own place to live, you know that," Damian said. "But I'll be sure to visit you a lot, or you can come to my place. Maybe I'll even get you some pie."

"I'd like that," Michael said, although he was still more than a little saddened that Damian wasn't going to be coming home with him.

"So would I."

Bobbie gave Michael's hand a little tug, "Come on, honey. We've got to get you dressed to go back home and I've got to get the paperwork for you to check out."

"You going to stay until I check out?" Michael wondered.

"I will if you want me to," Damian replied.

"I do."

Damian nodded, "Go get dressed, I'll be right out here with Maxie."

Michael looked over at the girl, "She your girlfriend?"

Damian blushed at the question. Being asked by a kid about a relationship between two people, he wasn't expecting it to be as hard as it ended up being. But he didn't want to lie to Michael, and there was no reason to lie. He loved Maxie, they were a couple, there was nothing to hide. "Yeah."

"He's a better guy than Kyle ever was," Michael said to Maxie.

"I know that," Maxie took a few steps forward, a wide grin on her face. "He's a better guy than anyone I've ever met. Although he isn't as cute as you."

"Hey!" Damian joked.

"No kissing!" Michael pleaded. He always hated it when people kissed. But then again, he was a little boy.

"We'll make sure that you get to the room before we start kissing," Damian compromised. "Better run, though."

Michael scattered away, almost pulling Bobbie. He really didn't like kissing. Damian and Maxie enjoyed a hearty laugh, their first in some time. It felt very good. Maxie grabbed his hand, "We're not that bad, are we?"

"Doubt it," Damian said. "Maybe Sonny and Carly spend a lot of time kissing, I don't really know."

"What was that you gave him?" Maxie asked. "The chain that he handed back, he said that you gave it to him."

"It was a momento from my mother," Damian said. "She gave it to me and told me that I'd never forget her, and if I ever did, I'd just have to look at it and remember that she would always be there for me. It helped a lot after she died. The days where I would find myself crying alone in my room, thinking that I never did enough to help her and I wasn't deserving of her love."

"Why would you think that?"

"I was young, I was going through my teens. At least I didn't spend them doing drugs and sleeping around."

Maxie lowered her eyes, "I did."

Damian hugged her, "I didn't know, Maxie. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said something so insensitive."

"It's fine," She said. "I've put it behind me." She pulled away, "Why would you give something like that away? It really did seem too precious just to hand out."

"I don't need it," Damian said. "It was a wonderful gesture that helped me when I did, but I'm not a boy anymore, Maxie. I understand what happened, maybe not why, but I know that she loved me and that will never change. Michael's young, he's impressionable, and he needs something like that in order to act as his crutch. It will remind him of how much I care for him and hopefully make sure that he doesn't wind up in the hospital again thinking that I didn't."

"You're such a good brother, and you've barely been his for such a short time."

"Time doesn't matter, we're family, that's all that does."

"You've got a very leveled head on your shoulders, Damian. You know that?"

Damian chuckled, "So I've been told. Of course, I've also been told the opposite."

"They're not seeing you for who you are, then. Don't let them bother you."

"I never did," Damian replied. "However, one thing is bothering me quite a bit."

Maxie cocked an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"Is he really cuter than me?"

Maxie giggled, "What can I say, I've always been a fan of redheads."

"Oh really?" Damian asked. "You want me to dye mine?"

She ran her hand through his hair, "No, I like yours the way it is."

Inside Michael's room-

Sonny looked out the wall window and saw his son and Maxie. "When did that happen?"

Courtney walked over and smiled, "Probably when they first met. He's protective of people, women in particular. It's something that he got from his father."

"Aunt Courtney!" Michael called out as he finished getting ready. "Did you stay with Uncle Jason when he came to see me?"

Courtney looked down, "Michael, your Uncle Jason didn't come see you. Maybe you dreamt it."

Michael shook his head and grabbed the card, "He left me this."

Courtney read the card and smiled, a tear running down her cheek. "I knew you cared," She whispered as she handed Michael back the card.