Tony woke just after 8am. He had slept solidly the entire night, he hadn't even changed positions. He looked at Michelle who was still out of it, he wanted to let her sleep as long as possible.
He gently hopped off the bed and went to use the phone next to the other bed in the room. He called his best friend Mike and asked for his help this morning. Mike had only just found out last night what had happened and was just about to leave to come in and visit anyways. Tony said he would fill him in when they caught up. Tony asked Mike to come to the hospital and pick him up as soon as possible. Mike said he would be there in 15minutes.
Tony rummaged through the bags his parents had bought in for him full of his clothes. He found a pair of slacks, t-shirt and a jacket to wear. He went into the bathroom and took a shower. He couldn't believe how much better he felt then last night. He wasn't that surprised at how he had acted, he knew deep down all along that he wasn't coping and it was only a matter of time before he flipped out. He couldn't believe though how it had all happened in front of Chappelle and Jack – probably the two people in the world he always tried to act his most calm and collected around. They had seen him at his weakest moment, he hoped their opinion of him hadn't changed. He knew he had flipped last night because of 2 reasons. 1 was that he couldn't handle watching Michelle in so much physical and emotional pain all the time and not being able to do anything about it. It made him feel so useless – he loved Michelle so much he felt like he should be able to always make her feel better. 2 – every time he closed his eyes he would replay images of the night in his head over and over. He didn't know how to get rid of them and it had been making him scared to close his eyes or have even just a minute alone where he might have time to think about it – no one could keep that up for long with out blowing up. Today was a new day though and he was going to check out some apartments for them, he felt really excited.
By the time he had finished getting ready Michelle was awake. He gave her a wink making her smile. He kissed her on the forehead and then her lips. "Morning beautiful."
Michelle smiled, "Tony....are you ok?......how do you feel?....did you sleep?....."
Tony giggled and cut her off, "I am fine sweetie. Michelle, I am so sorry if I scared you last night. Did I hurt you when I was trying to keep you still?"
"Nah, you didn't hurt me at all, but you did upset me. Not because you did anything wrong, but because it's hard to see you so sad. I wish I could shield you from ever being hurt."
Tony sat on the side of the bed and took her hands. "I am so sorry I upset you Chelle. For the 1st time in a long time or maybe even ever, I wasn't in control – I was scared too. I had been having those images in my head as well, and when you mentioned that you were too last night, it was almost like it was the last straw. I know how painful and horrifying they are and so I was devastated you were going through the same thing. I feel so useless when I see you in so much pain that you shake and get all tense – it feels like no matter how much I want too, I can't help you."
"Tony, you need to know that you do so much for me. Even if the shaking doesn't stop – I am a million times better off having you just hold me. No one has ever held me the way you do Tony....not even my parents. You make me feel loved, safe and special – there is nothing better than that! Its funny – you are so worried about doing enough for me.... yet you are the only one who has ever done anything for me.
You can't always be in control Tony, especially after all what's happened. At least if we both have these images, we understand and we can help each other through it."
"You are right. We will get there honey....we just have a bumpy road in front of us. It makes me angry that no one else has ever looked after you but you will never feel that way again. I'll be looking after you forever." Tony lent in and tenderly kissed Michelle on the lips. It was sweet and tender and neither one of them wanted it to end. He brought his hand up to cup her face, she slid her tongue over into his mouth and he welcomed it, trading it for his. Her hands ran through his wet hair stopping occasionally to grip his head .
Tony gently and slowly finished the kiss and pulled back. He kept his face within inches if hers. "This will make you smile....Mike is going be here any minute to take me to check out those apartments!"
"That's awesome." Michelle lowered her eyes but continued to giggle and smile. "I am so excited to live with you Almeida."
"I know Angie is coming in later and mom will be here in an hour – I won't leave till she is here with you."
"Tony, I am ok. You don't need to wait. I'll have the nurse help me get washed up while no one is here, I'd probably only just get that done before your mom was here anyways."
Tony thought about it for a moment. "Ok, only if you are sure. I will line a nurse up for you."
Tony headed out to the nurse station to talk to someone. He bumped into Mike in the hallway and they gave each other a huge hug. Mike asked Tony what it was he wanted to do.
"I need to find an apartment for me and Chelle. We already have those complexes on Drover Street in mind. I wanted to get my laptop and video camera so I can film the places and show them to her. I don't want to choose something without Chelle seeing it at all. Is that ok? I think all the stuff is in my car at my place so you could just drop me off there if you wanted."
"I'll come help you Tony. Is Michelle ok?"
"As good as you can expect I guess. Come see her before we take off."
The nurse had already gone straight to Michelle and beat the boys in. Tony felt a lot better leaving knowing Michelle would be with the nurse basically until his mom or Angie arrived. Mike gave her a kiss on the forehead and they chatted for a few minutes before he and Tony went to leave. Tony kissed Michelle on the lips, "is there anything you want or need?"
"I'm ok Tony, have fun babe."
"I will be back as soon as possible."
Mike drove them to Tony's apartment and Tony filled him in on everything along the way. Tony was nervous going back into his apartment. His parents had gone in and straightened everything out for him but even with no signs of what had happened his place just didn't feel the same anymore. He grabbed anything of Michelle's that was there, including her purse and workbooks. He found his keys and was out of the place in a few minutes. He called a bunch of agencies organising to be able to see what they had for rent.
Over the next couple of hours Tony and Mike checked out about 6 or 7 different apartment complexes but none of them even came close to the ones on Drover St. They headed back there so Tony could film the inside of the apartment. The agent mentioned that this was the last one available and there had been a lot of interest in it. Tony asked if he could offer the man the bond in cash for him to hold that apartment for an hour while he showed Michelle the video. Fortunately he agreed and so Tony went to a bank teller and withdrew the money and after he dropped it back he and Mike went straight back to the hospital.
Michelle had spent most of the morning so far sleeping. After she had gotten washed up Tony's mom arrived in and they chatted for close to an hour. Jessica told her lots of stories about Tony when he was a kid. Michelle was glad to have lots of ammunition to use against Tony. Jessica promised she would bring her in some old photo albums to look through as well. Michelle had fallen asleep about 20 minutes before Angie came in and had continued keep sleeping. Angie had stayed chatting to Jessica.
When Tony and Mike came in Michelle was still sound asleep. Tony told Angie and Jessica all about the apartment. Then he set up his laptop and the camera to show Michelle. Tony planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and then started to stroke her hair. She began to stir and when he started to say her name her eyes opened up. As soon as she saw Tony a small side spread across her face.
"Hey sweetie."
"Tony..."
Tony kept stroking her hair while he spoke to her. "Sorry to wake you up but I need to show you something."
"That's ok, what is it?"
Angie helped Michelle to sit up while Tony bought his laptop over and rested it in front of Michelle on her sliding table.
"I couldn't sign any leases without you seeing it. I want to make sure you like it and are 100% happy to make it our home. This one is being held for us for the next hour and is by far the best one Mike and I saw all morning." He pressed play.
Michelle watched as footage of the apartment came up. She looked at Tony, "I can't believe you did this.....you are so adorable." She took his hand as he explained which room was which. Michelle commented on every room. She loved the balcony, which was big enough for table and chairs and it had the most amazing view. They went back and watched that part a couple of times. There were 2 bedrooms and a study. Everything was very modern. She loved the place and was very animated in her response to the video.
"I love it Tony, Oh my God it would be perfect for us. Do you like it? I do, it's better than I imagined..."
Michelle was talking a million miles a minute making everyone laugh, she was just so excited. Tony had always loved this about Michelle, at work she was serious but outside of the office she was really bubbly – always smiling and laughing. She was so excitable and he often found her enthusiasm infectious.
"I'm glad you like it, I knew you would. God....I just love seeing you so happy Chelle."
"I just can't believe this could actually be our place. I've never lived in anything like it. I mean look how big it is.....can we afford it?"
"We can afford it – you don't need to worry about that. There is enough room for all our stuff. We do need to talk about furniture and everything to decide what we need."
"When can we move in?"
"Well I need to go and give the guy an answer now, if we say yes then it is our straight away. I could get everything organised and moved by the time you are ready to come home."
Michelle squeezed his hand. "Your the best Tony. Is this exactly what you want?"
"Michelle....This is the perfect place for us. I'd better go though and pay this guy so we definitely get it. When I get back we should work out what we need and then we can get online and check out what's around."
Michelle turned and grabbed her wallet out of the top drawer that was right next to her bed. She took out her bankcard and handed it to Tony. "Take the 1st month's rent and bond from my account. It's on savings – my pin is – 0802."
Tony took the card and put it back on top of her wallet. "I'll take care of it sweetheart."
"You can't pay all of that, it will be heaps. Please let me help."
"I want to get it Chelle. Please just don't even worry about it."
"Ok, but I'm going to pay for furniture or whatever we get."
Tony nodded and then gave her a kiss on the lips. He told everyone that if they wanted to stick around then he would bring back some lunch.
Tony smiled the entire way to the apartment. It took him about 45 minutes to get through all the paper work and then finally he was given a set of keys. He went to a hardware store up the street and bought a measuring tape, he then returned to the apartment so he could measure all the rooms. He wanted to make sure any furniture they bought was going to fit. He got a pile of sandwiches before heading back to the hospital. It was just after 3, he figured no wonder he was starving.
Michelle nibbled on her food for a little while before dozing in and out of sleep. She had been given another injection for pain that was making her sleepy. Tony could tell how tired she was but she was making such a huge effort to be social with everyone. He went over to the phone on the other side of the room and started making some calls to organise movers to get both his and Michelle's places packed up and taken to the new apartment. He also hired them to stay on at the new place and help unpack. He hoped with the movers, himself and a few friends that they could get the place into decent shape really quickly. He wanted it to be just right for when Michelle was ready to go home. After he was done he went back and joined in the conversation.
"I booked movers for your place and mine Chelle. They will be there first thing in the morning. I booked them so that they will pack everything up, move it and then help unpack."
Mike put his hand up on Mike's shoulder. "I'll come around and help you. We will get a few people together and get it all done in no time."
Angie and Jessica both said that they would be more than happy to help.
Tony smiled, the support he and Michelle were getting was helping so much. "Thanks guys. I just want to make sure however it is done that someone is here with Michelle most of the time."
Michelle was trying to pay attention but she just couldn't hang on any longer, she let her eyelids fall and dropped straight off to sleep. Everyone stayed chatting with Tony for an hour or so before heading home. A huge bunch of flowers arrived for Michelle and Tony from everyone at CTU.
While he waited for Michelle to wake up, he made a list of all the appliances and furniture he had. He also did the same for everything he could remember Michelle had. He found websites for home stores in the area and book marked them. He went to get a coffee from the cafeteria and Michelle was awake when he walked back in.
He lowered his head to kiss her on the forehead but she put her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in closer and kissed him on the lips. When she felt his hand move up and down her shoulder making her kiss him even harder. He returned her passion. She had taken him by surprise and he loved that. He nudged her face to roll to the side so that he could nibble on her ear and neck. She sighed his name and put her other hand up on his shirt grabbing at his chest. He started sucking on the base of her neck and then across her clavicle and shoulder. She pulled his shirt out of the top of his pants and slid her hand up to his bare chest. Her hand pressed into him firmly making him become more intense with his kisses. When he pulled his head up to breath a little he noticed that he had actually left marks on her, small hickeys. He laughed a little and told Michelle. This seemed to excite her even more and she slipped her hand around his lower back pulling him in closer. Once she could reach she lifted his top and began kissing his lower stomach. She heard him groan so she ran her tongue along the inside of the top of his pants, making hie entire body flinch. He put his hands on the top of her head and closed his eyes to soak in how good he felt. She ran her hand across his crotch and continued to kiss his stomach. She gave him a hickey in return on his hip. They were interrupted by a nurse walking in and startling them both. Michelle took her hand off his shirt letting it fall back down. They stayed in silence but swapped cheeky smiles as the nurse checked Michelle's pulse and temperature.
When the nurse was gone Tony asked Michelle if she felt like going through everything for their apartment, she said she would love too so he went to get his list and the computer.
"Tony sit up on the bed next to me."
Tony jumped up next to her and they both got settled. He put the computer back on the table tray and they went through the list first.
"We have enough couches and stuff but none of it all really goes together very well. I don't have any coffee tables do you Tony?"
"That's something I hadn't gotten around to getting yet. Why don't we get some new couches and tables that go together. All my stuff is so old now, I would have needed to get new stuff soon anyway."
"Sounds perfect to me, lets go shopping – I'm buying this time!!"
Tony hooked them into the sites and they began surfing through all the different selections. They both fell in love with a couch set straight away so they wrote the codes down. The found a couple coffee tables, a dresser and a kitchen table as well. Finally the got to the bed section. "How big is your bed Chelle?"
"Double, same as yours." She gave him a cheeky smile and ran her hand up his leg. "Why don't we get a King size one.....I get the feeling we are going to need lots of room on our bed."
"I like the sound of that! I think it is extremely important that we get the bigger bed." They both laughed.
Once they had picked out all of what they wanted, Tony called the stores and placed the order. He organized to have them delivered the following afternoon to the new apartment. Michelle asked him to arrange having the furniture they were replacing taken to the downtown thrift and charity store.
They spent the evening lying together on the bed watching some TV and a movie. The held hands the entire time and frequently offered each other kisses.