Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

A/N: Yay! Amanda lived! (watches her readers do various happy dances) OK, this chapter takes place the day she gets out of the hospital.

Chapter Twenty-One: Living Conditions

"Slow down Amanda!" Woody yelled, trying to catch up with his daughter. "You're not supposed to go that fast in a wheelchair!" Amanda stopped in her tracks and turned her chair around. The doctors had told her that she would need to use the chair until the stitches in her side were ready to be removed, and after three days using it, she was already driving the chair like she would a go-kart: top speed.

"Sorry Dad," Amanda said with a grin. "I couldn't help it. The only other time when I'm in this position is when I'm…"

"Amanda, do I really need to explain the differences between a wheelchair and a go-kart to you?"

"I know the difference!" Amanda said. "It's just gonna take a bit of getting used to, is all. I mean, I've never HAD to use a wheelchair before; although, it was an option when I broke my leg in 3rd grade, but for some reason, Mom didn't want me to use a wheelchair then. Never could figure that one out…"

"Bet I could," Woody said. "Now come back here, I need to wheel you down to the lobby. There's someone there waiting for us."

"Oh boy," Amanda said, rolling her eyes before grinning. "Hope it's Matt Damon…"

Woody grinned, glad to hear his daughter's sarcasm again. Moments after he arrived home three days ago, he had received a phone call from the hospital. It was Peter, telling him that Amanda was awake and to come to the hospital immediately. He had practically ran out the door and back into his car, and he definitely ran down the hallway of the hospital when he arrived. Amanda's bed had been raised before he got there, so when he entered her room, she was sitting up. She had smiled at him and thanked him for remembering about the song, and then held her arms out to him for a hug. He had hugged her tightly, but not tight enough to mess up her stitches. He had been back to see her each day, and one day in particular stuck out in his mind.

Woody smiled as he walked down the hallway to Amanda's room. It had been two days since Amanda came out of her coma, and she was looking better each day. As he neared her room, he heard unfamiliar music coming from the door to Amanda's room, accompanied by some very familiar laughter and some unfamiliar music.

Woody looked in the window of Amanda's room, and saw what amounted to a daycare center surrounding and sitting on her bed. He immediately recognized her sisters Jessie and Lori, and her sister Michelle's children, but there were quite a few children-plus an adult-in the room that he didn't recognize. Looking closer at the other woman-who stood between Michelle and Justin-he figured that it was Amanda's other sister Melissa, and that a couple of the little rascals in the room belonged to her. He tapped lightly on the window.

Jessie heard the tapping and looked up at the window. When she saw who it was, she tugged on Amanda's hospital gown and pointed. Amanda looked up at the window and smiled, motioning for him to come in.

"Does the hospital know you've started a daycare in here?" he asked as he entered the room. Amanda introduced him to Melissa, and then answered him.

"I paid off the nurses not to say anything," she said with a sly grin. "Actually, they came in a pack. Reminds me more of a zoo than a daycare center."

"So," Woody said, looking around at the kids. "I recognize most of these little devils, but some new ones appeared while I was gone."

"Oh!" Amanda said, realizing what he meant. She pointed at two brown-haired kids, a boy and a girl, and said "These two are Noah and Tammy. They're Melissa's kids." She then motioned to two towed-headed children standing near Justin. "And these two are Britney and Nick. They belong to Justin." Woody smiled at the kids, who grinned back happily. He looked around the room again, and noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Peter?" Woody asked. Amanda grinned, and the kids giggled and laughed.

"He ducked out shortly after the younger kids put Disney music in the tape player," Amanda said, cracking up with laughter. "I give him credit, though: he sat through loud renditions of 'Hakuna Matata,' 'Winnie The Pooh,' 'Be Our Guest,' and 'I Wanna Be Like You' before he left." That got the little kids started on Disney movies, and they continued in that vein for a while, finally leaving after Tammy and Britney got into an argument over which guy in "The Princess Diaries" was cuter.

"So that's the family," Woody said, sitting down in the chair next to Amanda's bed. "They seemed interesting." He looked to Amanda for an answer, and noticed she was crying. "What's wrong Amanda?" he asked.

Amanda wiped her eyes on her arm. "That was the first time we've all been together in a really long time," she said. "It's just weird, is all…Mom would've loved to see this."

"She would've," Woody said. "And I'm sure that somewhere, she was." He handed Amanda a tissue, and told her that everything would be all right. He then told her that everyone would be there in a minute, that he had something important to tell them.

When they all arrived and were seated-Peter seated next to Amanda-Woody told them his news. Amanda cried into Peter's shoulder as Woody told them that the man that shot Amanda and had killed her mother in the carjacking had been caught.

"So Dad," Amanda said as her father wheeled her out of the elevator on the first floor of the hospital. "When are we going home?"

Woody hesitated, then said "Honey, you're not going back to the apartment."

Amanda looked up at her father in shock. "Why?" she asked. "What's wrong with the apartment?"

"It was broken into yesterday," Woody said. "By the other two men involved in your shooting and the carjacking. We were able to catch them and get to their boss, but we don't know yet how many there are still out there. You're going to have to stay with someone else until we can go to trial."

"Well then," Amanda said as they wheeled into the lobby. "Who am I bugging for the next couple of months?" Her father grinned as he pointed to the person waiting for them in the lobby and said, "Him."

Amanda looked in the direction of her father's finger, and smiled broadly when she saw he was pointing at Peter.

A/N: Time for the shout-outs! And do me a favor and read & review the stories "This Bug's Love Life," by canadianfan1984, and "Testing Love," a story written by xoRetributionox and myself.

xoRetributionox: Yes, it was because of the carjacking. I think I might have told you that when I emailed you Alex, but I'm not sure…Anyways, did you want me to write the next chapter of "Testing Love"? Never got the chance to ask you that last time…

canadianfan1984: Yes, you did miss a lot! Glad you got caught up! Thanks! I didn't know how well the song and stuff would fit together, but that idea sort of popped into my head while I was writing the rest of the chapter. Keep up the good work on your story, it's really good!

Dan: Thanks! Keep up the reading. Now that Amanda's moving in with Peter, interesting stuff is BOUND to happen!