The weekend had passed without much excitement or news. Joan had been at the hospital on and off, going home really only to eat and sleep. She was doing almost all her homework in the hospital now, sometimes reading it out loud, so she could give herself the feeling Adam wasn't missing too much school stuff. But who was she kidding, as if Adam was able to comprehend any of it, let alone remember it for upcoming exams. Grace and Luke had come by on Saturday afternoon and they had studied physics together in Adam's hospital room, spreading notes and books all over his bed. The nurses had given them disapproving looks, but had not said anything.

Sometimes Mr. Rove would stay in the hospital together with Joan. There usually wasn't a lot of conversation going on between them, but Mr. Rove sometimes talked about how Adam had been as a kid, how much Adam could get lost in his art and that he was really glad that his son had such a good friend in Joan. She wasn't sure how much Adam had told his father about their recent break-up, but to her that almost didn't matter now anymore.

It was now Sunday, late in the afternoon and Joan was sitting in her room, putting the last finishing touches to her woolen scarf. She had chosen subdued earth colors, mostly browns, greens and yellows. When she had knitted the last stitch and had sewn up all the loose ends, she looked at the end result of all her hard needle work. Not a masterpiece, but it was her own creation, and it was unique. No one would ever have the same scarf, and it was all her doing. Somehow she felt a bit proud of her accomplishment.

Just as she was taking the scarf off from around her neck to see what it looked like when it was being worn, her cell phone rang. The display showed "private number", so she answered with an inquiring, "Hello?"

"Mr. Rove?" She listened intently for half a minute. -- "What? That is so great! Can I come and see him?" -- "I'll be there in ten minutes!"

With a huge smile plastered on her face, she stormed down the stairs. Kevin was the first person she stumbled across, sitting at the kitchen table, reading in a book. Joan shouted, "Kevin, Mr. Rove called, Adam's woken up!"

Kevin turned his wheelchair around, so he was facing Joan. She almost jumped into his lap, kissing him on the forehead. "Adam's awake!" She jumped up again. "I need to go see him! Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Mom's gone out to meet with Lilly and Dad's meeting some colleagues in the bar, remember?"

Joan's face fell. "Shoot! Who's gonna drive me now?"

Kevin bowed his head and gave Joan a glance from underneath as if he was looking over the rim of imaginary reading glasses. "Aren't we forgetting someone, hm? Moi?" He pointed to himself.

"Of course, I'm sorry! I just keep forgetting that you have a driving license and a car now! Sorry, Kev."

"Don't worry about it, you have every right to be confused right now." He smiled at her. "Come on, let's go."

They both grabbed a jacket, Joan wrote a quick note for the rest of the family, letting them know what had happened and where they were and then they both headed to the hospital.

Joan had to keep herself from running along the hospital corridors. In the car, she had called Grace, who in turn had told Luke, who was with her. They would both come to the hospital too. In front of Adam's room, she was greeted by Mr. Rove, who was, for the first time she had seen him since Adam's accident, smiling.

He told them, "The doctor's with him now, but he's gonna be okay. He's been asking for you," Mr. Rove said to Joan. They waited a few minutes for the doctor to come out, all of which Joan fidgeted with the hem of her sweater. When a doctor Joan didn't know came out of the room, the three of them went towards him. The doctor briefly informed them that the neurological exam showed no sign of neurological damage or impairment and that motor functions were also normal. Adam should not have too much excitement, but that there was no need for concern, he just needed to take things slow. He would have to stay in the hospital for further tests and observation for a few more days, how long exactly would have to be seen, depending on Adam's progress.

After the doctor had said it would be okay for Joan to go in, she slowly opened the door. She felt a bit insecure and afraid of what would be awaiting her. She had gone through so many emotional ups and downs in that time when Adam was unconscious. She had played the scene in her head when Adam would wake up so many times, that she now was scared it would be different from the happy moment she had imagined it would be. But there was no way of avoiding the actual real moment any longer, so she opened the door fully and went in.

The upper part of the bed was raised, so that Adam was almost in a sitting position. When he recognized Joan, he smiled weakly. She went up to him. All she wanted to do was to storm to his side and hug him close, but she feared he was so fragile that she would hurt him. So she took his hand and kissed him on the forehead where some nasty scrapes were still clearly visible. Quietly, she whispered, "Adam," but tears started to fall from her eyes, tears of joy and release and relief. She sat down in the chair that was ever present next to his bed, just looking at him, as if she couldn't believe he was actually awake.

She felt his hand on her cheeks, catching some of the tears. "Jane," he hoarsely said. "Hey, it's okay, don't cry. I'm okay."

She smiled through the tears, "Yeah. You're okay. I was so scared. But you're back. You're back." She now laughed, wiping away the tears by herself. Adam also smiled. It felt so good to see him smile, move, talk. There was so much she wanted to tell him, so much she wanted him to know, but she couldn't find the words to say all these things right now. Her expression suddenly clouded over just a little with concern. "Are you in any pain? Does the wrist hurt?" She gestured at his cast.

He frowned a little. "Naw, I think they drugged me up pretty good. I'm fine." He looked at his cast and lifted his right arm a little. "This'll keep me from doing any artwork any time soon, though."

Joan had been thinking about that herself sometimes when she had been with Adam in the hospital. "Yeah. But don't worry, I can help. I can be a pretty good manservant for the right price, you know."

Just then the door opened and Grace and Luke poked their heads in. "Can we come in?"

Joan waved them in. "Yeah, sure."

Grace was the first to enter. She plopped down in the chair opposite Joan, looked at Adam and said, "So, you're okay."

Adam nodded. "Yeah."

"That's good. But, dude, don't ever do something like that again, you hear me?"

Adam couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm not planning on it."

Joan added, "Adam, don't buy her tough exterior, she was just as worried and scared as we all were."

Grace shot Joan an accusing look, which Joan didn't buy for one second. "Don't you scratch my facade, Girardi."

Joan lifted her arms. "Okay, okay."

Luke was standing at the foot of Adam's bed, now adding, "I second that. I mean, the don't-do-that-again thing. I'm glad you're okay, you had us all shaken up pretty bad."

Before they could engage in any more conversation, the petite blond nurse came in. "Sorry to break up the party, but Mr. Rove here needs some rest."

Grace and Luke quickly said goodbye to Adam. Joan got up and kissed him carefully on the forehead again, promising she would be back the first thing the next morning. Adam looked tired and worn-out, but was still smiling slightly. He gave them a little wave as they left the room. When Joan passed the nurse, she whispered an almost inaudible "Thank you" to her. The nurse just winked one eye and went past Joan to check Adam's chart.

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