A/N: I know that in the past I've included absolutely useless and nonsensical lyrics, but I just heard this song, called "Shoot Your Gun" by the 22-20's, and the lyrics fit beautifully with this chapter, so if you want to enhance your reading pleasure, pay attention to the lyrics, but recognize that I don't own them.
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Spin me some sad storySell me some excuse
To help me understand the things you do
Cuz the way you treat your loved ones
Well I just can't relate
Well where'd you learn to shoot your gun so straight?
Adella stared at her brother lying on the floor, blood everywhere, and wanted to throw up. She'd done this. In her quest to get rid of Lila, she'd done this to her own brother. It was all her fault. Oh God! She turned and ran from the packed lobby, as fast as her three inch heels would carry her. She stopped in an alley, thinking she was far enough away. No one could find out. At least not before she got out of town. Sonny would kill her for this, without any remorse. If Jason didn't get to her first.
"What am I going to do?" she cried to herself.
"You're going to call your father, and have him get you out of the country."
Adella spun to see Carly not five feet from her. "Mama, I didn't mean it! It was an accident!"
Carly stepped forward and took her daughter in her arms. "I know baby girl, I know. Everything will be okay, I'll make sure of it." Carly pulled away, and handed Adella her cell phone. "Call Lorenzo. He loves you and will protect you no matter what."
"What about Sonny?"
Carly brushed her daughter's hair back, "Don't you worry about Sonny, I'll take care of him. You just make sure you get out of town fast." She kissed Adella's forehead and left the alley quickly.
Adella looked at the cell phone in her hand, "God help me." Suddenly, the phone was jerked out of her hands, and thrown against the alley's brick wall, shattering into a million tiny pieces.
"Not even God can help you now," Sonny told her darkly.
Oh baby won't you cry?Show me there are some tears behind your eyes
Oh baby won't you cry?
Show me there's some hurt behind your eyes
"Male, 25 years old, two GSW's to the chest, BP's dropping, flatlined twice on the way over, definite internal bleeding."
"Book an OR and take him into trauma 2," Georgie ordered the EMT. She turned to Lila. "I will do everything possible to save Michael, but you have to stay here and take it easy." Georgie ran after the gurney, and Lila sat numbly in a hard plastic chair.
"Lila, baby how is he?" Brenda asked rushing into the ER, Jason right behind her.
"He uh, they lost him twice on the way here. Georgie's working on him," she said blankly.
Brenda stared alarmed at her daughter, she recognized that blank look. She'd seen it only once before. When Sonny lost Lily. She sat down next to Lila who was rubbing her hands together, watching the dried blood crumble off. "Hey, Lila look at me." Lila did as she was told, lifting her blood shot eyes to meet Brenda's. "He is going to be fine, trust me. He has too much to live for to just give up on life." Brenda threaded her fingers through Lila's. "Let's go get you cleaned up okay? It'll only take a minute, and Jason will stay right here." They stood up and walked slowly towards the bathroom. Jason watched them disappear, before pulling something out of his pocket.
He stared at the gold wedding band in his hand. "You have to watch out for him Sam. Lila can't lose him, not now. Please, just take care of him?" He kissed the ring and placed it back in his pocket. It was all up to Sam now.
Once you had a reasonAnd once you had a place
You had it all and laid it all to waste
And I know you hate to need us
But why'd you need to hate?
And where'd you learn to shoot without restraint?
"W-What are you doing here?" Adella stuttered backing away from Sonny.
"Trying to figure out when the hell you turned into Carly," he said solemnly. He stepped closer to her until she was pinned against the brick wall. "I give you my mother's name, I take care of you and protect you, and this is how you repay me? By going to Alcazar? By getting Lila kidnapped and nearly killed? By shooting Michael!" The anger was evident in his voice, and for the first time ever, Adella was scared of Sonny.
"I didn't mean it," she squeaked in a child-like voice. Her lip was trembling, and her stomach was in her throat. Dear God! He was going to kill her.
Sonny took a step back, and shook his head, "Carly never meant it either. Jesus Adella! Michael could be dying right this second, and you're still worried about saving yourself! But then again I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a spoiled brat like you."
Adella felt the fury rise up in her gut, "The spoiled brat that you helped raise!"
"And I regret that everyday, but I didn't want to leave an innocent child at Carly's mercy. Now I know the error of my ways, and it tears me apart."
Tears stung her eyes at finally hearing the truth, but she didn't have the strength to push them away. "If you're going to kill me, then just get it over with."
"I could never kill you Adella, because somewhere deep inside my heart you are still one of my children, you always were. I guess somewhere along the way I forgot to let you know that." He rubbed his eyes wearily, "I won't kill you, because I want you to live with what you've done to the family that has taken care of you when Alcazar wouldn't have you."
Adella leaned back against the wall, defeated. She knew better than to try to ruin Lila, she really did, but none of that mattered now. Though she wasn't dead, her life was over.
Oh baby won't you cry?You cut yourself so let me see you bleed
Oh baby won't you cry?
Cry for all the things you'll never be
The red tinted water swirled round and round before disappearing down the drain. Lila rubbed her arms furiously with soap and water, willing away the reminders of what had happened. A light tapping on the bathroom door grabbed her attention. "You okay Lila?" Brenda asked.
Hell no I'm not okay. In the past twenty-four hours I've found out that I'm going to be a mother, watched the love of my life get shot, and met my mother and twin sister for the first time ever.
Lila stared at her reflection in the mirror. The scarlet dress that she had loved just hours earlier now mocked her with its blood red fabric. Her makeup had long ago rubbed off, and her hair lay limply down her back. At least she'd gotten the blood off. On the outside anyway.
On the other side of the bathroom door, Brenda leaned her head against the cool wood. Her daughter was suffering, and right now there was nothing she could do about it.
"Hey you," came a quiet voice behind her. She turned and wasn't the slightest bit shocked to see Sonny. "Hey," she returned walking into his arms. He held her close against his chest, breathing in her scent and thanking God that she was okay. "How's Michael?" he asked after a moment.
She sighed and pulled away, "He's in surgery. It's not good, he almost died twice in the ambulance."
Sonny nodded, "How's Lila?"
Brenda gave a weak smile, "A mess. She's in shock. I get the feeling she doesn't handle crises very well."
"Wonder who she got that from?"
Just then, the bathroom door opened, and Lila stepped out looking pale and tired. "Have either of you heard anything? About Michael or Liam?"
"Sorry sweetie," Brenda said. "There's nothing else about Michael, but I'm sure Liam's fine. We could find him if you want."
Lila nodded and headed off in the direction of the waiting room. Jason stood up when she entered, "Hey kiddo." He shrugged out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, "C'mere and sit down."
She sat next to him and spoke, "Ya know, not 24 hours ago, I was contemplating a way to raise this baby without Michael, and now I can't imagine my life without him in it."
"Tragedy has the same effect as a bucket of ice-water. It wakes you up and helps you realize what you were missing out on."
"Is that what happened to you when Mom died?" she asked Jason.
"Yeah, I realized I was missing out on my life, and so I got out of the mob and Port Charles. Maybe if I'd never left, things wouldn't have gotten like this, or maybe they would have. Either way, you can't spend your life wondering what if? It'll drive you crazy." Lila nodded and leaned her head against Jason's shoulder. "I missed you daddy."
Don't you see your father?
Don't you feel the love?
Don't you see your brother?
Don't you feel the love?
Could you be a mother?
Could you ever find the love?
That you would not place yourself above
"I need to check on Michael," Liam gritted out as he was being stitched up.
"No," Taylor told him. "You need to stay here and get patched up, then you can make sure Michael's okay."
"You don't understand," he said wincing. "Michael is like a brother to me. He's my best friend, and has pretty much been the only person who's always had my back. I need to find him."
"All done," the doctor announced. "Bullet went through not causing any damage. Keep it dry-"
"Keep it dry for 3 days, and stay on the antibiotics," Liam finished impatiently for him. "Trust me, I know the drill." He grabbed his bloody and torn tuxedo jacket, and hopped off the gurney. "Let's go."
They walked quickly, and nearly ran into Sonny and Brenda. "How's Michael?" Liam demanded.
"In surgery still, we were coming to find you," Brenda told him.
They walked back to the waiting room, and found Lila slumped over on Jason's shoulder half-asleep. "Georgie gave her a sedative," he explained wrapping an arm around her protectively.
They sat down and settled in to wait for news on Michael. Lila woke suddenly, with a start and saw Liam, Taylor, Sonny, Brenda, and Lorelai and Kristina all asleep in the hard waiting room chairs. She looked at her father who was awake, "What time is it?"
"About 5:30 am," he told her.
She nodded; they'd been here for almost four hours. "Is there any news on Michael?"
He hesitated for a moment, "No one's been out."
Lila bit her lip, "Oh." She pulled Jason's jacket closer around her. "Do you think-do you think he'll be okay? Don't lie to me dad, I can take the truth."
"I uh-I just-" Jason was interrupted by Georgie's arrival.
"How is he?" Lila immediately asked.
"He had some damage to his liver, and a collapsed lung. We were able to repair it, and he was stable through out the surgery."
"So you're saying?"
Georgie gave a weak smile, "He's going to make a full recovery."
Oh baby won't you cry?
Show me there's some tears behind your eyes
Oh baby won't you cry?
Show me there's some hurt behind your eyes
Lila entered the ICU room hesitantly, not entirely sure what she was going to find. Inside, Michael lay in a drug-induced sleep, most of his torso bandaged. She shut the door quietly behind her, and sat in a chair next to his bed. She took his hand into her own, and gently rubbed circles with her thumb over the back of it. She placed a light kiss to the back of his hand.
"God I love you," she said to his sleeping form. "You have no idea how scared I was. I was going crazy, and no one would tell me anything about you. Baby, I can't live without you. You are my best friend, and the love of my life. But if you ever do something like this to me again, I'll kill you myself."
He remained asleep in spite of her words.
She caught sight of Michael's chart out of the corner of her eye. She picked it up, not being able to resist and started to read. After about a minute, she threw it down at the foot of the bed.
"Hey," Michael said groggily. "What did that paper ever do to you?"
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A/N: So, that's it. I thought it was cute to have the last line be the very first thing he ever said to her. You guys have all been the most AMAZING reviewers for sticking with me through all this. And don't worry, Lila and Michael will be back soon in the sequel Sins of the Mothers where we'll finally find out what happened to Sam's baby, and who stole Lila from Brenda. The sequel won't be up for a while, cuz tomorrow morning is my surgery, and my recovery might be a while. No worries though, I'll keep my notebook with me for when the mood strikes. Love to everyone who reviewed and made suggestions. Maybe you'll see them in the sequel… luvr