Chapter Ten: Hope

A/N: The italics that have quotation marks around them indicate that Manny is singing.

"Oh Chris," Manny whispered as she sat next to him. She knew he was asleep but she wanted to talk to him anyway. "Who would do something like this to you?" She began to cry and put her head down onto his shoulder. "I was so scared that I might lose you. I can't lose you," she cried harder. Her tears were soaking his hospital gown, but she didn't care. She clasped both of her hands around his left hand. She was determined to stay until he woke up. With nothing left to say, she closed her eyes and started to sing to him.

"The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
Emeralds from the mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
Tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated; I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.
I'll be your crying shoulder
I'll be love suicide
I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life."

Manny stopped singing for a minute, because she thought she felt Chris' hand move. She opened her eyes, lifted her head, and saw him smiling at her.

"That's our song," he whispered and kissed her lightly.

"Chris!" she yelled excitedly after their lips parted. "Who did this to you?" she demanded.

"It was…" he trailed off. He looked her straight in the eyes and sighed. "Craig," he finished.

"WHAT?" she yelled angrily. Chris explained everything that happened from the time he got home from work. Halfway through his story, Manny burst into tears. She couldn't believe that Craig came from college to try and kill Chris, and he'd almost succeeded. "He will pay for this!"

"Don't get so upset please. I don't feel good and all this yelling is making it worse."

"I'm sorry, but after what he did to me, he got off, and now this? He is not getting away with it this time. He almost killed you, and I'm so happy that he didn't, but he took your leg. He better go to jail this time," Manny said.

"Wait, he did what?" Chris asked, confused. "What about my leg?" He tried to sit up a little, but grabbed his chest where he had been shot. He pulled back the covers and gasped. "I couldn't feel it, but I just thought it was from surgery," he said. A single tear ran down his cheek. "Manny, I have no evidence that he shot me!" he said suddenly. "How will I prove this?"

"I just don't know," she replied.

"Well, what now? Will I be in a wheelchair or on crutches for the rest of my life? I won't be able to help out with the babies or anything…" Manny interrupted him.

"Don't say that! After a little while, you'll be back to your old self. The doctor told me that your parents' insurance company will pay for a prosthetic leg. It's robotic and bends naturally and everything. You'll be fitted for it when you are ready," she explained. Chris couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Oh man," was all he said, resting his head in his hands.

"You should get some rest now. I'll send your parents in to see you first. I'm also going to call my neighbor. The police said that she called 911 so maybe she saw Craig or something," Manny told him. She kissed him and put his blankets back on him. "I love you," she said before leaving.

Manny brought the twins back to the hospital on Sunday and spent the day there with Chris. Heather, Jason, and the kids all went to visit him as soon as they got back from their trip. Manny had called them Saturday night to tell them what happened. On Monday, she had to go to school and work, but visited him after that. Heather offered to watch the twins because they were already asleep.

"I have good news!" she shouted as she walked into his room. He was watching television and eating dinner.

"What is it?" he asked, shutting the TV off.

"Well, last night I called Mrs. Clayton next door. She told me that she saw Craig go into the house when she was outside walking her dog. Then, about a half hour later, she heard gunshots, so she looked out her window. She saw Craig running out of the house with a gun. That's when she called 911," Manny finished.

"So we have a witness?" Chris asked, excited.

"Yep, and there's more. Mrs. Clayton came to my house and I called the head detective on the case. He came right over and she told him that she saw Craig. So he got a search warrant and searched Craig's house. They found a gun with bullets that matched the ones you were shot with. Craig told them that it was your gun and you tried to shoot him, and he shot you in self defense. That didn't work because only his fingerprints were on it. They arrested him this morning, as soon as they got the lab results back. The court date is on Friday," she explained.

"He won't get away with it this time," Chris said. "With a witness and the evidence, he won't stand a chance. Plus, he probably won't have an alibi. I know Joey or Caitlin wouldn't lie for him."

"Don't worry; he'll finally get what he deserves," Manny told him.

"I love you so much Manny," he said and kissed her. "I also want to show you something."

"What?" she questioned. He pulled back his blankets to reveal his new leg. "Oh, I'm so happy for you. How does it feel?"

"It hurts a little at the top where it is attached, but Dr. Anis said that I'd get used to it," he explained. "I also get to go home tomorrow," he said happily.

"That's great!" Manny exclaimed. "What time can you leave?" she asked.

"Around noon."

"Well, I'll just have Heather write me a note, excusing me from school for a doctor's appointment and come pick you up. Then we can get Lily and Lucas from Spike's. I'll still have to go to work though," she pointed out.

"Jimmy will have to come when you go to work. I have to go to therapy every day for a month to learn how to walk with my new leg," he explained. "I can still go to school though. But I'll probably have to use crutches."

"What time is therapy?" Manny asked him.

"It's right after school. There's a van that will pick me up from DCS and bring me home when I'm done. I also talked to my boss at The Dot and he agreed to let me come back when I'm finished with the therapy."

"I am going to let you get some sleep now. I'll see you tomorrow at noon," she said. She hugged and kissed him goodbye.

Manny picked Chris up the next day. He refused to leave in the wheel chair that the nurse brought in for him. He told her that he was determined to walk out. He got some crutches and hobbled out, putting as little pressure on the leg as possible. He spent some time with the twins and Manny, and then she went to work. He pretended to be asleep the entire time that Jimmy was babysitting because he didn't really want to talk to him. Sure, they'd been friendly with each other, but he was still afraid that Manny might have some kind of feelings for him.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Chris went to school. He stayed on the crutches, and no one even suspected that he had a fake leg. Just for fun, when he was at lunch, he made it so the leg was bent the opposite way at the knee and stuck up in the air. A few people were grossed out and some screamed, but he still didn't tell anyone that it wasn't real. The only people who knew were Jimmy, Emma, and Manny. Paige and Marco knew, but they obviously didn't go to DCS anymore.

Friday finally came. Manny and Emma took the day off of school to go to court. Marco took the day off as well to be there for his best friend, and Paige went with him. The twins stayed with Spike, and Avery was with Paige's mom.

Craig was charged for attempted murder and was pleading 'not guilty.' Throughout the trial, he kept looking over his shoulder at Manny and smirking at her. One time he licked his lips and she almost had to leave the room to throw up.

"Don't let him get to you Manny," Emma whispered to her.

"Yeah, he's just being an asshole," Paige whispered on her other side.

Manny wasn't really paying attention to anything that anyone was saying. She was thinking about how happy she would be when Craig was sent away to prison. She also thought about what would happen if, for some reason, he got away with what he did. The only times that she did listen were when Chris and then Craig took the stand. Chris told his story just as he had told Manny and everyone else. When Craig went up, he completely lied, just as he had for the rape trial. He said that he was at school that day, but when he was asked if he had a witness, he said no. Mrs. Clayton testified and Chris' lawyer showed the evidence to the court. Joey also testified as a character witness for Craig. After about five hours, it was finally time to hear the verdict.

"I'm so nervous. I don't know what I'll do if he gets away with this," Manny said, desperately trying not to cry.

"That's not gonna happen," Paige reassured her.

"Yeah, he has no alibi, and Chris has a witness and evidence. Stop worrying," Emma said. They all turned to face the man who was reading the verdict.

"For the attempted murder of Christopher Hawkins, we, the people of the jury, find the defendant, Craig Manning, guilty."

Manny breathed a huge sigh of relief, and ran up to Chris. She hugged him and kissed him a few times.

"Craig Manning, you are sentenced to twelve years in prison," the judge informed him.

Manny turned to look at Craig, and this time, it was her turn to smirk at him. Her smirk really must have pissed him off because he started screaming.

"Oh yeah?" he yelled. "Well guess what? I did rape that little bitch and she deserved it!"

"Get him out of here!" the judge yelled to the Court Marshals. They did as they were told, handcuffed Craig, and led him out of the room. When the chaos died down in the courtroom, everyone turned to see Manny bawling her eyes out.

"Don't let him get to you. He's an asshole," Chris said, hugging her.

"I know, it's just that when he said that, I broke down," she explained. "Everything I tried so hard to forget just came rushing back to me. With Mr. Oleander in jail, and Craig in college, and everything that's been happening, I was able to put it all at the back of my mind."

"Well, he's gone now. You can forget all about him," Emma said, patting her back. Manny let go of Chris and wiped her eyes.

"I know, and I'm so grateful for that. Let's get out of here and celebrate," she said. They all left and decided to pick the babies up and go to The Dot. Chris was now walking smoothly with the aid of his crutches, now that he had gotten used to them. He still could not put very much pressure on his leg, or he would fall. Manny smiled as she watched him walk to the car. She was just glad that he was going to be okay.

A/N: The song Manny sings in the hospital is "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. He owns the song, not me. Well? What are you waiting for? Review!