The Past Never Stays Where It Should

Part Six

Carmela woke to find her hospital room dark and silent. She looked to her right and saw Danny, still in his work clothes, asleep in the chair next to her bed.

She smiled weakly, 'He looks so peaceful for a change,' she thought to herself.

Danny stirred and opened his blue eyes.

"Hey," Carmela whispered.

"Hey. How ya feelin'?" Danny asked.

"Better. I kinda upset myself earlier."

Danny nodded, "Flack told me. I'm so sorry I wasn't with you when you were talkin' to him but I ju-"

"It's okay," Carmela cut him off, "You're here now, that's all that matters."

"I still shoulda been here. I've got a habit of letting you down and it's never going to happen again," he took her hand.

"Danny you've never let me down and you never will," she squeezed his hand.

Danny's eyes left hers, "I just … you've been hurt so much by Sonny Sassone and the Tanglewood Boys and it's all because of me. I would do anything to stop you hurting but I don't know how."

"That's easy," Carmela informed him and he looked at her with a perplexed expression, "I just need you to be here and stop beating yourself up about everything that's happened in the past. You didn't know Sassone was gonna come to my apartment this morning and you didn't know that he was gonna shoot Mikey and Tony."

Danny swallowed hard and looked at Carmela with tears in his eyes, "If I ever lost you Carmela … I don't know what I'd do," he stood up and hugged her as best he could without hurting her, "I love you."

Carmela smiled, "I love you too. Don't worry, it's gonna take a lot to get rid of me Danny Messer."

Danny grinned at her and kissed her softly on the lips. He pulled back and brushed her hair off her forehead, "You're so beautiful."

She smiled, "Yeah a face full of yellowing bruises is so sexy."

He smirked, "On you it is."

"Shut up," she grinned as she swatted his arm.

There was a knock at the door and the night nurse popped her head around the door.

"Detective Messer, Detective Flack just called. He said that you should head down to the station as soon as you can."

"Thanks," Danny nodded as she left the room, "I'd better see what he wants," he said before kissing Carmela again. "I'll be back as soon as, okay?"

"Yup. See ya," Carmela waved as he headed towards the door.

"What did you need me for?" Danny asked Don Flack when he met him in the police station.

Flack grinned, "We got him."

Danny looked at him, "Sassone?"

"Uh huh. And not just for the assault on Carmela," Flack motioned for Danny to follow him down the hall, "We got a confession for the murder of Michael and Tony Taglieri."

Danny stopped, "How did you get him to confess?"

Flack shrugged and grinned, "Some gentle persuasion."

Danny was about to say something when the door of an interrogation room at the other end of the hall opened. Stella and Aiden exited the room and walked towards Danny and Flack, following them were Mac and a uniformed officer leading Sonny Sassone in a pair of handcuffs.

Danny folded his arms across his chest and watched as the man who had murdered his two best friends and seriously assaulted the woman he loved was led away to spend the rest of his life in prison.