Chapter 23- Aftermath

Maxie sat in the waiting room of GH, worried sick about Jesse. He had been taken into surgery, and she was yet to find out how he was doing. At least she was surrounded by her family. Mike, Sonny, Courtney, Carly, Jason, and Michael had all come down to GH to give her support. Additionally, Georgie, Dillon, Brook, and Lucas had joined them all. Maxie knew that Jesse would be pleasantly surprised to find out that he had all of these people waiting to find out if he was ok. He would say that they were just there to give Maxie support. But she knew better. Deep down, they all cared for Jesse too.

After what seemed like 50 years, Bobbie entered the waiting room, a somber smile on her face.

"How is he?" asked Maxie right away.

"He pulled through surgery. Right now, he's in a drug induced coma to give his body time to heal. We were able to remove the bullet and it didn't look like there was any nerve damage. However, we can't be sure until he wakes up and tries to move his own limbs.

"Can I sit with him?" asked Maxie softly.

"Of course sweetie" said Bobbie with a sympathetic look.

Maxie glanced back at her friends and family before entering Jesse's room. She was so sad to see him hooked up to so many machines. She hated the beeping noises that she was hearing, but she knew that she could live with them as long as they were telling her that Jesse was alive. Walking over to his bed, she perched herself on the side and took Jesse's hand in her own. Raising it to her lips, she kissed it lightly. She then bent down and brushed a kiss over his forehead, and then finally his lips.

"I love you" she whispered in his ear before she started crying. "You have to be ok. You just have to" she begged. "I told you it was too dangerous. And you told me you'd take a bullet for me anyway. I never thought that you'd actually make good on your word. Next time, that's one promise to me that you can break" she whispered.

After talking to Jesse some more, she pulled off her shoes and pulled back the covers of the bed. Climbing in next to Jesse, she snuggled up against his chest and cried herself to sleep, worried sick about the only man that she would ever love.

Maxie awoke the next morning to the feel of someone stroking her hair lightly and planting small kisses on top of her head. Jerking up, she saw that it was Jesse, awake with a smile on his face.

"Jesse! Thank god!" she cried as she shot up in bed and immediately kissed his lips. "How do you feel?" she asked him.

He pointed to his throat and she knew that he was telling her that it was dry and sore. Rushing up, she poured him a glass of water and held it to his lips so that he could drink.

"How do you feel now?" she asked.

"Kinda sore. But I'll live"

"Can you feel your legs?"

"Yup" he said, wiggling his toes under the covers just to prove it to her as the blankets moved above him.

"Thank god" she said again as she kissed him once again as well. "I should get a nurse"

"No, wait a minute" he begged as he lightly grabbed her wrist to keep her there with him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He slowly eased himself up and pulled her towards him. Grabbing her tight, he pulled her into a passionate kiss. After a few moments, the two finally broke part, but only for the reason of breathing.

"I love you so much Maxie. I just remember being so scared once the bullets started flying" he said as a tear slipped down his face.

"Jesse, I'm ok, I am" she assured him as she wiped away his tears. "You saved me. You were my knight in shining armor, once again"

"That is my job" he said with a smile.

"We'll talk about that later" said Maxie with a frown.

"I didn't mean my job working for Sonny. I meant my job loving you. I never want anything to happen to you, and I'll never let it" he told her.

"I love you more than anything" she said as she bent down to kiss him.

This kiss also turned passionate, but unfortunately, they were interrupted by Bobbie coming in to check on Jesse. The two pulled back, embarrassed, and Bobbie scolded them for not getting a nurse immediately when Jesse woke up. Bobbie checked him out and declared him alright. He was healing nicely, and he would be fine in a few days. Maxie and Jesse were both so relieved to hear that bit of news. Once the initial excitement died down, Maxie and Jesse finally got a few moments to themselves.

Jesse gave a small sigh, and Maxie tenderly brushed some of his curls off of his forehead.

"Are you sore?" she asked him softly.

"No, I'm fine" he answered quietly as well. "Maxie, that bullet was meant for you" he said in a pained voice.

"I know" she answered. "And you jumped in front of it. You saved my life" she said with a smile.

"I shouldn't have had to save your life in the first place" he said.

"Is this your way of telling me you don't want to deal with my brother's lifestyle, or me?" she asked shakily.

"What? No!" he cried. "Maxie, I know that Durant was behind the shooting. Even from a jail cell, he has the right connections. The reason I shouldn't have had to save your life at all was because Durant should never have had a reason to come after you"

"Durant's a sick bastard Jesse. He would have come after me anyway, just because of Sonny and Jason"

"Exactly Maxie. There are enough people out there after you. I shouldn't be helping to add to that list. You don't need my enemies after you as well"

"What are you saying Jesse?" she asked softly.

"I'm saying that maybe we shouldn't be together"

"No! Absolutely not! I refuse to let you do this again. I refuse to put up with you pushing me away for my own protection"

"If I had just pushed you away from the beginning, you wouldn't have had someone aiming at you with a gun"

"Jesse, there will always be people aiming at me with a gun. That's just who I am. But at least when you're around, I'm safe. And I'm happy"

"If you were to die because of me, I wouldn't be able to live with myself"

"Jesse, you are being ridiculous" snapped Maxie. "I am not going to die, and neither are you. We are not accomplishing anything by playing this game of push-pull"

"Maxie! I'm trying to keep you alive!" he yelled.

"No, you're trying to be a controlling jerk. You think that you're doing things for my own good, but you're not. Jesse, you need to face the music. Pushing me away and trying to protect me only further complicates things, and it only makes things harder and worse in the end"

"Maxie, I can't do this!" he yelled.

"You are being such a child! You are too stubborn to even listen to what I'm saying. So you know what Jesse, you give me a call when you grow up!" she yelled as she stormed out of the room, wiping furiously at her tears as she ran down the hall.

She wasn't looking where she was going when she slammed right into Jason.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked when he saw her crying. "Is Jesse ok?"

"Oh yeah, Jesse's fine. In fact, he's perfect" she snapped.

"What happened? Did you guys have a fight?"

"I guess you could call it that" said Maxie with a sigh as she tried to calm down. "He's convinced that Durant's responsible for the shooting. So, he's trying to push me away again to keep me safe. Why do you guys do that?"

"I'd like to plead the 5th on this one" he said with a grin.

"Seriously Jason, it's completely irritating. Anyway, we had a big blowout, all yelling at each other and everything, and then I stormed out" she explained.

"Welcome to a relationship" said Jason sarcastically.

"You and Courtney never fight like this"

"We have our share of fights. And we've both done some stupid things to each other. Really, really, stupid things to each other. But we always make up"

"I don't know about this one Jason. It just may be over between me and Jesse" she said tearfully.

"Maxie, come on. You two have survived more secrets and lies than anyone can imagine, prison, separation, a crazy family, and especially, your brother's wrath. You can take anything!" Jason assured her.

"You weren't there. You didn't hear the things he said. He's just so stubborn. He's not going to listen to anyone, not even his own heart" said Maxie sadly before walking away.

As Jason watched his little sister walk away dejectedly, he decided that he needed to do something. But what? The little angel on his shoulder was telling him to just walk away, and not get involved. But the little devil was telling him to get involved. For some reason, that little devil resembled Carly. It was as though Jason could hear Carly's voice in his head, telling him that he was meddling for Maxie's own good. Armed with the knowledge that Carly plans never work, Jason started to walk away. He had just reached the door when he remembered how Carly had helped to push him and Courtney together. With a sigh, Jason decided to do just what she would want.

"This is great" he mumbled, "not only has Carly taken over my head, but I'm actually listening to her imaginary advice".

Jason knocked tentatively on Jesse's door, and waited for the ex-cop to call him in.

"Hey Jason" said Jesse as he sat up in his bed. "Did you find out anything about the shooter?"

"Not yet. And you should be lying down. If Maxie was to come in here and see you sitting up…"

"Don't worry, I'm positive that Maxie isn't coming in here" groaned Jesse. "We had a fight"

"Yeah, I know. I ran into her in the hallway"

"And lemme guess, you came in here to threaten me because I hurt her"

"Not quite. Jesse, I've been in your position, you know that. I've had to deal with the knowledge that I was putting the person I cared most about in the world into danger. I convinced myself that I didn't deserve love, and that I was just going to be alone for the rest of my life. But Jesse, that's really no way to live. Sometimes, you just need to trust yourself. You need to trust that you can keep her safe. Maybe I'm a little biased when I say this, but Maxie is one of a kind. You are never going to find anyone like her again, as hard or as long as you look. So don't push her away. You need to grab her and just hold on to her forever"

"Jason, if she dies because of me, there isn't going to be a forever" argued Jesse.

"Maxie's life will be in danger no matter what the circumstances are. But you can push her away and find a girl half as good as her and that girl can get hit by a bus at 30 while Maxie can live to be 105! There are no guarantees in life, and there is absolutely nothing we can do to prevent nature from running its course! But there's no use in being miserable until you die, just to let the woman you love live a longer, but much sadder life. Maxie loves you; only you. And I see the way you two look at each other, and act around each other. This is the real thing. So don't be an idiot and let her go. Don't turn Maxie into the one that got away"

"So I'm just supposed to willingly put her in harm's way?"

"No, you're supposed to protect her with all that you have, but love her with all that you have too. Don't half-ass it by breaking up with her"

"What do I do?" asked Jesse. "She was really pissed"

"You need to find her and tell her how you really feel. You need to make sure that she's yours, and only yours. Hold on to her for the rest of your life" said Jason. "And you also need to never tell anyone that these words came out of my mouth. I do have a reputation to maintain"

"Got it" said Jesse with a laugh.

"Get some rest" said Jason as he walked towards the door. "And make sure to go after her once you're released"

"I will" said Jesse. "Wait, Jason!" he called after the man.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around.

"Thanks" said Jesse with a sincere smile.

"You're welcome" said Jason, giving him a nod.

Jesse knew what he had to do. He needed to get down on his knees and beg for Maxie's forgiveness.