AJ felt a little better. Nowhere near healthy, but far enough away from the gates of Hell that he could get up and leave the room. He couldn't stay there any longer. He couldn't argue with Sonny anymore. He couldn't take the man screaming at him to shut up every time he deliriously called out his son's name. So, he left the room, teetering along, holding on to his IV stand, And halfway down the hall was when he realized that maybe, he would have been better off just staying in his room.

"Michael?" AJ blinked as rapidly as his muscles would allow. He had to have been hallucinating again. Granted, he did feel somewhat better, but there was no way that Michael was really in the hallway. AJ shook his head. "I should go back to bed?"

AJ closed his eyes and when he reopened them, the boy was still there. The flourescent lights of the hospital made his hair look orange, like something out of a Crayola box. His freckles were heavy, and his eyes were wide. He obviously didn't expect to see AJ anymore than AJ expected to see him.

"Does your mother know that you're here? Where's Leticia?" AJ groaned. Great way to talk to a mirage. "Okay!" AJ yelled, "I get it! I screwed up, and this is my punishment. Just—Stop torturing me!"

"AJ?" Michael blinked at him, and as he walked towards him, he said, "You're sick, too?"

AJ groaned. With the luck he had in life, this really was Michael. The kid never did know how to stay where he was told. Poor Leticia was probably having a fit because she couldn't find him. It was late enough that he'd probably been put to bed, and decided to sneak out. Leticia probably didn't know he was gone, at all. And there he was, standing in the middle of an epidemic—Probably looking for Sonny.

"I don't think you should be out of bed."

"You don't care," he groaned. "Nobody but Emily cares." AJ moved to the side, propping himself up against the wall. His grip on the IV stand loosened and he felt himself slowly starting to fall. His back slid against the wall until he reached the floor. He was tired, and aching, and he probably should have been in the bed. But, he couldn't take another moment in that room with him. Maybe he could just stay out in the hallway. There were others who didn't have a bed. One of them could have his bed. It would be no magnanimous gesture, no moment of selflessness. He really didn't care how many people were in the hallway. AJ just didn't want to be anywhere near Sonny.

"I was looking for my dad. He's sick, and he's here somewhere."

Definitely Carly's son. The boy either didn't realize that his words hurt, or he didn't care. With everything Sonny and Carly had told Michael about him, he probably didn't care if he hurt his feelings. Just like Carly never cared. But, damn. The kid could have given some thought to the fact that his real father was sick and he didn't want to hear anything about the man that had stolen him away.

"That way," he said with a groan. AJ's head rolled against the wall. "The room I came out of."

"You—What did you do to him!" Of course, he would think that he'd done something. That's what the poison did. "Why were you in his room?"

"Because they put me there." AJ sighed. There wasn't even a point in being mad at Michael. He was just a kid. He'd been so thoroughly brainwashed that there was no way that he'd see things any other way. "The only room, and they put me there. I'm just—" AJ felt himself starting to fall to the side. "I'm just gonna lay here for a minute."

He slid down the wall and his face touched the floor. The tile was cold and soothing against his burning skin. They had told him that his fever was slowly going down, but AJ couldn't feel it. To him, he was just getting hotter. He curled himself as far as he could go. There was a shaking noise, a clattering, and he wanted to look. The IV stand was falling on him, but he couldn't move to put it back upright. He couldn't move out of his little ball.

Then, Michael was there, holding the stand up. If he let it go, it would fall on him. If he stood and held it, he wouldn't get to see Sonny. AJ knew which one he wanted him to choose. He didn't know which Michael would choose, though.

"AJ? You've, um, you gotta get up, okay? You can't just lay on the floor."

"Yeah, I can." He murmurred and rubbed his face against the floor. "So much better here," he groaned. He shivered, his teeth clattered. "Never meant to hurt you. Never meant to hurt Carly. Just wanted my son." He moaned. "Could've kept you, but I couldn't drink it—I couldn't—"

"Oh my God! AJ, what—" And then, she was there. The one person that AJ always knew he could count on. Emily was kneeling beside him, holding his face, smoothing back his hair. "Oh, AJ, what are you doing out of bed? And what are you doing here?" She was looking at Michael, now, but AJ couldn't tell if it were concern or anger on her face. "What are you doing here, Michael?"

"Um, I, uh…" He bit his bottom lip. "Leticia put us to bed, and when she went to check on Molly, I snuck out. I had to see my dad."

"That man is not—" She bit her tongue, stopped the words from coming out. She usually tried not to be so forceful with Michael, but now—It looked to AJ like it hurt her to not say anything. "What happened to AJ?"

"He just—He fell. He was out in the hall, and he just, well, he didn't really fall. He sorta sat down and laid down, and the IV almost fell on him. I held it, but, he won't get up. And he's mumbling about something." Michael shrugged. "He's just babbling."

"He's sick, and he has to get back to his room. And as soon as I get him settled back in, you are going back home. How'd you even get in the hospital?"

Michael shrugged again. "I just snuck in. There are all sorts of ways to get in this hospital. Didn't Mom and Jason use one to get out? And I already know that they're out somewhere looking for that chimp. She called Leticia to tell her and I was listening in."

"You're learning a lot of bad habits, Michael." She sighed, then with a grunt, began to hoist AJ up from the floor. She didn't ask for help, and she didn't tell Michael to go get help. All by herself, the girl picked him up from the floor. The amount of strength his little sister had never ceased to amaze AJ.

Once he was on his feet, she looked to him with disapproval. It was that same face that Grandmother had always given him. How could she possibly have Grandmother's face when she wasn't an actual Quartermaine? It must have been practice. But, she also had Grandmother's heart. Grandmother had always loved him. Emily always loved him.

"I'm putting you back to bed, and you are not allowed to get out of it, again. You hear me, AJ? You can not get up and go walking around just because you wanted to."

"I just needed a break from him," he said in a weak voice. "I would have gone back."

"He was gonna just lay on the floor." Michael looked up at Emily and asked, "Is he, um, is he gonna be alright?"

Emily sighed. "Michael—Honestly, I don't know. I'm not going to lie to you, because too many people have done that. AJ is very sick, just like a lot of other people. And anything he says—He promised that he wouldn't try to trick you or anything a long time ago, and he's not. He just doesn't have that thing in the rest of us that stops us from saying things that hurt."

"Why would what he says hurt? Would it hurt me?"

"No, Michael, it hurts him. It hurts him because he loves you so much, and all you've ever been taught is to hate him." Emily sighed, and she sounded tired, too. What had she been doing to be so tired? "No matter what anyone says, Michael, AJ's a good man, and he is your father. Nothing is going to change either of those facts. Now, just—Come on, so I can get him back in bed, then get you back home."

And that was Emily, the only member of the AJ Quartermaine fan club. She would always take his side. She would always try to help him. And she would always believe the best of him. He sighed and groaned as she pulled him back towards the room, Michael walking behind them and pushing the IV stand. Why couldn't she have been there sooner? Maybe then, so much would have been different. So much better.