Carly had dusted herself off, both literally and figuratively, and made her way towards the room that Sonny had died in. When she'd heard Michael was in there, she'd been concerned that he would be inconsolable, and there was the distinct possibility he would be by the time she made it there. But what surprised her even more was the fact that Emily had told her she left him in there with AJ, and that, at least for the time she was in there, they were merely sitting there. Neither speaking, neither doing much of anything but listen to the other breathe.

Carly had been sure that Emily was making that up. She was trying to prove a point about AJ or whatever, but she was lying. There was no way that Michael would stay in the room with AJ and not fight. There was no way that AJ would lay there, especially after Sonny was dead, and not try to fill Michael's heads with lies. Emily was just stalling or trying to trick her or something. They couldn't have just been—

And then she was at the door, and unbelievably, they were just sitting there. AJ had gotten his dose of cure, and though he still looked like hell, he didn't look like he was dying. Michael sat in a chair beside the bed, much closer to AJ than Carly would have thought he'd be, staring at the bed across the room. AJ and Michael didn't look at each other. They didn't say anything to each other. They probably didn't even know that she was in the doorway. They just sat there, staring at that bed.

Then Carly stared at that bed. She walked slowly into the room, and looked at the bed that Sonny had died in. The sheets were gone. The pillows were gone Any machines that had been around were gone. There was nothing but a dingy mattress, waiting for someone to come in and put new sheets on it. To prepare it for the next person who might need it.

She tried to cry. Really she did. Carly put her hands on the mattress and squeezed, as if holding on would give her some hint of Sonny. Like something of him was still there and he'd give her something that would make her fall into a heap of tears. Instead, she could only be glad that Michael and Morgan hadn't gotten sick. That Jason never got sick. That Lorenzo didn't get sick.

Was she sorry that Sonny was dead? Of course. Michael and Morgan would have to live life without their father. Jason would be without his brother. She would have to watch them live in agony, remembering what they had lost. And she… She had only lost someone that hadn't been good for her anyway.

She would have preferred to get Sonny out of her life some other way, but deep down, she knew that his death was the only way to truly disconnect herself. Carly felt guilty for thinking that way. Sonny had been her world for so many years, and there she was relieved that she could finally be rid of him. This wasn't the way she was supposed to get him out of her life. He wasn't supposed to die. He was just supposed to go away.

"Mom?" Carly blinked and turned her head. Michael was still in his chair, but he looked at her. He looked like he was surprised to see her. Like he hadn't seen her walk into the room. He probably hadn't. "Dad died."

"I know." She turned back to the bed and sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, Mr. Man."

"He… He was just sitting there. He was talking." Carly turned back to see Michael look at AJ, then return his eyes to her. "I couldn't really hear him, ya know? There were doctors in here and they were crowded around him. I was in the door, 'cause I wasn't supposed to be there. Emily made me go downstairs to the cafeteria, but I came back up, anyway."

"Michael—"

"I don't know what he said, but he looked at me." Michael blinked and shook his head. "I think he knew I was there. He just looked at me through all the people, and then he died. They said time of death and everything. He just died."

Carly walked to him slowly. She knelt down in front of Michael and put her hands on his knees. She hadn't been there for him. It wasn't the first time. Carly was well aware of the fact that she often let her own mess interfere with her time with the boys. She ignored them so often, yet she claimed to be a good mother. How good of a mother was she really if she was never there for them? If she wasn't there for Michael when he needed her to be there.

"You got the chimp, I know that." Michael looked down at her, and Carly thought that there wasn't enough emotion in his face. Sickly enough, he had the same expression that AJ had when she walked into the room. To ease her mind, she switched gears and likened it to someone else. He had the same expression that she guessed Jason would have upon hearing the news. Cold, bewildered… shocked. "You didn't get it in time for Dad."

"I'm sorry, Michael." Carly felt tears start to well up and she squeezed her eyes shut. She forced the tears back down, refusing to let them fall. She opened her eyes again and swallowed hard. "I tried, Michael. Me and Jason both. We got back as soon as we could, I promise you."

"I know." Michael sighed. "You saved a lot of other people."

"But, I didn't save your dad."

"Or Aunt Courtney."

"Or Aunt Courtney." This time, she couldn't stop the tears from falling. She didn't even try that hard. She just let them flow. "If I could have gotten back sooner, I would have. You shouldn't have been here alone."

"I wasn't alone." He turned to the side, and that was when Carly saw it. What she missed when she first came into the room. She was so focused on their faces, that similar expression, she had missed something all the more frightening to her. That Michael was holding AJ's hand.

There were a dozen reasons that Carly could think of for not wanting AJ to be near Michael. He would poison him against Sonny. He would poison him against her. When he was in better physical shape, he would grab Michael and run off. Carly could rattle them off with a practiced tongue because they were all reasons she'd given to others before when explaining herself. He didn't really love Michael, he was just using him to get in Edward's good graces. He just wanted to get ahold of him out of spite, to take him away from Carly like she had taken him away from AJ.

Looking at him, though, a new sprouted. AJ might actually get Michael to believe that he cared about him. If Michael believed it, he would insist to Carly and Jason that he got to spend time with him. To see Michael and AJ together—Carly just might have to admit that she was wrong about AJ. Carly could count on one hand the number of times that she'd admitted to being wrong, and concerning AJ, she didn't want to have to tick off another finger.

The entire time Carly spoke to Michael, AJ didn't say a word. When Carly looked up, he wasn't even looking at her. He wasn't looking at Michael's face. He alternated his stare from the bed Sonny had died in to Michael's hand gripping his own. What was he thinking? What devious plans were being hatched in his head that would get Michael into his custody?

With Sonny gone, AJ could easily get his parental rights back. Without Sonny around to buy judges, AJ might be able to convince somebody other than Emily that Sonny really had locked him in that meat locker and forced him to give up his rights. Even worse, he could have convinced her that Sonny had done. And at the edges of worst, he could possibly convince Jason. He had Emily on his side. With her help and no resistence, AJ could probably convince Jason easier than he could convince Carly.

"I know what Dad did." Carly turned her attention back to Michael. She stared at him in shock, her mouth slightly open. "I know he locked up AJ and made him give me away, but I can't be mad. I mean, I can be mad and I should be because that wasn't fair, but he did it because he loved me, right?"

Carly swallowed hard and nodded. Yes, she could admit to herself that part of the reason Sonny had done that was because of his overwhelming need to own everybody. Michael was his, Carly had given Michael to him, so he was going to hold onto his property. But, she also believed that Sonny did love him. He'd done whatever he had to do to keep the boy that he loved. "I don't know what Sonny did, Michael, but yes, he loved you."

"He did it," he said softly. "I know he did it. But, he did it out of love, and we all do things because we love somebody. And everything AJ said to me about Dad was because he loved me, too."

"So, you're forgiving AJ? Is that what you're telling me?"

"I don't know." Michael shrugged. "I just—I don't know if I hate him, anymore. Is that okay? That I don't hate AJ?"

Carly sighed. This wasn't the time to be hard on him. He was already in a state of confusion. She didn't need him to pull away from her, too, and with as tightly as he held AJ's hand, Carly knew that he would do just that. "Yeah, Michael. It's okay not to hate him."

Michael nodded and he didn't say anything else. Like he didn't have anything else to say. Carly squeezed his leg, and he looked down at her. She tried to smile at him, and he returned the attempt. With a sigh, she then pushed herself to her feet and looked to AJ. "Well? What do you have to say?"

"Does it really matter, Carly?"

"I'm being generous, AJ. Don't expect it too often. So, if you have something to say, just say it."

She prepared herself for some kind of tirade. Something to let her know that, even in the wake of Sonny's death, AJ still hated him. Instead, he said, "I didn't want him to die. I wanted my son, I wanted him out of my life, but I didn't want him to die."

Was her confusion because his thoughts so frighteningly mirrored her own? A mountain of guilt because he wasn't sad enough about another person's death? Probably. "You wanted him gone, AJ, and you'd have taken it anyway you got it."

"I'm not going to back down because he died, but I didn't want him dead." AJ sighed. "I just wanted him gone."

"Come on, AJ, be honest with me." Carly didn't want him to be so reasonable. She wanted him to be outrageous. She wanted him to be delirious so he'd say something that would make Michael take his hand away from him. "You got what you wanted."

"Yeah, but I didn't want it like this."

Carly sighed. She groaned. She stomped her foot. She put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot again. Concluding her mini tantrum, she turned to Michael and sighed. "Come on, Mr. Man, let's get out of here." She put her hand out to him. "They're letting people leave now and we should really get home to see Morgan and let Leticia know what happened."

Michael looked up at her and blinked. "Is it okay if I stay just a little while longer? I just wanna sit here a little more, okay? Please? Just a little."

Carly sighed and as he turned his head back to his hand holding AJ's, she almost told him no. Carly almost put her foot down and said they were leaving. She almost used Jason as an excuse, preparing to tell him that Jason would need him. But, right before she spoke, Michael turned his gaze back to the bed that his father had died in. He settled back into that bewildered state that so shockingly mirrored AJ's as he looked in the same direction… and Carly sighed.

"Fine. Just a little while longer. But, then… Then we have to go, okay?"

"Okay. Just a little bit more."

And he was still clutching AJ's hand.