Some hours later, I sit with my family in the waiting room when I finally got released from the bed. Lisa had called mom to ask where we are, and I see her and Billy coming inside. I stand up and smile. Amanda runs to her, and they hug tightly. Billy looks at them with a smile, and then came to us. He hugs Ron and then me. He looks at dad, I can see his concern.

"How's Johnny?"
"Still in surgery, I think he'll be out any moment."

Billy nods and I hug him again. I let him go and he went to Penny, I watch them hug and talk. Dad went to the reception desk to ask for information about Johnny.

"Baby."

I turn and look at my sister, she smiles and came to me to hug me. I hug her back tightly. I am so relieved to know she is alright.

"I'm happy you're okay, sis."
"I'm so sorry for Johnny."
"Thank you, but I'm sure that he'll be fine again."

I liek to tell myself just that, so I would not get any stress. Lisa sees my face and nods, I guess she is amazed in how strong I am keeping myself.

"It was really scary, I underestimated that woman by a long shot."
"Did you told the cops everything?"
"I gave them all my recordings."
"Recordings?"

I see her nodding and smiling now. I am curious now, I would like to hear these recordings as well. She takes me to the benches to sit down while she holds my hands. The rest is look at her as well, listening to her part of the story.

"While she kept me hostage in the hotel room, and when Ron and Jamie came inside, I've been recording everything, and she has been telling a lot about her plans, she had more than one plan, this part was just the beginning. This woman is vile, I'll be glad when she gets locked up for good."
"I would like to hear those recordings, sis."
"Soon, Baby, for now you need rest and let's wait for news about your boyfriend."

I nod and we hug again. I look at the rest of the family, and I see them being curious as well. Then Ron spoke.

"I've called Roger about what happened, he'll want to meet with us soon, he asked if I could ask you if you want to witness during the court hearing since you've been with my ex-wife most of the time, and you made those recordings, it would make the case a lot stronger than we first thought."
"Of course I will witness, I'll do anything to get that hag locked up."
"Thank you, for everything."

Lisa nods and Ron hugs her shortly. Amanda sits down next to her grilfriend and they hug. I see dad coming back. He stops walking when he sees Lisa.

"Lissy."
"Dad."

She stands up and they hug tightly, mom went to them to hug them both together. I smile as I watch them. I am so happy to have a family that is close, even though we had our difficulties at times. Dad let them go.

"I want to do a checkup."
"I'm alright, dad."
"Let him do it, Lissy, for his own conscious."
"Okay."

Lisa follows dad to a room, Amanda quickly follows them, for she does not want to be apart from her girlfriend anymore. I inhale deeply, I am glad that the family is complete again. It is just Johnny that is still in surgery. I hope they are done soon, so I can see him again. Mom and nana are sitting down, they look at me.

"I never thought my youngest to be so attached to her boyfriend, she didn't had that at all with Justin, she's normally very independent."
"I've always believed that Johnny is meant for her, mothers feel and know, sweetie."
"I guess you're right, mom."
"Remember the second time you came by when Ron and Johnny were with us?"
"Yes, Johnny didn't want to leave Baby's side."
"He protected her from Lisa, remember how Lisa wanted to pick up Baby, and put her on the couch? As if she was a doll."

Mom nods and smiles as she thinks about that moment.

"Johnny stopped her and made sure Baby was laying comfortable, he told Lissy that Baby is not a doll to play with. Then Ron came into the room, to tell Johnny he needed to eat something, but Johnny didn't want to leave Baby's side, it became a struggle, so eventually I offered to bring him some food."

Mom chuckles as she remembers that very vividly, how I lay down in the box, one side was lowered, so Johnny could sit next to the box, holding my tiny hand, I had grabbed his thumb. She remembers how she sat on the couch, watching us, but never really thought anything of it. Nana smiles as she looks at her daughter's face.

"I remember, I've been watching them the whole time. I know I shold've stepped in, but it felt as if Baby was really safe with Johnny, so I had let them."
"Maybe that's what he has been missing in his life after they went back home, having Baby next to him."
"Maybe."

Mom smiles at her mother, they look at me again when I stand and went to the reception desk. I want to know if I can see him, this waiting is really horrible.

"It's true love."

Mom whispers, she looks at nana who gives her a nod in agreement. I look at the nurse, she looks up and sees my face, she starts to smile.

"Hey, Baby, you're feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, I wanna know if there's more news about Johnny."

I watch her looking at the computer screen as I wait. Dad came out of the room where he has done a checkup on Lisa. He sees me standing at the reception desk, and came closer. Lisa and Amanda went to the rest of the family.

"He's out of surgery I see, he's in the intensive care now."
"Can I see him?"
"I don't think…"
"I'll check that out for you, pumpkin, thanks for the information, Maggie."

The nurse nods at him and looks at me with a smile. I look at dad and he lays his arm around my shoulder.

"Come, let's go and see your boyfriend."

We turn and walk to the elevator. Billy sees us going and quickly walks after us. We stop at the elevatore, and dad pressed the button when Billy has caught up with us. We turn to look at him.

"You're going to see Johnny?"
"Yes, please tell the rest that Johnny is out of surgery and lays now in the intensive care."
"Can we see him too?"
"I'll let you know as soon as possible, okay?"

Billy nods, I hug Billy when the elevator doors are opening. Dad and I step into the elevator, I turn and look at Billy, he waves a little and watches us until the doors are closed. Then he turns and went back to the rest of the family to tell them the news. I look at dad as the elevator is ascending.

"You think I can see him?"
"I think so, I will talk to Mateo and hear if they had any complications during the surgery."
"I'm scared, dad, what if he gets complications now after the surgery? Or what if he isn't able to dance anymore?"
"I'm sure everything will be alright, pumpkin, try not to worry too much."
"It's hard, but I'll try."

The elevator stops and the doors are opening. We step out and look around as we walk to the reception desk. The nurse behind the desk looks up and sees us.

"Hello, dr. Houseman, what can I do for you?"
"Can we visit Johnny Castle?"
"He's still asleep."
"Did he got any complications?"
"I'll call dr. Mendez, he can tell you everything."

She takes the phone and calls dr. Mendez, when she lays the horn back down, I clear my throat, making her to look at me again.

"I want see my boyfriend."
"Will you bring my daughter to her boyfriend?"

She looks at dad and stands up. Even though dad is on holiday, somehow the nurses cannot seem to ignore a request from him. It is how powerful he is here at the hospital.

"I'll bring you to him, if you want to wait here, dr. Houseman? Dr. Mendez will be here any moment."

Jake nods, I follow the nurse to the room. Dad sees Johnny's file laying on the desk, he takes it and opens it to read it.

I look inside the room when the nurse has opened the door for me. I see him laying on the bed. He's on the breathing machine. I stand next to the bed, looking at his sleeping face, he looks peaceful. I take his hand and I lean in to give him a kiss on his temple. With my free hand I push his hair a little back.

"I love you, you're my superhero, do you know that?"

I whisper with a little smile. I know that a relationship of a month old is not a long-term relationship yet, but I feel that what I have with Johnny, it is meant to be, he is my man, my guardian angel, my superhero. I know, reader, I am getting sentimental, it must be my hormones. Dad came into the room with dr. Mendez.

I keep looking at Johnny's face while I am also still stroking his hair. To see him laying here, it is quite unreal. Then I feel a soft squeeze, making me to look at our hands and I start to smile. I know I am smiling, he is waking up. I look back at his face, I see his eyelids fluttering a little. The nurse was checking the screen from the machine, when she turns and sees him waking up.

"Doctor, he's awake."

Dad and Dr. Mendez came closer and look at Johnny. I keep smiling as I see him opening his eyes. He is trying to orientate himself. He turns his head a little and sees me. He tries to smile, but I squeeze his hand softly, he should not force anything, for he is still on he machine. Dr. Mendez checks Johnny's eyes and reflections, he checks the screen and turns to look at me with a smile. The he looks at dad because I cannot take my eyes off my man.

"You must be proud of your daughter, Jake."
"I am, Mateo, very much."
"She got him to wake up, we were wondering why he wasn't waking up."
"Did he lost a lot of blood?"
"Not as much as I first thought he would."

A tear is falling down my face as I keep looking in his eyes. He let my hand go and slowly lifts it up. I giggle softly as I feel his fingers on my cheek. I can see he is trying to tell me to stop crying, but I cannot help it, I feel so relieved that he is going to be alright. I grab his hand and give a kiss on his palm. Then I press his palm against my cheek as I look in his eyes. I feel his thumb slowly stroking my cheekbone.

"The bullet was halfway into his lung when we started the surgery. He's very lucky, no blood vessels got ripped, other than the hole, where the bullet was, caused it to fill his lung with blood, se we sucked the blood out of his lung, removed the bullet, and closed the hole. There were no complications. But I want him to stay here for the time being, keeping an eye on his recovery."
"Thanks, Mateo, you're the best."
"Thanks, Jake, but I'm just doing my job."
"Can I stay with him?"

They look at me as I interrupted their conversation. I see them smiling. I smile as I am so glad that nothing bad has happened during the surgery.

"He needs to rest, and since he's awake now, we can move him to another room."
"You can stay with him there, pumpkin."
"Thanks, dad, Mateo, for saving his life."

Mateo nods, he then shakes hands with Jake and walks away to intruct the nurses about moving Johnny to the recovery department. Dad moves a little closer and looks at Johnny with a smile. I let my hand go through his hair again, as I know he loves it when I do that. I know it puts him at ease, I have don eit so often when he was so frustrated, or stressed.

"You were very brave, Johnny, with what you did. You're going to be alright, Baby can stay with you."

Johnny gives a very little nod that he understood. His brain is still very foggy, and he can't remember anything of what has happened, he only remembers up until his father shouted the word that was the sign to come into action. I lean in and give him another kiss on his temple. He looks at me again and I can see the love in his eyes. Dad is watching us with a smile.

"I make sure there's a bed in his room for you, pumpkin."
"Thanks, dad."
"I'm going to arrange that, then I'll tell the news to the rest of the family."

Jake takes Johnny's hand and squeezes a little, then he came to give me a kiss on my forehead and walks away. I inhale deeply. He is looking at me and I can see some concern. A little frown that is forming on his forehead. I let my fingers run over his frown to smooth it down.

"I know you're worrying about, but don't, okay? I'm fine, everything is fine with the baby too."

I see him nod, closing his eyes and relaxing. He must have known that I have been worrying so much that I got stressed out. I think about dad's words, and what Johnny told me, maybe I shouldn't be working anymore until the baby is born. He opens his eyes to look at me again.

"You need to rest."

He squeezes me hand, I smile at him. As I do not know what else I must say, I thought about Penny helping out Amanda for the rest of the time at Kellerman's.

"Penny is going to help Amanda, to guide and teach her, and I've decided to do what you told me so often now. I'll stop working until the baby is born. I've got enough people who can run the events for me. I don't want to lose our baby."

I can see that he agrees with me. Then he closes his eyes to get some rest. I smile as I watch him and start to stroke his hair again.