Thank you for all the reviews and to all the new followers. There will be another time jump after this. Let me know if you like this chapter. I debated which way to go but I think you'll be happy. Apologies if you find any typos, its after 1 a.m and I've been up for almost 24 hours straight.

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

"Family of Keegan Grey." The man in blue scrubs calls out. I clutch Christian's hand, and we stand with the rest of our family. Please let him be okay, please let him be okay. I repeat this mantra over and over.

"I'm Carrick Grey, and this is my wife, Dr. Grace Trevelyan. We're Keegan's parents." Everyone looks petrified as Christian's parents shake the doctor's hand.

"I'm Dr. Josh Asher. I was the trauma surgeon who worked on your son. As you know, he suffered penetrating abdominal trauma from a gunshot. He'd lost a significant amount of blood upon arrival but was stabilized. Once we got him into surgery, his pressure was dropping and…

"Jesus Christ, just tell us if he's fucking alive," Christian demands. I tighten my hold on his hand knowing he's going to blow any second if this doctor doesn't get on with it.

"Christian!" Grace admonishes. She can sense her son is going to come unhinged.

"Yes, Keegan made it through the surgery and is stable." I hear deep sighs of relief all around me.

"As I was saying…his pressure dropped, and we did have to use the external defibrillator twice before we could actually perform a full laparotomy. The bullet was a .38 caliber and penetrated his mid-section, severing an artery which is why there was so much blood loss. We quickly got that under control. He is very lucky the EMTs did such a great job with the initial wound assessment. The trajectory was through the small and large bowel, it traveled upward, lacerated the liver before stopping dangerously close the spine. We repaired the bowel perforations without incident, the liver trauma was class one, and I removed the torn portion of the liver which was minimal. The bullet was retrievable and did not cause any damage to the spine itself that we saw on the CT. Nor did we recognize any further organ damage. He did receive six units of blood, and we will keep a close watch for any infection since the bowel was involved. He is in ICU and will remain there for at least 24 hours…maybe more. I do anticipate a full recovery albeit a slow one. He has youth and strength on his side, but he did suffer significant trauma. Any questions?"

"Yes, when can we see him?" As expected, Christian is the first to speak up.

"Give the ICU staff about thirty more minutes to get him settled. I will have them come get you two at a time when they're ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Asher, for taking such good care of Keegan and for working so swiftly. Our family is eternally grateful to you and your entire staff," Grace says.

"You're welcome, Dr. Trevelyan. I will be around until morning rounds if you have any questions."

Everyone shakes the doctor's hand, thanking him profusely and we again take our places around the room. Mia has just arrived and is hysterical because she had no idea what condition her brother is in. Grace assures her that he is okay. She finds her two brothers and the three of them stand to embrace one another.

One Month Later

Thank fuck our lives have settled down. Keegan was in the hospital for a week, which he complained about every single damn day. Can't blame the guy, though, but he was never alone. Between the two families and the nurses always "checking" on him it was a revolving door. God help me if Christian is ever sick because I have a feeling he will be a big whiney man-child. Speaking of my lover, he met with Dr. Flynn daily for the first week and seems to be doing good. He spent as much time as he could with Keegan in between meetings and visits his childhood home daily.

Once Keegan was back at home under Grace and Mia's attentive eye, he made good progress in his recovery. He will start back to work full-time next week. The good news, if there can be in a situation like these, is the ex is behind bars. She was charged with attempted first-degree murder and a slew of other charges, which I don't understand, but she's not going to see the light of day for a very long time so says Carrick. However, she is pregnant, and we are awaiting results of the paternity test.

Let me tell you…a lot of shit can happen in a month. I started at GEH and what a fucking three-ring circus that was. Ringling Brothers has nothing on the paparazzi. Once is was made public that one of Seattle's most eligible and cloistered CEO's was off the market it was fucking mayhem. Just trying to get out the god damn apartment garage is a feat in itself. Those fuckers are everywhere, and the Ninjas have been very busy and Sawyer is on me like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat. Everywhere I turn…whoomp, there he is! I promised Christian I would cooperate because he is such a worry wart about my security. I think the shit with Keegan and the crazy bitch scared him.

So, here I sit in my office trying to figure out the advantages of this potential deal. Christian barked at my department this morning because he doesn't think enough research was done before it was brought to the table. Working with Daniel has been pleasant. NOT! If it wasn't for that big ole chip on his shoulder he might be worth something. I told Christian that I'm staying out of his drama. If he wants to be sucked into it like a little bitch who am I to stand in his way. I give it ninety days' tops, and Daniel O'Brien will be out on his ass. I've learned over the last month that Christian Grey CEO is very different than Christian Grey god of big dicks and master of coitus. So far we've been professional at work, but fuck if I don't want to jump his bones every morning when I see him in one of those five thousand dollar suits.

"Anastasia, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need those figures on the Dexter deal," says the god of big dicks.

"I had Daniel and Teresa go through them again. Something wasn't adding up. Can you hang here for a sec and I will see what the fucking hold up is?"

He's in a pissy mood this morning all because we were running late and he didn't get his morning fuck that he's become so accustomed to. I finally told him that my cock receptacle was closed for the day and would reopen tomorrow. I think I've stayed at my place twice in the time I've been with Christian. He says he can't sleep without me, and I keep the bad dreams away. This is something we've yet to discuss in depth.

Oh, I forgot to tell you I think I've overcome my elevator phobia. How did this come about you ask? Sit back this is a doozy….it happened about two weeks ago.

The one day my hemorrhoid aka Sawyer was not attached to me, I got stuck in the fucking elevator coming up from the garage. I got in and thought it was weird when I pressed the lobby button I started going down. The car jerked to a stop, and that was it. There was a moment that I didn't really think it was stuck, maybe just slow to open the doors. Of course, I was praying to the elevator gods to not have a fucking freak out. I rang the alarm bell but that did absolutely nothing. I think they just put those little fuckers in there to make you feel better. Look! I'm pressing the button...Yay, I'm doing something!

The alarm was a failure, so I tried the emergency phone button. I pressed that annoying button over and over until someone finally answered. I don't know who. Maybe GEH has a deal with On-Star, or this was the same asshole who takes your order when to call and buy Time-Life's Rockin Hits of the 70s collection for only $995…oh, and if you order before midnight, they'll double your order absolutely free just pay separate shipping and handling. The voice behind the button clearly had to ask me a few questions to make sure I really was in an elevator stuck between floors. His first question… do you know what floor you are stuck on? No fuck head I don't...sorry I wasn't paying attention as I was plummeting to imminent death. He said he'd call right back after he figured out who he needed to call. Oh well, that is fucking comforting. I'm thinking to myself, who hired this God to damn genius.

I'm going to kick Christian's ass. I tried my cell phone but of course, that was no help. I called back after about five minutes. Because now I was panicking, sweating and having trouble breathing. You know your everyday panic attack. The voice behind the button was very reassuring this time, "so this is the Marriott, right?" Umm, NO! God damn, I'm in the parking structure at Grey House. He said he'd call me right back. Just as I was about to have a fucking coronary, I heard banging on the door. It was the parking garage security guy, Sam. He said the fire department was on the way. Fuck me, someone's getting fired over this I just know. Ten minutes later, sexy firefighters in all their glorious gear opened the doors. I don't know what I was expecting…cheering from the crowd, right? Nope. Nothing. All I got was Sawyer standing there with a fucking smirk on his face that made me want to kick him in the balls. I thanked the hot firemen then Sawyer, and I took the stairs to the lobby and got in Christian's private elevator. Come to think of it, I never did hear back from the On-Star guy. Hopefully, the people that were stuck in the Marriott's elevator got out okay.

I now have permission from the boss to use his elevator every day. I mean it does help that I let him stick his big cock in me every damn day…sometimes two or three times. Right? Not sure if I'm cured but I know sure as shit I'm not taking the broke ass elevator ever again. Christian assured me the elevator guys came to fix it, and it won't happen again. Won't happen to me because I'm not getting in it ever again.

Alright back to business. Where was I? Work…

I go to Daniel's office and ask for the final numbers on the Dexter deal. He looks at me like I've grown horns when I ask him.

"Daniel, what seems to be the issue with these numbers? Christian came to my office personally looking for them since he was supposed to have them before lunch."

"I don't know how or what happened, but they are not adding up anymore. I went over them yesterday, and everything seemed fine. Then this morning I find out there's some sort of discrepancy. I'll give them to you, but you need to figure it out with him, not me."

"Fine. Let me have them and I'll deal with it. He's already pissed off at me," I grumble as I walk back to my office.

Christian is sitting in one of the black leather chairs in front of my desk with his feet up, checking email.

"Please do make yourself comfortable, sir. After all, this is your office." I flick him in the head.

"Anastasia, I'm in no mood today."

Well, excuse the fuck out of me, "I am well aware Mr. Crankosarus. Don't be a butt head pouting and taking out your sexual frustration on everyone. You were the one who was running late if I recall."

"Yes, baby I was. I was on the phone with Keegan. He's wondering what the fuck is taking so long with the paternity results. I apologize for my foul demeanor. I will make it up to you if you let me."

I am giddy now because pretty fucking hot guy aka my boyfriend aka sex on legs is going to try and sweet talk me so he can get what he wants.

"We'll see how the rest of the day goes. What are we doing for dinner? It's the weekend, do you want to go out?"

"That would be good. I'll make reservations for seven thirty. Will that work?"

"Hot diggity dog, we're going out." I clap and jump up and down like a school girl.

Seriously, we haven't been out since the whole thing with Keegan. The part of Christian's brain that deals with reality took a little vacay, and he's been staying close to home. We've either been at his parent's for dinner or our place. Huh…our place. Christian has been dropping hints about me moving in permanently but with everything going on it's just said in passing.

I sit behind my desk and watch as Christian reads through the papers I gave him. He's concentrating so I don't want to interrupt him. I wonder if he realizes that when he's concentrating, he sticks his tongue out. It's hilarious, but he doesn't do it when he's in meetings. Makes me want to jump across the table and give him a place to stick it.

"Alright, I'm going to talk to Daniel. This is seriously fucked up. What the hell has he been doing for the last week, Ana?" He questions me but already knows the answer.

My door is closed so he gives me a quick kiss and tells me he'll be ready to leave for the day at four. Okay hotshot, four it is.

My cell phone rings and I know it's Harper.

"What up sister friend?" I laugh because we have this weird thing about nicknames.

"Hey, sissy. Are you still at work?"

"Yes, it's only two. Christian wants to leave at four so the next two hours need to fly the fuck by. We're going out tonight. To what do I owe the honor of your call."

"Have you heard anything about the paternity test? Keegan is seriously bummed because he's not got the results yet. Really how long does that shit take."

"They aren't back yet. That's the last I heard from Christian this morning. Did you see him today, how is he?'

"He's going stir crazy at home. Mia hasn't left his side despite Grace telling her to give him some space. He mentioned something about seeing Dr. Flynn. I think all this stress and worry is starting to weigh heavy on him. I know he talks to Christian about a million times a day, but something else is going on. Do you think I should let Christian know because we are all aware Keegan isn't…"?

"I think he'd appreciate knowing. Keegan is a big tough guy on the outside, but he's so much like Christian it's crazy. Both of them are pretty sensitive when it comes to family stuff. You should call him now. How's your LSAT review going?"

"Dad is a maniac. I've been at work every day for the last month, and I go home and study, and he then calls me when he's sitting around with mom and quizzes me on random shit. My test is scheduled for next week. If I don't pass this…"

"Whatever bitch. You are the smartest …well one of the smartest people I know. You've got this."

"Thanks. Alright, I guess I'll call Christian. Are you ever coming back to our apartment?"

"Umm, that is still to be answered. Christian has dropped some hints, but we've not had any time to really talk about it. I mean if we aren't at work, he's trying to molest me or we're at Grace and Carrick's."

"Okay, I'm going. Don't need to know the details of your sex life."

Ha ha…I knew that'd do it, "Talk to you later. Love you sissy."

Later That Day

As I relax in the bath, enjoying a glass of Shiraz and the quiet, I dream about what it would be like to live here all the time. Who the fuck am I kidding? I've been living here and its fucking awesome. I'm definitely bringing this up tonight. It's making me crazy.

Christian was going to join me but of course, the Ninjas needed him for some top secret meeting. If I'm not in danger, I'm not privy to the conversation unless he wants me to be. Fine by me. I can sit here and get all hot and bothered all by myself.

I haven't told you how my first-week indoctrination at GEH went. Like a fart in church is how is went. There are some catty bitches that work there. All was copacetic when the hot as fuck CEO was single and pissed off most of the time. Enter girlfriend and there's jealousy. Enter girlfriend who works at CEO's company and there's passive aggressive Hillary and her mean girl's club. Hillary is Andrea's assistant and Ros' assistant's assistant. Really, I'm not making this shit up. I've walked in on more than one conversation where I was the topic of discussion. I told Christian, under no circumstance, is he to step in unless I ask.

It was my second day, and I was waiting at Andrea's desk because I needed to drop off some papers for Ros, but her assistant was out for the day. Hillary was the only one at the desk. I was genuinely nice when I asked her how she liked working at GEH. She mistook my kindness for something else and warped into this passive-aggressive cow. I do believe I was referred to as the boss's piece of ass, but that is what she heard. And if you believe that bullshit, I've got a bridge to sell you. I was in the bathroom and heard her talking to some other mean girl, "I'm not saying she's a whore, but it's obvious her favorite shade of lipstick is Grey dick." Yes, I thought that one was quite clever.

I expected some jealousy and rude comments but this bitch is in a league of her own. I learned long ago not to engage with passive aggressive assholes, so I just smiled as she continued to hurl insults…but in a nice way. You know the ones I'm talking about…It must be nice being the boss's girlfriend, blah blah blah. I say if someone hates you for no apparent reason, give the motherfucker a reason. Here's a recap of our conversation…

"Hi, I'm Ana Steele. I work with Tom down in mergers." I was sincere.

"Yes, I'm aware of who you are. Mr. Grey is not in right now. What do you need?"

"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name…"

"Hillary Graham. I'm Andrea's assistant and Ros' as well."

"Oh nice to meet you. I actually need to drop off some papers for her. Do you know when she's going to be available?"

"Just leave them, I'll get them to her. I'm sure you have other people you need to be doing. I mean other things you need to be doing."

Insult one.

"Well, yes I am kind of busy these days. What's a girl to do?" I laughed because I knew that would irritate the fuck out this little skank bag.

She scoffs and gives me a big fake ass smile which I want to shove up her ass at this point.

"Is there something else you need…Ana," She says with a good degree of disdain.

"Let's see...How about you fill me in on your club membership. I mean, how do I get to join or am I barred because I am Mr. Grey's girlfriend and so happen to work here?"

"What club membership?" Oh, this is too easy. Dumbass.

"You know, the mean girls club that you head up. I overheard you and a few others in the bathroom earlier, and you all seem to know quite a bit about me. Maybe I should come to one of your meetings and actually introduce myself. Do you have a set schedule or is it just impromptu in the bathroom?"

Silence…I keel you! God, damn I love Jeff Dunham and those fucking puppets. Achmed the Dead Terrorist…fucking hysterical.

She wasn't quite sure how to respond so she just ignored me. Yes, that's the mature thing to do. It made me laugh so I decided to sit my ass down on the couch directly in front of her desk and fuck with her a little more. Hmmm, let's call Mr. Grey shall we. I knew he was in a meeting so I left him a humdinger voicemail. All breathy and sexy like, telling him how much fun I had last night and I couldn't wait to see him. I closed with …I love you, Christian.

She pretended not to be listening…yeah right. I decided I didn't want to spurn her on too much today, don't want her to get the wrong impression about me.

"I guess I can leave these papers for Ros with you. Please make sure she gets them as soon as she gets back from her meeting with Christian…I mean Mr. Grey." Yes, I might have said that with a tad bit of sarcasm.

"Sure. I'll see to it."

I start to walk to the elevator…this is before the garage episode mind you, so I'm still riding the commoners' elevator. I stop right before pushing the down button. I turn back to her and notice she was looking right at me.

"Hillary, I'm curious…You seem to have your ear to the ground. You know the go-to girl for all the office gossip. How is life for you down there in the gutter?"

Her face is beat red, and she can't seem to form a single word.

You want to fuck with me, bring it. But you better be prepared. I'm a strong, confident woman who will beat you down if you try to come after me. My daddy didn't raise no pussy who cries because some jealous wannabe needs to make herself feel better.

"Every girl has the right to be ugly, but you seriously have abused that privilege. It's a shame that you are so unhappy and jealous that you try to bring others into your misery with your insulting verbal diarrhea. Next time you look at your reflection in the mirror, maybe you will see just how negative and toxic you really are."

I turned and walked away.

"Anastasia." I open my eyes and see the most beautiful sight. A six foot four stud muffin wearing nothing but a smile.

"Hi, babe. Want to join me?"

This tub could fit a dozen of him, and he insists on sliding in behind me every time. I love that he needs to feel close to me. He makes me feel loved every moment of every day.

"Where you sleeping in the bath, baby? I worry that you're going to drown."

'No I wasn't sleeping, I was just relaxing and thinking about my first week at GEH."

"Are you happy you came to work there?" There's a little bit of sadness in his voice.

"Of course. I love working there, and I love getting to see you every day. You really have something to be proud of Christian in GEH. You have thousands of employees who are loyal, love their jobs, and they are so passionate about it too. Even more so, they love their CEO. Probably not as much as I do but all the same."

"Thank you, baby. I love my job. Not many people can say that, and it be true. I can't imagine doing anything else. I also love that you work there, and I can see you whenever I want. Not that I want to talk shop but we do need to talk about the Dexter deal. If this falls through someone's ass is on the line, and it surely isn't going to be your fine ass. Daniel fucked this up royally. I went through projections, and they are way off. Too low in fact."

"Do you think he's doing it on purpose…you know because he doesn't like the fact that he works for your company, and this project is my responsibility? He could be trying to sabotage everything."

"Why would he, it be career suicide. He knows that I wouldn't give him a good reference, and he'd be hard pressed to find another job in this industry."

"Hmm, all I know is that those figures were not the figures he showed me late yesterday. I asked him what was going on, and he really seemed perplexed by the whole thing. Daniel appears to be a smart guy, so I can't imagine he'd not be paying close attention. We are talking about a fifty-million-dollar acquisition."

We spend a few minutes in silence, relaxing and enjoying the feeling of one another, when he reminds me we have dinner reservations.

We're going to the club dinner, so I have to put a damn dress on and heels. Yeah, I'm back to wearing those now that my foot is healed. Yay for me.

Christian is waiting for the elevator with the Ninjas when I finally get my shit together.

"You look beautiful baby. All eyes will be on you for sure."

I finally get to wear this vintage Chanel short sleeve knit dress that Christian bought for me. It's tan and navy with these cute silver button accents. I couldn't decide on my shoes so I texted a picture to Kate and Harper of my two choices. They both picked the blue Jimmy Choo pumps with the four-inch heel.

"Thank you, babe. You look very handsome and much less CEO like in your sport coat with no tie. I like."

We make our way garage, and it looks like we're taking the A8 when I hear the chirp of the alarm and see the lights flash. The Ninjas are following not driving. Hmmm, this is different.

"How come Taylor's not driving?"

"We are going on a date so it would be sort of weird to have them in the car, don't you think?" He chuckles.

"I like your thinking Grey. That way if we want to make out it won't be like our parents are in the car with us."

We have a twenty-minute drive to the club so I turn on the satellite radio to find something worth listening to. I settle for the classical station. Christian loves classical music. I didn't think I did until he started playing it when we'd sit down for dinner or taking a bath. It settles him and most days he needs it.

We're just pulling into the valet when the sounds of a ringing phone come through the speakers.

"Grey." Why he can't just say hello is a mystery.

It's Keegan.

"What's up dickhead," Keegan asks.

"Hey fucker, Ana's in the car so don't be crude."

"Hi, Keegan. How are you?"

"Sorry Itty bitty. I am fucking fabulous. That's why I called. I finally got the paternity test results. It's not my baby. I knew it wasn't, but you never know, right."

"That's great news brother. Now you can get on with your life."

"Thanks. Finally, this shit is behind me so now I can chase after your sister Bitty. What do you think?"

"Not going to be much of a chase Keegan. She's been so worried about you and the baby situation. Now you are free from that, and you two can finally stop pussyfooting around the situation and just get it on already."

"Alright, well thanks. Got to run. Nice talking to ya…love you both."

"Hallefuckinglujah. Let's go eat baby. I'm starving."