Chapter 23

Mike knocked on the open hospital door, "Heard that someone woke up." He joked.

Kay smiled at her friend, "Hey Mike."

"Hey partner. Hey guys, you can come in." He called from over his shoulder.

Everyone walked in and smiles graced their faces as they walked in with Dina pushing a sleeping Farrah, wearing pink t-shirt, denim overalls and a pastel pink headband, in a stroller. Kay's smile widened as her friends made their way over to her bedside, "Hey guys. It's good to see you."

"You too." Gunter said, "You gave us quite the scare Daniels."

"So much so that you got Gunter here showing real emotion." Jordan joked putting his hand on the older man's shoulder.

"Boy, if you'd like to go home with that hand, move it." Gunter threatened making Jordan remove his hand.

"As you can see, not much has changed." Dina said with a laugh.

"Well, it has only been a few days" Kay joked, "I wouldn't expect Jordan and Gunter to become besties."

Just then Farrah started to stir as her bright brown eyes blinked open. Jonathan smiled, "Well, look who's up too." He said, walking over to the little girl.

"How did you get her to finally go to sleep in the first place?" Kay asked.

Jonathan shrugged, "There may have been promises about a unicorn." Farrah held out her arms to be picked up, "A promise I don't intend to keep." He said picking up his niece. He took the child over to Kay, "Hey Farrah, look who's up."

"Hi Farrah remember me?" Kay asked with a soft smile.

Suddenly, Kay's face registered in the little baby's mind and Farrah let out a smile before shyly burying her face in Jonathan's shoulder, "I think she does." He placed Farrah down on the bed as Cameron kept a hand behind her back to keep her from falling.

Farrah moved to crawl over to Kay. As she reached Kay's good arm, Cameron helped Kay adjust Farrah so she could hold the baby with one arm, "Hey baby girl..." Kay smiled.

Farrah gave a toothless smile (well, she had maybe four teeth) and placed a tiny hand on Kay's face before letting out a, "Heh."

"Yeah, I'm right here Farrah." Kay smiled, hoping the cuts and bruises on her face wouldn't scare the little girl but it didn't. Farrah leaned her head on Kay's shoulder and relaxed in her arms. Kay smiled and kissed the side of Farrah's head as she held the little baby tight, "Yeah, I missed you too." Cameron took the opportunity to take a photo of the two of them, Kay caught him this time, "Oh come on Cam, I'm not even-"

"It's just for us." He smiled, "Besides, you look beautiful." Kay rolled her eyes as Cameron sat down, "There's something else I need to tell you guys. Of course, Johnny already knows."

"What is it Cam?" Jordan asked.

"Well, Johnny and I were talking and while we both agreed to look after Farrah equally. Legally... I'm going to be Farrah's guardian."

Mike raised his eyebrows, "You mean... you're filing for a kinship adoption?"

Cameron nodded, "I know that it's kind of crazy-"

"It's not crazy Cam." Kay said with a smile making him feel at ease.

"We're due in court next month and the lawyer said that the paperwork can be finalized within a few months after that."

"So that's what you were doing when you weren't here." Dina said with realization.

Cameron sighed, "I know I can't ever take the place of her parents but... she needs me. I know she hasn't been in our lives long but I love this little girl. I want to be able to give her a..." He paused for a moment, "Somewhat normal childhood."

"Hey, she's going to have you for a father figure, don't get your hopes up." Gunter joked.

Cameron rolled his eyes as everyone laughed. Jonathan smiled at his baby brother, "He didn't even think twice about the adoption."

"And the only reason Johnny isn't the one adopting her is, despite his innocence, he did spend over a year in federal prison which may not go over well with a judge."Cameron joked.

"On the upside, I get to be the fun uncle and Cam has to be the buzzkill."

Kay laughed, "Cameron has to be the buzzkill? That's a phrase I'd never thought I'd hear." Farrah let out a little cheerful giggle and looked up at Kay, "Yeah, Uncle Cameron's not a buzzkill, is he?" She cooed at the little girl.

Cam rolled his eyes, "Very funny."

Suddenly something dawned on Kay, "What about the mystery woman?"

Johnny smirked, "Behind bars, wearing a very unflattering shade of orange."

Kay smiled, "How? I mean, how did you find her? I-I remember leaving her in the room she had locked me in."

"It was just... bad timing on her part." Jonathan said.

"How so?"

"After you had been taken in the ambulance and Jordan and Gunter took Cam to get him cleaned up, I asked Mike to stick around for a minute."

"Jonathan said he had a feeling he couldn't shake."Mike explained, "The Blancs weren't going anywhere."

"We already knew that she was the one who was keeping you hostage so we figured that if you had escaped, she wouldn't be too far behind." He crossed his arms, "So I waited her out." He smirked, "One mistake she made was teaching me all her tricks. She wouldn't try escaping through the back entrance. I had Mike wait by the second side door on the other side of the estate while I looked after my dear in-laws."

Mike shook his head, "He was right. She was even dressed like one of the maids. I almost didn't recognize her... but we got her."

Kay smiled, "So does that mean-"

"I'm out of the doghouse." Johnny smiled, "For good this time."

Kay pursed her lips, "What's her name?"

"Turns out it was Cornelia. Cornelia Berossi."

"What about the serum?" Kay asked with concern.

"Already taken care of." Mike assured her.

"No, I mean, there was one in my pocket, one I took from the mys-Cornelia."

"We took care of that too."

"Kay, why did she have the serum with her?" Dina asked.

"She..." Kay hesitated as she felt everyone's eyes on her, "She wanted me to drink it."

Cameron's eyes widened, "What?"

"And I actually considered going through with it."

"Kay, do you know what that serum could have done to you?"

Kay turned her head to Cameron, "Fully aware Cameron."

Dina knew that Cameron would never understand why if he didn't let himself shut up so she asked another question, "Why did you consider it?" She wanted to know.

Kay looked at her friend, "She said if I did, she would leave you all alone. Especially Cameron and Jonathan..." She chuckled, shaking her head slightly, "After everything she's done. It was tempting to believe her."

Jonathan nodded in understanding. Both he and Cameron understood what that woman was willing to do to get what she wanted, "What made you decide not to do it?" The older twin asked.

Kay was silent for a moment as she looked down at the quiet child in her arms who was clinging onto to her, the baby's tiny hands gripping the hospital gown she was wearing. She looked back to her friends, "I have too much to live for. I wasn't going down without a real fight."

Jonathan gave her smile of respect; she understood the value of the people in this room. Farrah started to fuss and started to try to kick her legs. Cameron quickly stepped in and took the baby from Kay's arms, "You wanna try walking again? How about Uncle Johnny helps you?"

Johnny rolled his eyes as he took his niece from his brother and stood her up at the foot of the bed, "Why don't we show everyone what you've learned? Okay Marshmallow?"

Cameron furrowed his brows, "I thought she was a sack of pudding."

"Well, I've come to realize that she's more like a marshmallow. I mean look at these fluffy little arms!" Jonathan grimaced at what he had just said, "Oh God, what is happening to me?" Everyone laughed making Farrah laugh too. He looked down at his niece as he helped her stand up, "Oh yeah, laugh at your uncle miss-missy. You're lucky I love you." He looked back up at everyone, "She's lucky she's cute." He said shaking his head.

Farrah gripped her uncle's hands as she took tiny steps from the foot of the bed to about midway before wanting to sit down again. Kay smiled, "When did she start walking?" Cameron and Jonathan didn't really know how to tell her that Farrah started walking soon after she went missing, "You know what, it's fine. I just... I'm disappointed I missed it."

"Cameron got a video of it." Jordan pointed out.

Kay turned to Cam, "You'll have to show me later."

"You just focus on getting better." Dina said placing a very light gentle hand on Kay's left shoulder.

Farrah wiggled her way out of Jonathan's hold and started crawling towards Kay again. Cameron picked her up before she could reach Kay. As Cameron had her sit in his lap, she stretched and pointed her arm to Kay, "I'm sorry Farrah but you gotta let Aunt Kay get some rest."

Kay held out her right hand and let the little girl grasp her index finger as Farrah smiled at her, "It's okay Cam. How can you say no to that face?"

"That's how she gets you!" He joked. Jonathan looked on as he pulled out his phone and quickly snapped a picture of the three. They would thank him later.

"So the case is... over."

Jonathan nodded, "Pretty much."

"What do you plan to do now?" Mike asked.

Cam and Johnny looked at each other before Cameron spoke up, "We were thinking of having a funeral for Fiona and Shawn. They deserved to be buried with dignity."

"When would you want to do this?" Kay asked.

"Probably within the few days." Cameron replied, "Just to get everything in order. Last funeral we arranged was Dad's."

Just then a nurse walked in, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid that Agent Daniels needs her rest."

"Rest?" Kay chuckled, "I've been asleep for days."

"You've been unconscious Agent Daniels, very different." The nurse reasoned with her.

"We'll see you later Kay." Dina said, giving her friend a light hug.

"Feel better Daniels." Gunter remarked.

Jordan gave her a thumbs-up, "You got him to show his feelings. Impressive." Making her chuckle.

Mike smiled at his partner, "Deakins said to take as much time as you need. I'll see you later."

Jonathan picked up Farrah from his brother's arms and placed her back in her stroller, "I'll watch her for a little while." He placed his hands on the handles of the stroller as Farrah starting speaking some baby babble, "Looks like someone's in a rush to start talking... wonder who she get that from." He joked as he and the others left the room, leaving Kay, Cameron and the nurse.

"You're comfortable with him staying?" The nurse asked.

Kay took Cam's hand in hers, "Yes."

"I'm not going anywhere just yet." Cameron smiled gripping her hand.

The nurse asked Kay a few questions before telling her that right now rest was the best thing she needed, "If all goes well, you should be able to go home in a couple of days."

"Thank you." Kay said giving the patient nurse a smile.

"I'll leave you to rest." With that the nurse left the room.

Cameron sat on the bed, facing Kay. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek as he examined her face. The bruising on her face had started to fade and the cut on her lip was barely visible. He was angry with himself that she got hurt because of him but he was just happy that she was okay, that she was still here. Kay didn't meet his eyes, "I wish you would stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" He asked.

"I don't know... what's wrong?"

Cameron sighed, "You got hurt because of me."

Kay placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned into her touch, "Cameron, I chose to step in front of that bullet."

He stroked her cheek, "It's not just that... someone hurt you to get to me."

Kay chuckled, "You just said that."

"I know, I just-"

"Cameron, look at me." She said taking his chin and having them make eye contact, "What happened is not your fault." She tried to reassure him.

He gave a sad smile, "You're amazing, you know that?"

She smirked, "So I've been told."

Cameron chuckled and then leaned in, causing their noses to brush together, "I love you."

Kay smiled as she pressed her lips against his, "I love you too... and your breath still tastes like hospital coffee." Cameron laughed as he got up to sit himself next to her, letting her lean her head on his shoulder, "Thank you for staying."

Cameron rested his head on hers, "Thank you for living."They closed their eyes to enjoy the peace and quiet but they soon both fell sound asleep and for the first time in weeks, they weren't worrying about tomorrow.

Things are starting to lighten up again... or are they? I can't believe I'm saying this but I think that there might be less than five chapters left in this story... keyword: might

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you thought, I love hearing your feedback!