A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

A POV

"Hey.", Sawyer says as Mia wheels him into my hospital room. "The doctor discharged me, but we thought we'd drop by and see you before leaving. Of course I'd rather be walking and not in this stupid wheelchair."

"It's hospital policy.", Mia murmurs. She pushes the wheelchair beside the sofa which she settles on. "Christian, what are we going to do with these patients?"

"I have no idea.", Christian laughs, earning a glare from me. "Sawyer, I'm glad you've been released."

"You and me both." He looks at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry. Here I am gloating about leaving when you're still in here." Today marks a week since the shooting and my hospitalization, and it's been the longest week of my life.

"It's fine. I'm happy that you're getting out of here. Besides Dr. Moss said I'm on track to get out here tomorrow.", I reply.

"I know you were planning on moving in with Christian before the shooting so are you going to his place or the apartment you share with Kate?", Mia asks.

"She's going to our place.", Christian answers with a wink. "Kate said she'd pack some clothes for Ana to have until we get a chance to get the rest of her things moved."

"That's good. I might as well go ahead and tell you that I'm going to be moving in with Luke." Mia's eyes are on Christian as she awaits his reaction which is surprisingly calm "No freak out?"

"No freak out. It's your life, and you're free to live it how you want." Shocked by his words, Mia looks at me. "Recent events have made me reazlize even more that you need to relish the good in life."

"That's a wonderful attitude to have.", Sawyer says.

"It sure is.", Mia adds. "Of course the plan is for me to only stay with Luke until he's fully recovered." She stands and kisses Sawyer's cheek.

"I start physical therapy on my shoulder next week, and I'm hoping it doesn't take long to get back to where I need to be."

"The important thing is to take care of yourself and not rush things.", Christian tells him. "Your job will be waiting on you when you return."

"Well, guys, I think I need to get this guy out of here so he can get home and get some rest.", Mia says while Sawyer gives a thumbs up. "Bye." She rolls Sawyer out of the room, making me wish I were the one leaving the hospital.

"You'll be out of here tomorrow.", Christian says as if he can read my mind.

"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I wish I were leaving today." I lean my head back on the pillow and stare at the ceiling. "Other than having my tonsils out when I was ten this is the first time I've been in a hospital, and it's driving me crazy."

"I'm sorry. I'd give anything for you to not be going through this." I reach for his hand. "You wouldn't be in here if I weren't for me."

"Oh, no you don't. You're not about to blame yourself for what happened. You told me Sawyer had initially blamed himself, and you told him it wasn't his fault. Well, the same goes for you. Elena and Leila are the ones responsible."

"But they were connected to me." I tighten my hold on his hand.

"You had no idea they were going to end up being such conniving bitches. The bright side is they're behind bars and will never bother us again. We're free from them." He nods but still seems torn. "What?"

"They may not bother us, but Samual Donovan is still out there."

"He is, and we'll be cautious. However, I'm not going to let him or anyone else dictate how I live my life and neither should you. We're about to move in together and embark on a new stage of our relationship. Things are going to be good." He finally cracks a smile.

"You're a wise woman.", he says.

"I've had a chance to reflect on things just like you did."

"Welcome home.", Gail says as Christian guides me into the living room.

"Home.", I smile, taking in my surroundings.

"Can I get you something to eat or drink?"

"No thanks. I'm going to sit down and rest a bit." Christian helps me ease on to the sofa as she heads into the kitchen. "Thank you for helping me."

"Baby, you don't have to thank me.", Christian replies. "The sofa is comfy, but maybe you'd be more comfortable in the bedroom. I can help you change into some pajamas so you can rest in the bed for a while."

"I've been in a bed a week straight, and I'd rather not get back in a bed until it's time to go to sleep tonight." He looks in the direction of the bedroom and then back at me. "I'm not changing my mind."

"Ok.", he mutters as he picks up a copy of the Seattle Times from the top of the coffee table. "I saved this for you." He opens the paper and shows me an ad at the bottom of the third page. It's an advertisement for The Clothing Palette, using the ideas I developed. "I realize the ads started running last week."

"But this is the first time I've seen one of them." I take the paper and admire the ad. "I've done other ads in the past, but it's still surreal seeing them in newspapers and magazines."

"I'm proud of you.", he leans over and kisses me.

"Thanks. Victoria Lewis sent one of the few bouquet of flowers that you didn't send. She attached a nice card that wished me a good recovery and that she'd like to work with me again in the future. I had been looking forward to last weekend's anniversary party. It was going to be nice seeing everyone come together to celebrate the boutique's big milestone."

"Have you ever thought of going into business on your own?", Christian asks.

"Open my own advertising agency? It's not really something I've thought about."

"Maybe you should. I think you'd have a successful business."

"You're biased, and I'm happy with being at the Nelson Agency. Mr. Nelson's been supportive and is great to work for."

"I'm aware of how great the agency is. After all I did hire them to handle the advertising for Rawlings Motors. I just think you might want to leave opening your own place as an option.", he says as my eyes grow heavy. "You need a nap."

"I'm actually going to agree with you."

C POV

"How did she do last night?", Carla asks me as she and I along with Ray stand outside the bedroom where Ana's resting. I was planning on staying home today, but Ana and her parents all insisted I go into work for a while.

"She did ok. I helped her change the bandages despite her claiming she could do it on her own. We both shed some tears when the bandages were off." I rub the back of my neck and stare at the door. "Maybe I should not go into the office. I can always work from here."

"Christian, go to the office. Carla and I will take care of things here.", Ray says.

"My dad's right. Go to the office.", Ana giggles. I push the door open and see her sitting up in the bed. "You've already been out of the office a week."

"I'm the boss though. I'll miss a week if I want to.", I smirk. She pulls the covers back and is about to stand. She pulls the covers back and is about to stand. "Don't get up on your own."

"Don't treat me like a child. I may have just got out of the hospital, but I'm not helpless."

"No one said you were.", Ray tells her. "But Annie, you've got to realize you can't just jump back into things. You've got to take it easy, and that means letting people help you." Ana glances at her parents and then at me.

"Fine. Will someone please help me up so I can go and get some breakfast?" Carla and Ray both are about to help Ana, but I wave them off and help her out of the bed. "Thanks."

"Ana, I want you to meet Paula Baker." Ana sets her cup of tea down and smiles as her secondary CPO stands in the middle of the living room. The plan was for Baker to assist Sawyer in watching Ana, but that's changed now that Sawyer's out of commission. "She's going to be your security, but I'm also planning on adding another member to help watch you."

"It's nice to meet you.", Ana says as Baker shakes her hand.

"It's nice to meet you as well. I gave Mr. Grey my word that I'm going to give my all in protecting you.", Bakers says.

"You shouldn't have much trouble for a while considering I'm stuck here.", Ana mutters as Carla and Ray walk out of the kitchen.

"Even so, I look forward to my new assignment."

"That'll be all for now.", I tell Baker who scurries out of the room. "I'm going to head to the office, but I'll be home around noon unless you need me to come home earlier."

"Christian, I love you, and that's why I'm going to be nice when I say leave. I'm going to be fine. I've got my mom and dad along with Gail and Baker." I stride over and bend down to eye level with Ana. "I'm going to be fine."

"I know you're in good hands." Almost losing Ana has shaken me to the core, making me want to be with her as much as possible. Our lips touch and slip into a slow burning kiss. I finally break the kiss and can't help but feel embarrassed when I remember Carla and Ray are in the room. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for showing your love.", Ray chuckles.

"Andrea told me you were in here." I look up from the computer screen and see Ros standing in the doorway of my office.

"I'm here although for only part of the day." She closes the door behind her and sits down in one of the chairs across from my desk. "Thank you for keeping things afloat during my absence."

"I only did my job.", she shrugs.

"You did a damn good job, but you always do."

"How's Ana doing?"

"She's ok." I twirl my pen between my fingers "She's still in a lot of pain and will be for a while." My eyes drift to the window while my thoughts drift to Ana. "I laid in the bed last night and watched her sleep. I finally fell asleep after about two hours. Thinking about how I almost lost her is both upsetting and infuriating."

"I can see how it would be. I never really liked Elena and Leila, yet I didn't think they would be capable of having someone try and kill Ana."

"Desperate people will do desperate things.", I growl as Ros's eyes land on the print out on top of my desk. "That's a listing for a building not far from here." I slide the paper over so Ros can have a better look at it.

"It looks like a nice building. Is it possibly going to be a small GEH branch?"

"No. It might be a good location for Ana to open an advertising firm."

"Ana's going into business on her own?", Ros asks.

"Um...not exactly or at least not yet.", I murmur. "I mentioned the idea to her, and she said she hadn't considered the prospect of having her own company."

"And you still decided to look at potential properties for her?"

"I didn't see the harm in looking."

"I'm glad you had a good day at work, but you could've stayed gone longer.", Ana says. I remove my tie and grab a tee shirt from the closet.

"I was gone long enough." I walk over to my briefcase. "I've got something to show you." I grab the print out from the briefcase and sit on the edge of the bed where she's resting. "Have a look at this." She studies the photo of the building. "What do you think?"

"It looks like a lovely building. Are you thinking of buying it for work?"

"I might be interested in buying it although it depends on certain factors."

"What factors?", she asks. I raise a brow, and she seems to be understanding what I'm getting at. "You want to buy this for me to use as a location for my own advertising firm."

"I'd like to buy it for that reason. I haven't seen the place in person, but the location is nice. It's not a huge building, but it's large enough."

"I told you I wasn't interested in going into business on my own.", she snaps. "Did you think I was just saying that?" She tosses the paper on the bed. "I don't get this sudden interest in me being out on my own."

"Because I see how talented you are.", I reply.

"Mr. Nelson sees my talent as well which is why he gives me accounts. Not everyone wants to be their own boss."

"I know that."

"Besides, I wouldn't want your help if I were to go out on my own. I'm capable of finding a location."

"Yes, but I could help make things easier.", I sigh.

"Easier by throwing your money around? No thanks." She massages the side of her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please accept my decision." I'd like to convince her to change her mind, but it's evident that's not going to happen at this point in time.

"I'll accept your decision."