Chapter Thirty-Nine:
It was a few days after Spinelli had wished Maxie an early "Merry Christmas" under the mistletoe, actually, as much as he couldn't believe it, it was Christmas Eve. It had taken some work with Alexis, but he had managed to get Kristina and Morgan's parents to agree to him taking them to see Michael before the rest of the family showed up later that night. He thought they needed some time with him without a huge crowd. They would only have less then an hour before Carly showed up too (he was picking Morgan up while she was still doing last minute shopping) but it would be a couple hours before the rest of the family came. Everyone had to see Michael for Christmas.
He knew it wasn't going to be easy. Kristina hadn't been allowed to see Michael since his horrible accident so this was going to be especially hard for her. That was one of his reasons to get there early. Another of his reasons was that he had only gotten to see Michael once since he had found out he was his brother. He had been slightly pre-occupied with the whole almost dying thing but once he'd finally gotten better, he'd gone down with some of the family the Saturday before Thanksgiving. He needed this time with his brother just as much as Kristina and Morgan did.
After taking the kids out for a very early supper, they were finally about to walk into Michael's room. He gave Kristina's hand a little squeeze before he opened the door. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, obviously from Carly and there was even a little tree sitting on a table. Then he looked at the bed. There was Michael, lying there looking to be asleep at first ... until you realized he was to horribly still for that. He closed his eyes for a moment. He hated seeing his brother like that. As soon as he opened them he looked down at Kristina. She seemed to have frozen a little at the sight and she had tears in her eyes. She pulled herself together as quickly as a eight year old could and followed Morgan over to Michael's bedside.
Spinelli broke the silence when he went to stand beside them. "Hello, Michael. It's your big brother, Spinelli - The Jackal. Kristina and Morgan are here too. We miss you so much. Merry Christmas." he managed to say. Oh, it was so hard to talk to him. Apparently Morgan didn't share that feeling though. "Hey, Michael. We put the Christmas tree up last week. Mama kept telling Jax it wasn't straight again, it was funny. I missed you lots. It wasn't the same. It's lots more fun with you. Mama cried when she pulled out your stocking. It took Jax a long time to make her stop. I don't like it when mama cries. Mama says you'll wake up someday. I wish you'd hurry." the little boy said without any hint of awkwardness. Spinelli felt tears in his own eyes as he listened to Morgan.
Spinelli and Kristina listened as Morgan made small talk with Michael for a while. Spinelli just didn't know what to say and Kristina seemed to be working up the courage to speak to the older brother she looked up to so much who now couldn't reply to her. Spinelli sighed. It shouldn't be like this. It certainly shouldn't stay like this, but the longer the coma lasted the smaller his glimmer of hope got. Life really isn't fair, especially if you're Michael apparently.
Morgan finally stopped talking and looked over at Kristina as if to silently say "Your turn now.". It took a moment, but the little girl took a deep breath and then began to speak to her brother for the first time in eight months. "Hi, Michael. It's ... it's Kristina. I really miss you, you know? It's ... everything's all so different without you. It doesn't feel right anymore." she said. She looked over at the Christmas tree in the room and there was a moment of silence before she turned back to Michael.
Spinelli once again spotted tears in his baby sisters eyes and his heart broke even more. "We always decorate daddy's Christmas tree together. You're always there. Even after I saw that guy get shot and I couldn't talk you helped me put some of the ornaments on. You're the big brother. You're supposed to be able to help us. You're supposed to be there. You weren't supposed to get hurt." she said as her tears began to fall. "It's ok, Kristina." Morgan said as he climbed up on the bed beside Michael and motioned for her to get on the other side.
The bed had been positioned so that Michael was almost sitting up and Kristina moved to be right beside her big brother and she lay her head on his shoulder. She sat there for a moment, crying silent tears as Morgan mirrored her on Michael's other side. Spinelli really didn't know what to do. Kristina needed Michael, Morgan needed Michael, they all needed Michael, he didn't think anything or anyone else could "make it better" right then. He found himself echoing his little sister as he whispered "It wasn't supposed to be like this.".
Surprisingly it was little Kristina who spoke up again, continuing her one-sided conversation with her comatose brother. "Mama and Daddy and ... lots of people say you aren't gonna wake up. Spinelli and Carly say you will someday. I think you will too. Mama gets upset when I say that, so I don't anymore but I still know you'll wake up someday. 'Cause you're Michael and you're always ok in the end. Like the stories you used to tell me. There always has to be a happy ending and there can't be one without you. I know you'll wake up 'cause you're always there when we need you and we need you now so I know you're trying. You're the best big brother ever. Spin is too, but he's different. I want both my big brothers. So you have to wake up soon. Please, Michael! I love you!" the little girl half-whispered before going back to her silent tears.
Spinelli couldn't stay silent anymore. He grabbed his red-haired little brother's too still hand and whispered "I love you too, Little Dude.". After a short silence Morgan spoke up again and when Spinelli looked up he saw tears in the little boy's eyes as well. "You really gotta hurry now Michael, you can't miss Christmas." the seven year old told his brother. They all stayed like that for several minutes, the children crying for the one thing - the one person they knew they couldn't have for Christmas this year and Spinelli trying his hardest not too. Kristina gave Michael a heartbreaking kiss on the cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder again and continuing to cry. Spinelli began to pace.
Spinelli's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Michael's eyes slowly start to open. 'No! Not here! Not now! I can't explain this to them, they won't understand!' he thought. Spinelli closed his eyes as he stood in the corner of the room and prayed that the little ones wouldn't see before Michael's eye's closed again. Time seemed to freeze when he heard a weak and hoarse voice, "Kristina? Morgan?". Everything in Spinelli wanted to jump, to dance, to do something when he looked over at that bed but he couldn't make himself move. Kristina and Morgan both sat straight up and with a joint cry of "MICHAEL!" they threw themselves into the arms of a brother who - although he was quite weak - could finally hug them back.
Michael quickly glanced around for some kind of adult and spotted Spinelli. "Spinelli, um, what happened?" he asked. Before Spinelli could even begin to explain a very excited Kristina did for him. "You were with daddy and a bad guy tried to hurt him but they hurt you instead. You hurt your head and they said you were never gonna wake up but me and Morgan and Spinelli knew you would!" she said so fast that they could barely make it out. Before Michael or Spinelli got the chance to speak Morgan spoke up. "Oh, yeah! Michael, you'll never guess - Spinelli's our big brother! Daddy didn't know 'bout him 'till he got real sick like Kristina did but I gave him special blood and now he's all better and he's a really cool big brother!" he said.
Michael took a moment to process the extreme amounts of information he had been given before his eyes scanned the room again and he suddenly looked very upset. "How ... how long has it been?" he asked. Spinelli finally got to answer that one "Eight months. It's Christmas Eve, Michael." he said. Suddenly, Spinelli realized he might should inform someone of this turn of events and he went running into the hall. "Doctor?!? Um, Nurse?!? He's awake! He woke up! And he's talking!" Before he could blink there was a stampede of people running into the room. Everyone froze when the child they had all been told was a hopeless case turned and looked at them.
They all stood in a stunned silence before a doctor walked over and quickly checked Michael over and declared it a miracle - he seemed to be doing fine. As one nurse shooed everyone else out so the child could be with his family Carly walked in. "Hey guys! How's everyone ... MICHAEL!!!" she screamed as she ran to her son. As the mother smothered her son in a hug the child tried to reassure her. "Mom! Mom, I'm fine now. Really. I'm ok. I'm ... awake." he said. "How did ... when did... my baby! Oh, I love you so much!" Carly said before returning to hugging and kissing her son.
Spinelli finally managed to speak again. "Krissy and Young Morgan were sitting on the bed and they were talking to Little Dude and they were crying. Krissy kissed him and then they both leaned against him and then he ... opened his eyes and he said their names." the young man said, reverting to the nicknames even in his struggle to make sense. Carly nodded and her eyes filled with tears. Suddenly she shot up. "I have to call everyone!" she declared as she walked over to the phone at the other end of the room. Kristina and Morgan had gone back to sitting on the bed and Spinelli sat in the chair beside it. "I can not begin to tell you how glad I am to have you back, Little Dude." Spinelli told his younger brother. Michael smiled, "I guess it's nice to be back, but I don't really remember being gone. You know, I always thought you'd be a great big brother." he replied in an attempt to change the topic.
Suddenly all eyes were on Carly. "No, no Sonny really! I wouldn't make this up and I'm not crazy! He's awake!" she yelled into the phone. With that she gave an annoyed huff and marched over to Michael. "Tell your father that you're awake!" she said as she handed him the phone. Michael looked a little nervous, but he slowly put the phone up to his ear. "Hey, dad." was all he managed to say before the whole room heard Sonny's reaction. After reassuring his father that he was fine, Michael handed the phone back to his mother who went back to the corner to call Jason, Jax and her mother. She'd get one of them to tell the other's she said. One thing was for sure, everyone would be there earlier then planned tonight.
Spinelli sat and watched Kristina and Morgan excitedly fill Michael in on everything they thought of. Suddenly everything felt right. Life had been so good since this Summer but something had been missing, Michael had been missing. Not anymore. The last missing piece of his life fell into place. He had a father, he had all his siblings, he had his friends and he had Maxie. He had never thought life could be this good. This was going to be the perfect Christmas.
A nurse walked over and asked Kristina and Morgan to come get some hot chocolate with her. They didn't want to leave at first, but Michael told them he wasn't going anywhere and they reluctantly followed the nurse. With the children out of the room, Spinelli knew there would be more explaining to do but one look at Carly told him that she had told the nurse to take the kids, so it was alright. Carly pulled another chair over by Michael's bed at sat down. After a short silence Michael looked at his mother. "So ... I was shot?" he asked. Carly nodded and took a deep breath before she explained. "There was a sniper, he tried to shoot Sonny, but the bullet bounced off something and hit you. We weren't sure you would make it at first." she said as she began to cry again.
Spinelli gave him self a moment to decide what to say - he had to make sure Michael understood - then he took over. "It was a horrible time. Everyone was terrified. They operated on you and it was much to close for comfort. I'm not sure you realize how many people love you. Maxie and myself were at the hospital for a long time. We prayed in the chapel. So many people prayed for you. It looks like the prayers were answered. We only had to wait." he told the confused child. "I ... wow." the stunned little boy said. It was obvious that Michael was deep in thought, but after a few moments he spoke again. "Where am I?" he asked. Carly ran her hand through her child's hair as she answered, "You're in a special facility not to far from Port Charles. We moved you here in May, about a month after it happened. I've visited as much as possible and I brought Morgan a lot. He didn't understand at first, but after a while he would just talk to you like it was normal. And that alone broke my heart.".
It was obvious that Michael had a hard time absorbing the information. "What ... what about dad and Kristina and Jax and everyone else? Did they come?" he asked. Carly didn't seem to know how to answer and so Spinelli jumped in with another carefully worded answer. "Sonny," he began, ignoring Michael initial confusion at him using their father's name. "was devastated at what happened. He blamed himself and ... he really thought that he had lost you. At first he just could not make himself see you like that but later he started to come more often. Alexis was afraid it would upset Krissy, so this was her first time here. As for myself, I was quite ill for a while and have only been able to see you once before. The other's have all come many times." he explained. Michael nodded. After a moment he smiled and looked back over at Spinelli. "Well, Morgan and Kristina have pretty much caught me up on them. What have you been up to, big brother? I think - from what Morgan said, that you had a bone marrow transplant ... after you found out you're our brother. I want explanations." he said with a smile.
So Spinelli spent the next few minutes giving Michael a slightly edited version of the events surrounding his cancer and told him that he was engaged to Maxie. Michael looked rather shocked at first at that fact, but then he congratulated his brother. It seemed impossible that only an hour or so ago the child had been in a coma he was never supposed to wake up from. Miracle was definitely the way to describe it. Suddenly Sonny burst into the room and ran for his son. After wrapping his son in a hug he began chanting "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" over and over as Michael tried to calm him. Finally, he pulled back and there were tears running down his face. "It's over Michael. No more ... mob. We left it, I really left it. Months ago we set something up, it went perfectly. We still have body guards ... how could I have been so stupid!?! It was all my fault! It shouldn't have taken you ... it never should have gone that far before I stopped it! I love you so much, how could I have risked you like that?!?" he barely managed to say.
It took a few minutes, but with Michael assuring Sonny that he didn't blame him, the man managed to calm down. Then Jason and Jax came in almost at the same time. Jax hugged Michael before smiling at him and saying "I should have known you never would have missed Christmas. I wish you hadn't cut it so close though, I could have used some help with the tree again!". The lighthearted reunion with his step-father was off-set by a very rare show of emotion by Jason. He hugged Michael until Spinelli wondered if ever planned to let him go and there were tears in his eyes when he pulled away. "You have to stop doing this to me. Nobody ever should have doubted you though. You're the bravest kid I know. Nothing can take you down." he said.
Between reunions, Spinelli had slipped away to call Maxie and she was on her way as well now, coming to join the rapidly growing crowd. The nurse brought Kristina and Morgan back up and within minutes Jax had them wrapped up in some story as they sat by Michael's side. Max had come in when Jason did and had been standing in a corner trying to figure out what to say, he finally walked over to Michael and gave him a quick hug before telling him "You know I'm never letting you out of my sight again, right?" and making Michael laugh. The room went silent at that sound, everyone had missed it so much. Bobbie, Mike and the Quartermaines (including Luke and Lulu) showed up in rapid succession overwhelming Michael with hugs, kisses, tears and "I love you"'s. Luke had even come up to the bed and placed a hand on Michael's shoulder while offering a "Welcome back to the land of the living, kid.".
Maxie and Kate had shown up together and both offered quick hugs and smiles to the child. Maxie stayed by his side a little longer to speak with him for a minute. "You know, we're going to have to get to know each other better. You're going to be my brother-in-law in a few months. Spinelli ... everyone really ... it just wasn't right without you here. I'm really glad you're back." she told him. Michael smiled, "I think I could like having a sister-in-law." he said. Spinelli observed the crowd and easily came to the conclusion that the whole lot of them would have been thrown out by now if the staff wasn't in shock as well. There were at least five different conversations going on at once. Plans were being made to have Michael moved to General Hospital later that night, people were discussing who hadn't been able to come that night but would be coming to see Michael tomorrow - apparently Dillon and Ned were trying to get a plane now and there were several people talking to Michael.
As Spinelli moved as far from the crowd as he could, Maxie came and stood by him. She kissed him before she even spoke. "I'm so happy Michael's awake." she said. Spinelli beamed, "I finally have my brother back. He will actually get to know me as his brother!" he said excitedly. The beautiful young woman leaned against her fiance. "So, best Christmas ever?" she asked. Spinelli looked over at Michael, with the little ones still on each side of him. "And it isn't even Christmas Day yet." he replied.
Author's Note: Well, this was it: The Big Christmas Chapter that I have been planning for months. I only hope that in my rush to actually get it written down before we left for vacation that I didn't do it any harm. I have been as realistic as possible before this so I am allowed my cheesy Christmas miracle. It's a fic for a soap opera after all. I really. really hope you all like it and please review guys! I know people read this, nineteen people have this on alerts but I only have twenty-one reviews overall. This was a really, really important chapter to me so please give me a Christmas present and let me know what you think.