A/N: I think I coughed up a lung today ahahahaha (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ* My medication makes me a bit drowsy, so please, please tell me if some of this stops making sense after a while lol. I didn't revise or proofread yet and I know the structure of the chapter is particularly choppy and very banal and doesn't flow well, but you know... I got kind of lazy and I just wanted to get through this. There are too many characters LOL. But I think for not really trying to put flow in this chapter, it came out okay maybe? If you hate it, just let me know and I can definitely take some time to rewrite it ahahah :3

I appreciate all the kind words and the patience you guys have had with me! Sorry about the long absences! Things are really starting to get hectic in my life and I've been trying to keep my life together! Nevertheless, you guys have continued to support me and that means more to me than you can even imagine. Thank you so much for being such amazing people. It means the world to me, and I really love you all. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but Lucaya is bae.

Maya wasn't accustomed to having much hope for things, so when she officially received the results of her brain scans and physicals and tests from the neurologist, and it turned out that she indeed came back positive for epilepsy, she wasn't surprised. Her life was already a big mess.

What was one more issue to add to her already growing list?

The worst part hadn't even been finding out that she was most likely going to have to be on medication for the rest of her life to contain the seizures. The worst part was that she would have no real cure unless she opted for a surgery in the future to remove parts of her brain, which she absolutely refused to. Just the thought of her head being cut open made her breath shorten dangerously and her body break out in a cold, nervous sweat.

It was seriously nervewracking, knowing she now had a condition that could hit her at any time and manifest in a possible dangerous way, but she supposed she should be thankful that despite the blows to her head from her fall, the blunt trauma hadn't caused much worse issues. Unlike her mother, who the doctors suspected due to her collision with the car and then with the concrete on the sidewalk, might have much more severe repercussions. If she would wake up, that is.

From then, even more neverending tests were run and blood drawn. She'd had a final examination with both Dr. Stevens for her general care, and Dr. Torres for her convalescence after the C-Section in order to determine her progress and what kind of medication would be best for her at the moment. It was pretty interesting to have both sibling doctors work on her physical at once; she could definitely see the similarities between them. And the little bickering they had in the hallway regarding their mother's anniversary gift was amusing and a great respite from how anxious Maya was about the whole thing.

In the end, she had been prescribed a mild dosage of a medication to test out in order to see how she would respond to it. It was something of a trial run at the moment to see how well (or badly) she responded to the medication. To her dismay, she also was required to remain in the hospital during that time to monitor her in case she had another seizure. It sucked that she was stuck in the hospital for an unknown amount of time, but Riley had promised her they would bring her painting supplies at some point so that she could have something to enjoy in her drab room.

Once Maya was done with those physicals, she'd had to have a slight rehabilitation session due to her slow reflexes because the muscles of her legs and arms had atrophied a bit due to disuse during her coma as well as all the time she had been spending in the hospital bed. It had been strange trying to walk on her two feet at first and use her arms. Her body was a little weak, and she felt like she had noodle limbs that just weren't as in control as she would have liked. But Maya refused to spend her time being wheeled in a damn wheelchair, so she had really worked to get back some semblance of her former mobility and had made unbelievable progress in record time. She still felt a bit awkward walking sometimes, and there were occasions where she had to think a little harder or exert more effort for motions like crossing her arms and legs, but for the most part, her motor functions were coming back naturally much, much faster than her rehabilitation coordinator, Dr. Linetta, had predicted. She expected Maya to make a full recovery in a couple day's time.

They had ultimately decided she could use crutches to aid in her efforts as her legs regained their full strength once again, but Maya was not allowed to leave her room without a nurse or supervision yet until she was cleared. They'd finally taken out her urinary catheter though, so she could pee on her own again, and Maya no longer needed the multiple IVs connected to her. It was nice to finally start feeling a little liberated. She finally felt like a human again instead of some near potato at the mercy of the doctors.

And best of all were that once all the tests were taken care of and she was considered stabilized, Dr. Stevens had permitted people other than family to finally see her, provided that it was never more than two at a time.

It was fairly early in the morning, so Maya didn't expect anyone to show up until later, but when she'd left her bathroom and came back into her room, Lila was there, dressed to the nines in her pressed blouse and heels and full makeup. She had a case that morning, but she wanted to at least see Maya before she went off to work. She'd brought Maya some books she figured Maya might like if she wanted to challenge herself intellectually as well as a sketch pad and some pencils for her to pass the time.

"Thanks for bringing me this stuff. I was starting to wonder what I could have for entertainment."

"No problem." Lila said, "So have you seen Jellybean yet? We all wanted to, but we figured the first people who should visit her are her parents."

Maya stared out the window. "No… uh… I wanted to wait a bit."

For Lucas.

Truth was, she desperately wanted to see Jellybean. But Maya was scared. She was just so scared and she didn't want to go by herself. She didn't want to go through being a mother alone. And she didn't really know how to talk to Jellybean, what to say to her, or how to be her mother right now. Maya was a mess. She could barely take care of herself, much less a baby at the moment. Where was Lucas when she needed reassurance?

"…But I guess I'll go today." Maya said uncertainly, unsure if she had just lied or not.

"Good. NICU babies need their parents' support, so you do that as soon as possible." Lila said, eyeing Maya suspiciously, "Also, you're properly eating, right? Foods that will help the healing process?"

"Yes Lila." Maya rolled her eyes good naturedly, sitting back against the pillows and stilling when her motions had made a slight twinge of uncomfortable tight pressure run through her abdomen near where her stitches were. "Where would I even be able to get any junk food in this hospital?"

"I know Riley brought you some candy." Lila deadpanned. "You were hiding it under your pillow."

Maya's brows rose. She thought she had hidden them impeccably well.

"How did—"

"I was hospitalized once upon a time too. I know how it works. Plus I checked while you were in the bathroom. They've been confiscated." Lila's expression turned serious. "Maya, you don't know how glad I am that you and Jellybean are okay. I wish you'd told me about the C-section the day you found out though. I would have stayed at home with you, and I could have prevented the contact Thomas had with you."

"You know about that?" Maya nervously licked her lips. She had wanted to keep that a secret from everyone else because she didn't want to put them in jeopardy or have them targeted by him.

"Riley told me that my ex-husband was involved somehow in the reason why you broke up with Lucas and disappeared." Lila's hazel gaze darkened dangerously. "I put two and two together and figured he had blackmailed you because that's what he does. When Thomas and I separated seven years ago, and Lucas and I moved to New York, he blackmailed me too. Told me that if I did not live in the apartment he paid for and if I sought a divorce, he would take it to court for him to have full custody of Lucas to prevent me from seeing my own son. And at the time, I was less equipped to take care of Lucas on my own than him, so he probably would have won the case too."

Maya's fists clenched, her hands shaking the slightest bit at the notion of his horrible blackmailing. It reminded her of the way he had torn her down with his words, breaking down any guarded walls she put up by crushing her with words that pinpointed everything she was terrified of. He had known just what to say to ruin her and make her want to run. Even now, Maya still could feel the chills down her back from the cruel way he had addressed her, his dangerous eyes and cold words. And she wasn't sure she would forget it anytime soon.

"You probably know this by now, but Thomas is a coldhearted, soulless master of psychological abuse. He unfortunately can read people very well and he uses that to his advantage to make people bend to his will. It's what makes him such a cutthroat and perfect government attorney. And at the time, I shared a bank account with him, and I did not know New York, plus I was just terrified of the threat so I listened and allowed him to pull all the puppet strings." Lila shook her head in disgust. "It was the worst mistake of my life, letting him almost run my life as he wanted. But once I realized his words no longer affected me, I slowly started to take measures to separate our life from his before he tried to ruin Lucas'. You know Lucas developed his irrational anger issues because his father controlled him and put him down in almost all of his childhood, right?"

Maya nodded solemnly.

"After Lucas got kicked out of school, New York was also a way for me to give him an escape from that life before it destroyed him. And then he met you and your friends and started an upward track in his life that made me so unbelievably happy for my baby boy. This past school year he's been the happiest I've ever seen him, and I know it's because of you. You have a calming effect on him that I think he truly needs." Lila met Maya's eyes, smiling warmly. Maya fought the urge to look away. She had broken Lucas' heart mercilessly, and no doubt Lila knew. Why was she being so open and kind to Maya when Maya had basically caused her son so much pain that he regressed in a few short days? "His efforts to become a better person made me take more proactive measures in ensuring our security from Thomas should he decide to try to blackmail us again. And once I did that, I requested a divorce. He protested, make no mistake. He had it set in his mind to ruin my life with Lucas, but I refused to back down and I think once he realized he had no power over me, no matter what he tried to say, he lost interest and went with the divorce."

When Maya didn't respond, Lila reached down and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Maya, I know what you're thinking right now. And I don't blame you for running, okay? I don't blame you for anything that happened. I'm sure you reacted the way anyone would have if faced with Thomas' vile verbal abuse. So do not blame yourself."

"But I hurt Lucas…" Maya muttered, feeling her throat start to tighten a bit dangerously, "I hurt him and on top of that I've put you both in danger now. He said he's going to ruin your lives and make things hard for you both. He said he has connections that can pull strings to ruin Lucas' future. He said if I didn't break up with Lucas that he would make it so that Lucas' future would be stilted and ruined before he even had a chance."

"Well… He's not lying. He does have those connections and he very well could utilize them to try to make things much harder for Lucas, but I doubt even he has so much power that he can have that strong an impact."

"But—"

"Maya, while I appreciate your concerns for me and my son, please let me handle Thomas on my own. It's not your call to do what you think is right regarding him. You were collateral damage in something much bigger than you, and I wish you would have just come to me first." Lila responded sternly, though her expression was still warm, "He may think he has a noose around our necks still, but truth is, we've long been out of his clutches. I'm a lawyer too, remember? I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. Let me worry about the wellbeing of my son and me. Let me handle Thomas, okay? You just be your wonderful, beautiful self."

"…Okay." Maya nodded, feeling marginally better and more secure about the whole thing from Lila's reassurance. "Are you sure you guys will be okay?"

"We'll be just fine, darling." Lila gave her hand another squeeze before checking her watch and straightening, "Now, I really have to head off to work. But once you're discharged, I will see you for dinner over at our place with my granddaughter, yeah?"

"Yeah." Maya smiled. "I'll do just that."

"I'll be back tonight to visit you again. Do you need anything or want anything?"

"I, uh…" Maya tapered off, chewing on her lower lip and holding herself back from asking what she really wanted to ask. "…How's Lucas?"

"…I don't know. He's been kind of out of it since seeing you in such a state of poor health and immobile." Lila's expression turned pensive. "We're all kind of giving him his space because I'm pretty sure he just needs some time to come to terms with what happened to you."

Maya's eyes widened, her heart beating faster. "He was here? In the hospital?"

"The day you got admitted. After your surgery, he stayed by your side for a whole twenty four hours waiting for you to wake up. I don't even know if he ever went to the bathroom. When we found out you were in a coma, he left and hasn't come back as far as I know." Lila gave Maya a serious look. "If you want me to be blunt about him really, then I'll be honest. Lucas isn't doing so well. The girl he loves fell down some stairs, had an emergency surgery to deliver her baby and almost died from blood loss before ending up in a coma for longer than a week. After which, he was informed that that same girl suffered from a seizure. I think you probably know how messed up he is right now."

"But why didn't he come back once he found out that I was okay?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Maya. Even I don't really know what's going on in his mind right now. And I know everything about him." Lila gave her a sympathetic smile. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. He'll come around when he's ready. I'll be back tonight, okay?"

Maya nodded. "Thank you for stopping by."

"No problem, Maya. Get some rest."

As Lila left the room, Maya fell back against the pillows, a weight lifted off her shoulders from learning that Lucas and his mother were safe from Thomas. The tight pain in her chest released the vice grip it had on her heart from knowing that Lucas did come to the hospital. That despite her brutally ripping out his heart and stomping on it, he still cared.

But the relief she could have felt was diminished quite a bit by the fact that even though yes, Lucas still cared, he was certainly staying away now. Why hadn't he come back yet? Had he give up on her?

Her train of thought was broken when Missy suddenly popped her head into the room with a smirk.

"Knock, knock."

"Missy? Hey." Maya smiled. She hadn't expected any visits from her friends until later. It was still quite early in the morning after all. "What are you doing here?"

"Billy and I are heading to UNC for a college visit today but I just needed to make a quick stop here before we left." Missy yawned as she made her way over to the side of Maya's bed. "No way was I going to let you die or something while I was gone, scrub. I wanted to make sure you were still alive and breathing and threatening to kick people's asses again. Also, Jemma says you still have a job waiting for you whenever your maternity leave is just about up."

"Good to know." Maya snorted, rolling her eyes good naturedly. "But thanks for checking up on me. And thank you for getting me to the hospital when you did Missy. If it hadn't been for your quick thinking, I probably could have had a worse outcome."

"You owe me now. Hope you're ready for me to bring it up at every turn of the second." Missy said smugly. Then her goofy expression sobered as her brows furrowed. "But seriously. I'm really glad you're okay. That coma you fell in really scared the shit out of me. And I don't usually get scared of anything nor do I care about things. I was so confused."

"It's called finally growing a heart, Missy."

"It's gross. I don't like it."

Missy checked her watch with a sigh.

"I would stay and chat more, but I really do have to leave because Billy threatened to leave my ass here since I made him late to another college visit earlier this month." Missy winked saucily. "I made it up to him though. Behind the bleachers during the pep rally though he said that's not going to work anymore. We'll see about that. No guy can keep a coherent thought when their girlfriends' mouth is around their—"

"So when did you say you were leaving?" Maya deadpanned, cutting her off before she could finish her statement.

"One of these days, we will swap sex stories. You can't avoid it forever."

"Is that a challenge? Because I can definitely take you up on that."

Missy laughed. "Come see me when you're let out of this hell hole, okay Maya?"

"Okay." Maya smiled. "Seriously, thank you for everything, Missy. You're a good friend."

"Eww… Friend? Who said we were friends?" Missy's nose wrinkled playfully in disgust, a slightly embarrassed blush painting her cheeks. "Don't get all sappy with me. Our relationship works best with that thin line of hate between us."

"Yeah, whatever."

They laughed and then Missy leaned down and gave Maya a hug, squeezing her slightly before letting go with a cheerful smile on her face. She straightened and readjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Have fun at UNC."

Missy waved one last time before hurrying out of the room when her phone's ringtone started blaring through her bag.

Shortly after Missy left, a nurse came by to run a quick physical on Maya to see if she had any serious physical responses to the medication at the moment. Aside from her head feeling a little light, she didn't think she felt anything unusual. But then again, she'd only just started on the medication. She had been warned that if she felt anything that truly felt outside the norm to let a nurse know immediately, but for the most part, Maya supposed she felt fine.

She had another quick rehab session in order to ensure her motor functions were still relatively normal. And they were for the most part, albeit a little slower than she was used to, but she had definitely improved. Drawing felt a little weird because the fluidity of her hand and wrist wasn't quite back yet, but it was getting there. At least nothing really had changed. It was a relief for Maya who'd been a little worried that maybe she might not be able to draw anymore.

After the nurse had finished up and left, Maya expected to be left to stew in her thoughts once again, but a little over a half hour later as she was sketching the view from her window of the buildings in the distance, she heard Shawn's voice from her doorway.

"You're up, kiddo."

Maya glanced up at Shawn with a smile. "Hey."

"It's good to see you actually awake for once." Shawn said, ambling over to her and giving her a warm hug, "I was starting to think that I'd never get the chance to talk to you because my timing was always bad."

"How long have you been back in New York?"

"When Cory called me and told me what happened to you, I came back as soon as possible. But you weren't exactly available to talk to for a while."

"That's kind of what being in a coma does to you." Maya snarked sarcastically. "Makes you unavailable to do much of anything really."

"Not funny." Shawn rose a brow, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I thought I'd missed a chance to talk to you at all one more time. It's terrifying seeing someone you love and care about in a situation like that. And I've seen my fair share of people I cared about in the hospital. I lost one once. I never want to lose another."

Maya didn't really know how to respond to that, so she nodded silently, staring at her drawing.

"Did you happen to see anyone else on your way here?"

"You mean like your friends?" Maya nodded and Shawn continued, "Not as far as I'm aware of. I know Riley was forced by Cory to go to school. I think she and Minkus are going to visit you in the afternoon. But I came here with Cory and Topanga. They're with your doctor right now, discussing financial issues. I'm going to head back over there, but I thought I should make my presence known to you."

Maya swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling trepidation.

"Let me guess? The cost of our hospital stay is really high. Especially with the surgeries and the fact that all three Harts are currently in the hospital."

"You catch on quick." Shawn said a little grimly.

Maya set down her sketchpad and sat up in her hospital bed, staring at her fingernails with a sigh. She already had to handle every expense for Jellybean. What was she supposed to do about this stuff too? And with her mother down for the count, Maya wasn't really sure what options she had. How many jobs would she have to hold just to be able to sustain life while paying off the hospital bills? Maya was honestly glad that Lila was letting her live in her home because if she had to find an apartment to live in and had to pay rent, she wasn't sure she'd be able to manage. This was way more stressful than she had expected.

"Is it bad? My financial situation?"

"It's not light, I will tell you that much. But Cory, Topanga, and I have thought of a solution until you get back on your feet and are stable. I just wanted to check with you quickly for your permission to do so before we decided." Shawn said, "Since your mother is currently incapacitated and you currently can't leave the hospital, I've decided to help take care of your hospital bills for you. All three of you."

Maya's breath caught in her chest as she stared at Shawn, her jaw slackening the slightest bit at the serious expression on his face.

"Shawn… Y-You don't have to do that. That's too much. I don't want to be indebted to—"

"You won't be Maya. I've decided to do this because I care about you and your wellbeing. Your mother can't take care of you at the moment, and we're not going to leave you to handle this on your own. It's our responsibility as adults who have been there and watched you grow up to help you in tough times."

"But…"

"It's okay. I can handle your hospital expenses and medication right now until you've settled a bit more into motherhood and can start handling your own expenses. But in return, I need you to promise me something. I need you to consider going to college at some point in your future."

Maya frowned in alarm. "Shawn, I can't."

"Maya, you can. Maybe not now. Maybe not in the near future, but you'll definitely be able to later in the future." He asserted, "Just because you have a child doesn't mean that you should drop your entire life. You can still give your all to your baby. And you can still get the degree that your mother's always wished you could have. And it's not just her, Maya. Cory, Topanga, me, even your friends. We all want you to have the chance to go to college too. We want to see you achieve your dreams. And I know you did want to go to college. You just never believed you could get in anywhere because you never believed in yourself. So if I help, I want you to go after what you want. Can you do that for me?"

"…I just… I know what you're saying, and I get it." Maya wrung her hands together. "But there's just too much going on in my life for that. I'm going to be taking care of my child. It might not even be for several, several years before I even consider trying to go back to school for a degree. I want to make that promise, but I don't know if I can right now."

"Fair enough." Shawn nodded. "If you can't make that promise, then can you at last promise me that whenever in the future you don't think things are too hectic anymore, you'll consider it?"

"Yeah." Maya smiled. "I can do that."

"Good. Then don't you worry about a thing. I've got you covered." Shawn leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back gently. "You're strong, kiddo. Even after all the difficulties you've had to endure and all this emotional turmoil, you're still trucking on."

"Thank you." Maya said into his shoulder, feeling the back of her eyes prickling with tears, "I don't know how to repay you."

"Stay strong, Maya. Follow your heart and always chase your dreams, okay? Believe in yourself." Shawn chuckled, "If you can survive falling down stairs, a placental abruption, losing so much blood that you need a transfusion, an emergency surgery, a coma and a seizure, I'm absolutely positive you can survive being a mother. I have no doubt. You'll be okay."

Her eyes pooled with tears and she broke down, sobbing in Shawn's shoulder, clutching his back as he shushed her gently as she cried.

Maya was lucky.

She knew she was so unbelievably lucky that she had people to take care of her and love and care for her wellbeing. She was so so lucky for the friends and family she had. For the people who had always stuck by her and helped her to grow.

Lila providing a home for her to raise Jellybean in with her father.

Lucas accepting the responsibility of fatherhood, making her feel truly and deeply loved, and showing her that she was wanted in people's lives, despite all her shortcomings.

The Matthews housing her when she was kicked out and providing the open and constant familial support she had really needed to get through the pregnancy.

Cory and Topanga assuming the role of her parents and guiding her in her difficulties.

Missy's wisdom and insight in Maya's life and delivering a brutal reality check when Maya needed it.

Farkle charting and mapping her situation and making sure she was healthy and in good condition and lifting her morale and spirits effortlessly.

Shawn showing her that being a mother wasn't all fun and games, and now taking charge in helping her get out of this obstacle.

The doctors putting all their energy in making sure that Maya and Jellybean could both survive.

Some people at school who hadn't treated Maya any differently or made her feel like a pariah for having gotten pregnant.

Kermit easing Maya's fears and responding earnestly and apologetically to all of her words and frustrations and vitriol and anger towards him.

Jellybean being a constant support and companion and allowing Maya to get to know her little by little.

Katy coming back to Maya and caring about her still regardless of how messed up their relationship had become and how many promises they had broken.

Riley never straying from Maya's side and being the calming presence she needed to get through the rough times and for showing Maya that no matter what was happening, she could always count on her.

Maya knew she owed the relative ease of her teenage unplanned pregnancy and the aftermath and everything that had gone down to them all, because she knew without them and if she had been on her own, she would never have made it.

"Thank you." Maya mumbled, letting out a soft, tearful laugh, "Thank you so much."