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Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 33: Coming Back

By: LoveInk

A week later…

Michaela watched Jesse from her place on the chair next to his bed. She'd long since been discharged, but she'd spent the last few days dozing either in a chair next to Vince's bed or Jesse's. It'd been a while since she'd gotten a good night's sleep. It was hard for her to sleep in the uncomfortable chair and impossible to sleep at home without Leon beside her.

"Move," she ordered the still form on the bed in front of her. He was too still for her liking. She wanted to shake him awake, dump water on him, something to make him move, to make him open his eyes. Everything would be all right if he just opened his eyes.

She felt her eyelids start to droop and rubbed at them, trying to keep herself awake. She curled up in the small chair, letting her eyes close for just a brief moment.

It took Leon almost a week to feel comfortable leaving Letty alone with her cousins. Letty finally had enough of him watching over her and practically kicked him out of the house. From there, he drove as quickly as he could to the border. Once in California, he didn't bother stopping at the fort, but drove straight to the hospital. After parking his car haphazardly, he ran into the lobby. The nurse looked at him with worry in her eyes. "Can I help you, Sir?"

He nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Jesse McCarthy, please?"

A sad smile crossed her face. "He's up on the third floor."

"Thank you," he said, nodding to the nurse.

He didn't bother waiting for the elevator, choosing instead to sprint up the stairs. He counted down the numbers until he reached the right one. Once at the door, he hesitated, his hand hovering over the handle.

Sucking in a deep breath, he summoned all his strength before entering the room. His eyes landed on Jesse. He slowly approached the bed, his fingers slowly curling around the railing. "Hey brotha," he croaked, a lump suddenly forming in his throat.

In her dream, Michaela heard his rough voice. It calmed her, lulling her into a deeper sleep. Her dream felt too real to be true. She swore she could even smell his cologne. Someone brushed a stray hair behind her ear and she inwardly cursed herself for being a light sleeper. Furrowing her brow, she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, willing the dream to come back. "Go away, Mia."

Her only response was a low, gruff and all too familiar chuckle. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch; it couldn't be. She opened her eyes slowly and was met with a pair of beautiful green eyes looking back at her. "Hey Princess," he said, reaching out a hand to softly stroke her cheek.

Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a tight hug. The tears came before she could stop them. "You're here," she sobbed into his neck. "You're really here."

He held her securely against him, rubbing a hand up and down her back as he kissed her temple. She let him go to get a good look at him, holding his face in her hands. A part of her thought she was still dreaming and then he kissed her, long and hard. She could feel his tears gathering on her fingers as he held her close. There was no way a kiss like that could be a dream.

They pulled back and just stared at each other. Only a few days had passed since they'd last seen each other, but it felt like years. His fingers gently traced over her face. "Hi," she said, her voice still choked by tears.

He chuckled quietly. "Hey Princess."

"How did you know?" she asked, still shocked he was there.

Leon shrugged a shoulder, a smirk turning up the corner of his lips. "My sister told me."

A guilty look washed over Michaela's face. It was clear Alex hadn't just told him about what happened to Jesse, but also about what she said. She wasn't surprised Alex told him, but she was a little angry about it. She deliberately went behind her back and told him anyway even after she'd specifically said not to. "I told her…"

"She's a terrible liar," Leon cut her off easily. "As soon as I asked her about Jess, I knew something was wrong."

Michaela sucked in a sharp breath, she felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest. "You called her instead of me?"

"Police aren't tracking her, Princess," he replied quickly. She frowned, still hurt by the snub. It made sense for him to call Alex, but it still hurt. He looked over his shoulder at Jesse. "How's Jess?"

"No one seems to know. Some say he'll wake up soon, others say he won't wake up at all," she said, studying his back as he approached Jesse's bedside. His shoulders were tight as his long fingers grabbed onto the bed railing. "How's Letty?"

Leon shrugged a shoulder but didn't turn around when he answered her. "All right, I guess. I took her to the hospital in Mexico, waited for a few hours while she was seen and when she came out…she wouldn't talk to me."

Michaela's hand unconsciously rubbed over her stomach. Alex's words played over in her head Letty might be pregnant too. That might be why she wouldn't say anything to Leon. Had she gotten luckier and been able to keep it? She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "She get to her cousin's all right?"

He nodded as he sat down at the foot of Jesse's bed. "Yeah. I offered to take her back with me 'cause her cousins are shady as hell, but she wanted to wait for Dom. I hope he gets to her soon."

"She'll be fine. Family's family. No one will bug her," Michaela mumbled before heaving a big sigh. She knew she would have to tell Leon what happened to her. "Lee, I have to tell you something."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What's up, Princess?"

She wished he wouldn't look at her like that. Like she could do no wrong. Like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. After she told him what had happened, he was going to hate her. That she was almost sure of. She couldn't handle that. Not right now. Not when her world was just starting to get put back together. "I love you."

He gave her an inquisitive look as though he knew that wasn't what she'd wanted to tell him originally, but he didn't say anything. He gave her a small smile and nodded. "You too, Princess."

Vince flipped through the car magazine Mia had brought for him while she flipped aimlessly through her own gossip magazine. Periodically, she would sigh as if something were bothering her and then turn the page loudly. He glared at her, he was sick of all the sighing and moping. "What the hell are you sighing about?"

"Nothing," she said though it was clear it wasn't nothing. She grabbed another magazine and flipped it open. A sharp gasp left her lips when she saw who was in it. "Oh shit!"

"What?" he asked, sitting up to get a better look. "What happened?"

On the page filled with paparazzi pictures was one of Ronnie and Alex sitting on the shore of a lake talking. Alex had that sad smile on her face that Mia had seen many times in the short period when she and Vince weren't together. The caption under the photo read, "Did Ronnie steal Eddie's girl before he left the band?". Mia shook her head in silent answer to the captions question, it was clear by Alex's face that it was not Ronnie who had stole her heart. "It's Alex," she said with a soft smile.

Vince's eyes widened. Had she gotten back together with Eddie already? It hadn't been that long since he'd last seen her! "With Eddie?"

Mia laughed and shook her head before handing him the magazine. "With Ronnie."

He traced his thumb gently over her face. Dressed in a simple tank top and jean shorts, she was beautiful. Although it was pulled back in a pony tail, her hair looked shorter than usual. "She looks sad," he commented, his voice rough and soft.

"She is sad," a voice interjected from the doorway.

Mia screamed when she saw Leon standing there. She jumped up from her chair and ran at him. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

Leon had never gotten a hug like this from Mia, so he wasn't quite sure how to react. He awkwardly patted her back. "Good to see you too, Mia."

"I can't believe you're here! Does Mickey know? Was she the one who finally called you? Did you hear about Jess? Have you heard from Lex?"

He smirked, this was the Mia he was used to. "Yes, she knows. Alex told me everything."

Vince fought the urge to laugh. That was his girl, always doing the right thing. "How is she?"

Leon didn't have to ask to know who he was talking about. He'd just gotten off the phone with Alex after reassuring her a million times that he was fine, he'd asked about her life. He let out a lengthy sigh. "She's…alive."

"That all you're gonna give me?" Vince questioned, his tone a little angry. Mia took the opportunity to slip out of the room; she'd ask Leon for real information later.

"You think you deserve more?" Leon shot back as he sat down in the chair next to his bed. He shook his head at Vince. "Man, I warned you."

He hung his head down as he nodded. "I know."

"She misses you," Leon admitted quietly. "It's killing her that she can't be here right now."

"She can be. She's not that far away."

He shook his head. "Nah, V. She needs some space."

"I'm surprised you're mad at me right now. If the situation was reversed, I'd be about to kick your ass."

Leon shrugged a shoulder. "Looks like you're pretty banged up already. Plus, she wasn't crying when we talked. You make her cry, and then we'll see."

Vince sighed and ran his good hand through his hair. He'd seen her cry enough; he didn't want to go through it again. "If I get her back, it won't happen."

Leon smirked. "Not a question of "if", it's a question of "when". You wait for her and she'll come back. I can promise you that. You're lucky."

It took Vince a second to respond. His mind was still reeling from what Leon had said. He sounded way to confident that she was going to come back to him. "How's that?"

"If the situation was reversed, Mickey wouldn't take me back. Not for the shit you pulled."

Vince chuckled as he nodded in agreement. "You honestly think she's going to take me back?"

"Yeah, dawg," Leon said bobbing his head up and down enthusiastically. "So you better think up one hell of an apology if you want to get that ring back on her finger."

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~Love Ink