Gah! Sorry for uploading and reuploading but for some reason this chapter just didn't want to be posted! :(

So this chapter is particularly short, so I figured I'd post it up earlier than usual! :)

Thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers: Rue Dawn (Sorry about the cliffhangers! I didn't notice that I'd done more than one in a row!), Mrz Letty Ortiz-Toretto, Violet201, and GallagherGirl4Evah! Your reviews are all so nice and encouraging! Thank you! :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mickey and Alex

Diamond in the Rough

Chapter 34: Good News, Bad News

By: LoveInk

Three days later…

Vince stared at his braced arm and sighed. The nurse had been walking him through physical therapy exercises, but it hurt like a bitch and he was starting to wonder what the point in doing it was. It wouldn't fix things with Alex. Wouldn't bring her back. Sure, Leon had assured him countless times that she was going to come back, but he was getting tired of waiting. The older nurse, Dory, walked over to him with a small smile on her face. She set his food down in front of him. "You're looking skinny, Vincent. Eat up."

Vince nodded, rolling his eyes at her. "Thanks."

"You know, I have this hunch that something good is going to happen to you today, Vincent."

"Is that right?" he asked, humoring her. "Something to do with me getting out of here?"

She nodded. "Papers were drawn up this morning, sweetheart. You should be outta here tomorrow," she said chirped. "You happy?"

He shrugged a shoulder. It was good news, sure, but he could think of better. "Hell yeah."

Michaela paced the floor in front of Jesse. She had to tell Leon. Had to say something. But how do you tell someone you lost their child? Even if it was an accident, he was going to blame her. And he was right to, too. She should've known. It was her body after all.

She glanced at Jesse's still form. "What do I do, Jess?" she asked as if he would answer. She thought of what he'd told her before, the way to get Leon to listen to her about why she made him leave Vegas. Just yell it at him. She smiled, not good advice in this case, but she still loved Jess for that.

The door opened, revealing a tired looking Leon. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her pace. The act was so unlike her, it was almost comical. "You're pacing."

Michaela stopped short and nodded. "Yeah."

"Why?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I can't sit in that chair anymore," she lied.

"Why don't you tell me what's really on your mind, Princess?" he asked on a sigh as he sat down in the aforementioned chair.

She inhaled deeply as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Remember when I jumped off that truck?"

He winced as the image came into his head along with the feeling of pure fear. "Vividly."

"Lee, I was pregnant."

Leon blinked as the words sunk in. "Was?"

"Apparently pregnant women aren't meant to jump off trucks," she joked, her voice shaking as tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "I lost the baby…our baby."

He felt his heart sink in his chest. "Are you all right?"

She nodded quickly, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. "I'm fine," she mumbled. She couldn't tell whether his reaction was good or bad. He stood slowly, and she panicked, afraid he was leaving. "Leon, I didn't know, I swear. I just thought I skipped a period because I was stressed or something. I didn't even think. I mean, we're always so careful…"

He didn't head out though; he headed towards her and pulled her to his chest. She could feel his nose nuzzle her head as he buried his face into her hair. "I'm so sorry, Princess," he murmured against her hair. "I should've been here."

A sob escaped Michaela's lips as she clung to him tighter. This was why she loved him. She had just done one of the stupidest things she'd ever done in her life, yet he was still there to hold her. He was even apologizing to her! "Not your fault," she managed to say through her tears. "I'm sorry. I was so stupid. I should've known…"

Leon pulled away and studied her face. He shook his head from side to side slowly. "Don't be sorry. We have plenty of time to have kids, all right?"

"Yeah? You're not mad?"

He shook his head again. "No, baby. I'm just glad you're alive," he whispered, brushing her tears away with his hands. "We'll have our chance some day, now just wasn't the right time."

"God, I love you," she said on a light laugh. Relief washed through her, his reaction was better than she could've ever hoped for.

Leaning forward, he caught her lips in a soft, warm kiss that showed her just how much he loved her more than his words ever could.

Alex sat on the beach, her feet buried in the warm sand. It felt good to be back in LA; almost like she'd come back home. Her fingers played aimlessly with the chain around her neck. She wasn't used to wearing necklaces, but she hadn't wanted to lose the engagement ring so she kept it around her neck for safekeeping. She heard the sand crunch as someone approached her from behind. "Figures you'd come here," Leon's gruff voice commented as he threw himself onto the sand next to her.

"Mmm," she hummed back in response. She'd called him on her way up to see if she could talk to him before seeing everyone else. "How are things?"

"Shitty," he murmured on a sigh. "You hear about Mickey?"

"No. What happened?"

He let out another sigh before running his hands through his hair. "She lost our baby during the heists."

Alex tore her eyes away from the sunset and let them settle on him. He looked exhausted and worried. His posture was slumped and bags seemed to have taken permanent residence under his eyes. She leant her head against his shoulder to show him she was there for him. "I'm sorry, Lee."

"Don't be," he said on a shrug. "It's a blessing in disguise, you know? We're not ready for kids."

She only nodded in response. "Speaking of kids…"

He looked at her, his eyebrows raised. "You?"

"I went to the doctors because I've been feeling sick. They took some blood and are running tests. Said it'll take a few days."

An amused smile spread across his face. He wasn't ready for kids of his own, but he sure as hell would love to be an Uncle; that meant all the fun and none of the discipline. "Is that what made your decision? The fact that you may have a demon seed planted in you?"

Alex hit his arm as she scowled at him. "No. My decision was made the second I walked out of that hospital room; I was just too stupid to see it at first. Ron helped me with that actually."

"Oh yeah? What pearls of wisdom did that meathead have?" he asked as he placed a tooth pick in his mouth. He'd never met Ronnie before, but had seen enough pictures and heard enough stories to develop his own opinion of him.

"None of your business," she said rolling her eyes at him. He'd only make fun of Ron for the coin toss thing. "How's Jess?"

The grin on Leon's face quickly faded. "I don't know, Lex. They keep talking about life support and DNRs and all that crap. Most of it goes over my head, but Mia gets it. He's a donor so they're pushing for us to take him off it," he explained bitterly.

"Did the doctor's say there's a chance he'll wake up?"

"They don't know. No one seems to know anything in that fuckin' hospital," he said on a heavy sigh as he ran a hand over his face. "You tell anyone you're back?"

"You. Obviously."

Leon nodded. It made sense. If Mia had known, there was no way she could keep it to herself. "Coyote's got one more day in the hospital, you know?"

She paused as she thought of what that meant. One more day in that stupid bed, in that ugly room, and then he'd be home. That meant one more day where she could take control of the situation, where he couldn't do very much but stay in bed. It was certainly an advantage; if something went wrong, she could just leave and he couldn't chase after her. "You think I should go?"

He shrugged indifferently before he stood up. "Shorty, it's up to you. It'll probably get you more privacy. I can block the door for you and no one will eavesdrop. 'cept me of course."

"Yeah, maybe," she said on a breath. She ran her hands through her hair as she sighed. "I just want everything back to the way it was before all this mess, you know? We were all happy."

He held out a hand to help her up before pulling her into a hug and kissing her cheek. "You and me both."

Short and sweet and a little sad (sorry)! Let me know what you think!

The next chapter is happier, I promise! :)

~Love Ink