A/N: Hi all! Here's the next chapter in our little saga. Enjoy! And again... thank you all for reading and reviewing. :)

P.S. Editing might be rough. My eyes are crossing. Time for bed. LOL

Chapter Twelve

"You're awake," Alexis was pleasantly surprised when she pulled back the cubicle curtain and found Garrett's open eyes.

"How's Sam?" He had been going crazy since he woke up, wanting to know her condition.

"She's stable. They just took her down for an MRI… so I thought I would come and check on you." Alexis approached his bed, looking carefully over his bandaged leg, "How are you?"

"I'm fine…"

"You lost so much blood…" She felt her emotions rise in her throat again as she grasped his hand.

"I'm okay, Lexie." Garrett gave her a weak smile, "I'm just worried about our daughter… Did the doctors say anything?"

"Nothing new…" She shook her head tears fell to her cheeks, "Just that they were amazed that she doesn't have any other injuries or broken bones that they can tell… they think her head got the brunt of the impact."

"It worries me that she still hasn't regained consciousness…"

"I know…" Alexis nods in agreement as she fights to hold back her tears, "But, I'm just so glad you're both here in the hospital where you can be properly cared for. When we were sitting there, waiting for the paramedics and both of you were laying unconscious beside me… I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless…"

"I'm sorry, Lexie… I'm sorry I scared you." He watched as she tilted her head adoringly.

"Don't you dare be sorry… I'm just so grateful you're okay." She shook her head as the tears fell, "Garrett… I just can't stop thinking about what could have happened if we didn't get there when we did. And if you weren't there… If you didn't get her out when you did, she would've been in the car when it caught fire. You saved Sam's life."

"We both did… We wouldn't have found her if it wasn't for your mother's instinct, you know."He weakly raises his brow.

Alexis watched Garrett carefully as his eyes grew heavy. She glanced up at the I.V. bag of dark red liquid before looking back with concern, "You should get some rest…"

"You need to check on Sam…" He closed his eyes for a moment as Alexis gently ran her hand along his hairline.

"Yeah…" She leaned in and placed a soft kiss to his forehead and then upon his lips.

"I love you, Lexie…" Garrett smiled as his blinking slowed and he fought to keep his gaze on her teary face as it inched closer to place another to his lips.

"I love you, too…" Alexis brushed her hand along his cheek as his eyes closed and he drifted to sleep, "So much."

"Gerard!" Luke exclaimed with a sly smirk as he approached Garrett's table in Kelly's, drawing him from his daydream.

"Hi, Spencer," He couldn't help but smile. Luke was growing on him, "How are you?"

"Fine," Luke observed his computer and the papers strewn about, "Don't you have an office for this?"

"Uh," Garrett chuckled, "Actually not. I've decided to hold off on the office for now."

"Oh," Luke was confused, "I thought you were looking to bring your business here? You're not going back to the agency are you?"

"No, no…" He could sense Luke's accusatory tone, as if their friendship depended on that answer, "I'm just not sure how permanent Port Charles is for me, that's all."

"What are you talking about, man? You just moved in!"

"I know…" He shrugs.

"Natasha." Luke sighs.

"What?"

"This is about Natasha." Luke prods and watches as Garrett inhales deeply and focuses back on his papers, "Gerard… you have to give her some time."

"Yes, I know," He nods, looking back up at the man on the other side of the table, "I am giving her time. But I don't know if time is going to make a difference to her."

"She doesn't trust easily, she's had a hard time with that in her life."

"Because of me…"

"Not only because of you, Gerard. Her life has been full of mistrust… I mean, her father kept the truth from her about her own identity."

"Yes, I know. And that's why I can't blame her for not being able to forgive me for everything that I've done." Garrett puts down his pen, sitting back in the chair, "I was lucky that she forgave the first time after everything that I did when I first came to town."

"Well, you were caught off guard. You were used to putting up the front for so many years…"

"Right." Garrett laughs ironically, "But I couldn't stop there, now could I?"

"Okay… so you can't blame her… but I mean… This situation, it's not like its black and white or cut and dry here."

"Yeah, but, Luke… She was finally trusting me again." Garrett couldn't help but smile at the memory of their time together, "I love her… I love her more than I've ever loved anyone. We have a daughter… and a grandson. We share so much. And I wanted more than anything for things to move forward between us. I wanted it so much that I couldn't even think about anything else."

"About the minor details, right?" Luke raised a brow and then retreated, "Listen, I understand. I really do. No one knows better than me what it's like to be stuck in a situation that you can't get yourself out of. You get in so deep… things get so complicated and you can't get out. And you can't fathom leaving what you have behind." He watched the recognition wash over Garrett's face and almost a relief that someone understood.

"I couldn't." Garrett paused for a moment, "I couldn't even think of it. I guess part of me knew that this would happen but I didn't want anything to change. It was just so good, you know?" He shakes his head, "My life… was a mess. It was broken. I was living in limbo… just going through the day to day routine. And then Sam walked into my office one day… and everything changed." He smiles, "When I finally came to Port Charles and it was all so real... things just moved along so quickly… getting to know Sam and Daniel. But, Lexie… she was… well, there wasn't much getting to know her. We kind of just picked up like…" He shrugs.

"Like no time had passed…" Luke smiles.

"Yeah." Garrett agrees with a wistful smile crossing his face, "When I look at her… she takes my breath away. She is more beautiful now than she was 30 years ago. And, now, seeing her with our daughter… and with Molly and Daniel." He smiles, "She's just amazing, you know?"

"I know," Luke nods. He did know. He admired his Natasha more than he could say.

"But I did this." Garrett draws a deep breath, pushing away any emotion that was threatening to show through, "It's my fault that we are in this situation. It's my fault I lost her 34 years ago… and it's my fault I've lost her now."

"Gerard… I think you're being a little hard on yourself here. I mean… I know Natasha…and I know that she can be pretty stubborn at times. And I also know that she isn't making this easy for you."

"No," Garrett chuckles, "No, she definitely isn't. But don't get me wrong… she wants me to have a relationship with my daughter and grandson. She really wants that. It's just a little hard to do when she doesn't want to talk to me."

"So what do you do? I mean… have you tried to talk to her?"

Garrett's eyes widened as he met his friends, "Have you ever tried to talk to her when she didn't want to talk to you? It's virtually impossible. I mean… we almost had an all out brawl in the middle of the P.C. Market the other day."

"What?" Luke couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah. I ran into her, Molly and Daniel in the produce department…"

"Did you talk?"

"I got out exactly what I just told you about the office and she was furious."

"Furious? Why?"

"Because she took that as meaning that because her and I are no longer seeing each other I don't care about my daughter and my grandson." He watched as Luke rolled his eyes, "Yeah. So it was one step forward and five hundred steps backward."

"So?"

"So…?" Garrett raised a brow.

"So that's it? That's how you're going to leave it?"

"Luke… It's almost been a month of this back and forth. Honestly… I'm starting to think that it would be better for me to go back to Manhattan. Sam and Danny can come and visit me as much as they want… it isn't that far. And eventually when things settle down, I was thinking that I might even buy a house outside of the city, so it would be closer and more kid friendly."

"That's all a very good plan… but don't you think it would be beneficial for everyone if you stayed nearby? You and Sam have just started to really get close. You don't want to put a wrench in that."

"You're right. I don't." He sighs, "But I also don't want to put a wrench in their family, either. They had a really good thing going before I came into the picture. The Davis' are a powerhouse… they have an amazing bond and I don't want to come between what they have. Especially what Sam and her mother have…"

"I don't think that would happen. Alexis would never let that happen…"

"She wouldn't want to, of course not. But she can't help how she feels about me, Luke. She can't get past it. And I just don't want to take the change of causing any sort of rift between them."

"Don't you think if you decide to leave town, you might end up doing just that?" Luke raises a brow before continuing to provoke the thought, "Your daughter's going to be upset… and she's going to be looking for someone to blame. She doesn't have to look far…"

"It's not Lex's fault, though." Garrett shook his head. This was too complicated… everything in his life was too complicated, "It's not her fault."

"I know that." Luke emphasized. "And you know that. But you know your daughter and her mother. You're all too aware, I think, that when Natasha is hurt… watch out. Hell hath no fury, right?" He watches as Garrett nods, "Your daughter is scarily the exact same way. And when the two of them go at it together..."

"I know…" Garrett couldn't help but smile, "I guess I don't know what to do, Luke. I really don't."

"Do you want some advice?"

"Isn't that what you're doing here?" He raised a brow and a smirk curved his lips.

"Talk to them. Don't make any decisions until you've talked to your daughter and Natasha…" Luke watches as Garrett gives him a small nod, "You have to make sure you've done whatever you can to fix this. In the end, that's what matters."