A/N: Hi everyone! I, of course, want to start out by thanking all of the readers and reviewers. You are all making writing and sharing this story so much fun; I truly appreciate the interest and response.

I also wanted to point out that a second update was posted on Sat 4/13- Ch. 16. Since it still showed the same update date, I just wanted to make sure that anyone who wanted to read it, didn't miss it. :)

Here is Chapter Seventeen... which includes the addition of another little arc to this story. We've been focusing a lot on Alexis' love life, so it's time to shed a little light on Sam's. Hope you like it!

Chapter Seventeen

"We will monitor him closely over the 24 hours, both during the transfusion and after." The doctor informed Sam, Alexis, Garrett and Molly as they all stood huddled around him while the nurses situated Danny in his bed.

"Is he going to be in any pain?" Sam questioned as she stood with her arms crossed, and her mother's arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"No, he won't be in any pain. He will be fatigued. Probably will sleep through most of the transfusion." He paused, "Now, we are also starting him on the supplemental nutrition I.V. I'm glad to see that he had a little more of his appetite back, but I feel more comfortable being sure that he has all of the nutrition that he needs while his body is going through this procedure."

"Sure," Sam nods, "But will he be able to eat?"

"Yes… he certainly can eat. He just may not want to. But we encourage it. The nutrition supplement is really just to be sure that he is getting the adequate amount of calories and vitamins and minerals. He's a growing little boy and we don't want to disrupt that."

"How long is this going to take?" Alexis questioned.

"The transfusion process will take about two hours… and then of course we will monitor him closely for the next few days to be sure that his condition is improving."

"And if it doesn't improve?" Sam asked; her voice thick with emotion.

"Sam…" Alexis didn't want her daughter to get ahead of herself.

"No, mom… I need to know. I need to know what is going to happen to my son."

"Mrs. Morgan…" The doctor began, "It's not a matter of inevitability here. We are going to do whatever we can to avoid the worst case scenario."

"And what is that?" She wasn't going to just accept a dance around the answers that she needed.

"If the transfusion does not improve Daniel's condition then we will have to look into other options… possibly bone marrow transplantation."

Alexis felt Sam stiffen under her arm. As much as they all knew that it was a possibility, hearing it come from the doctor's mouth was unnerving.

"Momma…" Danny's soft voice was heard from the bed as the nurses began to file out of the room. Sam turned immediately to find him holding out his arms for her, and she gladly answered his plea.

Alexis folded her arms, watching as Sam walked away from them. She then turned back to the doctor, "Um… So, just as a precaution… do you think it would be a good idea for us to begin testing for compatibility?"

"That might be necessary at some point… but I would like to take this one step at a time." The doctor reassured, "I have no reason to believe at this time that Daniel will be unresponsive to this treatment."

"Doctor," Garrett cleared his throat, speaking up from where he stood now between Molly and Alexis, "I have the same blood type as Daniel. I can donate some for him if it's necessary."

"That's good t know. That increases the likelihood that you would be a bone marrow match as well so I will make note of that." The doctor scanned the group, "Listen… you all should try to relax as much as possible and spend time with Daniel. I know he's only two and a half but he's a pretty perceptive little boy. We want to ease his fears as much as possible. That's half the battle when it comes to building strength and overcoming any ailment."

"Of course," Alexis nodded, "Thank you, Doctor."

"I'll be back to check on him in a little while." He nodded to them all before exiting the room.

Alexis met Garrett's eyes and took a deep breath before turning around to face her daughter and grandson. Sam was seated beside Danny's bed, holding his hand and stroking his cheek. Alexis forced a bright face and a small smile when Danny's eyes locked with hers and he weakly lifted his free left hand.

"Gumma…" Danny's voice was muffled from behind his pacifier.

"Yes, baby… I'm right here…" Alexis spoke softly as she made her way to the other side of his bed and took his outstretched hand.

Garrett watched them for a moment before glancing over at Molly, "I'll, uh… I'll be outside…"

"Okay…" Molly watched as he exited quietly. She turned back to her mother and sister, "Do you guys want anything? Some water or coffee?"

"Yeah sweetie," Alexis gave her a reassuring smile, "I think a couple bottles of water would be really nice."

"Sure… I'll be right back…" Alexis watched as Molly left before turning back to her daughter and glancing down at Danny who now appeared to be sleeping as he still held tight to both of their hands.

"I think he feels a little warm, don't you?" Sam questioned her mother as she rested the back of her hand on Danny's cheek.

"No, honey… I think he's fine." Reaching across the bed, she placed a hand on Sam's arm, "I know it's hard… but, try to relax okay. They are monitoring him very closely… if his fever spikes or anything goes wrong they will be here in a second okay?"

"Okay…" Sam nodded but she was still uneasy, "Um… you think everything is okay with Garrett?"

"I think so…" Alexis nodded as she smoothed Danny's hair.

"I mean, he just seemed a little uncomfortable or something." She shrugged, "I hope he knows that he's more than welcome here…"

"He knows, honey…" Her mother smiles, "I think he's probably just worried like we are and needed a little time."

"Yeah," Sam smiles in Danny's direction, "Danny loves him so much. I'm so glad he's a part of his life. I've always been worried he would never get the chance to have a male figure in his life."

"I know you have, but does have Garrett… and that's wonderful," Alexis drew a deep breath, "But you know there are still other options out there for you…"

"Mom…" Sam sighed audibly with a roll of her eyes. She wasn't too keen on the change of subject, but was grateful for the distraction

"I'm just saying, I don't think it's a good idea for you to close the door, that's all."

"I'm not closing any doors…"

"He called me again this morning. He's really worried about the two of you." Alexis reminded gently.

"That's really sweet..." She comments softly, "I really appreciate that."

"And that's it, huh?"

"Mom… it's just… I don't know." Sam shrugged, unable to find the right words.

"Listen… I've been avoiding talking about this for a while. But you and Danny need as much support as you can get right now and for you to turn away…"

"I'm not turning anyone away."

"Then what happened?" Alexis prodded tenderly, watching as Sam averted her gaze and turned back to her son.

"We just… I don't know. It just didn't work."

"It didn't work… it seemed to be working just fine." Alexis paused, studying her daughter carefully, "Sam… what happened the night of your accident?"

"I told you… I was on my way home and I hit some standing water and lost control."

"I know that much. I mean, what happened before you got into your car that night?" She watched as her daughter turned away from her and began to fuss with Daniel's blankets.

She knocked lightly on his office door before turning the knob and peaking in to find him sitting at his desk looking over some paperwork, "Hey…"

"Oh, hey!" Lucky smiled brightly as she entered, the reaction that he usually had when seeing her. "What's up?"

"Umm…" Sam took a deep breath, "Just on my way home from work and thought I'd stop by."

"Oh… okay… Um, I'm working the late shift tonight…"

"Yeah, I… I know… Um…"

"Is there something wrong?" He could tell by her fidgety movements that something was.

"No. Um… no… I just." She sighed before continuing, "Lucky… I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cancel dinner for tomorrow night."

"Oh." He was surprised, and a little taken aback, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… everything is fine. I just…" She shook her head and felt her eyes begin to sting with the threat of fresh tears, "Lucky… these past couple months with you back in town have been really amazing. I mean…"

"Sam?" He was having a hard time understanding where this was coming from. As far as he knew everything was fine, "Sam, I told you… I don't want anything more than a friendship right now… a couple dates…"

"Yeah, but you and I both know that we can't do that," Sam smiled, "Lucky, there's a lot between us. I mean… we have history and it's hard to ignore that."

"And you obviously have misgivings…" Lucky sighed as he leaned back on his desk.

"It's not that… I just don't know if I'm ready for this. I feel us moving towards something and I don't know if I'm in the right place. I just feel like I need to put the brakes on for a second."

"Okay…" He nodded, "I understand that, but it sounds to me like you're setting the parking break…"

"I'm not…"

"Sam, listen… I understand where you are coming from. We've both been through a lot of love and loss and I feel the same way about moving too fast in this. But I really like you. I love spending time with you and Danny. I've always loved spending time with you."

"I know. I love spending time with you too," She was crying now, unable to choke back her feelings.

"So why are you doing this? I mean, I understand taking a step back. Okay, so no dinner tomorrow night. A little time just to reevaluate…"

"No, I can't…" She shook her head as the tears flowed from her eyes, "I'm so sorry, Lucky… I really just don't think I can do this."

"Sam…" He watched as she wiped her tears and swiftly walked about of his office, closing the door behind her.

"Sam?" Alexis watched as she drew her daughter from the daydream and once again met her eyes, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Like I said… when you're ready to talk about whatever it is that happened…"

"I broke up with him." She shrugged as she spoke bluntly.

"Well, I gathered that much when he suddenly was no longer around." Alexis chided.

"Momma…" They both turned back to Danny who was stirring in the bed, waking from his short nap, "Momma…"

"What is it, baby?" Sam was responsive to the whine in her little one's voice.

"Momma…" Danny pouted as tears welled in his eyes. Alexis' heart broke as she listened to her grandson's exhausted cry.

"I'm right here, honey… right here." Sam smiled as she leaned closer to him and wiped his tears, "Mommy is right here…"

Alexis wiped a stray tear from her own cheek and then felt Danny's little hand tighten around her thumb. She forced a smile before placing a kiss to his forehead, "It's okay baby… you're all right. You are going to be all right…" She silently prayed that she was right.