A/N: Hello! As always, huge thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. I love reading your reactions to the updates. :) This next chapter turned out to be a little long... but also is a little long overdue. So, I hope you enjoy it. :)

(As usual, probably not the most thorough edit. ;))

Chapter Nineteen

She swallowed hard as she slowly made her way back towards Sam's cubicle. She felt like she was going to be sick, and was starting to feel like she couldn't breathe. Sam didn't need that, though. She had to put on a strong face because her daughter needed to focus on getting well, not on whatever drama was about to transpire between her mother and father.

Slowly pulling back the curtain she smiled softly when Sam's brown eyes landed on hers, "Hi sweetheart."

"Hi…"

"Are you feeling a little better?" Alexis soothed as she made her way to the bed, grasping her daughter's hand when she arrived.

"Yeah, they gave me some serious drugs," Sam chuckled weakly, gesturing to the fresh I.V. bag hanging beside her.

"That's good!" She chuckled, "Just as long as you are feeling better, that's all that matters."

"Yeah," Sam smiled, "How's Danny?"

"He's fine," Alexis reassured quickly, "I just got off of the phone with Molly, she said that she gave him a bath and they were getting ready to read a story. And she wanted me to tell you that she loves you and she can't wait to see you."

"I love her too," Sam's eyes filled with tears, prompting her mother to place a hand to her cheek.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Nothing," Sam sniffed, calming herself down, "Really, nothing, I think I'm just emotional after everything that happened tonight."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah…" Sam paused for a moment thinking back on the events that had transpired that evening, "Um… I hit some standing water… I just hit it and lost control and that's the last thing I can remember."

"Okay…"Alexis nodded as she wiped her daughter's tears as she studied her mother carefully.

"Mom, is something wrong with you?"

"No," Alexis shook her head, "But, um… I do have to tell you that Garrett is here too… He was hurt, but he's fine."

"What happened?"

"He and I…" Alexis cleared her throat looking away before meeting eyes with her daughter, "We went looking for you. We found you in your car, practically wrapped around the tree and he pulled you out just before it caught on fire. He cut his leg pretty badly in the process, and apparently that is where you get your tendency to bleed because he lost a lot of blood very fast."

"Oh my God," Sam was shocked and a little guilty that she had caused her father to be injured, "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, honey. He passed out… but a second ambulance came and picked him up after we left with you."

"Thank God he's okay…" Sam sighed, casting her eyes into her mother's again, "He saved my life."

"Yeah, he… he did," She nodded, looking away from her daughter as she cleared her throat again.

"Mom? What's going on?"

"What?" She looked back to her, in faux surprise of her daughter's question.

"Something else is going on here… you're upset about something."

"I'm just a little shaken up, honey!" Alexis chuckled, "I mean, my daughter was just in a serious car accident that left her unconscious, don't you think I have a right to be a little uneasy?"

"Well, yeah…" Sam conceded, "But it's more than just that. You're uncomfortable about something."

"Sam… you need to rest," She soothingly brushed her hand along her daughter's hairline.

"Mom…"

"Samantha…."

"Mom, seriously. I'm fine." She rolled her eyes.

"You have a concussion!" Alexis scolded, "You need your rest, now stop worrying about me and focus on yourself!"She watched as Sam opened her mouth to protest but quickly closed it with a sigh, casting her eyes upward to her mother almost like a little girl.

"I'm hungry." Sam whined, prompting a smile to cross her mother's face.

"Well, I think that's a good sign. What would you like?"

"Ice cream."

"Ice cream… okay…" Alexis looked around, "Well, I think I can probably go to the cafeteria and manage that. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

"Yep," Sam nodded, gesturing to the bag above her head, "Me and my friend up there, we'll be just fine."

"All right," Her mother chuckled, kissing her hand before getting up to walk out. "I will be right back."

"With ice cream."

"With ice cream." Alexis winked, blowing her daughter a kiss before she disappeared behind the curtain.

"Nurse!"

Alexis' head turned swiftly to the familiar voice and found the blonde woman from earlier exiting Garrett's cubicle.

"Yes?" Epiphany responded.

"My husband seems to be a little uncomfortable. Is there any way you can get him something for pain? Possibly another pillow to elevate his foot?"

"Sure… I will get right on that." Epiphany rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Newman has already had his allotment of pain meds," Epiphany reassured, "We will be able to give him more within the next few hours."

"Thank you." The blonde woman nodded before spotting Alexis standing off to the side, watching the interaction. She quickly made her way towards her, "Excuse me? Mam?"

"Yes?" Alexis raised a brow.

"I'm sorry, but I was just… well, I wanted to thank you for letting me know where my husband was…"

"Oh." Alexis folded her arms as she shifted uncomfortably, "You're… uh… you're welcome."

"I'm Julie," The woman smiled as she outstretched her hand, "How do you know Garrett?"

"Oh, uh…" Alexis brought her hand back to the fold after shaking the ever so eager and friendly woman in front of her. "I'm really sorry… I have to go get something for my daughter. I can't keep her waiting."

"Oh. Okay… well, thank you again." The woman smiled sweetly.

"Sure," She nodded before quickly rounding the corner.

As they pulled into the driveway of the Lakehouse, he glanced over to the passenger seat where Alexis sat, looking out the window into the dark night. Garrett had thought that maybe in light of everything that had happened, things were turning around with them, but tonight he wasn't so sure. She hadn't said a word through the entire ride from the hospital to her house.

Garrett watched her carefully, a slight relief washing over him when she finally met his eyes with a smile.

"Thank you for driving me home…"

"Of course," He nodded, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Alexis studied her hands as they lay clasped in her lap, "I'm just tired..."

"Danny's okay, Lex," Garrett's tone was soft as he reassured her, "He looked so much better when we left."

"I know," Alexis agrees with a smile, "I just don't like leaving them…I mean, if something happened…"

"We would be there in 5 minutes." He watched her watery eyes meet his.

"Okay," She nodded, "I'm sorry… I think the past week must be catching up with me… I don't know why I'm so emotional."

"It's all right… really. You have every right to be emotional."

"Do you, uh…" She cleared her throat, looking back to him, "Would you like to come in… have a glass of wine?"

"Are you sure…"

"I wouldn't be offering if I wasn't." She chided, "Molly's staying the night at her friend's."

"You don't want some alone time?" He raised a brow, watching as she chuckled a little.

"Are you coming in or not?"

"Okay," Garrett surrendered as Alexis helped herself out of the car and he soon followed, standing behind her as she unlocked the door and guided them both into the dark and quiet house, "Wow… I don't think I've ever seen this house so empty."

"Yeah, I know." She nodded, tossing her purse and keys on the table, "I hate it." She sighed, pulling the bottle of red wine and two goblets from the buffet. She quickly began to struggle with the cork, "Sometimes I really don't know what I did before I had children. Well, yes, I do. I worked. All of the time."

"Here," He accepted the bottle of wine and put the cork screw to use, "You still work all of the time."

"No, I don't…" She accepted her freshly filled goblet, "Thank you. I mean… I used to constantly be working. I would take on these huge complex cases that I would stay up all night preparing for. I basically ate, slept and breathed my cases. I mean, I lived across the hall from Sonny when I first represented him." She shook her head at the memory, how her life had changed.

"I always knew you would be an amazing attorney." He smiled as they made their way to the sofa.

"You didn't even know I was going to be an attorney! I didn't even know!" Alexis chuckled as she sat down on the sofa and Garrett sat beside her.

"Oh, I knew… I had never, and will never, encounter someone who can argue like you can." He watched as she smiled cheekily, "I knew you would either be a lawyer or a politician… the latter is still a possibility."

"Oh, no thank you." She shook her head, stopping long enough to sip her wine, "Politics is much too frustrating. Justice is justice. That's what I'm passionate about."

"And damn good at, too." Garrett smiled as they clinked their glasses. "Do you ever miss it?"

"What?"

"Those cases that would keep you up all night…"

"Not really…" Alexis smiled wistfully. It was rare that she thought about her early career, "Now I have children to do that."

"Touché," He laughed and then met her smiling eyes, pausing for a moment as he gazed into them, "You know… I've, uh… I've really missed this."

"Yeah," She nodded, looking down at the glass she cradled in her hands, "Me too. And I want to thank you, too… you've been amazing through all of this. We wouldn't have been able to get through it without you."

"Oh… no, I'm sure that you would have." Garrett smiled, "I'm just glad that I could be here."

"I am too…" She met his eyes, hers once again filling with tears, "I hope you know that. I really am so glad you are here."

"Yeah?" He sipped his wine, watching as her eyes shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you… uh… want to talk?" She asked curiously, "I mean, I owe you that chance… if you still feel like talking."

"I do… if you want to listen…" Garrett observed her carefully as she nodded, "Well… I know you're probably tired of hearing it, but I am sorry."

"I know you are." She again averted her gaze to her glass, "I'm sorry too…"

"Well… how about you give me the chance to tell my story here, before you go on to your undue apology."

Alexis tilted her head back up to him and agreed with a smile.

"You should know… Julie and I have been separated for almost two years."

"Legally?"

"Um… no… not legally." He sighed, "You see, when I left Manhattan and came here, I thought that the legal separation was in progress. I lost sight of everything once I got here and apparently Julie lost sight of her desire to un-marry me."

"She refused the separation?"

"She simply didn't sign it or file the paperwork on her end," He shrugs, "And I, being a little distracted by everything here… I just didn't follow up on it. And I know that I should have."

"Where did she think you were?"

"I moved out two years ago. I've had my own apartment in the city since then."

"But she still didn't wonder where you went? Why she didn't hear from you?"

"I never heard from her… that's the thing. She never reached out to try and contact me or talk anything out." Garrett's eyes widened, "When she showed up in my hospital cubicle that night, I was honestly just as surprised as you were."

"She was very concerned about you…"

"She appeared that way, didn't she?" He smirked, "She probably was hoping I was on my death bed and she could collect her money."

"Really?" Alexis was legitimately surprised, from where she stood that night she was under the impression that Julie Newman was every bit the concerned, loving wife.

"Really," He nodded, "She doesn't care about me, Alexis."

"But why didn't you tell me?" She asked sheepishly, emotion evident in her voice, "I mean, I know I didn't really give you a chance to explain after the fact but… Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I guess I didn't know how. I didn't want to mess things up… alotta good that did me."

"But Garrett… I mean, I would have understood. The only reason that I ended up not being understanding was because I came face to face with your wife not even 3 hours after we slept together."

"I know… and I would have done anything to stop that from happening…I just." He sighs, "I didn't want to chase you away with my crazy, not so ex-wife."

"Well…" Alexis shrugged with a laugh, "This all went well, didn't it."

"Right." He agreed before polishing off his glass of wine.

"Garrett… I have to tell you that I've been doing a lot of thinking…" She paused, "and I have to admit, a large part of my resistance wasn't because of your marriage…"

"I know," He nodded. He did know, but it was still his fault.

"It was so easy…" She smiled, looking him in the eye, "It was so easy to open myself up to you again, Garrett. I looked into your face and I just couldn't resist it. It scared me. I was terrified." Pausing, she looked away, "and then, after a while, I wasn't afraid anymore. I wasn't thinking about the past… I was just thinking about what was happening in every moment that we were together. I trusted you."

"And then it all blew up in your face." He understood, watching as she nodded solemnly.

"I felt like a fool…"

"That… that really breaks my heart." They met eyes again.

"Mine too." She smiles ironically. Reaching out her hand, she clasped it over his as it rested atop his knee. "But, I'm tired, Garrett… I'm tired of being broken." A quiet sob escaped along with a few tears, at her last admission.

"So where do we go from here?" His questioning was quiet, almost shy as he gazed into her tera stained face and prayed that her answer would be favorable.

"I love you…" She smiled through her tears, gripping his hand a little tighter.

"I love you too, Lex."

"You know, I was talking to Danny earlier." She chuckled, "Unloading all of my life thoughts on my sweet little boy and you know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"Grandma, look at the birdies!" Alexis turned back to Garrett and they both burst into laughter, "And I sat down and thought about everything that has happened… and suddenly it didn't matter anymore."

"Lex…"

"It doesn't matter. Because in the end, all we have is each other." She swiped a tear from her cheek, "I want you in my life, Garrett. I'm tired of being sad… I'm tired of being angry."

"Are you sure?" He kept a steady eye on her as she nodded, tears springing from her eyes. "I'd like to promise that I'm never going to hurt you again…"

"Don't," She shook her head, a smile through her tears, "Let's just take it one moment at a time…"

"Okay," Garrett couldn't stop the smile from filling his face. Slowly, he leaned in and their lips met. He laced his hands through her hair, cradling her head softly as he deepened their kiss.