A/N: A few of you have asked if I would do the 'In the CCU' story (Chapter 18) in Carrick's POV. I kept getting side tracked but always wanted to complete it. So here it is. As a reminder, Carrick is sedated, so anything from his POV are his thoughts.

I also started another story...Fifty Shades- A Different Way, if you want to check that out.

'Late Night Thoughts' is my baby. I'll continue writing this, as long as you'll have me.

I do not own they characters. They belong to E.L. James. This is just for fun.

In the CCU- Carrick POV:

"Hello Darling"

My favorite sound in the world….Grace's voice.

"The doctors say you need to get your body to fight a little harder. This may be selfish of me to ask, but I'm doing it anyway. Fight Cary. Fight with everything you have. You are my rock and the only option I am giving you is to get well."

I'm doing everything I can, Grace.

"We have a lot of living to do…and I will never, ever give up on you. I know you will beat this infection. You have no choice."

I could never say no to you, Mrs. Grey.

"Oh Cary. We're all so worried about you. Our children are outside in the waiting room. They've been coming in and checking up on you. You have the best doctors looking in on you. It pays to have a wife who is also a physician, I may be retired, but I do have some pull around here. And your son did donate a wing. I suppose that gets us a little something. The rest is up to you Cary. So get your tail moving and beat this infection, damn it"

Yes, Ma'am. I'd salute you if I could.

"Maybe once you recover we can take another cruise. The last one was wonderful. So relaxing. We certainly deserve to relax after raising three children, our busy careers and charity work. But I wouldn't change a thing"

Nor would I darling.

"It's so funny, looking at our children now, with children of their own. Cary, it warms my heart. So many bumpy roads taken to get to this place, but well worth the journey. I know, our patience were tested quite a bit…"

Tested? Are you kidding me…our patience were tortured, especially with our middle one.

"But it all worked out in the end. We have a wonderful family and beautiful grandchildren. I thought the dream of having this gift of family was never going to be a reality when we found out we couldn't have children. But three times, we were blessed with the most special children. Funny how they say, you don't share your love when a new child comes along; your heart gets bigger for the next one. After Elliot, I couldn't imagine loving another child more, then Christian came to us and my heart grew for that young frightened boy and for Mia as well."

As always Grace, you know exactly how I feel.

"They may be grown but they still need their father. So stop this right now. We can let the doctors wake you and I can look into your beautiful eyes again. I miss them so very much"

I miss yours too.

"I love you Cary Grey. Our wedding may have been years and years ago, but I celebrate our marriage every day."

I love you, Grace Grey. I'm the luckiest man in the world.

~~~xxx~~~

"Daddy?"

My Darling Mia!

"Oh, Dad, you look awful. I really wish these hospitals would get nicer gowns for their patients. I mean, if you have to lie here all day in their 'uniform', why can't it look nice? Of course, even in that ugly gown, you're still the most handsome man in the hospital. Everyone is here Dad. Mom, Elliot, Christian. All of us are waiting for you to get better so they can wake you. I miss you Dad"

I miss you too Sweetie.

"Poor Ethan, he's been back and forth with the kids. They know you're in the hospital, but we didn't tell them how sick you are. So you better get better soon, because I told them you're fine. Don't make me a liar to my kids Dad"

I'm doing the best I can Mia. I love those little bursts of energy grandchildren...exhausting as they are, they're a delight.

"Oh Daddy, you're my first love. You know that, right? I think I was four when I ask you if you could marry me. You let me down gently, told me there was a prince out there waiting just for me" She softly chuckles.

It melted my heart when you asked.

"Remember when Ethan and I got married...I think it was the first time I saw you really emotional"

My baby girl was getting married. You were the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. You took my breath away.

"I was so nervous, I thought I was going to throw up or faint. I wanted everything to be perfect. You gave me such good advice. You told me that the most important thing is that you two get married. If one of you throws up on the other one's feet or faints, we'll pick you up and clean off your shoes and you'll go on with the ceremony. It's the commitment you're making to each other that's most important, not the wedding."

After getting to the ceremony and seeing how nervous Ethan looked, I was more worried that he'd be the one to vomit. I think your overprotective brothers scared the living daylights out of him. Luckily you both got through it, stomach contents intact.

"Awe Daddy...I loved our Father/Daughter dance at the wedding. It brought me back to when I was a little girl and I'd stand on your feet and you'd dance for the both of us."

I could dance with my little girl forever. You may have outgrown dancing on my feet, but you'll never outgrow my heart.

"I know how busy you were with your law practice. You worked so hard and for such long hours. But you were always home in time for my birthday. I can't remember most of my birthday gifts as a kid, but I do remember you were always there for me. Thank you Daddy."

I wouldn't have it any other way. Your Mother and the three of you were the most important part of my life. Still are...along with your spouses and children.

"I'm going to go now Dad. I think Elliot wanted to speak with you privately. The waiting room isn't as boring as I thought it would be. I brought my laptop and I've been finding some killer deals on clothes. Oh, you should see the shoe sales online. I'm probably going to have to hide some of my new purchases from Ethan...he thinks I shop too much."

I agree with your husband there...you do shop too much. How many shoes does one person need? You only have two feet.

"Get well soon Daddy. We all miss you. Mom is trying to put up a brave face but she's worried about you. Christian is permanently connected to his cell phone yelling at who-knows-who all day. And Elliot is cracking bad jokes. We need you back."

I'll do my best. My darling girl.

"I love you Daddy."

There could never be a father who loves his baby girl as much as I love you, my beautiful Mia.

~~~xxx~~~

"Hey Dad"

So good to hear your voice, Elliot.

"This sucks Dad. I hate seeing you like this. Mom is putting on her brave face, but I caught her crying when she didn't think anyone was looking. Don't worry; I didn't call her out on it. You need to get well. Soon. "

I'm doing what I can, Son.

"I want you to know Dad that I forgive you and Mom. We had a pretty sweet deal, just you, me and Mom for a while. It was nice being the sole prince of the Grey Estate. Then you had to go and adopt Christian, who was so mad all the time, he used to punch me on a regular basis and then Mia…who never ever stopped talking. She's probably talking right now in the waiting room. I don't know if it's possible for her to stop. Ah, I'm only kidding, Dad. You know I love them despite the fact that they both ruined the good thing the three of us had going."

You're very funny Elliot. And my favorite oldest son…like Christian is my favorite youngest son and Mia is my favorite only daughter. See, you're old man has a few jokes in him too.

"All kidding aside, Dad. You're the best Dad I could ever wish for. I was very lucky to land with you and Mom"

We were the lucky ones to have such a fun, wonderful boy fill out lives with such joy

Even though you were busy with work, you made time to do little things with us, like read stories and sneak us out to IHOP when Mom was away."

IHOP sure did make the best pancakes.

"I remember when I was a kid; maybe six years old, standing by your side, I was obsessed with watching you shave. I made it a point to be in your bathroom with you every morning."

Ah, yes, I remember that. Sometimes I had to wait for you because I didn't want to miss our morning routine.

"Then one morning, I came to your bathroom and you had surprised me with a toy razor sitting on the bathroom counter. I could twist the bottom handle and it would open and close just like your razor with a piece of plastic that looked like a blade. And every morning, you and I would take out your shaving cream and shave together. Good times, Dad."

Yes, until you got bored and moved on to your next obsession. You were always in constant motion, always looking for new things to do, that's why the construction business is so well suited for you now.

"Remember your shocked face when I told you I planned on proposing to Kate? Ha, it was priceless!"

Son, let's call it what it was, you were a man-whore. Your Mother and I had some concerns whether you could stay in one relationship, considering your past history. You did have a different girl on your arm every other week.

"You dished out a lot of advice. What I remember most though, was that marriage isn't always a fifty-fifty arrangement between a husband and wife. Sometimes I'd have to give one hundred percent because there would be times Kate or I wouldn't be able to give our half. That stuck with me. That advice came in handy…a lot."

True. I also told you that it takes a lot of work to make a marriage work and the most important thing a smart husband can do is to bite your tongue.

"It all seems to have worked out. I guess I sewn all my wild oats or finally found the girl to tame me. Not going to lie, there were times I was tempted, but I never acted on it because that I had such a good example of what a marriage should be growing up in our house. I knew, in the end, that's what I needed and wanted."

I'm relieved to hear that, Elliot.

"Who would have thought the three of us would be happily married with kids of our own. I always figured once I was done dating most of Seattle, I'd move on to other states. I thought Mia would have eight husbands. And Christian...Jeez, who would have thought that he'd ever marry at all. Then he ends up first of the three of us to marry. Thank God for Ana. The woman is a damn miracle ...almost makes him human."

All of your spouses are a damn miracle….but I will concede that Ana had the biggest challenge with Christian. She gave us the son we always knew we had hiding somewhere inside of him.

"Come on, Dad. Aren't you bored lazing around in this hospital bed all day? Knock out this damn infection already. The nurses don't want to tend to old men like you. They rather have younger patients to sponge bath…young men with washboard abs, not wrinkly old men like you. Get well, so this bed is available. If not for your family, do it for your nurses"

Oh Elliot, always with the jokes.

"Seriously Dad. I love you. I miss you"

I love you too, Son.

~~~xxx~~~

"Christ Dad. You're the strong one in the family. I hate this. Ana thinks I should talk to you. She believes you hear us. I don't know if that's true. You know I'm not much of a talker, but there are some things...things that I need to say."

Always so serious. What's on your mind Christian?

"I...I just want to say...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Dad. I'm sorry I was always so difficult. I know it wasn't easy for you and Mom to deal with me and my issues. I was always expecting to get kicked out...I sure as fuck deserved to be. But you never did."

Kick you out? We wanted to throttle you, often, but throwing you out was never an option.

"You kept the faith in me when I had none in myself. From the first day I came to live with you, you showed me nothing but love and I always managed to fuck it up. I was resentful when I should have been grateful that you saved my life and adopted me."

You were a tremendous challenge, but I wouldn't trade you in for any other child. There was nothing random about your Mother working in that Emergency Room the day you were brought in as a child, you were meant to be our son. I wish you didn't have to endure the horrors in your life before us. I wish we could have taken away the pain you carried for so long.

"I know I always let you down. I know you had to pull in a lot of favors to get me into school after school when I got kicked out for fighting. I was just so fucking angry all the time. I know you and Mom tried to help me find ways to overcome it but I was such a fucking little prick, I never accepted it. I don't know how I can make up for all the heartache you endured because of me."

You've already made it up to us. You're happy. That's all we've ever wanted for you. I can't tell you the joy we felt when we first realized you were in love. These are things you wish for your child..Love, happiness, and all the good things we knew you deserved. The heartache we endured to get there faded as a distant memory when we saw you finally arrived.

"I know you never thought your opinion mattered much to me, but I value it more than you know. I always have...even when I sat in the chair across your desk as a teenager, while you were giving me yet another 'Christian fucked up' lecture… while I hated listening, deep down I guess I knew you were right.'

I was right, but I'm glad to hear you admit it.

"I'm sorry for all the disappointment. I know you love me. I've spent most of my adult life trying to make it up to you, make you proud. I know I have acquired a lot, but I never really knew if you were proud of me…or just impressed that your fucked up kid could make a successful business. . Are you proud of me, Dad?"

Proud? I can't imagine a man being prouder of his son. You're a determined man, overcoming an unspeakable start in life to be where you are. A wife who you adore, two children who adore you and a business Empire started from nothing. Proud doesn't begin to describe how I feel.

"Don't die, Dad. Please. Mom needs you. We all need you. I still need to make you proud of me. I love you Dad."

I'm not going anywhere. I love you too son.

~~~xxx~~~

I feel so tired and weak. Maybe if I wake myself, I'll feel better. I open my eyes and look over to my side. Christian and Grace are sitting on either side of my bed, beaming.

"You gave us quite a scare there, Dad"

"It's so good to see you awake again, Darling. I'm going to call one of the nurses to get your meds in order. I'll be right back Cary"

I nod at Grace. I don't have much more energy. My throat is sore. It's difficult to speak, even if I had the energy to. I can feel myself falling back to sleep.

"Dad, I can see you need your rest. I'll leave you for now and come back later when you're up for company. Rest now"

No, I have to tell him. I weakly grab Christian as he's walking out the hospital room. He turns to me.

He lowers his head to listen to what I'm trying to tell him. "What is it Dad? Do you need something?"

I struggle to get out the words, but he needs know this.

"I have always been proud of you, son" I whisper.

~~~xxx~~~

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