The surgery took two hours total. In relation to most life-saving surgeries, this one was rather short. It consisted of removing five pints of blood and replacing it with all of his type of blood. After that transfusion, they placed extra antibodies into his blood stream to help kill off the rest of the bad blood. Dr. Freud warned that he would be weak for several weeks due to the fluctuation of his blood but at least he would be alive.

America and Christian waited together with bated breath until he was in recovery and Dr. Freud allowed them to visit. Dr. Macky was shadowing the German doctor, looking for helpful tips. Maxon's health was supposed to show improvement within a couple hours but by morning, he was still in a coma.

Dr. Freud eventually took America out in the hallway. "We can give him two days. If he isn't any better by then, we will have to assume that the surgery didn't work and we will have to take him off of life support." She nodded numbly. Obviously Graham couldn't fix everything. Dr. Freud patted her shoulder. "I know you are probably tired of hearing this but I'm sorry. You are too young to be a widow. And pretty," he added, smiling. He then said something to Dr. Macky about coffee and they both went down to the kitchens to get food, leaving America and Christian alone with Maxon.

America couldn't do anything but stare at Maxon's beautiful face. Two days after the surgery, he still hadn't improved. Dr. Macky approached her with the same clipboard from before and a pen, pointing to the line where she had to sign to approve taking him off of life support. There were some Twos who had special clauses in their life insurance where only a One could approve taking them off of life support and over the years, America had needed to sign the same paper. She never imagined she would have to sign it for her own husband.

Her hand shook as she placed her loopy signature on the dotted line and dated it. Just two weeks before their anniversary. There was nothing else for her to do after that. As the doctors and nurses started removing the various machines from the room, it was easier for America to pretend that he was just sleeping. In all reality he was sleeping but within hours that would change drastically.

Christian brought Georgina and Michael down to the room. Kenna had come back to the palace but it was just her; James was still visiting his family in Carolina. Her family understood though that she needed to just be with her children at the time. As if the machines were all that was keeping him alive, he grew colder within minutes.

She knew this was it. What she wouldn't give for one more smile, conversation, hug, kiss, high-five, tug of the ear…what she wouldn't give for one more of anything. She prayed to every God she could think of for a miracle. She dreaded going to sleep that night because she knew that she would see Maxon in her dreams and the thought of that just brought more sorrow.

"Papa, please wake up," Georgina whispered, sitting cross-legged on his bed. Christian sat in a bed across the bed from her, dark circles under his eyes and making him look much too old. All America could see when she looked at him was the envelope in Christian's box of letters labeled For Christian on the night before the start of his Selection. It just wasn't right for him to lose his father when he really needed him the most. America couldn't teach him everything he needed to know about being a king and the advisers couldn't teach him either. She couldn't offer him guidance in the Selection because she only knew what it was like to be a competitor in it.

Then there was Michael, already a mirror-image of his father at four-years-old. Seeing his face brought her pain. Georgina looked more like her but there were still things in her face and personality that served as painful reminders of Maxon. A few hours later, some nurses brought in two cots for them to sleep in but America refused to go to sleep. Georgina and Michael curled up on the cots while Christian and America continued their vigil.

She looked at Christian and was just awestruck by everything she and Maxon had gone through with him. Christian was conceived just before this infection struck Maxon, when the biggest thing he had to worry about was the New Asians. Then he had been kidnapped and she and Maxon traipsed all over the country for him. The kid had seen a lot in a short twelve years but he still hadn't spent enough time with his father. Who would take him out for horse rides on the palace grounds on the weekends? Who would teach him how to drive? Who would he look up to?

The next morning, Maxon was still hanging on when something miraculous happened. His breathing picked up and he started moving. Georgina and Michael were still asleep and Christian was dozing in his chair, his hand pressed against the side of his face. "Maxon?" America whispered, leaning forward and holding his hand tighter. "Maxon, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

One second passed. Two. Three seconds. It felt like four years but it was really just four seconds before she felt a pressure around her hand. She almost screamed from joy. In fact, she did scream. "Dr. Macky, Dr. Freud, you have to come in here!" she yelled, not daring to move from her chair. "Christian, kids wake up!"

Christian jerked awake, his head snapping up. "Wha's hap'ning?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"It's your father, I think he's waking up!" she told him enthusiastically.

Georgina heard her and ran over to perch on Maxon's bed as his head started to shift from side-to-side, as if making himself more comfortable. Michael toddled over and jumped into Christian's lap. The two doctors came running in, their faces drawn and obviously expecting the worst. "What is it?" Dr. Macky demanded.

Then Maxon opened his eyes.

The doctors approached and Dr. Freud waved to the family to back away and give them some space as he took out his stethoscope. Maxon moaned and looked around the room as Dr. Freud moved his stethoscope over his chest. His eyes finally fell on America and the corners of his mouth just barely turned up. She felt tears spill over onto her cheeks as she lifted his hand up to her mouth to plant kisses on it.

"Papa!" Michael exclaimed and America struggled to hold on to the squirming child.

Dr. Freud looked at America. "We'll have to run some tests to be sure, but I think the surgery worked," he proclaimed, practically laughing in relief.

Some hours later, with the tests complete and the infection undeniably cured, America sat facing Maxon on the bed. She stroked some of the dull, overgrown blonde hair away from his face. He needed a shave as well; every time she kissed his face all she could think about was the scratchy hair brushing her cheeks. She held his hand tightly in both of hers and just stared at his face.

"I still can't believe this," she said quietly. Christian had passed out on one of the cots, the nights of not sleeping finally getting the better of him. Kenna had taken Georgina and Michael upstairs for naps while Dr. Freud was running his tests.

Maxon smiled slightly. He was tired, as crazy as that seemed for having been comatose for weeks. "Me neither."

Words seemed to be unnecessary for them to communicate plus he simply didn't have the energy for a full conversation. "You're going to meet our child."

"I'm going to do a lot now," he told her, his eyes closing and staying closed for a few moments before he opened them again.

"You should sleep." She pulled the blanket over his body more and tucked it around her; a move practiced hundreds of times on her children. "We can talk more tomorrow, when you are better rested."

He laughed as his eyes closed again. "I feel like for having just come back from the dead, I shouldn't be this tired."

"No matter, you still need to sleep." She kissed his forehead, her hair brushing his face as she leaned over him. "I love you," she whispered against his cheek. He held fast to her hand and she knew that meant that he wanted her to stay.

She rolled her eyes, knowing that even sharing a hospital bed, sleeping in her husband's arms would be more comfortable than anywhere else. But then she saw their son sleeping on the other side of the room. "Christian…" she reminded him. "I'll just go get some work done in my study and you sleep and I'll be here for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Okay," he sighed, giving in. "I love you, you know."

She smiled, fully appreciating the sentiment. "Yeah, I know."

See, I told you everything would look up. Hope y'all liked it! I just updated After the One One-Shots so if you've been reading that, go check that out. what else...i think it was on this one that someone asked where i get my quotes from for each chapter: Pinterest. and that's it! Just a few more chapters left!