"Oh honey! We were so worried about you!" Fran said.
"Hank?" Sam asked, standing up.
"Sam?" Hank looked at her in surprise.
"You know each other?" Jonathan looked back and forth between them.
"Yeah. Hank goes to Ridgemont. He's a few years ahead of me."
Fran sat down in Sam's place and put her arm around Angela.
"Honey? How are you doing? Is that guy okay?"
"Wait a minute!" Mona put her hand up. "Angela, are these the people who saved you?"
"Yes. Yes they are."
Mona stood up and walked over to Hank and Joe.
Without a word she grabbed Hank and then Joe.
"Thank you. Thank you for saving my little girl." She wiped the tears from her eyes.
Hank nodded.
"You're welcome Ma'am." Joe said.
"Oh no, no Ma'am. It's Mona."
"Mona." Joe smiled.
"So Sam, how are you involved in all this?" Hank asked.
"It was my Dad who was shot." Sam took a shuddering breath,
"Your…..Oh my God. It was your Dad?"
"Yeah."
"And it's all my fault!" Angela said.
"Oh no! How could it be your fault? That other guy was trying to rob you right?" Fran asked. "Or was he your ex? I'm sorry I know I shouldn't be asking personal questions. Joe says I have a tendency to run my mouth. I remember one time ..."
"Fran!" Joe shook his head.
"No, it's okay. I don't mind telling you. After all, if it hadn't been for all of you I would have been in big trouble."
"Okay, so what was going on?" Fran asked.
"Tony is my housekeeper. Well technically he is."
"Your housekeeper?" Joe asked.
"Yeah. He and Sam moved in when she was eleven. He wanted a safe place to raise her."
"We are from Brooklyn and I kept coming home from school with either fat lips or black eyes." Sam joined into the conversation.
"Yeah, so Tony was trying to find another job-he had been driving a fish truck for some friends of his."
"And one day he applied to be the manager of the apartment building I was living in. " Mona said. She resumed her seat.
"So he became an apartment manager?" Hank asked.
"Well no. You see I ran into him with my bike. And then we got to talking and I realized he would be the perfect person to be Angela's housekeeper. So I told him about it. But he scoffed at it saying people like him don't become housekeepers."
"People like him?" Fran asked.
"Yeah, my Dad was a pro ball player for the Cards. He had to retire because of a shoulder injury."
"Wait! Tony Micelli?" Joe asked.
"Yeah. That's my Dad."
"Oh my God!. It is a small world!"
"So how did Tony get to be your housekeeper?" Hank asked.
"Well later that night Dad told me that he had taken a job to be a manager of an apartment building. And he said that there was a crazy lady who wanted him to move into her daughter's house and be the housekeeper. He thought it was absolutely ridiculous but the idea sounded so great to me. I mean living in a house! Well that is something people from Brooklyn-especially from our neighborhood never thought could ever happen to them. So I talked him into taking the housekeeper job."
"And then he called me at Angela's- I had given him the number just in case and I told him that the job was his."
"The only problem was Mom had no idea that Grandma had hired him." Jonathan chuckled.
"Yeah, to say it was a surprise to see a strange man at my front step at barely 8:00 in the morning telling me he was here to be my housekeeper is a big understatement!"
"But, he is now your housekeeper." Hank said.
"Yeah, and the five of us, well , we became a family. An unconventional one, yes but a family." Mona told them.
"But, I don't understand. Why is it your fault he got shot?" Fran asked.
Angela took a deep breath. "Tony and I became best friends. And I know that sounds weird but it's true. I could-can talk to him about anything. But then we fell in love or I did-well he did too but he was insecure about our working relationship. So he got involved with a classmate of his. Kathleen. And so I figured that was it. Maybe we should see other people so I started dating a few guys. And the last guy I was dating proposed to me. But I told him I had to think about it. Eventually I knew it wasn't fair to keep leading him on so I ended things."
"Wait! You broke up with Andy?" Mona was shocked yet pleased.
"Yeah, earlier today."
"Anyway, the guy who shot Tony his name is Keith. He is the boyfriend of Kathleen's friend Linda. Kathleen is currently out of town visiting her aunt who had a stroke. Linda caught Tony and I having dinner together at Africa the other night and she thought Tony was running around on Kathleen and she slapped me."
"Oh Dear!" Fran shook her head.
"Yeah, Tony was so angry at her and they went back and forth. She asked him how he could do this when the woman he loved was going through a personal crisis? And he said the woman he loved wasn't going through a personal crisis; she was sitting right here."
"Tony told you he loved you?" Fran smiled.
"He did but I didn't believe him. I figured he only said it to shut her up. Then the owner came with a police officer- he has a camera in his office and I pressed charges against Linda. Keith wanted revenge against me so he must have been stalking me or had his friends do it I don't know. But he obviously found out where we were because he ambushed us and told us not to move. Tony thought he was a mugger and gave him my purse and his wallet. But then he told us who he was and he told me I was going to pay for getting Linda in trouble with the police and that his buddies were going to teach me a little lesson."
"That filthy pig!" Joe clenched his hands.
"Yeah, when Tony heard that he went crazy. He let out this scream and pounced on him. He didn't even hesitate. I mean Keith had a gun pointed right at us and Tony-he….he risked his life to save me. " Angela started crying.
"If you hadn't come along when you did…I don't..I can't…" Angela stumbled over her words.
"I'm just glad we got there when we did." Hank said softly.
"So, could I get anyone anything? Coffee? A snack?" Joe asked.
"No thanks." Jonathan said,
"I'm not hungry. But thanks." Sam said.
"I can't eat anything until I know Tony is going to be okay." Mona said.
"Okay. Uh Fran. Hank. How about if we give them their privacy?"
"What? Oh you don't have to go." Angela told him.
"Are you sure? We don't want to intrude."
"Intrude? If it hadn't been for you things would have gotten a lot worse! Please stay." Mona said.
"Okay."
Sam started walking down the hall and Hank joined her.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Mind some company?" He smiled.
'No, not at all."
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
"So, uh how are you doing? Oh geez that was a dumb question! I mean your Dad was shot! I'm sorry I'm such a doofus sometimes!" Hank slapped his hand against his forehead.
Sam chuckled. "It's okay. But to answer your question, not good. I am so scared right now. My Dad is everything to me. I mean yeah he is a little-or should I say a lot overprotective but I don't know what I would do without him. He has always been my rock and to think of him being shot and now he is helpless and fighting for his life…"
She started crying and Hank put his arms around her.
"Ummmm excuse me? I am so sorry to intrude but I'm looking for Angela Bower? Or Tony Micelli?"
Sam wiped her eyes. "Tony is my Dad. And Angela is his boss and best friend. What do you want with them?"
"Oh. Well my name is Linda…"
"Linda? Are you the Linda who slapped Angela and whose boyfriend Keith was going to have his buddies teach her a lesson for getting you in trouble with the police?!" Sam removed herself from Hank's embrace and looked Linda dead in the eye.
"Uh yes."
"And you're the Linda whose boyfriend Keith shot my Dad?! Who is now fighting for his life right here in this hospital?!" Sam screamed at her.
"What in the world? Is that Sam yelling?" Mona asked.
"It sounds like it. Maybe we should go and see what is going on." Angela said. They all started walking down the hall until they saw Sam, Hank, and Linda.
"Oh my gosh! That's Linda!" Angela informed them.
"Ummm yeah I am. Listen, I just need to…"
"YOU BITCH!" Sam screamed and punched her right in the mouth.