Serena POV

Luckily, it was only Delia who walked in and I breath out a silent sigh of relief. I wasn't looking forward to dealing with Mr. Ketchum when he walked in. He didn't like me or approve of me being Ash's girlfriend. He was probably going to kick me out of the hospital if he felt like it.

Delia's hands were shaking as she sat on the corner of the bed, tears standing out in her dark hazel eyes. "My poor baby," she whispered, hugging her knees. Hope squeezed her hand. "I'm okay; it was just the shock of seeing Ash like that." She swallowed hard, shaking her head. "I haven't seen him for years and for this to be the first time... No parent should ever have to go through this. He was so pale, so still..."

I could tell that Delia was noticeably trying to pull herself together and be strong and I applauded her internally.

"Hope, could I please borrow your phone?" I asked a couple of minutes later. The Tylenol had started to kick in and the aches were fading slowly, much to my satisfaction.

Nodding with approval, Hope pulled out her shiny cell phone and handed it to me. "Sure. Do you want to call the Stone's to come pick you up?"

"No, I just want to tell my mom that I'm okay." I paused, looking at my hands which were placed in my lap. "I want to stay until Ash wakes up, if you'll let me."

I didn't want to impose on the family, but I really wanted to be there when Ash wakes up. Part of me was sure that Hope and Delia would shoo me out of the hospital after a while, telling me to go handle my business, but part of me was hoping that they would let me stay.

As soon as I uttered those words, Delia hugged my shoulders gently. "Of course you can stay, Serena." Her voice turned playful and I was once again forcibly reminded of Ash. "In fact, Hope and I would be offended if you didn't stay. Right, Hope?"

Hope nodded, smiling at me. "We'd love to have you stay," she added, warming my soul with the sincerity in her voice.

It's always nice to feel wanted.

I slipped into the (thankfully) empty hallway and sat down, sucking in a sharp breath as I gently leaned my back against the wall which instantly made me feel a sharp pain corsing through me. Sucking it up, I dialed my mom's number which I knew it off by heart and waited with bated breath for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

Her familiar voice washing over me, I spoke up "Hi, mom. It's me, Serena," in a small voice. Suddenly, I didn't know what to say to her.

A loud gasp. "Serena! Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital," I told her, wincing as I tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. "Ash's aneurysm ruptured."

"You've got to come home, Serena," Mom said, talking over me as I tried to explain what was going on. "Steven told me that Alain- that Alain attacked you." Her voice came out in an incredulous whisper and I trembled in fear.

Hugging my knees, I said. "Yeah." Whilst nodding.

"What happened?"

I decided to answer her question with a question of my own. "What did- Alain tell you?"

Just saying his name left a bad taste in my mouth and I felt a flood of anger towards him. There wasn't a single excuse that would fly when I went back to school. Everyone would take one look at me and come to the same conclusion- someone beat the crap out of her.

"He won't talk to me; he's sitting with his head in his hands." Mom snorted derisively as I slowly looked up, my head pounding.

I whispered "He's still there?" in disbelief.

Didn't Officer Jenny promise me that she was going up to arrest him? Or maybe my mom was at the police station?

"Yes, that's why I need you to come home. The police officers need a statement from you." She paused and I heard her sniff before continuing in a low voice. "I pressed charges."

I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat. "I'm sorry," I breathed, tears running down my cheeks. This isn't how I wanted things to turn out. It had to be hurting my mom to press charges against him for domestic abuse.

"Why didn't you tell me, Serena?"

Wiping my stinging cheeks, I choked out "I couldn't. I was scared."

"All those bruises- I saw them and I thought something was going on but I didn't want to believe- how long?" My mom asked.

Simply, I answered "Since Maria."

"Oh, my...." I hung my head, idly listening to whispers on Mom's end. She came back on the line a few seconds later. "Serena, Officer Jenny wants to talk to you." She said as a another voice spoke up immediently on mom's end.

"Hi, Serena. How are you feeling?" Officer Jenny's worried, booming voice resounded in my ear.

"Much better, thanks."

"I know you're at the hospital and you won't leave till you make sure your friend is okay," she started. I nodded as she continued. "I'm still at your apartment because I had to wait for your mom to come home. I need to take Alain in, but I need a statement from you."

I scratched my head, confused. "Over the phone?" I asked, feeling slow.

"No, in person." Officer Jenny chuckled. "Come and see me when you get home, I don't care what time it is."

"I will," I replied, twisting my fingers into my hair.

"Great. Steven says call him when you're ready to go home. Now, you take care, okay?"

I nodded obediently. She just had that 'take charge' kind of character that I just had to react to. "Okay. Thanks, Jenny."

"You're welcome."

She passed the phone to my mom, who immediately asked "Serena, what's going on with Ash?" And here I was, thinking that she hadn't heard me or didn't care. Awkward.

"His aneurysm burst. He's critical," I explained. "I can't leave him."

My Mom sighed. "I know. That's my Serena, putting other people above herself."

I knew that she was smiling and it suddenly brought tears to my eyes. I learnt from the best. "It's what got me into this in the first place," I murmured. "I'll be okay."

"I'm going to call Mark."

My heart almost stopped as my mom said this, her voice firm. I knew that she knew about my meeting with Mark but I had gotten an 'I don't want to talk or hear about it' vibe coming from her so I didn't talk about how happy I was to have found my dad.

Or should I say, how happy I was that Ash found my dad for me. But this... This was huge.

"Are you sure?" I asked warily. Maybe he wouldn't want anything to do with me once he found out that Alain used me as his punching bag. Or maybe he would take me away from my mom! I don't want to think about that. But mom was adamant, and when she got that way, she was as stubborn as a mule.

"I'm sure. It's time we had a little talk. And he deserves to know what's going on." Her voice softened. "Don't worry. If he's anything like I remember, this won't have a negative effect on your relationship at all. Let's face it; you're special to a lot of people." My mom always knows the perfect thing to say.

"Thank you, mom. For- everything. For understanding," I whispered, blinking back the tears.

"I love you, sweetie. And don't you ever forget that."

I nodded. "I love you too, mom. But I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Ok, bye." She said as the line already went dead.

I walked back into the room, greeted by Delia and Hope's questioning looks.

"What happened? What did your mom say?" Hope asked as I handed her the phone and sat down in the middle.

I told them everything, tiredness seeping in as I spoke.

"Nobody should have to deal with that kind of BS. I hope he goes away for a long time," Delia muttered vehemently, tossing her glossy brown hair.

"Me too," I admitted wearily.

Delia leaned forward to look at Hope. "Is Giovanni on his way?

"Yes. He should be arriving by now," Hope replied, her eyes dull. "Leaf won't go to sleep, keeps asking where her brother is so he's coming back with her."

"Poor child," Delia clucked sympathetically.

Hope nodded. "She was so hysterical about her big brother." She swiftly glanced at Delia, as if imploring her not to believe whatever Mr. Ketchum might have told her about Ash and Leaf's sibling relationship. "They're really close, no matter what Ash's dad might say."

"I stopped listening to Giovanni years ago," Delia said airily, waving a dismissing hand. I could almost feel the relief radiating out of Hope's pores as she beamed appreciatively. "Nothing that comes out of that man's mouth is positive. And knowing that he's the main reason Ash's aneurysm burst is because of him..." Delia turned to me, her eyes glimmering with red-hot anger as she continued. "They were having an argument. Ash's little sister saw him collapse in front of her just because his dad didn't have the decency to wait till they got home to ream him out."

A few minutes later, the door opened for the umpteenth time and Mr. Ketchum strode in, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit. He looked like he was coming straight from a board meeting and as I glanced nervously at Delia; I saw her top lip lift up in a moue of aversion.

A sleepy Leaf shuffled behind him, dressed in her Dora pj's and fluffy slippers. She was clutching a teddy bear in her small hand and when she spotted her mom she ran to her and hugged her knees.

"Where's my son? What's going on? I want to see the doctor, a nurse- somebody!" Mr. Ketchum blustered, pacing up and down the small room.

Coolly, Delia stood up, folding her arms across her chest as she glared at him. "Why are you so worried about Ash all of a sudden?"

Mr. Ketchum snapped his head towards her, a stony expression on his ruddy face. "What the hell are you on, Delia?" He managed to make 'Delia' sound like as insulting as possible and Delia's lips tightened. "Of course I'm worried, he's my son! Now, what's the update on his condition?"

"Now that he's critically ill you want to act like you care?" Obviously, Delia wasn't having any of his 'worried father' dramatics. Her nostrils flared as she stared him down. Leaf had clambered on the bed, her head resting against her mother's shoulder as she watched the two adults go at it, her brown eyes wide. "If you cared you would have let me see him before this happened." Mr. Ketchum opened his mouth to reply but Delia just steamrolled over him. I could tell that she'd been waiting years just to say her piece and I commended her in my head. "What kind of father doesn't even tell the mother of his child that her son has an aneurysm? Did you think I didn't need to know?"

Mr. Ketchum's mouth fell open. He obviously couldn't believe that his ex-wife was actually not backing down. "Why the hell do you think I called you?"

"You only called me because you thought there was no hope." Delia narrowed her eyes. "Why else?"

Face working, Mr. Ketchum bellowed "I sent my private jet to come pick you up! And this is how you repay me? By blaming me for something that's beyond my-."

"Daddy, stop yelling!" All eyes fell on Leaf as she raised her head from Hope's shoulder, her eyes bright with tears. "You yelled at Ash and he's hurt!" She started crying, her shoulders heaving with wretched sobs as she looked up at her astounded father. "I told you not to, daddy!"

"But, I-." Mr. Ketchum cleared his throat, brushing imaginary lint off of his jacket. "I'm sorry." That apology sounded like it hurt.

Delia exhaled loudly. "Can we please just sit here and wait like civil adults?"

Signing. "Okay," Mr. Ketchum nodded, defeated. He sat in the lone chair in the room, his gaze straying to me. I looked down at my hands as Delia plopped next to me.

"Thank you."

"Miss Yvonne?" I looked up to find Mr. Ketchum's eyes on my face, looking- gasp- concerned! Jerking his head in my direction, Mr. Ketchum asked "What happened to you?"

Hope answered for me, which was just as well since my mouth had gone completely dry. Mr. Ketchum scared me, okay? Half of the time I thought he was going to go off like he did at the gala. I don't want that happening again. "Her cousin happened to her."

"He did that to you?" I nodded in response. "You should have him arrested."

"He's been taken in," I said, my voice cracking.

Mr. Ketchum nodded awkwardly. "Good."

As we waited for news on Ash, Leaf fell asleep in Hope's arms. Mr. Ketchum called in a passing doctor to take a look at me 'just in case Delia missed something'. The doctor proclaimed that Delia had done a wonderful job and offered her a residency at the hospital. Delia refused politely.

Finally, Dr. Brock came in with the news we had all been waiting on tenterhooks for. He stood by the door with a somber expression on his round face.

"Good news, everyone," he started. I looked up at him, my heart thumping in anticipation as he continued. "The operation was a success. We managed to stop the bleeding in a timely manner. I placed a small titanium clip across the base, or neck, of the aneurysm to block the normal blood flow from entering. Now we just have to wait for him to wake up."

Stroking Leaf's hair, Hope asked "He will wake up, won't he?"

Uncomfortably, Dr. Brock put his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels as he shot a nervous glance at Mr. Ketchum. "Mr. Ketchum, Ash is in critical condition right now. At this moment, all I can say is its touch and go."

"Will you stop with the jargon and give us a damn straight answer?" Mr. Ketchum snarled, getting up from his chair.

Delia stood up also, flinging her arm in front of Mr. Ketchum as he advanced menacingly upon Dr. Brock, who stood his ground. "Giovanni-," Delia started, grabbing hold of Mr. Ketchum's arm. Hope looked on with wide eyes.

"No!" Mr. Ketchum shook free of Delia's grip, poking a finger into Dr. Brock's chest. "Ever since I started dealing with him he's been spewing poetry or something. Tell us what's really going on. Don't sugar coat it, for goodness sakes."

As I watched Mr. Ketchum rage rudely at Dr. Brock, realisation dawned upon me. Mr. Ketchum's aggression came from fear, it had to. He was scared stiff that something would happen to Ash but he didn't want anybody to know that he was scared so he masked it with rudeness and intimidation. Unwillingly, my heart went out to him.

Dr. Brock stared at Mr. Ketchum hard for a long minute, swallowing. Finally, just as I thought he was going to flip Mr. Ketchum the bird and just walk out, he started talking in a clinically detached voice, his face devoid of expression. "As you wish. Ash is in a coma."

"He already was in one, wasn't he?" Mr. Ketchum asked and I swear I saw Hope rolling her eyes.

"That was a medically induced coma, formulated to get his blood pressure back to normal since it was soaring in his unconscious state." Dr. Brock paused for a second. "But when we finished the operation, he slipped deeper into the coma instead of coming out of it."

Delia gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, no."

"At this point, we don't know why this is happening. The operation went as well as can be but Ash isn't responding as I'd like. At this point, there's nothing that we can do."

Dr. Brock gave Mr. Ketchum a level look as the tension in the room rose. It was clear that the doctor hated not being able to do anything more for his patient, but Mr. Ketchum didn't seem to notice that. He's set on playing the blame game.

"Nothing?" he growled now, leaning in to Dr. Brock's personal space. "I paid you- ."

"Mr. Ketchum, with all due respect. Your son is in a coma. Only he can find his way back if he chooses," Dr. Brock stated matter-of-factly. Mr. Ketchum subsided and Dr. Brock continued, his voice soft and polite. "The operation may have been a success but that means nothing right now. All the money in the world can't change that."

Hope spoke up slowly. "So now... what do we do?"

Turning to face her, Dr. Brock said "We wait. And pray." He looked around at all of us. "I mean that, if you are spiritual at all. Prayer always helps."

"Can we see him?" Delia asked hopefully, standing next to her now quiet ex-husband.

Nodding, Dr. Brock said "Of course, but I must warn you, he's hooked up to a life support machine. It might be distressing to see him like that. But by all means, you may see him. He won't know you're there but your presence might have the power to bring him back."

Our party followed Dr. Brock down the hospital hallways until we arrived at the recovery room. The door was closed and a nurse sat in the little office across from the room.

"He's in here," Dr. Brock told us. "I must leave you now. I have another operation to administer. If anything happens I will be paged."

"Thank you doctor," Delia called over Mr. Ketchum's head as the doctor trotted down the hallway. She turned to Hope, who was carrying Leaf. Leaf was awake again but she still had that groggy look to her. Poor thing hadn't nearly gotten the right amount of sleep. "Hope, do you mind if I go in with Ketchum? Alone?"

Hope gave Delia a bemused look. "What?"

Mr. Ketchum also shot Delia a 'WTF' look mixed with fear. He probably thinks she's going to come at him with a syringe once they're alone. "I'd like to explain something to him," Delia elaborated, still focusing on Hope, who nodded.

"Sure."

Grabbing Mr. Ketchum's hand with force, Delia opened the door to Ash's room and almost yanked an unwilling Mr. Ketchum in.

They were in the room for almost five minutes and when they emerged, Mr. Ketchum had tears in his eyes. Delia patted his shoulder as she whispered soothingly into his ear. Leaf, Hope and I watched with open curiosity. What I would give to know what Delia said to him in there. Even though I knew that I would never know what Delia had said to move Mr. Ketchum to tears, I was glad that she had said it. Was this what it took for him to realise just how special Ash was?

I followed Hope and Leaf into the recovery room, my heart in my throat as I laid eyes on Leaf after what seemed like an eternity. He lay motionless in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. An assortment of equipment was arranged around his bed, machine screens blinking and beeping away. Ash's chest rose and fell under the thin hospital sheets, the only indication that he was even breathing. Apart from the lights from the monitors and a small night light by the bedside table, the room was dark. The blinds were shut tight and I glanced around the room before looking at Ash again. Hot tears welled up in my eyes. Just when I thought I was all cried out... A bandage covered the top half of his head and his face was bloodless, paler than pale. He had dark smudges under his eyes and a tube had been coaxed in between his lips. I hated seeing Ash like this.

Hope quietly sniffed, stroking his cheek as she put Leaf down. I wiped away tears, staring down at my boyfriend and fighting back a rising wave of despair.

Leaf looked up at me, her forehead creased. "Why you crying?" she whispered, tugging at my sleeve.

"Because Ash's sick," I told her, sniffing.

"He'll be okay," Leaf said reassuringly, squeezing past her mother. She patted Ash's hand, smiling adoringly at him. "Right Ash? And you'll teach me how to ride my bike like you promised." She looked serenely up at me, beaming all over her chubby face as she spoke with such assurance that I was moved to tears. Again. Like that's anything new. "Ash says people should never break promises." She reached into the pocket of her little bathrobe and pulled out a clean hanky, which she solemnly handed to me. Stunned by the six year olds maturity level, I took it from her as she said "Don't cry, he'll be okay. I know he will. He's my big brother. Who else is going to play 'tea party' with me?"