Ben only said one word, "Victor?"
"That piece of shit," Johnny growled. "I knew it was him. Sheila sent over a copy of the police report and the car that hit us was stolen like I thought. But, fortunately for us, the stolen car was parked right in front of the owner's house, and he had a one of those doorbell cameras that caught the whole thing. The police had a copy of the recording, which means we now have a copy of that recording." He grabbed his side and let out a groan.
"You alright, man?," Ben asked in concern.
"Fine, fine," Johnny answered. "Just moved a little too quickly. Anyway, of course, the police couldn't identify the men who were apparently dressed in dark clothes, hoodies, hats, the whole deal. But our team was able to match one of the men with a known thug of Victor's that's in our database. I guess he's been demoted from bodyguard or is pulling double duty."
Ben rubbed his chin, "Do we have a lead on where that guy is now?"
"Not yet," Johnny answered, "But you know they're working on it. I swear, if he was the driver of the car that hit us, he's a dead man. Whoever hit us is a fucking dead man."
"Try not to get too riled up," Ben suggested. He was just as angry, but since he knew it wasn't good for Johnny's health, he tried to keep it in check. "It's probably not good for your recovery. Just trust that we'll find whoever did this and deal with them."
Johnny seemed to get even angrier, "How can I not be upset? That asshole put Peter in the ICU!"
"I know," Ben answered with compassion for his friend, moving to put one hand on Johnny's uninjured shoulder. "But Peter wouldn't want you risking your recovery."
At that, Johnny's eyes started to glisten from the tears he was holding back. He let out a deep breath and murmured, "I don't know what I'll do without him."
"I know," Ben said again. He was surprised to hear his friend's words as Johnny was so rarely emotional in this way. "I can't imagine your pain right now. But you have to stay positive. Peter is strong. He's a fighter."
A lopsided smile graced Johnny's face as he thought about his partner. "He definitely is," he agreed. "I know we haven't known each other for that long, but it feels like I've known him my whole life."
Ben wasn't sure what to say so he just nodded. He went over to the stand in front of the bed and poured his friend some water. They were silent for a few moments as Johnny collected himself while drinking the water.
Sheila called with an update a few minutes later. Ben told them he'd leave it up to them as he wanted to go back so he could be there for Selene. Johnny nodded and said he'd be down as soon as he was discharged, which should be in the next couple of hours.
Downstairs, Selene was waiting by herself. She decided to call Lucy and fill her in as she had been feeling guilty for keeping her in the dark. After a few rings, the call connected, and Selene was sad to hear how excited Lucy sounded knowing she was the bearer of bad news.
Lucy started crying almost immediately after Selene filled her in. She was in the bedroom, while Max was in the kitchen getting some water. They had just come back to the hotel after spending the day exploring the ancient ruins around Rome. Their personalities and senses of humor meshed so well that they had spent more time laughing and goofing around than learning about all the sites.
She had gone into the bedroom to get some privacy after seeing it was Selene calling so that she could tell her about the kiss. Upon hearing Lucy crying, Selene tried consoling her by mentioning again that the surgery was a success and how they both knew Peter was physically and mentally strong enough to pull through.
Lucy asked, "Do you think we should come home? I want to be there for when Peter wakes up."
Selene thought for a moment then answered, "Umm, I'm not sure. Maybe wait until we hear back from the doctor again and then we'll see how he's doing. If he's going to be fine, you know he wouldn't want you missing out on your vacation."
"If…," Lucy whispered and sniffled.
"I mean, when he wakes up. Because he will," Selene said quickly, kicking herself mentally for letting her own anxiety slip. There was silence. "Why don't you fill Max in and see what he says?," she suggested.
Lucy answered, "Okay, but call me as soon as you know anything no matter what time it is."
"Definitely," Selene assured.
Once they were off the phone, she went out to the kitchen. Upon seeing Lucy's face, Max immediately knew that something was wrong. He walked over to her with quick steps and held onto her arms as he asked what had happened. She started crying and responded by giving her a long hug until she stopped crying. The whole time he was worried about what could have happened but was patient with her.
Lucy calmed down, but still had tears pouring as she explained what had happened. He reassured her that Peter would wake up and be back to his usual self in no time. Lucy nodded but didn't say anything.
After a few moments, she pulled away and went to sit on the couch. He followed and sat next to her, holding her hand. She said, "I can't believe we were just out all day enjoying ourselves, while all this was going on."
Max nodded, "It does seem surreal."
"Do you think we should go back?," she asked turning to look up at his face.
He squeezed her hand and replied, "Did the doctors say when he might wake up?"
"They don't know for sure," she answered, looking down.
"Why don't we wait a little while until we hear more?," Max suggested.
Lucy smiled ruefully, "That's what Selene said too."
"Of course. Great minds think alike," he said trying to cheer her up.
She nudged him with her shoulder but then ended up just staying there, leaning against him. He put his arm around her and moved them back so that they were sitting more comfortably on the couch. They stayed there in silence for a while.
They decided to eat dinner in the hotel room as neither was up for going out. Just as they were getting ready for bed, Selene called. Lucy had been glued to her phone, so she answered it before the first ring ended. A few seconds into the call, Max heard here sigh in relief, so he knew there had to be good news.
Lucy hung up the phone after about a minute and then exclaimed, "He woke up!"
Max hugged her and said, "See. I told you he'd be fine."
"Well, there's still a lot they don't know but it's definitely a good sign that he woke up so quickly after the surgery," Lucy told him. As a nurse, she knew that was a very optimistic indicator even if Selene hadn't mentioned it.
They finished getting ready for bed and as they settled into bed, Max made sure he left plenty of room in between them so as not to pressure her. To his surprise, however, she shimmied closer to him and spooned him from behind.
"Is it okay if I hold you for awhile?," Lucy asked quietly.
Max turned over so that he was on his back, with her head nestled half on his chest and half at the crook of his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and answered, "Of course. I'm here for you, you know that."
Lucy nodded and squeezed hugged him tight. Max began rubbing her arm to soothe her until he could tell she had fallen asleep.
Right around the time Max finally fell asleep, Jenny and Douglas were visiting with their son, who was still feeling groggy, but awake. He had been taken out of the ICU.
Selene had called Lucy right after Johnny came to the waiting room and let her, Ben, and Peter's parents know that he had woken up. They had all looked at each other with cautious but hopeful looks. Johnny had been with Peter when he woke up.
Johnny told them that Dr. Kim was with Peter at the moment, but then two people could visit as soon as he was done with the examination and if he gave the go ahead.
Earlier, in the morning, Peter's parents had gone to see their son in ICU but were only there for about 10 minutes before a nurse said they had to leave. About an hour later, Ben and Selene had been allowed to go in.
Seeing Peter bandaged up, with bruises all over his face, Selene froze. Ben put an arm around her and reassured her again that he would be fine. He said, "Try talking to him. Let him hear your voice encouraging him to wake up."
She went closer to his bed and whispered, "You have to be fine, Peter. Do you hear me? You can't leave me and Johnny by ourselves." Then she thought for a moment and continued, "Who knows? I might steal him from you."
"Hey," Ben said, furrowing his brows, not happy at her words even if it was just a joke.
Selene turned to him and said, "Shh. I'm trying to rile him up, so he'll wake up."
"Not a bad idea," he replied with a small smile. "Knowing Peter, words of devotion won't do but someone stealing his man might be just enough to do the trick."
"You hear that, Peter?," Selene said to her friend, leaning in. "Ben is okay with me taking Johnny away from you. And if you don't think I can do it, there are plenty of other guys that I'm sure could."
Tears escaped her eyes no matter how strong she was trying to be. She didn't want to cry in front of her friend and possibly upset him, so she quickly wiped them away and continued. "Look at that, you're just sleeping and making us all worried. We could all use one of your jokes right around now. So, you have to wake up soon, okay."
"That's right," Ben added. "You're upsetting my fiancée."
"Oh yah. I haven't even had a chance to tell you we're engaged. Ben proposed and I know you want to hear all about it. Wake up so I can fill you. Plus, I have to tell you about how the gala went," Selene said quickly. Then she proceeded to tell him, hoping the gossip about Natalia would somehow make it through to him and force him to wake up out of righteous anger for what the woman put his friend through.
Selene was trying to think of what else to say when a nurse came by to say that time was up. She turned to her friend once more and said, "I miss you, Peter. Please wake up soon. I love you."
As they arrived back to the waiting room, Jenny looked at Selene expectantly and asked, "Any change?"
Selene shook her head, "I'm sorry."
A little while later, Johnny was finally discharged and made his way to the ICU. He too asked if there had been any change. Ben told him that they had visited shortly before he arrived, but there didn't seem to be any change. Johnny looked down in disappointment, so Ben tried reassuring his friend with, "But in some ways it's good because at least he's not getting worse, right?"
They waited patiently for a long while until Johnny stood up abruptly and told everyone he couldn't wait any longer. He went to ask the nurse if he could see Peter and was told he could go in for a few minutes.
Johnny sat by Peter's bedside, reaching out to hold his hand. "I'm so sorry, Peter," he said in a quiet voice. Then he was silent for a little while, just holding Peter's hand and caressing it with his thumb, not knowing what to say. "Please wake up, Peter. Now that we're together, I can't do this by myself anymore." He leaned over to whisper in Peter's ear, "I'm sorry for saying this for the first time while you're sleeping, but…I love you. You need to wake up so I can tell you properly."
Johnny's head hung low as he tried not to let the tears overwhelm him. Suddenly, he felt Peter squeeze his hand. He got up out of the chair quickly, looking down at his partner who was trying to open his eyes but was having some difficulty.
Blinking several times, Peter was finally able to open his eyes. It hurt to move his head so he just looked at Johnny with only his eyes moving. He tried to smile but even that hurt. With a hoarse voice, he said, "Hey you. Why do you look so upset?"
"Why did you have to sleep so long?," Johnny asked in response, smiling with tears glistening in his eyes—this time from happiness.
"Don't start with me," Peter groaned and Johnny gave a low chuckle. He was still holding Peter's hand as he turned to look for a nurse. He called out to one nearby and said, "Peter's awake."
Johnny was able to say "See you soon," before he was kicked out of the ICU so that Dr. Kim could examine Peter, but he didn't mind as joy filled him up.
When he came out of the double doors, into the hallway that led to the waiting room, Johnny stopped for a moment to gather his bearings. He put his hands over his smile, still not believing their luck. Then he remembered everyone in the waiting room and walked over very quickly to let them know the good news. Peter's parents had hugged him and thanked him profusely for helping to wake up their son, but Johnny had been modest and told them that he was sure everyone's visits had been the reason.
Now, they were just waiting to hear from the doctor. It didn't take too long before Dr. Kim came to them and told them that Peter was indeed awake and preliminary tests were showing that he would make a full recovery. They still needed to run some tests, which is where they had taken him for now, but that he could have visitors once he was settled in a recovery room.
It took longer than everyone liked since they were all in anticipation with talking to their loved one. Just as Peter's parents were finally allowed to go see him, Johnny got a call from Frank. As soon as Johnny answered and said, "Any news?," Frank answered with, "We got the sonofabitch."