Chapter 4 AJ walked into the hospital room, wearing his sunglasses.  Today it wasn’t for the trademark, but for his throbbing head.  The sounds of all the machines echoed in his head.  Joey turned his head from Angela’s bed.  “Hey man.” “Hey,” AJ took off his sunglasses and winced at the lights. “Rough night?” Joey asked. “A little,” AJ rubbed his forehead.  “Anything?” Joey shook his head.  “Maybe you’ll have some luck again.”  He offered his seat as AJ sat down. “Hey Angie, looks like you haven’t been giving anyone a clue huh?”  Joey gave a little chuckle as AJ looked back at him and quickly turned away.  “Um… come on, let’s show everyone that you can open those eyes.  Joey’s here and he’s been waiting for ya to come out of this stupor.  Everyone is.” Joey looked on eagerly at Angela.  There was no response.  “Uh, come on Ang, let’s see those beautiful eyes of yours.  This hospital needs some brightening up.”  AJ looked at Angela again… nothing. “Damn,” Joey whispered.  He put his hand on AJ’s shoulder.  “It’s OK.” “I just thought…” AJ looked down, stopping himself in time.  “Hey, you want a soda?  I was going down to the machine.” “Want me to go?” “Nah, I could use the exercise.  Just keep trying to talk to her.  Coke OK?” “Whatever they got.” Joey nodded as he headed out the doorway. AJ turned back to Angela.  “You know, you’re making this hard for everyone.  You always said you wanted to make you’re life easy so that people wouldn’t ask too many questions.  Joey’s been a wreck… and me… well, don’t worry about me.  We just all want you to wake up and come home.”  AJ sighed.  “He really loves you, ya know.  You need a man like that, who will always take care of ya.  I…”  The heart machines started beeping wildly and, this time, her fingers on her right hand began to move.  “Angie… come on sweetheart… don’t flake out on me again… wake up!” Dr. Hanlon ran inside.  “Her fingers are moving, look!”  AJ said breathlessly.  Dr. Hanlon ran to Angela’s bed.  “Angela?  Can you hear me?”  He noticed Angela’s fingers were twitching wildly.  “Angela?  We need you to wake up… If you can hear me, try to flutter your eyes.” Joey ran inside, throwing down the sodas.  “AJ?” “Look at her fingers!”  AJ looked on as Joey ran to the other side.  “Ange, baby?  It’s Joey, come on… open your eyes.”  “Come on Angie!” AJ touched her foot. Her eyes began to flutter and slowly, she opened them in a dazed state.  “She’s up!”  Joey cried, tears streaming down his face.  He leaned down to her.  “Hey sleepyhead.” Angela’s eyes grimaced as she started to move her mouth. “What’s wrong?” Joey turned to the doctor.  “It’s her breathing tube.  You need to get out of here,” Dr. Hanlon pushed a button to call for the nurse.  AJ and Joey walked out of the room as the nurse darted inside. AJ and Joey hugged each other.  “Thank God!” Joey yelled. “I know man, I knew she was a tough cookie,” AJ smiled. After a few minutes, Dr. Hanlon walked out of the room.  “Well, she’s awake.  She was grimacing because the breathing tube is extremely uncomfortable to patients who are conscious.  We removed the tube and gave her an oxygen tube to assist her breathing.  Her throat is dry, so we gave her some water.” “So she’s gonna be OK?” Joey asked. “The worst part is over.  We want to keep her in ICU one more day, but we’ll move her to a regular room tomorrow morning.  Now she’s in for a tough road.  She has a lot of wounds to heal, and she really won’t be the conversationalist tonight, because her throat is extremely irritated.  She’s had a lot to deal with over the past couple of days.” “We understand, but she’ll be OK right?” AJ asked. “It’ll be a while, but my prognosis is excellent,” Dr. Hanlon smiled.  Joey shook his hand.  “Thank you.” “You can go in and see her, but she is extremely groggy, so don’t overwhelm her.” Dr. Hanlon walked away as Joey and AJ looked at the room. AJ cleared his throat.  “Why don’t you go in?” “Don’t you wanna come with me?”  Joey asked “Nah, I’ll see her tomorrow,” AJ gave a little smile.  “Go on, she’s waiting for ya.” “I’ll see ya tomorrow,” Joey shook his hand as he walked inside. AJ looked on as Joey walked in the room, when he was swept with a wave of anger, happiness, and sorrow at the same time.  With a heavy heart, he trudged out of the hospital. ~*~ Joey walked in the room, where Angela was laying in bed, her eyes glazed over, and were barely opened.  He took a seat next to her.  “Hey beautiful.” “Hey,” she said in an almost inaudible whisper. “You had us in a scare for a while.” “Mmm,” Angela gave him a slight nod.  “You… OK?” “Oh, I could smile forever,” Joey gave a little laugh. “What happ…” Angela winced from the pain in her throat. “Shh… we’ll talk tomorrow.  You need your rest.”  He stroked her hand as she drifted off to sleep. Chapter 5 Contents Chapter 3