Chapter 55

"I knew I would end up here," Michael said.

Bobbie, who had left Georgie and Dillon's party with Jerry the second she received Tony's phone call, tended to her grandson.

"We're going to take excellent care of you," she assured him. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I know, Grandma. I'm not scared to be in the hospital."

Thanks to Julianna, he added silently.

Kevin entered the room a moment later and told Tony and Bobbie he had left instructions at the nurses' station for a sedative to be given to Michael.

"I'm on it," Bobbie said and exited the room.

Kevin stood next to Tony and addressed Michael.

"I want you to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, our work will begin. We'll take it nice and slow, but I want you to tell me everything you remember, so we can begin to put all the pieces of this puzzle together and make some sense out of it."

Michael nodded.

"I've left a notepad and pen on your table. If you have a dream, see an image, recall a memory, or have a flashback of any kind, write it down. Okay?"

"I will."

"Your grandmother and I will be here throughout the night," Tony said to his son. "If you need anything, let us know."

"Thanks, Dad. I just want to sleep."

"As soon as your grandmother hooks up your IV, you should have no problem falling asleep."

*~*

Lesley Lu looked up from her filing at the nurses' station and saw Julianna and Brooke Lynn standing on the other side of the counter, facing her.

"What are you two doing here?" she hissed, looking around to make sure no one saw her talking to them. "Visiting hours have ended."

"We heard Michael's here," Julianna said. "How is he?"

Lesley Lu sighed and turned her attention to her roommate and friend.

"You couldn't keep her from coming here?"

"Are you kidding?" Brooke Lynn replied. "If I didn't drive her here, she was threatening to walk!"

"So why didn't you take a nice little detour away from the hospital?"

"She would've jumped out of the car; I swear she would have."

"You can stop talking about me like I'm not here," Julianna said. "And, yes, I would've gotten out of the car and walked here.
Lesley Lu, how is Michael?"

"I honestly don't know. They brought him in a little while ago. Aunt Bobbie and Tony are with him, along with Dr. Collins. My aunt is giving him something to help him sleep. That's all I know."

"You don't know what happened?" Brooke Lynn asked.

"No, and even if I did, I couldn't tell you guys. Please. You have to leave before we all get in trouble."

"Aren't you going to see him?" Julianna asked.

"Yes, but not tonight. Aunt Bobbie said he needs to sleep. I'll see him tomorrow."

"Can you at least tell me what room he's in?" she pleaded.

"No way!" Leslie Lu said, shaking her head. "You'll want to see him, and you can't, Julianna. I'm sorry, but you can't."

"Come on," Brooke Lynn said, guiding a distraught Julianna away from the nurses' station. "This is just a summer job for Lesley Lu. I don't want her to get into trouble with anyone."

"I don't either," Julianna said.

She turned to face Lesley Lu. "Will you tell me how Michael is doing when you see him?"

"Yes," she assured the young girl. "I will tell you how he's doing when I see him."

"Thank you."

Julianna tried to tell Brooke Lynn that she didn't need a ride, but Brooke Lynn wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

"Tell me where you want to go, and I will drive you there and make sure you are with an adult who can keep an eye on you, missy."

"I want to go to my dad's hotel room," she finally said.

*~*

When A.J. answered his door, he was pleasantly surprised to see Julianna and Brooke Lynn.

"Wow," he said, ushering them inside, "it's been a long time, Brooke Lynn."

They shared an affectionate hug.

"I know. I've been wanting to see you since I heard you were in town."

"It's been hectic. Thank you for bringing Julianna back from the party. How was it?"

"For the time we were there, it was great," Brooke Lynn said.

"Daddy, did you know Michael's in the hospital?" Julianna asked.

"No," A.J. said, looking from his daughter to Brooke Lynn. "I had no idea. Is he all right? What happened?"

"We don't know," Brooke Lynn answered. "Bobbie got a call at the party from Tony and rushed to the hospital. We followed soon after, but they can't or won't tell us anything. I think your daughter would've camped out at GH if I didn't get her out of there. You'd better sleep with one eye open tonight, A.J. I have a feeling Julianna wants to sneak out of here."

"Sweetheart, the nurses are not going to let you see Michael, so you can forget about going to the hospital."

"I know," she said, tossing her purse onto the couch. "Lesley Lu said she would tell me how Michael's doing once she sees him, but that won't be until tomorrow. Isn't there some way you can find out what's going on?"

"I can't talk to anyone tonight either. You'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"I hope he's all right," Julianna lamented.

"We all hope that," Brooke Lynn said. "Try to get some sleep, Julianna. You'll find out what's going on soon."

She nodded. "Thanks, Brooke Lynn. I'll call you tomorrow?"

She smiled. "Sure. Call me anytime."

A.J. walked Brooke Lynn to the door. "Thank you so much for watching out for Julianna and for bringing her here. I appreciate it."

"No problem. I really like her. Even if she is obsessed with all things Michael."

Rolling her brown eyes, Brooke Lynn chuckled and said "goodnight" to A.J.

After he closed and chained the door, he turned and found Julianna talking on the phone. He heard the name "Dara" and surmised she had called to let them know she would be spending the night with him.

"Dara and Justus received some great news," she said, after replacing the receiver.

"About Matthew and Veronica?"

Julianna nodded. "They're going to be at the house tomorrow. Mrs. Liden helped them get things ready for their arrival, and she's going to supervise them for a while until she's sure they feel comfortable in their new surroundings. Dara asked if I could be there."

"I think you should," A.J. encouraged.

"I told her I would. It'll help get my mind off of Michael."

"Which, under the circumstances, makes a lot of sense."

"I know, but I feel so badly for him. He thought he had everything under control. He said he was doing better. Is this all from seeing Jason? I wish he was still talking to me."

"I know you want things to be different, but he had his reasons. You have to respect that."

"I am, or at least, I'm trying to. Maybe you could help him, Daddy."

"I can't get involved unless someone asks me to. I don't think the problem is drugs or alcohol, so it's really out of my area of expertise. He's in the best place, Julianna. Trust me, he is."

"You guys like each other. You could visit him as a friend."

"I can and I will. When Tony or Bobbie tells me the time is right."

Julianna nodded. "I understand. How was your dinner with Mama?"

"Fine. We enjoyed the food, and we talked about Jason and my attending daily AA meetings."

"Mama knows about Courtney?"

A.J. nodded.

"What did she say?"

"Your mother was her usual, amazing self."

"She was happy you helped Jesse?"

"Keesha was impressed that I faced Courtney and Jason and lived to tell about it."

A.J. chuckled; Julianna smiled.

"That sounds like Mama."

A.J. poured water into a glass and offered it to his daughter, who accepted it.

"Your mother wrote a letter to Jason, telling him a few things, and gave it to Ellen, who assured Keesha that Jason would receive it."

Julianna laughed. "That sounds like Mama, too. I can't believe how well she's doing."

Father and daughter shared an understanding look.

"It's been a long time since I've had my mother. My real mother. I'm not going to know how to act around her now that she's healthy and feisty again. I hope you'll help me," Julianna said, only half teasing.

A.J. smoothed his daughter's hair. "Just be the loving daughter you've always been."

Julianna nodded.

"You know what I'm going to do?" A.J. asked, with a twinkle in his expressive hazel eyes.

"What?"

"I'm going to find a calendar for your mother so she can mark off the days until she's released from the hospital."

Julianna smiled. "Did Mama tell you about that?"

"Yes, she did."

"We used to always have a calendar when we wanted to countdown to a special occasion. It was a lot of fun. Some mornings, we would fight for the pen and end up marking each other instead of the calendar."

Julianna chuckled at the memory.

"Mama will like your gift. I know she will."

"Would you like to know what your mother did for me one year?"

"Sure," Julianna said, and then took a long swallow of the refreshing cold water.

"I had a calendar that I was keeping. I marked off each day that I had stayed sober. When I thought I had fallen off the wagon, the time Carly had drugged me, in a fit of anger and self-loathing, I ripped the calendar to shreds because I thought it meant nothing and that my hard-fought sobriety had been nothing but a big, fat lie."

"Dad, that's awful. What did Mama do?"

A.J. smiled at the fond memory. "When we discovered the truth, for my birthday, your mother gave me a brand new calendar, and she had marked off every single day I had remained sober. I still have that calendar, even though I was unable to maintain my sobriety."

"Except for the past eleven years," Julianna gently reminded him. "Think of the collection of calendars you would've had."

"Can I tell you something in all honesty?"

"Of course."

"Without your mother cheering me on, those calendars would have been meaningless to me. I'll always associate calendar-keeping with Keesha. I loved her gift. It meant everything to me that she knew how important my sobriety was to me back then. Your mother was the only one who ever truly understood that about me."

"Because she loves you," Julianna said, her voice soft.

The words were simple, but Julianna knew there was a world of meaning in them.

"Yes," A.J. said, nodding in agreement. "I can appreciate so many things I've previously taken for granted because I know your mother loves me."

*~*

Later that night as Julianna tried to go to sleep, she replayed the question she had written down to enter into her journal and ponder the following day: how did someone know when they were truly in love?