Jaiden didn't know what woke him up first: the strong antiseptic smell or the hushed Spanish prayers next to him.

Jaiden opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room. But looking at the dreary ceiling and hearing the commotion outside of the room, he knew he was in the hospital.

He hated hospitals. It only reminded him of the bad memories; when he was in the accident that killed his mom, his dad fighting cancer, when his friends got injured in high school, and the times he had to be rushed in after losing Carlos because his health plummeted.

He swore to never end up in a hospital again, but here he was... again.

From the heaviness in his head, he knew that he was on some medication. He hated this feeling, but he also knew that he would be wracked with pain without it.  He was going to hate it more when the medicine wore off. 

He tried to feel what was wrong with his body, testing his toes and legs first.  He was relieved to know that he could still feel them.  A fear was lingering inside of him when he couldn't move anything right after the accident. 

Now that he knew that his legs were somewhat functional, he tried to do the same for his fingers but hissed when he felt a sharp pain on his left side.  He looked down and saw his arm in a cast. Well, at least he knew that he could feel his arms.

He groaned a little and felt his throat dry and sore. "...Toni..." he forced out a small whisper, and his eyes tried to focus so he could find who he was hoping to see.

"Mijo..." a soft voice sounded.

He slowly turned his head, and a small smile crept on his face. "Tia."

Valeria grinned with tears streaming down her face. The wrinkles around her eyes folded deeply, showing off the years she had spent smiling with Carlos. Her hands held an old rosary, her fingers tightly clamped around a bead.

"Dios mío. We were so scared." She said in a soft voice. She pointed towards the other side of Jaiden.

Jaiden looked down to the side and found Toni asleep in a chair next to his hospital bed. He was curled up and was obviously uncomfortable, and his hand was clutching a rosary of his own.

"Let him rest a little.  He just fell asleep, mijo; it's been a few days." She said.

"I'm sorry, Tia." Jaiden said, but his voice was hoarse. He wanted to say more but felt the painful scratching in his throat when he tried.

Valeria grabbed a cup of water with a straw that sitting at the table and held it to his lips.  He drank clumsily and slowly, trying not to choke on it.

"Don't feel bad. I want to be here. We all want to be here." She said with a calm smile.

"All?"

"Juan, Carolina, Isabella, Ricardo, Joshua, and Manuel." She said, naming all of her children. "We all decided to come up and check on you."

Jaiden felt his heart warm. He couldn't believe they would all come and check in on him, but they were his family.

"You're all too good for me." He whispered.

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "You're my youngest son, Jaiden. You're our last blessing, so of course, we will be here. Though Carlos would have lectured you for hours about the dangers of motorcycles."

Jaiden gave a silent laugh, his voice too raw to let out the sound. But there was such joy hearing Valeria call him her son.

Valeria brushed her hand through his hair. "The doctors said that the crash was..." she couldn't finish that sentence. "...It doesn't matter.  You should know that not only Carlos was watching over you, but your mother and father were as well."

Jaiden felt his heart drop as he remembered the pictures in his backpack. He looked around the room frantically but found the two pictures in new frames next to Toni's chair. He could tell they were slightly torn from the accident but relatively safe.

He sighed with relief when he saw them.

"Toni is a good man. He knew how important those pictures were and had his sister get them reframed."  Valeria explained.

Jaiden smiled at the sleeping figure. He would do that for him meant more than he could imagine. "Tia... I love him."

He wanted to tell her how much he cared for this man. It wasn't the ideal location or time, but he still wanted her to know.

She laughed a little. "Tengo ojos."

"I know you have eyes." Jaiden frowned.  He thought he had been discreet for the most part.

Valeria kissed his forehead again. "When he called you mi sol on that video call, I saw how you looked at him. Carlos used to look at me the same way, so it was obvious where your heart was... Carlos would have loved him."

"I know."

"He thought of you as a son."

Jaiden's eyes passed over the picture. "He was the best father. I wish we had more time together." 

He loved his biological father, but he slipped away as a father after his mom died.  He never blamed him or hated him because he knew he was suffering.  But then Carlos suddenly barged into his life, took him in, and bore the weight of that heavy paternal role.

Valeria sniffled a little, and new tears fell from her face. "He would have been so happy to hear call him 'father'."

Jaiden smiled sadly, remembering when he held Carlos in his arms when he was dying. When he called him 'dad', Carlos' face lit up, and he was able to pass with a smile on his lips.

"He was." Jaiden said quietly.

"Que?"

"He was happy when I called him 'dad'."  He couldn't bear to tell her more because he felt his eyes sting from the memories. But Valeria didn't need more details because she knew Jaiden so well.  She shook and cried in his chest. She had never felt such joy and sorrow at the same time.

Jaiden rubbed her back with his uninjured arm.  "Mamá." He whispered.

She shook even harder when she heard this.

"Can I call you that?" He asked gently.

She stood straight; her small frame trembled slightly. "You damn well better."

He squeezed her hand. "Ok, mamá. I will."

She wiped the tears that kept falling. "Necesito rezar."

She held out her rosary, showing him that she wasn't done praying.

He held out his hand. "Sleep, and I'll finish the prayers."

She shook her head, but Jaiden knew that she was barely hanging on. "Por favor." He pleaded.

She sighed and handed him the rosary, showing him where she left off. She kissed his cheek and laid down on the couch with a blanket.

He watched as she fell asleep almost instantly. He glanced over to the sleeping Toni and placed his fingers on the bead Valeria was the last touching.  He wasn't religious, but Valeria was.  He pursed his lips before he started to wordlessly recite the old prayers that she loved, working his way down the rosary. 

Jaiden sighed heavily when he finally reached the end and strained a little to place the rosary on the nightstand. He tried to silence the grunt of pain, but a firm hand wrapped around his and took the rosary.

Jaiden turned to the owner of the hand and found those warm brown eyes gazing at him intently.

"Mi sol..."

Jaiden smiled. "Hey."

Toni heavily sat on the bed with his hands cradling his head.

Jaiden was alarmed and wanted to reach out to him, but the pain started to kick in. Instead, he let out a small, "Toni?"

"Un Momento, mi sol...  I just need a moment." His shoulders shook a little, and he roughly rubbed his face before he stood back up and faced Jaiden.

His hands lovingly brushed back Jaiden's face, and his thumbs brushed against his cheek. Jaiden wanted to savor this feeling, but he could see the tiredness marring Toni's face and bloodshot eyes now that he was closer.

"Toni, are you ok?"

Toni released a breathy laugh. "Of course, you would ask that." He kissed Jaiden's forehead, and Jaiden could feel the days of unshaven scruff scratch his skin. "I'm good now."

Jaiden moved to the edge of the hospital bed. "Climb on in. It's more comfortable than that chair."

"You're injured." Toni frowned.

"I'm not asking you to fuck me." Jaiden said with a laugh, but it turned quickly to a cough.

Toni cursed and rubbed his back. He picked up the water and placed it on Jaiden's lips. "You've been living off of ice cubes for your lips and the IV...  Your throat is going to be raw."

Jaiden nodded, feeling the pain from his dry throat, but tried to ignore it. "Lay down." He mustered out. "But on my right side. I feel like I got hit by a van on the other side."

Toni laughed and placed his forehead against Jaiden's. "Te amo."

"Love you too." Jaiden said, his voice was cracking.

Toni moved to his right side and gingerly laid down, trying to avoid the wires. They were both large for the bed, but they found a way for both of them to be comfortable.

Jaiden sighed as he leaned into Toni. He had a full cup of water and was feeling a little better.

"I didn't know you prayed." Toni quietly nodded towards the rosary he helped put back on the end table.

"I don't, but Valeria does. If I have to pray to make her get some rest, I'll fucking pray. I didn't know you did either." His uninjured hand touched the rosary that Toni was holding.

"When your boyfriend is out for three days, you do everything you can." He said quietly.

"Fuck." Jaiden groaned. "The van?"

Toni shook his head. "We're trying to find what we can through the street cams.  It was heading towards the westside, but the cameras become scarce once you hit the petroglyphs."

"Shit. I didn't get too many details. Black, nineties, Ford, with a rose emblem in the front."

Toni raised an eyebrow. "You seriously tried to get the vehicle's details while getting hit by it?"

"I had a pretty close and personal view of it." Jaiden cracked a smile.

Toni groaned and hid his face in the crook of Jaiden's neck. "Smartass."

Jaiden took a deep breath, despite the pain he was feeling. He knew his ribs were bruised, at least. "It was following me. That van was in the apartment parking lot."

Toni sat up and stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"It stood out to me when I was leaving Nate's." Jaiden said quietly.

Toni fished his phone out of his pocket and made a call. He was talking quickly in Spanish, letting the other person know about what Jaiden told him.

He hung up and sighed. "We didn't know if what the hell happened. We didn't know if it was a hit or run, or something malicious. So now we need to figure it out if it was someone with an old grudge, the new case, or..."

"Or?" Jaiden spoke up when Toni paused.

Toni shifted uncomfortable. "One of our exes." He seemed to have already determined that Xavier or Billy would be despicable enough to harm Jaiden.

"Let's hope that it had to do with our current case. Maybe it's the break we need."

Toni frowned. "You getting hit by a van is not considered a break, mi sol."

"Depends on your outlook." He grinned but a yawn overtook him.

Toni kissed him and held him close. "Sleep, mi sol. And promise me you will wake up in the morning with me."

"I promise, corazon." He said quietly and let sleep take over.