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2 Months Later

~ Daniela's POV ~

"Oh for..." My sore, crackly voice trailed off when I walked into the utility room in our house to see the washing basket very empty and the floor around the basket very freaking full.

"Carson!"

When I shouted his name, I swallowed when I felt the painful scratchy feeling in my throat again like I'd been feeling for the last few days. Standing there I waited for him to respond from wherever he was in the house, but when he didn't I left the utility room with the intention of finding my boyfriend.

"Carson!"

When I called his name again a sharp pain shot through my head just when I heard him respond from the living room with an equally irritated tone. Following the sound of his voice, I walked into the living room where he was sitting on the couch reading something on his phone.

He looked like he was ready to go out again although he only came back from working out in the gym at the mafia mansion an hour ago - hence why my utility room floor was covered in his sweaty clothes.

All I wanted to do was go and lie down after I woke up with my flu for the fourth day in a row, but all morning I'd been busy doing house work which was never ending when you live with Carson Agnello. The laundry was one of the last things I had to do, even though I'm sure there was something else on my mental list that I was forgetting.

One last thing that I couldn't freaking remember, it always happened to me. But I still refused to make a list on my phone or on paper.

"How many times have I told you to put your clothes in the basket?"

"That's what you're annoyed about? I missed the damn basket, it's not a big deal." When he responded he didn't even look at me as if this conversation wasn't worth his time. "When I ask you to put your clothes in the basket, that's what I mean. In it, not next to it."

This time he didn't even bother to respond to me, instead typing out a message before he stood up, putting his phone in his pocket. "I'm talking to you Carson."

"Yeah, I heard you." Narrowing my eyes at him, I took a step towards him. "Do your own damn laundry if this is how you're going to act."

"Daniela it's just a freaking basket! But fine, I'll do it myself. Anyway, I told you to go and lie down, you're not well enough to clean this entire house." This time he shook his head giving me an incredulous look as he side stepped me, heading towards the door. Of course I chose to ignore that like I'd been doing all morning - someone had to clean this house. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out?" When he heard me speak again, he stopped in his tracks before he suddenly turned around to face me. "I already told you I have work to do. Why? Do I need your permission now? Is that another thing you want to add to your list?"

"What list?" When I gave him frown he let out a humourless laugh, stepping into the living room again. "All freaking morning you've been picking on the smallest things Dani!"

"No I haven't." When I shook my head, he came even closer thankfully lowering the volume of his voice as he spoke again. "You got annoyed that I didn't make the bed, that I didn't pick my towel up, when I put my shoes on upstairs and now with this."

Okay so maybe I did get a bit irritated about some stuff, but he's making it sound like I've been acting like a bitch for no reason.

"Because I asked you to do it all before, it wasn't just today Carson. You never make the bed and you seem to have a problem with leaving clothes and things on the floor."

"I'm not arguing with you about this Dani, especially when you're sick." When he shook his head, he went to take a step away again when I reached out to grab his hand. "Don't just walk away Carson."

"What else do you want me to say? You always pick on the little things when I do so much around here that you never even notice."

"Like what?" When I scoffed at his words, he rose an eyebrow at me as if to ask me if was actually being serious with that question. I know he did a lot, most of the time he did his best to keep things neat and tidy and if they weren't he would clean up, but I guess I was just in a bad mood so I didn't really accept that. "I'm not going to list it to you Dani, you know exactly what I do."

He'd also put his life on hold to take care of me for three whole days when I could barely get out of bed a few days ago. I knew that, but I guess I was too stubborn to acknowledge that.

"Maybe next time just do what I tell you to do." This time I was the one who attempted to leave the room when I felt the pain from my headache increase. It really was bad.

"I'm not your bitch, don't speak to me like that."

His words caused me to stop in my tracks before I finally turned around to glare at him, noticing he was already doing the same.

It's funny really because we hardly ever argued, the last two months hadn't been anything like this. But today I just felt like every single thing was irritating me and I took my anger out on him. When I'm sick I get a little bit bitchy.

"No I know because if you were my bitch you would listen and follow instructions."

Maybe I get really bitchy.

A deadly silence fell around us until eventually my words caused him to let out another humourless laugh. For a moment he held my stare, his eyes hardening and his expression going completely cold before he suddenly walked past me, heading out the door. He didn't say another word as he left, slamming the front door behind himself. Since I was too annoyed to care, all I did was just stand there sniffling and coughing when he left.

Aren't you supposed to get better when you have the flu instead of get worse? The first few days I could barely get out of bed, or eat or drink which is why Carson stayed home with me. At least today I could move around so I decided to do the housework, but I still felt like I was getting worse for some reason. The down side for Carson was that I'm kind of hard to be around when I'm sick which he'd already had to put up with for the last few days.

Letting out another scoff at his behaviour followed by a cough, I went back into the utility room where I was originally going to put another load of washing on before we had our little argument.

Of course my symptoms would start getting worse on the one day that I'd allocated to do all the housework and the cleaning.

I thought I got through the worst of it- the coughing, body aches, the exhaustion and the seriously high fever which was all traumatising. But, unfortunately for me all those symptoms were still here. Then if you add arguing with you boyfriend/boss into the mix, you have yourself a day from hell, crafted by the devil himself.

So maybe I exaggerate a little when I'm sick and maybe I'm a bitch too, but if anyone felt the way I did they would be exactly the same. Along with the disgusting flu symptoms which didn't seem to be letting up, this headache only felt like it was getting worse and worse as I moved around the house.

Another hour was spent in agony after I did the laundry, took a shower and put the laundry in the tumble dryer before I got into our bed. However the moment I got into the bed while I took some medicine, I remembered the last thing I was supposed to do.

Change the bedsheets.

This is why I need to start making a list on my phone, even though I'm too lazy for that. It's like a self destructive cycle, I'm too lazy to make a list and then I forget shit that I was supposed to do and it makes my mood ten times worse.

"Screw it, I'll change them tomorrow." Letting out a groan, I curled up into the bedsheets, where I ended up staying for the next few hours watching TV, my headache and lightheadedness getting progressively worse over time.

I think I'm just cursed with catching the flu really easily, I must be getting another round of the crazy symptoms I'd had already.

At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next time I woke up, the room was pitch black and I was clammy as hell and I felt like someone had just run over my entire body with a bus - three times. Maybe even four.

Taking a moment to wake up, I let out a groan when I felt the familiar pain in my throat and my headache from earlier back with a vengeance after the pain killers I took.

If I had to describe it, I would say it felt someone was stabbing me over and over again in my brain with a billion knives. It really was the worst headache I'd ever had.

Somehow, I managed to force myself out of the bed ten minutes later, grabbing my fluffy robe as I padded out of the room and downstairs in my slippers. The entire time I walked through the quiet, empty house clutching my phone in my hand, I was focussing on trying to calculate how many hours Carson had been gone.

In the state I was in, it took me the entire journey from our bedroom to the kitchen to work out that we had our fight seven hours ago. He still hadn't come home.

My intention was only to go to the kitchen to get some water and some pain killers since we ran out upstairs, but by the time I got there I could barely stand up.

I felt like I could fall over any second from the dizziness.

Once I got to the kitchen, I let out a shaky breath through the pain in my head as I leaned against the counter for balance, picking up my phone. As soon as I turned it on I had to turn the brightness down to the lowest setting when it caused a sharp pain to shoot through my head.

It took me a lot longer than usual to call Carson, squeezing my eyes shut as I held the phone up to my ear, trying to block out the pain in my head. It honestly felt like the pain was getting worse and worse by the second.

"Hello?" When I heard his voice, I tried to force out a response but all I could managed was a moan of pain as I clutched my head in my free hand. "Carson..."

"Dani? Baby what's wrong?" I could hear the panic in his tone immediately, since in the life we lived absolutely anything can happen in the space of seven hours. I'm sure he was imagining the worst. "My head."

I'm sure I said those words through the whimper that escaped my lips, hearing some kind of shuffling in the background on his side of the line. "I'll be there in a few minutes baby, just hold on."

"It h-hurts." Whimpering again, a tear escaped my eye as black dots started to cloud my vision. The pain in my head started to drift into the background as my eyelids became heavier and heavier, taking more of my energy to keep them open.

"Carson help me." For a moment he didn't say anything, or maybe I missed it as my body began to sink down to the floor thankfully the counter behind me stopping me from dropping down with no support.

"I'm coming baby."

That was the last thing I heard before my eyes finally closed.

~ Carson's POV ~

I promised her if she was ever in the hospital I would be right by her side the entire time. But I was breaking that promise.

"She's going to be okay." When Grey spoke from where he was sitting next to me in the hospital waiting room, I chose to ignore him instead keeping my gaze focused on the floor ahead of myself. Since Eleanor didn't respond either, I'm not sure exactly who he was directing his words at - me or his girlfriend.

Either way I just stayed quiet as my mind kept repeating the last conversation I had with her.

That argument we had was so stupid. It never should have happened and I never should have left afterwards. Everyone always says not to leave after having an argument and yet I did, even if it was such a pointless one. Then I came home to find her passed out on the kitchen floor.

The moment I saw her lying there unresponsive, for a split second I thought she was actually gone which was now my biggest freaking fear. I already told her once that losing her was my biggest fear but back then I actually meant if we broke up or something. Now after I lost my mom and my sister I realised just how easy it could be and those words now held a completely different meaning.

If I lost her, I don't think I'd be able to survive it. She was my everything. I woke up to her every day, if I could I spent my entire day with her at home or at work, we did everything together and then I went to sleep with her.

She was the one who helped me through the hardest two months of my life after I lost my mom and my sister, even though it wasn't exactly easy for her. She still put me first even though she was mourning too, but she never talked about herself. She only ever helped me through my feelings, choosing to keep her own bottled up and as a result our relationship definitely became strained.

I wasn't exactly in the best place to be all romantic with her, I didn't have it in me to pamper her and treat her like the queen she is. We hadn't even had sex for two months now, the day they died was the last time we did it. Even though she didn't complain once about any of this, I knew she was finding it hard.

But she still put me first over her own wants and needs.

I now knew what it was like to lose two of the most important people in my life but if I lost Dani...

She was the last thing I had left. She was my everything.

The worst part was that if she didn't call me just before she passed out I might have been so lost in the news about Christopher that I might not have come home for hours. She would have just been lying there all on her own.

"Carson?" When I heard someone say my name, I lifted my gaze to see Aviana and Fox enter the waiting room where I was already sitting with Grey. "Have you got any news yet? How is she?"

"Nothing yet, they're still running tests." Thankfully Grey answered her question for me as the two of them took a seat on the chairs across from us without saying another word. I wasn't the one who called them so I'm guessing Grey did since he and Eleanor were with me when we found Dani in the kitchen and then drove her to the hospital.

I was fine with Aviana after what happened but Fox...things had been a little weird between us. When I found out what he said to Dani, no matter how much she tried to get me to overlook it, I didn't.

The next time I saw him I beat the crap out of him. I was actually so angry that I was about to shoot him in the leg when Grey heard the commotion and decided to freaking stop me. He deserved to be shot too just for that, but unfortunately he took the gun.

After that Fox spent two weeks apologising to me and I guess we eventually did make up when I realised just how damn hard it was to live without him and also how much he was suffering too. We also had to work together everyday so it wasn't exactly easy for me to ignore him. But he still hadn't spoken to Dani since she never wanted to be around him anymore, so I guess things weren't exactly back to normal.

"The family of Daniela O'Brien?" When the doctor walked into the waiting room we were sitting in, all of us stood up causing her to frown looking at the five of us until Eleanor and I stepped forward.

"Is she okay?" Eleanor's voice came out thick from her crying as she gripped a tissue in her hand, eyeing the doctor who was looking at her clipboard. Shouldn't she know the answer before she gets here? Now she's reading her freaking notes as if we weren't anxiously waiting for some answers.

"She's okay. We ran some tests and scans just to make sure but it is just a sever case of the flu and she's also dehydrated which is why she fainted."

Is it bad I wanted to laugh at that? I spent the last three days trying to force her to drink some water but she kept refusing after she threw up on the first day when she drank an entire bottle of water in one go because she was so thirsty.

Since then she'd been ignoring the thirst and all my attempts at trying to get her to drink some water. At least I get to say I told you so, but only when she's better so she doesn't get upset.

Actually, screw that, I would never say that to her. She's my queen.

But I was still right.

"We're going to keep her for 24 hours so that we can get some fluids into her and some antibiotics. You can see her now but she's still sleeping, she might not wake up for an hour or two."

After she told us her room number, we left the waiting room in search of her room. When we finally found it, two nurses were just leaving as we walked into the small room which just consisted of a bed, three chairs and the usual hospital monitors and equipment.

The moment I stepped inside, my eyes landed on Dani who had a soft frown on her face as she slept. Taking her in as I walked to her side, I noticed the number of needles in her hand connected to the IV probably for the fluids and the antibiotics that she needed. As well as that she was hooked up to the machines to monitor her blood pressure and her heart rate which was what caused the sound of the steady beeping in the room.

She was terrified of all this, it was her biggest fear and now she was stuck here for a whole 24 hours. I knew she was going to lose her mind when she woke up, if that day of her surgery was anything to go by. Except this time she was waking up here in a proper hospital room and she was sick as hell.

When I stopped next to her I reached out to stroke her cheek, the action causing her eyes to flutter as I frowned at how warm and clammy her skin was. In that moment I thought she was going to wake up, but instead she just leaned into my touch, seeming like she'd fallen back into a deep sleep again.

"She just needs to rest." When I heard Eleanor whisper the words behind me, I turned to look at her, nodding my head just as Aviana spoke. "We'll go and get us all some coffee."

It was pretty late at night already although I had no idea exactly what the time was.

"You don't have to stay, I'm sure it's late and-"

"She's my best friend Carson and we all care about her so we're staying." When Aviana spoke she stepped towards the door with Fox, giving me a small smile as she left with him. That's another thing, those two had become so much closer over the last two months. Avi said it was because she was helping Fox to cope with Mama's and Poppy's death, but now they're weirdly inseparable.

Once it was just the three of us, Grey and Eleanor sat down on the chairs at the end of the bed while I took the one next to Dani, holding her hand in mine while she slept.

"You never said she was this sick." When I heard Eleanor speak after a few minutes of silence passed, I turned my head to look at her. "What do you mean? You knew it was bad, she told you."

"But I didn't know it was bad enough for her to end up in the hospital Carson. Why did you leave her on her own today?" This time it wasn't hard to miss her accusatory tone causing me to narrow my eyes at her. "Says the woman who left her sister on her own for three years."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Eleanor and I don't get along - at all. She was nice to me up until she found about the mafia after we kidnapped Ayden and Atticus. Apparently, it was okay for Grey - her own boyfriend to be in the mafia, but not her sister's boyfriend.

"Listen you little bitch, my sister is-"

"A very nice and sick person who doesn't need you arguing in her hospital room." When Grey quickly jumped in, he gave both of us a pointed look although I'd already looked away by that point.

"I want her to come and stay at the house when she gets released from hospital."

"No." This time I responded without even looking at Eleanor, keeping my eyes focused on Dani instead. "Carson it's the best thing for her."

"The best thing for her is to be at home with me." It probably wouldn't have made much of a difference for her to stay in our room at the mafia mansion as Dani calls it, but I knew she would have preferred to be at home.

We hadn't stayed there for months now, she was happy at home.

"You left her alone and she ended up in the hospital, you can't take care of her."

This bitch really wanted to make me feel guilty, didn't she?

"El just leave it." When Grey whispered the words to her, of course I still heard it since the room was silent apart from the beeping of the monitors. "She can choose then when she wakes up."

When I responded to her, I turned my head to look at her giving her a glare. Unfortunately unlike most people she wasn't scared of me whenever I did that. Maybe she thought Grey would protect her, or she knew I would never do anything because of Dani. Either way, she was courageous enough to give me one of her own glares in return.

During our little stare down, I was aware of the door opening as Fox and Avi came back into the room. For a second they took in the glares Eleanor and I were exchanging before they just handed us all our coffees. I guess everyone was used to us not getting along. The only people who hated it were Dani and Grey, but they were smart enough to stay out of it.

"Did you put sugar in this?" When I took a sip of my coffee, I instantly grimaced when the sweetness took away the bitterness that I loved. Unfortunately before either Fox or Avi could explain, Eleanor let out an exaggerated disgusted noise.

"You gave me his coffee." When those words came out in a hushed whisper, she glared at Avi and Fox who didn't seem bothered in the slightest that they'd screwed up. "Just swap then."

"That's gross Fox, he just drank mine." When she shook her head in disgust, putting the cup down on the table I just rolled my eyes. "Why don't you do us all a favour and go and get yourself another one then?"

"Because I'm not like you, I don't leave sick people unattended." When she shot the words back at me, I had to clench my jaw to stop myself from snapping at her. That was only because I promised Dani I wouldn't insult her sister.

But apparently she was allowed to say whatever she wanted to me.

Deciding not to comment on the fact the four of us would still be with Dani, I just turned my attention back to my girlfriend who was still sleeping. Reaching out I stroked her hair, moving some out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Despite what her bitchy sister said, I wasn't going to leave her.

I know I screwed up when I left earlier, but she was okay with me going out in the morning before we had that fight and, her symptoms suddenly got worse while I was gone. She was okay this morning, at least okay enough to do all the damn housework when I told her not to.

I even carried her back to the bed but she just shouted at me since she was in a bitchy mood all day and then walked back to the bathroom to carry on cleaning it.

Almost an hour passed while we sat there in silence until Grey finally broke the silence from where he was sitting next to Eleanor on the chairs at the end of the bed.

"You okay bro?" Grey's question came out in a quiet whisper since Eleanor was fast asleep too, resting her head on his shoulder.

They were kind of a cute couple, especially with their children, although I would never admit that out loud.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You've got that 'I want to kill someone' look on your face." This time it was Fox who spoke from where he was sitting on the window ledge with Aviana who looked like she was sleeping too. I assumed she was since she hadn't said anything for a long time which was unusual for her.

"My girlfriend is in the hospital, I'm not going to be smiling, am I?" When I glared at Fox, he shrugged his shoulders in response clearly unbothered by my glare. "I don't know about that. When Avi and I went to get the coffee, we saw some guy crying next to someone who was smiling at something on his phone."

When Grey and I only gave him a weird look, not understanding his point he let out a sigh leaning his head back against the window behind him. "Some people are screwed up man."

When he muttered those words to himself, Grey cracked a grin while I only frowned. "How do you know that they even knew each other?"

"They were holding hands."

"And the guy was smiling while the other guy was crying?" This time when Grey spoke, Fox nodded his head. "Yep."

"That is screwed up." My response caused Grey to nod in agreement before he leaned back in his seat coming up with a possible scenario. "Maybe, they were a gay couple and one of them just came out to their parents and so he was crying and the other guy was cheating all that time with the guy he was texting."

Honestly, it didn't sound too far fetched when you think of the state of some relationships these days. Cheating is way too common.

"That could be true. Or maybe, they're brothers and the guy was crying because his girlfriend died and the other guy was texting his group chat to give everyone the good news." This time I couldn't help but laugh at Fox's idea, somehow he managed to make me laugh even in Dani's hospital room.

"You're such a jerk Fox." Of course he only grinned at this. "I know."

"You've become more of a jerk recently though." Both Fox and I turned to look at Grey when he said that, somehow having the balls to say that to Fox. "So?"

"I'm just saying, you've changed."

We all knew what he was referring to - Fox had almost become a completely different person since Mama and Poppy died.

He wasn't as soft as he used to be around us, especially like how he used to be with Dani. The way he spoke to her in the gym was a good example of that, before their deaths he would never have treated her like that.

He called her Little One for a reason, he loved her like a sister. It wouldn't have surprised me if these last two months without speaking to Dani were hard for him. They became extremely close before all this happened.

"I haven't changed Grey. I'm just letting my natural personality shine more." When he muttered those words, anyone could tell he wasn't enjoying this conversation even if he was trying to act unbothered. "That's bullshit and you know it."

"No it's not."

"It is." When I spoke up, agreeing with Grey, Fox shifted his gaze over to me. "You've been acting like a different person."

For a second he held my stare, before he spoke, keeping his voice in a low whisper so that we didn't wake Avi and Eleanor - not that I cared much about Eleanor but still. "Okay so what if I have? It's nothing to do with you two idiots so stay out of it."

"Fox we're you're best friends, of course it is, we care about you." When Grey spoke in a softer tone, Fox let out a scoff. "I don't give a damn."

"You keep doing that, acting like you don't give a crap about anything." Grey definitely had a point - Fox had been acting like he didn't give a crap about any of us, basically the only thing he cared about was training, drinking as much alcohol as he could and his job in the mafia. That's it. "Because I don't."

"No? Then why are you here in the hospital?" When I shot my response back at him almost instantly, he held my stare narrowing his eyes at me choosing not to respond to me. "You care about her."

Of course we all knew he cared about Dani.

When a glare formed on his face, I leaned back in my chair giving him a teasing smile. "I guess you're not as much of a jerk as you thought."

"You don't know what you're talking about Carson."

"They died two months ago, snap out of it." When I finally addressed the reason why he was being like this, my smile disappeared completely as I kept my the volume of my voice in a quiet whisper. "Don't."

"What? You don't want to talk about it?" When Grey spoke, Fox shifted his eyes away from me and towards him instead. "Not with you."

"So you can talk to Aviana but not us?" Like I said, they've been inseparable over the last two months. She's the only person he's been spending time with, but not around any of us.

"She's different and anyway, how I feel is none of your damn business." Somehow even when he was clearly getting more irritated with this conversation, he managed to whisper the entire time. "We're your friends, we have been for eleven years."

"So?" He really was an annoying idiot sometimes.

"So just freaking talk to us. You've had two months to keep it all to yourself so now just talk so we can move on." For some reason my words seemed to strike a nerve with him when he suddenly glared at me. "Move on? We can't just move on Carson, they were important."

"You don't think he knows that Fox? That was his family. But at some point we have to start taking care of the relationships that still exist before things get screwed up permanently." The pointed look Grey gave to him caused Fox to glance over at Dani, clearly getting the double meaning to his words.

Fox was angry that day and he took it out on Dani and now she was determined to never speak to him again. He hadn't tried with her since he was still obviously grieving, but I knew it affected him. It almost affected our relationship too, but we just about managed to hold onto that.

"I don't have anything to say. They're gone and they're not coming back, no matter how much we talk it won't make it better. Being a jerk, drinking and focussing on training is easier than thinking about it."

"Until you push everyone you care about away and you're left with nothing." I knew what I said was pretty harsh and blunt, but he needed to hear it. This was the only chance Grey and I would get to speak to him without him losing his temper, only because we were in the hospital. Any other time we've tried to get through to him, it hasn't ended well.

"So you're saying you're going to leave me?" When he rose an eyebrow at me, it was easy to hear the worry in his tone although he was clearly trying to keep his cool facade up. "No, I'm not. We've been through too much, I would never give up on you. But this needs to stop."

It fell silent for a moment, before Fox finally spoke again. "It helps."

"Blocking it out?" When he heard Grey's question, he nodded his head. "Training is a almost like a cathartic distraction and the alcohol helps it hurt less."

"You can't do this forever." Thankfully he didn't seem offended by my words anymore, especially considering how heated this whisper-conversation almost became. "Then tell me Carson, how do I 'move on'?"

"You need to start by talking to us. We'll help you through it."

I really sound like a pussy, don't I? It was her, she was rubbing off on me too much since she always wanted to freaking talk about everything.

"How? What the hell are the two of you going to do?"

"You also need to sort your attitude out." When I chose to ignore his question, instead giving him a glare, he held my stare for a moment before he cracked a grin while nodding his head. "Fine."

"So..." When Grey awkwardly tried to start a conversation, I turned my head to glare at him. "Don't you start doing that too."

"Doing what?" When he gave me a frown, the glare I gave him only intensified. "That stupid 'so' thing."

"Oh, I guess I picked it up from El." When he shrugged his shoulders glancing down at Eleanor who was still sleeping, I couldn't help but glare at her.

So she was the freaking reason Dani always said that. Now my best friend was going to be doing it too, because of her.

"Whatever, so what's on your mind?" When I turned my attention to Fox, he shrugged his shoulders. "I need a freaking drink."

"Oh yeah, he'd usually be drunk by this time of the night." When Grey muttered those words, I couldn't help but roll my eyes, keeping my attention on Fox. "You need to stop that, find a new addiction."

"I don't think you should say that." When Grey quickly jumped in when I said that, giving me a weird look, it only took me a few seconds to realise what he meant before I nodded. "I mean like a healthy addiction, not drugs or something like that."

Surprisingly Fox only laughed at that.

"I'm not addicted to alcohol, I can stop if I want - I just haven't wanted to. Anyway, is this the advice you're going to give me? It's pretty awful."

"I don't give advice that's why, Dani is the best at that." When I shook my head, glancing over at my girlfriend, Fox only nodded his head without saying a word.

"So..." When I sent Grey another glare, he quickly thought of a question to ask. "Why are you and Avi so close now?"

For a second Fox fell quiet as he glanced down at Avi who was resting her head on his shoulder. I was actually surprised she was still asleep, she was usually a light sleeper and she wouldn't miss the opportunity to give her opinion in a conversation like this.

"I have to tell you something." When he spoke, Grey and I fell silent waiting for him to say whatever it was. "Aviana and I are-"

"Crap, sorry." When Grey's phone started ringing in the otherwise silent room, Fox let out a frustrated sigh while Grey quickly answered it. For a moment we sat there waiting for him to listen to whatever he was being told before he eventually hung up the phone.

"They're at the cabin in Washington State."

So it was that call. Once we found Christopher and everyone on the list, we decided it would be rather fitting to take them all back to the place they held Dani and I.

"We can't go yet, I need to make sure she's better first." When I referred to Dani, the two of them nodded in understanding before Fox spoke again. "How long?"

"A couple of days, maybe a week. Just have our men hold them there, as soon as I can, we'll go."

"Did you get all of them?" When Aviana suddenly spoke, the room fell silent again. When she cracked an eye open to look at me when I didn't respond straight away since I was busy staring at her in shock, I finally nodded my head. "Yeah we got all of them."

"You're awake?" When Fox turned to look at her as she sat up straight, she nodded her head. "Yeah and by the way, telling him to find a new addiction was just plain stupid."

When both Fox and Grey chuckled at her words, I nodded my head flashing her a smile. "It was an accident. So why didn't you just say something instead of pretending to be asleep?"

"You needed your bromance time." Shrugging her shoulders she leaned back against the window like Fox had been doing. "Don't say that."

"Oh come on this is totally a bromance - especially with how you all care so much about each other. So anyway, did it work? Are you all good now?" When Aviana looked between the three of us, it fell quiet while Grey and I looked at Fox waiting for him to respond.

He was the one with the problem after all.

"Yeah, we're good." When he nodded his head, a smile stretched across Avi's face as she nodded happily. "Good, this has been the worst two months of my life."

Usually that would have been an exaggeration since she always says things like that, but this time I didn't doubt that she meant it. It had been hard for all of us, in our own ways.

"So what were you going to say before the call interrupted you?" When Grey asked that question, Fox awkwardly cleared his throat as he glanced over at Avi. For a second they looked at each other before he turned his attention back to Grey and I.

"We need to tell you something." Taking another few seconds, Fox let out a nervous breath drawing out the suspense before he finally told us.

"We're together."

"Together?" Giving them a frown, Grey looked between the two of them while I just sat there digesting the news that I probably should have seen coming. I guess it made sense, they were both single and they'd been spending so much time alone together recently, but I just never thought that would be the reason.

It also made sense why he was so nervous to say it.

"Okay."

When I broke the silence around us, all three of them turned to look at me, clearly shocked by my response. So was I to be quite honest. "You're okay with it?"

When Aviana spoke in a soft voice, my mind instantly went back to that dinner with Mama when I lost my temper at her for being in a relationship with Ignacio. I should never have reacted like that in the first place, even if it was a genuine concern that one of my top members and closest friends was in a relationship with the leader of another organisation.

But like my mama said, I should have been happy for her.

"I am." When I confirmed that I was okay with their relationship, not that they really needed my approval, a smile stretched across her face.

A genuine smile.

I only had Avi and Dani left, there was no way I was going to make her cry again by getting annoyed. It also didn't matter anymore, maybe a year ago when it was just the four of us it might have changed the dynamics of our friendship. But now Grey and I were in relationships, they deserved to be happy.

I also knew he would treat her right, even if he was a man whore for the last few years, the love he had for her was obvious. I guess it just wasn't a friendship kind of love anymore.

"You too?" When Aviana turned her attention to Grey, he was still looking at the two of them with a frown. "Why didn't you just tell us earlier?"

"Because...we've all been going through so much recently and everything between the three of you has been screwed up too. We were worried we would make it worse." As she spoke, she glanced over at Fox when he took her hand.

Maybe things like that would take some getting used to.

"The two of you are free to do what you want, it's nothing to do with me or Carson." When I nodded my head in agreement, I could tell almost instantly Fox was relieved when he smiled.

"Just don't hurt her." When I added the last part, his smile morphed into a glare. "You want to end up in a hospital bed right next to your girl? Because I can make that happen."

"Try it bitch." When I flashed him a grin, he continued to glare for a moment before a grin of his own tugged at his lips. "Screw you."

So I guess things were kind of getting back to normal.

Or at least the new kind of normal anyway.

"So how did this start?" Asking them the question, I leaned back in my chair continuing to hold onto Dani's hand while she slept next to me. I'm not sure how she's going to feel that her best friend is in a relationship with someone she hates, so I guess that part will be interesting.

"It just kind of happened. It was the day after..." When Fox's sentence trailed off, I only nodded my head in understanding. "She played hard to get for a few weeks though."

"No I didn't, you were on a sex ban and I'm not that easy anymore."

"Anymore?" When Grey rose an eyebrow at her, she flashed him a grin shrugging her shoulders. "I love sex."

"Who doesn't?" When Fox asked the question with a smirk, I couldn't help but laugh at the irony that the two most sexual people I know eventually ended up together.

"So you're officially together then?" In response to my question, Aviana shook her head. "No, we wanted to tell you two first before we became official but we didn't know when to tell you - apart from when we're working, we don't really sit together like this anymore."

"We should do it more." When Grey said those words, the rest of us nodded in agreement. "We will."

My words caused Aviana to smile happily from where she was sitting, but before she could respond to me, my attention very quickly shifted towards Dani who let out a soft moan, her eyes fluttering while her heart rate on the monitor began to increase.

"Dani, baby wake up." When I reached out to stroke her cheek, keeping hold of her hand, she let out another moan followed by a cough that caused her to open her eyes. She took a moment to control her coughing which sounded so much worse than it did this morning and then eventually she started to take in her surroundings.

First her tired eyes focused on me since I was right next to her before she started to look around the unfamiliar room causing a frown to form on her face, especially when she saw Grey and Eleanor at the end of her bed and Fox and Aviana sitting on the window ledge.

I guess it was only then that she started to realise where she was which is why she became even more panicked causing the beeping from the monitor to quicken.

"Baby calm down it's okay."

"Wh-what happened?" Her voice came out crackly and sore when she spoke causing her to wince. Lifting her hand it was clear she had the intention of massaging her sore throat before she saw the needles in the back of her hand causing her hand to stop midair.

"Carson..." Her eyes remained fixed on the needles in her hand before she turned to look at me, her eyes filling with tears. "Dani don't cry, it's okay. You don't need to be scared, everything is okay baby."

It didn't really matter that I was trying to calm her down and keep her calm, as soon it fully registered that she was in the hospital she started panicking all over again.

~ Daniela's POV ~

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Carson, but then I saw my sister and Grey watching me with concerned expressions. Then I started to look more around the room and I saw Fox and Aviana too. From what I can remember once I saw those needles in my hand, I lost my cool and started crying.

Just as a side note, that probably was the worst decision ever. As soon as I started crying I suddenly became aware of the fever I had, the pain in my throat increased, I started coughing when I sobbed and I started sniffling like crazy.

I was the definition of a mess. Imagine waking up in your biggest fear - a hospital. I was surrounded by everything I was terrified of, I had needles in my hand which made me want to scream and I had absolutely clue what was even going on.

On top of all that, I could barely talk from the pain in my throat and the coughing, which made it feel so much more suffocating for me. It was like one of those horrible dreams where you want to talk but you can't.

After I woke up, a few minutes passed while Carson held me in his arms as best as he could from where he was sitting next to me, whispering things to help calm me down.

"Wh-why-" Thankfully when I tried to ask him why I was in the hospital, he already knew what I was trying to say. "You fainted baby, the doctor said you're not drinking enough water."

When he gave me a pointed look referring to our many arguments over my lack of water, I just about managed to glare at him for a second before I started coughing all over again. It honestly hurt so freaking bad.

"She's not contagious is she?" When I heard Aviana whisper the words, I turned to look at her once I was finished coughing.

"Go away." My voice came out raspy and sore causing her to smile. "I love you too Dani."

"Anyway, you just have the flu, but it's pretty bad so they're keeping you here for 24 hours on antibiotics which is why you have the IV in your hand."

Turning back to look at Carson, I felt a small amount of relief to know it was only the flu, but that was quickly forgotten when I realised I was going to have to stay here for a whole day.

"I can't." When I shook my head, he leaned in closer to me, giving me a soft smile. "Of course you can baby, I know you're scared but-"

"No." When I cut him off, tears welled up in my eyes again despite the fact I knew it would only flare my symptoms even more. "Take me home."

"Dani this is the best place for you right now. You're sick." Once again I shook my head, even when his tone softened as he took my hand in his. "I don't care, take me home."

When he didn't say anything in response, I tried to sit up causing his hands to shoot out in an attempt to stop me from getting up. "Dani stop, you can't get up."

"I can."

Yes I'm stubborn as hell.

"Dani stop, you're hooked up to all the machines you might hurt yourself." When I heard my sister's voice, my eyes shifted over to hers and I saw the sadness in her eyes. She knew exactly how terrified I was of hospitals, even if she used to call it an irrational fear.

Finally my attempts to get up slowed as I looked around at everyone sitting in the room starting with my sister until my eyes eventually met Fox's concerned ones. I already knew he was here but when I first saw him I was still just waking up, now that I was a little more aware of what was going on, the confusion surfaced.

I thought he hated me, so why would he be here?

Turning my attention back to Carson, I slowly lowered myself back down onto the bed as the tears spilled over onto my cheeks.

"I want to go home." Those words left my mouth in defeat causing his cool, calm facade to break allowing me to see the sadness in his eyes. "I know baby."

Reaching out he moved some hair out of my eyes before he wiped away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. "But I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here."

"You'll stay all night?" In response to my question he nodded, leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek. "I will, I promise."

"Move now." When we heard my sister's voice, we both turned to look at her as she came over to where Carson was sitting. At first it was clear he was angry from the way he clenched his jaw while he glared at her. But thankfully, he stood up allowing her to take his seat.

As much as I loved my sister, and I really did - we'd become a lot closer over the last two months, I just wanted him. He was the only person I wanted.

"Why weren't you drinking your water?"

You see why I like Carson better?

"It made me sick." When I muttered the words in response to her question my eyes were still following Carson as he went to sit next to Grey instead. "Water doesn't make you sick Dani."

This time when I chose not to respond to her thanks to the pain in my throat, Carson answered her for me. "It only happened once a few days ago. She was thirsty and she drank too much in one go so she threw up."

"So you were being reckless and you made yourself sick, then you chose not to drink anything and now you're in the hospital?" This time I just narrowed my eyes at her before I turned my head away which was my way of ignoring her. Unfortunately, that meant she directed her questioning towards Carson instead. "And you let her do that?"

"You know Eleanor, I'm getting sick of your-"

"Carson." Grey jumped in before Carson could finish his sentence, much like Carson used to do when Grey and I hated each other. "What? She's acting like I'm the reason Dani is here right now."

"You are! You left my sister alone and she fainted. How many hours could have passed if she didn't call you? Not to mention the fact she'd been under your care and now she's dehydrated."

I don't know what was said while I was out, but from the deadly glare my boyfriend was giving my sister, I'm sure a lot more went down.

For a few moments the room fell silent while Carson continued to glare at her, his eyes blazing with anger as he clenched his jaw. I knew it was hard for him to control his anger, especially considering the fact he tried everything he could to get me drink something.

But I kept refusing and now he was the one taking the blame for me being in the hospital.

"It's not his fault." When I broke the silence, all eyes were on me again. "He took care of me."

"No he didn't."

"You weren't there. I know you're just being protective, but you're wrong El." The entire time I spoke the longest sentence I'd managed to string together since I woke up, my throat was burning in pain and I started coughing straight after.

Reaching out my sister rubbed my arm soothingly while I coughed until she finally let out a sigh when I calmed down.

"I just want you to be safe Dani."

"He keeps me safe." That's all I could manage to say in his defence since I was trying not to aggravate my lungs anymore causing her to nod. "Fine."

When she finally backed down, she leaned over to press a kiss to my cheek. "I love you Dani, I'm sorry."

"Be nicer to him, it's not his fault." In response to that she rolled her eyes as she stood to her feet. "Whatever, you need to get some rest Dani."

"I am resting." When I pouted my lips gesturing to the stupid rolley bed I was lying in, she cracked a smile while a few chuckles sounded out around us. "She means you need to sleep."

As she spoke, Avi hopped down off the window ledge she'd been sitting on with Fox, coming over to the other side of my bed. "You didn't have to come."

"Of course I did, you're my best friend and I love you." When she flashed me a smile she reached out to take my hand. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you." That's all I managed to say as she pressed a kiss to my cheek before she headed over to the door allowing Grey to come over to me. Giving me a smile, he leaned down to give me a hug before he I whispered something into my ear.

"You're such an attention seeker Dani."

When I heard those words, my eyes widened as he pulled away but before I could correct him, I was hit with another round of untimely coughs, much to his amusement.

While I was busy coughing, he went with Eleanor to the door where Avi was waiting which meant there was only one person left.

Everyone here knew now exactly what had happened between Fox and I, which meant it wasn't just Carson I had to convince not to hate him. Grey wasn't happy, but he wasn't as angry as Carson, but my sister was absolutely ready to kill him. That was the only time they'd ever agreed on something once Eleanor found out about the mafia. She didn't mind Carson before that, but then she found out he was a killer and she hated him.

Once my coughing subsided, my eyes met Fox's as he came over to my bedside, stopping next to me. It was quiet for a moment, until he eventually stepped away again causing me to frown when he put some distance between us.

"Get well soon."

Without waiting for my response, he headed over to the door ignoring everyone who was watching him as he left the room.

I don't know why it hurt me when he did that. I was so determined to never speak to him again, and yet part of me still wanted him to try. I guess maybe if he did try it would suggest he did care about me or our friendship, even just a little bit.

But two whole months had passed and he still acted like I didn't exist. I was even in the hospital now and he didn't care, like I really never meant anything to him in the first place.

Honestly it felt like I lost three people the day mama and Poppy died, because I also lost Fox too. I did nothing to him to cause it but now there was nothing I could do to fix it.

"You okay?" When the rest of them left, Carson came over to the same chair, taking a seat next to me. "I'm fine, I just..."

"You miss him." When I started to shake my head, Carson cracked a smile leaning in closer to me as he rested his forearms on the edge of my bed. "It's okay to admit it Dani, he was your friend."

"I hate him." When I said that, he nodded his head. "I know you do."

For a moment it fell silent with just Carson and I in the room now because everyone else was free to leave while I had to stay here against my will. "I don't want to stay here."

When I pouted my lips Carson cracked a smile leaning in to press a kiss to my cheek. "It's just one night, you'll be home tomorrow baby."

"Our bedsheets need changing." I don't really know why I said that to him now, but I guess I felt it was important - maybe just as a distraction from the hospital if nothing else. "I'll do it, don't worry."

"Don't forget you have to tuck the mattress cover in properly or-"

"I know Dani."

"And put the dirty sheets in the washing machine and-"

"I know what to do." When he cut me off for the second time, I could tell he was amused by the conversation from the smile playing on his lips. "It's not funny, you know I don't want to be here."

"I'm not laughing." Of course as soon as he said that while shaking his head a chuckle escaped his lips. "Crap, sorry."

"Just go away." Since I couldn't turn away from him like I so desperately wanted to, I decided the best thing to do was close my eyes. "Oh come on, I said sorry."

When I ignored him, keeping my eyes closed and my lips pouted he let out another laugh. "Dani come back."

Silence.

"Hello?"

Be strong.

"Is anyone home?"

When I heard the last part I couldn't stop my lips from twitching into a smile, which only annoyed me even more when I opened my eyes to see the amusement on his face.

"Don't laugh at me." Shaking his head he let out another laugh as he leaned to kiss my cheek again. "I love you."

"Whatever." When I let out a huff, I looked around the plain hospital room with a frown. "I'm bored now Carson."

"You're supposed to be asleep."

"I'm not tired." When I said those words with as much conviction as I could manage, he only rose an eyebrow at me. "Not at all?"

"Maybe just a little bit." Lifting my hand I made tiny a gesture using my thumb and index finger, causing him to smile. "Go to sleep."

"Before I do, I want to apologise for-" As if he knew exactly what I was going to say, he shook his head to cut me off. "Don't, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I was being a bitch." Even if he was trying to be nice, he still couldn't deny that. "You're sick Dani, it's okay."

"So you agree I was being a bitch?" When I narrowed my eyes at him, he looked confused for a second before he shook his head. "No but you're sick so even if you were being a little touchy, you had a good reason, and I was kind of at fault anyway."

He's good, I'll give him that.

When I nodded my head, he let out a sigh, leaning back into his chair. "Let's just forget that babe, focus on getting better."

Nodding my head, I let out a breath as I closed my eyes trying to get comfortable in the stupid rolley bed. It was much harder than it sounded, but I'm sure I fell asleep soon after that, still holding onto Carson's hand the entire time.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"How much does it hurt on a scale of one to ten?"

"Fifty." When I forced my response out between coughs, Carson made a 'tsk' sound, shaking his head. "That wasn't on the scale, you should know that, you're an accountant Dani."

Since I was too busy coughing to respond again, I managed to give him a glare causing the bitch to crack a smile while he ate my jello.

That morning I woke up in a pretty bad mood which only got worse when I realised I was still in the hospital. Then to top it all off, apparently I missed breakfast so when lunch came, I was told to eat the nasty food while Carson ate my jello - the only thing I was looking forward to eating.

Once I finally finished coughing, I let out a tired breath leaning back into my pillow on the bed. "That bad, huh?"

"It freaking hurts, of course it's bad." When I finally snapped, he just shrugged his shoulders. "Your answer didn't fit on the scale, so I couldn't be sure."

"Why are you trying to aggravate me even more?" When I glared at him, he once again just smiled. "I like that word 'aggravate'... aggravate...stop aggravating me."

When he just started testing out the word, I let out a groan shaking my head in irritation. "Can you go home?"

"Nope, I promised you I would stay by your side the entire time, remember?" This time be flashed me a grin causing me to sigh, turning my attention to the gross food on the table in front of me. "I don't want to eat this."

"Then don't, I'll get Grey to bring you something else." Shrugging his shoulders, he put my half eaten jello down to take out his phone. "But the nurse said-"

"Do I look like I give a damn what some bitchy nurse says?" When he quickly cut me off, he rose an eyebrow at me. "I guess not."

"So what do you want? McDonalds or something?"

"Soup please." When I gave him my answer, he looked away from his phone and at me again. "Where the hell is he supposed to go and get that from?"

"I don't know, a restaurant? Or he could ask Giana to make it, she likes me." When I gave him a smile, he shook his head typing his message to Grey. "You're so demanding Dani, it's unbecoming for a young woman to behave in such a way."

"I'm not-" Before I could finish my sentence, you'll never guess what happened.

I sneezed.

And he laughed.

"I don't like you anymore Carson." When I finally recovered, I glared at him as I grabbed a tissue to sniffle into. "That's a lie, we both know you love me."

When he flashed me that famous wink, somehow even when I was sick and annoyed at him I still blushed. Instead of replying to me though, he just turned his attention back to his phone although he was smirking at my reaction.

It was that stupid arrogant smirk that made me want to just take him straight to our bed.

I may have been sick, but it had been over two months since we had sex, so I was definitely having withdrawal symptoms. I guess he just wasn't in the mood after what happened, he'd taken all this time just to start getting back to his normal self.

Sometime passed by in silence while Carson texted someone and I just waited, becoming extremely bored in the space of two minutes. There wasn't much to do in a hospital room, especially when he was busy on the phone so for once he wasn't bothering me.

"Carson?" When I whispered his name, his gaze snapped away from his phone and over to me when he gave me a weird look for whispering. Leaning in closer to me, he whispered his response to me causing me to smile. "Yes Dani?"

"I'm bored." When I whispered again, he nodded his head before he looked around the room. "Why are we whispering?"

"Because I was disturbing you." Speaking in a normal volume again, I gestured down to his phone referring to the work or whatever he was doing, he flashed me a smile. "It's okay baby, you're more important."

Aw.

When I gave him a smile in response to his words, he leaned back in his chair getting comfortable. "Shall I tell you some gossip?"

"Gossip?" When I gave him a frown, he nodded his head flashing me a grin. "Are you ready?"

"I guess." Why was he acting so strange? Carson has never used the word 'gossip' around me in all the time I've known him.

"Aviana and Fox are together."

Together?

"As in like-" Nodding his head to confirm what I was thinking, he cut me off. "Yep."

Wow. Honestly I never saw that coming...she never told me.

"When did that happen?" When I gave him a frown, he let out a sigh leaning forward to rest his elbows on the edge of my bed. "They told us last night, but they've been together since the day after mama and Poppy died."

For the next moment or two I just sat there taking in the information that he told me, trying to piece it together in my head.

Over the last two months Aviana had been acting completely normal with me, or what I thought was normal. I guess I should have noticed that something was up when she didn't really say much about Ignacio anymore, even just after they broke up. I guess it was because the next day after she broke up with Ignacio, she was with him.

So that happened the same day he shouted at me in the gym...when she came into the room, and I left her in there with him.

"It was after what he said to me, when she came into the gym."

"What?" I could feel his eyes on me as he frowned. "It must have been, I left the gym and they were alone. So even after he said that to me, she didn't care, she still..."

Was I even allowed to feel some kind of way about this? I know to everyone else it wouldn't have sounded like a big deal, but she heard what he said and then she still had a moment with him. Like I didn't even matter.

"She's supposed to be my best friend."

"Just because she did that, it doesn't mean she isn't your friend Dani." Doesn't it? I'm not even sure if what I was feeling was even justified. I guess if she's happy with him and he's nice to her then it's nothing to do with me.

"You're okay with it?" I was only asking him that because he didn't seem angry, which is what I would have expected if something like this ever happened. "I guess, yeah. I didn't see it coming but if it makes them happy then I'm not really going to throw a tantrum."

Was that what I was doing?

"What's the matter?" Noticing my mood he gave me a frown causing me to shake my head, deciding to just let the whole thing go. Even if it did irritate me that she didn't tell me all this time and that it was the same day he basically ended whatever friendship we had, it was nothing to do with me.

I had my own things to deal with.

"Nothing." Giving him a smile, I looked around the room to find something else to talk about it instead of Fox and Aviana. "Where is Grey?"

"At home, why?"

What a lucky bitch.

"Can you ask him to bring my laptop? I'm bored." For some reason that request really seemed to bother him when he let out a sigh, taking out his phone again to text Grey. "And my AirPods."

"Anything else my queen?" Even though he always calls me that, this time I could tell he was being sarcastic, which caused me to give him a sheepish smile. "And my charger."

"You know you could just text him yourself, right?" When he rose an eyebrow at me, I glanced over at my phone that was on the table next to the half eaten jello. "My head hurts."

"Sure it does."

"It does."

It actually didn't, I was just lazy.

Clearly he still didn't believe me, but he still texted Grey before he turned to look at me again once he was done. "You want some more gossip?"

Instead of responding, I just nodded my head waiting for him to tell me.

"Yesterday when I left you it was because Grey told me that they'd found Christopher and all his bitches."

At least that's one piece of good news. "How did they find them?"

Letting out a sigh, he took a second to get comfortable before he launched into the story of how they found them. Apparently they'd all split up, so Grey had his men hunt down every single one which is why it took so long. They couldn't find any of them at first and then soon they found one then the rest just followed.

"So what's the plan?"

"As soon as you're better, we're going to Washington State." As if he realised his mistake, before I could try to speak Carson quickly added an extra bit on. "Not you."

"I'm coming with you." As expected, he instantly shook his head rejecting my demand. "No way."

"Carson-"

"One - you're sick and two - it's not safe." Of course he would say that. "But if they're being held there and you have men watching them, it should be safe."

"Not that kind of safe." This time he gave me a look which took me a moment to understand, and then it hit me.

He was worried about me facing Christopher and Mark.

"Carson I'll be okay. I handled it with Ayden and Atticus remember? I can handle them too."

"No I know that, that's not what I'm worried about." Letting out a sigh, he leaned forward again, taking my hand in his choosing to fiddle with the hospital name tag around my wrist instead of looking at me. "I'm already worried about going back there Dani, after the nightmares I had I don't know what going to happen. I don't want you to go through the same thing."

I guess that made sense.

Seeing Christopher and Mark was one thing but being back in that building and maybe even the basement would bring back a lot of memories, some that I would much prefer stay buried far, far away.

But I also wanted to go with him, there was no way I was letting him go back there alone.

"No, we started this together Carson, and we're going to finish it together." My words caused him to lift his gaze, his eyes meeting mine as he thought over what I just said. "What if it triggers you?"

"I'll be with you baby, I'll be okay."

"You don't know that." Shaking his head, he was about to move his hand away when I quickly grabbed it. "I do because I have you, I know nothing will happen Carson. I trust you and I'm not letting you do it alone."

For the next moment or two Carson fell silent, clearly having some kind of debate within himself before he finally nodded his head.

"Okay." When he finally gave in, I gave him a smile, squeezing his hand in mine. "I love you."

"I love you too Trouble." As soon as I saw the smile that tugged at his lips, I was relieved that this whole conversation was over. "Don't tell me anymore gossip please Carson."

My words caused him to laugh as he nodded, leaning into kiss my cheek. "When can I kiss you properly?"

"When I'm better." Placing my hand on his chest, I pushed him away from me to put a little bit of distance between us. "But I've been around you all this time and I haven't got sick. I told you I don't get sick Dani."

"You don't know that, until I'm sure I'm getting better you're not allowed to kiss me." Of course he only rolled his eyes at this, choosing to throw a tantrum by going back on his phone for the next ten minutes while I took the opportunity to rest my throat after talking so much.

For a while we made small talk after that before he eventually got busy with a phone call trying to sort one of his billion problems out.

One good thing about being in hospital and being so sick was that I'd had a good break from work. It was good for me, but that meant Carson and Grey were much busier than usual which was hard considering Carson also wanted to be with me to take care of me.

My thoughts were taken away from listening to Carson's perfect deep and husky voice while he was on the phone when the sound of the door to my room opening caught my attention. Opening my eyes, I looked at the doctor and the nurse who entered the room while Carson quickly wrapped up his phone call.

"Daniela, how are you feeling?"

"Much better." When I nodded my head, I tried to force a smile onto my face even though at that very moment a cough was threatening to escape my mouth. I probably looked so weird trying to smile and hold back a cough with a slight grimace.

"Right." As if she knew, she flashed me a smile as she nodded her head writing something down on her chart. "You can still leave today, you don't need to pretend."

"I'm not-" Of course before I could get my words out, the cough that I was holding back came out with a vengeance. I'm sure I heard Carson laughing from his place next to me while I coughed as the nurse started checking all my vitals on the machine to note them down.

"We'll be discharging you later this evening, maybe after you've had your dinner. We need you to complete this course of antibiotics and you may need some more fluids too."

"But I don't want dinner here." When I pouted my lips, she gave me an amused smile as she nodded her head in understanding. "Just for tonight, and then you can go home."

"Can't I have something else?" When I gave her a hopeful smile, she shook her head. "It's against the rules to bring outside food for patients, sorry."

Letting out a huff, I sat there with a pout while the nurse and the doctor were still busy messing around with the IV bags that were connected up to me.

"Okay so, Giana made you three types of soup because she didn't know what you would like but-..." When Grey suddenly walked into the room at first he was looking inside the bag he was carrying before he quickly cut himself off when he saw the doctor and the nurse giving him a looks. "...but I ate it all...sorry Dani."

It was so funny how the underboss of the mafia suddenly became so scared of the nurse, but the doctor especially. Holding the bag behind him, he quickly took a seat next to Carson, putting the bag on the floor next to my bed so that they couldn't see it.

"Sir the rules in this hospital are very clear, you're not allowed to-" The nurse was the one who tried to tell Grey off, but surprisingly the doctor cut her off. "Leave it, it's okay. Let's just finish up here."

As soon as the nurse begrudgingly shifted her eyes away from the three of us, they both finished off their work before they left the room, the doctor telling us she would come back later that evening to discharge me.

As soon as the door shut, Grey stood up again taking out the three thermoses all in different colours and with labels on too. When he caught me staring at how weirdly organised it was, Grey flashed me a grin. "Gi thought I would get all the flavours mixed up so she colour coordinated and labelled them. Yellow is chicken noodle soup, green is potato and leek soup and the red is tomato soup."

She really was my favourite person ever.

"Oh I can save one for dinner too." When a smile crossed my face, Carson let out a laugh. "Lucky you."

"I also got you this, Carson's orders - he said you were upset." When he handed me another bag, I gave him a confused frown before I peered inside.

Strawberry, cherry, mango, pineapple and green apple.

"Jello?" When I turned to look at my boyfriend, he shrugged his shoulders. "You were sad that I took yours."

I really wanted to smile at that, but before I could manage it, I suddenly sneezed in front of my boss/boyfriend and his underboss who both looked like they'd been sculpted by angels. It wouldn't have been that bad if I just sneezed once, but unfortunately for me it wasn't once, or twice, it was three times.

It wasn't my most attractive moment.

Letting out a groan I took the tissue that Carson handed me while they both sat there with amused expressions. Without even looking them, I sniffled into my tissue before I grabbed the green thermos of soup, picking up the spoon that came with my lunch tray.

Without a word I started eating, well aware of the two of them still staring at me.

"This isn't a museum." When I finally had enough of being under their scrutiny, I finally snapped causing the two of them to burst into laughter at my expense.

They didn't even care that I was sick.

Bitches.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"Can you walk?"

"Yes and I can also kick you in the balls." When I turned to glare at Carson as he held my jacket out to me, he flashed me a grin stepping closer to me to close the gap between us. "Kinky."

Rolling my eyes, which I instantly regretted from the headache it gave me, I grabbed my jacket to put it on. Turning away from him I checked over the room one last time to make sure I had everything so that I didn't ever have to set foot in here again.

"Dani turn around."

"Why?" I said the word absentmindedly as I looked through the bag Aviana had brought over while I was napping, containing all my clothes and things since Carson brought me here in my pyjamas and my robe. "Just turn around."

Letting out a sigh, I gave my bag one last look before I turned around to look at him, surprised to see him even closer to me than he was a few moments earlier. Before I could even get a word out, he'd already pulled me up against his chest, crashing his lips to mine.

Once the shock of wore off, at first I tried to push him away but of course he was too strong for me, so instead I just gave in and kissed him. Only because, I hadn't kissed him for many days and I missed it.

Plus, if he was going to catch my flu, after he stupidly kissed me there's nothing I could do about it now.

Finally when he pulled away breaking the kiss, he held me against his chest giving me a cheeky smile. "I bet you feel silly now after rejecting my kisses for so long."

"No." When I shook my head, he cracked a smile before he pressed a kiss to my lips. "I love you my queen."

"I love you too." Giving him a smile of my own, I leaned in again with the intention of kissing him one last time just as the door opened behind Carson.

"Geez, people here are already sick they don't need to see that."

As soon as Carson turned around to see who it was, my eyes landed on Grey and Fox who came in to my room. Of course Grey was the one who made that lovely joke since Fox could barely look at me, instead choosing to keep his gaze on his phone.

Grey had come to bring the soup and then left again, Eleanor also came and so did Avi when she came to drop off some stuff for me while I was sleeping, but this was the first time Fox had come back to visit me.

"Don't walk in without knocking and you won't see it." When Carson flashed Grey a glare, clearly not seeing the funny side, I just chose to ignore them. Instead I sat down on the bed to put my shoes on.

"Excuse me?" At the sound of the voice in the doorway, all of us looked in that direction to see the same nurse from earlier. "Your medication and the discharge papers are ready for you to collect."

"You don't deliver?" When Grey rose an eyebrow at her, she gave him a flat look. "I'm a nurse, not a delivery girl. The medicine needs to be collected from the pharmacy downstairs and the discharge papers need to be signed by a designated next of kin. The doctor has already signed it."

Giving Grey one last look, she finally left causing Carson to sigh as he turned to look at Grey. "I'll go and sign the stupid papers, can you get her medicine?"

I should have realised what was happening sooner, but unfortunately I was too sick for it to catch up with me until Carson and Grey had left the room.

That meant I was alone with Fox for the first time in two months.

At first it was silent while I finished putting my shoes on and he just leaned against the wall, still keeping his attention on his phone. I don't think he'd even looked at me once. Instead for the next few moment be he just stood there dressed in his black designer sweatpants and hoodie, keeping his eyes on his phone.

"Is there a reason you're staring at me?"

When his deep voice cut through the silence, my eyes widened just as he turned his head to look at me, raising an eyebrow in my direction. For a moment I just held his stare, all the things he said to me that day instantly coming back to my mind.

"All of this is your fault and I hope you damn well know that."

"Your life is worth nothing compared to theirs! They're dead because of you!"

"If I knew it was either you dead or them, I would have driven you back to Ayden myself."

"This is all on you, their deaths are on you Daniela and now you have to freaking live with it."

"Get out before I kill you myself."

Before either of us could say a word, my phone buzzed in my hand catching my attention. Averting my gaze away from him,
I glanced down at the notification on my screen.

Carson:
Meet us downstairs, I've signed the papers but Grey started an argument with the pharmacy woman and now she won't give him the meds.

Letting out a sigh, I turned away from Fox instead to face my bag that was on the bed as a few coughs escaped my lips. "Carson said to meet him downstairs."

Of course he chose not to reply to me while I finished shoving the last of my things into the bag, making sure I had my laptop and my charger, all my clothes and toiletries and towel too. As a girl there's a lot of things that you need to survive even for just one day in a hospital.

Once I'd zipped up the bag, I picked up it up, still coughing a little as I turned back towards the door. I only managed to make it a few steps though before Fox suddenly stepped towards me, reaching out to take my bag.

"What are you-" Of course I couldn't get the words out before I sneezed, which was very quickly followed by a round of coughs. During that time Fox carried on walking, only glancing back when he reached the door of my room probably to check that I was either following him or that my coughs hadn't killed me.

Either way, I followed behind him still coughing as we walked down the hallway, passing the bitchy nurse on the way. Of course I didn't miss the way her eyes lingered on Fox before she looked at me, flashing me a smile.

I didn't know if her smile was genuine or not, but I just about managed to give her one in return through my coughs.

Finally we reached the elevator in the silent hallway where we stood, waiting for it to come to the floor we were on. We just stood there I silence as if we didn't even know each other and that continued until we finally got into the elevator where we were alone once again.

Of course, once it got too much for me I was the one who gave in and broke the silence first.

"You have no right to hate me." My words lingered in the otherwise silent elevator while Fox continued to stare straight ahead as if I hadn't spoken. "I didn't do anything to you Fox and what happened wasn't my fault."

Somehow he had the control to keep his face expressionless, not even glancing in my direction once while I glared at him. His silence only flared the anger that had been inside me for the last two months to the point where I just decided to go off.

I had time anyway, we still had a few floors to go down before we were on the ground floor.

"You're just looking for someone to blame and you pinning all of it on me just shows how much of a terrible person you are and a terrible friend."

I don't really know what I expected him to say, especially considering he'd barely said a word to me for two whole months. Clearly he didn't care at all about what I said because he chose to stay silent until the doors opened.

Without waiting for him, I reached out and took my bag from him before I walked out the doors, heading off in search for Carson. It didn't take long for me to find him at the pharmacy near the main entrance to the hospital where he and Grey were in some sort of heated conversation with the pharmacist.

Thankfully, it was only because she was refusing to give the medicine to anyone but the patient, which was me, obviously. So it didn't take very long for us to clear up the issue, once I managed to convince Carson to go and wait by the car for me so that I could handle it myself.

"Your boyfriend really cares about you." Turning my attention away from Carson and Grey's retreating figures as they walked over to Fox, I turned back to look at the pharmacist again. "What makes you say that?"

"Just something about his aura. His friend didn't like being told no more for masculine reasons I think, but your boyfriend was more concerned about you getting your medicine and getting home."

The way she smiled at me as she finished packing up all the medicine I needed told me that she really meant what she was saying. Sometimes it was hard to know if people were being genuine or they had an ulterior for analysing your relationship.

"He's like that." When I gave her a smile in response, she nodded her head before she launched into the long ass instructions that I needed to know for my medication.

Once I finally left the hospital, I met Carson at his car and we completed the short drive back to our house. Of course he smothered me with care from the moment we got home, because it was just in his nature.

Even though he'd spent three days taking care of me and then one day in hospital with me, he spent the next four days taking care of me when I was pretty much bed ridden again.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"You didn't have to come with me." When he muttered the words from where he was sitting on the floor, I just rolled my eyes sniffling into my tissue as I looked through the old photo album. "Can you say something different? I've grown bored of hearing the same thing for the last two hours."

That's how long we'd been in Mama's penthouse in Manhattan packing up all her things. Poppy also lived here, but we started on her things first, before Maya's.

Two months had already passed since their deaths but Carson was finally ready to do it. I wasn't exactly ready to go back to work so he decided to come and get this done while he was taking some time off work to take care of me.

It had only been four days since I was released from the hospital so I was still pretty sick, but it was more the annoying coughs and the embarrassing sneezes. The really traumatic part of the high fever, chills and body aches had passed.

This time he chose to ignore my comment, instead just digging through the box of memorabilia that his mother had collected. A lot of it were things from her childhood, some things from her wedding and time with Carson's father and then the rest were related to her children.

She even kept her hospital wrist bands from when she was admitted to give birth to her children.

"That's so cute." When I saw the picture Carson was looking at, I looked at it from where I was sitting on the couch behind him, admiring the way he was holding both his siblings' hands in the picture. "I think Poppy was around four here."

"You all look the same, the only difference is Poppy had longer hair." When I cracked a smile, Carson turned his head to look at me from his place on the floor by my feet. "We were siblings Dani, what do you expect?"

"You know what I mean." When I waved him off, he flashed a small smile that didn't really reach his eyes. I knew by now when he was trying to smile just for my benefit, this was one of those times. No matter how much he tried to hide it, this shit was hard for him.

"We don't have to finish all of this today Carson, we can come back and-"

"I want to. It was hard enough coming back here once, I'd rather get all their personal items out of here and then the building manager can sort the furniture out." Nodding my head in understanding, I closed the photo album I was looking through before I slid off the couch dropping down next to Carson on the floor.

I felt his eyes on me as I took some of the items out of the box, dividing them up into the different sorting piles that we'd created. Just like that we spent another few hours going through all of her things deciding what Carson wanted to keep, what he wanted to give to Kai and what he wanted to donate.

Kai was another problem he had. As soon as the funeral passed, he left us in Long Island to go back to work in Chicago where he had been ever since. He'd barely talked to Carson so I know he was really worried, but I guess he just decided to give him space when Kai stopped answering his messages and calls.

"Your mama really loved her photos." When I came across yet another photo album, Carson turned his attention away from her jewellery box to look at it. "Yeah, she believed in making as many memories as possible."

"That's a good mentality to have." When I nodded my head in agreement, I put the photo album to the side deciding he could look through it another time at home instead of here.

"What do I do with this?" Gesturing to one of the the three huge jewellery boxes that she owned, he picked up a diamond necklace nestled inside. "I bought her most of this. She wasn't really the type to go and spend money on jewellery and things, but now I don't know what to do with it. It should have gone to Poppy but..."

"Save it. If you or Kai ever have any daughters, you can divide it up between them. Maybe you can give something to Aviana too, since she was close to mama." When I gave him my suggestion, he glanced down at the jewellery box again before nodding his head. "Do you want anything from here?"

Instantly I shook my head at his offer, picking up a folder from the final box we had to get through. "She loved you too Dani."

"She didn't even know me Carson." When I muttered my response, I could see him frown at me from the corner of my eye as I opened up the folder, frowning when I saw a bunch of envelopes.

At first I was confused when I saw they were all unopened, but then I saw Carson's name and old address written on the front of one. Looking through the rest of them, some were addressed to Carson, some to Poppy and some to Kai.

"What's this?" When I turned to look at Carson, his eyes shifted over to the envelopes and soon a frown formed on his face. Putting the jewellery box down on the floor, he took the pile of envelopes from me looking through them with a confused frown.

"I don't know, I've never seen them before."

Giving him a moment, I watched as he took the envelopes that were addressed to him, putting the rest on the floor next to him. There must have been at least ten addressed to him, maybe even more, but he started with the first one in the pile.

Opening it up, he took the paper out his eyes scanning over it as his frown deepened until he completely stilled next to me, staring at it in shock. "Who is it from?"

"My dad."

Ooh 👀

What did you guys think? Do you think Dani and Fox will ever be friends again? And they're planning a trip back to Washington State which is the next chapter 👀

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to vote comment ❤️