Eric's POV

"Love, wake up! Come on, baby" I cradle her in my arms as I run to the car. I look over and see Jenkins pushed up against the van as they handcuff him. His face is bloody and he smiles evilly. I can't think about him right now, I need to get Amanda to a hospital. I climb in the back of her dad's car and he quickly throws Matt the keys.

"Go! I have this handled here. I will meet you there when I have this finished. Take care of my daughter."

Matt jumps in the front seat and heads off to the hospital. It seems like it takes forever to get there, but it is only a few minutes. I don't even let Matt finish parking as I'm out the door with her in my arms as I yell for help. The nurses quickly bring out a gurney and wheel her into a room. I am told to go into the waiting room. I try to go in with her, but they refuse and tell me if I don't go sit down they would call security. I finally give in and go to the waiting room. I see Matt and go sit down next to him. Leaning over with my elbows on my knees, I place my head in my hands and groan. I feel the hot tears threatening to fall and feel Matt's hand on my shoulder.

"She is a strong girl. She will be okay."

"I hope so. I don't think I could live without her anymore. I finally found her again. I can't lose her."

"You won't. Have a little faith."

We sit in that room for what feels like hours. I can't sit anymore and I stand up and pace the room. What is going on and why can't anyone tell us what is going on. Soon her father comes walking in.

"Eric, have you heard anything? How is my daughter?"

"We haven't heard a thing and I am getting worried."

Not long after the doctor walks in.

"Amanda Stevens' family?" he calls out.

"I am her father. This is her boyfriend, Eric."

I look at him shocked. I never would have thought that he would ever say that.

"Okay, Amanda is stable now and we have her set up in a room. She has a severe concussion and a small brain bleed. She does have some pressure there. This is something we will be monitoring. If it gets worse, we will have to alleviate it. She has several stitches in the back of her head. There was a large gash. She also has some broken ribs and a lot of bruising. No bones were broken in her face. Some bruising around her wrists, but no further damage."

"Is there any evidence of sexual assault?" her father asks through gritted teeth.

"No, there is none of that."

"Thank god, she has been through so much already. Can we go see her?" I ask.

"Yes, you may. Follow me. Visiting hours are soon over, but one of you may stay."

"Thank you doctor." Her father says with relief.

He leads us down the hall to her room. He opens the door and we follow him in. I look at the bed and she is covered with wires, an iv in her arm and hooked up to oxygen. I stop and can't move any further. I see her dad walk over to her and caresses her face.

"Oh my pumpkin, I am so sorry. I should have been more understanding. If I had been more alert to his actions, maybe this would never have happened."

"Doc, how long will she be asleep?" I ask.

"We will have her sedated for a couple days to let her brain heal. We will monitor the swelling and if it gets better then we will wake her up, if not then she will be under longer. It is all up to her healing. I will let you visit for a bit."

"Thank you."

He leaves and I will myself to go to her. I pull up a chair and sit down next to her and grasp her hand. Stroking her hand, and I lay my head on her hip. I am so glad that we finally found her but I wish we had found her okay. I hate that she is going through this, if we could trade places. I would do it in a heartbeat. I love her so much, it hurts. The nurse soon comes in and tells us that visiting hours are over, and that some of us have to leave.

"You stay Eric, we will come back tomorrow. Matt, you are welcome to stay at my house."
"I won't inconvenience you. I can find family."

"Nonsense, you are a friend of my daughter, that makes you family. I have plenty of room."

"Thank you sir."

They both head out and I am left alone with my girl. I want to lay next to her, but I don't want to disturb her. I listen to the steady beeping of the monitors and the sounds of her breathing and slowly fall asleep. I don't know what time it is when I feel someone carefully shaking me awake.

"Dear, we have brought a cot in for you to sleep on. You looked uncomfortable. Go lay down. She is doing well. I will be back in a couple hours to check on her again." The nurse says quietly.

"Thank you."

"If you need anything, please ring the bell."

I get up and move the cot closer to the bed, take my shoes off and lay down, and soon I am back asleep.

Morning comes and I wake up to see the nurse checking Amanda's vitals and bandages. I sit up and scratch my head.

"Good morning, sleepy head. She is doing well this morning and all her vitals are doing well. Did you sleep well?"

"A little better, thank you."

She soon leaves and Matt and her dad come in with breakfast. It smells amazing and I hear my stomach grumble. I didn't even realize that I was hungry.

"We brought you breakfast." her dad says quietly as he steps into the room.

"Thanks, is this from the diner?" I ask.

"It sure is."

"I miss that place. They always had good food."

"Yes, they sure do."

"I spoke with the office and let them know what happened. My cousin told me to take as much time as we need. They will cover our work for us." Matt chimes in.

"Thank goodness. I would hate for her to lose her job over this." I say relieved.

"No worries there. She is their best employee.

"I am so glad to hear that. My daughter has always been a hard worker and only gives her best."

"I need to call my aunt and uncle. They would want to know what happened. They love her like one of their own."

"Okay, just to let you know. Jenkins is still here under house arrest. You really did a number on him. He has a broken eye socket and broken nose."

"He's lucky, that's all I did. I wanted to kill him."

"He will be here for a bit and then he will be transferred to hail, waiting on a court date."

"I don't think we will see him for a long time." Matt adds.

"No we won't. I have got to run into the station for a bit. I will be back in a few hours."

He heads out and I call my aunt and uncle. I gave them the story and I could hear my aunt crying in the background. They tell me they will be over to see her and within the hour, they are walking through the door.

"Oh my sweet Amanda, what did he do to you?" She cries as she walks over and kisses her forehead.

"Hello son, how are you doing?" My uncle asks as he sits on the couch next to Matt.

"As well as can be expected. She has a brain bleed and pressure. They are monitoring it. She has some broken ribs too."

"That sick son of a bitch. Oh hey Matt, how are you doing? Uncle Troy says.

"I'm doing okay. Just glad we got to her before anything worse could have happened." Matt answers.

"She is so lucky to have you two." Aunt Tonya says with a smile.

"Sometimes I wonder if she is really lucky."

"Don't say that, Eric. You are a good guy and she loves you."

"I always bring the bad stuff."
"No sweetie, you don't. You are an amazing young man. Look at what you have accomplished. You have your own shop now and have found the love of your life again."

"Thank you Aunt Tonya."

They stay for a couple of hours and then they have to leave, and soon her father is back.

"Any change since I have been gone?"

"No, but there has been nothing worse."

"That's good. Are you boys hungry? I wanted to check with you before I headed out to pick us up something.

"I am a little."

"I could eat too." Matt chimes in.

"Alright, I will head to get lunch and be right back."

He heads out to grab some food for everyone. While he is out the doctor comes in to check on her.

"She seems to be doing well. We want to do another MRI tomorrow and if it looks good we will start trying to wake her up. It looks promising though."

He goes to leave and I let out the breath I was holding and a small smile crosses my lips. I reach over to grab her hand and squeeze it.

"You hear that, love? The doctor says you are doing well. Hopefully they can start waking you up tomorrow."

"That is such great news." Matt says with a smile.

Her dad soon comes in with food and I tell him what the doctor says. He is happy and we sit and eat our food. He stays the rest of the afternoon and both he and Matt leave for the evening. The next morning, the nurses come in to wheel her into imaging to do the MRI and I sit and wait. It seems like forever. Marc calls while she is out and I let him know what is going on. We talk for a bit and she is soon rolled back in the room. I let Marc know she is back and he lets me go. After about an hour or so the doctor walks back in to let me know the results.

"So, good news. The bleed has stopped and seems to be resolving, so the pressures are going down too. I am going to start weaning her down."

He walks over and starts adjusting the iv, and soon leaves the room. Her dad and Matt eventually walk in and our day goes as usual. Matt spends the day with me as her dad goes to the office for a while. He comes back in the afternoon and brings food. We spend the afternoon talking and the doctor comes in a few times and adjusts doses. When visiting hours are over they head home and I am left with my thoughts. As night wore on the nurse chrome to adjust the dose until she was totally done. Now we just wait for her to wake up. I decide to lay down on the cot for a bit, and I fall asleep. It was very early in the morning and I woke up for some reason. I blink my eyes and I look over to her bed and I see her laying on her side watching me.

"Amanda?"

"Yes, baby?"

I quickly get up and walk over to her and I kiss her temple. She turns her head and I kiss her lips. She reaches up to table her fingers in my hair. I rest my forehead to hers.

"I have missed you."

"I missed you too. I heard you. Your voice brought me back. Come up here with me. I need you next to me."

"I don't want to mess up all the wires."

"I don't care. I want you next to me."

I carefully climb up next to her, careful not to dislodge any wires. She carefully rolls over and places her head to my chest. I have missed this. Wrapping my arms around her caressing her hair and we both fall asleep again. After a few hours, I wake up when the nurse comes in to check her vitals.

"If I shouldn't be here, I can move."
"You are fine. Just be mindful of the leads."

"Yes ma'am."

I lay with Amanda for a little while longer, and have to get up to use the bathroom. As I come out, I see Matt and her father walk in.

"She is sleeping right now. She woke up early this morning."
"That's great. We brought you a change of clothes. Go shower, we are here so she has someone here."

I take the bag to shower and change. It feels good to wash away the dirt and grime from that night away. I finish up and head back into the room and she is sitting up talking to everybody. I'm guessing she and her father talked. This is the first time in five years that they have talked. It looks like everything is okay.

"Pumpkin, I have to head into work. I will come back later."

"Okay, see you later."

He heads out and I take his place next to her.

"Good morning love, how are you feeling?"

"My head and my ribs are hurting."

"You have some broken ribs along with your concussion."

"Oh, what happened to Jenkins?"

"Your boy here, beat his face in. He broke an eye socket and his nose. I think they transported him to jail. He will be there until a court date is set." Matt answers.

"Good" she says with a smile.