CHAPTER 7

A.J. slept through Amy checking on him and Keesha stopping by to see him. She wrote him what she hoped would be an uplifting note and left it on top of the magazines she had brought for him.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard a phone ring, but then he realized it was the phone in his room. He answered it and said a sleepy "hello".

"Did I wake you, dear? I'm sorry," Lila said.

"Grandmother, hello!" A.J. said, genuinely pleased. "No problem. I'm always glad to hear your voice."

"I wanted to see how you were feeling. I was so sorry to hear about you being in the hospital."

A.J. was curious as to what Lila knew, but he played along with her and made a mental note to ask his mom how much the family knew about what had happened to him.

"I'm doing much better, Grandmother. They're taking good care of me."

"They'd better be. Does that mean you'll be home soon?"

"I hope so, but I don't know when I'll be released."

"Well, you just keep doing what they tell you to do, and you'll be out of there in no time."

"I will," he assured her.

"I love you, A.J. You take care."

"I will. I love you, too, Grandmother. Thank you so much for calling me."

As A.J. replaced the receiver, he saw the magazines and the note from Keesha on his table. Her positive words made him smile. He was wishing she were with him when he heard approaching footsteps. He looked up, hoping to see Keesha, but instead saw Carly standing in the doorway.

"Now my day has been made," he said sarcastically, more to himself than to her. But Carly heard him and entered the room anyway.

"How convenient of you to end up in the hospital," she said derisively.

"Excuse me?" he said harshly.

"I needed to talk to you about what happened with your precious Keesha, and this is where I find you?"

"I didn't realize I was on your timetable about when I could and couldn't get sick," he answered.

"I heard it was just food poisoning," Carly continued, undaunted. "Certainly not life and death."

"Funny you should mention that, Carly. Maybe you were wishing it were life and death. At least that would get *me* out of your life, wouldn't it?" He wanted to say more, but the sudden pain in his stomach stopped him.

"A.J., don't say that!" Carly chastised.

He knew he had struck a nerve, but he was not up to sparring with Carly. At least not at that moment. The pains increased, and he felt as though he were in a sauna.

"I need Amy," he said, struggling to reach for the button.

"I'll get her," Carly told him, afraid A.J. was about to pass out.

She quickly made her way to the nurses' station and told Amy that A.J. needed her. Amy, quite surprised to have Carly tell her that, didn't question her as they headed for his room. Once there, Amy closed the door, leaving Carly outside.

Amy took his vitals and discovered that his fever had started to break. She paged Monica and stayed until she arrived.

Carly had been about to leave when she saw Monica quickly heading towards A.J.'s room. Seeing the concern on Monica's face made Carly stay. She suddenly realized that A.J. could be worse off than she had heard. She found herself hoping that nothing was seriously wrong.

"What are his vitals?" Monica asked, as she approached A.J.'s bed.

Amy told her.

"I know you're not going to believe this, A.J., but this is good news. Your fever is starting to break."

"Then how come I'm not getting better?" he asked, disconcerted.

"You will," Monica told him. "It takes time to heal, but you jumped over a major hurdle with your fever breaking. That's what we've been waiting for."

"Why do the pains keep coming back?" he persisted. "I'm never going to get off the medication and out of here if I keep having pains."

"If you're not showing significant improvement by this time tomorrow, I'll look into having the lab work on another antidote."

"Mom," A.J. said, nearly inconsolable. "Tell me that this has been the right medication and that I'm going to recover. I can't stand this!"

Amy knew that Monica needed to be alone with her son, so she left the room as Monica sat down on his bed and tried to reassure him. "It's been the right medication, sweetheart, and you are going to recover. I may need to supplement your medication with a little stronger one. That's all. I know this isn't easy for you, A.J., but you're doing fine."

A.J. wasn't convinced, but he told his mom he would trust her. "After all, you're the doctor."

"More importantly, I'm your mother. I won't let anyone or anything harm you."

As soon as Monica spoke those words, A.J. immediately thought of Carly and what his mother would do to her when she found out about Carly's scheme. But that was for another day. There was no way he felt up to talking about that.

"Do you have any more questions?" Monica asked.

"Just one. Did you see Carly around when you arrived?"

"Carly Roberts?" Monica asked, surprised to hear A.J. mention Carly's name.

A.J. nodded.

"I don't think so, but I was in such a hurry, I could've walked right past her and not even realized. Why? Was she here?"

"We were talking when the pains started. She went to get Amy. She probably got tired of waiting to see me and left."

"Do you want to see her if she's here?"

"No," A.J. answered quickly, too quickly. "I mean, not now. I want to sleep."

"That's the best thing for you. I'll check on you later."

Monica stopped at the door and turned. "A.J.?"

He looked up.

"Sweetie, you *are* going to get better. Please believe that."

A.J. nodded and turned on his side to rest. He wished he were anywhere but in the hospital because what he wanted more than anything at that moment was vodka.

Monica made her way to the nurses' station to chart her notes and was surprised to see Carly and Bobbie standing there. She heard Carly grilling Amy about A.J.'s condition, and saw that Amy was ignoring her. Bobbie, however, was taking everything in. Monica, as well as Bobbie, couldn't quite figure out Carly and A.J.'s relationship, but they knew there was something going on between them that didn't quite add up.

"Carly," Monica said. "A.J. asked me if you were around."

"How's he doing? Amy refuses to tell me *anything*." She glared at the blonde-haired nurse who held up her hands and shrugged.

Monica studied Carly for a long moment, causing Carly to wonder if A.J. had said anything.

"Why are you so concerned about my son?" she asked, trying to glean any information she could about their relationship.

Carly fumbled for an answer as she rubbed her stomach. "We're neighbors. And friends. I care about him. So does Tony," she added for effect. "I'd like to see him if I could."

"I don't recommend it. He's been through a lot today. Maybe tomorrow. I'm off to do rounds," Monica told Amy. "See you later."

Amy nodded. Carly said good-bye, relieved that it appeared A.J. hadn't said anything to his mother . She was going to see A.J. regardless of what Monica "recommended". She had to convince him to keep his mouth shut.

"Monica," Bobbie said, following her down the hall, "When you have some time, could we talk about A.J.?"

Monica knew that Bobbie had been on duty the previous night, so she knew Bobbie was aware of the circumstances surrounding his being there. Her only surprise was that she had waited until now to mention it, but she agreed to talk.

"Meet me in the doctors' lounge in half an hour."


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