"Cara!" Sawyer came bursting out the door behind us, by how loudly he was panting he'd clearly been running around for a while trying to find us, his cheeks were tinted a dark red and he had to clutch the doorframe while he caught his breath, "your dad woke up, he's been asking for you."

"He's awake?" I was immediatly on my feet my voice blossoming with hope, Sawyer could only nod in response while he tried to get his breath back to a steady pace. That was all the confirmation I needed to begin racing away from him and Nico in a frantic panic to get to my dad, to see with my own eyes that he was okay. I had no idea where I was going, I wished I'd paid more attention when following Nico on the way here. But my feet didn't seem to need guiding and led the way almost instinctively as if I had an internal compass inside me that would always point towards my dad. Then as easily as if I'd been there every day of my life, though I'd never been in this hospital before, I found myself outside my dads room.

Then the fear hit me, what if he regretted saving me now it had hurt him? What if he was angry at me for putting him in this position?

"I want to see my daughter, Cara. Is she okay?" I heard my dad insist from inside in his instructing teachers voice that made you need to obey and automatically do whatever he told you to.

"Dad, I'm right here," I stepped out into the doorway so he could see me from his position in bed, "I'm fine."

"Cara," his eyes grew wide with relief when he saw me and I could see that he was struggling to try and push himself up from his bed while the nurse next to him looked panicked,

"Lie back down dad," I was at his side quickly, helping him lie back onto the pillows set out to prop him up, the nurse beside me audibly sighed in relief now my dad was settled back down. "I'm here now, I'm not hurt."

"Thank god," dad huffed, his hand found mine and squeezed it tightly as if to reassure himself that it was really me in the flesh.

"It's you who you should be worried about dad, you got shot," my voice trembled as I told him that, my finger pointed towards the point on his chest where the boys had told me he'd been hit.

"Better me than you," he replied gruffly with a blankfaced acceptance of this as a fact.

"Don't say that. I'm so sorry dad, I never meant to put you in danger," I stumbled in my need for him to hear those words.

"Why would you say that Cara? It wasn't your fault, that guy was crazy, the sooner they catch him the better. I only did what any dad would've done," dad tried to shrug but his face contorted in pain when he moved his shoulders even the slightest bit.

"Don't try to move," I was instantly in caring mode; fluffing up the pillows behind him to make him more comfortable.

"I'm fine Cara, honestly, it's just a little bullet, I'll be up and out of here by the end of the day," dad swatted my concern away. I could tell I'd inherited my stubborness and independence from him, he hated accepting help just as much as I did. I liked finding those things we had in common, it reassured me that we shared something more than blood.

"No you won't," I told him in my best no nonsense voice that was nearly as inarguable as his, "you're staying in here until you recover properly and the doctors say you're okay to go." dad opened his mouth to object but I gave him such a forceful look that he promptly closed it again thinking better of arguing, maybe I'd make a good teacher too.

"How's Grey?" he asked suddenly looking annoyed at himself that he'd only just thought of this.

"He's awake and fine, the doctors said he only had a minor concussion and a little cut. He's already kicking up a riot, classic Grey," I smirked slightly at the thought of him bossing the poor nurses about.

"And you?"

"I'm completely fine, they gave me something to help with the shock, I'm just worried about you," I admitted then before he could insist he was fine again I cut across asking the question I'd been wondering about since the moment I'd seen him lying in his bed unconscious, "why did you do it? Push me out the way I mean."

"How could you ask that?" dad looked aghast at my question, "your my daughter, of course I'd take a bullet for you, literally in this case," he smiled despite himself and I felt the corners of my lips tugging up too. Then his face became a picture of seriousness again, "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you Cara. You're what matters most to me in this world, looking after you comes before anything else."

"How did you know where I was?"

"I've been a housemaster at Kings Bridge for nearly fifteen years Cara, I know when something's going on. I'm more insulted that you thought I wouldn't notice when every boy under my care left the dorms. Also, I like to think a bit of parental intution came into it."

"Oh," I flushed in embarressment.

"I'm not going to ask what that man was doing down there with all of you, I'm guessing that's a story better heard another day?"

"Definitely," I nodded eagerly, grateful that he was so calm and accepting of the whole situation. He was handling it so much better than I thought he would, maybe he understood me more than I thought, he knew what I'd be able to handle.

"I'm just glad you're safe Cara, I know your mom would be so mad at me right now for letting this happen to you," he shook his head in anger at himself.

"Bad things happened to me when I was living with mom too," I admitted my mind automatically wondering to Jackson.

"I guessed that, but I'm new at this whole parenting thing. I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted a little abashed.

"Your doing a pretty good job so far," I reassured rubbing my thumb in circles over the back of his hand gently, "I'm not the easiest person to parent I know that, and I've had a whole lifetime of practise to perfect that."

"We'll work it out," dad stated so surely I didn't doubt it, "I know you miss your mom Cara, you've gone through something no one your age should ever have to, so you're allowed to struggle sometimes."

"I do miss her," I agreed feeling my throat quickly become tight as I tried to swallow.

"Me too," dad nodded, a smile brought on by long forgotten memories dragged his lips upwards, "she was a pretty amazing person wasn't she?"

"Very amazing," I agreed grinning.

"I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on her," dad began, I reached behind me for the metal chair waiting for me as I sensed this could be a long story and settled back into it never letting so of my dads hand as I waited to be told this little part of my history I'd never heard about before. "I was in my final year of college and some of my friends had dragged me out to the local bar even though I had an essay due the next day which I hadn't even started yet. I was drinking a beer and stressing as usual when I spotted her across the room, her long hair was falling infront of her face and she was playing snooker, potting a ball right in the hole. Then she just threw her head back and laughed and I remember thinking it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, how she just laughed with complete abandon. She looked so defiant, that's the perfect word to describe her. She wasn't going to let any of the guys she was playing against walk over her, she absolutely stood her ground against all of them. Your mom, she was good like that, so completely her own person. I couldn't help but watch her that whole evening as she joked and laughed and perfectly potted one ball after another completely anhiliating every single person she played against. You couldn't take your eyes off of her and I knew I wasn't the only guy staring but next thing I knew she walked straight up to me and stood right infront of me and jutted one up out so she could rest her hand on it. 'Are you going to buy me a drink or what then?' she demanded and I just stared at her open mouthed before I managed to say, 'only if you promise to beat me at snooker'. That made her throw her beautiful head back and laugh, so we ended up spending the rest of the evening together, she beat me at five games of snooker without even trying and I brought her five rounds of drinks. She mad me laugh until my stomach hurt and after the bar closed we just paced the streets talking about anything and everything. We talked until the sun came up and I had to go to my first lecture, I made her wait outside while I went in and told my teacher I hadn't done the essay because I'd fallen in love. Of course he gave me an F but I went right back out and spent the whole day with your mom. And I just knew from that moment on that there would never be another woman for me."

My whole face had turned into a smile. I could picture my mom in every word he'd said, he had captured her essence so perfectly that I felt she was there with us, watching over us. I smiled even more.