Thank you all for reading and for commenting! Here is the final installment. Enjoy! :)

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"I'm deeply sorry, Mr. Meade, but there were complications, and Ms. Suarez did not make it," the surgeon told Daniel.

"What? No! How? No! No – there has to be a mistake – you have to be talking about someone else! Not Betty! Not the beautiful, spunky girl who lights up a room with her smile. She's got silky dark brown hair . . . perfect olive skin . . . these cute little freckles on her nose . . . and eyes – oh god, her eyes are incredible . . . like dark chocolate pools – you could drown in them . . . You've got the wrong girl!" Daniel insisted, desperately.

"I'm sorry, but it is Betty Suarez who I'm referring to," the woman said.

"No – NO! You're lying! Let me see her – I have to see her! No! Oh, god, no!" he crumbled to the floor. "No! Nooooo . . . . No!"

"Daniel?" Ignacio tapped him.

"No . . ." Daniel moaned.

"Mijo, wake up," Betty's father shook him. "You're having a pesadilla."

Daniel slowly opened his eyes.

"Mr. Suarez?" Daniel said, confused. "How's Betty – she's not -?"

"No, my son. Betty is fine," Ignacio assured him, pointing to her sleeping form across the room.

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.

"In fact, she's been asking for you," he said

"She has?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, she's been drifting in and out, but every time she wakes she mentions your name. You two must have had some accident. I'm happy you both are okay," Ignacio said.

"Thank you. Me, too," he smiled.

"Betty said you never left her side. Gracias, Daniel. It's good to know that she had someone when I couldn't be there for her," Ignacio put a hand on his shoulder.

"It was nothing. I was already here, and I uh . . . I really care about her, you know?" Daniel brushed it off.

"I do, son. Te comprendo," Ignacio gave him a perceptive look.

Daniel had a feeling Betty's father knew a lot more than he was letting on. He and his mother should have dinner more often . . .

"Daniel?" a faint voice called.

"Betty?" he walked over to her.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," he grinned, fighting the urge to throw his arms around her and never let go. "See - I told you you'd be okay."

"You were worried," she maintained.

"Where'd you get that idea?" he wondered.

"I heard you moaning in your sleep . . . I'm so sorry you went through that," she said, taking his hand.

"I'll leave you kids alone," Ignacio excused himself.

"Okay, so I worried a little," he admitted.

Betty looked at him skeptically.

"Okay, a lot," he caved.

She smiled, adoringly.

"Come here, for a minute," she motioned for him to sit on her bed.

"Closer," she requested. "There's something I need to tell you."

He moved nearer and she pulled his lips down to hers in a soft, tender kiss.

"I love you, Daniel," she confessed.

"I love you, too," he told her. "But are you sure?"

"Positive," she assured him. "Daniel, I think I've known since you asked me to dinner when you first showed up here – I just couldn't admit it to myself. I tried to fight it because I didn't want to lose what we already had, but you made it so easy . . ."

He smiled, shyly, and looked down.

"And today, when they were trying to get me out of the cab . . . it hurt so much . . . but you held my hand and you stroked my hair . . . you called me 'baby' and promised everything would be okay . . . you told me funny stories about Marc and Amanda to distract me . . . made me sing 'I Got You, Babe' with you . . . I knew then that I couldn't deny it any longer . . . If I hadn't passed out from the pain, I would've told you in the ambulance," she revealed.

"I didn't know you even remembered that," he said.

"I didn't – not when I first woke up before the surgery. But it all came back to me," she explained, running her fingers over his hand.

He took her hand and kissed it.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he smiled.

"Are you? With everything that happened . . . did you get checked out?" she asked, noticing a few cuts on his face and arms.

"My back's a little sore, but I'll be okay," he shrugged.

"Daniel . . . you didn't answer my question," she caught him.

"Okay, no – I didn't. But I'll be fine," he insisted.

"Will you please do it – for me?" she pleaded.

"Actually, if you're up for it, I was hoping we could do more of this . . ." he said, gently teasing her bottom lip. "Yep. My back feels much better now."

Betty playfully pushed him away.

"Go!" she giggled. "We can do more of that when my family leaves for their hotel."

"Fine. But you'll miss me . . ." he flirted.

"Out!" she laughed. "Hey, Daniel?"

"Yeah?" he turned around at the doorway.

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," Daniel smiled.

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Betty had moved in with Daniel after being released from the hospital, in order to have 24-hour care, but obviously there were bonuses to it as well. Daniel knew she'd be a handful as far as insisting she could do more work than she really should be doing, but he loved knowing he'd have her around all the time. It was the perfect excuse for them to take the next step, without actually having to say it.

Two months later, Betty was practically back to normal again, but showing no signs of wanting to be anywhere else.

Daniel came out of the bathroom to find her teetering on the arm of the couch, with a fly-swatter.

"Betty! What do you think you're doing?" he rushed over and picked her up, putting her down on the seat of the couch.

"Hey! You scared it – now I'll never catch it!" she groaned.

"Catch what?" he asked.

"This really annoying fly – it kept buzzing in my ear and I couldn't concentrate," she explained, holding up the mock-up for her first issue.

"Why didn't you call me? Baby, you just healed from a broken leg and ribs – do you wanna end up like that again?" he berated her.

"You were taking a shower . . . and I'm fine," she insisted.

"Yeah, after I stopped you," he argued.

"You're going to have to quit worrying about me at some point," she told him.

He sat down beside her and fingered the three karat diamond ring on her left hand.

"Never," he vowed.

"So even when we're old and gray, you'll be hovering over me, telling me I can't go alone to the store after dark or eat salty foods?" she teased.

"Yep," he said.

"I guess I can live with that . . ." she smiled at him and snuggled against his chest. "As long as you don't complain when I tell you the same thing."

"Fair enough," he agreed, gently kissing her temple, knowing they probably would end up exactly like that.