Slowly, she shifted upon the bed. With great effort, her eyes fluttered open. It took a few minutes for her to acclimate herself to the surroundings, something which was rather odd considering it was her very own suite.

     Her mouth parted as if to speak, but immediately the action was halted. The tiny gust of air that rushed past her lips all but seared her throat it seemed. She felt as if she had swallowed sandpaper. She felt incredibly woozy, almost as if she was sedated. But all it took was one look into his dark, piercing eyes...

     And Sabrina Corleone knew there was no drug on earth powerful enough to have this type of effect on her.

     Pain of this magnitude defied description.

     Could it even be borne? That thought occurred to Michael as he watched his firstborn's face crumple, the soul wrenching wail tear from her throat just as it had last night.

     With all that was within him, despite Santino and Tom thinking contrary, Michael believed Sabrina would survive this. It would not be easy, but she would make it through. She had his blood in her veins, how could she not?

     Still that lessened his pain none.

     As he watched Dr. Taza administer yet another dosage of the powerful sedative, Sabrina's body writhing almost violently as it struggled to ward off the effects of the drugs, Michael had to will himself to resist the urge to go to her, to cradle her in his arms.

     He'd venture that it was only in moments such as this, with her oblivious to her surroundings - to him - that he could get close to her. Surely, she hated him now. Quite possibly would for the rest of her life.

     That he could live with.

     But not this.

     Even though the misery she endured was all of her own doing, it still made the pain no easier for Michael to bear. As he watched Sabrina's eyes slowly flutter closed, her body finally surrendering to the power of the sedative, Michael honestly did not know what would haunt him more until he drew his last breath...

     The memory of the sound of his daughter's anguished cries as she begged him to spare Tieri's life? The vacant, utterly broken gaze she leveled at him as she awoke to find last night was not the horrible nightmare she'd hoped it to be? Or the knowledge that the forfeiture of her love was the cost for securing her safety?

     It made for a most hollow 'victory.' True, in the end, his goal had been accomplished. She had been broken. But at what price to him.

     And more importantly, Michael reasoned, to her?

     His mind wandered to his other children. He never had to go to such lengths with regards to obedience when it came to either Anthony or even Mary, hellion that she at times could be. But they had the benefit of being raised under Michael's tutelage. As a result, few and far between were the "lessons" either had to be subject to when it came to understanding both their place in the world in which their father ruled over and, subsequently, his relationship with them.

     Just as Michael and his siblings had been made to understand with regards to his late father, Vito, so had Anthony and Mary when it came to him. Before being a father - before being a friend, even - first and foremost, he was their Don. It was a facet of life within his world Michael realized early on Sabrina would have great difficulty accepting.

     That was, until last night.

     The slow dawning of fear that registered in her eyes then was a sight he never longed to behold again. Now, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she understood the difference between her Don and her father. It mattered not that he desired to have a greater place in her life as the latter than the former or that he wanted the closeness she shared with her Uncle Santino to be afforded him as well. Such a thing quite possibly would never be. This, he accepted. It was after all, as his late rival Hyman Roth had said, the life he had chosen.

     Still, Michael held out the hope that someday the vast chasm that now existed between him and Sabrina could be bridged. Perhaps even someday he would share with her the truth regarding Tieri's fate. Perhaps by then she would be able to not only appreciate, but understand how great a sacrifice he had made.

     Of course, it would change nothing. The couple still could never be together. All the world believed Giovanni Tieri to be dead; were it to be discovered he was actually alive...

     Michael immediately ceased entertaining thoughts of what such a discovery could mean, especially if made by some of his more lethal enemies.

     Someday.

     Maybe, he sighed wearily, by then she would realize that he'd placed an empire - not to mention the lives and livelihoods of thousands who answered to him, depended upon him - in jeopardy. All for her. Solely to spare her a pain that he knew - because of her not having been afforded the "life lessons" his other children had - she was not yet equipped to bear.

     Someday.

     But that day Michael knew, much like Sabrina's forgiveness of him, would be no time soon.