I thought the restaurant scene tension was not about danger to Michael's life or even the chance of going to prison though those things were there. I thought the tension was that he was about to make a irrevocable decision to join his father's world and perform murder. It was an action that was more than justified under Family ethics, but up until then Michael wasn't part of the "Family".

I liked the hospital scene too-that was real bravery.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.