A/N: Not inspired by the movie of the same name - I just liked the title ;)
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"I'll wait for you," she said.
He was actually going to say it, at least he had thought he could say it. But she stepped in, and suddenly the timing felt wrong. He'd waved goodbye to his friends - to Rusty, they'd become so close lately, and when his bed turned around, he saw her again. Her eyes pulled on him. He wanted to reach out to her, and reassure her that he would try and get through this. That some how his will to be here was enough to keep him with her. At least he could keep his eyes on her. He would make sure she was the last thing he saw. As his bed turned the corner he waved goodbye, and just as she left his view, he closed his eyes.
"Wake up Mr Flynn!"
It was that doctor again. He grunted and mumbled something about being awake, but he refused to open his eyes. Hearing the doctor and nurses take it as a sign he was okay, he heard them move on, and he quickly fell asleep again.
For a while, he fell in and out of sleep. He was not really conscious of the time until he felt his bed start moving again. He kept his eyes closed. He was still feeling the effects of the anaesthesia, but for the most part he refused to open them until he could see something he wanted to see - he wanted to see Sharon. If she was the last thing he saw before he went into surgery, then she was the first thing he wanted to see after. He was happy to have survived it, relieved even, but it all felt a little unreal.
"I'll wait for you," she had said. They said that to each other a lot. It wasn't something said without meaning. For them, waiting was a promise.
"Alright Mr Flynn, you're back in your—"
"Shh," the other nurse interrupted, pointing at the sleeping body in the bed next to his.
Andy wasn't sure what the nurse was shooshing about, but he was happy that both of them were a lot quieter than his doctor had been. Carefully they turned his bed and he could hear the small delicate sounds of a sleeping person breathing. As the two nurses quietly made their way out of the room Andy carefully wriggled himself a little closer, curious about the person next to him. Whoever they were, they weren't grunting, or snoring, and their breaths were slow and deep. It was quite obvious even without looking, that his roommate was in a deep sleep.
Andy sighed to himself. He had thought he would have the room to himself. Provenza had made such a big fuss about not having anyone else in the room while he was there, that Andy assumed he would keep the room to himself for his entire stay. He sighed again, and wondered how long he had been out of it, and how long till he could see Sharon. He remembered the nurses taking him to another room when he initially woke up, but he fell back to sleep immediately, and he had no idea how much time had passed, or if Sharon had been given the chance to visit him.
He became distracted from his complaints when he heard a whimper, or at least something like a whimper. It was hard to make out, just a small sound of someone mumbling something incoherent, but it was familiar. It happened again, but this time he thought he recognised the words. He listened closely, and he smiled. He definitely recognised the voice.
Andy opened his eyes, but just as he did the sun peered it's way through the window and he squinted at its harshness. Closing his eyes, he remembered what he saw and suddenly opened them again.
It was her. Bathed in light, he saw her tousled red hair fall across her shoulders, and he could see her eyelashes momentarily flicker. It was her alright, and she was dreaming. Dreaming, and talking in her sleep. Andy moved his hand. It was harder to do then he expected, but after three tries he managed to hold it just above his bed for a few seconds before needing to rest it again. He noticed they had moved his bed close enough to hers that if he could just extend his arm he would be able to touch her hand.
He had a goal now.
As the sun rose behind her, Andy would try to lift his hand, and then his arm, so eventually he could reach her. She had started to shift in her sleep. She adjusted her head on her pillow, but never turned away from him. He wasn't sure whether it was the sun at her back that kept her from moving, or if she was just accustomed to sleeping on that side.
He was getting tired again. He was tired and frustrated at how hard it was for him simply to move his arm. So he stopped for a while and just watched her. She was beautiful, god she was beautiful. It was one of those things that was hard to say. He had begun to think if he had called her beautiful too often she would think that he only valued her for her looks, or that he was becoming impatient in his desire for her. So he kept beautiful to special occasions, and chose words like lovely, and stunning instead. He knew that they meant the same thing, but he tried to say them in a way where she'd know that he was impressed with her, without expecting anything in return.
She moved again, at least her lips did. She pressed them together like she'd do when she was awake considering something important. He wondered if in her dream she was making a decision, maybe she'd wake up soon and he could ask her what she decided.
Part of him wanted her to just open her eyes so he could talk to her and hold her hand. But another part of him wanted her to stay just exactly as she was- under the sun, peaceful and covered with light. He had never seen her sleep before. He'd think about what she looked like while he lay in the room next to hers. He knew she'd seen him asleep, or at least pretending to be. Having to be monitored 24/7 meant keeping the door to Rusty's room open while he slept there. He knew how often she would get up at night, and he became familiar with the way she shuffled her feet down the hallway, and when and where they would stop. He was tempted so many times to open his eyes, just to catch her in the act of standing there in the doorway watching him. But he never did, it was enough to know she cared, and he didn't want to do anything that might interfere with that.
She rolled her shoulder slightly. He could tell she was starting to feel uncomfortable, so he tried reaching out again. He lifted his hand, and managed to shuffle it to the end of the bed. He let out a heavy breath, and waited for his strength to come back again. She had stopped moving, and he wondered if she had heard him.
He waited, but she didn't open her eyes.
He loved her, he loves her. He knew it, he was surprised by it, but he knew what it was. Love was distraction. Every thought, every action, somehow angled towards her. Another need to consider, a perspective on the world that wasn't his own. There was an openness in his heart that wasn't there before, and every consideration now included her. Every plan, every dream, every Friday night outing, somehow needed to include her. He smiled when he heard her name in his head. He felt a rich warmness in his stomach when he remembered how she'd smile at him.
He was an idiot for her, and he didn't care.
She moved again, this time her arm seemed to edge closer to him. It was an unconscious move, and in return he felt his lips mouth the words he wanted to say to her. It was silly, and he rolled his eyes at the ludicrousness of it all.
"Sharon," he uttered barely even a whisper.
She didn't move, not even her eyelashes fluttered, and he sighed mostly grateful he didn't wake her, but impatient to see her all the same. He lifted his hand again, and watched it against the light from the window. His hand was shaking ever so slightly as he tried to hold it above the mattress. He was getting tired again, and the light from the sun was now coming in at an angle that made it hard to see her. He was annoyed now, and wondered why his nurses hadn't had the good sense to at least close the blinds a little so the light could ease into his room rather than blasting its way across his line of sight. He reached as far as he could, and felt himself grunt in an effort to reach further. Just the action of moving his arm was exhausting, he couldn't see her properly now and he grunted again, frustrated at his own weakness. He felt his arm start to drop when suddenly someone took his hand, and he let go.
"Andy."
It was her. Thank god, it was her, he thought. "Sharon, are you awake?" he squinted against the light. He could make out her hair, but he struggled to see anything else.
Seeing him squint she sat up and used her back to block the sun.
"I guess it's morning," she said.
"Yeah," he replied.
"You were reaching for me," she said, rather than asked.
"Yeah."
She stood up and walked closer to his bed. She turned around to grimace at the sun, then looked down at him again. "You're tired," she said as she rubbed her own eyes.
"I love you."
He said it. He heard the words come out of his mouth, he knew that it happened, but he wasn't sure why it happened that way. So he just stared at her, hoping she'd be able to explain it for him.
"You…" she started to say. "You love me?" she asked after a breath.
"Yeah."
She shook her head, and moved her hand to her chin as she studied the wall behind him.
"I ah..did I," he started to say.
"Andy," she said moving her hand back to his.
"Yeah?"
"I ah.." she turned around and squinted at the sun. "I need to close the blinds."
"Ok," he replied, watching her gently put down his hand.
He watched her walk to the window. The sun was a little higher now, so he could make out the empty expression on her face as she looked back at him. She closed the blinds just enough to keep the light filtering through, but without overwhelming the room. She walked back to her bed and just stood there.
"Sharon?" he asked, not really sure what he was asking by saying her name like that.
She tilted her head, adjusting her neck she rubbed her hand against the place that was bothering her. She took a breath, then looking beside the bed she adjusted something on its side and began pushing the bed against his own. She went to adjust the same setting again, and then from her side climbed on the bed and pulled the blanket over herself. She looked over at him, and he looked like he was stuck in a moment, so she reached out her hand and held his hand once more.
"I didn't sleep well," she finally said.
"I know," he replied, rubbing his thumb against her hand.
"We never had this," she began. "You and me, here. Lying beside each other, just looking. I wished I'd woken up first. I would have said it. I wanted you to wake up knowing that…"
"I know."
"You know what?" she asked.
"You're used to watching me sleep, not the other way round." he replied.
"Excuse me?" she asked, sitting up on one elbow.
"I'd hear you at night shuffle past my bed in Rusty's bedroom. You'd walk just past the door, then back again, and you'd stand there watching me sleep."
Sharon leant her head back in the pillow and looked over at Andy again. "You were awake? The whole time, you were awake?"
He shrugged his shoulders, or at least tried to before grimacing at the pain of the action. Seeing him in pain, she sat up suddenly and turned to lean over him.
"See you're checking up on me again. You know, I am awake this time." He looked up at her, she was barely two inches away from his face.
"You need supervision remember?"
He turned his head to the side and watched her eyes dance from his lips, to his eyes, and back again. "Care and supervision," he reiterated.
She smiled, and shook her head at him. He watched her facial expression change as if all her thoughts were processing at the same time and she was taking none of them in. Something lifted in her, and he witnessed her eyes wander again, this time unregulated and focused entirely on his mouth.
She leaned in closer and allowed her eyes to close as she touched his lips with hers. He was smiling under her touch and she felt the mischief under the kiss. She deepened the kiss in spite of his distracting behaviour, and he easily relented and allowed her to continue.
When she eventually pulled back from him, she noticed his cheeky grin return and she shook her head, snickering at his expression. "So..." She began. "You love me."
"Yeah," he replied, pushing a stray hair away from her face.
"And I..." She started.
"Yes?"
"Well, I love you."
Andy smiled again, but he couldn't really look at her without wanting to laugh.
"Yeah, I know," he replied.
"You know?"
"Well yeah. You mumbled it while you were sleeping."
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A/N: As they accidentally became friends, accidentally dated, and now seem to be accidentally living together, I figured one of them was bound to accidentally say 'I love you'.