A/N

Hey guys! I've been planning this story for ages, and glad to finally have written it! I've read so many stories like this, but I wanted to break away from the cliché and have one that is mostly realistic. Before you comment 'patients can't hear when they're in a coma' or whatever, let me tell you there are cases where this is true. I've done my research :) Please stick with me, I have big plans. And, I know it sounds depressing, but it's not that bad. I promise that even if this isn't normally the type of story you'd normally read, it'll still be worth your time. If you like it please leave a review, or follow/favourite. Thanks! :)

...

2015

Robin had no idea why she had agreed to this. As much as she loved and spoilt Daisy and Marvin, and as much as she's going to love and spoil Ted and Tracy's baby, she had no interest whatsoever in these appointments. It's not like she really had a choice though. She was the only one who was free to take Tracy to her first ultrasound. Lily and Marshall were working, Barney was in Utah for a business trip and Ted, who hadn't wanted to miss this for the world, had to be at work because his students had an exam he totally forgot about. Robin anchored the evening news at WWN, and worked from 5:30pm-7:30pm, so was free during the days, hence why she got roped into picking Tracy up and driving her to the clinic. Ted made her promise to take pictures and videos of everything. The baby, Tracy, the heartbeat, the doctor, the clinic. Hell, he probably wanted pictures of the pens they were using.

Mockingly, Robin had already sent Ted multiple pictures of her doing normal, mundane everyday events. Getting out of bed, eating breakfast, starting to drive to his house. Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up to read the text. His replies were annoyed and short. Robin found them hilarious. She picked up the phone to take another picture of the street sign a block away from his place, and sent it to him. Her phone buzzed and she allowed her eyes to be drawn from the road for just a minute. She read his unamused response and laughed as she trained her eyes back to the road. The car came out of nowhere.

The next few seconds were a blur. The other car was at least three times the size of her small BMW. It slammed into the driver's side and the force flipped Robin's car onto its roof. Robin had slammed her head on the ground and there was blood everywhere. The window shattered and showered her in glass. There were parts of her body she couldn't feel or move, but somehow, she was still conscious.

Around her, cars pulled to a stop and people got out, shouting things to each other she didn't completely hear. The two men in the other car were in their mid-twenties and seemed fine. They got out of the car and she could hear people circling her totaled car. She knew her first instinct should be to get out, but it wasn't. She needed to call Barney. Right now. Robin grabbed her phone and managed to unlock it and open the phone app. Her vision was blurry, so she blindly typed her last name into the search bar and clicked call on the first contact that popped up.

Once the call connected, she didn't even give him time to speak. "Barney, oh my god."

"It's James, Robin."

"Sorry. I…meant to…call Barney."

"What's up? You sound tired." James noted. Her voice was quiet, and she was pausing in between her words.

Her chest was tightening. She couldn't really breathe and still couldn't feel or move parts of her body. "Um…I just…got…into a car…crash." The words spilt out over sharp breaths.

"Oh god, are you hurt?"

"Yes."

James breath shortened. "Where are you?"

"I…I gotta go," Robin whispered. She was feeling really light headed and couldn't catch her breath

"ROBIN, DON'T YOU DARE HANG U-" She hit the end button and leant back against the seat, attempting to make the black dots in her vision go away. She was briefly aware of people around the car, yelling things. To each other, to her. Trying to get her to speak or move. Arguing about how to help.

Robin couldn't bear it anymore. Her eyes were heavy. She was tired. She knew she shouldn't close her eyes, as she was entirely sure she wouldn't wake up. She couldn't stay awake, though. She let her eyes flutter shut.

…

James pushed his way through the crowd of people. After the sixth or seventh time he had called Robin, a witness to the crash had answered. She told him where they were, and he had rushed here from work. He'd called Barney a few times, but got no answer. He was probably still in meetings.

Finally, James got to the front of the crowd. His breath drew short when he saw the scene. Robin's car was absolutely totaled, beyond repair. There was police tape up, blocking cars and people from walking around the crash site freely. There were a few ambulances, and paramedics everywhere. There was one talking to two men, who James guessed were in the other car. They looked okay, just a little shaken up. The other three paramedics were tending to Robin. Even from this far away, James could see how bad she looked. Blood, bruises, unconscious. He gulped. She was his little sister, technically in-law, but she was as close as a real sister.

James tried to push past the police tape, but a muscular officer stopped him. "This is closed off, buddy."

"No, no, no. You don't understand. That's my sister-in-law. I need to get to her. Now."

The man looked sceptical, but he let James past anyways. He leapt over the tape and ran towards the paramedics.

"Oh my god, Robin." He barely managed to get out, as he reached her.

…

"DAMNIT BARNEY!" James yelled as his call went to voicemail for the twelfth time. He looked around at the other people in the hospital waiting room. They looked unimpressed with him yelling. "Sorry." James apologized. He picked up the phone again and texted Barney a few more times. He had been able to provide the paramedics and then the nurses with a little bit of information about Robin. Her name, date of birth and a little bit of medical history, but he didn't know everything. Besides, Barney was her medical power of attorney, he was the only one allowed to make decisions regarding her health. He needed to be here.

James sighed and leant back against the uncomfortable chair. As much as he needed Barney to answer the phone, he was petrified. He didn't want to be the one to have to Barney that his wife was on life support after a possibly fatal car wreck. As much as Barney and Robin pretended their relationship was just about sex, James knew how much they cared for each other. He'd seen them comforting each other. Last year, when Loretta's cancer came back, Robin was amazing. She helped Barney through it. She really cared about him. And back when Robin was a foreign correspondent, James had gotten many three am calls from Barney, when she was reporting in a dangerous zone and wasn't answering her phone. They really truly loved and deeply cared for each other. This was going to break Barney's heart.

He looked down at Robin's purse. Some helpful bystanders had gotten some of Robin's possessions from the car, and put it in there. He also had her rings, which the doctors had taken off. He looked through the bag to find her phone. Maybe Barney would answer if he called from her phone? Did she surpass the do not disturb settings? He opened the phone and was surprised to see it ringing. Lily. Huh. Why was she calling? Was the accident on the news already? Had she made plans with Robin?

"Finally! What is with you not answering your phone! Ted and I have been calling for ages. How was Trace's appointment?" Lily demanded.

"Lily. It's James."

"Oh, hey. Where's Robin?"

James hesitated. He didn't know how to answer. Lily and Robin were super close. He knew that. Lily would be almost as devastated as Barney. "Robin was in a car accident."

Lily gasped. "Oh god, James. Oh god. Oh god. Please tell me she's okay."

"I really don't know, Lily."

"She's alive though, right?" Lily asked, unable to control her sobs.

James sighed. He wasn't a hundred percent sure. All he knew was that the situation didn't look great. He wanted to give Lily a little hope, though. "I think so. But, I really don't know. They haven't told me anything."

"Okay." Lily sniffed, trying to collect herself. "I'll…I'll call the others for you. We'll meet you at the hospital."

"Okay."

…

At first, Robin was petrified. She woke up, but couldn't move any part of her body. She couldn't even open her eyes. It was terrifying. She wondered if she was dead, but decided against it. She could hear people talking around her. Doctors, maybe. Paramedics? She didn't recognize the voices. She wondered how long she's been asleep for. She heard James' voice. How did he even know where she was? Then, another thought occurred to her. Did Barney know? Would Barney even care? Of course he would. He loves her, she knows that. He would probably rush back from Utah the moment he heard.

A few minutes later, she heard the sirens. Huh, she must've only been out for a few minutes if she was only in an ambulance now. She drifted off to sleep again, her mind tired.

…

When Robin woke up for the second time, she still couldn't move or open her eyes. She'd already decided this was better than being dead. She woke to the sound of voices. A doctor's and maybe James'? They sounded far away. As the footsteps got louder, the voices became clearer. She could hear what they were saying.

"Remember," The doctor said, "she's fragile." Fragile? Did he know who he was talking about? She was Robin Scherbatsky – Stinson – she was a badass. She wasn't fragile. "If you touch her, please be super careful not to disturb any of the tubes or wires. And she could possibly be able to hear what you say, so just talk to her, and try to talk about anything that may unsettle her outside." Damn right she could hear. She laughed internally. Barney would be so proud that she was even awesome at being in a coma. Or, she assumed so at least.

"And, what's her condition like? When will she wake up?"

"Honestly, right now, we don't know. She's on life support, and comatose." The doctor explained. Yep, coma. "If she does wake up, it could be days, months or years. Her body needs time to heal. Of course, there's also the possibility that she might not wake up at all. Your brother might decide to take her off life support. That's up to him."

James sounded distracted as he replied to the doctor. "Okay. Thank you."

"I'll leave you alone." There was a sound of the door opening, then closing. Then, Robin heard footsteps.

"Hey, sis." James whispered. If she could've, she would've smiled. James had a habit of calling her sis. It was like his substitute for bro. "You better be okay. I love talking to you. I love the weird conversations we have. Also, if you don't wake up, you're going to break a lot of people's hearts. Your friends. They're all distraught right now. Mine. The kids. You have two nieces and two nephews, plus whatever Ted's kid is going to be, that love you so much. You can't die on five kids. And then there's Barney. He doesn't know yet, because he apparently doesn't like answering the phone. But once he does, he'll be here in a heartbeat. He'd be beyond consolable if you left him. Please don't do that to us all."

His little speech made Robin feel so guilty. He was right. She would hurt so many people. It wasn't like she could control the accident, though. Control when and if she woke up.

…

James kissed his sister-in-law's hand. He wondered if she could hear him. It certainly didn't look like it. She looked so still. Quiet. She looked a bit better than she had looked before, the blood having been cleaned, but there were still cuts and bruises everywhere. A ventilator was over her mouth and nose, and there were literally tubes and cables everywhere. There were so many different machines, but his eyes had been trained to the heartrate monitor. It was beeping slowly, but regularly.

He looked down at her face. She looked so innocent and helpless. It was horrible. She was so strong and capable. Once again, his thoughts drifted to Barney. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like if this had happened to Tom. And the medical bills. Well, Barney and Robin could probably afford it. He knew they were loaded. As he kept thinking, he heard the door open behind him.

"Oh my god," Lily whispered, as she walked closer to the bed and stood behind James' chair. She eyed her best friend and looked hopelessly at James. "Can she hear us?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But, I was talking to her like she could. Act as normal as possible, just in case."

Lily nodded. "Hey, sweetie. You better wake up. If you don't, we'll all be completely devastated. Barney, especially. You know he'd do absolutely anything for you. Don't worry about us, though. Just worry about recovering, okay? We love you."

James smiled. "I think we should stay with her overnight. You know Barney would kill us all if we left her here."

"Of course we'll stay. We want to be here for her."

James smiled. "You guys are amazing friends to Robin. And Barney."

"Family, James. They're family to us."

…

The morning after the accident, Barney sat in the meeting room. He was exhausted. Yesterday had been meeting after meeting, and it ran long into the night. He had collapsed into bed and fallen asleep the minute he returned to his hotel room. This morning's meetings had started at 4 am. It was now 7 am. He had been sitting in the meeting room, listening to people rattle on and on for the past three hours. Since getting Greg arrested, Barney now worked in a different part of GNB. The problem was, now he had to actually do his job. He was in Utah with a few coworkers, trying to make amends with some of their business partners that they may or may not have ripped off. It was boring. He sighed silently as the clients continued sprouting off negotiations for a settlement deal. It was going to be a long day.

…

Lucky for Barney and his coworkers, it had only taken another half hour before the partners agreed on a settlement, which was a lot less than they had first bargained for. GNB got off incredibly easily.

"Stinson, we're going to the bar down the street to celebrate, coming?" One of the guys asked him.

Barney raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. It wasn't even eight am yet, how could they drink? He gaged at the thought of ingesting alcohol this early. The four guys were younger than him and single. He hated what the consequences of saying no could be, most predominantly them believing he was an old guy. Barney Stinson was a lot of things, but old was not one of them. He could be a hundred and still act like a child. "Sure." He considered for a minute. He hadn't had a chance to call Robin yet, and he had promised he would yesterday. "Give me a second, I gotta call my wife to check in."

The other guys laughed and started teasing. "He's calling the missus!"

"The old ball and chain!"

"Ask her if you can have your testicles back!" That one set them all off into a fit of laughter. Barney rolled his eyes. He worked with literal twelve-year-old boys. By their twenties, they should be mature enough not to laugh at those kinds of jokes.

He sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Woah. 164 missed calls and 56 messages. He didn't bother opening the messages and instead checked the calls. Forty-two were from James, thirty-five from Lily, nineteen from Marshall, thirty from Tracy, twenty-six from Ted and two from Robin. The calls from Robin were from early yesterday morning and his brother and the gangs were all at various times throughout yesterday and today. He rolled his eyes. James was probably adopting another kid or something. Maybe Lily was pregnant. Or could it be more serious? Had Tracy miscarried? Maybe one of the kids had broken a bone? He decided to call Robin back first, ignoring the rest of the calls. The call went straight to voicemail. Her phone must've died or something. He then clicked call on James' number. The call connected before the phone even rung.

"Barney? Finally!" James yelled. He sounded desperate and tired.

"Hey, bro. What's up? Actually, wait me first. We got the settlement and we got off easily! It was like twenty-five grand less than what we should've settled for."

"That's great!" James exclaimed. His heart didn't seem there to Barney, though. He seemed totally distracted and his response was halfhearted. James' tone softened before he spoke again. "Bro…we…I don't know how to tell you this, but Robin-"

"Robin what? Is awesome? I know, bro." He paused, his mind latching onto one thought. "Wait, she's not pregnant, is she?"

"No, Barney. She-she was in a car accident. I'm so sorry."

Everything around Barney went dark. The Earth seemed to stop spinning. He was dizzy, and his heart skipped a beat. The still teasing voices of his coworkers faded out. His mind was almost completely blank. He swallowed hard to try and get some moisture into his throat before speaking. "Is she okay?" He managed to get out.

"No, Barney. No, she's really not." James practically whispered.

"But, she's...she's alive, right?"

James hesitated, and it scared the crap out of his brother. "Yeah. She's technically alive."

"TECHNICALLY?!"

"Barney, she's, it's…it's really bad."

Barney felt like screaming and crying and punching someone all at the same time. He tried to stay calm, but didn't really do a great job. How was he supposed to stay calm right now? "How bad, James? What's her condition?"

"She's in the ICU on life support."

That hit Barney like a ton of bricks. His chest went tight and the room started spinning. He took a deep breath to try and control his breathing. He couldn't break down. Not here. Not yet. He needed to go. Right now. He needed to get back to New York. Robin needed him. She was more important to him than his job.

"Barney, you okay?" James asked.

"Of course I'm not okay!" Barney snapped.

"Sorry, that was a dumb question," James responded. "Are you coming home?"

"Yeah, I…I'll go to the airport right now." His voice was shaky. "Please, tell her I'm coming and I'm sorry I'm not there yet and I love her. I don't care if she can't hear you, tell her anyway."

"I will," James promised. The line went dead. Barney pulled the phone away from his head with a shaky hand and swiftly logged onto an airlines app. He had a flight booked back to NYC in seconds. He then requested an Uber. As soon as someone accepted his request, Barney looked from his phone to the young men in front of him, still cracking monogamy jokes at his and Robin's expense.

He cleared his throat. "I have to leave, right now. It's a family emergency. Can you four finish up here alone?"

"Woah, hold up, Stinson. We're not staying here and doing the hard stuff while you go back to New York and bang a couple of bimbos."

Barney wanted to slap him. Was he seriously suggesting he was the kind of guy to cheat on his wife? Okay, maybe that was a fair assumption, but he would never, ever do that to her. And they had met Robin, they knew Barney had hit the jackpot when it came to a wife. Did they honestly think he would throw that all away just to sleep with a few blonde bimbos? "I just told you, there was an accident and I need to be in New York as soon as I possibly can."

"Likely story."

Barney growled. "My wife is fighting for her life. I'm leaving now. I need to be with her." The men were quiet, seemingly trying to find a respectful way to continue teasing him. "Just bring my stuff back to New York." Barney's phone beeped, telling him his Uber was here. He nodded to the guys, the quickly fled the room, then ran out to meet his Uber driver on the street.

As they drove through the streets of Salt Lake City, all Barney felt was worry and guilt. He was scared to death for Robin's health. He loved that girl with every fibre of his being, and he couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like without her. He didn't want to imagine what that would be like. He felt guilty, too. He should've been there. If he had been home, he would have been dragged to Tracy's sonogram too. He might have been in the car when it was hit. He honestly would've thrown caution to the wind to make sure she wasn't hurt. He wondered what the car looked like. Where was it hit? If he had have been there, would he have been successful in preventing her from harm?

Barney couldn't help himself. He pulled out his phone and typed her name into the search engine. Heaps of news stories from different sites popped up. He clicked on the newest one. It opened to reveal a picture taken via helicopter of the crash. Barney's eyes widened. He was horrified. His and Robin's BMW was wrecked. It was flipped upside down. The other car was huge. A Rangerover. The front of it was dented, which confirmed that the accident was their fault. Robin was on the verge of death because those morons couldn't drive properly. It made him sick.

Barney isn't a really religious guy, but after he put the phone down, he prayed. He prayed to God that everything would be fine. He prayed that the universe wouldn't be that cruel. Robin didn't deserve to die like this.

…

Marshall watched as the door closed behind James. He could hear him screaming Barney's name into the phone. Good. Barney had finally called back. He needed to know. As odd as it was, Marshall felt eerily weird being alone with Robin. Lily had gone home to sort the kids out with Mickey a few hours ago, and Ted had taken Tracy home in the early hours of the morning. She had been quiet all day yesterday, but at around two am she snapped and broke down into a hormonal meltdown, convinced that the accident was her fault. She had needed to sleep.

Marshall turned his gaze from the door to Robin. It was so weird for him to see her like this. Out of the five members of the gang, he was the least close to her, but he still cared for her deeply, and loved her platonically. It was horrible to see a friend you love like that. She was the godmother of his children, his wife's best friend, his best bro's wife. Marshall stood up and moved to a chair closer to the bed. He gently stroked her arm, cautious not to disturb any of the tubes or cables. What got him the most was the ventilator. The fact that she needed help to breathe was horrifying.

The door opened as he was staring at the countless bruises that were beginning to form on her face and arms. He diverted his attention from her to James as he shut the door behind him. "Good news. That was Barney. He's on his way, Robin. He told me to remind you that he loves you so much, and he's coming and he's so sorry he isn't here yet."

"He really loves you, Robin. Don't forget that." Marshall said lightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"God, he loves you so much. I can't even imagine what he'd do if you weren't okay." James added.

…

"Keep driving!" Barney yelled to the cab driver. The second the plane had touched down, he had pushed his way to the front and gotten off first. He had sprinted through JFK airport as fast as he possibly could, and managed to get a cab.

"I can't! It's a red light!"

Barney wanted to yell in frustration. He needed to get to the hospital as quick as he could. He should've been there yesterday. "Fine!" He opened his wallet and pulled out a few notes, chucking them at the man. "Here." Barney opened the door and ran across three lanes of traffic to get to the sidewalk.

The hospital was only twenty-seven blocks away. Just over a mile and a half. He could run that easily, especially when he was so high on adrenaline. He started sprinting in the direction of New York Presbyterian Hospital.

…

"It really doesn't look good, Tom. I'm petrified. We can't lose her." James told his husband as he paced back and forth in the hospital entrance, having separated himself from Barney and Robin's friends after Tom called. James was tired, stressed and worried, and he had been at the hospital since yesterday.

"Calm down, James. I know this situation isn't ideal-"

"ISN'T IDEAL? Are you kidding me? Do you care to make any other understatements? Like I don't know, Hitler was a little mean? 9/11 was a small misfortune? My brother's wife is-"

Tom cut him off, ignoring his rant. "-but you can't fall apart. If Barney breaks down, when Barney breaks down, you need to be there for him. He's going through a really, really tough time and he needs all the support he can get, okay?"

"Okay." James looked up from the ground with a sigh. Tom was right. As scared as he was, he couldn't show it to Barney, or to any of his brother and sister-in-law's friends. He had to be the optimistic one. Honestly, though, it was tough to be optimistic and positive in this situation. The image of the crash, the crowds and what Robin looked like when he first got to the site was burned in the back of his mind. He sighed and looked up from the ground, just in time to see his brother sprint into the hospital, drenched in sweat. He didn't notice James and instead ran straight to the counter. "Tom, I'll talk to you later. Barney just got here."

"Alright. Call with any news you have, good or bad. And tell Barney I'm so sorry this happened and he and Robin in my thoughts and if he needs anything at all, I'm right here."

"Will do. Bye."

"Bye."

James slipped the phone into his pocket and neared his brother. Barney was trying desperately to give his wife's name to the receptionist, but failing miserably. He couldn't catch his breath. James put a hand on his brother's back. "Barney."

Barney turned around. "James! Where is she? What room is she in?"

"Woah, calm down. You're so sweaty."

"Yeah, I just ran-" he paused to double over to catch his breath. "-twenty-seven blocks in seven and a half minutes."

"Barney, that's insane." James was mildly impressed.

"Yeah, yeah." He stood up, panting a little less now. "I know. Whatever. What room is Robin in?"

James started walking down the hall and motioned for Barney to follow. He took him to the ICU waiting room, instead of Robin's room. They needed to emotionally prepare him first. Plus, he was still sweating and panting like crazy. They found Marshall, Lily and Ted all sitting in the waiting room.

"Barney!" Lily yelled, jumping up and flinging herself into her friend's arms.

"Hey, Lil." He whispered. Any other day, he would've made a dirty joke about how excited Lily was to see him, but not now. He couldn't think of anything other than Robin. It was certainly not the time for jokes.

"You okay, Barney?" Ted asked, looking at the mess of his friend. Barney was sweating out of every part of his body that could produce sweat, and he looked quite pale. "You look like you're about to faint."

Lily nodded her agreement. "Sit down. Drink something." She handed him her bottle of water.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Barney protested.

"Barney don't neglect your own health just-"

"Lily, it's fine," Barney reassured. "How's Robin doing? What room is she in?"

"Tracy wanted to be alone with Robin for a while," Ted explained. "She's been in there for a while. I'm sure you can go in now."

James stood up. "Come on, I'll show you."

Lily stood up to follow the two, but Marshall grabbed her wrist. "Lil, I think it's best to give him space." She nodded and sat back down.

James started walking down the hallway with Barney close behind. He turned around to face his younger brother. "Look, Barney. She looks a lot worse than you're imagining."

"She's not in a casket, James. I call that a win. We're so lucky. She could easily be dead right now."

"Well, yeah, it could be worse, but Barney, listen. It must be hard to see your spouse looking that sick and not being able to do anything."

Barney nodded. That already worried him. The fact that Robin was in pain, and he literally couldn't do anything. James and Barney walked down the hall a little further before James stopped in front of a closed door. Barney heard a shriek from down the hall and loud sobbing from another room. It was making him nervous. James opened the door and pushed his brother in.

The sight that greeted Barney was horrifying. He'd expected bad, but this, this was unbearable. Tracy was sitting beside the bed, but she jumped up when Barney entered and ran to hug him.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. Barney gulped and nodded. He couldn't speak. He was looking over Tracy's shoulder, his eyes fixated on his wife. "James and I will leave you two alone."

James and Tracy scurried out the door, closing it behind them. Barney stepped closer to the bed, tears threatening to spill out. He swallowed the lump in his throat and gently wiped her cheek with his thumb.

"Baby." He whispered.

…

The more times Robin woke up, the more she got used to the sensation of being mentally awake while being physically asleep. That's how she decided to describe it. She couldn't make sense of what was happening to her body. It was like her brain had lost control of the rest of her body, besides her vital organs.

She could hear Tracy in the room. She was crying softly and apologizing again and again. It was kinda driving Robin crazy. She just wanted to know where Barney was. Marshall and James had been saying he was coming earlier, but she had no concept of how long ago that was. She prayed he was on his way. She really needed him here.

…

What must've been no longer than five minutes later, Robin heard the door open. She heard Tracy get up. There was muffled talking that she couldn't quite hear, then there was the sound of footsteps and the door closing.

Robin heard whoever was in the room with her getting closer. "Baby." He whispered. It was Barney. Thank god. She really did need him here. As she thought about it more, she realised maybe it was selfish of her to want Barney here for her. Why should he have to suffer just so she could hear his voice?

"How could this have happened?" Barney asked. "It's not fair. You don't deserve this, baby. I love you so much." Robin could tell he was on the verge of tears. She'd been with him long enough to just know when he was about to burst into tears. He has done it in front of her a few times before. She really didn't want him to cry. She didn't like hearing him upset. She felt helpless. She couldn't do anything to help her husband through what was obviously a hard time for him. More than that, she was the one causing the hard time. Damn universe.

…

Barney took a shaky breath. James mentioned something about her possibly hearing them. He couldn't let her hear him fall apart. He had to be strong. It was so hard, though. He looked down at her. There were way too many tubes, wires and cables attached to her. He hated this so much, and wished she would open her eyes more than anything more in the world. He reached over and took her hand gently, very careful not to disturb the IV, or any of the other wires. He kissed it, then gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"We'll get through this, baby. I know we will. You will wake up. There's no hurry, take as much time as you need to recover." He kissed her hand again and swallowed hard. "I love you."

…

A/N

Woah…that's a long chapter. Hope you enjoyed and I promise chapter two will be out eventually!