Author's Note: I apologise for the awful title, but I just couldn't think of what to use as one! I hope you all enjoy :-)

He held her hand in his, smoothing his thumb across her knuckles while he sat at her bedside and watched her sleep. Her dark curls were splayed out over her pillow and he was powerless to resist the urge to give them a stroke with the fingers on his spare hand, tears sparkling in his eyes as he thought about how close he had come to losing her. When Matthew had found him at the police station and revealed that Jean had been in a car accident he had felt his heart stop for a moment, but he had almost collapsed when his friend had informed him that she had lost a significant amount of blood and had been taken straight into theatre.

While he had been waiting for his fiancee to come out of theatre Matthew had told him that a driver under the influence of alcohol had driven right into the front of her car. She had been semi-conscious when he and Charlie had arrived on the scene, but had begun to slip in and out of consciousness when she had been in the ambulance. When he had been permitted to see her at last once she had been brought out of theatre his heart had broken. She had looked so pale; so fragile, and he had wanted nothing more than to hold her. Knowing that he couldn't, however, he had settled for holding her hand and kissing her engagement ring.

She had been fine that morning as she had bustled around the kitchen, stopping for a moment every now and again to kiss him on the cheek or give his shoulder a squeeze, and now she was lucky to be alive. 'Oh, my darling.' He whispered as he tightened his hold on her limp hand, a tear escaping his eye and dancing down his cheek as he took in the sight of her bruised and swollen face. He knew that there were countless other bruises hidden beneath the nightgown she was wearing, but he tried to block those images from his mind. 'I'm here, Jeannie.' He leaned down to press a kiss onto her hairline. 'I promise I'm here, my love.'

He fell into silence for a time after that, stroking her face and hair while she rested, his heart racing when he felt her nimble fingers graze his hand and heard the whimper of discomfort that came from her.

She was waking up.

He didn't talk to her or do anything to bring her out of her slumber, allowing her to wake at her own pace, but he allowed a tender smile to form on his lips when her eyes flickered open and she looked up at him. 'You're here.' She observed, her voice both weak yet filled with relief when she gave his hand a squeeze.

'Of course I'm here.' He soothed, smoothing a hand over her hair. 'Where else would I be, hmm?'

She offered him a soft smile. 'What happened?' She asked.

'You don't remember?' He raised his brow, drawing circles into the back of her palm with his thumb.

She shook her head in response. 'The last thing I remember is being in my car.'

'Jean, darling, a - a drunk driver crashed into the front of your car.' He informed her. 'Matthew said that he was dead when he and Charlie reached the scene, but you were semi-conscious and so you were put in an ambulance and brought straight here for an operation. I've heard that you've lost a significant amount of blood, sweetheart.' His fiancee's beautiful blue eyes were wide with shock while she looked up at him.

'So - so what happens now?' She asked, the nervousness evident in her voice.

'You're to spend the night here.' He said. 'The surgeon reassured me that the procedure was a success and that he guarantees you'll make a full recovery, but he wants you to stay here overnight just so he can keep a bit of an eye on you.' Jean nodded, her eyes falling closed while she buried her nose in her pillowcase.

'I don't want you to leave me.' She mumbled, lacing her fingers with his. 'I need you here with me.'

'I'm not going to leave you.' He ran his free hand up and down her arm. 'I'm going to stay right here.'

Her eyes flickered open again a short time later before her lips curled up into a radiant yet fatigued smile. 'Come here.' She whispered, reaching for him with the hand that wasn't being held in his. He rose from his chair for a moment before turning to sit on the edge of her bed, a surge of strong love for her coursing through his veins when he leaned down and felt her rest her hand on the side of his neck when he placed his lips on hers. 'I love you, Lucien Radcliffe Blake.' She sighed, stroking his beard when he pulled back.

'I love you too, Jean Mary Beazley.' He brushed a dark curl out of her face. 'Now, you need to rest.'

'Lie with me?' She raised a brow at him as she patted the space beside her on the bed, Lucien chuckling as he knew that he could never refuse her anything. He moved slowly so not to make the pain that she was already experiencing any worse, a quiet groan escaping him as his back twinged when he lay down next to her. She took his hand in hers once he had settled, her eyes sparkling as she lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders before snuggling into his warmth and resting her head on his shirt-clad shoulder.

'Comfortable?' He asked against her forehead after pressing several kisses onto it.

'I am.' She nodded, her eyes drifting closed.

'Good. Get some sleep now, love, I'm not going anywhere.' He ran his hand up and down her back.

'Promise?' Was the last thing she whispered.

'With all my heart.' He smiled.

She was sleeping in his arms in minutes, her warm breath and her eyelashes beating against the side of his neck as he held her close. He knew that it would be a couple of weeks at least before he permitted her to resume most of the tasks that she saw to every day; he knew that being fussed over was going to make her irritated and that she was going to roll her eyes and grumble at him, but he didn't care in the slightest.

Because as her fiance and soon-to-be-husband it was his job to take care of her and to ensure that she was as well as could be. No matter how long it took for her to recover from her car accident, he would never complain. For the next few weeks their roles were going to be reversed and he was going to have to do for her everything that she had done for him from the moment he had returned to Ballarat.

This was his chance to repay her for everything that she had done for him.

This was his chance to show her just how much he loved her and just how much she meant to him.

And he knew that - no matter what - he was going to do it wholeheartedly.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed and please let me know what you thought with a review! x