The ending of 7.14 definitely made my top 10 favorite EC moments, still is two years later. This is a little something I would have liked to see while Eric stayed with her.

Eric told her he would stay as long as she wanted him to and he sat down beside her bed, taking her hand in his. Calleigh still looked tired and weak, but beautiful nonetheless. The color had returned to her cheeks, the brightness in her eyes was coming back and, though her smile was an exhausted one, it was still full of joy despite the day she had endured.

"They said I can go home in a day or two," she reported, clearly wanting to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

"That's great," he grinned, squeezing her hand. "I'm really glad you are okay."

"Thanks," she whispered, looking up into his eyes. Calleigh saw something different there, something that had been there for a long time, but something she hadn't been willing to accept. She saw love, but she wanted him to admit it and mean it instead of playing the games and dancing around as they had been doing. He admitted his feelings in the most beautiful of ways and as a result she knew she would be able to accept his feelings and she would be able to tell him the same.

"You know, everything you said about me," she breathed. "I believe you…and I feel the same about you."

Eric felt his heart stop, all blood ceased to flow, his lungs froze and he felt air was carrying him up to Heaven. All the years of waiting, the sleepless nights and the longing had all been worth it to hear her say that sentence.

"And I-," Calleigh continued to speak until a yawn interrupted her and her voice was hardly able to make any legible, she had lost strength in her body throughout the day.

"Hey," Eric gently cut across her. "You should get some rest."

"But-."

"We can talk later," he whispered, though they were the only two in the room; the quietness of their voices just made the moment more intimate for the two. As much as Eric wanted to talk to her, for the two to discuss their feelings for one another, he wanted to see Calleigh back to her original self, the one who wasn't weak in the hospital. He could wait a bit longer if it meant her resting to get better. "I'll still be here when you wake up."

Calleigh lightly chuckled and grinned up him. "Promise?"

"I promise," he said, softly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The corners of her mouth twitched a bit more and she nestled into the pillows. "Did you want your watch back?" she asked, nodding towards the band still attached loosely to her wrist.

Eric shook his head. "No, you can hold onto it."

"Thanks," she breathed as she closed her eyes and her body relaxed as she wondered into sleep, Eric found joy watching her. Though the majority of the time he had spent with Calleigh today was when she wasn't conscious, he couldn't say he minded this now that he had the assurance she would definitely awaken. She was breathing without the assistance with of a tube and that was more than enough to make Eric enjoy watching her sleep.

He reached up to gently stroke her hair, something he until today only imagined doing. Her hair was soft and silky beneath his fingertips, just as he imagined it would be. For a single moment, Eric allowed himself to imagine the now possible future. Only Calleigh wasn't asleep in a hospital, but rather in bed beside him, resting after a long day. He would reach up and stroke her hair as a form of comfort, not him fulfilling a longing he had had for years. And if in the future Calleigh were to wake up at his touch, she would smile up at him or playfully roll her eyes, and he would smile back before leaning down to gently press his lips to hers.

The sound of the door opening brought Eric back to Earth, quickly withdrawing the hand that was stroking her hair. He looked up to see Alexx walking into the room, the lab coat she had on earlier removed from her person and her dark hair had been let down to flow down her back. She was clearly about to head home, but not before seeing, in her eyes, the most important patient. She looked at him suspiciously, but she didn't draw attention to the subject.

"She's doing a lot better," Alexx smiled. "As long as she keeps away from heavy smoke, I doubt this will arise again."

Eric nodded and smiled broadly, allowing himself to glance at Calleigh and her peaceful features.

"Listen, Alexx," he sighed, looking up at her. "I'm sorry for freaking out on you guys in the ER."

"Hey, baby, it's okay," she assured him. "You were just worried about her."

He smiled at her, gratefully, before sneaking another peak at Calleigh. Alexx stepped closer towards them and squinted at Eric, looking pointedly at how Eric was holding her hand and Calleigh's fingers were wrapped perfectly around his.

Eric felt the pair of eyes on them and when he turned around, Alexx's lips had pulled into a small smirk. "What?"

"You don't stay in a hospital for hours by their bedside for just anybody," she stated. "And you have been here just as long as she has. Care to explain?" Alexx asked a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, Calleigh and I have been friends for-."

"No," she cut across him. "Baby, you know better than to try to pull the 'we're just friends' line over on me. What's really going on?"

Eric sighed and took a long look at Calleigh, her breathing deep, stable and relaxed. He knew Alexx was looking at them and she had already figured out there was a special connection between himself and Calleigh, there was no point denying it.

"I love her," he said, simply; there wasn't any other way to describe it.

"I can see that," Alexx nodded. "Have you told her?"

"Um," Eric hesitated. "Not in those words."

"Well, actions speak louder than words," she smiled, looking again towards Calleigh. She may have been just sleeping a peaceful slumber, but something inside Alexx told her that Calleigh looked so content because of the man who was sitting beside her. "So, I think it is very safe to say that she already knows that….She's lucky she has you."

Eric shook his head. "No, Alexx, I think I'm the lucky one."

Alexx simply smiled in response. "You know, Timmy always said you two liked each other, he suspected something," she grinned, remembering how Speedle had one time said to Alexx about the obvious chemistry between the two, pointing it out to Alexx at a crime scene.

"Speed?" Eric asked in utter disbelief.

"Yeah, he always saw sparks between you two. Well, actually he said 'Delko and Cal have the hots for each other, they just don't know it yet.'"

He chortled and rolled his eyes, being able to hear Speedle say that quote oh-so clearly.

Hours seemed to pass, though it was truly only forty-five minutes before Calleigh felt herself being gradually pulled from her dreamless slumber. She still felt a pair of warm hands enclosing hers and she inwardly smiled, for she knew Eric was still at her bedside.

Calleigh blinked open her heavy eyelids to see Eric, half of his face pulling up into a smile as she awoke.

"Rise and shine," he whispered, concealing the fact his heart skipped a beat when those green eyes looked up at him.

"You're still here," Calleigh stated the obvious, her voice slightly amazed.

"I told you I would be," Eric shrugged, his gorgeous half-smile still on his lips.

So he did, and that touched Calleigh on a deeper level than Eric may have realized. He had been beside her, even though he had been assured that she was going to be fine, out of the kindness of his oversized heart just so she wouldn't be lonely; no one had ever done that for Calleigh in the past.

She dwelled on the feeling before glancing out the window, the sky was vibrant orange as the sun set; she yearned to be outside in the fresh air.

"Do you think I'd be allowed to go outside?"

The doctors weren't opposed to the idea, seeing as she had made an "excellent recovery" and thought some fresh air would "do her some good." Calleigh had been more pleased to hear this news than Eric, who had gave the doctors an endless round of third degree until the doctor eventually said, "We wouldn't be letting her go outside if we weren't certain she was fine."

Thus Eric, now partially convinced Calleigh going outside wouldn't cause her harm, pushed Calleigh in her wheelchair down to the hospital garden. They stopped under a tree, where Calleigh, who hated being confined to a wheelchair, moved onto the wooden bench. She smiled reassuringly up at Eric, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the sight of her standing up and moving a ghastly few feet, and patted the seat next to her to invite him to sit with her.

Eric sat beside her, his shoulder lightly touching hers and their knees would have been touching were the slightest movement made.

"It's beautiful out here," she sighed as they watched the sunset behind the trees.

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "Sure is."

Only he wasn't looking at the reds, the pinks and the oranges the sun was creating, but rather at the woman beside him. Her hair danced in the breeze, her eyes came to life with the thrill of being outdoors and her lips formed a smile as she took a deep breath of fresh evening air. The ability to breathe with ease was a luxury Calleigh had taken for granted until earlier that day when the process inhaling and exhaling was impossible. She released the breath and turned to glance at Eric, the face of the man who had caught her as she collapsed to the floor, her savior. A smile came to Eric's face and he automatically wrapped his arm around Calleigh, inviting her to lay her head on his shoulder and she willingly accepted.

The status of their relationship was still unclear—they weren't in an official romance, but they weren't just friends anymore, how could they be?—but that didn't bother them. They didn't need a title for this moment to mean something. Calleigh didn't need confirmation that they had become a couple in order to appreciate that the single most decent man she had ever had the privilege to know had his arm around her; Eric didn't need a declaration of their devotion to one another to comprehend that the woman he loved had survived and that her head was now against his shoulder.

The moment was simple, very comfortable and just perfect; nothing needed to be altered and they wouldn't have traded these moments of bliss for the world.

Hopefully the writers will give us some of these moments back in the fall. As long as these two get back together and H and Nat live, I'll be fine. We know Nat will be fine since Eva renewed her contract, now hopefully David will due the same (Miami won't be the same without him and those awesome shades!).