She pulled away from him long enough to rip the gloves off of her hands. She brought them back to his face, needing to feel him, touch him.
She brought his face back to hers and kissed him again. Her kisses were frantic and desperate, and her longing was returned to her, the fear and desire of her husband mingling on her lips. She let her newly freed hands roam over his face, tracing over the beautiful features that she was so familiar with. Everything was the same, and for that she was beyond thankful.
She walked him backwards, pushing him up against the door behind them. Everything that she felt slipping away had been returned to her in a matter of seconds. Her love. Her life. She wasn't stupid enough to let them escape her a second time.
Lucky broke the connection between them only long enough to move the barrier that remained between them and their destination.
Letting the door slam close behind them, Elizabeth pinned her husband against it, ripping the cloth away from his body. As more of his skin was revealed to her, she cringed at the bruises trailing up his arms, the lingering evidence of the IV tubes that had been unceremoniously shoved into him. She placed her lips over them instead, attempting to ease the pain that he had endured over the last few weeks. She wanted so badly to erase the scars and the memories that they held with them. Lucky didn't need any more memories to torment him.
She felt his hands slide over her skin. His touch was hesitant and gentle, but soon began to mirror the fervent urgency of her own. Freeing themselves of the last remaining obstacles that hindered them, their desperation only increased. Elizabeth had an emptiness consuming her, a hole that only Lucky would be able to fill.
She watched his gaze trail over her newly exposed skin. He had always held the power to make her feel beautiful and cherished with a single glance, and as he looked at her now, she knew his love was all she'd ever need.
As the water rained down on them, the rest of the world easily slipped away, and nothing remained but the two of them. All that remained was love.
Elizabeth Spencer sighed contentedly as she ran a brush through her wet hair. She threw it back in her locker absentmindedly, listening to the clanging sound as it made contact with the metal.
Feeling strong arms encircle her, she smiled before leaning back into him. She wondered how she had never noticed how perfectly their bodies fit together in this position, two pieces of a puzzle that had finally found their match to become whole.
"I think Robin was right. A shower was just what the doctor ordered."
He kissed her on the top of her head, shaking his head lightly so droplets of water fell on her. She laughed, picking up her towel and running it through his short hair.
He smiled at her, "Somehow, I don't think this was what she had in mind."
"Well I couldn't imagine anything more perfect." She leaned into him again, burying her face in his chest until she could hear his heartbeat pounding beneath her. It was a habit that had come into play more often in recent months, a constant reassurance that he was really standing there beside her and she hadn't slipped into a beautiful dream that was sheltering her from reality. She feared that her eyes would open one morning, and he'd be gone. His love would be ripped away from her and she would be left, empty and alone. His frequent near death experiences were beginning to affect her more than she was willing to admit.
He placed kisses on her forehead, slowly, less frantic than before. Feeling her relax against him, he took her hand gently in his own.
She looked exhausted. She had been on her feet for days at a time, hardly pausing to rest. And now, she had given every last remainder of the energy she had to give herself to him, frantically and passionately.
He led her out into the on-call room. Finding it empty, he laid her gently on a bottom bunk. She moved to the edge, grabbing his hand and pulling him down beside her.
She reached out to touch his face, knowing that once again he had been granted nothing short of a miracle. She began to trace his features, trying to permanently imprint them in her mind. He had been gone for only a few days, but in that time she had felt him slipping further and further away from her.
She reached out to touch his face. He looked tired, and for the first time she let herself think about what he had experienced. Her eyes filled with tears as the images overtook her.
"Did they hurt you?" Her voice came out as a whisper.
"Shh…" he pulled her closer to him before wiping away the tears she had cried, "I'm here, aren't I?"
"This time…"
"Elizabeth, I promise you that as long as there's any fight left in me, I'll come back to you."
She nodded, running her hand up his arm.
"This is the first time we've been separated since we've been back together. And I had no idea what was happening to you, whether or not you were even alive. I can't even begin to describe what I've gone through the last few weeks, what that kind of knowledge does to a person."
"I love you, Lucky. I love you more than I thought I could ever love anybody."
"So why do you look so scared?"
"Because I know it can be taken away from me any minute. The problem with having everything is that it can be ripped away from you so easily, leaving you with nothing."
"I wish I could tell you what you wanted to hear. But this is my life, this is my job. And I want to do something - be someone - that you and Cameron can be proud of."
"You are. And you always have been. Just stay with us, Lucky. That's all we can ask of you."
They remained silent for a while, hands intertwined and bodies close. Elizabeth broke the silence, her contemplation and giddiness winning out over the apparent seriousness that the situation called for.
"This is real, isn't it? You're real?"
He kissed her fingertip as it made a light path over his lips, "If you have to ask me that, then it looks like I'm losing my touch."
She laughed, draping her arms around him lightly, "You have no idea how many times I dreamt that you had come back to me, only to wake up and find myself alone. You can't keep doing this to me, Lucky."
"Hey, I don't plan any of this. If I had my way, we would have been at the cabin when the epidemic hit."
She laughed again before turning serious, "Lucky, you have completely changed my life. Not just once, but twice. When we found each other again, you made all of the emptiness and anger just disappear. You replaced it with something better. I didn't know it was possible to be so happy, so fulfilled. For the first time in a long time, there's no uncertainty, no worry. Your love…it's so strong that I can physically feel it inside of me. And that's how I knew that you were okay, that they hadn't done anything to you. I know that a lot of people around here thought I was crazy, but I just knew."
He twirled tendrils of her hair around his fingers while she spoke, knowing that she needed to give voice to the thoughts that had been swirling around in her head for the last few days.
"I need you to know that I love you. I love…I love feeling you beside me when I wake up each morning. I love the way that you let Cameron lie on your chest when you read to him at night. I love everything about our lives together and I don't want that to change. I think when you were gone…it finally just hit me full force how lucky I am just to be with you."
"I'm the lucky one. After all this time, maybe I'm finally beginning to live up to my name."
He moved his hands up to her face, needing that contact with her.
"Look at you. After everything that's been happening at the hospital, you still look beautiful. This is what I pictured while I was away, you know that? I kept seeing your face, seeing you just like this. You give me a reason to fight, to come back home. I love you, Elizabeth. And I'll love you forever."
She smiled at him, letting the warmth of his words wash over her. Feeling safe and comfortable for the first time in weeks, her eyes began to close on her. Noticing her effort to stay awake, he kissed her gently before wrapping his arms around her.
"Stay with me." Her voice was muffled by the pillow beneath her.
"As long as you'll have me." He watched her grin before her eyes closed again, and her breathing became deep and even. Watching her in her peaceful slumber, Lucky soon followed suit, knowing that he would finally wake next to his wife.