i. She was alive.

It had only resulted in two men's deaths.

But she was alive.

He sat beside her bed, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to physically reach out and show her how much she meant to him.

So he just sat.

There were a thousand unknown variables that could present themselves at any moment, but she was alive, and that was that. He was too scared of what could happen to take this at anything other than minute by minute.

It had been 20,160 minutes. During that time, Coulson left May in charge as he sat by Skye, praying to a God he didn't even believe in to please just let his little girl wake up.

Coulson was just glad that he hadn't lost her.

Skye stretched and opened her eyes.

Through her hazy vision, she could only make out one figure next to her bed.

"How long was I out?" She was surprised by how thick and heavy her tongue felt. She tried to swallow, but her tongue felt like sandpaper. The figure next to her bed reached for something. She shut her eyes tightly and rubbed them with her index fingers. When she opened them again, her eyesight was far clearer. Skye was relieved to find Coulson sitting by her side. He was offering her a water bottle.

As she took it and mumbled a "thanks," Coulson decided to answer her question.

"Two weeks." Skye didn't know what she was expecting to hear, but it certainly wasn't that.

Coulson reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. "You're still pretty heavily drugged up, but you're safe and alive. That's what's important."

She may not have been at her peak performance, but she could tell he was keeping something from her.

She stretched again and looked him in the eyes. Or rather, she tried to look him in the eyes. He was avoiding eye contact, playing with his watch. "What is it?"

Skye had never seen Coulson cry, but she could tell he was trying to keep himself from doing so now.

His voice was shaky as he quickly told her how the doctors had tried to do everything they could, but they said there was no way of saving her. His bottom lip trembled as he told her that he had looked for any way that Fitzsimmons could pull of the impossible. His eyes were filled to the brim with tears as he explained the lengths he went through to get Skye the drug that had ended up saving her life.

She wanted to comfort him, but she was falling asleep due to the effects of the drugs swimming around in her body.

"Thanks for all you've done, Dad," she said as her eyes closed again.

Coulson smiled to himself as his eyes filled with tears for a million different reasons. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Of course, sweetheart."