Lisa could hear the soft whirring, beeping and whooshing of the machines. The sounds had roused her from her sleep but she was still too tired to open her eyes. She heard a chair scrape back and footsteps approach her bed.

"Lisa?" The voice called her name quietly, "You've been sleeping a long time, don't you think it's time to wake up?"

Lisa recognized Claudia's voice. She wanted to respond but couldn't move, every part of her hurt and other was a dull ache on the left side of her body. Seeing that Lisa wasn't waking, Claudia returned to her seat and kept watch over her friend. It had been five days since Lisa had been brought in almost to the brink of death and it was a miracle she was alive. The worry was that she might not wake and remain in her comatose state.

Claudia sighed, it was bad enough to lose Lisa to this but Rick was honestly no better. Physically, he was fine but he was obviously torturing himself with Lisa's decision. He stayed in his quarters, didn't socialize with others and didn't even want to fly. She tried to tell him that Lisa wouldn't want him to act like this, and deep down he knew it but felt helpless to do anything about it. Claudia knew that he just needed time and she prayed that Lisa woke soon, she didn't want to lose two more friends.

Lisa felt her eyes slowly starting to open. Everything was blurry as she tried to refocus her eyes. Her mouth was parched and she felt like she'd been hit by a car. Turning her head slightly to shield her eyes from the overhead lights, she noticed Claudia sleeping on a fold out bed that couldn't be too comfortable.

Tentatively, she tried calling out Claudia's name but her voice was weak due to unuse and seeing that she couldn't rouse her friend, she lifted her hand and pressed the call button on the hospital bed. The night nurse on duty came in to check and was surprised to find Lisa laying there with her eyes open.

Claudia had woken when the nurse entered the room and thinking that they were just checking on Lisa again, tried to ignore the nurse at first but when she said, "I'm going to get the doctor." and left the room, Claudia looked over to see that Lisa had woken from her sleep.

Getting up from the roll away bed, Claudia just smiled and said, "Well, you're finally awake. Seriously you do have more lives than a cat. Let this be the last one though OK, I don't think my heart can take much more."

Lisa smiled and weakly nodded her head in agreement. Claudia, walked over and poured Lisa some water and helped her to sit up in bed to drink it. Just a few sips was all Lisa could handle, and when Claudia put the glass down Lisa asked in a scratchy low voice, "How's Rick?"

"Hmm, mad, angry, confused? You pick Lisa, you're going to be apologizing to that poor man for the rest of your life after what you put him through."

There wasn't time to talk, the doctors came in with the nurses at that point and started to check over Lisa now that she was conscious. Claudia stayed and in a momentary lull in activity, she told Lisa, "I'm going to find Rick OK?"

Lisa nodded her head and Claudia went to call Rick about Lisa. Not finding Rick in his quarters, she walked to the other place he'd been known to haunt, the Observation Deck.

She saw him sitting with his head bowed down and holding a green notebook in his hand. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him with the notebook and wondered what it contained. Rick hearing footsteps approaching, looked up to see Claudia walking towards him. He waited for her to speak anticipating the bad news that she was going to impart, that Lisa had succumb and had passed on. It took him a few moments to register what Claudia was saying, he was in disbelief when he heard Claudia say, "Rick, Lisa's awake!"

Claudia came running back into Lisa's room carrying a toiletry bag. Putting it down on the table next to Lisa, Claudia opened it and pulled out a hair brush. "Rick's going to be here soon, we need to get you looking a little more presentable." Claudia helped Lisa brush her teeth, wash her face and Claudia brushed out Lisa's hair and loosely braided her long honey colored hair. Claudia applied some lip balm to Lisa's chapped lips hoping it was enough. She knew Rick didn't really care what Lisa looked like as long as she was alive but she was hoping that all his worrying meant something good was about to happen. There wasn't much she could do about the hospital gown but it probably didn't matter.

Hearing a knock on the door, Claudia opened it to find Rick standing there. Sensing the two would rather meet alone, Claudia excused herself and left to give the Captain an update on Lisa's condition. She knew he would want to come and see her as soon as possible.

As Claudia left, Lisa could see Rick standing in the doorway, his face drawn, haggard and unsmiling. She had been nervous and anxious to see him again, hoping he would understand why she did what she did. From the look on his face though, it didn't look like he'd forgiven her.

Rick enterd the room, but didn't say anything, his eyes never leaving hers. He put the bag he was carrying on the chair in the room, approached the bed and without asking, sat on it. Lisa seeing the emotions play on Rick's face, laid one of her hands on his and simply said, "I'm sorry."

At that point Rick exhaled and all the pain and misery he felt the last week came tumbling out. Being careful not to disturb the tubes Lisa had running into her arm, Rick grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into an embrace and held her. Lisa started to cry, his gentleness overwhelmed her and Lisa could feel Rick shaking, sobs coming from him. The two stayed that way for the longest time, just comforting one another.

Rick finally pulled back and rested his forehead on hers and said, "Why'd you do it Lisa? Did you think I would be happy to know that you gave up a chance at living for me? Did you think I would happy without you? You should have told me what was going on, not just handling it by yourself. I thought we were in it together, that we were partners. You should have told me!"

Lisa tried to explain in a pleading voice, knowing whatever she said wouldn't make a difference to Rick, "I undstand how you feel, but even under the same circumstances, I would make have made the same decision. You weren't reading the radiation levels from the Veritech, I was, and they were high, Rick. With early enough treatment, I knew that your chances of surviving would be almost 100%. Mine I wasn't too sure of, I had already been in the base exposed too long before you rescued me. Please don't get me wrong Rick, I loved the fact that you came for me but it was also my duty to ensure that you were going to be OK."

This was obviously the wrong thing to say to Rick, as he let go of Lisa's shoulders and stood from the bed in anger. "Duty, duty! Is that all you could think of when we were out there? Was this just fulfilling a part of that Hayes motto, duty and sacrifice?" Rick paced the room, angry at Lisa's words.

Lisa not being able to her seeing Rick so angry at her, pulled the coverlet off her legs and attempted to swing her legs to the floor. Rick noticing that Lisa was trying to get out of the bed, strode over to her and in an low, somewhat angry and commanding voice ordered her to remain where she was, "Don't you even dare try and get out of that bed Lisa, I know you're too weak and I'm not going to let you relapse just because you were being stubborn. I can't help but be mad, even furious with you but it doesn't mean I don't care about you." Rick helped her settle back in the bed and sat back down on it. Seeing how tired Lisa was, he felt bad for yelling at her, and told her that she should rest and that he would return later. Lisa wanted to protest but knew she needed to give Rick time to forgive her.

"Don't worry Lisa, I'll come back, before I go though, I got you something." Rick grabbed the bag that he left on the chair and pulled out a white stuffed animal dog, with silky ears and bright black eyes and placed it on her lap.

Lisa picked it up and cuddled it to her chest. "Rick thank you, it's so cute, I love it, I've always wanted a dog like this."

Rick smiled seeing Lisa hugging the stuffed animal and petting it like it was alive, "I know I read that notebook of yours. I didn't show it to anybody else, but I read the whole thing except for the personal letters you wrote."

Lisa wouldn't look Rick in the eye, embarrassed that he knew her feelings for him. Seeing he wasn't going to get a response from Lisa about the notebook, he started to leave when Lisa said, "I didn't do it out of duty Rick.."

Rick turned back around to look at her. Seeing there was no escape now and not wanting to hide it any longer, Lisa smiled and said, "I did it because I love you Rick, I have for a while now and honestly, I couldn't have lived with myself if something happened to you. I'm not telling you this because I think anything will change between us, I'm telling you because I don't want you to think I did it out of duty."

Rick walked slowly back to the bed and sat on it. Taking her hands in his, he brought them up to his face and caressed them with this cheek, lightly kissing each hand. Lisa held her breath, she couldn't believe that Rick was touching her so tenderly. Looking her in the eyes Rick leaned forward and softly kissed Lisa on the mouth and said to her quietly, "You don't know what I have been through these last few days, wondering if you would ever open your eyes. There is so much I want to say to you Lisa, but I want you to know that the thought of losing you devastated me. I wasn't sure that I could honor your wishes and go on. Losing you was just something I couldn't deal with. I love you Lisa and I want you to know that whatever happens next, we're going to face it, but we're going to face it together."

Lisa crying at Rick's declaration, threw her arms round his neck, "Oh Rick, I love you too, so much. I'm so sorry, I hope you can forgive me. "

Rick held her close to him, nuzzling her, he knew Lisa needed to rest and after a long moment, he finally pulled back and said, "I'm going to go Lisa, you rest and I'll be back in a few hours."

Lisa, not wanting him to leave, pleaded with him to stay arguing she would rest better with him there. Rick tried to protest but Lisa was insistent, made room on her bed for him and said, "Rick, please stay, you look enhausted yourself and I don't want to be away from you right now." Rick knowing what she meant as he felt the same way, agreed to stay until she fell asleep. He lay next to her like they did when they were stranded on Earth and wrapped his arm around her. Lisa turned into his heat, still clutching the stuffed animal Rick gave her and soon both were sound asleep.

They were discovered that way by Captain Global and Claudia when they entered the room silently to check on Lisa. Rick hearing them enter, tried to rise from the bed, but Global just waved him back down and said, "just watch over our girl Ok?"

Rick just nodded his head and returned to his place next to Lisa's side.

Lisa's recovery was a long and arduous process. It was a miracle that she was alive and it was only due to Zentraedi cloning technology and Dr. Lang that she had survived. Dr. Lang had early on started research and modification on Zentraedi cloning techniques once an alliance was formed with Breetai and when Captain Global informed him of Lisa's predicament, Lang had offered to do what he could to save Lisa. With help from Breetai's technicians, they were able to modify a cloning chamber to help repair Lisa's DNA. They were not able to do anything about the failed left kidney and had to remove the damaged organ that seemed to have been affected most by the radiation. Lang told Lisa during one of his meetings with her that if she had not taken those two pills at the beginning, there would have been no chance she would have made it alive back to the SDF-1. The research that Lang did and the use of Lisa as a test subject for those techniques, allowed this technology to help others affected with radiation poisoning as there were many survivors that were affected one way or another after Dolza's Rain.

All of this however, did not mean Lisa survived unscathed. She never quite gained back the strength she had before and while she was able to return to duty two months with a modified work schedule, Lang warned her that immune system was compromised and would not be as strong as before. Her beautiful hair, the color of summer wheat, also fell out within weeks of her rescue. Rick held her hand as Claudia shaved it off and he thought she looked just as beautiful as before.

While the Zenraedi and Dr. Lang felt confident that they repaired Lisa as best they could, they were unsure whether or not Lisa could bear children. Lisa hearing this had cried as having children was a dream of hers. She didn't tell Rick about it immediately, instead started to pick little fights with him and tried to convince him to try and find someone "whole" to be with. It took a very frustrated and very patient Rick to convince Lisa in the end that it was her that he loved and no other and that he was staying by her side through thick and thin. He cared for her though her recovery process and even moved in with her to help care for her when she was released from the hospital. During this time, Rick also returned to duty and his patrols sometimes took him away from Lisa for days. Although they slept together in the same bed, their relationship had not yet progressed to true intimacy.

Frustrated that Rick still treated her like an invalid, Lisa knew she had to take matters in her own hands if she really wanted them to move forward and have a normal loving relationship. She knew he wasn't unaffected by her but he never seemed to take it further than holding her and kissing her and she was definitely ready for more. She waited until Rick returned from a long day of patrolling and knew that he would sleep until she returned from her shift. He would always wake when she returned and they would talk about their day while she got ready for bed and joined him in bed. He was always worried about her being cold and would immediately pull her into his warmth and wrap a strong arm around her anchoring her to him, almost as if he was scared she would disappear.

Lisa knew he would think something was suspicious if she changed and wore fancy lingerie to bed and so opted to wear a cute short and tank set to bed that she could justify wearing with the warmer weather. She came out the bathroom, wearing a short cotton robe over the short set, which she casually removed and tossed to the bottom of the bed. She could feel Rick's eyes watching her and acted like nothing was different from their routine. She got into bed and waited for Rick to pull her close. She silently giggled when Rick asked in a somewhat strangled voice, "don't you think you might get a bit cold in that Lisa, maybe you should uh, put on a bit more."

"Nonsense Rick, it's hot out there and you know that the air conditoners aren't working that well and that they start to shut off at night. Anyway, I have you to keep me warm." With that said Lisa waited for Rick to spoon her as he usually did. She could hear a frustrated low sigh come from him and as he lay his arm around her, Lisa pressed her backside firmly against him, eliciting a physical response from him. Rick pulled a bit away from her and shifted away from her so that his arousal was not so apparent. Lisa smiled again and stretched her body a bit causing Rick's arm to brush against her breasts. He pulled away from her like it burned, "Lisa, can you quite moving around?"

Lisa turned to Rick with a hurt look on her face and he felt bad but she was making him excited. It had been harder and harder for him to keep his hands off of her and tonight she was making it damn near impossible. Her skin always felt so silky smooth after she showered and her hair barely grown out was soft as feathers. He had nearly jumped out of his skin when she took off her robe, revealing her tight t shirt and tiny pair of cotton shorts. How in heaven's name could that be considered sleepwear?

Lisa still pouting a bit asked him what the matter was and he mumbled, "nothing, it's just a little warm, that's all." Lisa leaned over him, almost on top of him and watched as Rick tried to look everywhere but at her breasts. Laughing a bit, Lisa decided to quit teasing Rick and leaned forward and kissed Rick in a way that gave him no doubts about what she wanted. Groaning he tried to hold back and voiced concern that maybe she wasn't well enough yet. Lisa, who felt perfectly fine, and frustrated by his cautiousness, pulled away from Rick and pulled the T-shirt up over her head leaving her bare to his eyes. Rick's resolve to give Lisa enough time to recover flew out the door and the two found paradise in one another's arms.

It was a few years later before the couple decided to formally committ themselves to one another, not because of lack of commitment, but more the lack of time. Both were rising stars in the RDF and spent so much time working to ensure humanity's survival that they didn't feel that they needed to formalize what was already in their hearts. They were constantly questioned by the media and their friends about when they were going to get married, but it was a more personal reason that they had not shared with anyone yet that caused then to stand in front of over 200 people and media cameras to say their vows. Everyone said that Lisa had a special glow about her that day and nine months later to that day, the Hunters were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. Dr. Lang monitored Lisa and the baby for any concerns throughout her pregnancy and was pleased that they both came through with flying colors.

It wasn't always so easy though, Lisa and Rick suffered through two miscarriages after that and it wasn't until little Roy was almost seven years old that he was joined by a little sister Catherine, and another three years with Henry. Through it all, Rick and Lisa turned to one another for comfort, support and love. As for the green notebook, Rick and Lisa kept it safely tucked away with their prized posessions. They used it as a constant reminder to never forgot how short life was and Lisa especially, felt incredibly lucky that she was given a second chance at life and love.

~Finis

Thank you, Miriam, FanAnime97, RobotechFan, Pjean, Hapiflower (I like fluff too!), jag389, McLaughlin, queequeg1013, AndrewJameswilliams. (I love your story wish I had the patience to write like you), Julie H and any guests that wrote a review. I'm really glad you liked this story and wanted Lisa to survive! I hope the ending was satisfactory. Was thinking of adding in a bonus chapter recounting Rick's meeting with Minmei, but figured I'd keep this Rick and Lisa centric as much as possible.

I also hope to see more writings from others... please, anything would be great, really... :-)