A/N : Hey everybody, I'm back again with another chapter. I'm so sorry it took me so long to upload it this time.

Anyway, I really hope you like it. This one is Sara's POV all the way. Before you ask, yes, she's okay. The accident was scary, but she's fine.

Please review? Gimme some Christmas loving? I'll try to upload another chapter before Christmas, but in case I don't...well...

Xo, as always


Sara

Her head was pounding and everything about her was feeling heavy and hurt. Still she heard the doctors talking to eachother in fluent Portuguese and felt helpless not knowing what they were saying.

She knew they were doctors by the way they had pressed they fingertips to her ribcage and lightly searched for her pulse. Her pulse. She knew she was alive, but didn't know what had happened, or any clue as to what she was supposed to be feeling. She was tired. She was thinking of him.

Thinking of how warm his fingers had felt on her bare skin, tenderly touching her hand without being too much. So unlike these strange men, in a strange land, in the slow rising of heat on the rockformation.

She tried to open her eyes but found that she couldn't. Nothing was responding to her brain's commands and she felt a tear welling up. She couldn't cry.

She was floating. Strong hands lifted her upwards and pulled her on a stretcher, the sound of a helicopter pushing against her eardrums. It all felt so surreal, and she wondered if all her patients had felt like this when they'd gotten hurt. If their thoughts had kept on rushing through their brain, or if all they could think of was the pain.

Strong. The pain was scaring her beyond belief, but she knew she had to be strong. It was all about being centered, even in the midst of chaos. If you could be strong when the tidal wave was crashing down on you, then you would survive the flood it brought.

She let herself slip into oblivion, trusting the medics to keep her safe. The final thing she heard before everything fell away from her, was the wailing of a dog.

--

Someone had come into the room. The air shifted and a vibrance had come into it that hadn't been there before. Soft fingers touched the back of her hand before curling around her fingers and giving them a squeeze. A woman's hand. A hand that cared for her.

She should have opened her eyes, should have had the strength of will to look, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was only after the woman had left that her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked to bring focus to her vision. The sharpness of the colors soon faded to normal and she slowly rolled her head to get it out of its almost forced position.

The room was actually quite nice, despite that fact that it was located in a hospital. Its walls were of a soft yellow and the curtains the color of the setting sun. They had opened a small window and a light breeze swept through the room, making the curtains dance. A vase filled with wild flowers stood on the small table to the corner, one chair propped up in a corner, a jacket neatly folded over it's back, a discared newspaper to the ground.

Next to her bed there was a small cabinet with a can of water, a glass and an origami flower sitting next to it. Sara reached out to touch it and eventually managed to pick it up. Her indexfinger followed its folds and rested on the words 'I'm sorry', neatly written on one of the white petals.

A tear fell out of the corner of her eye, quickly followed by a sob that brought hurt beyond compare. She willed herself to calm down and think rationally. Michael obviously couldn't be here, even though she had momentarily been convinced that he was, but she knew that the flower was his.

A woman's hand. Veronica.

"You're awake." Bruno walked into the room, his relieved smile bringing her back to the here and now.

She looked at him. "What happened, Bruno?"

As he explained to her that she had fallen down from the rocks and hit her head and that the surgery had gone well and that Veronica had been there only minutes ago, his hand travelled towards hers and threaded their fingers together.

It felt surreal. Lying in the hospital, having her friend hold her hand as a lover would while clutching the paper flower into her other, knowing that even though she liked Bruno as friend, she was longing for another hand, another man, and prison walls to keep her safe.

"I'm sorry about making you worry."

He waved her apology away. "It's my job to worry about you." He looked at her in a way that she had seen on his face before, but now there was no mistaking it. Oh God, not this. Not now.

A soft knock of salvation was heard on the door and after an equally soft 'yes', it opened and a woman stepped through it. She had black hair that fell to her shoulders and wore a scruffled look that could only come from travelling.

"Veronica…" Sara half-sighed the name and felt her tears building as her new friend walked over to the other side of the bed and pressed a kiss to Sara's battered cheek, making her close her eyes in contentment of having Veronica here. She then pulled up the chair and sat down.

Her eyes immediately travelled to the hand Bruno wasn't clutching and she smiled widely. "I see you got my present."

Sara looked down and let out a soft chuckle. "I did. And it's beautiful." Looking over at Bruno, she searched for a polite way to ask him to leave them, but she found out she didn't need to. He only nodded and murmured an excuse, finally letting go of her hand before walking out the door.

Sara turned to Veronica again. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too."

Sara scooted over in her bed and patted the emptied side. Veronica let out a little laugh and happily took the place. "I was so worried about you, Sara."

"I'm okay now."

"I know. I wasn't the only one glad to hear the news." She tilted her head slightly to the left with a small smile playing on her lips.

"So," Sara took a deep breath, "He knows what happened?"

"He knows. I was with him when I got the call. He was so…disoriented. He didn't know what to do with himself. But he called me earlier, and I told him you were going to be just fine, and then I gave him the number to that phone right there." She ended, her voice rising with enthusiasm.

"In case he hasn't called yet, that's probably because he's scared as hell to talk to you." She grinned. "I don't see how you're all that scary."

Sara laughed. "I don't…"

Her voice faltered when a shrill sound rang throughout the room, piercing the calmness. "It's him." Her hand trembled when she reached for the phone and she vaguely saw Veronica motion that she was going outside for a moment.

She took a breath. "Hello?"

"Sara, it's uh..it's me."

"Michael…Hi."


O, Pleaaaase tell me you liked it? Pleaaase?

XO, as always.