A/N: Here's the next chapter. I'm afraid with all the work I've been doing, I haven't gotten a lot of the chapters written so it will take me a while to upload. Thank you so much for the review: ice queen 1378!

Chapter 7

It had been hours. I was sitting in the waiting room, granted I was now with Grandma Joel, but I couldn't catch my breath.

I had taken the ambulance over with the EMTs and Altaïr, and the police had already questioned me about what happened when I got to the hospital. I told them everything I knew, but it wasn't much to go on until the white kid started talking. Which probably wouldn't happen.

I stared at the blood on my hands. Altaïr's blood. He had pushed me out of the way. He saved me and I barely kept him alive. The guilt that it should have been my blood racked my whole body and I couldn't stop shaking. God, just the thought of it being his blood made me nauseated.

Altaïr had responded well in the ambulance, and I had finally gotten him to breathe, but he was still in critical condition. I also hadn't let the EMTs check me out until after he was stable, and then I found out that I had sprained my wrist, so they put it in a cast.

It sucked because I was left handed, but I could learn to deal. All I wanted right now was to be able to see Altaïr. My Assassin.

Grandma Joel was saying something, but all the words were piled together until it sounded like a continuous stream of noise.

"Keira Lee."

I shot to my feet and nearly ran over to the doctor, leaving Grandma Joel behind. "How is he?" I asked before the doctor even opened his mouth.

"He's stable. He is lucky, the bullet missed his heart and didn't particularly puncture any vital organs. His lung collapsed but we got it all patched up, he should do well once that's fully healed. For now, however, I need to keep him for at least a week in order to see how he fairs. He's not on any kind of breathing tube, the strong man, but he does of a bit of difficulty. We have a tap to get rid of the fluid in his lungs. If he seems to get winded too quickly, let him stop talking and help him regulate his breathing. If that doesn't work, come get a nurse quickly."

"So we can see him?" Grandma Joel asked.

The doctor nodded. "It might make him calm down. He's been asking about you non-stop since he's woken from surgery. He wants to know if you were okay," he said and looked at me. "Follow me."

Grandma Joel and I followed the doctor. He was going too slow for my taste but I understood that he wasn't in as much of a hurry as I was.

As soon as we made it to the room, the doctor asked me to wait outside.

"Grandma, what if he isn't okay?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"You idiot, he's fine. That man would live just because you told him to. He does everything you ask him, so I'm sure he knows you want him to be fine," Grandma Joel said, chuckling.

I frowned. "What if he doesn't want to see me? It was my fault."

"Get your head outta your ass! That man could never hate you! He's too starry-eyed for that."

She didn't know about when he couldn't stand the sight of me. When he was conflicted because I was the ancestor of Robert de Sable.

"Come on in." The doctor's voice was loud enough for me to hear.

I shuffled in hesitantly, unsure if he really wanted me there. Grandma Joel was the one who practically shoved me into the room.

The sight of Altaïr in the hospital bed was funny in a strange way. This was just another reminder that I was delirious and he was a man out of time.

"Keira!" Altaïr wheezed, looking like he wanted to sir all the way up upon my arrival.

It took everything in me to not run and envelop him in a tight hug. "How are you feeling?" I asked instead and stood next to his bed.

Grandma Joel sat in the only chair there and smiled to Altaïr when he gave her a nod of recognition.

"Hurts." He winced at the own weakness of his voice.

"God, I am so sorry. This is my fault." I bowed my head, ready to cry again.

"No!" He protested.

"Altaïr, if I had been more careful and more observant, that guy wouldn't have returned. And even then, you pushed me out of the way. It's because of me that you got shot."

"Keira-"

"Do you understand that I can't lose you? You're everything keeping me sane in a world where I feel out of place. After what we went through, I feel like I belong back there, not here. You're kind, funny when you want to be, and you put up with my nonsensical ramblings. You know more about me than my own family. God, Altaïr you mean too much to me that I can't lose you."

I stared at him, horrified that I had basically confessed my feelings to him.

He just stared at me funny, his eyes searching my face and part of me thought he was looking for a lie in what I said. The other part of me ignored that part and stared back unashamedly.

He opened his mouth when the doctor entered the room, interrupting anything Altaïr might have said.

"Visiting hours are over. Mr. Altaïr needs to get his rest." The doctor announced, leaving no room for an argument as Grandma Joel and I were ushered out.

I looked back at Altaïr to see him staring dejectedly at his hands in his lap. Then I was out in the hallway.

"You can come back tomorrow. However, I would like to look you over for anymore injuries, Ms. Lee. Does that sound reasonable?" The doctor asked.

I nodded and followed the doctor, leaving Grandma Joel to follow along at her slow pace.

"Could you actually wait in the waiting room, ma'am?" The doctor requested.

Grandma Joel huffed but consented. She walked away and I was left with the quite attractive doctor.

We stepped into a new, empty room and the doctor pointed at the bed. When I sat, I realized how tired I was.

"Let's get your hands all cleaned off, Ms. Lee." The doctor pulled up a chair and sat in front of me while he wiped the blood off my hands with a wet towel. He scrutinized the brace over my wrist and hand and tutted, readjusting it.

It felt better.

"Your knuckles didn't get patched up?" He ground his teeth. "Whoever looked you over first did a terrible job of it."

"I didn't really give them the choice to do a better job."

The doctor peered up at me. "What is Altaïr to you?"

I frowned but figured he was only asking because he knew we weren't family. "He's my best friend. You never told me your name, by the way."

"Ah, my apologies. It's been a long night. My name is Doctor Matthew Addelmyer." The doctor, Dr. Addelmyer, patched up my knuckles quickly.

He finished patching me up and looking me over. Apparently, there was a bruise beginning to form on my face and I should ice it. Otherwise, I was good to go.

I found myself laughing at one of Dr. Addelmyer's jokes as he escorted me back to the waiting room where Grandma Joel finished writing up some things for the hospital.

"Thank you, Doctor." I smiled.

"Please, call me Matthew."

I shook my head slightly. "Matthew."

With that, I rejoined Grandma Joel and we left. A part of me wanted to stay in the waiting room until I could see Altaïr again, but I knew better. I was lovesick for a man who did not love.