"Roy…I need you to wake up…please wake up?" Thea quietly told Roy, resting her hand against his forehead, "I need you to get better, ok? I need you, and the twins need you. You have to survive this. I don't think I can do this on my own."
Despite Thea's soft pleading Roy remained still. Six long hours had passed since Oliver had brought Thea into the lair, to Roy's bedside. Sara and Diggle had both reassured her that it was okay that Roy hadn't woken up yet, he had lost a lot of blood after all, and his vital signs were steadily improving and not fluctuating so much, but Thea was desperate to see Roy open his eyes again.
Felicity, Oliver, Laurel and Sara had all tried to convince her to go and have a sleep, even if it was just in the small bed Oliver kept in the corner, but Thea couldn't bring herself to leave Roy's side, despite how tired she was getting. She'd been tired before Oliver had arrived at her door, but now, six long, anxious hours later, exhaustion was well and truly setting in. Despite how heavy her eyes were getting, though, Thea refused to let herself drop off to sleep, terrified that Roy's condition would worsen and she wouldn't be there, or that he would wake up she wouldn't be there to reassure him.
In her head Thea knew that it wasn't as though she and Roy were alone in the lair. Oliver and Sara were with them still, and were showing no signs of leaving, having sent Diggle, Felicity and Laurel home to sleep. Malcolm had left of his own accord about an hour into Thea's vigil, gently squeezing her shoulder on his way out.
Sara and Oliver were keeping a discrete distance, giving Thea some semblance of privacy as she sat at Roy's bedside, although Thea could tell that they were watching her closely, despite the fact that whenever she tore her gaze from Roy they were both busy doing something…or at least pretending to be busy doing something.
Still, it was oddly reassuring to know that they were there, watching over her as she watched Roy sleep. It stopped her from feeling lonely, even though they weren't interacting with her unless it was to ask her…again, to try and get some sleep.
Even if she had, momentarily, left Roy's side to go to the bathroom a couple of times earlier, Thea wasn't going anywhere now. There had been a couple of times in the last hour when Roy had stirred, as if he was beginning to wake up, although he'd always returned to his sleep.
Tenderly Thea began to comb her fingers through Roy's hair, hoping that the contact might somehow register in Roy's mind, and that it might bring him around more quickly.
It appeared to be working, because Roy let out a soft moan, and turned his head towards her resting his cheek against her palm.
Thea smiled, "Roy…Roy, wake up, come on, wake up, it's okay, you're safe. I'm here."
Roy's hand twitched, and Thea placed her hand in his, letting him grip her fingers gently as his eyes fluttered open.
'Thea?" he groggily asked. Thea nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks once again as relief flooded her system.
"Hey Roy," she greeted, 'I'm here, it's okay."
"You ok?" Roy asked softly, his eyes focusing on Thea's face as she nodded.
"I'm fine…I'm not the one who got stabbed…again."
"Twins ok?"
"Yeah, they're fine…I think they're having a sleep right now, but they were moving around a fair bit earlier."
Roy smiled, although his eyes betrayed how much pain he was in. Thea glanced over her shoulder, towards where she had last seen Oliver.
"Ollie, he's awake,"
Roy let out a muffled groan as he tried to move, and Thea immediately moved her hand, pushing down on his chest, carefully restraining him.
"Don't move," she told him as Sara and Oliver quickly approached them, "You'll pull your stitches."
"I don't think I could move, even if I wanted to…damn I feel like shit," Roy admitted as Oliver and Sara reached the gurney.
"That's what happens when you lose over 30 percent of your total blood volume," Sara told Roy brightly as Oliver quickly went about checking Roy's bandages.
"The stitches are holding," He told Thea and Roy, "but you need to be careful. You'll be out of action for at least a few weeks."
"What if you need me, though?" Roy asked.
"We'll be fine," Oliver reassured him, "you just concentrate on getting better and leave fighting the bad guys to us."
"They're right," Thea added soothingly, "It won't be for long."
Roy nodded and relaxed against the gurney, His eyes already fluttering as he fought against the urge to sleep. Sara went to the medical cabinet and withdrew a vial of mild painkiller, carefully adding it to Roy's IV. The bag of blood that had been there had long since been drained into Roy's system, and now there was a bag of fluids up there, preventing Roy from becoming dehydrated on top of everything else.
Within a minute Roy was sound asleep again, leaving Thea watching him, her hand back in his as she wiped the rears from her eyes with her free hand.
"Come on, Thea, you need to rest," Oliver gently told her, taking her arm with his hand, "You won't do much good to him exhausted, and the twins need you to be strong too."
"I'll stay with him," Sara promised solemnly, "and You don't need to go far, you can use Oliver's bed in the corner if you want."
"Thea, Please," Oliver begged, "I can't risk something happening to you as well. Just a few hours, that's all."
"Ok," Thea finally admitted, knowing that Oliver was right. She wasn't doing Roy, the twins, or herself, any good by letting herself become exhausted just because she wanted to stay at Roy's side. She moved to stand, but it quickly became apparent that she'd stat for far too long, her leg buckling beneath her. Oliver, however, caught her before she fell.
"Thea…are you okay…do you need to go to the hospital?" Oliver anxiously asked, his eyes wide and fearful.
Thea rolled her eyes, "I'm fine," she told Oliver, "just…a bit tired…and I've been sitting down for too long."
Oliver let out a heavy sigh, carefully sweeping Thea up into a bridal style carry and walking over to his bed, gently depositing her on the soft surface.
"Go to sleep," he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "and don't scare me like that again."
"Ok," Thea smiled as Oliver brought the blankets up to tuck her in, "although I think I'm a little old for this, I'm going to be a mom in a few months."
"You're always going to be my little sister though," Oliver replied with a grim smile, "and that means I still get to fuss over you and make sure you stay healthy…and I can tuck you in when I need to."
"As long as you don't try and do it when Roy's healthy and we have sexy times planned."
Oliver choked and his hand slipped off the edge of the bed at the comment, while Thea grinned at his reaction.
"Goodnight, Thea," Oliver told her once he'd regained his breath, turning his back and walking away from the bed, flicking a switch to dim the lights in the lair. Thea finally let herself relax, secure in the knowledge that it appeared that Roy would make a full recovery.
Within minutes she was sound asleep.