Disclaimer: I do not own Lost Girl.
Chapter Ten
Bo was sure she hadn't been asleep very long but her eyes opened once she shifted in bed and realized the space next to her was cold. Once her eyes were open she noticed that the room was still dark and nothing in the room looked any different than when she had fallen asleep. Both her and her girlfriend's things were still near the closet and all the lights were off.
Then she looked toward the bathroom and noticed the door was closed, a small amount of light appearing under the door. Bo sighed and sat up a little, knowing that Lauren had probably been up for a while and was likely planning out the day. Though they hadn't exactly been dating a long time Bo knew that Lauren was a planner when she was nervous. It was one of those things she loved about her even if she wished she'd see it less.
The door opened as Bo began to contemplate whether or not to lie back down and Lauren stepped into the darkened room with wet hair and clean clothes on. At first, she looked lost in thought and didn't acknowledge Bo was even awake. There was a faraway look in her eye that had Bo debating whether or not to interrupt whatever was going on in her mind.
After a minute, she finally looked toward the bed and noticed Bo looking at her. "Hi, I didn't realize you were awake."
"Neither of us should be," Bo said quietly as she observed Lauren's demeanor. "It's still dark out. You need to get more sleep, babe."
"I'm fine, Bo," Lauren said, dismissing the claim. "I want to get to the hospital early. My dad always gets up early and if he's not going to the store then he'll probably just go to the hospital and wait to see my mom. I thought I would do the same."
"And your brother?"
Lauren shrugged. "I'm not sure."
Bo slowly climbed out of bed and moved to stand in front of her girlfriend. "Lauren, we have this nice room that we should be taking advantage of. I don't know your mom but I bet she wouldn't want you to be exhausted. Please, let me help here."
"Bo, I just can't." Lauren looked down at her feet and Bo wondered for a moment if she was going to tell her to leave. "Once I know my mom's awake and the surgery was a success like the doctor said then I can get some sleep."
"Okay," Bo relented. "Let me get showered and dressed then we are eating something before we go to the hospital. You barely ate yesterday." She let a smirk show as she placed a hand on Lauren's arm. "Too bad you already showered or I would insist you join me."
Lauren raised an eyebrow slightly and much to Bo's delight even let a small smile show. "Raincheck?"
"Definitely."
Bo leaned in and gave Lauren a soft kiss on the lips before retreating into the bathroom. Her girlfriend wasn't as bad off as she thought she could be and hadn't ditched her to go to the hospital on her own, something that she was afraid would happen. Those were all positives in Bo's mind and she needed to focus on the positive things. From what Lauren had told her the previous night she relied on her mother. It would be especially devastating for something to happen to her.
She showered as quickly as possible and put minimal makeup on. There was a thought in the back of her head that Lauren's brother would be judgmental and she didn't want to give him any ammunition. Nothing should distract Lauren from being there for her parents.
That was one factor Bo hadn't considered: Lauren's brother. He had a chip on his shoulder the size of a small country and she wondered if it was because Lauren was trying to follow her dreams and not stay out of a sense of duty. She made a mental note to ask Lauren more about him when they were on their way back home. There had to be a story behind his attitude.
When she walked out of the bathroom Lauren was sitting on the edge of the bed watching the local news. She turned to Bo and tried to smile though it didn't make it past all her obvious nervousness. "You ready to go?"
"One second," Bo said before walking over to her and kneeling down in front of her. "I need you to promise me something."
Lauren looked confused almost immediately. "What?"
"No matter what happens, good or bad, you don't shut me out today." Bo reached out and took one of Lauren's hands in her own. "If you need to lean on someone today I want it to be me. I love you, Lauren, and that's what I'm here for."
Lauren only looked at her for a moment, her eyes becoming glassy with unshed tears. "I love you, too, Bo."
"Then we get through this together, okay? We're going to go to the hospital and sit with your dad. We're going to stay until your mom wakes up or they kick us out."
The comment got a quiet chuckle out of Lauren. "The doctor said she might not wake up for a day or two."
"And we will be there when she does," Bo stated strongly. "Then you can introduce me to the woman who helped you become the woman I love so much."
Lauren smiled and moved to stand, pulling Bo with her. "I know she'll see in you what I see." She wrapped her arms around Bo, hugging her tightly for a few moments before moving away. "Come on, there's this little place that's makes the best breakfast sandwiches. I used to eat there all the time in high school."
Bo smiled at the thought seeing more of Lauren's past. "Lead the way."
Lauren was right about what they would see when they arrived at the hospital and she thought for a moment at how predictable her father was. When they got to the waiting room they discovered her father sitting in a chair, waiting patiently for visiting hours to begin. She knew that she learned how to develop and stick to a routine from him and without her mom there to tell him to change he probably didn't know what to do.
"Hi, Dad."
He looked up and smiled at both of them. "Hi, pumpkin. What are you two doing here so early?"
"Same thing as you, Dad. I want to see Mom as soon as I can."
"It looks like Lauren takes after you with being an early riser," Bo said, a small amount of nervousness in her voice as she presented a bag to Lauren's father. "We brought you breakfast, sir. Lauren thought you might have skipped yours to get here."
"Sit down and please call me John," he said as he took the bag from Bo and motioned for them to sit in the set of chairs across from him. He opened the bag and looked inside. "I see you haven't changed after all this time. Still going to Jason's."
"Did you eat breakfast, Dad?"
He shook his head guiltily. "It was hard to sleep without your mom there and then when I got up I had no idea where anything was in the kitchen. I didn't want to disturb her order so I just ended up with some toast." He turned to look at Bo. "I'm not much of a cook and Lizzie always kicked me out of the kitchen for fear I'd burned the place down."
Bo smiled. "Sounds like me."
Lauren looked at her father and knew he was nervous and maybe a little scared. It was a look she'd never seen on him. "What happened with Mom?"
"It was just the strangest thing. We got up when we normally did and she mentioned to me that she had a little bit of a headache. Who's knows how bad it actually was. You know your mother doesn't like to complain."
Lauren smiled, knowing her mother never liked to hear complaining either. "I do."
"We were down in the kitchen having breakfast and going over when we needed to do at the store when her started to slur her words. I joked that she sounded like she was doing some early drinking and then she just collapsed. I tried to get people there as fast as I could, pumpkin."
"I know, Dad." She held his hand and nodded, knowing her father probably felt guilty about everything, especially if he thought he could have done more. "Has anyone talked to you yet?"
"The nurses know I want to go in first thing but no one's told me if there's been any change in her condition."
"If there had been any change I'm sure they would have told you," Bo said carefully. Lauren could tell she was nervous about being part of a family conversation. "They wouldn't just let you sit here."
"Bo's right, Dad. If there was any major change, they would have either called you or would have come and got you."
Her father nodded. "I'm so happy you're here, pumpkin."
Lauren rarely heard her father as relieved as he sounded and she had to admit she liked it. She was afraid that he would bring up that she wasn't living there or something about her career choices but it must have been the furthest thing on his mind. She was happy that Bo was seeing this side of him and not the one who would mention that she wasn't getting the business degree he would have liked.
Her dad started to eat his sandwich and Lauren looked down to see Bo take hold of her hand. She gave it a little squeeze and brought her lips to Lauren's ear. "She's going to be fine."
She almost wanted to say that she couldn't know that for sure but she knew Bo was trying to keep everything positive. It was something she loved her for and placed her head on her shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to think about nothing but her mother.
"Mr. Lewis?"
All three of them looked up to see the doctor from the day before making his way to them. Lauren looked over his body language and thought that though he was trying to look neutral, he also looked very positive. She hoped that meant her mother would wake up soon and that she would be okay.
"Good morning, Dr. Beck," her father said as he stood. "How is she?"
He smiled and Lauren could tell it was genuine. "She had a great night, John. She actually just woke up about an hour ago. I didn't want to get you until I was able to do an initial exam. I can take you to her but I have to warn her she's still a little groggy."
Lauren and Bo stood as well and Lauren took her father's hand. "Is she going to recover?"
"It's still early for me to give you certainties," he said, "but she's able to talk and remember details of her life. Her responses are good. Everything after that we'll monitor."
"Can my daughter come with?" her father asked
"Of course," he said before turning to Bo. "Sorry, just family until Elizabeth can be moved to a private room."
"That's okay," Bo said and turned to Lauren. "Go see your mom. I'll wait for you here, maybe try and find a decent cup of coffee."
Lauren leaned in and lightly kissed Bo on the lips. "I love you," she whispered before walking away with the doctor and her father.
The closer she got to the room the more nervous Lauren became. She hadn't seen her mother in months and didn't know what to expect. The guilt that she hadn't been the greatest daughter and didn't call when she knew she should have was massive. It made her wonder if her mother would want to see her.
When they walked into the room the first thing Lauren noticed was the bandages on her mother's head. She knew that they would have had to shave some of her hair off and that would definitely be a topic of discussion for them. That and how she was actually at home and not at school. That would definitely be something they would discuss.
Her dad immediately walked to her bedside and held her hand. "Lizzie? Honey, are you with us?"
She let out a quiet groan and slowly opened her eyes. "John?"
"That's me," he said as he smiled. "We've been so worried about you. In fact, there's someone here that really wants to see you."
Lauren took the queue and stepped up to the bed, smiling at her mother. "Hi, Mom."
"Lauren, sweetie." Her mother smiled as she reached for Lauren's hand. "You didn't have to come. I'm fine."
"Of course, I came, Mom." Lauren took her hand and held it tightly. "I'm on break but you didn't need to do all this to get me to come home for Christmas. I would've come. Besides, who else is going to help you shop for hats?"
"How awful is it?"
"You look beautiful," her father said as he put a hand against her cheek then bent down and gave her a light kiss before moving away. "Besides, you haven't heard the latest news. Our daughter has a girlfriend."
Her mother's face lit up and she smiled at Lauren, something that surprised her a little. While her parents accepted her, they never really talked about if Lauren was dating or if she had a girlfriend. That probably had a lot to do with the fact she was all about becoming a doctor but they never pestered her about it. "Since when?"
"It's kind of new," she said as she tried to fight the blush that was threatening to appear.
Her father laughed and turned to her mother. "Her name is Bo and she is a little bit of a looker. She drove our daughter here and is in the waiting room."
"Well, I expect to meet her as soon as possible." She looked at Lauren and her expression turned a little more serious than it had with the teasing. "We can talk about all this a little later but first things first: is she good for you?"
Lauren smiled. "She's the best, Mom."
"Well, then I can't wait to meet her."
Bo looked at the coffee machine and wondered if whatever came out of it would even taste like the drink she was craving. She didn't want to find the cafeteria because that meant going another part of the hospital. Being that far away from Lauren and her family was not an option.
"You came back, huh?"
She turned away from the machine to find Lauren's brother standing behind her. He had a dismissive look on his face that made Bo instantly dislike him and it made her wonder if he was always like this. She hated to think that her girlfriend would have grown up with this type of sibling. If that was the case her leaving for college made much more sense.
"Of course," she said calmly. "We plan on staying until your mother is out of the woods and on her way to recovery. Did you talk to someone yet? She woke up."
"Yeah, I'll go in once Dad comes out of the room with Lauren." He took a step closer. "I did a little search on you last night. Gotta protect my little sister and all."
"I'm sure that was your motive," Bo said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice but knew she probably failed at least partially. "If you want to know my intentions with your sister all you had to do was ask."
"Yeah, because you'll admit you're loaded even though you drive a rundown car and are dressing lower than your station."
"My station?" Bo scoffed, trying to keep a straight face. "What century do you live in? I don't know what you think you found but I'm an office assistant and part-time bartender. I've never been loaded."
"That's not what I read," Jack said simply. "You're the daughter of Martin Dennis, someone who's worth more than most of the people in this town combined. Why are you even with my sister?"
"If you have to ask me that question then I think it's pretty clear you don't know anything about your sister."
"And who's fault is that? She never comes home. If our mom or dad was sick she'd never know about it because she doesn't even call." He took a step forward, getting closer than Bo would have liked but she didn't want to back away. "Did you need to have a future doctor as a girlfriend to impress your dad?"
What he said hit a nerve and Bo couldn't let it go, no matter how much she wanted to. "My father doesn't have anything to do with my relationship with your sister. If you really did a search like you said you would have also noticed that there aren't any pictures of the two of us together. Not that it's any of your business, but we don't talk."
"And what a great way to start talking to him again."
Bo took a breath and looked at her girlfriend's brother hard. "Listen closely, Jack. I love Lauren and I don't care of my father likes it or not. He's not in my life at all. The only person bringing him into our relationship right now is you."
"I'll believe that when I see it."
Bo was about to completely lose her temper but was saved by the sight of Lauren and John Lewis walking down the hall. Her eyes met Lauren's and it was easy to see that Lauren could tell they weren't having a good conversation. Her father, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice.
"Jack, great news! Your mother's awake. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," he said. "Where's Kristi?"
"She had to work this morning but she'll be here in the afternoon," he said as she concentrated on his father. "Unlike some, she has to work for a living."
"What kind of comment is that?" Lauren asked but her father quickly stopped whatever argument was bound to happen.
"Lauren, why don't you bring Bo up to speed and I'll take Jack in to see Mom, okay?"
The siblings stared each other down for a few seconds before they both relented and Jack walked away with their father. Lauren turned to Bo and seemed to look her over before she said anything. "What was that about?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Bo said as she raised an eyebrow. "He said he was just looking out for you but I got the feeling it was something more. I guess he searched out my name last night and found out who my father is."
"I'm sorry, Bo," Lauren said, taking hold of her hand as she did. "I'm not sure what's going on with him. Ever since I left for college, he changed. I think he's still upset that I left, something he has to get over. Our parents have."
Bo nodded. "Your dad doesn't seem to hold it against you."
"He wasn't happy at first but he's had a few years to get over it and he's distracted by something more important right now. He only cares about my mom and how she's doing. Jack should be, too."
Bo shook her head, wanting desperately to change the subject. "So, both of you looked happy when you were walking out. How's your mom?"
Lauren smiled. "She's awake but tired. We talked for a few minutes before I saw the doctor again and wanted to step out to ask him a question or two."
Bo smiled and brought a hand up to caress Lauren's cheek. She loved that her girlfriend had a little happiness after all the stress of the last day. "Always wanting to know the medical side."
"Well, I was getting 20 questions so when I saw an opportunity to stop all that for now I took it," she said. "My dad quickly pointed out that I was not here alone so my mom wanted to know all about you."
"And what did you say?"
"I said that you are an amazing girlfriend and that she could meet you once she was moved to a private room and you could visit her." Lauren leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "My dad called you a bit of a looker and I very much agree."
Bo laughed, whatever was said by Lauren's brother forgotten for now. She liked how the stress seemed to have been lifted off of Lauren's shoulders. There was probably much more that needed to be discussed with the doctors, especially since Lauren's mother needed to recover, but she liked the look on her girlfriend's face.
"Since your mom's awake and talking, maybe we should go to the waiting room and you should try to sleep for a little while," Bo said. "It sounds like there's not much for you to do for now. Maybe if you can close those beautiful eyes for a while and then we can get some updates and see when I can meet your mom and get questioned."
It looked like Lauren wanted to argue with her but Bo knew she was tired. She knew that she hadn't slept well the night before and worried like she had was exhausting. Bo was tired simply by worrying over her girlfriend. She couldn't imagine doing that for parent.
After some silence, Lauren slowly nodded. "I guess that would be okay. As long as we stay here."
"Of course," Bo agreed and started walking them back toward the waiting area. She smiled as she did, both because Lauren's mother was getting better and because Lauren was relying on her. It was something she wanted and was more than willing to do it.
A/N: it's been a while for this one, I know. I wanted to concentrate on Travels but now that it's finished I will go back to writing this one and probably developing another because I love Doccubus and want to keeping writing with these awesome characters. Anyway, let me know your thoughts. Leave me a review here or on twitter: hayley128. :)