Lauren sat at her desk, reading the papers in front of her, her fingers twirling a pen. Bo couldn't tell what was on any of the sheets, but she watched her read beyond the curtain that had been left open a little wider once she had been feeling better. Even though she couldn't remember a lot of the better part of a day, Bo felt the isolation behind the curtain and once she pulled out of the danger zone, she demanded it be left open. She wanted to feel connected again.
Lauren leaned back in her chair, stretching her back. Bo didn't think she'd slept more than a few hours in as many days. She looked exhausted. Pushing herself to her feet, Lauren started collecting a few things from her desk and Bo took the Cosmo Kenzi had left on her bed before running out to get a few things with Hale. She flipped to the middle.
The footsteps announced Lauren's arrival before the curtain rings jingling as she walked by. Bo pretended to finish an article before looking up at the doctor. "How's my favorite patient?" Lauren smiled and read the blinking lights and wavy lines on the machines Bo had spent way too much time staring at.
"Impatiently waiting to go home." Bo closed the magazine and moved it to the table next to her.
Lauren smirked, jotting a few notes onto her clipboard. "I'm afraid that's a ways off. I need to run a course of fluids at the very least, then we can talk about your release. What's the rush?"
"Not like this place is filled with good memories for me. And over here we have the bed where I almost died," she demonstrated with a gesture not uncommon in game shows. "Plus, I just want to take some time off and have that date we keep talking about."
Lauren sat in the chair beside her bed and set the clipboard in her lap. "Well I don't have much going on. What about now?"
"Oh right," Bo chuckled and made a face, her hand coming to her chest. "I can't do that. I mean, look at you." She gestured to Lauren's lab coat. "You're my doctor."
"Ah." Lauren raised a finger before getting to her feet and deposited the clipboard on the second chair that had been moved in upon Trick's arrival. Bo watched her slip out of the lab coat and toss it on top of the clip board. Lauren straightened her shirt before sitting back down. "Is that better?"
Bo smiled. "Yeah, that makes all the difference." Lauren leaned back, folding her hands. "Can I just take a minute to thank you for everything you've done for me?"
"Please," Lauren shook her head. "I did what any doctor would do."
"But you're not just any doctor." The silence they shared then was a familiar anxiety. Lauren looked at her hands and inspected them needlessly. Bo always caught her doing this, a nervous tick if you will. But she didn't push. She was just happy to be able to enjoy Lauren's company again.
"Saving your life when you crashed was the scariest thing I've ever had to do." Lauren spoke to her without lifting her head.
"Thank you," Bo said again. She'd never be able to say it enough.
"No-I mean, you don't have to thank me." Lauren sighed and looked at Bo. "I just meant that when I was losing you, I felt like I was losing myself. Like that was how I'd die, pounding on your chest, begging you to wake up."
"Lauren…"
"I love you." There was a second before Lauren rushed to add: "And I can't…" She stopped again and rolled her eyes at herself. "I needed to tell you."
"We're all scared to say the things worth saying." Bo looked at her lap, suddenly wishing she hadn't gotten rid of the Cosmo so quickly. "I'm crazy about you, Lauren and I think you're…" She shook her head, smiling. "Amazing."
Lauren's smile lit up the laboratory. It was a smile Bo wondered was reserved for her, or she was always lucky enough to provoke it. "Well," Lauren said, getting to her feet. "Amazing or not, you're still not well." She squeezed Bo's hand. "You should rest."
When Lauren moved to take a step away, Bo tightened her grip on her hand, holding her next to the bed. "I don't want to rest."
"Bo…" The warning tone had less authority behind it than it normally did. Lauren leaned forward and placed a kiss on Bo's cheek. "Don't make me put the lab coat back on." She straightened the blanket on the bed and smoothed it over Bo's lap. The smile on Bo's face lasted as she watched Lauren pick the coat and clipboard off the chair and walk to that curtain again.
"Before you go, I gotta ask," Bo looked up at Lauren, pausing for effect, "what's with Jell-O and hospitals?"
"Technically, this isn't a hospital but I believe it's supposed to remind you of your childhood."
"You'd have to suspend grapes and pineapple in it for that."
Lauren nodded solemnly. "Sadly we lost our funding for gourmet Jell-O and can now only offer the fruitless variety but I'll see about some pudding with your dinner."
They shared a moment appreciating the easiness of their exchange before Lauren retreated back to her desk, this time leaving the curtain open wide enough that Bo could watch her slip back into the lab coat and return to her work.
Bo pulled the last boot on, grunting as she straightened her back. She placed a hand on her chest as she stood, taking a breath to ease the pain as carefully as she could. Finally, she was out of here. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate being doted on by Lauren, but there was something to be said for her dilapidated warehouse of a home. It had a comfortable bed and television for one.
The clicking of her boots announced Kenzi's arrival before she pulled back the curtain. "Hey Bo-Bo, how goes the healing?" Kenzi walked up to her and picked up the small bag they'd brought along days ago.
Bo put a hand on Kenzi's shoulder in mock support. "Sore."
"Yeah, Lauren totally worked you over but I gotta say it was awesome to watch. I didn't know she had it in her."
"She's pretty great," Bo smiled.
"Ooo," Kenzi teased. "Do I detect a hint of lurve in that statement?"
Bo looked at the array of belts across Kenzi's waist. "I think so."
Kenzi gasped. "Are you for serious? I was just joshin' ya," she shook Bo's shoulder. "Well, let's celebrate." Bo played with the blanket folded on the bed and waited for Kenzi to run out of steam. "Should we invite her over? That's what you do when you like somebody am I right?"
"Kenz, I'm on bed rest for a bit-"
"That's perfect. Think of all the shenanigans you can get up to in bed!" Bo couldn't say anything with any more force, so she glared at Kenzi instead. "What? No shenanigans?"
Bo smiled at her. "Not yet. We still need to talk."
"Bo, if you're questioning Lauren's motives, don't." Kenzi leaned forward. "Honey, she didn't sleep a wink the entire time you were here. Every time I woke up, she was next to you." Leaning back again, she propped her feet up on the rails of the bed. "I even thought she was going to kick Dyson's ass there for a second."
Bo laughed and then groaned at the pain in her chest. "Ow, don't make me laugh."
"She loves you, Bo."
Bo looked at her friend. "I know," she replied.
"Hello?" Lauren leaned inside the open curtain before walking into the space. Bo and Kenzi looked at each other, relieved they had stopped talking at just the right time. The only thing they couldn't stop was the grin that crossed each of their faces.
Lauren looked back and forth with a frown. "What's going on?"
"I just…" Kenzi started first.
"She told a joke," Bo continued and smiled at Lauren. "Took me a while, but I got it."
Kenzi made a hasty exit, but not before running into Lauren's outstretched hand. Kenzi sighed, rolling her eyes and digging into her pocket for the Spectacles Hale and Trick had retrieved from the vault. She smiled innocently at Lauren as she deposited them in her hand. "I'll meet you out here, Boobalah!" she called over her shoulder on her way out.
Lauren watched Kenzi go with a crooked smile and turned back to Bo. "So…"
"I guess this is it," Bo patted the pile of bedding on the hospital bed and smiled. She fidgeted in her leather jacket. Lauren stood across from her, keeping her distance with her trusty clipboard and pen that clacked against it as she stared down Bo.
"Take those pills I gave you-"
"-three times a day," she nodded. "I'll be fine."
"You can see where I'd think you might not be." Lauren tilted her head.
"Not really." Bo took a step toward Lauren. "See, I have this fantastic doctor that makes house calls so I don't worry about much."
When Lauren looked up from her clipboard she was smiling, at ease in their banter.
"Mamacita?" Kenzi called as she rounded the corner again. "Nachos and margaritas are calling our names, you know."
"No drinking while you're on those pills," Lauren said sternly. "And no not taking the pills so you can drink."
"Dr. Buzzkill, paging Dr. Buzzkill," Kenzi hollered into her hands.
"Give us a minute, Kenz?"
"Of course, cue the tender goodbye," she said in a sing-song voice. "And thanks for not making me watch it," she muttered as she left the room.
Bo took two steps toward Lauren, taking the clipboard and pen from her hands she tossed them onto the bed. Holding Lauren's hands in her own, she caught her eyes. "Lauren, I have so much I need to say to you and none of the words. But," she took a step closer and touched her lips with a finger. "I want to try." Her kiss was tender and tentative but not timid. Another step forward pushed Lauren against the edge of the bed and Bo's hips held her there so she could feel every breath she took. There wasn't going to be a second where she denied herself this feeling again. Lauren followed when Bo pulled away, disappointed in such a brief kiss. Bo leaned in again, taking Lauren's bottom lip between her own as she pulled away.
Lauren sighed as Bo took a step back. "Not fair."
"That was kinda the point," she whispered. "When do you think you might be free for a house call?"
"If I said right now, would you think any less of me?"The inescapable chuckle made her chest throb. "I'll see you soon, then," she smiled though the discomfort, lifting the clipboard and pen off the bed and passing it to Lauren before brushing past her to exit the room.
On the other side of the curtain Kenzi squealed at Bo's emergence from her cubicle. "Bo-Bo, are you ready for Kenzi's Mighty Mighty Drinkathon?
"Lauren said no drinking, remember?"
"Oh balls." Kenzi's arms dropped to her sides. "That's okay, we'll get yours virgin."
"I tend to avoid virgins," Bo smirked.
"Really? I would have figured they'd be like fae food for the big bad piranha."
"Did you just call me a piranha?"
"Mmmmaybe…"
Bo swatted at Kenzi playfully as she ran ahead and Bo slowed her stride just barely to throw Lauren her best Cover Girl smile over her shoulder, trying to press every button she could as she glided out of the laboratory. Lauren - much to Bo's delight - had trained her eyes on her, her smile wide and brilliant as she watched Bo disappear around the corner. As she pushed her way through another set of doors she knew it wouldn't be long until she saw Lauren again.
It was a shame, really, that only when you're faced with losing everything, will you be able to say what you really mean to the people that matter to you. She didn't know how long Lauren had been waiting to say what she did - hours, days, months - but it was clear she had been thinking about it for a long time. Bo had been there too, but she didn't have Lauren's courage. Maybe now they could start again. Maybe they'd have an uninterrupted moment so she could thank her in a manner she deserved. Maybe this time she would be brave enough to say what she really meant.
FIN