Alex woke from her nap, feeling a bit better than she had this morning. She sat up, still feeling sore, but made no move to move yet. She thought about how she left things with her mom and knew she should call and apologize. But she also didn't want it de-evolving into yet another disagreement or fight.

Standing up, she decided wounds or not she was taking a shower.

She made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and making sure there was a towel that was easy for her to grab. The next step was taking off the sling and then she proceeded to take the gauze wrap off her eyes.

Once that was done, she turned the shower on and waited for it to get the right temperature.

Stepping in, she felt a bit of a sting as the water hit some of the more injured parts of her body. Still, she thought, this is good, 'I can do this without help.'

After letting the water soak her, she realized that she had no idea where the soap was at – well not exactly at least. That's ok, the thought, she would rather wash her hair anyway. Suddenly, she thought about her last shower, the one she took with Maggie's assistance.

She hadn't wanted Maggie to help her with that shower, not because she thought it would make her uncomfortable because of how she felt about the other woman (although she did), but more because she hadn't wanted Maggie to see that she couldn't do it on her own.

Shaking off the memory, she began to use her good arm to feel around for the shampoo. Luckily, her shampoo and conditioner were always in the same spot. But even as she reached for it, her hand brushed up against the bottle and it got knocked from the shelf. She heard it bang onto the shower floor and slide.

She knelt down and felt around for it, finally finding it but as she stood back up, she felt a twinge of pain in her side where her wound was. She stayed still for a moment, willing the pain to go away. Taking a deep breath, she felt along that area gently but she couldn't tell if she had done any damage. Hopefully, she hadn't torn another set of stitches.

Putting the bottle in her left hand she popped open the lid and poured some into her right hand. This was the tricky part as she had to quickly put the shampoo on her head so she could then use her right hand and arm to put the bottle back on the shelf. Already she was feeling pain in her shoulder as the sling was no longer there to support it.

Placing the bottle back on the shelf, she rubbed the shampoo into her hair.

She managed to rinse her hair, get the conditioner on it and rinse, all without any more issues, outside of pain. All in all, she was feeling pretty good about her success as she turned the water off.

"I can do this," she said out loud.

Exiting the shower carefully, she grabbed the towel and dried off the best she could and went back to the bedroom to get clothes to wear. She managed to find a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt and get them on before returning to the bathroom to get the sling.

Once her arm was back in it, she thought about wrapping her eyes back up but decided it wouldn't kill her to have them free for a bit at least. The bandages she had on were wet, but that wasn't really something she could deal with so she left it alone.

Her side still hurt so she found the pain pills and took a couple of them before settling down on the couch. She even turned the tv on and flipped the channels until she found a news channel that she could listen to.

She had shut the world out since it happened, so she really had no idea what was going on out there.

It was only 20 minutes later that she was turning it off again, hearing nothing of any interest to her.

Sitting there she didn't know what she should be doing.

She never really had this prolonged of a break from work or school or anything. She was always going from one activity to another. This stillness was bothering her and she had only been doing it for a few moments.

This couldn't be how her life would be going forward – it would drive her crazy.

She thought about texting Cass, but knew the other woman was more than likely busy at work. Again, she thought about calling her mother, but again nixed the idea.

What would her life be like going forward?

Her job depended on her ability to see.

Despite the danger that her job could entail, she never really thought about ever being injured in a way that would prevent her from working. If anything, she thought she would get killed.

Thinking about her life now, the only thing she wanted to do was have a drink but that made her think about Maggie coming over that morning.

"Stop thinking about her," she said out loud.

She decided she would at least text Cass so she got up, but realized she didn't know where her phone was at. She had used it yet that morning but clearly she had been last night while drunk.

She also hadn't heard it ring or chime with any messages yet today.

"Son of a bitch," she swore as she began to search for the phone. She started off in her bedroom, thinking maybe it was on her bedside stand, but she felt all around it and came up empty. Next she checked the bed itself – going as far as to rip the blankets off to see if it was trapped inside and would fall out.

Again, no luck.

Next it was the main room, where she tore the cushions off the couch in case it had fell under one. She got down on hands and knees and felt all along the couch and chair.

Then it was off to the kitchen where she felt along all of the counters.

But she was coming up empty.

She searched everywhere she could think of making a mess along the way, but she couldn't find the phone.

"God damn it," she swore, as she took a seat at the table. She had no idea where her phone was and without it she had also lost her only lifeline to the outside world. She had no land line so it wasn't like she could use it to call Kara or her mom.

First her glasses and now this. It was shaping up to be a horrible day, not that she had any idea what time it was without her phone.

Again, she thought about having a drink, to lose herself in the oblivion of alcohol. Her options there were limited. She had maybe a bottle of beer in her fridge. She was definitely out of whiskey. Then it occurred to her that she did have a bottle of alcohol practically untouched under the sink. It was tequila which was not her favorite drink and also why there was a nearly full bottle.

It didn't take long for her to locate it and she brought it and a glass back to the table with her.

She poured herself a drink but she didn't make any move to actually drink it.

It was just that morning that she had told Maggie she would call if she felt like drinking again. That morning seemed so far away now.

And she couldn't find her phone to call her anyway, she thought as she took a drink.

It was later that evening that Kara let herself into her sister's place. She had tried calling but hadn't gotten an answer which had worried her. Of course she also knew that Alex might just be ignoring her and everyone else.

Kara had spoken with Eliza so she knew about Alex telling her to leave.

Between that and Alex being hungover that morning a part of Kara wanted to tell Alex she needed to grow up but that was only a small part of her. The bigger part of her wanted to comfort her sister and for Alex to accept it.

When she entered the apartment the two parts of her were warring as she saw the empty liquor bottle and Alex passed out on the couch.

She also noted the mess throughout the apartment and wondered what it was all about.

Shaking her head, she went over and picked Alex up and moved her to her bedroom. She noticed that not only did Alex not have anything covering her eyes but she had also taken off the brace for her shoulder.

Once Alex was in bed Kara went to the kitchen where she began to search for any and all alcohol that Alex might have hidden away so she could throw it out.

Then she proceeded to start cleaning up.

This time when Alex woke with her hangover she went straight to the bathroom and threw up. It didn't even occur to her that her last memory before passing out was that she was on the couch.

This is why she hated tequila, she thought.

She came back into her room determined to go back to sleep.

"I put some water on your bed stand."

"Jesus Christ," Alex swore as she felt her heart shoot from her chest. "Kara, what the hell?"

"I could ask you the same thing as in what the hell were you thinking getting drunk again. I found you passed out on the couch."

"Maybe you should have left me there."

"Maybe I should have but I didn't. Alex …"

"Spare me the lecture mom."

"No I'm not going to spare you the lecture," Kara shot back. "You were injured, you didn't die. You are still alive and at some point you are going to have to start living life again. I don't expect it to be easy but you've never back down from a challenge before so I don't understand why you are being like this."

"Because I'm blind! I'm blind Kara and there is no coming back from that," Alex yelled. "I can't come back from that. You want to know why I was drinking? It was because I lost my phone. I lost it somewhere in this apartment and I felt around everywhere and I couldn't find it. And without my phone I was cut off from everything, everyone and that is when it hit me – being blind I'm always going to be cut off from the rest of the world."

"No you aren't," Kara said. "You are choosing to cut yourself off."

Alex seemed to lose a bit of her steam after her outburst and she ended up sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know how to do this," she said softly.

Kara came and sat beside her, putting an arm around her.

"You don't have to do it alone," Kara said. "Please, let the people who care about you, help you."

Alex didn't say anything, just nodded her head.

"Can you start by helping me find my phone?"

"It's on your bed stand, I found it earlier when I was cleaning up."

"Where was it?"

"In one of your kitchen cabinets."

"Oh. I must have done that after I was drunk texting Maggie."

"You drunk texted her?"

"Yep, she joked that I asked her what she was wearing which I was mortified by but she was just joking. At least I hope she was. Actually can you check my phone to see what I texted her?"

Kara grabbed the phone and waited for Alex to unlock it. She immediately saw the text messages in question and one in particular stood out to her but she didn't know if she should mention it.

"Well?"

"You offered her your bike?"

"Yes, she turned me down," Alex said. "I will probably just sell it. So that's it, no embarrassing texts?"

"Nope," Kara said.

"Thank God," Alex said. "Here, hand it back, I should probably call mom and apologize."

"You might want to hold off on that."

"Why? I've dealt with her disappointment before."

"No, it's just that it's like one in the morning," Kara said.

…

Maggie had no idea why Kara was coming to see her at work unless it had something to with wanting an update on her hunt for the K'atr. But that could have been handled over the phone and Kara had insisted they meet face to face.

She knew it had to do with Alex so she asked her how she was but got a somewhat non-committal answer from her.

The front desk officer let her know when Kara arrived and Maggie went and signed her in, taking her back to a room where they could speak privately.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Are you sure Alex is ok?"

"She's better today than yesterday," Kara said. "She should get her new pair of glasses later and I think she's ready to begin accepting that she needs help."

"That is good to hear. I ran into Eliza yesterday at the DEO and she told me about Alex asking her to leave," Maggie responded. "I was actually thinking of going to see her later."

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about," Kara said. "I was wondering what your intentions were toward my sister."

"My intentions? What does that even mean?"

"I know about the text messages she sent you. She asked me to check her phone to make sure she didn't send something embarrassing to you."

"Oh."

"Yes, that was my reaction when I saw what she sent you."

"Did you tell her?"

"No," Kara responded. "I thought about it, but she had already had a rough day, I didn't want to add to it by telling her that she had sent you a text to let you know she still has feelings for you. That is why I ask what your intentions are with her."

"I don't really know what you are wanting me to say here," Maggie said. "I don't intend to hurt her if that is what you are asking. I wouldn't do that."

"I don't think you would hurt her – intentionally. But she was already hurt when you rejected her the first time around."

Maggie rubbed her forehead while thinking she couldn't quite believe this conversation was taking place. "When I rejected her, I thought it was best for her and for me. I had just gotten out of a relationship and well, Alex, had just come out. I didn't want to get involved with her because I didn't want to lose her when it all eventually collapsed. But I lost her anyway," Maggie said. "When you told me about her injuries, I … I felt like … I don't even know how to describe it except that it was like the sun wasn't going to shine ever again. I needed to see her. I needed to know she was going to be ok. I needed that because …"

"You have feelings for her," Kara said.

Maggie nodded.

"Then why don't you tell her?"

"Because she doesn't need me to tell her that right now. She's obviously dealing with so much with her injuries and trying to figure out how to navigate life now, that for me to say anything would be selfish," Maggie said. "Besides, she'd dating someone."

"She deserves to know the truth."