"What the hell is that doing here?"

Waverly sat up quickly, she'd fallen asleep so easily in the chair next to Nicole. She hadn't been able to help it, what with the relaxing purring of Thunderbolt. It took her a second to orientate herself to where she was and what was happening.

"Waverly?" Wynonna questioned loudly and pointed

Waverly followed Wynonna's finger towards Thunderbolt, who surprisingly hadn't disappeared, only moved her head to look at Wynonna with what could have been confusion or exasperation, Waverly couldn't tell.

"Oh, she hitched a ride" Waverly explained "And then I couldn't keep her off the bed so…" she shrugged and stretched her arms out trying to wake up properly

"Well, grab it…him…her…It's time to go" Wynonna shook her head in slight confusion

"I'm not going…" Waverly started

"Yeah you are," she interrupted "it's late and you can't sleep here…" Wynonna watched Waverly as she looked sadly at Nicole and was about to say something, but Wynonna pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows at her sister to stop her.

"…I'll bring you back in the morning, I swear, but you have to sleep" she said softly and smiled

Waverly had to concede that her sister was right, however much she wanted to stay, she really did need to sleep and in a comfy bed too.

"Okay" Waverly said standing up reluctantly. As she did Thunderbolt watched her and must have known what was coming as she quickly stood and leaped off the bed disappearing under it.

Waverly leaned down to pick up her's and Nicole's bags and saw Thunderbolt hiding under the hospital bed obviously having no intention of leaving.

"I'm not playing this game now Thunder, get in the bag, we're going home…" The cat didn't move "Come on, please? I need food, you need food…"

"We all need food, cat, get in the damn bag" Wynonna added

"Please" Waverly added kindly

Thunderbolt looked at her for a second and then slowly walked to the bag and jumped in

"Thank you" Waverly said as she carefully pulled the zip half way and picked the bag up.

She leaned over Nicole "I'll see you tomorrow, baby" she whispered and kissed her before leaving.

"That wasn't the easiest bath…." Waverly said gesturing to the bandages on her neck as she dried her hair

"No, but you needed it"

"Oh thanks, sis" waverly scoffed

"I didn't mean it like that" Wynonna smiled and patted the bed next to her "come on, you should rest"

"I'm fine" she said "I'm not the one in intensive care…"

"Nicole will be fine, the doctors said it was a miracle she survived such a powerful electric shock, but she did, she's strong…" Wynonna watched Waverly who didn't make eye contact "They did think it was strange though, the wounds don't match a normal electrocution… there weren't any entry or exit wounds…"

Waverly brushed her hair as she tried to avoid Wynonna's gaze.

"Yours don't match either…" Wynonna probed, she knew something was going on with her sister and whatever happened in that office with Nicole, she didn't want to push too hard, but she knew that if she didn't get some sort of answer soon she would have to start pushing harder.

Waverly tied her hair back with some ribbon to keep it away from her neck, then shrugged at Wynonna and smiled sweetly. What could she say? 'well, that's because it was actually my half angel girlfriend risking her life to get some monster out of me' . She didn't think that would work somehow. Well, actually it might, but Nicole didn't want people knowing. She only really told her because she'd already work out that something was going on, and of course because she did kind of threaten her with a knife. But still it wasn't Waverly's secret to tell.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Wynonna asked "That thing is out of you, right?"

"Of course it is, and of course I am….i'm just…i'm worried about Nicole…" She smiled as she got on the bed.

Thunderbolt had been sitting on the windowsill of Waverly's bedroom since they went in there, but as Waverly got on the bed, she jumped down, then onto the bed by Waverly's legs and sat and watched them

"Tell me what happened, how did that…thing get into you?"

Waverly thought back, although it seemed like it all happened ages ago it was only yesterday morning. "You were talking with Doc and I…I could hear something, like whispering voices calling to me… I.. I followed the voices and there was a puddle of… black, shiny goo… and it called to me to touch it…"

"Oooh, never touch the goo, Waves come on" Wynonna teased

Waverly laughed at that, but then said seriously "I'm sorry"

"No need to be sorry, you didn't know what would happen"

Waverly shook her head "But I hurt you…" she said turning Wynonna's head towards her to see the scratches on her cheek "and Doc… and Nicole"

"Nicole?" Wynonna frowned

Waverly hadn't meant to say that, she'd been thinking out loud. She shook her head and frowned "I just…" she was too tired to think of a lie or excuse to cover "I didn't..I…I'm just tired" She said shaking her head. She moved to the top of the bed and moved the blankets down so she could get under them "I'm gonna…." she pointed to under the sheets.

Wynonna watched her for a moment as she got under the sheets then stood up "Okay, But we're going to talk about this" she said waiting for Waverly to get settled and then kissing her on the forehead. "You rest, i'll see you in the morning"

Waverly smiled "'night"

As Wynonna left Thunderbolt moved and laid across Waverly's legs facing the door.

Wynonna was trying to convince her to eat a proper breakfast as Waverly walked over to her desk next to the kitchen with a slice of toast in her mouth.

"I'm fine" She said as she held the toast, then took a large bite out of it "I just want to get to the hospital" she said chewing

"Baby girl, you can't spend all your time there, what if we need your help" Wynonna said from the kitchen

"That's why i'm taking my laptop" she smiled "if you need me you can just call or text and i'll do my thing from the hospital"

She finished her toast then grabbed her large bag and placed her laptop, note pad and some pens inside.

Wynonna got up and stood in front of her sister "You know we still need to talk…"

Waverly looked confused

"..about what's going on, about what happened in that office and what happened with you and Nicole" Wynonna clarified. She saw Waverly shake her head slightly and begin to look down. She put her hand on her shoulder "Look, I know y-you love her and want to protect her, but you don't have to go to the hospital-"

Waverly looked up quickly "I'm not leaving her there on her own" she interrupted then walked past Wynonna to get her coat. She put her bag down by the door to get her coat and turned towards the kitchen.

"Thunderbolt?" she shouted "Are you coming?"

She didn't have to wait long before a white flash of cat came darting out of the kitchen towards her. She stopped just in front of Waverly, looked up at her and then jumped into her bag.

"Well, if she's going, so am I" Wynonna said grabbing her own coat

As they exited the lift at the hospital Wynonna's phone rang

"It's Dolls.." Wynonna said as she stopped to answer it

Waverly motioned to her that she was going to carry on to Nicole's room and Wynonna nodded

As she walked around the corner and down the corridor she smiled and waved a little at Bessie, who was sitting behind the nurses desk as usual. But as she entered the room she was surprised to see there was a man standing at the foot of Nicole's bed with his hands behind his back just looking at her.

"Hello" Waverly said slightly suspiciously. She didn't recognise him, he wasn't dressed like a doctor, he didn't have a white coat on and there was no sign of any sort of identification.

He turned to look at her and smiled softly, but said nothing. She slowed as she got closer to him and started to feel a little strange. She suddenly felt really calm and relaxed and slightly like she was on her way to having drunk maybe one too many drinks. It was a nice feeling, but was strange and out of place.

"Are you…are you a doctor?" she managed to ask softly, overcome slightly by the feeling

But he didn't answer, he just kept on smiling kindly and started to walk slowly around her and out of the room.

When he'd left she started to feel normal again and quickly went to Nicole's side and looked at the machines around her to check she was alright. She didn't really know what to look for, but they all seemed fine, her heart rate seemed to be the same as yesterday and she was breathing. At least he hadn't done anything to her, but if that man wasn't a doctor then who was he and why was he there?

She quickly put her bag down, maybe a little harder than she should have considering it's contents, and rushed towards the door. As she got there she could see Bessie watching someone and smiling, but when Waverly reached the door and looked down the corridor there was no one there. She was sure he should have been there, he hadn't been walking fast and she hadn't been in the room that long, but he was gone.

"Where did that man go?" She asked Bessie

"What man, dear?" Bessie asked sweetly

"The one that just came out of Nicole's room"

"There has only been you in there today, dear"

Well, that was a lie.

Confused, Waverly quickly rushed to the corner that led to the lifts hoping he would be there. But the only person there was Wynonna, who was just getting off the phone.

"Did you see that man?" Waverly asked her quickly

Wynonna shrugged "What man?"

"People need to quit asking me that" Waverly snapped "There was a man. in a jumper. handsome. kind face. ring any bells?" she asked getting annoyed

"You're the only person i've seen" she said putting her phone away "Your man must have disappeared" Wynonna shrugged again.

Waverly paused. You can't just disappear. Can you? Well, this is Purgatory, maybe he did. But what was he doing at Nicole's bedside? Waverly thought for a second

"Shit" Waverly said and turned and ran back down the corridor and into Nicole's room "Shit. shit. shit"

"Hey, what is it?" said Wynonna as she rushed after her sister

Waverly quickly leaned over Nicole to see if she could see anything that might indicate if she still had it, she looked at her hands, but they were covered with so much bandaging she couldn't see anything. It could have been taken off of her when she was bought in.

Waverly rushed out of the room to the nurses station "Where are her things?" she asked Bessie

"Who's things, dear?"

Seriously? "Nicole's" Waverly answered tersely.

Bessie looked like she was thinking. slowly.

"Nicole's personal items, the things she had with her when she came in" Waverly explained a little more

"Oh, well, they're here.." she pointed down to something under the desk that Waverly couldn't see "But, i'm afraid if you aren't a family mem-"

She was cut off by Wynonna "Give her the damn stuff, Ratchet" She said angrily leaning against the desk

"There are policies, dear" Bessie stated

Wynonna may not know what was going on, but knew Waverly obviously had an important reason for wanting Nicole's things and she was going to back her sister up. She placed her hand on peacemaker "I don't care, hand them over"

Bessie saw her touch the gun and her eyes widened "Okay" she said leaning down and opening whatever was under the desk. She moaned as she sat back up, she was pretty old after all, and held out the small see-through bag that had Nicole's things in "But, i'd say it was too late…."

Waverly snatched the bag out of her hand and turned to leave, but then realised what Bessie had just said "What do you mean 'too late'? too late for what?" she asked still angry and anxious incase it wasn't in the bag

"Oh, er, I just mean…" She looked like she was thinking again "…her phone will have died by now" she said and smiled sweetly

Waverly watched her for a second, but knew she didn't have time for this. She turned and rushed back into Nicole's room and rummaged in the small bag as she went. As she got to the foot of the bed she let out a small sigh of relief as she pulled out what she was looking for.

"What is it?" Wynonna asked "What were you looking for?"

Waverly didn't answer, she just held up a green and silver ring

"A ring?" Wynonna made a confused face "Waverly…."

But her sister had walked around the side of Nicole's bed and was untying the ribbon from her hair. She then delicately passed it under Nicole's neck and under all of the different wires and tubes surrounding her, threaded the ring through it and tied the ends together. She then placed the ring carefully on Nicole's chest.

"It… It was her mothers" Waverly said in explanation, it wasn't a lie but, she couldn't tell her it was to protect her and hide her from angels that might be looking for her, although it had been at least two days that Nicole had been without it and what with the mysterious disappearing man, it might very well be too late.

Wait, that's what Bessie had said. And Waverly had been sure the nurse had been looking at someone when she left the room. How would the nurse have known whether it was too late or not if she didn't have something to do with this?

Waverly looked up and went to leave the room to confront the nurse, but was stopped by Wynonna grabbing her arm.

"Alright, baby girl, i've been patient enough with this" Wynonna said standing square between Waverly and the door "What is going on here and what happened to you both in that damned office?"

Thunderbolt poked her head out of Waverly's bag at the sound of raised voices and watched Waverly back away from Wynonna and step around the side of Nicole's bed. The cat then jumped out of the bag and onto the bed where Waverly was resting her hand as she looked at her girlfriend laying in the bed. Thunderbolt slowly rubbed her face, neck and body against Waverly's arm as she started to walk up the bed. When Waverly looked down at the cat she looked back at her, meowed and walked over Nicole's legs and laid on Nicole's other shoulder the same way she did yesterday.

Her contented purring distracted Waverly from the question for a moment, but the look Thunderbolt had given her and the cats somehow reassuring touch made her think that she had to tell Wynonna the truth, well some of the truth anyway.

She turned to her sister and tried to gauge how she might react, but she had asked and she should know, she could help after all.

"She saved my life" Waverly said simply "she got that thing out of me, that's what happened in the office, I don't remember everything, but I know she did it"

Wynonna shook her head "Waverly, how could Nicole…"

"She did this." Waverly said raising her chin and gesturing towards her neck "it's why her hands and arms are…." Waverly looked at Nicole sadly

"How?"

Waverly shook her head "I can't tell you…"

"Waverly…" Wynonna tried to plead

"I can't… people can't know, Wynonna please" she shook her head and took hold of Wynonna's arm "there are people after her, the ring…it should hide her from them, but it might be too late…"

"Too late?"

"She hasn't had it on for two days and the man I saw, I think he might have been one of them"

"One of who?" Wynonna asked, but Waverly couldn't say and just shook her head apologetically

"I can't say" Waverly answered "When she's awake you can ask her, but I can't tell you, I don't think she'd want me too…"

"Okay…" Wynonna said thinking "Doc said there is some sort of big mouthed eyeless monster in the woods, so i'll go kill that and then i'll come back and we'll sort this all out, okay?" She said looking down at her sister before hugging her

Waverly nodded

"Good, i'll keep an eye out for a kind looking guy and speak to Dolls about it okay? and if I need you or you need me, call" Wynonna said as she quickly left the room

Once Wynonna had left Waverly turned to Nicole and Thunderbolt "Well, she took that better than I thought she would" she smiled as the cat looked at her then carried on purring.

Waverly leaned over Nicole and stroked Thunderbolt, she then grabbed her bag and took out her laptop, setting it up on the little table that was normally used for patients in bed. She figured she might as well use her time wisely and decided to do some research into anything that might help figure out who the disappearing man could be and what he might want.