I don't own anything.

Summary: Nate would give anything to have Alex back in his arms, where she belongs. But after all that's going on in her life does Alex even want to be there? NALEX/NILEY/SMITCHIE

The front doors to the hospital ripped open as she ran through them. She could feel her pulse throbbing in her head and her heart beat quicken. Nothing was going to get in the way of her seeing Nate. She didn't care if it was against her own rules she was going to see him.

"Alex!" Shane appeared right in front of her, as she was trying to catch her own breath. She looked at him and nodded wanting him to continue while she tried to learn to breathe again. "No word from the doctor yet. Did you just get here?" He asked as she leaned on the wall in the waiting room. She nodded and motioned him to continue. "We've been here for about two hours. All we know is that he's in surgery and he should be out of it in twenty minutes."

"What are you doing here?" Miley asked narrowing her eyes at Alex. "Family and close friends only." Miley stated as Alex looked around the room for someone to defend her. Unfortunately Shane went to go get coffee.

"I know. That's why I'm here. I came here to visit my close friend, Nate." Alex stepped back not wanting to hear more come out of Miley's mouth. "Mitchie!" She called out relieved once she saw her walk through the hospital doors.

"How is he?" Mitchie asked with wide eyes. Alex could tell she was scared, because that was the same look she had on when she first found out.

She leaned forward to give Mitchie a hug, letting her know it's going to be okay and sighed. "He's in surgery right now. He should be out in a little bit."

Mitchie placed a hand over her heart and sighed deeply. "Okay. I brought him this." She said and showed Alex a comic book. "It's the one he used to read back when we were in eighth grade, remember?"

Alex smiled and nodded. "I remember." She whispered and touched the comic book along the binds of it. A small tear forced itself out of her eye, and she wiped it away immediately and looked up at Mitchie. "I'm scared, Mitchie."

Mitchie looked down then back up at Alex as she reached in for a hug. "He's going to be okay, Alex. Everything is going to be fine. Besides he wouldn't leave us without saying good-bye now would he?" Mitchie forced a smile on her face trying to hide the fact that she didn't know that everything was going to be okay. She was only just trying to reassure her friend.

"Okay, Alex. Here's you're decaf." Shane said looking down at the two coffees' he had in his hand. "Mitchie." He whispered as he saw her.

She turned to look at him and just stared. He cut his hair, again. Back into it's original faux-hawk. She smiled as she remembered how he used to look and couldn't help but be happy at that moment, remembering when he was hers. But all that was over now. Shane didn't want her anymore, so she wouldn't bother to want him. "Hi, Shane."

"Hey." He said and snapped back to reality. "Here you go." He handed Alex her coffee and smiled at her once he saw she'd been crying. "Nate's going to be okay. He's strong, and he can put up a hell of a fight. Don't worry, okay?" He gave her a comforting hug and then looked back at Mitchie. "I should go with my parents and Jason. Nice seeing you again, Mitchie." He nodded once at her then turned around and headed to where his family and Miley were.

"You too." Mitchie whispered and closed her eyes. Trying to make the tears in her eyes disappear. She looked at Alex and shrugged with one shoulder. "After five months of not speaking, I'd figure he's have more to say, you know?"

"I know, Mitchie." Alex said and gave Mitchie a friendly smile. "But, you didn't really give him a chance to, did you?"

"I don't know." Mitchie sighed then they both turned their attention to a man in a long white coat walking towards Nate's family. Both Mitchie and Alex started to walk over to where the doctor was.

"Nate Grey." He said and Mr. Grey stood up. "Nate's out of surgery. There were a few minor complications. Now the surgery was to reconnect nerves and repair damage to his left arm. During the car crash, one of the cars that hit his left side, smashed his arm. And we didn't notice that he was loosing blood on the left side of his head-."

Alex completely zoned out after he said that. She felt the blood rushing to her head, as she covered her mouth and turned the other way. She couldn't take hearing about it. She hated the fact that she could've tried harder to stop him from leaving her at the lake. She could've kept running after him. She could've asked him for a ride home. She could've said that there was no one else but him. She could've said she didn't need Jacob. She could've told him she loved him, and needed him. She could've told him the truth. "-So, we need to keep him here for a little while longer. He's sleeping right now, but if any of you would like to see him, you're more than welcome to." The doctor said as the family all nodded, and he walked away.

"I say, Alex should go see him." Shane surprised her as he spoke. She bit her lip not wanting to cause any trouble with Miley. She turned to look at her, to find Miley looking at the floor.

"Alex should go." Miley whispered, but loud enough for all of them to hear her. "She's the one he'd want to see first, anyway." Miley said with obvious sadness in her voice. Alex went up to her and hugged her. Miley nodded and watched as Alex walked into Nate's hospital room.

The first thing Alex saw was the machine that was connected to Nate. It wasn't a life support, but she felt that without it, Nate would die. She ran her fingers through the bars on the side of his bed. She looked at his face and closed her eyes. There were bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over his face. She leaned over and touched his cuts with her finger. She bit her lip and dragged the 'visitors' chair right beside him. She grabbed his hand and paced it in hers. She started to silently cry and looked at him. He was still sleeping, and showed no signs of waking up.

She closed her eyes and kissed his hand. "Nate. I know your probably never want to see me again, and I can understand why. I broke your heart. But I just want you to know that, it broke my heart too. Every time I was with you, I felt happy. So, so happy. And I felt guilty, that I felt happy when Jacob was the one I should be happy with. But I made my choice. It's you, Nate. It's always been you. I just wish that I didn't have to break someone's heart along the way. But I did, I broke both of your hearts, and now you have to pay the price. I just wish this happened to me, not you."

She heard him sigh heavily as he opened his eyes to look at her. "Don't wish that. What happened, happened. You can't change that." He whispered slightly. "Besides, I think I look good in a gown, don't you think?" He slightly laughed, not too much, but still it was a laugh.

She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. Not to deeply-she didn't want to hurt him- just soft enough. "How are you?" She said as she leaned back.

"Better, now that you're here." He said as he took her hands with his right one. He looked her deeply in the eyes and sighed. "I wanted to forget everything that happened between us, but I couldn't. When I felt the car go out of control, all I saw was your face, and you telling me you loved me. I didn't think about dying at that moment. All I thought about was that, you loved me, and I would be okay."

Alex didn't notice she was crying until she felt her arm go up to her face and wipe the tears away. "I love you." She smiled at him and kissed his once more. "Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I won't." He smiled at her and spoke. "I love you, Alex Russo. But if we're going to make this work, then we need to be honest with them." Alex closed her eyes knowing exactly who 'them' were.

"Okay." She looked at him and nodded. "Anything to be with you, again. This time for real."