She stares at her watch for a moment. She makes note of the time, and returns her glance to her son. Her chair sits next to his bed. The world outside has grown dark, only the moon illuminates the sky. She holds tightly to the young soldier's hand. As she sits in her chair she stares at her son, hoping to speak to him once again. She closes her eyes to pray. As she closes her eyes an image of Gabe flashes in her mind. She bows her head and silently asks, Lord please bring him back to me. Please don't punish him for my mistakes. He is an honorable deserving boy...man. He deserves a miracle. A monitor in the room beeps, and she opens her eyes. She stares at her son, but nothing has changed. His heart beats, a machine breaths for him, and his closed eyes stare toward heaven.

As she stares at him a tear falls down her cheek. She stares at the helpless young man and begins to wonder why God had given her this second chance.

"How did you do it Gabe? How did you get back here? How did you survive?"

She receives no answer. She listens to the noises around her. She picks the sound of stilettos clicking against tile out of the background. She lifts her head up as a figure appears in the doorway. It stops for a moment, but then comes into the room. It stops next to her. Nico places her hand on Wilhelmina's shoulder and bends down to whisper in her ear. "I know you told me not to come, but you need your rest. I'll stay with him. Go to the hotel," Nico hands her a hotel key. Wilhelmina stares at her questioningly.

"Besides the nurse said you can't stay in here if you fall asleep. Go get some rest."

"Ok," she agrees, vacating her seat.

She turns to leave. "Wait," Nico begs.

Wilhelmina whips around. Nico envelopes her in her embrace. "Mom he'll be ok. There's no way that he made it this far, just to be a vegetable. It's Gabe," she reminds.

"I hope that you're right."

"Go," Nico demands as she lets go of Wilhelmina.

Wilhelmina leaves the ICU and takes the elevator to the ground floor. She hails a cab and goes to Nico's hotel. She kicks off her shoes, and climbs into bed. Much to her surprise she falls to sleep easily.

Days passed, too quickly. Before she could blink her eyes the week was over. Her flight is scheduled to leave at noon, so she stops off to see Gabe before she leaves. She slips in the room and finds Nico by his side. It amazed her how dedicated her daughter had been to Gabe. She had barely left the room. Wilhelmina takes a seat on the edge of the bed. "You look exhausted," she comments.

"I'm fine mom."

"Go. He'll be ok. Greyson is coming by in a little while."

"Are you sure?"

"He said that he's coming."

"But is he staying?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"He looks better, but he's still not...himself."

"Greyson doesn't have a choice."

"At least now he actually looks like himself," Nico stares at the freshly shaven face of a young soldier.

"He'll be fine, go," Wilhelmina begs.

"Ok," Nico agrees.

As Nico leaves the room Wilhelmina stares at her son. He had been taken off sedatives four days earlier, but he had yet to wake up. He no longer had a chest tube, he was breathing on his own. She moves over to the chair positioned next to the bed. She slips her hand under his. She leans forward and bows her head. Before she can begin she feels him squeeze her hand. She opens her eyes and looks at him, but he remains asleep.

"Gabe I've got to leave soon," she tells him.

She feels him squeeze her hand again. "Gabe if you're trying to tell me something you're going to have to prove those aren't just muscle spasms."

His hand closes tightly around hers, and doesn't let go. "Gabe can you hear me? If you can hear me open your eyes."

She hears him take a deep breath. "Come on Gabe," she begs.

As if on cue his eyes flutter open. He stares at her silently, but questioningly.

"Hey," she smiles, trying to fight back tears of joy.

He swallows hard as if he's trying to say something. He fights his dry, scratchy throat and begins to speak, "Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital in Washington, D.C., you're home Gabe," she says as her eyes begin to tear up.

He stares at her in confusion, but says nothing.

"Do you know who you are?"

"Of course," he answers weakly, "How long have I been here?"

"About a week."

He looks out the window for a moment, and then looks at her.

"Gabe do you know who I am?"

"No," he answers.

"Oh," her heart sinks.

He smiles from ear to ear, "Mom..." he responds.

"Don't do that," she warns.

"How long are you here?"

"I've got to go soon. I have a flight back to New York in just a little while."

"I understand."

"Say the word, and I'll stay right here with you."

"No, you need to go."

"Your dad will be glad to see you."

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to tell you something."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure that it can wait."

"No, it can't."

"You sound so sure of that."

"If there's one thing that I've learned through this whole thing, it's that you should tell people what they mean to you."

"Oh."

"I love you."

"I love you too Gabe."

"I know that there were some situations that you couldn't control, and some that you could, but I'm not angry with you, anymore. I know that you did the best that you could."

"I should have done better."

"Not always having you around made me learn to find strength within myself."

"I should have fought harder, for you."

"You can't change the past."

"I wish that I could."

"I don't," he answers.

"I missed you. You have no clue what..." her voice cracks, and she stops.

"I'm sorry. I should have listened to you."

"That's not important, I'm just glad that you're here now."

"I have you to thank for that."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew that you'd never rest until I got home. I knew that you were still waiting. Every time I just wanted to let go I heard your voice telling me, 'to hold on until you make it to the other side.'"

"You remember that? You were five when I told you that."

"When I was on the monkey bars," he reminisces.