The warmth of a hand. The soft sounds of words in familiar voices. The touch of lips on her cheek. Everything seemed so distant and close at the same time. It was like she had been in the abyss somewhere and was finally making her way up to the surface letting her become aware of what was happening around her. She wanted to talk, to open her eyes but no matter how hard she tried, she didn't have the strength to and slowly sank down back in the abyss.

The smell of flowers. The caress on her arm. Words of encouragement, of love. She felt warm and safe. She tried again to move, talk or open her eyes but everything was sore. She wanted to but couldn't. Everything went quiet and dark again.

"I don't think it's normal", said Mouch. "It's been 2 days! She should already have come to and left this bloody ICU. I think we need to talk to Baxter again".

Kelly who was caressing Emily's arm looked at Mouch. "Dr. Baxter said it was normal. Her body has been through a traumatizing situation and needs more time to recuperate. In the mean time we just need to be there for her and tell her we are here and going to help her through this. I know it's hard Mouch, I too feel helpless but it's what we've got to do. I trust Baxter and if my talking to her is helping then I'm going to keep doing that"!

Mouch passed his fingers down his mustache. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just this is not your everyday normal situation. I mean there is a cop outside her door"!

"Yes for her protection. You were the one who asked for it remember"?

"I know, I know. Look, I'm need to take a shower. I'm going to head back to the house for a little while and also change. You'll be all right without me"?

Kelly nodded and returned his attention to Emily.

"Come on beautiful, I know you can hear me. I just want you to open your eyes. I love you"!

Stephanie walked in. "Still no change huh"?

Kelly looked up. "No. No change".

Stephanie looked at the monitors. "Her vitals are good Kelly. She just needs a little more time is all. Where is Randy"?

"He went back home to shower and change".

"You should do the same you know".

"No, I'm good. I'm not leaving her side for a minute".

She looked at him. He looked so tired and pale. "When was the last time you slept or ate anything"?

He shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of lost track".

"You need your rest and to eat Kelly. I'll go grab you a sandwich. I'll be right back".

A few minutes later she showed up with a can of coke and a tuna sandwich.

"No try to eat and get some rest. She's going to need you when she wakes up".

Kelly ate in silence watching Emily in her sleeping beauty like sleep. Once he had eaten, he sat back in the armchair and dozed off.

Quiet…no sound could be heard aside from a regular beeping sound. This was new to her. Usually when she was in a semi-conscious state she could hear voices, even if they were muffled, she knew that they were Kelly's and Mouch's along with other from the firehouse. She panicked at the thought of being alone. It was as if the beacon leading her to safety had gone silent, like the light from the lighthouse guiding her out of the abyss had stopped. Had they given up on her? Through the panic she talked herself down. 'All you need is to open your eyes, try to open your mouth and say a word…say anything. You can do it, just a step at a time'.

Slowly she fluttered her eyes, adjusting to her weak state and also the light. When she finally realized she could keep them opened, she tried turning her head a little. It was throbbing and pounding. There, on her right, she saw him, asleep in the armchair. He was there, by her side. She was not alone. Tears started to well up in her eyes and she blinked to clear them away. Even if he looked like he had gone through as much hell as she had, she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was.

She mouthed his name but it was almost inaudible. She swallowed. Her mouth and throat were dry. She tried again.

Then it came out, like a soft whisper but it was there. "Kelly…."

He heard it from within his dream. It was low, soft and beautiful. Yet it had been enough to bring him out of his sleep. He saw it, those beautiful almond shaped brown eyes looking at him. He sprang into full awake mode and leaned over to her and took her hand.

"Hey there gorgeous. You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake! How are you feeling? Do you need anything"?

She smiled faintly. "Water".

He stood. "I'm going to go see if I can find a nurse or the doctor. I'll be right back".

He kissed her on the forehead and walked out. He took just a minute to himself in the hallway. He took in a deep breath and ended with the longest and deepest sigh of relief. She was awake!

Minutes later he returned to the room followed by Dr. Wilcox.

"Emily".

"Hello Ben".

"Well it's great to see you awake. Kelly says you want some water".

"Dry…."

"That's normal and you know it. Yet even if you are my boss and are going to give me hell once you're back on your feet, I'm going to treat you like any other patient. So right now, you are going to have to stick with ice chips, until I'm sure you are keeping liquids down".

Emily rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, making both Kelly and Ben laugh. She stuck out her tongue at Ben which sent them laughing again.

"Well, I see that all your neurological functions are intact"!

Ben and Kelly turned to see Andrew standing in the doorway.

As Andrew walked in, Ben looked at Kelly. "I'll have the nurses bring you a pitcher of ice chips. No more than 10 ice chips per hour until further notice ok"?

Kelly nodded.

Andrew stopped and shook Kelly's hand before heading to Emily's side.

"Hey there sleeping beauty.. it was about time you decided to wake up"!

"Andy".

Suddenly Kelly felt jealous. It was obvious that they had a connection. They had been colleagues for a while and he remembered how from the beginning, Andrew had shown more interest in Emily than Kelly would have wanted. It dawned on him, that they saw each other every day, probably even ended up sleeping in the same on-call room together when doing night shifts. Emily and him, had not seen or spent much time together in the past months and he started to fear that with Andrew being so readily available that something was going on between them two.

"Kelly"?

Kelly snapped out of his trance and looked at Emily. She was eyeing him, trying to understand what was on his mind.

"I was telling Emily, that everything seems fine. The neurological exam is normal and unless Dr. Wilcox says otherwise, we could transfer her to a normal room before the end of the day".

Kelly smiled and took Emily's hand. "That's great news"!

For a brief moment, no one said anything. Andrew and Kelly looked at each other.

"Kelly, why don't you take some time for yourself. You could go home, rest, shower and change. I'll stay with Ems".

Kelly's eyes narrowed down. 'Ems'? Ok first the sleeping beauty thing know a nickname? There was no way he was going anywhere while Andrew was in the area.

"I appreciate the gesture Andrew but I'm fine. This is where I want to be".

Andrew nodded, squeezed Emily's hand and left the room without saying another word.

Emily looked at Kelly. "What is wrong"? She spoke slowly.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if it was Ok for me to kiss you".

She smiled. "There is nothing I want more"!

He leaned in and as their lips touched they both closed their eyes. It was magical, all the worries in the world disappeared.

The next couple of days went fast really fast. Emily was transferred to her own department and everyone was treating her with VIP services. The entire team had come to see her, bearing gifts and bringing so much joy and laughter. Yet, Ben still wanted to keep Emily close at hand and under surveillance and Kelly even if it wasn't for the same reasons, felt safer knowing her there. No one told her about the police security attached to the floor (no longer the hospital room door), they wanted to keep it that way, at least for the time being. For her it was simply a road accident and nothing more. At least, there she was safe and as far away as possible from Wendel as she could be.

Inevitably both Mouch and Kelly had to go back to work and Kelly hated it. Emily told him she was fine and could manage perfectly well on her own while they were on shift and Stephanie promised to stop by regularly during her shift to keep her company.

No matter how prepared she had been for their going back to work, the first day was hard. She read a bit, but got tired from focusing her attention on the words that she quit. She watched a bit of television but there was nothing interesting on. Stephanie had only been able to stop in once and she was darn right bored out of her mind!

Kelly on his end was not doing any better. He tried to focus on the job but his thoughts were with Emily. So when lunch time rolled in he asked Boden permission to go check up on her. He pulled up in front of the hospital entrance just as Emily decided she had had enough!

She lifted her gown and looked at her scar. She was sick and tired of being in that hospital bed and her scar seemed to be healing well. It was time to get out of bed and start walking around!

She made it out her room and halfway down the hallway to the nurse's station when she felt the wind being blown out of her and feel faint and dizzy. She grabbed the wall with one hand and started to slowly let herself drop to the floor when she felt two arms gently grab her.

"I'm not going to have to restrain you now am I"?

She bit her lip. Andrew! She shook her head 'no'.

"Good. I'll carry you back to your room"!

She protested. "I'm fine. I can go back by myself"!

"The hell you can"!

Without giving her any warning, he lifted her easily in his arms and cradled her. He looked at her for a brief moment without moving.

"Will you please stop trying to make everyone believe you are stronger than you are"?

Kelly stepped out of the elevator and saw from afar Andrew carrying Emily in his arms. What the hell? It wasn't just the fact that he was carrying Emily that came as a shock, it was more the look on his face. It was a soft, caring, almost loving look. It was more than Kelly could bear. He left the hospital returned to the firehouse. He was pissed off and in a very bad mood. Was he seeing things or imagining things that weren't there. Was he so insecure with himself or his relationship with Emily, that he thought that Emily could fall for someone else?