This is it, guys, thank you for everyone who read the story, commented, followed and favorited. I'll be posting more things soon so keep your eyes open. I hope you enjoy the ending, and I hope you think it's right.
He couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak, he couldn't move. Big, round, brown eyes blinking back at him. Big, round, open, brown eyes. Smiling. Crying. Moving. Ten years. It had been ten years. It had taken her that long to find her way back. He could barely register Maya excusing herself. He managed to find his voice.
"I didn't hear - I was - I was in surgery." God, he should have let Jameson take the patient. He should have checked his phone. He wanted the ten extra minutes with her. He wanted any time that he missed, any time she was awake that he wasn't at her side for to be swallowed up. When Jameson came and found him, asking if he'd gone to see her - Farkle thought he'd meant like he usually did. "I'm going tomorrow," he said, confused. And then - and then - he didn't quite believe it at first. He was almost angry, because why would Jameson lie, especially now that they were working together? But he wasn't lying, because look at her.
"You're a doctor?" He heard her say, and it felt like something came alive in him. He heard her voice again - her voice and her eyes and everything that was taken away from him ten years ago. Without even realizing he did it, he staggered over to the chair, like he was the injured one, and half-collapsed into it.
"Yeah. You made me want to be one."
"I did?" He nodded, trying to swallow back the tears. Dammit, he didn't want to cry. But he was so happy.
"Yeah. I was here everyday. I just saw all of the doctors working with you and with everyone I wanted to make a direct difference in other people's lives. I wanted to help people who were hurt. I started out wanting to help just coma patients. But I realized that maybe I could help even more people." He paused, biting his lip. "I couldn't fix you, Riley. So I wanted to fix someone else." Farkle was surprised he figured out how to get those words out in a coherent sentence.
"You were here everyday?" He nodded and then watched her face fold into itself, shoulders heaving with deep, ragged sobs. Farkle found himself crying too, but only he should be crying, it was wrong for her to be sad. If Farkle could help it, she would never, ever be sad again.
"Hey. Riley, you're awake. You're with us. Please don't cry."
"But I've missed so much," she cried, and he grabbed her hand on impulse, but it felt right. How many days had he sat there holding her hand and wishing she'd hold it back?
"Well, then, I vow for the rest of my life to never let you miss a single thing ever again. We're never losing you again, you got that? I'm never losing you again. No more accidents. No more comas." Riley laughed a little bit, a teary, sweet laugh, and Farkle's heard soared and leaped and did cartwheels. He thought he'd never hear that sound again.
He'd never been that happy in his entire life. He stayed with her and waited until both their tears dissipated. He didn't let go of her hand, because her touch felt like a miracle, it was a miracle. She was a miracle.
-::-::-::-::-::-::-
What happened to her was still a tragedy. There were days they were never going to get back. Days in Mr. Matthews' class with the sun streaming through the window and the sound of her laughter ringing in his ears. Those days were gone forever. It would always break his heart. But she was here and she was staying. She was living and breathing and beaming up at him. So today, Farkle wasn't thinking about what he had lost. He was thinking about everything he was getting back.