A/N

Okay so I should say that I have zero medical knowledge so I really try to avoid getting too deep on that area but some stuff is kinda unavoidable so let's just say google is my friend and I hope I got it somewhat right :) If not, just ignore my ignorance and focus on the other parts, kay? :p

Thank you so much for your reviews.

Rating and disclaimer from the first chapter apply.

Chapter 25

Jennifer stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind her. She thought she was somewhat prepared for what she would see but as she took a small step inside the room and looked up her eyes landed on the hospital bed where the woman she loved laid and her heart almost stopped. Emily was lying motionless on the bed with all kinds of tubes and wires connected to her body. The only thing she could here was the different sounds coming from the ventilator and all other monitors that were surrounding Emily's bed. Tears filled her eyes as she inched closer and as she reached Emily's bed she couldn't hold it inside anymore. She pulled up a chair by the bed and sat down and leaned her head against the side of Emily's bed close to the other woman's hand and just cried. She gently took Emily's hand and pressed her lips against it as tears fell from her face.

"You have to wake up Emily... you have to fight do you hear me?...You can't leave me... please... don't leave me..." she whispered with a teary voice and kissed Emily's hand again.

Composing herself a little she stood up again and gently touched Emily's face with her fingertips. She looked so fragile and Jennifer was almost afraid to touch her, thinking she might cause her pain. Emily had a tracheal tube down her throat that helped her breathe and Jennifer watched as the ventilator filled Emily's lungs with air and then helped her exhale. Everything felt so surreal, like she was in a very bad nightmare and she desperately wanted someone to come and wake her up.

"How could this happen?... and why you?... God Emily... You have to live...I don't know what I'd do if I lose you...I love you so much..." she whispered and gently ran the tip of her fingers across Emily's cheek, careful not to touch the tube that was helping her breathe.

"I'm gonna be here till you wake up okay? I'm not leaving you...I'm never ever leaving you..." she wiped the tears from her face and slowly leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Emily's forehead.

"I wish I could stay by your side but you need to rest and your mom is desperate to see you, but I'm not far. I'll be in the waiting room. It's just down the hall, I think if you yell I'll probably hear you." Jennifer said and smiled through her tears.

"I'm not leaving so you'd better not leave me you hear?" she pressed another tender kiss to Emily's forehead and leaned back slightly and whispered:

"Fight for me... for us..."

She brought Emily's hand up to her mouth and kissed it gently.

"I love you."

She didn't want to leave, God how she didn't want to leave but she had to let Elizabeth see her daughter. It killed her to walk out of the room and as she closed the door behind her she started to cry again. It was all too much too handle for one day and she was exhausted. She hadn't slept at all during the night, she couldn't, and she hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. She knew she needed to get something to eat but she had no appetite. She took a couple of deep breaths to compose herself and wiped the tears from her eyes before she started to walk back to the waiting room.

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Jennifer didn't say anything to neither Elizabeth nor Jack as she returned to the waiting room, she just headed to one of the couches and slumped down, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Elizabeth watched the other woman and she wanted to go over and comfort her but she also needed to see her daughter so badly.

"Go to Emily, I'll go check on her." Jack said sensing his fiancée's worry over his daughter.

Elizabeth nodded and walked out of the waiting room. Jack turned around and looked at his daughter for a moment. She was sitting on the couch, hugging her legs and just staring into space. She looked so devastated and Jack realized then that his daughter's feelings for Emily were real.

He slowly made his way over there and as he sat down next to his daughter he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. Jennifer let go of her legs and wrapped her arms around her father and took comfort by his warmth and strength.

"If… if I lose her dad…"

"Shhh… you're not gonna lose her." Jack said gently.

"Emily is a strong woman, she will fight with everything she have to come back to you." He continued.

They sat in silence for a while. Jennifer was exhausted and as she leaned against her father she slowly started to wind down. She could feel how sleep was about to claim her when he father's voice brought her back.

"I never hated you. I could never hate you Jennifer."

Jennifer just listened to her father who continued to speak.

"You're my daughter and I love you. Nothing will ever change that…" he said and tightened his hold around his daughter.

Jennifer closed her eyes again and just let sleep claim her, feeling safe and protected in her father's arms.

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Elizabeth returned to the waiting room to find her fiancé and his daughter asleep on the couch. A small smile graced her lips as she watched them. It was so good to see them overcome their differences and now more than ever they all needed positive things happening. She took a seat in one of the armchairs and just watched them for a moment until everything caught up with her as well and she felt how exhausted she was. It didn't take long till she was asleep as well.

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Emily was having such a weird and frightening dream. She felt as if she was caught in darkness and desperately trying to find her way out of it. She wanted to scream, call for help but she couldn't get a single sound out. It was as if something was in the way, blocking every attempt at making a sound. She just wanted to wake up, she didn't want to be in this dream anymore. She was hurting and she was scared and she wanted Jennifer. She knew she was somewhere there in the darkness too cause she'd heard her voice but she couldn't see anything. That thought really frightened her, she had to find her and keep her safe. That was the only thing that mattered to her. She had to try and get out of this darkness so she could find Jennifer…

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Around lunchtime a nurse came into Emily's room to change the IV bag and as she was checking the peripheral cannula on Emily's hand she noticed that the woman's fingers were moving so she called for the doctor.

After a lot of tests which all showed that her vital signs were much better than to be expected, they decided to remove the tracheal tube and try to wake her up.

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"Excuse me, miss Prentiss?" a voice gently spoke and woke Elizabeth from her slumber.

She sat up straighter and rubbed her hands over her face to wake herself up more properly.

"Sorry to wake you but I have some good news. Your daughter's vital signs have improved remarkably so the doctors have removed the tracheal tube successfully. She's breathing on her own and the doctors expect her to wake up soon. It looks really good." The nurse said and smiled.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"She's… she's going to be okay?" Elizabeth asked with a trembling voice.

"She's not completely out of the woods yet but it looks really really good." The nurse answered and before she knew what had happened, Elizabeth had engulfed her in a big hug.

"Thank you, thank you…" she said softly as tears escaped her eyes.

"They've moved her out of the ICU unit and she's on the fifth floor now. You can go see her whenever you're ready." The nurse said as Elizabeth released her.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said again and smiled through her tears.

The nurse smiled back and then left the waiting room.

Elizabeth slumped down in the armchair again and just couldn't believe what she'd just been told. Emily was going to be okay? She was breathing on her own? She wiped her tears and got up from the chair and walked over to the couch. She took a seat on the table in front of the couch and put her hand on Jennifer's leg and shook it gently.

"Jennifer? Jennifer wake up sweetie." She said gently.

Jack started to stir and opened his eyes to find his fiancée sitting on the table in front of him with tears in her eyes but with a smile on her lips.

"Honey? Has something happened?" Jack asked.

"Emily is going to be okay. A nurse just came and told me. She's going to be okay Jack." Elizabeth said and Jack slowly extracted himself from his sleeping daughter who was leaning against him and wrapped his fiancée up in a tight hug.

"That's wonderful news sweetheart." he said and kissed the side of her head.

"I know. I can't believe it. She's even breathing on her own." Elizabeth told him.

"She's what? Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth pulled back when she heard a sleepy and somewhat confused voice and as her eyes landed on a very sleepy looking blonde her smile grew even wider and she quickly pulled the younger woman into her arms.

"Emily is going to be okay sweetie. They've taken her off the ventilator and she's breathing on her own. The doctors said she'll wake up soon." Elizabeth said as new tears escaped her eyes.

Jennifer thought she was dreaming, that she was still sleeping. Emily would be okay?

"What?..." Elizabeth pulled back so she could look into the blonde's eyes.

"A nurse just came and informed me that she's doing so much better than expected. They've moved her from the ICU unit to the fifth floor and we can go see her when we're ready." Elizabeth said.

"She's… she's going to be okay?..." Jennifer said and her voice broke.

Elizabeth pulled her close again and held her tight.

"She's going to be okay sweetie. She's going to be okay." Elizabeth said emotionally and Jennifer just cried.

It felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted from her chest.

"I have to see her Elizabeth. I... I have to see her." Jennifer said.

"I know you want to see her but you really should get something to eat first sweetheart. You haven't eaten since you got here and-" Jack started but Jennifer interrupted him.

"I'm fine dad. I'm not hungry. I just want to see her."

"Okay, listen. I'll head down to the cafeteria and get some sandwiches and coffee and I'll just meet you in Emily's room in a while okay?" Jack suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Elizabeth said and got up and pulled the blonde up with her.

"Come on sweetie. Let's go see her." Elizabeth said and smiled.

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After asking a nurse where Emily was laying they quickly made their way over to her room. As they walked into the room the first thing Jennifer noticed was that there weren't as many machines around Emily as it had been when she first saw her. As her eyes landed on the injured woman and saw her sleeping without a tracheal tube in her throat or the sound of the ventilator filling the room, it really felt like Emily would indeed be alright and Jennifer released a breath she didn't even know she was holding.

Elizabeth had walked right over to her daughter and after she'd kissed her forehead she pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down. Jennifer stood in the doorway still, a little paralyzed by the complete unreality of this situation. It still felt like all this was some terrible nightmare and she was still hoping she would wake up from it soon.

"Jennifer?"

"Huh?" she was brought back from her thoughts by Elizabeth's soft voice.

"Are you okay?"

"Sorry, I just kinda spaced out for a sec." Jennifer said and walked over to the bed.

She pulled out another chair on the other side of Emily's bed and sat down. She slowly reached for Emily's hand and gently stroked her thumb over the back of Emily's hand.

"It's so unreal Elizabeth…" she said quietly.

"I know… it's like a bad dream." Elizabeth said as she gently stroked her daughter's hair.

"Yeah…" Jennifer replied and looked at her hand holding Emily's.

"But the important thing is that she's going to be okay." Elizabeth said and turned to look at the blonde.

Jennifer just nodded, she didn't look up. She quickly wiped away a tear that escaped her eye. She would not start crying again, not now. Emily could very well wake up any minute and she needed to be strong for her.

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Emily was back in the dream and she heard voices, well she thought she heard voices but she wasn't sure because they weren't persistent but she was certain she'd heard them which meant someone else was there in the darkness. She was certain she'd heard Jennifer's voice before and that she'd heard it briefly just a moment ago so she had to be close and she had to find her… Again she tried to make a sound and to her surprise, whatever it was that had blocked her attempts at making a sound before wasn't there anymore and though it really hurt she tried with everything she had to call out Jennifer's name…