A/N: hope you're all happy Sara's happy? Let me have your thoughts please. Review!

Chapter 28

Sara and Emy talked for two hours. They both declared their love and Sara felt truly calm, happy and safe for the first time since entering this hospital. Sara unashamedly shared her fears, her anxiety her longing with Emy. Lots of tears followed, lots of laughs. Lots of love... "Hey guess what? Tegan's going to be a mommy! Lindsey's preggo! And they used Tegan's eggs. I'm going to be an aunt!" said Sara giggling. "Holy shit! That's awesome! You're going to spoil that kid rotten!" said Emy laughing. "You bet I am... And maybe I can spoil our kid one day" Sara quickly put her hand to her mouth regretting what she just said. Emy was quiet on the other side... "Too soon" asked Sara softly. "No... I'm just wondering what age would be okay for Tegan take our kid to rock concerts." she giggled. Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Stay cool Quin... "I want to be with you Sar, I'm coming to LA... I need to be with you" said Emy. "Em, I'm fine. I'm okay now... And Tee's gonna be okay. I'm the luckiest girl in the world" grinned Sara. "I can't wait to see you but I want you to stay and finish your exhibition... The world needs to see your talent. I'll buy you a ticket and you can come to LA in a few days when you're done" said Sara. "But you need me and that's more important right now, fuck the show" said Emy. "I have you... Just hearing your voice and knowing that you're mine again is okay... Em... I insist... Finish the exhibition" Emy stayed quiet a few seconds "I love you Sara Quin... And I never want to lose you again..." Sara and Emy said goodbye like two teenagers. Neither wanting to hang up. Sara left the cold stairwell feeling like a new person... Feeling alive again... Feeling loved... Feeling safe... She could face the world again!

Five days later. Emy and Sara spoke on the phone numerous times every day. The gang was relieved and happy to see Sara almost back to her old self again. She was in love and it showed! Lindsey was doing well, her morning sickness continued though. Erin's knee was getting better and she only required one crutch now. Tegan's condition continued to improve. She remained sedated but her chest tubes and cardiac catheter was removed. Her condition had been stable since being removed from the ecmo machine. Sonia continued to take care of all of them like a mother hen.

Kate walked into Tegan's room and looked at the five strongest, most amazing women she had ever met. Lindsey was writing in the journal, her hand in Tegan's as always. Sara and Erin were reading Tegan fan mail. Sonia was fiddling with the iPod insisting they listen to Josh Groban now because "he's just so uplifting" Sara rolled her eyes and groaned, "I guess it's ok, would be kind of hard to puke with an ET tube down your throat hey Tee" Pride welled up in Kate's chest. "I have good news! It's time we try and get rid of this tube... As you know we've been slowly weaning Tegan off the vent over the last few days and she's been handling it just fine. All her scans and test results check out. We feel she's ready." Sonia started sobbing and flung her arms around Kate's neck. "You hear that sweetie" said Lindsey holding Tegan's hand "we're getting rid of this horrible thing" She kissed Tegan's hand, happy tears spilling from her eyes. "We've been keeping her sedated so she doesn't fight the vent and try and pull her tubes out but we're removing it now. She should wake up in about an hour or so, then we can TRY and extubate her. It does't always work first time, just want to manage your expectations. Again, we need her calm. One person talks at a time!" Kate smiled knowing how much these ladies could talk!

An hour and a half later everybody was watching Tegan, trying to will her eyes open. Kate came back into the room. "Any movement yet?" she asked. "Nada..." said Sara dejected. "Then again we all know how much she hates waking up." she smiled. "Tegan, sweetie... Wake up my love" cooed Lindsey. Tegan's eyes opened slowly. "Hi baby, welcome back my love."

Tegan saw blurry faces and heard Lindsey's soothing voice telling her how much she loved her. Her eyes focussed on a shiny red heart shaped balloon... She wanted to smile but something in her throat and mouth was preventing her. She started to cough, wanting it out! She needed to talk, she needed to tell them she loved them. Tegan heard a familiar, calm voice, Kate? "There's a tube in your throat Tegan, don't try to talk! We're going to try and remove it... Just relax for me... Let the machine breathe for you... We're almost there... It's okay. Can you squeeze my hand Tegan?" She focussed all her energy and managed to lightly squeeze Kate's hand. "There we go buddy, good job" said Kate looking up at the monitors. Tegan looked around the room, still groggy. Kate... Mom... Erin... Sara... Lindsey... They were all smiling and it made her feel safe, she felt herself relax. They all took turns to speak to her, softly holding her hand, explaining where she was and what was happening. Telling her how much they loved her. She was confused but she knew that whatever was going on was okay... She was okay. "Alright Teebag, we're going to suction you one more time and then we're taking this bad boy out" said Kate. A respiratory technician pushed the suction tube down to Tegan's lungs and started suctioning. It was the worst feeling in the world, it hurt and it felt as if she was gagging. Tears spilled from her eyes and her face contracted in pain and discomfort. "Alright Tegan, almost there... You're so brave... There we go" said Kate stroking her hair. Lindsey wiped a tear from Tegan's cheek, leaving her own to run down to her jawline.

Sara was standing at the end of the bed with her injured hand arm over her middle and her healthy hand over her mouth. "Oh God I can't watch this" she whispered and closed her eyes. The gargling noises made it even worse. Erin got up with great difficulty, her leg still in a brace. She stood next to Sara and put her arm around her waist. "I know... I know... It's not nice... Almost there baby girl, almost there."said Sonia loud enough for Tegan to hear. The suction tube was pulled out and Tegan felt relief wash over her. She opened her eyes and met Sara's. She looked straight into her eyes for a while and felt herself relax. Her eyes drifted down to Sara's middle and she started to panic as she saw the cast. Sara, what happened, what... Are you okay?

"Whoa, pulse is up to 100" said a nurse. Kate saw what Tegan was looking at and took her face in her gloved hands. She turned her head and looked into her eyes. "Tegan, relax... Sara's okay... Just a little hand injury, it's nothing to worry about okay" she said. "Everything's fine Tegan, just stay calm" said Sara, suddenly feeling guilty. Tegan's heart rate slowly returned to normal.

"We're going to count to three and then pull the tube out okay, I want you to cough on three Tegan" said Kate calmly. Tegan felt scared and she squeezed Lindsey's hand. "Alright here we go, one, two... " Tegan coughed as she heard three and felt the tube slide out. She continued coughing weakly as a nurse put an oxygen mask on her face. "Just breathe Tegan, breathe, one at a time" said Kate and put a stethoscope on her chest, listening to her lungs. "There we go, good job Tegan. My star patient. Just breathe" she smiled and turned to the resp tech "lungs sounding clear, good bilateral breath sounds". "BPs holding steady, slightly low at 105 over 65. Sinus rhythm on monitor, pulse stable at 75" reported Dr Altman. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. "Easy does it, nice deep breaths Tegan. You got it." urged Kate. "Your throat's going to hurt for a while Tee, and it's going to hurt to speak but we're going to numb it up okay. We'll get you some ice chips soon. So proud of you buddy" Tegan's mouth started trembling under the mask "I think she wants to say something" said Lindsey. Kate gently pulled the mask to the side of Tegan's face. "I... love... you guys" Tegan whispered.

"They've just taken her off the vent, she's getting better" said the hacker girl. "Good, they'll come out eventually" said the scruffy man smiling an evil smile.

a/N: There's been some switching up of names - fixed now I hope! I'm a disaster tonight! Ha ha! It's late but I wanted to get some chapters out because I want to get through the boring parts to some more action. Forgive me ;) Let me know if you come across more boo boos please! Thanks!