"Em, wake up." The 18 year old jolted back to consciousness as the "pillow" beneath her head moved and blinked in confusion at her unfamiliar surroundings. It was only when she noticed the surgeon standing in front of her that the night's events came back to her and she straightened up immediately. Chloe placed a comforting hand on her arm; hoping to reassure her as much as the situation would allow.
"How is she?" Dr. Mitchell finally managed to ask the question and the surgeon folded his hands in front of him. The action sent dread pooling into all of their stomachs.
"She's in a stable condition. Her appendix did burst upon removal and we had to open her up more than the standard procedure calls for in order to clear out the infected bile. Jaiden is going to have to receive large doses of antibiotics intravenously for the next week to prevent sepsis and a stint has been placed to try to drain infection out of the area. It's, admittedly, about as bad as a case of appendicitis can get. She's lucky we had her in the OR when it burst, or things could have ended a lot differently."
"But, she's going to be okay?" Beca demanded. The tiny woman's nerves were shot from the long plane ride combined with the hours upon hours they had been waiting for news.
"We believe she's going to make a full recovery, yes. Keep in mind though, that she's going to be in some pain from the size of the incision and antibiotics of this potency often cause a lot of nausea."
"When can we see her?" asked Beca.
"Well, we only allow up to two visitors at a time in the recovery room…" the doctor's voice trailed off as he looked at the four people in front of him.
"She probably won't want to see me," Dr. Mitchell offered with a forced, dry smile. He looked at Beca and nudged her. "Why don't you take Emily in with you and Chloe and I can wait."
"That's a good idea. She's going to want to see both of you." Chloe agreed. Emily exchanged a nervous look with Beca; scared that the older girl hated her for letting this happen. Nevertheless, she stood up and followed the surgeon out of the waiting room.
"Beca!" Jaiden slurred out the name loudly as soon as she caught sight of her sister through hazy vision. The monitor attached to her finger slipped off as she clambered to sit up and her nurse patiently placed it back on. She had the demeanor of a well-seasoned recovery room nurse, and she pushed Jaiden back against the pillows gently.
"Hey, my girlfriend is here too." Jaiden blinked up at the nurse in what was supposed to be a wink and promptly attempted to sit up again.
"Whoa there champ, stay down. We're coming to you." Beca leaned over the railing to the bed and smoothed Jaiden's hair back affectionately. Emily soon appeared by her side and Jaiden looked between them with a smile.
"Sorry we didn' call." She mumbled finally. "But, ya know, you were on'a honeymoon."
"It's okay. You're alright and that's all that matters."
"I'm super high…" Jaiden's voice trailed off and she tried to raise her eyebrows smoothly. "Remember when you got super duper high an' proposed? Speakin' of," Jaiden turned her attention to Emily and Beca's face paled.
"I'm so…a lot more classier than Beca, so when I pruh-pose it won't be here. But, I will pruh-pose." Jaiden annunciated the word dramatically and Beca watched as the younger girl at her side turned a deep shade of red.
"Okay kid, maybe slow down on the word vomit there."
"I'm in love with her, Rebecca!" Jaiden's voice rose indignantly and reached clumsily for Emily's hand.
"I know you are," Beca assured her.
"I'm in love with you too," Emily added. She squeezed Jaiden's hand and finally managed to break a smile. She had just been so…so scared of losing her that it didn't seem real that she was okay.
"Well, that's a relief. Cause I'm gonna buy you a promise ring."
"Wow. This is…romantic," Beca noted.
"Shut up man, you got engaged here."
"Okay, we'll let you sober up a little and then come back-"
"No," Jaiden latched onto Emily's hand and glared at Beca through bloodshot eyes. "Don't take her away. I love her."
"I can stay," said Emily. She squeezed Jaiden's hand and nodded at Beca encouragingly. The older woman rolled her eyes, but leaned over the bedrail and kissed Jaiden's forehead.
"I'll send Chloe back to say 'hi'. She missed you."
"Okey dokey. Love you." Jaiden called. Once Beca disappeared from her view, Jaiden slowly shifted her gaze back to Emily and sighed loudly.
"You really scared me," Emily admitted. She rubbed her thumb along the back of Jaiden's hand and leaned against the bed.
"Nah," Jaiden shook her head. The younger girl chuckled with a mix of relief and patience for her state and nodded assuringly.
"Yeah, you did."
"I'm not goin' anywhere. Even if I die…I'm coming back for you," Jaiden announced. Her nurse glanced over with an amused look and handed Emily a plastic cup of water with a straw in it.
"I don't think that's how it works, Jay."
"Well, obviously you don't know how much I love you." The 18 year old's lips fumbled as Emily put the cup within her reach and she managed to get a drink after a few seconds. Emily tried not to laugh and waited a few seconds to pull it back.
"Hey!"
"You don't need that much at once," Emily chastised. Jaiden squinted up at her, trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to be mad. She hadn't decided yet when Chloe appeared at her bedside suddenly.
"Hey! You married my sister."
"Yes, I did," Chloe confirmed as she leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "And you almost died. Now we're all caught up."
"Are you mad at us?" Jaiden's eyes widened and for a second, it looked like she was on the verge of tears. Emily and Chloe both exchanged panicked glances and the redhead immediately shook her head.
"No, no. I was just kidding, Jaiden. I'm just so happy to see you."
"Normally I'm kinda tired of you but I'm happy to see you too." Jaiden grinned up at the older woman and then the expression faded in the blink of an eye. "Is Dad still letting you into Barden even though we didn't eat any dinner?"
"Oh my God, you can't worry about that right now." Emily rolled her eyes. "And he was very nice to me while we waited, so I think everything is fine."
"Did you guys talk? Did you talk about me? I bet you talked about me," Jaiden rambled.
"Maybe you should try to go back to sleep," Chloe suggested gently. She patted the top of Jaiden's head and gave Emily a glance that meant "let's get out of here". Emily squeezed Jaiden's hand sympathetically and knowing that she needed to rest, stepped away from the bed.
"You're leaving?" Jaiden's eyes widened and she looked between the two of them with a mix of despair and betrayal.
"Let them go, honey. You need some sleep." A nurse stepped in with impeccable timing and winked at Jaiden visitors.
"The tall one is my girlfriend." Jaiden told her proudly.
"I noticed."
"She's really pretty. And nice…maybe I should have proposed…" Jaiden let her voice trail off and her eyes fluttered shut as her chin rested on her chest.
—-
By the time Jaiden woke up again, she was in her own room and on her second round of antibiotics. A wave of pain hit her with the realization that her anesthetic had worn off and she blinked groggily in an attempt to clear her vision.
"Hey, kid." Her sister's voice drug her out of the fog and Jaiden struggled feebly to sit up. Her incisions disagreed loudly and Beca frowned as she hissed in pain. "Take it easy. You're alright."
"Where's Dad?" Jaiden winced when she realized what she called him, but knew there was no point in trying to cover it up.
"He filled out the insurance stuff and left. Told me to tell you he's glad you're okay and that he got all of Emily's information so, you know, that's good to go."
"Wow," Jaiden grunted. "That was nice."
"Yep."
"So…where's the other two?"
"I had Chloe take Em home about an hour ago. Poor thing was falling asleep in her chair. She really didn't want to, but she was too tired to argue." Beca explained. She glanced at the clock on the wall and yawned; it was well past 2 am.
"You stayed," Jaiden noted. She felt a pang of guilt for what the past hours had been like for her sister and she slid over as gingerly as she could. "Will you, uh…"
"Yeah," Beca nodded and stood up; merciful enough not to make her sister finish the request. Having missed Beca more than she realized, Jaiden nestled up to the older girl as she climbed in the bed and got settled under the thin hospital blanket.
"Jay?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
Sorry for the wait! Please please please leave a review and let me know what you think!