Wounds

Frank stares at Lena, dumbfounded. The gray haired man and the curly haired woman study one another. This was the man that had nearly launched Stef into a major depression, derailing all the work she had accomplished in her months of therapy. And Lena was sure that Frank was seeing a woman who had corrupted his only daughter, leading her down a path of sin and destruction.

"How is she?" Frank asks curtly. Lena can see the concern in the older man's eyes.

"She was shot in the side. She had a collapsed lung and internal bleeding. She's in surgery now." Lena tells him. Frank nods somberly and goes to take a seat.

Unable to sit again for who knows how long, Lena decides to step outside. Outside, in the cool San Diego night, Lena finally breaks down as she plops onto a nearby bench. Tears stream down the caramel skinned woman's face as sobs rack through her body. Resting her face in her hands, Lena lets the tears flow freely. What was she going to do without Stef?

"Oh, honey." Lena looks up to find Sharon, Stef's mother, standing before her.

"Sharon? How?" Lena asks, sniffling back tears and wiping her cheeks.

"When I got the call, I jumped on the next flight." Sharon tells her, sitting beside the curly haired woman. "How is she?"

"It's not good," Lena chokes out, tears brimming in her eyes again. "She was shot in the side. She has a collapsed lung and internal breathing. She's in surgery now but I haven't heard from the surgeon yet." Sharon wraps her arm around Lena's shoulders. "I don't know if she's going to be okay. I don't know what I'm going to do if. . . if she. . ." Lena can't even say the words aloud.

"Let's not go there right now, sweetheart." Sharon says, resting her head on Lena's shoulder. The two women head back inside to wait for more news. After a short conversation with Frank, Sharon sits next to Lena and takes the darker skinned woman's hand in hers.

"Excuse me, Ms. Adams." The surgeon says gently as he approaches Lena. Lena shoots up from her chair, heart thumping wildly in her chest. Was it good news? Or bad?

"How is she?" Lena asks, still clutching Sharon's hand. She knows that Mike and Frank and everyone else in the room is listening but she doesn't care.

"She's out of surgery." The man in light blue scrubs begins. "We were able to remove all the bullet fragments and repair the damage to her internal organs. She's still intubated and unconscious in the surgical intensive care unit right now. But if you would like to go see her, you can." Tears of relief roll down Lena's cheeks as she nods. With one last squeeze of Sharon's hand, Lena lets the surgeon lead her into the surgical intensive care unit and to Stef's room.

Stef still has the tube down her throat, which is helping her breathe. Other tubes are also attached to the fragile looking woman lying in the hospital bed. Lena takes a seat in a chair beside the bed and gingerly takes her girlfriend's hand. Lena has never seen Stef look so fragile before. Her face is still gravely pale. But the beeping of the heart monitor reassures Lena that, right now, Stef is okay.

"When will she wake up?" Lena asks, her voice small in the dimly lit room.

"That's the waiting game." The surgeon tells her. "She lost a lot of blood. And her heart stopped twice during the surgery."

"What?" Lena gasps, her hand covering her mouth. She feels sick to her stomach.

"We were able to resuscitate her. But her brain was still without oxygen for a period of time. We won't know how that will affect her until she wakes up. If she wakes up."

"If?" Lena asks, fear seizing her heart.

"There is a chance that she won't wake up." The surgeon tells her gravely. "Only time will tell. I'll leave you for now. But if you need anything, the nurses' station is right down the hall." With that, the surgeon exits the small room, leaving Lena alone with the whirring of the ventilator and the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

Out in the waiting room, Sharon strolls over to where Frank is sitting and takes a seat next to him. The two had been married for fifteen years, divorced for almost twelve now. There were things that Sharon could say to him that no one else ever could. And she might even get through to the old, stone faced cop.

"Frank," Sharon begins. "I know you haven't spoken to Stephanie in almost a year." Stef had called Sharon on the phone the same day she had come out to her father, sobbing. It had broken her heart but she wasn't all that surprised to hear how Frank had reacted. "And today we almost lost her. We could still lose her. Do you really want what you said to her to be the last words you ever get to say to her? I know you love her, and that this religious homophobia is some kind of messed up way of you showing that love. But you need to find a better way to show that love before you really do lose her forever." With that, Sharon pats the older man's leg and goes in search of some coffee.

"Stef," Lena whispers to her unconcious girlfriend. "I'm here. I'm here and I love you so much." She tastes the saltiness of her own tears on her lips. "I'm not ready to lose you. There is so much that I still want to do with you." Lena strokes Stef's blonde hair softly. "I want to get married and have babies and grow old together. I know we haven't talked about any of that. And we haven't been together that long. But you're it for me. You're everything I've been waiting for my entire life. I'll never be able to love someone the way that I love you." Her voice cracks, words catching in her throat. The curly haired woman lays her head onto the hospital bed, still clutching Stef's hand. "Please don't go. Not yet. I'm not ready. I need you. I love you so much. Please."