I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters.

AU after series 4 - Andy stayed with Nick instead of getting back together with Sam and now they are married. Established Andy/Nick.

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Chapter 24 : Waking up.

For the past 3 days, Andy had not left Nick's side, besides when the nurses and Drs had needed to check on her husband. He was still unconscious, but the Drs knew what they were doing. All of their friends and colleges had gone back to work, but Tracey and Chloe came to see Andy at the start and end of every shift and Andy appreciated that. News of the bombs had spread across the city, so Andy's friends were busier than ever. Tommy and Clare were with Andy, insisting that she ate and drank, but she would not go home. She was not going to go home without her husband. Frank had been in touch with her, about support networks for police officers who had been through similar things and he had also found a couple of options for where Andy and Nick could live when Nick was finally out of hospital. Even after he was released, he would have months of recovery and rehabilitation ahead of him, but Andy did not care about that. She just wanted her husband alive and to be able to take him home and she was especially grateful to Frank, when it came to accessible homes for herself and Nick and she wanted that information, for the future she wanted with her husband, but, right now, she just wanted him to wake up. She had allowed her mind to wander back to their last words to each other in the garage and to their conversation under the tree on their weekend off a month ago, but that last conversation in the garage was not going to be their last conversation. It was not goodbye. In a way, she knew, deep down, she and Nick had been saying goodbye to each other, but they were alive and she and Nick were going to have this new future, together, and that was what she was focused on now. She was prepared. She had to be, because he wouldn't be.

The Drs told Andy that they were, gradually, going to start to wake up Nick. The process took hours and Andy stayed by his side, until he finally, properly, opened his eyes and she squeezed her hand. She could tell that Nick was trying to work out where he was, before his eyes finally settled on her and he asked, in a very dry voice, "Andy, are you ok?"

The sound of her husband's voice and the fact that that was the first thing he said, brought tears to her eyes and she was so overwhelmed by her emotions that she hugged and kissed him, before replying, laughing slightly, "Yeah, I'm fine. You protected me from the blast. How are you feeling?" She swallowed; she was not sure how Nick would react to the likelihood that he would never walk again.

Not taking his eyes off her, Nick replied, in a very horse voice, "Er, a bit numb and feeling a bit dizzy. Andy, are you sure you're okay? You look tired. I'm so glad you weren't hurt by the bomb, I would never've forgiven myself if you'd been hurt." Suddenly, recognition dawned on his voice and he looked down at his legs as he whispered, "Andy, I can't feel my legs and I can't move them! What's going on? What's happening?" His heart monitor shot up and Andy stood up and called for a Dr, before returning to her husband's side, taking hold of his hand. In a very scared voice, Nick turned to her face her and asked, "Andy, are my legs paralysed?" Even without Andy answering, the look in his eyes was the answer he needed, so he threw his head back against the pillow, making an agonising noise. He was also in a great deal of pain.

As if on cue, the Dr walked into the room. "Officer Collins, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Dr, what happened to my legs?" Nick went straight to the point, not wanting to waste any more time. He was very grateful for the texture of Andy's hand in his own, because he knew that she was there and she was calm. She had been prepared for this for the past 3 days.

The Dr ran some tests and, indeed, Nick had no feeling below his waist. He was paralysed. He would never walk again. "Officer Collins, you had internal bleeding, but we sorted that. Your spinal chord injury, which was caused by the blast and the debris caused by it, is permanent, I'm sorry to say. Now, the plan is your stay in hospital for another week so that you can totally heal, then you go to rehab. Once you're there, you can start to learn how to adjust to your new condition and learn how to live as independently as possible, with a wheelchair. You'll have to be there for about a month, in order for it to have an effect and then, after that, you can finally go home. Do either of you have any questions?"

Andy shook her head and replied, "No, thank you, Dr."

Nick bit his lip and asked, "Actually, Dr, I do have a question." He glanced at his wife, looking embarrassed, and Andy knew what he was going to ask. The Dr said that it shouldn't be a problem, after some time, and she left the room. Nick exhaled a deep breath and rested his head against the pillow, moving around in pain, and he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds.

Leaving her chair to sit right next to the bed, Andy assured Nick, "Nick, it's going to be okay. I mean- we can get through this together."

To her surprise, Nick smiled and leaned closer and kissed her, before he told her to go home to sleep. "Andy, you need sleep, even if it's only for a couple of hours. I'm not going anywhere."

"Nick, I'm not leaving you." Andy insisted, but she was exhausted, so she gave him and stood up. "Okay, I'll go home, have a nap and come back in a couple of hours. I love you." She rested her head against Nick's forehead and smiled, looking into his eyes.

"I love you, too, Andy. Now, go home before you collapse. I can promise you I'm not going anywhere." His tone of voice was so sad that it suddenly brought some more tears to Andy's eyes, so she lay down on the bed, wrapping her arms around her husband. Nick kissed her head, then closed his eyes. The reality that he would never walk again was one which really upset him, so he started to cry and so did Andy, holding each other for the future they had lost, together; it was not be totally lost, but it would be very different from the one they had imagined together and now, more than ever, Nick needed Andy.