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Chapter 7

It wasn't long before the call came. Having just stepped out of the quickest shower on record, Lara grabbed a towel and charged to the phone.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Lady Croft?" The clipped, efficient tones of the ward sister announced that this was not just a house call.

"Yes? How's Hillary?" Lara asked. Part of her dreaded the answer.

"He woke about ten minutes ago."

Lara felt weak with relief. Collapsing onto one of the chairs in the upstairs hall, she nearly dropped the telephone. "I'll be over as soon as I can. Thank you," she managed. "Oh, Sister?"

"Yes, Lady Croft?" Still that efficient tone that, to Lara, totally belied the news that she had given.

"Can you tell Hillary that…" Pause. Lara remembered the doctor's embarrassed reaction.

"Yes, Lady Croft?"

"Can you tell him that I'm on my way?" There was one message she wanted to give Hillary in person.

Pulling on the jeans and shirt that she had worn that morning, Lara belted out of the front door.

Half an hour later, Lara strode briskly down the hospital corridors. In very little time she had reached Hillary's little room. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.

Hillary looked much the same as before, but with one significant difference; his eyes, which had been closed in an approximation of slumber, were now open and showing a tired, yet tender expression.

"Hello," Lara said quietly as she approached the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Hillary smiled faintly. "As if I've just been hit by half a ton of horse!" He looked up at her. "Is Arrow alright?"

Lara nodded, quite unable to speak. Instead, she leaned over, and very gently kissed Hillary on the lips.

"Lara, are you alright?" Hillary asked, when they eventually broke apart.

"Oh Hilly," Lara said, trying desperately to keep control. "You've no idea how worried I've been about you. I thought I'd lost you."

"It would take a lot more than Arrow having a tantrum to take me away from you," Hillary replied, giving her a faint smile. Wincing as he shifted position slightly, Lara moved away.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" She asked, seeing a flicker of pain crossing his face as he moved.

"Get me out of here?" Hillary asked.

"As soon as I can, I will." Lara answered, wishing for nothing more.

They sat in a gentle, companionable silence for a while. Then, eventually, Lara spoke again.

"When you were lying on the ground, not moving, I thought I'd lost you," she said.

"I don't know what I'd have done if…if…" she couldn't speak.

Hillary took a deep breath. "Lara…I promise you, I'll never leave you." He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek. "No matter what happens, I will always be there for you, for as long as you want me."

"And you always have, haven't you Hilly?" Lara replied. "You've always looked out for me."

Hillary looked thoughtful. "It was my duty, and the only thing I've ever wanted to do."

"Well, from now on, things are going to change," Lara said, almost playfully. "I'm going to be looking after you."

"Really Lara, I'll be absolutely fine in a day or two," Hillary said, and then winced once more. "Then things can get back to normal."

"Well, not quite, Hilly," countered Lara. "Because there's something I need to tell you."

Hillary looked concerned. "What is it? Were you hurt? Is everything alright at home?"

Giving his hand the gentlest of squeezes, Lara gave the broadest smile she could. "Calm down, Hilly, it's just something I realised when I saw you at the bottom of the hill." She looked deep into his eyes once more. "I'm in love with you."

If it were possible, Hillary seemed to go even paler. Before he could speak, Lara continued.

"I think I always have been really-it just took the possibility of losing you to make me realise." She tried to stop her voice from trembling once more.

"I know that since we've been…together, I haven't been totally clear about my feelings for you, but I need you to know now that I love you, no matter where I go and what I do. I knew when Sheridan tried to seduce me again that it was you I needed, and though I'll never quite forget what I did to him, as far as actual, real love is concerned, it's you I want." It was a long speech, and Lara, quite uncharacteristically, blushed.

When she looked up again, she met Hillary's gaze. For the first time since she'd entered the room, there was colour in his cheeks. Suddenly, seemingly unwary of his bruises and injuries, he pulled her close.

"I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that," he replied huskily. "You've just made me the happiest man in the world."

A little while later, the ward sister poked her head around the door. Shock gave way to temptation as she realised what an exclusive scoop this was; Lady Lara Croft, archaeologist and adventurer, in the arms of her very own butler. She could name at least six tabloid newspapers, and probably a couple of broadsheets, that would pay good money for that particular story.

"Susan!" The ward sister hissed to the passing staff nurse. "Come here a sec!"

The staff nurse scampered to her side, and the ward sister opened the door a fraction further to show and entwined Hillary and Lara, fast asleep. Her eyes were like saucers as she turned back to her friend and colleague.

"Is that who I think it is?" She whispered, incredulous.

"None other," the ward sister replied.

"Well it's about time she found herself a man," the staff nurse said. "Rattling around that big house pretty much alone, and then buggering off around the world every so often. I never thought it would be Mr Hillary, though!"

"I suppose it stands to reason," giggled the ward sister. "After all, they are the only two people, apart from that Bryce bloke, who live there-and there I was, assuming that since Mr Hillary had never married, he must be gay!"

"I think that this proves pretty conclusively that he's not." The staff nurse said. "You have to admit, it's kind of sweet."

"Wait until the girls on ITU get word of this!" Whispered the ward sister. "What a scandal!"

"Now come on," the staff nurse said quietly, feeling slightly ashamed of her previous thoughts. "We've got a duty of care here. Not a word." She held up a finger as the ward sister began to protest. "Class A gossip though it is, this is between you, I and the doorframe for now. I'm sure when they think the time is right, they'll tell the world."

"Oh alright," grumbled the ward sister. Then she brightened. "Did I tell you who we treated in A&E last week for um…how do I put this…carpet burns on his…?"

Epilogue