Gemma sat, comatose, beside Warrick. They'd allowed her to stay in the room with him and she'd talked herself hoarse. She'd told him about meeting his grandmother and how Grams had adopted Jessica as her own. She told him how Grams had taken Jessica home.
On and on she'd droned, telling him about how much she admired all his friends. How dedicated they were, she even admitted how she envied him for all he had. Family and friends were something she lost when her mother died. She went on to describe how her life had changed during her time with him. How the hope she'd lost when her mother died had begun to come back.
Gemma played with his hair, wishing she could see him open his eyes, wanting to hear his voice. She ran her fingers over his features, remembering the quiet times that she'd done this, remembering the night he'd told her there could never be anything between them. He'd hurt her then but she didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. Love was something she'd never experienced before and she wouldn't give up on it that easily.
Playing her fingers over his face, she went on to tell him about the FBI and Tony's family. How she'd most likely be called to testify against the things she'd witnessed while in the family fold. She froze, studying his face, it had almost felt as if he'd twitched under her fingers.
"Warrick?" She whispered hoarsely. "Please Warrick, come back to me." There it was again, she saw as well as felt his cheek twitch under her middle finger. Hopeful and excited, she wondered if she should call a nurse, or continue what she was doing until she got another response. Gemma chose to continue. "Uncle Gil says that he wants me and Jess to move to Las Vegas. I haven't told him my feelings for you, yet. But…..I think he knows. I think they all know. I know Greg does, I told him." Gemma paused, studying his face. There hadn't been any more twitches.
She let out a sigh, taking his hand into both of hers. She lay her head down on his arm, "Another false alarm. Dang it Warrick, it's time for you to wake up! I want you to open your eyes and speak to me!" Closing her eyes, she fought back the tears that threatened to erupt. "Just wake up, Damn You!"
"Kay" The gravelly voice was so soft, it didn't register in Gemma's mind. Suddenly, she shot to her feet, unshed tears in her eyes as she looked down at Warrick.
"Warrick!" She cried out, seeing slits of green eyes looking back at her. His eyes were fighting to stay open, like the lids each weighed down by a tremendous weight. "Oh Thank God! Warrick!" She bent down, placing a kiss on his mouth as tears of joy slid down her face. Sniffling, she leaned over and pressed the call button.
Nurse Jonah came running in, seeing Gemma's tears, she thought the worst. "Gemma?"
"He's awake." Gemma blubbered.
"Mr. Brown!" the nurse smiled down at the groggy man. "Welcome back, we were beginning to worry about you." She checked his vitals and smiled over at Gemma. "I'll page the doctor."
"Gemma," Warrick frowned, hearing his own voice slurring. "…..Jess?"
"She's with your grandmother."
"Grams?"
"Yes, Greg brought her up to visit you. She and Jessica hit it off. Grams took Jessica home with her."
"Where?" He looked around with his eyes, so weak he was unable to raise his head.
"Elko, Nevada. We got to Jackpot. You're whole team was there waiting for us. They flew you here to the hospital."
"How?" Warrick gasped, finding it hard to talk. His chest hurt, his head hurt, his….everything hurt.
"How did we get here?" Gemma guessed what his question meant. "Do you remember the man that put the car fire out? He drove us to Jackpot. They were waiting for us." Gemma couldn't stop touching him. Now that he was awake, she was eager to tell him everything she felt, but knew he was too weak.
Dr. Malcolm entered the room in a hurry. Gemma moved out of the way while he and the nurse checked Warrick over. Shining a light into his eyes, he asked Warrick, "Well Mr. Brown? How do you feel?"
"Hell." Warrick grunted.
"That's pretty common. But I need you to tell me, what hurts the worst?"
"Head."
The doctor nodded. "That's too be expected, after what you've been through. It'll ease off in a bit. Now, what else hurts?"
"Chest."
"That too is expected. You have put yourself through a lot of crap. The strain on your lungs and heart alone should have killed a man. We'll increase your pain meds for a few days." The doctor gave him a friendly pat on the arm. "For today, take it easy. Don't try to talk too much. I know you have a lot of questions, but Gemma here, is a great talker, she'll tell you everything without you having to say a word. She has for the past week."
"Week?" Warrick frowned, confused.
"You've been here for nearly two weeks Mr. Brown." Nurse Jonah explained to him. "Gemma hasn't left your side unless we make her."
Worn out, Warrick closed his eyes. He had a lot to try and comprehend. His brain was fuzzy. He felt, rather than saw the doctor leave, and Gemma's soft hands were back, holding his hand. "Gem….ma."
"I'm here Warrick." Gemma gave his hand a squeeze. Warrick opened his mouth to say something, but exhaustion overtook him. Gemma leaned over and kissed his cheek, rewarded with a sleepy smile. "I'll be here when you wake up."
As the word spread, Warrick's friends and family came to visit him. He was moved to a bigger room where the ignored rules were less strict. There was a chair that folded out into a sleeper, so Gemma never had to leave the room. As she had promised, every time he opened his eyes, Gemma was there with him.
As the doctor had said, the pain in his head and chest subsided, leaving only the dull ache of his bullet wounds. His head cleared and as the stream of visits from his friends continued, he realized that Gemma was getting closer to him.
Nick seemed to make an effort to visit often. Warrick knew his friend was giving up on sleep to make his visits, but he appreciated it silently, he would do the same. He listened intently as Nick described finding the bullets in the Honda. "The bullet went clean through you and embedded into the underside of the dash."
"Is the car salvageable?"
"No, the entire backside is riddled with bullets. You bleed all over the seat and it soaked through into the carpet. The motor is fried to a crisp."
"What about the people I jacked it from. They need to be compensated." Warrick worried. "Same with the truck Mama Peg loaned me. I murdered that motor too."
"Remind me never to loan you my car." Nick laughed, it felt good to have his friend back.
"Ugh!" Warrick winced. "That reminds me. Chris loaned me a car off his lot. We left it…….Hell, I can't remember where we left it."
"Texas." Gemma supplied from the pull out where he'd thought she'd been asleep. "At that motel."
"Ah, that shitty little flea bag. Nick? Anyway you can get the car back for me?" Warrick wheedled, giving him a lopsided smile. "Chris isn't going to give me back mine unless I return the Toyota."
Nick grinned back. "I'll see what I can do, Bro."
"Thanks. Did you have any interesting cases while I was gone?" Warrick questioned eagerly. Now that he was feeling better, he was beginning to feel restless.
"Naw, You're the most interesting case we've had." Nick gave him his biggest grin.
"Never thought I'd see the day when I'm on the wrong side of a case. That's your job Nicky." Warrick grinned back. Nick blushed and nodded. "You wanna play cards?'
"Can't. I gotta head back, get a couple hours of sleep before I go in to work." Nick grimaced. "Besides, we know you've got a gambling problem, I can't kick ya while your down."
"Picture that!" Warrick chuckled. "Alright, get going. Quit coming unless it's your day off, Man."
"Yeah, picture that." Nick mimicked. "See ya in a couple days buddy." Nick motioned for Gemma to follow him out into the hall. Warrick heard him ask, "How ya holdin' up?" They walked away before Gemma answered.
Warrick pushed the bed remote, adjusting the bed so that he was sitting up straighter. He was getting to used to having Gemma around. Waking up to find her there. Falling asleep to the sound of her voice. Reaching out to touch her hand. The way she touched his face could soothe the pain more than any medication they could come up with. He couldn't let himself get any more comfortable. It would only cause more pain.
Gemma returned a few minutes later, smiling. She looked at him and her smile grew bigger. She came over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You have some of the greatest friends."
"Yeah, I'm lucky like that." Warrick pulled away. Gemma sat on the edge of his bed, looking a little hurt.
"Look, we've got to talk."
"Sure, we talk all the time." Gemma smiled at him, the type of smile that made his heartbeat pick up speed. He took a couple of deep breath, focusing on the task at hand.
"No, a serious talk." He kept his gaze away from her, staring at a frazzled edge of the bed blanket.
"Oh, that kind of talk." Gemma sounded breathless. "Yes, I've been avoiding it until you were feeling up to it."
"I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say." Warrick let out a heavy sigh. "I'm trying to tell you that we need to end this."
"End?" Gemma gasped. "What do you mean…."
"I want you to leave. Go home." Warrick demanded, hating the hurt in her voice, hating the pain in his chest that had nothing to do his injuries.
"I want to stay with you." Gemma argued. "I love you, Warrick. I won't leave you here alone."
"Don't say that!" Warrick snarled. "This was a mistake! We aren't meant to be together. What you are feeling is only because we were forced to together. I don't want you here anymore!"
"Warrick…..I-"
"Go away Gemma! Go home! This whole mess is over! You don't have to be here, you don't owe me anything. We are done! We don't have to be together anymore!" Warrick was yelling now.
"Warrick……please……don't. Don't do this to me." Gemma was crying now. Warrick couldn't look at her, his heart was breaking, just from the sound of her voice. "Please, Warrick." She reached out, touching his hand but Warrick yanked it away, as if it burned him.
"Just go away Gemma. Go home!" He screamed. "Go home and don't come back!"
"Warrick," with tears in her voice, Gemma pleaded. "I don't have a home to go to……..please."
"Get out! Get out! I don't want you here!" Warrick screamed, his face now turned to the wall, eye's squeezed shut. "There is nothing between us! There never was, there never will be!"
"What is all the yelling about" The floor nurse, Lydia came hurrying in, followed by several others hospital employees. Lydia went over to check Warrick's vitals. "Gemma? Warrick? What's going on?"
"I want her out!" Warrick gritted out.
"What?" Lydia turned to look at the tear streaked face of the woman who was devoted to this man. "Who? Gemma?"
"Yes, I want her gone. We're over Gemma, Over!" Warrick insisted.
"Gemma,…..I'm sorry, I have to ask you to leave. His blood pressure is skyrocketing. I can't have him this upset." the nurse was torn. She thought the world of this woman she was no kicking out. She'd hardly ever seen this devotion before.
"I understand. I'll go now." When Gemma spoke, Warrick didn't recognize her voice, it sounded lifeless, like nothing he'd ever heard before. He heard her walking out the door, and refused to look, his heart was already shattered into a million tiny pieces.
"She's gone now." Lydia told him stiffly. Opening his eyes, Warrick nodded. He felt her absence in the sudden coldness of the room. "I don't think she'll come back."
"It's better now than later." Warrick muttered, wondering if it could feel any worse. Lydia checked his pulse again and frowned. She didn't say another word as she left. "It's better this way." He said aloud to the empty room.