Disclaimer: see chapter 1

The first thing he noticed was that he felt sore from the tips of his toes to the hair on his head. He cracked his eyes open and noticed that he wasn't at home or at Kendall's. His throat felt dry and he needed water more than anything. He tried to move his arm to reach the glass sitting on the table, but found he couldn't move his arm. He looked down to see Kendall, asleep with her head on top of his hand.

He shifted slightly and reached his free hand over to rub the top of her head, trying to wake her up.

"Kendall" he whispered. He felt her start to move. She shifted around for a few moments before lifting her head off the bed and look at him.

Seeing his eyes open woke her right up. "Zach" she yelled, shooting out of her chair. She ran her hands over his face and through his hair, smiling at him.

"Water" he said hoarsely. Kendall reached over and held the straw up to his mouth. Zach took a nice, long drink before he pushed the straw out of his mouth. Kendall put the plastic glass down on the table and sat back down in her chair, grasping his hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like a Mack truck hit me. Now, my turn – did you sleep in that chair all night?"

"Well, yeah. I didn't want to leave you and…"

Zach groaned and pushed himself up in the bed. "Kendall, you can't be doing that. It's not good for you and it's not…"

He saw the tears forming in her eyes and he mentally chastised himself for laying into her the minute he woke up. He smiled at her and reached his arm out. She immediately crawled up into the bed with him and molded herself to his side.

"I'm fine" he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. The tears started to fall – he could feel them through the hospital gown. He held her while she cried, not saying anything. He knew she just needed to be held.

Once her tears subsided, she looked up at him. "Zach, I was so scared that…"

"Kendall, it's going to take a lot more than a little knife wound to take me down."

She pushed herself up and stared at him. "Little! Zach, Anita and Joe talked to me about transfusions and blood loss and… well, there was a lot to take in and… I don't know what I would have done if… I'm so sorry we fought." She was wiping the tears away from her eyes when he grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry too, my love. I trust you completely, I do. There are others that I don't trust and can't control and that scares me."

They smiled at each other for a moment before he yanked on her arm and pulled her down for a kiss. Kendall wound her fingers through his hair, relishing in the kiss and thanking God that she got to do this over and over again.

They broke apart after a few minutes and Kendall snuggled back into Zach's side. She looked up at him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm going to talk to Dr. Madden today, Zach."

"Why? Are you feeling…"

"I'm feeling fine, but this whole no sex thing… well, it's just not going to work for me anymore and I need to let him know that."

"Kendall, please, don't do anything that may jeopardize the baby or your health…"

She leaned into him more and started to rub his chest. "Zach, I won't, but… I need you. I almost lost you last night and if I had and we hadn't…"

The look in her eyes was almost too much for him to bare – it was a mixture of love and desire for him. He crushed his lips to hers and plundered her mouth with his tongue. She moaned and sunk into the kiss. They became consumed with each other – so consumed that they didn't realize they had an audience until they heard a loud cough from the doorway. They pried themselves apart and saw Joe and Anita standing there, smiling at them.

"I guess your feeling better this morning, Zach" Anita said, smirking. Kendall slid out of bed and stood next to Zach.

"Much better, thank you very much" he said, clearing his throat.

Joe walked over and pulled Zach's chart off the end of the bed. "Well, it looks like everything seems to be fine. I want to check you over and do a couple more tests, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to go home today."

Kendall just stared at Joe. "Joe, are you sure? I mean, this just happened and what if…"

Joe smiled at the young woman. "Kendall, that's why we need to do a few more things. I promise we won't let him go till he's fully ready."

She sighed and looked back down at Zach. "Ok then."

"Kendall, why don't you go get some food and water while they do this?"

"No way, Zach, I'm staying put."

"Kendall…" Before he could fight with her over this, Anita piped up. "Oh, Kendall, I almost forgot. Babe Carey is out in the waiting room looking for you."

Zach looked up at Kendall. "Babe? Why is Babe…"

Kendall held up her hand. "It's a long story that I'll tell you later." She just stared at Zach, trying to decide what to do. He made the decision for her. "Go. I'll be fine and then when you come back, maybe we can get the hell out of this hospital and stay away for, oh, ever!" Kendall smiled at him and nodded. She kissed his forehead and made her way out of the room, looking back one more time before letting the door close.

Babe stood up as Kendall walked through the doors into the waiting room. Kendall looked at her skeptically before making her way over.

"How's Zach doing?"

"Great, actually. Joe thinks I'll get to take him home this afternoon."

"Oh Kendall, that's… well, that's just great." They just stared at each other for a minute before Babe remembered the bags in her hands.

"Oh yeah… Simone and I went to your condo this morning. We thought you might want a change of clothes and I had Winnie pack you some food. I thought you might be hungry."

"Oh, thanks Babe, but you didn't have to. I'll be fine, so you can…"

"Bianca asked me to." Kendall just stopped and stared at Babe. "Wait, Bianca did what?"

Babe sighed. "When I was talking to Bianca last night, she asked me to keep an eye on you until she got here, which will be tonight, by the way. I told her I was worried about you and… well, she said that I owed her and that I needed to do this for her. So, that's what I'm doing. You'll be rid of me soon enough, so please just take this stuff. I'm not expecting a thank you, so don't worry about it." Babe held out the bags for Kendall to take. Kendall was shocked that her sister had asked Babe, of all people, to look out for her, but she knew that Babe was one of the few people in this town who had no opinion about Zach, so it made a little sense.

Kendall forced a smile and took the bags from her. "Thanks, Babe."

Babe shifted uncomfortably. "It was no problem. I grabbed some soap and shampoo. I saw Jamie and he said you could use the locker rooms to get changed and take a quick shower if you want."

Kendall could appreciate the kindness. "Thanks. Um… so, what's in the food bag?"

Babe smiled. She figured Kendall would be starving. "Well, there's a container of yogurt, a banana, a muffin and Momma made you a thermos of her hot chocolate. She used to make if for me while I was pregnant with Little A."

"Well, tell Krystal thanks. I'm going to go…" Kendall motioned toward the door leading to the doctor's locker rooms. Kendall started to walk away from Babe, but turned around. "Hey Babe?"

Babe, who had been heading toward the elevators, turned around. "Yeah."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Kendall. What?"

"Well, it's just… can you go back and sit with Zach till I get back?" Babe could see the worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, I can do that. No problem."

Kendall just smiled and turned on her heel, heading toward the locker rooms while Babe headed toward Zach's recovery room.

Babe waited outside until Joe and Anita left. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She heard Zach yell for her to come in, so she did. She noticed he was surprised to see her.

"Babe? Wow… what are you doing here?"

"Well, I brought Kendall some clothes and some food, so she went to change. She asked me to come sit with you until she got back, but I can just wait outside if you would rather…"

"No, it's fine. Please" he said, motioning toward the chair next to the bed. Babe sat down gingerly, unsure of what to do.

"So… umm… how are you feeling?"

"Good, all things considering."

"Well, that's great. I'm glad you're better. I was worried about Kendall last night."

Zach sat up straighter in bed, staring at Babe. He knew there was something else going on. "Babe, you have to tell me what happened last night."

"Oh, no, I think that Kendall should…"

"Babe, please. I have to know. What happened when she got here last night?"

"Well…" Babe launched into the story, telling him about finding Kendall in the chapel, the run in with Erica and her confession, meeting up with Josh to hear his story and Kendall having Derek arrest Erica immediately. Zach was blown away. "But that's not…"

Babe was confused. "That's not what? Zach?"

Zach stared off into space, the wheels turning in his head. "Zach?" Babe's voice brought him back to reality. "Oh, oh, it's nothing. Nevermind. So, how's your little guy?"

Kendall emerged from the locker room, feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. Anita had come in while she was getting dressed to let her know that Zach would be ready to be discharged in about an hour. After getting dressed, Kendall took a minute to eat the food Babe had brought her. She hadn't realized how hungry she was till she took a bite of the muffin. She quickly finished the muffin, yogurt and banana before taking a drink of the hot chocolate, which Kendall had to admit to being pretty good, not that she would ever tell Babe or Krystal that.

Kendall pulled the bags up on her shoulder and headed back toward Zach's room when she heard her name from behind her. Kendall turned around and immediately made a face as Ryan came walking toward her.

Kendall held out her hand, pointing at him. "Oh no. Hell no. Go away Ryan. I mean it, leave me alone." She tried to walk away, but he ran in front of her and cut off her route. She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Kendall…"

"Don't start with me Ryan. I'm not in the mood."

"How's Zach?"

"He's going to be fine. Why – hoping for a different answer? Hoping that he dropped dead over night. Well, guess not, so if you don't mind…" she tried to walk around him, to no avail.

Ryan grabbed her shoulders. "Kendall, look, I went to the jail first thing this morning to see Erica and she said that…"

Kendall pulled back out of his grasp and pushed against him. "Look, Ryan, I'm only going to say this once and I'll use small words so you can follow along. I could care less what Erica has to say. She said it all by stabbing Zach yesterday. Erica Kane can rot in that cell for all I really care." Ryan seemed stunned by her words, so she took her chance to get away from him.

She was halfway down the hall when she heard him yell "Kendall, you can't just cut your mother out of your life!"

"WATCH ME!" she spit out over her shoulder, pushing the doors to the waiting room open.

TBC….