Alex didn't move from Clara's bedside for days. He spent his time with her, holding her hand as people came and went. He had seen Sara, Michael and Lincoln come and go. Lisa had sat at the other side of her bed, her other hand holding onto her cousin's hand as Clara continued breathing with the aid of the machine. Her eyes hadn't opened once. Her chest was steady as it moved. Everything about her looked peaceful. Alex suspected that was one way to think of her. She looked peaceful.

"Bagwell is back in Fox River," Michael had whispered to Alex one evening as they came back.

He sat down in the vacant chair next to Alex. Turning his head to look to Michael, Alex nodded once.

"How long for?" he wondered in a small voice.

"A long time," Michael said. "I don't think he will be seeing the light of day for many years."

"He'll never see it," Alex whispered, "if I have my way."

Michael inhaled a sharp breath. "It's best not to think like that," he said to him. "She needs you more than Bagwell does. You know that, Alex."

"And if she doesn't wake up?" Alex responded. "If she doesn't wake up then what do I have? Pam has moved on. Pam doesn't want me…Clara…she wanted me."

"And do you want her?" Sara was the one to wonder as she loitered at the back of the room.

After a moment she stepped forwards and sat down in the seat next to Michael's seat. She leant forwards slightly, her hands clasped together as she looked to Alex. He had moved his gaze back to Clara, his hands holding one of hers as his thumb roamed over her knuckles, almost as though he was trying to soothe her. He bowed his head for a moment and nodded.

"I think I have wanted her for longer than I care to admit," Alex responded, his voice full of honesty as he spoke to Sara. "She's been with me through everything. She has stood by me. She never abandoned me and I would…if the roles were reversed I would do the same. I would not abandon her. I could never abandon her…not then…and not now…"

Sara nodded her head softly. "I know," she said to him. "And I am sorry, Alex. I am so sorry for what happened."

Alex shrugged. "It's not your fault."

"But it is," Sara said, her hands clasping over her mouth as Michael moved a hand to her back and Alex turned to look at her. "She was shot because she protected me. She protected me from Bagwell and she is here because of me. I should never have let her get in the middle, but she knew…she was the only one who knew…"

"Knew what?" Alex asked.

Michael took hold of Sara's hand, gripping it tightly in his as he tried to reassure her that everything would be alright. She remained silent for a second, sniffing loudly and wiping her eyes with the back of her free hand. Turning to look to Alex, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm pregnant," she informed him. "Clara knew and she was shot protecting me from Bagwell."

Alex blinked profusely. "Congratulations, I guess," he mumbled.

"You don't need to-"

"-No," Alex interrupted Sara. "A baby is a big thing, Sara. I am…I mean…both of you will make great parents. It…Clara…she would not blame you for any of this. She would blame Bagwell and her uncle. Those are the people who made sure she ended up in here, not you. Believe me, once Clara decides to do something then she does it wholeheartedly. She would never have let Bagwell near you."

"I know," Sara nodded her head. "Still doesn't make it any easier though, does it?"

"Never does," Alex responded.

…

Doctors and nurses came and went for days. Alex asked them if there were any changes in her, but each one of them had simply shaken their heads. Alex had wanted to yell at them and demand to know if there was anything more that they could do. But then a miracle happened and Alex didn't know how to react. He had been in the room by himself after Lisa had said she needed to go and change when he felt something.

He had kept his hand holding onto hers, refusing to let go. But then he had felt something squeeze his fingers. Looking down at the contact, he wondered if he had been imagining it as he focused on the sight before him. It was then when he saw it clearly. Her fingers gripped onto his and Alex let his lips quirk upwards before leaning over to press the button to call the nurse.

"Clara," Alex said her name softly. "Clara, if you can hear me, just squeeze my hand."

She didn't do anything for a moment, but then Alex felt the grip on his hand once more. A nurse came rushing into the room at the same time and Alex looked to her, relief pouring through his veins.

"She squeezed my hand a few times," Alex said to the woman as she went to the other side of the bed and looked to the machines. "She squeezed my hand. That has to be a good sign, right?"

"Possibly."

"Possibly?" Alex echoed. "What do you mean possibly? She's responsive. She's still alive."

"Mr. Mahone," the woman sighed, having gotten used to seeing Alex in that room. "It is a sign, but it does not necessarily mean that she will wake up or be able to breathe on her own. There is a long way to go before we reach that point."

Alex shook his head. "You don't know Clara. She will wake up. She's strong enough."

…

Alex's faith was rewarded the following day. He had almost broken down in tears when he saw her eyes flutter open. She had almost gagged at the tube in her mouth as she panicked, but Alex had been quick on the mark. Moving with haste, he took hold of her cheek in his grip, soothingly stroking along her cheekbone as he looked her in the eye and took hold of her hand as she tried to reach for the tube.

"Clara, you can't pull it out," he informed her in a soft voice.

She seemed to understand what he was saying as he turned his gaze to Lisa. "Get a nurse," he urged form her.

She nodded and ran from the room, shouting for a nurse. A moment later one entered the room as Alex continued trying to soothe Clara, keeping her calm as he kept hold of her. He only reluctantly stepped back when a nurse came into the room followed by a doctor. It was another ten minutes before Alex heard a sharp breath come from her on her own. He placed his hands over his mouth and turned around, looking to the doorway to see Sara, Michael and Lincoln stood there, watching from the hallway. He nodded his head to them and Sara wrapped her arms around Michael before Alex looked back to Clara.

"You've had a lucky escape, Ms. Reynolds," the nurse informed Clara.

"I don't feel all too lucky," Clara managed to speak in a raspy voice.

"We need you to stay rested and we will be back soon to perform more tests," the doctor informed her. "In the meantime, no movement and not too much talking. Your throat will be quite raw."

"Got it," Clara whispered.

It was only when the nurse moved did she see Alex stood in the corner. He was dressed in a black shirt and jeans, his hair mussed up on top of his head. But there was someone next to him in a pencil skirt and blue shirt. Lisa was stood next to him. She had tears pouring down her face as Clara arched a brow and both of them moved towards her.

"Clara, I am so sorry," Lisa was the one to speak, rushing to her bedside and sitting down in the chair. "I never knew how deep this was. I never knew what he was doing or what he did. Please…he…he lied to me and he kept me in the dark. If I had known everything then I would have helped you."

Clara looked to her cousin and let out a shaky breath. She wanted to speak, but she found the pain in her throat too much to say the words she wanted. She had so much she wanted to say, but she knew that she couldn't speak them. Instead she moved her hand outwards and Lisa grabbed hold of it, openly crying in relief.

"It's alright," Clara managed to tell her.

Alex moved to stand behind Lisa, hands moving into his jeans pocket as he let the two cousins have their moment. Lisa stood after a second and bent down to kiss Clara on the top of her head.

"I'll let you two have a minute," she said in a whisper.

Clara watched on Lisa left the room and Alex slowly moved to take the vacant seat. He perched on the edge of it, wondering what he should say to Clara before he saw her smile softly.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey yourself," Alex said to her. "You gave us all quite a scare."

"All of you?" she enquired.

Alex looked to the window and she followed his gaze, seeing the three of them stood there. She managed to lift her hand and wave to them as they smiled back and Alex chuckled in a gentle tone. He looked back to her and moved his hand to brush her hair from her face. He said nothing for a moment; instead he focused on watching her with intrigue, struggling to believe that she was alive and staring back at him.

"We managed to escape, Clara," Alex said to her, leaning forwards. "The Company is gone. Scylla is the hands of the UN and they exonerated us. They let us all go…we're free, Clara…we're all free…"

Clara nodded once. "Sounds crazy."

"Most things that have happened recently are crazy," Alex informed her in a hushed voice. "But you just need to focus on getting better, alright? Because I still have to take you on that date, don't I?"

Clara smiled at hearing him and took his hand from her cheek, kissing the back of it softly. She wondered if this was truly it. What more could happen?

…

Alex had checked himself into a nice hotel for when Clara was discharged from hospital. She had been in that place for over a month and Alex had felt some kind of relief when he heard that she was being discharged. She was in no position to fly back to Chicago, but she was allowed to return somewhere to rest for a few weeks. Alex had found himself a nice hotel in Miami. It was large and overlooked the beach. There was room service and there was a gym. It was modern and sleek.

Alex had insisted on paying for it, but Lisa had taken care of the bill, telling the hotel to charge whatever they wanted to her card. She had visited Clara every day and slowly the two of them were rebuilding their broken relationship. Alex was happy for Clara. He knew she needed some kind of family.

He had felt some kind of relief in helping Clara into the hotel, happy to spend the night in a bed and not the hospital chair. He opened the door and watched her walk in, her hand holding onto her stomach as she took soft and steady steps. Alex closed and locked the door before his arm took her waist and he helped her walk towards the sofa.

"No, no, no," Clara said as she noted him trying to direct her towards the sofa.

"You need to rest, Clara," he urged from her.

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "I want to sit on the balcony. I need fresh air, Alex. I'm tired of being stuck inside."

Alex agreed with her, opening the patio door and helping her lower herself into one of the comfortable outdoor chairs. She winced in pain for a moment before Alex walked to go and get her some water. He placed it down on the table next to her and then took to sitting in the chair next to hers, looking over the view.

"I never thought I'd be here," Clara said and Alex chuckled.

"Free? Not looking over your shoulder? Not worrying?"

"All the above," Clara whispered. "All I could do with now is a cold glass of white wine."

"I don't think you can have that with the medication you're on," he said to her. "But one day soon."

"I hope so," Clara said, tilting her head back and letting the sun shine over her, warming her face up as the gentle sea breeze blew her hair back. "So what now?"

Alex looked to her as she continued to look to the sea. "What do you want now?" he asked from her.

"I want…" she trailed off for a moment. "I want a holiday. I want to go somewhere warm and forget about the real world for a few weeks."

"I see," Alex said to her.

She turned to look to him. "But I want you to come with me," she said, honesty echoing in her voice. "I want us to go somewhere and just be for a while. I want to know the real Alex…without constant stress…worry…just be us for a while and see if we can…if we can make it work."

Alex said nothing for a moment at her confession.

"That's if you want to," she added on.

Alex chuckled and leant forwards. "I never really knew what I would want, Clara," he admitted to her. "I always thought that I would want Pam. I always had an end game of this all being over and me going back to Pam, but…sitting in that hospital room…I realised that wasn't what I wanted. What I wanted was for you to come back to me and I got that because here you are."

He let out a deep breath.

"Pam is my past," Alex said. "I have history with her and I will always feel things for her. I will always love her fondly…but you…I think that you could be my future, Clara. I love Pam, but I am in love with you…everything about you…and I want you to understand that."

"I do," Clara promised him, "but if you want Pam then I think you should go after her still-"

"-No," Alex interrupted her. "And I am not saying this because I cannot have her or because she might have moved on. I am saying this because I want you and I haven't got what I wanted in a long time, so I am hoping you will let me…let me be with you, Clara."

Nodding her head, Clara seemed to feel tears build up in her eyes. "I want you too."

"Then that's good enough for me," Alex said and moved from his seat and towards her.

He bent down slowly, his hands holding onto her cheeks gently as he kissed her tenderly, knowing he had to be gentle with her. He pulled back after a second, his forehead against hers as they both smiled heartedly for the first time in a while. Alex pushed his fingers through her hair and looked her in the eye.

"I don't deserve you," he said to her.

She shrugged her shoulders playfully. "But you have me," she promised him.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think. One chapter to go!