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Summary: Nathan returns safely home from war, only to be injured in a car accident. Will the accident bring his family closer together or tear them apart? Can his friends and family help him to deal with it before its too late? Naley, Brucas

What's Left Of Me
CHAPTER 5

"Five more minutes." I mumbled as the incessant beeping filled my ears. I heard Haley laugh lightly and rolled over to face her. I opened my eyes slowly the surroundings very unfamiliar as I rubbed my eyes to clear them.

"Hey." She whispered lovingly. Finally I realized where I was, the hospital, and that beeping was my monitor. I pulled my self up, having a little more strength than the day before, but still a little tired. I let out a small groan, the pain in my leg intensifying as I shifted around. "You okay?" She questioned worriedly.

I nodded as I finally found a comfortable position and the pain dulled slightly. "Have you been here all night?" I asked. She also shifted in the chair beside my bed, her hand rubbing some of the tension out of the back of her neck.

"I didn't want you to wake up alone." She stated. I shifted my body again towards the side of the bed, and pulled Haley up beside me. I clutched the sheet beside me, waiting for the pain to stop in my leg. Slowly I let out a breath as the pain settled down, and my hand loosened.

I smiled reassuringly at her, trying to ease her worries. "I'm fine." I assured her again. I took her hand in mine, it still fit perfectly. We both sat quietly, each lost in our own thoughts; I was thinking about us. I absentmindedly played with her fingers; just being able to hold her was still a thrill for me. "Did you ever think we'd be here?" I threw out.

"As in the hospital?" She laughed lightly. That's another thing that still makes me heart beat faster; her laugh, her voice. It still held that excitement that it held so many years ago.

I don't know why I was suddenly thinking about all this stuff. Maybe it was because of the accident; people always say things like that open your eyes. So much has changed in our lives since high school, but so much has stayed the same. The most important though is our love; its still as strong as it was back then, she's still the same girl that can make my heart melt by just walking into the room.

"Not exactly." I smiled. "I meant in life. Back when we first started dating, did you think we would end up married and having children?" I could tell my unexpected question had thrown her off a bit by the confused expression now on her features.

She moved up towards me more, our eyes still connected, our faces inches apart. Again she smiled and her eyes lit up. She nodded and said something, but I was too wrapped up in her eyes to listen. I slowly lowered my head until our lips were almost touching; even now, my stomach still had butterflies in it right before we kissed.

She titled her head upwards, our lips gently grazing each other's. At that moment, everything else in the world seemed to stop. The pain that was formerly running through my body subsided, and the steady beeping of the monitor silenced.

Her hand gently moved up my arm, and I actually shivered. I cupped her face in my hand as I pulled her lips harder onto mine. I gently rolled over on top of her, my elbows supporting my weight, the wires ripping off and the monitor reading flat line.

I lowered myself slightly, her body pressing against mine. I slowly moved my lips away; my eyes watching hers slowly flutter open. I stared intensely at her, taking in every inch of her. I couldn't help but wish we weren't at the hospital, but at home, alone. "What?" She bit her lip, a habit she had when she was nervous or worried about something. I shook my head silently telling her not to worry. But she seemed to sense something was on my mind. "Nate, what's wrong?" She questioned. Her hand slowly rubbed the back of my neck, her fingers playing with the short hairs, which caused goose bumps to appear on my skin.

I sighed; sometimes I hated how she could read me so well. "It's just that, after the accident, I wasn't so sure, about us." I stated timidly. "I wasn't sure how you would be." She smiled as I rested my forehead against hers.

"Well…" She smiled playfully. "I know this may hurt your ego, but I didn't marry you just for your looks." I had to laugh at her joke. I should have known that it wouldn't matter.

"Sure." I winked, my famous smirk plastered to my face. "I think I was right about here." I traced her lips with my finger before replacing it with my lips. Again I pulled her closer, my fingers tangling into her soft hair as I pushed hard against her lips. Her tongue slowly traced my bottom lip, and a moan escaped my mouth.

I had really missed this why I was deployed; just being able to reach out whenever I wanted and run my fingers against her skin. And I definitely missed the feeling of her fingers against my skin. Her fingers teasingly traced the outline of my muscles, her hand rubbing against my chest, sending sparks coursing throughout my entire body.

Suddenly the door swung open loudly, doctors rushing in. I broke the kiss quickly, my breath still ragged as I smiled like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. The first doctor grabbed the wires that were ripped off and sighed with frustration. "False alarm?" I managed to say without laughing; both doctors smiled slightly and walked back towards the door.

"You really should be resting Mr. Scott." One doctor offered as he shut the door behind them. I returned my gaze to Haley, smiling as I saw her face. She had her head tilted away from the door, her face a bright red.

"Here." She said holding up the wires that used to be connected to my chest. "We wouldn't want your heart to stop for real." She smiled half jokingly, half not. I laughed at the previous events, her face still a little red.

I grabbed her hand a moved it up to my chest, right above my heart; it was still racing. I smirked down at her again, "Do you really think my heart is going to stop anytime soon?" I moved her hand up, her palm resting against my lips; it was something I always did. It was a way of calming her, telling her not to worry, and it always seemed to work.

I laid a gentle kiss in the middle and slowly pulled her hand away and then closed her hand and held it tightly in mine. This time she raised her head and pressed her lips into mine but I was quick to respond. I took her bottom one between my teeth teasingly and smiled down. Gently, but with all the love I had for her I pushed my lips against hers; slowly the rest of the world fell away and left just us together.