Hey guys! Hope you're all doing great.

Ok, so after the heartache that tonight's episode left me, I feel like we deserve some positive Burzek vibes.

Here's to a world in which Kim finally pulls herself together and gives Adam the place that he deserves!

Hope you enjoy the chapter! There's only 2 more to go!!

Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys are the best!!

Happy reading!

Xoxo, Nina


Waking up and seeing her face was bittersweet. I loved the fact that she was there, but I hated to see her so worried and tired.

She was being super protective and made sure to carefully listen to everything the doctor said. The only times she left the room was to get something to drink or to call my family. In fact that's what she was doing right now, talking to Kate over the phone while the nurse was checking on my stats. She seemed nice and kind of reminded me of my aunt Mags.

"Don't mean to intrude. But I think you better hang on to that one." Marla said as she pointed with her head where Kim was.

"Oh, I know Marla." I smiled at the sweet looking lady. "She's a keeper and I'm one lucky fella."

"She never left your side, your friends and family tried to convince her but nothing worked." She came closer to me and began to whisper to my ear. "Rumor has it she had a fight with your doctor because he wouldn't let her stay the night." I couldn't help but smile; everything about the situation was cute, the way Marla was telling me this story pretending to be my accomplice and the way Burgess just couldn't stop being Burgess.

"Yeah, that sounds like her."

"Good morning, Marla. How difficult of a patient is he being today?" Kim greeted as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Kim. Well I think he finally realized he needs to stop being a pain so we can think about discharging him."

"Any news on that?" I interrupted their conversation.

"Not yet, Adam. You need to talk to your doctor about that." I just rolled my eyes to the sound of that statement coming out of Marla's mouth. "I'm going to get your breakfast. If you need anything just call me, ok?"

"Thank you, Marla." Kim thanked her as she walked out of the room. "Your sister and your mom are coming to see you today."

"Oh joy." I was completely sarcastic, the last thing I needed right now was my mom buzzing around me, but I was definitely going to use this in my favor, or in Kim's.

"Do you want me to call her and cancel? I can do that." She said as she began to pull her phone out of her pocket.

"No, no, no, it's fine. In fact maybe you can use that time and go to sleep a little."

"You want me to leave?" She looked at me as if I was hurting her.

"No, never. But I do want you to rest and eat."

"I don't want to go."

"Darlin, look at me." She was looking down, her eyes facing the floor. "Look at me." Her eyes finally met mine. "I'm fine, and I think I'm going to be even better knowing that you are ok too."

"I'm perfectly fine."

"Darlin', you haven't slept properly for days. In fact, you should spend the night at your place."

"Are you out of your mind? You're getting your CT scan today, I wanna be here and I want to hear what your doctor has to say." She was speaking fast and she wasn't even looking at me, she was truly worried and concerned and I thought it was the most adorable thing. "Why are you smiling? This is not funny. You have no idea how scared I was. Gosh, Adam…" She stopped for a second and pushed her hair away from her face in frustration just before she sat down in the chair next to me. "All those hours without knowing what was going to happen to you, the horrible idea of a life without you creeping into my head." I could see the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Hey." I held out my hand and she took it. "Come sit with me for a second." I did my best to scoot over and make some space for her. "I'm so sorry I put you through that."

"It's not your fault." She wiped her tears with her hand, the vulnerability in her voice was melting my heart.

"I'm still sorry that you had to go through all of that, but you don't have to be sacred anymore, ok? I feel much better and although I totally appreciate what you've been doing for me, I think it's time you take care of yourself, too. It's time I take care of you.

"You always take care of me." She said, sobbing a little.

"Then let me do it one more time, and the only way I can do that right now is by having you sleep in a real bed and eat real food."

"I'm not leaving you alone at night, especially today."

"Then you're going to your place when mom and Kate come, and you come at night."

"But…"

"No buts, those are your two options." She sighed at my remark.

"Fine. I'll go home when Kate gets here."

"Thank you."

"Whatever." Kim rolled her eyes like a little girl that wasn't getting away with what she wanted. She slowly laid next to me, trying to lean her head on my shoulder and not hurt me. I moved my head the best I could and kissed the top of her head as my arm did its best to wrap her shoulders.

Although I found her stubbornness totally adorable, I could feel how tense her body was, how upset, worried and stressed this whole situation was making her.

I needed to do something to make her feel better or at least to help her loosen up a bit, so I did the first thing that came to my mind.

"You're just too good to be true" Now, singing wasn't my forte, but I would say I make a pretty decent singer.

"Can't take my eyes off of you"

I couldn't see her face, but something told me that she was beginning to smile a bit. "You'd be like Heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much"

With the little strength I had in my body, I squeezed her closer to me.

"At long last, love has arrived, And I thank God I'm alive."

I stopped to kiss the top of her head.

"You're just too good to be true, Can't take my eyes off of you"

I stopped for a second trying to think.

"Ok, I know there's another part before the chorus but I don't really remember all the lyrics by heart so… I love you baby, and if it's quite alright I need you baby, to warm the lonely night, I love you baby, trust in me when I say."

The volume of my voice increased considerably, making her laugh. Mission accomplished.

"You are such a dork." Hearing her trying to speak while she tried to contain her laughter was one of the many things I was enamoured by.

"But I made you smile."

"You did." Her face reached for mine and she pecked my lips, but she left them there for a while and I was thankful for that contact. "I love you." She finally said when our lips detached.

"I love you too, darlin'."

"Thanks for putting up with all my crap."

"My pleasure." We both chuckled. "Thank you for putting up with mine."

"Any time." Her eyes were locked on mine and for the first time since I woke up I was able to see the spark of joy shining bright in them. That look was all I needed to feel better.

"Here's your breakfast Frankie Valli." Kim and I laughed at Marla's comment.

"Thank you, doll." Marla smiled and looked at Kim.

"Is he always flirty like this? Or should I be flattered?"

Kim chuckled.

"He can't help it, Marla."

"Hey! I'm right here." I protested playfully and got the sweetest kiss in response.

The rest of the day was pretty good, it was nice having my mom and my sister there, but thank god they weren't staying the night because both of them together could get pretty overwhelming. As soon as they left I was able to get some sleep, the pain killers were not only killing pain, but also my ability to stay awake.

The sweet smell of her skin and the gentle touch of her lips against my temple were the best alarm clock I could have asked for.

"Hey handsome."

"Hey, Darlin."

"You're getting your scan now, ok? I'm sorry I had to wake you up. You look like you were having a pretty cool dream."

"I was."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You, me, a beach somewhere, beautiful blue water, fruity drinks in a coconut, you were telling me something about wanting to show me your tan lines." She blushed as she looked around trying to check if any of the nurses heard anything I was saying. "It was the dream if you ask me. We should definitely do something like that."

"It sounds good. We'll start planning once you leave this place." She said with a huge smile, while I just let out a disappointing growl.

"I was kinda hoping we would do other things once I leave this place."

She rolled her eyes before she replied. "Thinking about that already?"

"Um, duhhh." I looked at her as if the answer to her questions was obvious, which it was, and got a beautiful giggle in response.

"We'll get to that when you're fully recovered."

"Hmmmm. I think I need that to fully recover, you know? Like physical therapy." Her giggle turned to a full on laughter making me smile. I took her hand and entwined her fingers with mine, trying to take the conversation to a more serious note. "I would also really like for you to tell me how the reunion was, and maybe talk a little bit about us."

"I'd really like that too."

"Ready Ruzek? We're taking you now." The doctor completely ruined our moment.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Can I go, too?" She asked out of politeness, because I'm sure she really didn't care about what the doctor had to say.

"Would you stay here if I said you couldn't go?" The doctor looked annoyed, but he was having fun with Kim.

"Of course not." Her voice was determined and firm and I was trying to decide if feisty Burgess was my favorite Burgess. What I can say is that my feisty bae gets me all hot and bothered.

"Then let's go." Finally Dr.Hudson had a smile on his face as he showed Kim the way.

The scan was pretty quick, but it was a freaking challenge to stay still inside that metal tube. What was killing me the most was the look of fear in Kim's eyes everytime they were running tests on me. I know this isn't my fault, but having her go through this hurt more than the two wounds currently stitched up in my body.

"Well, the first images don't show any signs of internal damage. We'll wait for further results and keep monitoring you, but if everything continues to run like this it's likely that you'll be discharged tomorrow." Dr. Hudson said very calmly. "I'll let you both rest and will be back tomorrow to check on you." He looked at Burgess before he continued. "Yes, Kim. You can stay." We all chuckled as the doctor exited the room.

"Did you hear that? I'm leaving tomorrow!" I scooted over on my bed and tapped the empty space next to me, inviting Kim to take that place.

"Did you hear that? Dr. Hudson said it's likely." Her head was now in my shoulder and one of her hands was running up and down my chest over my shirt.

"Do you want me to stay here?"

"There's nothing I want more right now than for you to go home. I just don't want you to get your hopes up ahead of time." She said after leaving a soft kiss on my side.

"I know but, since I feel much better, I am considering tomorrow a possibility. Besides, I'm facing a couple of days at desk duty, the least they can give me is the comfort of my own home." Her chuckle made my lips curl up.

"Do you want me to call your dad and let him know?"

"No, I'll text him in a bit."

"Ok." She slowly sat up and jumped off the bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. I'm just gonna sit here so you're more comfortable." I smiled.

"I was just as comfortable with you by my side."

"Stop trying to sweet talk me."

"I'm not. I'm being one hundred percent honest, and on that note I don't think I told you how grateful I am to have you in my life."

"I am too."

I really wanted to talk about the whole moving together thing. I wanted to tell her that even though I wanted to do it, that I really feel we could do it, I don't want to risk what we have, especially pressuring her into something she doesn't want to do. I had to put that out there at some point, but for some reason I didn't feel like this was the right moment or maybe it was but I was still not ready to hear what she had to say about it. So, I just played it safe. For a total of 3 minutes.

"So, tell me about your reunion."

"It was alright."

"Alright? That's it?"

"Seeing my friends was fun, getting drunk was fun, dancing was fun…"

"But?"

"But, and here I'm going to unleash my inner 16 year old, I kinda missed my boyfriend." She scrunched up her nose, matched it with a pouty mouth and then looked down.

"That asshole bailed on you? How dare he? I'm gonna kick his ass as soon as I'm discharged." That made her smile and for now that was enough for me. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I really wanted to go with you."

"I know."

"I also want to apologize for reacting the way I did with the whole moving together thing." So much for playing it safe.

"I get your point, despite it not being what I want or what I had in mind for us." It took a deep breath and a bit of embarrassment to let all of that out. "I just really need to explain what was going through my head. I know that anyone who looks at the situation from the outside might think that I was being a spoiled and stubborn asshole, who just wants everything to work out according to my own expectations. But that's not it at all." I pause for a second, doing my best to organize my thoughts. "I know out of the two of us, you are the one who plans and thinks everything through." I took a deep breath before I continued to talk.

"But Kim, lately I've been thinking a lot about the future. Where I see myself in a couple of years, and in every scenario I picture, my future is you." She didn't say anything, she was just listening attentively to every single word I was saying. "So when you said that you weren't sure about it, I felt like everything I had pictured and hoped for was crumbling down. That's why I left, to think.

And then this happened, and I have hard proof that we are not guaranteed a future. So, as long as we're still together I don't care where we live. If this experience taught me anything, it is probably how important it is to me to have your love and not to take anything for granted."

Her eyes were glassy, I'm sure she was fighting the tears in them.

"Cliché, but so fucking true."

"I learned a lot, too." She said as her beautiful eyes pierced into mine.

"Probably how intense my mom is was one of those things you learned." We chuckled.

"Don't say that. She's cool and I think she liked me." The triumphant look on her face was too good for words to describe.

"She did. Which was a shocker because she never likes anyone I'm dating."

"Yes!" She celebrated like she had just scored the winning touchdown, making me laugh.

"But seriously, when Kev told me you were shot I felt like the floor was pulled right under my feet. I knew what we have was important to me, I knew how lucky I was to have created this bond with you, but in that moment I really understood that, at least for me…" She stopped for a second and looked down, only to look back at me over the top of her eyes, with the sweetest and shiest smile she's ever dedicated to me and a soft giggle to go with it. "We're endgame."

"Hell yeah we are." That was the reassuring comment that she needed to go on. I knew that because now her whole face was looking at me and both her eyes and smile shined like a supernova.

"Babe, you are my future too. My mind has traveled there as well and nothing makes me happier than thinking about a future with you. That being said, I really think you should know that the only reason why I was reluctant to your offer has nothing to do with me thinking it's a bad idea or me not wanting to spend as much time as possible with you. I was actually scared of messing up what we have.

I don't want to ruin this."

"Why would we ruin this? We don't have to mess this up. I mean, I'm sure we'll have our ups and downs when we eventually decide to take that step, but I'm also sure that we can manage to overcome whatever it is that gets thrown at us. I don't want to mess it up either, but when I thought about this, the only idea crossing my mind is that we could have the chance to get this amazing thing that we have and make it even better." I kind of hated the fact that we were having this conversation in a hospital room, I would rather be in my place chilling with a drink as we put all of this out in the open, but this is what we had right now and being able to be honest with ourselves took a huge weight off my chest.

"Do you still think that?"

"Of course. Every word."

"That's good." I raised an eyebrow at her mysteriousness. "This morning I got a call from my landlord because with all that's been going on I never replied to the letter. He basically wanted to know what I wanted to do and…" she trailed off a bit as she played with her fingers and my nerves were jumping up and down my whole body. "I told him I wasn't renewing the lease." I couldn't get any words out of my mouth and she kept on nervously talking to compensate for my lack of comments. This was all I ever wanted to hear, but I did not want her to do this for the wrong reasons.

"So, I really hope your offer is still standing because I don't want to be homeless."

"You won't be homeless, you can always crash at Nicole's." I joked and she sort of forced a chuckle. "I wasn't expecting this."

"I should have run this by you before." She scratched her head nervously. "I thought you wanted this."

"Baby, I definitely do, but are you sure you want it too? Or is this scenario influencing your decision?" I asked as my finger moved around the air signaling the bandages on my body. "I don't want you to do this because you feel bad for me or because you're scared something might happen to me."

"I'm not gonna lie to you, I am scared shitless of something happening to you, and this 'scenario', as you call it, had an impact on me. Mostly because it gave me a whole new perspective on things. I can't live my life running away from everything that scares me, I can't hide in my comfort zone forever. I want to live with you just as much as you do, I want to enjoy every second we get to spend together, goofing around, cuddling, having a beer, making out." We both smiled at that. "And when you get into my nerves because you're too messy or because it takes forever for you to leave the house, then I'll just go for a walk in the park to cool off." The smile on my face had a life of its own.

"So you have it all figured out already?" I asked with that permanent smirk still on my lips.

"Well, I had a lot of time to think while you were out."

"Didn't really think that I was gonna say this, but I'm really glad I got shot." She rolled her eyes, she wasn't really humored by the comment. "It was a shitty moment that brought something good out of it."

"Ok, I can agree on that." She looked around the room, her nervousness was sweet and her smile was glorious. "So we're really doing this?"

"You bet we are!"

"In that case, you better get well soon. We have a bunch of stuff to move and we have to decide which furniture we're keeping and what we need to buy. Which bed do you want? Mine or yours?" It was like Kim was having some sort of verbal diarrhea. She wanted to have everything solved already. She was excited, just as I was, and seeing her like that was damn cute.

"Babe, relax." I said with a smile on my face "Mind coming closer to me so I can kiss the hell out of you?"

She didn't speak, she only stood up and took the few steps that were keeping us apart. Her fingertips brushed the hair falling on my forehead just before she leant in to press her lips on mine. My hands cupped her face and my mouth was desperate to devour her and judging by the way her body responded, she was as desperate as I was.

"We're gonna need to stop now, or I'll end up jumping your bones and your doctor will have the perfect excuse to kick me out."

"Over my dead body." My hands never left her face and my lips crashed hers one more time. "Can't wait to be out of this place and have 'let's move in together' sex." The comment made her laugh, but pain killers were doing their thing one more time and that statement was sealed with a massive yawn that made Kim laugh one more time.

"Let's call it a night, hopefully this is the last one here." She kissed me one more time and went back to the armchair she was sitting on and dimmed down the lights. "Good night Ruzek. Love you."

"Love you too, Burgess."