A/N: Thank you all for reading. Again, I'm trying to be as realistic in this as I can, but we can discuss that at the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck
I'm okay, just a long hard day. No one died, which I'm thankful for. Sorry I didn't stop by, but I'm exhausted and have a shift in twelve hours. See you soon, Chuck.
Chuck looked down at the text and scoffed. It had been three days and he hadn't seen her, but he knew it wasn't her fault. There were a lot of patients that needed her, after the huge wreck. He had hardly seen Ellie in those three days.
He had been back to the hospital twice for multiple tests, but he hadn't seen Zondra either of those times. She, too, was busy from the accident. Casey told him that was part of what happened from time to time, when you dated a doctor… well, it was when Casey was speaking to him. Chuck had told Casey that he had someone staying with him after the second night, and Casey, wanting to see Gertrude, had believed him. Chuck had spent the second night by himself.
Chuck had lied, and didn't even feel bad about it. Lots of people with epilepsy lived by themselves, and if that was what he had, Chuck had to prepare himself for such a future. Casey was currently driving him back to the hospital, for more tests. Chuck didn't know what was being scheduled today, but took it in stride.
Casey led Chuck to a part of the hospital Chuck wasn't familiar with. He showed Chuck into a room, told him to sit, and walked to the door. An evil smile on Casey's face when he left had Chuck was wondering what was next. Obviously, Casey couldn't be too upset if he left Chuck alone in what seemed to be an isolated part of the hospital. A few seconds later the door opened, and Chuck raised his head from writing in his notebook.
"Sarah," he said happily. The smile fell off his face, as he saw the look on hers.
"I thought you were smart," Sarah began. Chuck's eyes widened. He had never seen Sarah like this before. Well, not this Sarah. He had seen dream Sarah like this, usually when she was yelling at him about staying in the car. He remembered how it felt when he realized that the only reason she had done it was because… she cared. He then realized what he had done. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"Is that rhetorical?" Chuck blurted out before he could stop himself. Her frown deepened. "Look, I didn't mean to worry you, or anyone else, but I can't destroy Casey's life. He's trying to move forward after what happened to him. People live alone that have epilepsy."
"They do," she agreed, and then leaned close, their noses inches apart. "After their doctor figures out exactly what type of medicine they need, and has a plan in place," she said in a very low voice. Chuck found he was a little terrified, a little turned on, and felt a lot sick for making her worry.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I thought… I thought people were overreacting, because of my mom and dad and their bullshit. I worried that I was letting people tell me what to do, because of the dream."
Sarah backed away. She studied him a second, sat down beside him, and took his hand. "You scared the shit out of me, Chuck," she told him. "I just found you, you nerd." Chuck felt awful for scaring her. "I like you, Chuck, and I want a chance to get to know you. I can't do that, if you're dead, or in another coma."
"Seemed to do a pretty good job last time I was in one," he quipped. "Sorry, sounded like a good ice breaker in my head."
"If I wasn't so pissed, I would have laughed," Sarah admitted.
"I'm really sorry, I wasn't trying to hurt you," Chuck replied. "I'm just… shit, Sarah, before the accident I was a mess over Carina and what I thought was love. I was so damn lost, and I poured myself into my work. I met those kids in the oncology ward, and that depressed me. Then Carina moved on with my best friend, and it wasn't a bro code violation or anything, it was just… I didn't mean to her what she meant to me."
Sarah was listening intently. She didn't say anything when he finished. He could tell she was thinking. "So, do you think you were depressed?"
"Maybe," Chuck said with a shrug. "I mean, I will tell you the truth… I feel better now than I did at any time since…" he trailed off, thinking.
"Since you and Carina broke up?" Sarah offered.
"No," Chuck said, shaking his head. "It was before that." He was silent for a second. "My whole life, my mom and dad… they wanted me to… be someone I'm not." Sarah nodded for him to continue. "When I went against them, and did what I wanted to do, they sort of resented me. I might even go so far as to say…bullied."
"Jesus," Sarah said softly. "That's… cruel."
"Yeah," Chuck agreed. He went to run his hand through his hair, a habit he had picked up when he was frustrated, and the stubble on his head reminded him of what he had gone through. "So, we're having this party for the company, a Hey, we did it thing. We had become one of the biggest games around, and we were celebrating that."
Chuck was quiet a second, and Sarah squeezed his hand. "I promised I wouldn't ask you to keep going, but I think we may be on the verge of figuring some things out, health-wise." Chuck nodded. "But take your time, okay?"
Chuck blew out a breath. "So, two of our employees have started a comic book, and it's doing really well. It's called Jeffster." Chuck snorted a laugh. "It's about these two… God, how do I even describe them? They are basically insane, and they have their own eighties cover band. They are the heroes of the comic, and they are fighting against Alexi Volkoff, who's appearance is based on Hartley Winterbottom, the man who gave me the seed money to start the company."
"Okay," Sarah said, not sure where this was going.
"So, everyone was at the party, and my parents knew Hartley – that's how I first met him – and eventually went to him with a start-up plan for the company," Chuck continued. "I waved at him at the party, and started to go talk to him, when I heard my mom say, 'You know, you should really thank your father and I for convincing Hartley to put up the seed money.'"
Sarah watched him close his eyes. She wanted to go find Mary and shake her. Why would she do this to her son? She shook her head. The reasons why some parents act the way they do was something she wasn't sure she'd ever understand. "Chuck," she began.
"Let me get it all out," he said, his voice breaking. She let go of his hand, put that arm around his shoulder, and took his hand into her other hand. "Thank you."
"I told you I liked you," she teased.
He gave her a weak smile. "So, I went over to Hartley, thinking mom was just being… well, mom."
"I was going with evil, but mom works," Sarah replied. Chuck gave her a look, and she shrugged. "Sorry, she questioned my abilities when you were in the coma."
"I don't," Chuck told her. She didn't know why those words made her so warm. That was a lie; she did, but right now was about understanding why Chuck had a seizure, not about the rest of her life. "Hartley finally admitted, after some encouragement from me, that my parents did help persuade him to invest in the company."
"Okay, but you made it a success," Sarah told him.
"I did," Chuck replied. "But I wanted to do it on my own."
"I get that," Sarah told him. "I do."
"So, you said this could have something to do with me having a seizure?"
"It could," Sarah told him. "Listen, I need to go talk to Zondra, and together look at your test results. I will come see you as soon as possible, but I need you to have someone stay with you at night until we figure this out. Okay?"
"I promise," Chuck told her.
She nodded. "Good."
"You know, something good did come out of this," Chuck said a bit shyly. "Your acting like this shows me you care, and I'm not projecting something from her." He cleared his throat and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Sarah."
She kissed him on the cheek, started to rise, turned, and pulled him up. She wrapped her arms around him. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
"The problem is, this hug I'm receiving is kind of an incentive to do it again," Chuck admitted. She pulled back and gave him a look. "How about every time you see me, and I have done what you told me to, I get a hug like this?"
"You get rewarded for doing what you're supposed to do?" Sarah asked. Chuck winced, making her laugh.
"Okay, Dr. Sarah Walker," he said softly. "You're right." The look she gave him on the one hand scared him, and on the other hand, turned him on. A lot. "Uh, Sarah?"
"I'm going to go, because I have to work, and if I stay here any longer…" Sarah trailed off.
"I'm not sure if I want you to stay, or go," Chuck admitted, making both of them laugh. She kissed him on the cheek again. "Text me when you get a free moment."
"Listen, you owe me a meal."
"I can even make it breakfast," Chuck told her. She raised an eyebrow at that. Chuck realized how that sounded. "Wait, I meant that if you work a late shift, and need to eat before going to bed… alone, I mean… Jesus, I'm going to shut up before I get both of my feet in my mouth."
"Thank you, Chuck," she said softly. With that, she turned and left.
A few seconds later, Casey poked his head in the room. "Turn around for me."
"Why?" Chuck asked.
"I wanna see how much of your ass she chewed off," Casey told him, a bit gleefully.
}o{
She had texted Chuck last night, asking him if Casey was staying with him. He told her no, but he had gotten someone else to do it. She wanted to go over there and check, but she was absolutely exhausted. Chuck had an appointment with Zondra for the next morning, and she had texted Casey, telling him she would take Chuck to the appointment.
Sarah was hopeful for what Chuck would find out. She knew what she thought, she knew what Ellie thought, and that's why neither could be Chuck's doctor. They wanted him to be okay, but the truth was, Chuck could have epilepsy. In fact, if he did, there was a chance it was a rare kind.
It was one thing to operate on him to save his life when his brain was swelling. It was another to have to interpret data, and not put her own bias on it. She pulled up to his house, parked the car, and sat for a moment. Today was a big day, and she was going to be there for him. He deserved it. She couldn't lie, she wanted to be there for him. She did like Chuck Bartowski, a lot.
Sarah got out of the car, and walked over to the door. She paused, took a deep breath, and knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened. "Hey, Chuck," she began, but realized it wasn't Chuck.
"Come on in, Sarah," Carina said, wearing an overshirt, and possibly nothing else. Her hair looked wild, like she had had a night. "Chuck begged me to stay with him." Carina turned and headed inside. "He said if I didn't, you'd kick his ass."
Sarah didn't have the heart to tell Carina she might kick his ass anyway.
A/N: I know, this is the part I usually give you a tease. Is next chapter done, yes? Is the one after that…..kinda. And there-in lies the problem. I have written, re-written, and re-re-written it, and some of it is just technical. One pre-reader says leave it, the other thinks it's a little boring. So, here's the deal, I have stopped working on everything, trying to fix it. Should I, a) just let it go, and you know it's going to be a wee bit boring and get on with it and every other story, OR, b) keep reworking it. I honestly at this point am not sure what to do. Let me know if you would. Take care, and thanks as always for reading.
