by Asvpgabbie

Robert watched, dead to the world as search and rescue pulled his wife, no, his unconscious wife out of the burning building. He watched silently, in shock really, as they brought her stretcher over to the aid car and began to take off her helmet and mask.

"Captain? Captain! Robert!"Maya yelled shaking him more aggressively than when she first started.

"Hmm," he replied, his eyes not leaving his wife who was off in the distance.

"Go." she said

"What?" he questioned softly

"Go. I'll handle this. Go make sure my best friend, make sure your wife is alive, please," she pleaded with him.

His eyes left Andy's body for one second to look at Maya to get confirmation that he heard her correctly, before he ran over to Andy and watched as they put the oxygen mask on her although she was still unconscious. He grabbed onto her hand holding it tight, using his other hand to brush her still curled hair out of her face. Looking at her he could still see the remnants of eyeshadow that she couldn't get off her face fast enough while they were on their way to the fire. The remnants of an evening that was supposed to go perfectly; they were supposed to have fun with the team. Instead, here she was, laying in front of him unconscious with smudged makeup and soot all over her face.

"Come on Andy, you can't leave me now. Not when things are starting to go uphill in our lives. We are supposed to grow old and wrinkled together. I can't lose you. I wouldn't survive," he whispered to her, as he sat in the back of the aid car.

"Robert...Babe...Robert!" Andy broke him out of his trance. "Can you hold this bag open for me? I would but," she finished her sentence by raising her wrist that was in a brace.

"Andy, are you sure you are ready to go home? I'm sure Miranda would be okay with letting you stay a couple more days," Robert tried to bargain with his wife while holding the bag. It had been a week since the accident and Robert was still on edge.

"Robert, I am fine. I'm ready to go home. We are in the middle of a pandemic, I'm sure they need the beds," she replied, packing away the last of the clothes Maya and Vic had insisted on bringing her every day.

"But Andy I-,"

"Robert, please." she cut him off, "I just want to go home and sleep in our bed, eat your food, and enjoy your company without the beeping of various machines," she continued.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Let's go home."

Andy silently thanked Dr. Shepherd for keeping her in the hospital for a week, which meant one less week to be stuck at home doing nothing because of her concussion. She was a little more excited than most to go home and spend some time with her husband now that they were happy. Laying in the hospital bed late at night had given her some time to think, which she was grateful for.

"Babe?" Robert called out from their upstairs bedroom

"Yes?" she responded from the couch in their living room

"I have to go to the station to fill out some paperwork, will you be okay by yourself for a few hours?" he asked, slipping his jacket on as he walked down the stairs

"Yes, Babe. I have a concussion and a sprained wrist, I think I can manage," she replied with a soft smile.

"I know, I know I just want you to be okay," he said, placing his forearms on the back of the sofa so he could lean on it. "I love you Andrea." Robert leaned closer to give her a kiss

"I love you too, Robert," Andy laughed, meeting him halfway and wrapping her arm around his neck to pull him closer.

"If you don't stop now, I will never leave," Robert mumbled against her lip.

"Okay, okay. Go," she said letting go, watching as he grabbed his keys from the dish they kept by the door. "Wait!" she called out as he reached for the front door. Robert turned to look at her. "One more," she said, stretching her arms out for him to come to her. Robert laughed as he walked back over to her quickly giving her another kiss and a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you," he said, his head peeking between the door.

"I love you more, be safe," she called out to him as he closed the door.

Andy slumped back against the couch. "Now what?" she said out loud. She reached out to the coffee table and grabbed her phone. She scrolled through her social media for a little before getting tired of all the posts about the pandemic. She opened her contacts and scrolled through, her finger hovered over her cousin Michelle's number and after some slight contemplation she clicked on it.

After a long conversation with her cousin, having to explain why she was not at work and talk her out of driving her entire family over to stay with her, Andy finally gained the strength to get up and take a shower. It was still a little difficult for her to stand for long periods of time, so Robert would usually draw baths for her. She wanted to try to take a quick shower to get out of the clothes she had been in since the afternoon before. Showering was not as easy as she thought, having almost lost her balance twice, but she was able to get clean and walk back into their bedroom to get clothes.

Dressed in her bra and underwear, Andy stood in front of the large dresser that the two shared. She looked between her side and Robert's trying to decide if she should just wear her clothes or steal some of his. She knew he liked to make a big fuss when she would wear his sweaters but she knew deep down he secretly loved seeing her in his clothes. Andy quickly grabbed some clothes, got dressed, and put the brace back onto her wrist. She slowly walked down the stairs and got back on the couch grabbing her book and covering herself in the wool blanket her dad had gotten her for Christmas a few years ago.

A few hours must've passed because before she knew it it was dark out. She picked up her phone to call Robert to see where he was when she heard the door unlock. She quickly fixed herself under the blanket.

"Welcome home," she said with a smile

Robert let out a soft chuckle, "Thank you,"

"Lots of paperwork, huh? I bet you love being Captain again," Andy teased resting her chin on the back of the sofa

"Ha Ha Ha, very funny Andrea," Robert said, pecking her on the lips. "How are you doing? Did you eat?"

"I'm good. I took a shower and then I had something, I wasn't really too hungry."

"Okay. If you say so," Robert said, moving over to the kitchen to put his water bottle in the sink. He turned around to look at his wife who was reading on the couch, he caught a glimpse of her feet sticking out from under the blanket.

"Andy?" he called

"Hmm?" she hummed in acknowledgment.

"Are those my socks?" he asked folding his arms over his chest

"Yes..." she replied innocently.

"Babe you literally have like 1,000 socks. They take up two drawers," Robert exclaimed

"I know..."

Robert cocked his eyebrow awaiting an explanation. Without saying a word Andy peeled the blanket off from her body and quietly stood up showing her husband her entire outfit. Robert doubled over, holding his stomach in laughter. He could not remember the last time he laughed that hard.

"Don't laugh," Andy said, trying to put on a stern expression but failing miserably.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry, but I can't. You are standing in front of me with my socks which are way too big for your tiny feet. My sweatpants which I'm sure your entire body could fit into one leg and my hoodie which fits you like a dress. It's adorable. God, I love you so much. I'm so happy you are okay," he said, hugging her, pulling her tight into his chest, burying his head in her hair, and taking a moment to inhale her scent.

One Week Later

Andy had been having some trouble sleeping recently. She wasn't sure if it was because Robert had gone back to work, or if it was because she was almost fully healed and she would have to go back soon. She turned over in bed, tossing and turning, fluffing her pillow trying to get into a comfortable sleeping position.

"Having trouble?" Robert asked his eyes never leaving the words on the page of the book he was reading.

"Yes, actually. I can't sleep," she huffed, moving to sit up.

"Do you want me to get you some warm milk?" he asked teasingly.

"Very funny Robert, but I am being serious," she whined.

Robert, not looking up from the book, reached over and picked up another book from his nightstand, handing it to Andy

Andy sighed, "Can you read to me?"

"Of course, come here," he said opening one of his arms so Andy could find her spot between his arm and his chest. Andy moved quickly snuggling close, resting her head on his chest.

"She had arrived before dawn, and watched as the light came up but the sun remained hidden..." Robert started to read the book aloud. It didn't take much with the soothing sound of his voice and the lull of his heartbeat to put Andy into a peaceful sleep. Robert's head turned when he heard a light snore come from his wife. Closing the book he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

One Week Later

It was Andy's last day at home before going back to work and she decided to use the day to catch up on some sleep since she hadn't been sleeping well the week before. When Robert got home from work and saw that she was still fast asleep he decided that it would be the perfect time to set his plan into motion. He quietly tiptoed into their shared bedroom making his way to the closet. He opened the door to Andy's side and quickly and quietly searched for the dress she wore on New Year Eve. He wanted so bad for her to be able to associate a good memory with this dress, and he was going to make that happen tonight. He hung the semi-long black silk dress with a curved v-cut on the bathroom door, getting a piece of paper and writing a quick note.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," he wrote sarcastically, knowing good and well it won't be morning when his wife woke up. "Put on this dress, get all dolled up, and meet me downstairs when you are finished. Love, your patiently waiting husband," He hung the note onto the dress, quickly set an alarm to wake Andy up so she wouldn't sleep all night, and took his suit out of the closet deciding to forgo the tie he originally planned on wearing. He grabbed his computer from the small home office they had along with the charger. He changed quickly and went down to the living room to set everything up.

Setting up the laptop front and center, he grabbed two plastic champagne flutes he got from the dollar store on his way home a couple of days ago. After speaking in length to who advised that Andy not consume alcohol, he bought some sparkling apple cider so they could experience the full effect without getting drunk. He had some confetti on the coffee table he got from a party supply store; the worker looked at him weird when he went in asking for all the New Year's themed party supplies they had. He couldn't blame the poor worker who had to search for almost an hour in the back of the store, New Year's was three weeks ago.

While he was turning on the computer, he heard the alarm he had set for Andy go off, indicating that she will be up and ready soon. He knew she wouldn't put on too much makeup or do too much to her hair since her wrist was still a little sore, so he wasn't surprised when 20 minutes later he heard the soft click of her heels on the floor above him. He grabbed the bunch of roses he had sitting in the fridge to keep them fresh and ran to the bottom of the stairs.

When she emerged from around the corner they both couldn't help but look at each other and just smile. Andy was smiling so wide her cheeks began to burn.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," she teased giving Robert a kiss.

"Good Morning," he replied. "These are for you," he said handing her the flowers.

"Why, thank you, kind sir," she said while smelling the fresh roses. It wasn't until after she admired the roses that she looked up at the living room. There was so much for her to take in. She saw the "Champagne", the confetti, the fake disco ball, and then her eyes settled on the computer which was playing the New Year's Eve live stream from three weeks ago.

"Robert," Andy breathed out, she was flabbergasted. "Robert, what's all this?" she asked looking up at him for some form of an explanation.

"Well, we didn't get the New Year's we had intended on getting so I figured with you going back to work tomorrow now would be the perfect time to celebrate New Year's and new beginnings," he wrapped his arm around his wife, drawing her into his side.

"Robert this is amazing. I love this. Thank you so much," she said giving him another kiss.

"I also figured we can do new year's resolutions. I can give you some time to think of yours," he said.

"No. it's okay I have mine already."

"Okay great, you can go first then," he said handing her a glass of sparkling cider.

"Okay, well, the first thing on my resolution list is to be happy, because if 2020 has shown me anything it is that the world can be crazy, and the universe can throw things our way, but I want to learn to look on the bright side of everything. The second thing is I want to be more understanding towards you, your wants, and your needs. I think I'm getting better but I still know I need to try harder. And lastly, I want us to have fun together, this year has been difficult for everyone but I think it's okay to say for us especially, and I want us to have fun, we deserve it. Okay, our turn."

"Wow. I don't know if I can follow that. I only have one thing on my resolution and that is to fall more in love with you every day if that's even possible. I love you Andy, and I cannot wait to grow old with you,"

"...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year America"

The couple looked at each other and shared a look full of love, passion, and everything in-between. They pulled each other into a deep kiss.

"I love you, Robert Sullivan."

"And I love you, Andrea Herrera."