Watching Andy sleep in a hospital bed gave Sharon the peace for which she hoped. He was safe, but her heart was pounded as it had when he was first taken away into his surgery. She attributed her anxiety to everything that had gone unsaid between them. The few words she exchanged with him before his surgery did not convey anything she truly felt. They didn't express how much he meant to her as a friend, as a lover, as a partner, nor did it communicate the deep emotions his presence in her life evoked in her.

But she promised to wait, and she hoped that was enough.

Andy was only awake briefly after his surgery before the painkillers swept him into a restless slumber. Sharon knew his body needed it to recover from the surgery and the concussion, and she wouldn't dare to wake him. So she kept on waiting, but she couldn't keep calm for a single moment.

"Mom?" Rainie had sneaked into Andy's hospital room without Sharon noticing. "I know this is hard, but I think it's time that you took a break and tried to get some sleep."

Sharon knew her daughter was right. It was past midnight, and she had been awake since early in the morning, but she still felt too energized.

"He's gonna sleep through the night anyway, and you look more exhausted than you feel."

"I want to be here when he wakes up," Sharon replied. I promised.

Rainie sighed deeply and muttered "stubborn" under her breath. Sharon didn't have the energy to care.

"Well, if you're staying here through the night, I'm staying too." The girl grabbed a chair and made a show of dragging it across the floor next to Sharon's.

Sharon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Rainie, you don't have to do –"

Rainie cut her off with the wave of a hand. "Do you think you're the only one who cares about Andy?" Rainie raised one eyebrow and refused to relinquish her mother's gaze. "I'm the one who was with him when he fainted."

"That must have been scary for you," Sharon replied.

"I'm not trying to make it about me, Mom. I'm fine. I'm just glad I was there when it happened," Rainie reached over the armrest, and her fingers interlaced with Sharon's.

"I'm glad you were there too, Rainie. Thank you for responding the way that you did to this emergency."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't be able to look you in the eye if something happened to him."

Sharon could see her daughter's eyes shining with unshed tears. "Honey, why would you –"

Rainie's hold of Sharon's hand tightened. "Because you love him so much, and you would have been devastated if he…"

"Sweetheart, I would never blame you for anything that happened to Andy. You're not responsible for this situation at all. Andy should have reported his symptoms to his doctor and not hidden them." Finally saying the words that have been stuck in the back of her throat for hours allowed fleeting anger to seep through her anxiety.

By the way Rainie bit into her bottom lip, Sharon could tell that she was still holding back her tears. She wrapped her arms around Rainie's shoulders and pulled her close.

"It's stressful to see someone you care about in a life and death situation, and it's okay to cry or feel upset," she said.

Rainie rested her head on Sharon's shoulder and stayed there for a moment before pulling away and taking a deep, cleansing breath.

"You're good?" Sharon asked.

Rainie nodded, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. "You just sounded a bit like Andy."

"I guess he's rubbing off on me." Sharon smiled.

Sharon and Rainie spent most of the night talking, and when Rainie saw that her mother wasn't even going to try to get some sleep, she pulled a deck of Uno cards out of her backpack. Sharon enjoyed the game. It kept her brain alert. She was sure that when the morning came, she wouldn't be able to walk for exhaustion, but she wanted to be there for Andy in case he woke up, even for a second.

Shortly after 4 a.m., Rainie fell asleep in her chair so Sharon took her daughter's denim jacket from the breakfast tray and covered the sleeping girl. She was sure that Rainie's neck and back muscles would be stiff when she woke, but she needed sleep, and Sharon didn't have it in her heart to wake her.

An hour later, when the first morning cast a pale glow on the sterilized room, Sharon began to feel the exhaustion consuming her, too. Her eyelids felt heavy, and a dull ache spread through the muscles of her back from the hours of sitting in the uncomfortable plastic chair. She stood and paced around the room, rolling her shoulders to release the knots that had formed in them over the last forty-eight hours. As Sharon crossed the room for the third time, she heard a throaty hum coming from the bed and rushed to Andy's side just in time to see his eyes fluttering open. His gaze was unfocused, and he looked like he might fall back asleep, but at least she could see his eyes.

"Hey," he murmured, and his lips twitched into a crooked smile.

"Hey," Sharon whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been run over by a truck." Andy struggled to swallow. "Did they get it out?"

"Yes, they did. The doctor said that you're good as new. Well, almost."

"That's good news," he said and lifted his hand to cup her cheek.

As soon as his warm palm touched her face, Sharon felt her eyes filling with tears.

"Babe, why are you crying? Everything's gonna be okay, right?"

She nodded to reassure him. "I'm just happy to talk to you again." She pressed her hand to Andy's. "And I wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"For waiting so long to tell you that I love you, Andy." The ease of the admission surprised Sharon. As long as she'd waited to tell him, she was sure that the words would snag on the lump of fear in her throat, and the potentially paralyzing dread that he didn't love her back.

"I love you too, Sharon. And I'm happy to know it's mutual."

Sharon turned her head into his palm and pressed her lips against the warm skin.

They spent the next few minutes staring into each other's eyes when Andy's eyes began to flutter shut again.

"I don't know what they gave me, but it's making me very sleepy," he said.

"Your body probably needs the rest," Sharon said softly.

"My body also needs your warmth." Despite her protests, he moved in bed to make some room for her.

Sharon climbed onto the bed and laid by his side, gently draping her arm around his chest.

"Goodnight, my love," Andy said.

Sharon's brain registered the words, but the veil of sleep that covered her was too deep for her to conjure a reaction. Now finally calm after she unburdened her heart and nestled at his side, she finally let go and dozed into a deep slumber.

-TBC-