Chapter 265

It was another long night in the TICU. The girls were all stable enough but nobody else got much rest. People were in and out of the room constantly to check on the patients and adjust medication. Stress and worry gnawed on everybody's every thought and emotion.

Sax walked into the room looking fresh and a bit more rested for a change after a couple of hours sleep and a long, hot shower. Her black hair was still damp and finger combed.

"Morning everyone. I just had a look at all three of our patient's overnight stats and things are starting to look up. I think we can wake Sara again and we can wake Kate up. I'm not going to extubate her yet but it should be okay. We've started warming Tegan to a normal temperature. We'll keep monitoring her closely because sometimes hypothermic patients will actually develop a fever, almost as if the body doesn't know to stop trying desperately to heat them" said Sax.

"Who are you waking up first?" asked Kate's dad.

"I'm not sure… right now I'm leaning towards Kate actually. Sara just seemed… I don't know, too stressed out. Kate's not getting any surprises to see Sara in hospital next to her" said Sax.

"Alright… let's give it a go" said Dr Morgan Sr.

"It's going to be a while. I want the nurses to give them each a sponge bath, that always helps patients feel a bit better when they wake up. Go have some breakfast, all of you. There's family showers down the hall if you haven't found them yet" said Sax.

"I don't want to leave her" said Lindsey.

"Linds… it's okay, she's stable. I swear I'll call you if there's any issues" said Sax.

Lindsey sighed and got up. She softly kissed Tegan's cheek.

"I'll be right back baby. You better not get frisky with those nurses giving you a sponge bath" Lindsey joked.

When Lindsey left the ICU with the family she found Beth Logan, Tegan's primary bodyguard in front of the door. Charles their security manager was talking to what looked like a hospital big wig.

"I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria" said Lindsey and turned to Beth.

"Hi… didn't even know you were here" said Lindsey.

"Lindsey… are they okay?" asked Beth looking pale with worry.

"Yeah… they're in ICU but they seem to be holding their own right now" said Lindsey.

"I'm so sorry… I should have been there… I should have been with them" said Beth.

Charles walked up to them and touched Beth's forearm.

"You delivered them right to the door of that plane… and another team would have met them back in LA. That was your job… not making sure the plane didn't crash" said Charles.

"But… I could have helped and…" said Beth close to tears.

"And you could have been dead or badly injured too. You're not superwoman" said Lindsey.

"It's my job to look after them" said Beth dryly.

"It's not your fault Beth… It's not your fault" said Lindsey and took Beth in her arms.

"Shit… they need to be okay" Beth sniffed as Lindsey patted her back. She hated crying, it made her seem weak. The tears rolling down her cheeks were annoying and embarrassing.

"Lindsey… The press is out front" said Alex standing next to his manager and Tom, Tegan and Sara's manager.

"Fuck… how?" said Lindsey breaking the hug.

"I don't know… a plane crashing in the woods is a big deal in this part of the world. We expected that to be covered but their identities… I don't know… must have been leaked" said Tom.

"Any idea how… how... who?" asked Alex.

"Could be anybody really… I'll speak to Dr Sinclair, find out if they used their actual names on blood tests and the like. Right now, anybody is a suspect. I actually expected this to happen so we have a lot of security out front and outside the TICU. Nobody will be bothering any of you Lindsey" said Charles.

Lindsey just nodded looking pale.

"Do you want to send out a statement Lindsey, Alex?" asked Tom.

"No… it's none of their business" snapped Lindsey.

"It's going to turn into a circus if we don't" said Tom.

"It's going to turn into a circus anyway" said Alex and sighed.

"We'll discuss it later. Just… stall them. Give us some time please" said Alex.

"Okay but we really should start…" said Tom before being cut off by Lindsey.

"Just do your job Tom. Write something, we'll look at it later. Right now, I'm exhausted and I'm sick with worry and I really just want to take a fucking shower and force down some breakfast" said Lindsey, her voice growing louder with every word.

"I understand Lindsey. We'll talk later" said Tom.

"Alex… let's go" said Lindsey.

-0-

Lindsey didn't have much to eat. She tried to force something down but gave up after half a slice of toast with jam and some more coffee. She allowed herself the luxury of a quick shower. It made her feel slightly better. Less groggy.

When she stepped next to Tegan's bed she smiled. Tegan looked "straightened up". Her hair wasn't washed but at least it was combed. She glanced up to the temperature readout on Tegan's monitor. It was back to normal. Tegan's hands were freed from their bandages the previous day. They still felt cold, her fingers were puffy and red.

"I'm back sweetheart. You look gooood" she smiled. Tegan didn't move. Lindsey stared at her chest moving up and down slowly in time with the ventilator's hissing.

"I love you… I love you so much. Don't leave me Tegan… please" Lindsey whispered.

A/N: in case you haven't noticed, I reeeally like it when you send feedback!