A week later

"Well look at you" said Jill entering the physical therapy room where Cameron was just finishing up.

Cam grinned from ear to ear.

"Hey sis. Take me for a walk in the garden to cool down?" Cam asked slowly pulling a robe over her hospital gown.

"Sure, hop in" said Jill pointing at a wheelchair.

"I can walk" said Cam.

Jill looked at the physio questioningly. "You had quite enough exercise for one day. Maybe we'll try some more walking tomorrow. You ride now. Don't be too long, she needs to get some rest"

"Yes ma'am" said Jill. Cameron didn't complain, she just sat down with a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"You know you're only what, eleven days post op? You shouldn't push it"

"Hey you're the one pushing" Cam joked pointing at the chair. Jill parked the wheelchair outside next to a bench on the lawn and sat down.

"Had a long talk to my cardiologist earlier today. He said I'm doing great. No sign of rejection at all. Cardiac output is excellent. Said if I stick to the rehab I'll be good as new in no time" said Cameron smiling.

"That's great Cam. I'm so proud of you"

"Said I should be able to get back to work in three to four months and then maybe get back to real work in six to eight months"

"Work… as in special ops? Cam I don't think that…"

"Jill, this new heart is amazing. I won't risk anything, believe me! But if I can go back I want to. He's not going to sign off on anything if I'm not hundred percent ready, you know that. They'll probably let me ride the desk for quite a while anyway"

"I know, I just don't want you messing up this heart"

"I won't, trust me" Cam smiled and put her hand on her chest.

Jill couldn't get over how great Cam looked compared to a two weeks ago when she was on the verge of death.

"I can breathe again… it's amazing. I'll never take that for granted again" Cam laughed.

"So, when's he releasing you into Cardiac rehab?" asked Jill.

"Soon, couple of days he said. Said they need to keep me on the monitors a day or two more. Meanwhile I'm bored to tears in here" said Cam rolling her eyes.

"Well, never fear, I brought you a couple of magazines and a new PlayStation game" said Jill taking a couple of magazines out of her bag. She put them on Cam's lap. Cam picked one up.

"Oh, I'm sure the Kardashians' love lives are going to keep me…." she trailed off as she looked at the cover.

"Cam? You okay?" asked Jill. Cameron was suddenly white as a sheet, her hand shaking slightly. She stared at the cover without moving.

"Cameron?" Jill said again.

"Lindsey? Oh my God" said Cameron starting to hyperventilate.

"Cameron take it easy" said Jill immediately worried.

"What happened? When did this happen?" said Cam looking distraught.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jill.

Cameron pointed at the cover which had a picture of Tegan and Lindsey with the headline "Tegan Quin's wife killed in tragic accident"

"Oh… did you know her?"

"Yes… she was my friend" said Cameron burying her face in her hands.

"Just take a few deep breaths please or I'm taking you to the ER!" said Jill suddenly very worried.

Cameron was still shaking but she took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry Cam. She was in a car accident apparently. I don't know the details I just saw it on the internet"

"Oh god… nooo" said Cameron and started sobbing.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know you knew her"

"We just recently became friends. She was… really… special"

"It's okay… shhhhh"

"I need to send some flowers or something. They probably thought I'm an asshole for not even coming to the funeral"

"You mean…. She… they didn't know, about your medical condition?"

Cameron stayed quiet for a few seconds. "No they didn't"

"Why not? Jeez Cam"

"Look they went through a hell of a lot. Tegan and two of their closest friends almost died in that plane crash and the months after was absolute hell. I didn't want to burden them with another fucking illness okay" Cam snapped.

"But if they're your friends Cam…"

"They're not really… as I said we just recently became friends alright… more like acquaintances" Cam shook her head looking shell-shocked.

"Tegan must be completely devastated… fuck" said Cam in tears.

"Let's get you back to bed. You shouldn't get yourself worked up"

-0-

Tegan sat on her own watching the kids play as Sara and Kate made lunch. She looked up at Sara walking out of the house talking on the phone.

"Um… yeah I'll talk to Tegan and Kate and get back to you…. No I don't know when… I don't care, stall them. Thanks, bye"

"Who was that?" asked Kate wiping her hands on a dishcloth as she came out of the house.

"I'll tell you in a sec, Tegan, come over here we need to talk" said Sara.

"What's up" said Tegan sighing as she sat down. For the last week she hadn't had much sleep and was exhausted and still extremely emotionally fragile.

"That was our lawyer"

"Fucking A" Tegan sighed annoyed.

"They made another offer to settle"

"I thought we told them we don't want to settle after the last offer" said Kate.

"Yeah but this is big… apparently our team found out that there's evidence pointing to clear negligence. They seem to admit that they were at fault, they just don't want weeks in a courtroom and in the papers. They just more than doubled their offer"

"Holy crap" said Tegan. "That's a shitload of money"

"Yeah well we had a shitload of injuries didn't we? And they broke our Junos" said Sara.

Tegan burst out laughing for the first time in ages. "They broke our Junos" she repeated trying to catch her breath.

"So, what are they offering?" asked Kate calm as ever.

"$45 million between the three of us. An undisclosed amount for the families of the deceased but apparently it's big. They'll also be settling all our legal and medical bills including transport costs and stuff. However, Beverly says we can probably get more if we go to court" said Sara and swallowed hard.

Tegan and Kate didn't say anything at first. A minute later Tegan spoke.

"I think we take it. I'm sick of drama in my life. I don't want to be in court for weeks, photographed… pestered. I want this over. The fuckers will pay… a lot. This is enough" said Tegan.

"I agree. We all need to let go of this and move on" said Kate.

"They want the settlement to be confidential" said Sara.

"Nooo problem there! I've been in the tabloids more than enough this month" said Tegan.

"Okay good, I'll get her to bring over the papers tomorrow" said Sara.

"That's a lot of money" said Tegan.

"And we have a lot of good causes to spend it on" said Sara.

"Guess we don't have to worry about the college funds anymore. Oh and I need a new phone. Fucked mine up this morning when I threw it against the wall" said Tegan matter-of-factly.

"I think you'll be able to afford a new phone Tegan" Sara laughed.

"Hey Sar… Now that you'll be rich and all… does that mean that you won't want to be in a band with me anymore?"

"Oh Teetee… that only means that we'll be able to run this band and our schedule the way WE want to. I'll always want to be in a band with you. It's the most fun thing in the world" said Sara and hugged Tegan.

"You know… I'd personally pay double what they're offering to have never gone through that" said Kate gazing into the distance.

"Yeah, me too" Tegan snorted.