Chapter Fifteen: Accelerated Approval

The months went by like a running snail for Emma as she patiently waited to hear back from the FDA. If they were approved to accelerate then that meant they wouldn't have to wait so long to get approval for the drug. Emma hoped that the review process would move along more quickly then this but knowing the FDA it might be longer than she hoped.

The last couple of months were just her waiting by the phone, training with Steve and Natasha, and biting her nails. Right now, she was passing the time by introducing Steve to Doctor Who. He turned out to actually like it, especially the episode where Jack Harkness was introduced and it was set during the second World War.

"Poor Nancy," Steve muttered as he ate his bowl of ice cream.

Emma knew that Steve would more than likely sympathize with Nancy as he knew what it was like to feel responsible for loosing someone during wartime. They were watching the scene where Nancy was reuniting with her son and the nanogenes were trying to recognize that they were related. When they did, they watched as the Doctor scooped up the young boy in his arms in excitement.

"Just this once, everyone lives!" the Doctor exclaimed.

Emma could have sworn she had seen her grandfather tear up a bit at that part. She was about to ask if he was alright when her phone rang. She picked up her phone when she had seen that it was Bruce and turned to Steve.

"Continue watching without me, Pops, I've seen these episodes about a million times and I probably won't be long," Emma said as she exited the room, answering the phone. "Hey, babe."

She closed the door to her bedroom behind her when she entered and plopped down on her violet covered bed. She loved her comforter set, it was mostly violet with swirls of blue flowers shimmering on the thick covers. They went well with her dark blue walls.

"Hey, honey, are you alone?" Bruce asked.

"I should warn you that, if we're going to be doing phone sex, my grandfather is in the living room and these walls aren't very thick," Emma replied.

"What? Emma, no! Get your head out of the gutter, that's not why I called," Bruce said laughing.

"Sorry not sorry, but I miss you," Emma answered.

"I miss you too," Bruce said softly.

"What are you calling about if not to talk about ravishing me?" Emma asked and Bruce laughed again.

"I called to tell you some good news," he said. "We are now on the fast track to getting approved."

"That is good news. No, great news!" Emma exclaimed, beaming.

"I'm excited too," Bruce said. "Now, we just have to wait six months instead of the ten or more we would have had to wait. Who knows? It could be less than that. I can't wait, not just for other people but for you as well. You and your grandparents really deserve this."

Emma smiled and wondered if she should say the words she had been wanting to say for the past couple of weeks. She paused and bit her lip.

"I love you, Bruce," she said quietly.

The other side of the line went silent for a while and she wondered, for a moment, if he had hung up on her. Maybe he wanted to break it off with her or maybe she said it too soon and that's why he wanted to break up with her. Just then, she heard him clear his throat and her heart jumped in her chest.

"I love you too," Bruce said softly.

A rush of joy shot through her and she was pretty sure she was using every single muscle that she had to smile. Emma and Bruce talked for about ten more minutes then he had to go. Emma walked back into the living room feeling like she had a hangar in her mouth. Steve paused the show when she came in and sat down next to him.

"You look happy," Steve noted in amusement.

"Bruce told me he loves me," Emma said to her grandfather.

"That's so great, I'm so happy for you guys," Steve said and then grinned. "You look very smitten."

"Like a kitten," she replied.

Steve put his arm around his granddaughter and kissed the top of her head. She settled her head on his shoulder and they continued watching Doctor Who together. Emma couldn't be any happier then she was right now and she did not want this feeling to ever end.