Carmen was drumming her fingers impatiently against the counter. She looked at her watch: 3:56.

She had been waiting by the reception for over an hour and still no word on Shane. They were rushed in on the same ambulance but separated off in different rooms. After they had cleaned up a few scratches on her arm, she had been trying to see Shane. She had no idea what shape Shane was in.

She didn't know whether she was still allowed to be pissed at her anymore, half of her wanted to be, the other half was praying to God that she was okay. This time yesterday, she wouldn't dare dreaming of being in the same building as Shane, let alone talking to her.

For almost a year she had thought nothing but bad thoughts for Shane. Several times she had hoped that she would get her hair shaved in her sleep during one of her drunken fiascos, or wake up in the middle of nowhere with no clothes or even have an insane rodent problem at wax. But now it all just seemed petty and irrelevant, since the only thing Carmen wanted right now was to see Shane walk out in one piece, with that goofball grin that made her go weak in the knees every time making her feel like a love struck teenager all over again.

But who was she kidding? She was far from angry at her, as much as she tried to stay angry, it was practically impossible. After today's events she was 99.8 per cent sure that she was in love with her again, and 122 per cent sure that she had never really stopped loving her. It just took one hell of a day for her to realize.

The accident had happened so fast, and it was hard to take it all in. One minute she was in front of the car, next thing, she wasn't. Shane had had saved her life, and risked her own at the same time. Wow. This had to mean something right? Carmen started to pace in front of the reception desk. Should she take her back? Could she trust her? She definitely wanted to, that's for sure. Actually, there were many things she wanted to do to Shane at the moment; strangle her, yell at her, hug her, and kiss her.

Oh God this is so fucked up.

"Miss Morales?"

Carmen's head suddenly shot up and she rushed towards the young doctor,

"Is she okay??"

"She is in a stable condition. There was no internal bleeding or damage to the head so that's good…Some of her ribs are bruised, but with no severe damage to the ribcage or spinal cord itself. Her left leg is broken, but we've in the process of getting a cast ready for her. Other than a few more cuts and bruises, she's in a stable condition. In other words Miss Morales, she is fine. And might I add, very lucky considering the circumstances, very lucky indeed."

Carmen let out a sigh of relief.

"Can I see her?"

"Sure, she's in room A02. She's just resting at the minute. I'll come back later to let you know if we'll need her to stay overnight."

"Thanks"

She rushed past him through the doors and walked along the corridor reading the room numbers as she went by,

A07, A06, A05, A04,

She felt butterflies in her stomach,

A03…

And took a deep breath.

A02.

She looked through the square window in the door and saw Shane there asleep. She pushed the door open and walked in, the steady beeping of the heart monitor and Shane's light breathing were the only sounds in the room. Shane had a fist-shaped bruise on her cheek and a small cut on her lip and her knuckles were bandaged. Carmen lightly put her hand over Shane's. Her skin was warm to the touch, and immediately it sent electric shivers down Carmen's spine.

Shane's eyes slowly opened and moved her hand and held onto Carmen's. Carmen sat on the edge of the bed next to Shane and smiled as Shane flashed a strained smile at her.

"Hey you" whispered Carmen. Carmen's eyes shone with tears as she felt the sudden burst of butterflies in her stomach, and had to resist the urge to jump onto her.

"Hi" Shane managed to croak back,

"You're crazy sometimes, you know that?" Carmen said smiling, gently nudging Shane's arm.

Shane smirked, then looked seriously at Carmen and cleared her throat,

"Carmen, listen, I'm sorry for everyth-" she was silenced by Carmen's finger against her lips,

"Ssh.. Not now, you need to rest." She moved a strand of stray hair that was across Shane's eyes, "Alice is at home bringing you a change of clothes, but I'll be here."

Shane looked at Carmen, still aware that she had a hold of her hand, and pursed her lips anxiously. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.

Sure, whenever she moved, it felt like a thousand paper cuts, but who cares? She didn't. She was holding her hand again. It was all worth it.

"Thankyou"

Shane brought Carmen's hand up to her mouth and kissed it lightly. This was definitely a risk, but hell, Carmen wouldn't slap her in this condition would she.

Carmen let go of Shane's hand and Shane, suddenly embarrassed, regretted her action for a second. Just a second.

Carmen slowly lifted Shane's chin up, then leant in and kissed her lips. Their taste of Carmen's lips sent Shane's mind through a whirlwind. Shane hungrily kissed her back and Carmen responded the same. All the time they had spent apart that past year seemed to disappear in that one kiss. It's all in the kiss, so they say.

Carmen pulled away and smiled, biting her lip

"You're welcome"

Shane smirked,

"You tease"