As soon as Spencer pulled back, she said, "I know this is hard for you, Ash. I know you're not ready to, but eventually you're going to tell me what drove you to it and you know I'm going to listen. I know it must've been terribly hard for you to come back knowing what you left behind. I know I'm not the only one who was hurt in this whole ordeal, and I've spent the last three years wishing for nothing more than you being by my side.

I know that this is going to take time, and I'm willing to make the effort ten times over, because that's how much I love you. I want to learn all of the things I've missed out on. Mostly, I need you. I need for you to be here for me right now."

"I'm not going anywhere, Spence. I don't even want to think about losing you again," Ashley replied quietly. "I don't know how you can still read me so well...I just can't believe I'm laying in this bed, in this house, with you. I'm wondering if I'm still in a coma," the brunette added with a small smile.

"Yeah, maybe I was hit by a car and I'm in a coma, too," Spencer joked. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

------

"Sie fängt schließlich an, Niveau vier auf den Rancho Los Freunden Skala, Dr. Pfaff zu erreichen," the young, dark-skinned male nurse spoke.

"Gut, Arbeit mit ihr, rufe ich den Sprachetherapeuten an und informiere sie," the doctor, a tall man of normal build with graying hair and a matching beard, replied.

"W-wha...what?" Ashley spoke, severely confused of her surroundings.

The doctor nodded to the nurse as he left the room and the much younger man came and softly sat on the edge of the brunette's bed. "My name is Jake Ridick, Amanda. I've been assigned as your new nurse. You may not understand this, but you've recently awoken from a medically-induced coma. Dr. Pfaff would personally explain this to you, but he's extremely busy right now."

Ashley struggled to speak or move as best she could. She was irritated that half of his words made no sense to her and she was consistently confused by her surroundings.

"Sit back, relax, Amanda," the man said in his English accent. "Currently, you're at what we call the 'confused-agitated' state. Medically, on the the Rancho Los Amigos scale, you're at four. You're in a heightened state of activity and may be severely confused, disoriented, and unaware of present events. I know this doesn't make much sense, but you were in a pretty bad car accident."

------

"Can I see your scars?" Spencer asked timidly.

"Yeah, of course," Ashley replied. She sat up and parted her hair so the blonde could see the line of raised skin along her scalp. "They had to cut out a piece of my skull to help with the swelling. Thankfully, the hair grew back," the brunette said with a chuckle. "And this," Ashley said as she pushed her shirt sleeve up, "is where they put the steel rod into my arm. Broke the humerus in two places. They put a rod in there and screwed it to the bone. I fractured my clavicle too, I don't think I mentioned that earlier."

Ashley then stood and pulled her pants down a bit to show off the scar on her upper left thigh. Spencer was momentarily distracted by her black boy shorts but as soon as Ashley chuckled, Spencer cast her eyes over to observe the faded pink line. "This," Ashley said, pointing to the long scar, "is where they put the rod along the femur to reconnect the broken pieces. Thank God I didn't shatter my pelvis."

The brunette then pulled her jeans back up and crawled back onto the bed. She laid beside the blonde and held her hands up. "And these wonderful little things," Ashley said, referring to the scars that lined her wrists, "are where they reconstructed my wrists."

"Sounds like fun," Spencer replied sarcastically.

"Anything but," the brunette replied.

"I wish I could have been there for you."

"As much as I would have loved that, babe," Ashley replied, "I didn't want you to see me like that. I was fucking pathetic."

"It's still not something anyone wants to go through alone," Spencer responded.

-----

"You broke quite a few things, Ms. Musgrave, and you're still recovering, but we're going to have you up and running in no time," Jake said with a smile. Just then, a woman who appeared in her mid-forties entered the room and Jake moved from his spot on the bed to check Ashley's fluids and stats.

"Amanda, I'm Dr. Dagmar Flanagan, your speech therapist," the middle-aged woman said with a soft German accent.

Ashley simply nodded.

"Your recovery is going to be a long road, Ms. Musgrave," Dr. Flanagan said. "But we have an experienced and knowledgeable staff in this hospital and we're going to take care of you. I have another patient waiting, so I will return later to see where you stand as of right now."

Dr. Flanagan then turned to Jake and said, "Herr Ridick, stellen dich sicher, um diese junge Dame sorgfältig zu sprechen, kann ihr Verhalten seltsam und nicht angebracht werden, wie du weißt."

"Selbstverständlich Doktor," the nurse replied.

-----

"It was just more motivation to get better, baby. The sooner I was completely better, the sooner I got to see you," Ashley stated. "I wasn't completely alone, either."

Spencer's face fell slightly.

"Whoa, no, not like that. I meant my nurse, my very male nurse, Jake, got me through it. He was a good friend...nothing more; I told him all about you," Ashley proudly beamed. "He said he'll come to the states one of these days so he can meet the famous Spencer himself."

"Good," Spencer simply replied. "Are you hungry? When was the last time you ate?"

"God, this morning?" Ashley replied. She picked up her phone and noted the time was nearly one in the morning.

"Same for me," Spencer replied.

"Do you want a sandwich? I'll make you your favorite," Ashley said with a large smile. "Fridge still stocked with all your favorites?"

"Yes, and that sounds wonderful, Ash," Spencer said with a matching wide smile.

"Everything where it used to be?" Ashley asked as she ambled out of the bed.

"Of course," Spencer replied.