The crowd goes eerily silent as they witness the shocking scene unfolding before them. Delphine races from the stands, with Pierre, Felix, and Tony following close behind while Marie and Krystal embrace in shock and fear. As the rest of the horses pass the finish line, they're careful to avoid trampling the laid out jockey.
"We need an ambulance," a track official shouts into his walkie-talkie as he leans over Cosima's body and a crowd starts to form around her.
"Move," Delphine yells as she pushes her way through the pack. She gasps when she sees Cosima splayed out on the track. She kneels down next to her and grasps her hand, "Cosima? Cosima, can you hear me? Cosima?"
"Is she dead?" A bystander asks.
"No, she's not dead," Delphine screams as tears pour down her cheeks. She cups the side of Cosima's face gently, "Please, Cosima, open your eyes. Please don't leave me."
"Make way," the paramedics shout as they work their way through the crowd. "Excuse me, miss, you'll have to back away from the patient."
Delphine doesn't budge and the paramedic looks to Pierre for assistance. "Delphine, you need to let them do their job, let them help Cosima." Pierre gently grasps Delphine's arm and helps her to her feet, wrapping his arm around her waist, both to comfort her and keep her upright.
Felix walks to the other side of Delphine and takes her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Delphine looks at him, surprised at his tenderness. "She's going to be fine. I'd say that one's got a pretty thick head. She fell for you, didn't she?"
Delphine laughs at his comment, a laugh that quickly turns to tears as she notices Cosima's glasses lying on the ground. She lets go of Felix's hand and picks up the glasses, wiping off the dust that has accumulated on them with the hem of her shirt. Besides a few light scratches, they remain intact and she clutches them to her heart as she continues to watch the paramedics, who are now securing Cosima's head and neck before placing her on a board.
"Alright, let's get her up," a paramedic says as they lift the board onto a stretcher and begin to load her into the ambulance.
Delphine rushes over, "Can I ride with her?"
"Are you family?"
"Yes, she is," Felix insists from behind.
"Ok, get in."
Delphine turns and hugs Felix before hopping up into the ambulance.
Pierre approaches the vehicle as the doors are closing, "Delphine, we'll meet you at the hospital. Be strong, mon trésor."
Before they leave the track, Felix makes a beeline for Rachel, who is being detained by track officials. "You did that on purpose, you bitch. That girl is worth a million of you. I hope you enjoy retirement, because you're finished."
Tony, who has been calming a frazzled Leda, rushes over to restrain Felix from attacking Rachel further. "Come on, Felix, don't do this. Let them deal with her. Cosima needs us, Delphine needs us, and none of us need you behind bars."
Felix nods and backs off as Rachel is led off the track to boos and angry words from the crowd.
"How's Leda?"
"She's okay, she wasn't hurt. They're taking her to the paddock. Come on we need to get to the hospital."
Delphine holds Cosima's hand in the ambulance as the paramedics work on her. "Why isn't she waking up?"
"She hit her head pretty hard, but she's still breathing."
Delphine lifts Cosima's hand to her lips, giving her knuckles a kiss.
They pull into the E.R., open the doors to the ambulance, and roll the gurney out. "Ma'am, you have to let go now, we need to get her in there."
Delphine nods and leans down towards Cosima, kissing the side of her head tenderly, "You better not die on me."
She lets go of Cosima's hand as they wheel her into the hospital and she's unable to to control the violent sobs that pour out of her as she falls to the ground, wailing. A few minutes later, arms wrap around Delphine from behind.
"It's going to be okay, Del, Cosima's going to be okay," Krystal assures.
"I should have told her," Delphine weeps. "Why didn't I tell her? She might die and there's so much I need to say."
"Shh, shh, sweetie, she's not going to die. You'll be able to tell her anything you need to. Come on, let's go sit inside." Krystal helps Delphine to her feet and they walk into the hospital.
As soon as she sees her daughter enter the waiting room, Marie rushes to her, wrapping her up in a warm embrace. "Oh, mon amour."
"How could this happen?" Delphine weeps to her mother.
"I'll tell you how it happened," Felix interjects, "that psycho bitch, Rachel Duncan."
Delphine immediately angers, pulling out of her mother's embrace, "If Cosima doesn't make it, Rachel better run, because if I get my hands on her, she's dead."
"Delphine, please don't say such things."
"Why not? I'll destroy her life like she's destroyed mine."
"Your life has not been destroyed. Cosima will make it through this and the authorities and racing league will make sure Rachel is punished."
"I hope you're right."
A nurse comes in and informs them that Cosima has been taken into surgery and it's liable to be several hours before they know anything more.
"Then we'll wait," Felix insists as he sits down and begins aimlessly flipping through a magazine.
"I better call Cosima's parents and give them an update," Tony says, as he pulls out his cell and heads outside to phone them.
A while later, Delphine is seated in a chair, curled up in herself, tears staining her cheeks, when Pierre sits down and hands her a cup of coffee.
"Merci," she takes a small sip before gnawing at her lip. "Papa?"
"Yes?"
"What did Cosima say to you to make you change your mind about us that night?"
"She said a lot, far more than I could ever hope to hear from anybody dating my daughter. That girl is crazy about you."
Delphine grins and encourages him to continue.
"She expressed, in no uncertain terms, just how deeply she cares for you. It was quite something. But what really got to me was that she was willing to give all of this up, her job, Leda, the path they were on, to be with you. I realized then that if she was willing to give all of that up for you, how could I not be willing to do the same, how could I not put you first above all else? You, Delphine, are my greatest reward in life. I should always put your happiness first. And I can see how happy you are with Cosima."
"I am. I never expected any of this. I never expected Cosima. We just connected more than I've ever connected with anybody. And, at first, I thought it was just friendship, but I began to feel things that I never expected to feel for a friend, let alone another woman, and I realized this went way beyond friendship. She is everything to me. If she doesn't survive, I don't know what I'll do."
"Don't think that way. She will make it through this. How can she not when she has you waiting for her? Though now I do wish my stupidity had caused Cosima to quit."
"Why would you say that?"
"I can't help but think that if she had quit, walked away from all of this to be with you, she wouldn't be in surgery right now, and you wouldn't be out here terrified of losing her."
"Papa, stop, you know how much she loves riding Leda, there was no way she wasn't going to be out there racing today."
Pierre nods, "I know, but I would do anything to spare you this worry, even be a complete imbécile."
"I'm just glad you're a reformed imbécile," Delphine says as she gives her father a kiss on the cheek and rests her head on his shoulder. They sit quietly for a while, Pierre embracing Delphine as her tears subside.
"Doctor, how is she?" Tony asks, jumping to his feet as the surgeon enters the waiting room, Delphine and Pierre rushing over to join the others.
"She's going to be fine."
"Oh thank god," Delphine exclaims, her hand going to her mouth.
"She hit her head very hard, which resulted in a concussion, but, fortunately, she was wearing a helmet, it definitely saved her life. There was a lot of swelling around her brain, but luckily there was no bleeding and she only has a simple fracture. She's likely to be unconscious for a little while longer, until the swelling subsides."
"No permanent damage?" Felix asks.
"I don't expect any lasting effect."
Delphine breathes a sigh of relief.
"A nurse will be out shortly to inform you when she's been transferred to a room."
"Thank you, doctor," Pierre shakes his hand.
"Hell yeah, Dreads!" Tony whoops. "No way she was going out like that."
Pierre's cellphone rings and he takes the call outside as everyone celebrates with hugs and copious smiles.
Krystal embraces Delphine tightly, "You can tell her everything you need to now."
Delphine nods as she rubs tears of joy from her eyes.
It's nearly 45 minutes before a nurse comes out to speak with them. "Ms. Niehaus has been moved to a room. She's still unconscious, though we expect her to come out of it within the next hour."
"Can she have visitors yet?" Marie asks.
"Yes, but only one at a time."
"Go ahead, Delphine, I'm sure she'd you want you there when she wakes up," Pierre says.
Delphine kisses her father on the cheek, then follows the nurse to Cosima's room. She gasps when she sees Cosima laying in the bed, her head bandaged and tubes coming out of her nose.
The nurse, noting Delphine's distress, pats her hand gently, "Sit next to her, talk to her. It's very comforting for patients to have a familiar presence nearby."
The nurse leaves the room and Delphine pulls a chair up to the side of the bed. She takes Cosima's hand and kisses her palm. "Cosima, it's me, Delphine. You took a pretty bad fall but the doctor says you're going to be fine, you just need to rest and heal. You gave us quite a scare though. When I saw you get thrown off Leda, I swear my heart stopped. I don't think it started ticking again until the doctor came out and said you'd be alright," Delphine wipes at a few stray tears rolling down her own cheek.
"Two months. That's how long we've known each other. Can you believe that? It feels like so much longer, doesn't it? But two months is all it took for me to realize that I've found someone I've been looking for my whole life. And I know at first I fought it, fought you on this, on us, because I was, I don't know, scared, confused. But you didn't give up. Thank god you never give up. On anything. The day we met, I was definitely not expecting you, but there you were. You came crashing headfirst into my life. And I know I was a bit of a bitch to you then, but just because I was being a bitch doesn't mean that I didn't think you were quite possibly the cutest thing I had ever seen. So, while you may have fallen for me that day, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something for you as well. Did I know it was romantic? Absolutely not. But I should have been kinder to you, especially the next day when I found you in my kitchen. I think a part of me was just scared to let you get close. When Krystal insisted you liked me more than as a friend, I wouldn't let myself believe it. And then you actually admitted your feelings and I resisted giving in to mine. I didn't want to fall for you. Not just because you're a woman and what that would mean, but because, quite frankly, I suck at relationships. You are so special and I didn't want to hurt you. But you never gave up on me and then we made those stupid bets. Honestly, though, I knew before the Derby that I wasn't going to be able to resist you much longer. I couldn't stand to see Shay flirting with you and you fed into it like the brat you are. Then you won, you actually won the Kentucky Derby. I don't know if I was happier for you, my father, or myself. Actually, I'm pretty sure I was happiest for myself, which I know is selfish, but I wanted to go on that date with you more than anything, even if I was being stubborn about it. You certainly exceeded all of my expectations on that date. And when we kissed in the gazebo, I knew right then that I never wanted to kiss anybody but you for the rest of my life. As crazy as that sounds, it's true."
"Then you won the Preakness and, instead of talking to the press and celebrating your victory, you wanted to be with me. Do you know how amazing that felt? To be wanted that much? And I wanted you, too, Cosima. The bet was just, I don't know, a way to protect myself, my heart, but I wanted you so badly. I thought about it a lot, what it would be like to be with you that way, but you exceeded all of my expectations." She brings Cosima's hand up to her lips and kisses it. "You are very skilled with these hands of yours. And not just your hands," she whispers into Cosima's ear before kissing her cheek. "We made those crazy bets, which brought us together, but I think it was inevitable, we were inevitable, Cosima. And I realize now that I don't suck at relationships, I've just never been in one that was worth holding onto. Until now. Until you."
"When you told me you loved me before the race and I didn't say it back, I felt horrible. I was just so surprised hearing those words coming out of your mouth at that moment that I couldn't react quick enough. Don't get me wrong, I felt your love way before then, but when the words left your lips, I thought I was going to melt. I don't even know if you meant to say it or if you were just caught up in the moment, the excitement of the race ahead of you, but it meant everything to me. And I am so sorry that I wasted our last moment together before the race not telling you how I feel because, Cosima, there's something I've been working on, something I was planning to play for you when we got home. Something that I think perfectly captures how I feel about you. So, while I may not have my drums with me, I can't go any longer not expressing how I feel."
Delphine leans in close to Cosima and begins singing softly in her ear. "You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. But I look around me and I see it isn't so. Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs. And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know. Cause here I go again. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."
A smile forms on Cosima's lips, "Finally."
Delphine sits back in shock and looks at Cosima's face, "Cosima, you're awake"
"Kinda," Cosima smirks as her eyes open. "It sure took you long enough."
"Long enough for what?"
"Long enough to get through that long ass, but beautiful, speech and tell me you love me. Or sing it, I guess."
Delphine's mouth drops open, "You heard all of that?"
"Yup."
"And you just let me go on and didn't say anything?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Cosima, I am going to ki-"
"Please don't say kill me," Cosima rubs the side of her head, "I feel like somebody already tried to do that."
"Kiss you, I'm going to kiss you." Delphine gently places her lips on Cosima's, who responds with a sleepy, but passionate kiss. "My love," Delphine breathes between kisses.
"Did you really mean everything you said?" Cosima asks.
"Yes, of course, why else would I have said all that?"
"You thought I was unconscious. Would you have said it to me if you thought I was awake?"
"Cosima, I love you when you're knocked unconscious and I love you when you're awake and driving me crazy. I love you more than I thought I would ever love anybody. More than I even thought it was possible to love someone."
"I love you so freakin' much," Cosima responds. "You're why I'm still here."
"What do you mean?"
"In that moment, when I flew off Leda, my life flashed before my eyes, not the past like they say happens, but the future, my future with you. You were tending to the horses, while our two kids followed you around with doctor's bags full of band-aids, and I was teaching biology at the local high school. On the weekends, the four of us would pack a picnic, ride our horses to the park, and feed the ducks. We'd spend hours there, just enjoying being together. And at night, we'd help the kids catch fireflies and then we'd all lay down on the grass and look up at the stars and you'd point out the Big Dipper. The kids would fall asleep and we'd carry them inside and put them to bed. Then you'd carry me to bed and have your way with me."
"Of course I would," Delphine laughs. "That all sounds wonderful."
"It was. But, suddenly, everything went dark and I couldn't feel anything anymore, it was almost as if my body and spirit were disconnected and I was drifting away. Then I heard it."
"Heard what?"
"You. I heard your voice. You were begging me not to leave you. And I swear my heart started beating and the darkness turned to light and there was just an image of your gorgeous face looking down on me. And even though I couldn't respond, couldn't open my eyes, I knew I had to live, that we weren't done yet." Delphine reaches her hand to cup Cosima's face and catches a stray tear rolling down her cheek. "I came back for you."
"I wasn't about to let you go. We've only just begun." She leans in and captures Cosima's lips. As they kiss, Delphine boops Cosima's nose, knocking up against her cannula, "Sorry."
"How sexy do I look with these nose tubes?"
Delphine leans back to get a good look, "Trés sexy."
"Yeah? You down for a little cannula-lingus?" Cosima waggles her eyebrows.
Delphine laughs, "When you're released, we can do all the cannula-lingus you want."
"Nurse," Cosima shouts, "I'm ready to go."
"Cosima," Delphine chastises.
"What?" Cosima asks innocently.
"You're incorrigible," Delphine leans forward and kisses her again.
"Ahem, are we interrupting?" Felix knocks on the door, causing the girls to separate with matching smiles plastered across their lips.
"She just woke up," Delphine announces.
"Yes, and what a wake up that seems to have been," Felix says as he approaches the bed with the rest of the crew following behind.
"They allowed you all to come back here at once?" Delphine asks.
Felix shrugs, "Tony flirted with a strange, Ukrainian woman at the front desk."
"I complimented her hair and she let us all sneak back here," Tony says proudly.
"Who are you people?" Cosima asks with a confused face.
"Don't you know us?" Krystal responds with worry.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember much. Daphne here-"
"Delphine," her girlfriend reminds.
"Sorry. Delphine was just filling me in on my life."
"But when we walked in you were kissing," Felix says skeptically.
"I was trying to jog her memory."
"And when a hot, French chick decides to try and jog your memory like that, you don't object," Cosima grins.
"You've gotta remember me," Tony insists.
Cosima squints as she looks him over with a shake of her head.
"Oh, wait, I have something that might help," Delphine reaches into her pocket and pulls out Cosima's glasses, then places them on her face.
Cosima eyes go wide, "Oh, of course," she laughs, "you're Tony. And Felix, Krystal, Pierre, and Marie. I guess it was my eyesight, not amnesia."
"You're both assholes," Tony curses as Delphine giggles along with Cosima. "But I'm glad you're a living asshole, Dreads"
"So am I," Cosima replies seriously.
"How are you feeling, my dear?" Pierre inquires.
"I have one hell of a headache, but, other than that," she glances at her left hand, which is firmly in Delphine's grasp, "I feel pretty good, actually. How's Leda?"
"Leda is just fine, though I'm sure she's just as worried about you as we have been."
"I'm glad she's ok."
"Um, Cosima, I don't think you're as good as you think you are," Krystal says.
"What do you mean?"
"Your nails," Krystal points, "they're chipped and totally filthy."
Cosima glances at her fingers and laughs, "I guess I'll be coming to you soon for a manicure."
"How about I come to you?"
"Deal," Cosima smiles.
"You scared the you know what out of us."
"I'm sorry, Tone. Oh god, my parents, do they know?"
"Relax, I've been in contact with them. I called after we spoke to the doctor and told them you're going to be fine and that you'd be in touch with them as soon as you can."
"Thanks."
"You should rest, Chérie,"
Cosima shakes her head, "I think I've rested enough. How long was I out. A week?"
"More like a few hours," Felix says with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh," Cosima laughs before suddenly grimacing, "Oh shit!"
"What is it?" Delphine asks worriedly.
"I'm so sorry I lost the race for you guys."
Pierre laughs, "You have nothing to apologize for."
"Yeah, but I remember seeing the finish line, the win was within our grasp and then, bam, lights out. We were so close," she laments.
"Cosima, stop, it's fine."
"No, come on, it sucks. Had this happened and I was at the back of the pack, out of contention, it would have been bad enough, but I was thisclose," she holds up two fingers close together.
"Cosima, you won," Pierre silences her.
"I what?" Cosima looks around at all the smiling faces.
"You were thrown off after Leda's head crossed the finish line. You're the winner."
"I won?!" Everyone nods and Cosima looks at Delphine, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was more concerned with your survival than the race."
"Yeah, but do you realize what this means?"
"What?"
"We're gonna be living together in Ithaca."
Delphine grins, "I was going to let you move in with me even if you came in last."
"Now you tell me?" Cosima throws her arms up in mock disgust, "After I nearly died out there for you?"
"I'm sorry." Delphine grabs her hand and kisses it, "I'll make it up to you."
"Okay, you're forgiven," Cosima smiles before focussing her attention on the Cormiers. "Marie and Pierre?"
"Yes," they respond in unison.
Cosima looks at Delphine, then back up at her parents, "I'm in love with your daughter."
Marie laughs, "We know, sweetheart, believe me, we know."
"And if Delphine playing the same song over and over on the drums all week is any indication, I think she feels the same," Pierre states, causing Delphine to blush.
Cosima taps Delphine on the knee, "Don't think you're off the hook with that, I still expect the full Silly Love Songs performance."
"You'll get it," Delphine promises with a kiss to her lips. "Je t'aime."
"I love you, too," Cosima responds with a huge smile.
"Oh my god," Felix groans. "Cosima, this wasn't a bloody race for love, you just won the triple crown. I think that's a little more exciting."
Cosima looks deeply into Delphine's eyes, "Not to me."