A/N: No, you're not imagining it. I'm updating this fic!
A/N2: Thank you to Alza for reading these last two chapters through for me and encouraging me to post them prompimmundo :-)
A/N3: Thank you everyone who has read this fic since I started it back in July 2005 (eek!). I apologise for the delay in finishing it, but, here now are the concluding chapters. I hope they're worth the wait :-)

Chapter 12

Gil stood outside his mother's hospital room, watching through the window as a nurse checked on her condition and made notes on her chart. He held a cup of coffee in his hand, but, with the persistent churning his stomach was going through, he had no intention of drinking it. Going to the machine had just been something to do: Stretching his legs, and concentrating his thoughts on something else for a few minutes. He felt so helpless just sitting by the bed, a mere spectator as others ensured his mother was comfortable and well looked after. Occasionally he would adjust the blankets on the bed, making sure she was warm. He couldn't even talk to her as he knew family were often encouraged to do with unconscious patients. He did so anyway though, holding her hand against his neck so she would feel the vibrations and know he was there, trying to communicate.

He was vaguely aware of footsteps approaching, and then even more aware that they had stopped. Sensing eyes on him, he glanced to his right ready to politely acknowledge whichever member of the medical staff it was.

He blinked and looked back again, his mind flashing to the day of his operation, when he had been as sure as he was now that the person standing in front of him was an apparition.

"Hi," she spoke quietly.

He turned his body to face her, realising after several seconds that he was just staring at her as if she had suddenly sprouted horns. "Er… hi," he muttered, eventually finding his voice.

"I got your message when I got back to the lab," she stated, and he registered the nervousness in her eyes.

He nodded once. "I tried your cell, but…"

"I forgot to pick it up when I left for the airport… Lindsey and Andrew have gone back to New York."

"Ah." That explained why she had been there. And why she had looked so disappointed in him.

"How's your mother?" she asked.

Instinctively he looked back through the window, and in his peripheral vision, he saw Catherine step up beside him. "She's still unconscious. They'll know more about her condition when she wakes up… How's Lindsey?"

"She's pregnant."

His head whipped round to face her, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't you dare call me Grandma!" she warned with a smile.

He laughed a little and grinned mischievously. "Oh there'll be plenty of time for that."

He watched her carefully, hoping she would read the deeper meaning to his words, the promise that he would be in her life in the future. She met his eyes and smiled, and he knew they were going to be okay.

"Thank you," he told her, "For being here."

Echoing her actions all those years ago, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He returned the embrace, holding her close to him with his free hand, and relaxed into the feeling of no longer being alone to deal with this.

"You should be advised," she whispered to him after a minute or so of silence, "That some of the hospital staff may think I'm your wife… They're very strict here aren't they, on who they let through to see their patients?"

He chuckled briefly, completely unsurprised that Catherine would just blatantly lie in order to get in. "If anyone asks, I'll keep up the charade," he promised her.

"Thanks." He felt her nod against his shoulder. "I'd hate to be escorted out by those well-toned security men I saw on the way in."

He laughed again and held her even tighter, so grateful that she was there with him. "I'm sorry, Cath," he whispered.

"Not now."

"But I need you to know – "

"I do… And I'm sorry too… But all that's for another time and place. All that matters now is that your Mom gets well." She pulled back from him and looked up at his face. "Should we go join her?"

He nodded. "She'll be glad you're here. She likes you."

"It's been a long time since I last saw her," Catherine reminded him as he held the door open for her and she walked past him into the room.

"You've not changed," he smiled. "Although, as soon as she wakes up we should tell her you're going to be a Grandma. She'll find that very amusing."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she sat down on the chair she had pulled up to position beside his. "Laugh all you like," she retorted. "Seeing as I'm your wife, that makes you a Grandfather!"

"Oh that'll definitely amuse her," he laughed, sitting down and taking his mother's hand in his, gently raising it to his neck. "Hey, Mom," he said, "Catherine's come to visit…"

TBC…