Waverly stared out the small window on the hospital door, silently watching as Nicole talked with Wynonna. Her heart beat started picking up pace, causing her to wince at the small pain, when she couldn't read the words on Nicole's lips. Is she mad at me? Will she ever want to talk to me again? The doctor said I have cracked ribs from someone performing CPR... Was it Nicole who brought me back? All those questions and more flooded Waverly's train-of-thought as she continued looking out the window.
When Wynonna finally left the view of the window, Waverly knew it was time to face this fear and talk to Nicole about everything. And she meant everything. Waverly was going to tell Nicole about the mysterious history that surrounded her last name. She would tell Nicole about the night Willa and Daddy were taken from her life, along with a fraction of her sanity. But most importantly, Waverly was finally ready to tell someone about that night Champ took everything from her before she tried to return the favor.
The door knob turned slowly, opening the door a fraction of the way, enough so Waverly could hear more things than were just in her room. Waverly heard the sharp intake of a breath coming from Nicole before watching as the door opened the rest of the way. Tears started to build up in Waverly's eyes when she could see the full extent of how Nicole was doing. The Officer's hair frizzed out in several different directions while dried tears were painted down her cheeks. Nicole's shirt held different areas of rusting brown stains, along with a few spots on her pants.
However, Waverly wasn't the only person trying to adjust to the condition of the other person in the room. Once Nicole had stepped into the room and shut the door, she turned around to fully comprehend what Waverly looked like. Just as Wynonna said, her skin was a bright shade of red and slightly swollen. Waverly's arms were bandaged with white gauze, standing out in great contrast to her skin tone. So many wires... Nicole's eyes followed all the wires and small tubes running from a machine to Waverly, who look beautifully innocent in the hospital bed.
"Waverly... I..." Nicole couldn't find the words desperately trying to escape her throat. All she wanted to do was run over to the girl in the hospital bed and hold her tight. Nicole wanted to feel Waverly's heart beat, worried this all might be a dream. She wanted to run her fingers through Waverly's long / soft hair before gently capturing the other girl's lips in an emotion kiss. But her feet wouldn't move.
"Nicole... I am so sorry about all of this... Things have been extremely stressful for me lately and when I got home I started having a large panic attack. When I got inside, everything made the anxiety in my heart amplify and I needed a way for it all to stop. You probably hate me now, which I understand. But Nicole-"
"Waverly, baby, please take a breath before you pass out from rambling," Nicole said softly as her feet started working again. Moving carefully across the distance from the door to Waverly, Nicole dropped her coat to the ground. She watched as Waverly moved over in the bed, wincing in pain with each small movement, before Waverly motioned for Nicole to sit down with her.
Waverly had seen this action in romance movies and television shows, always wanting someone to love her enough to where they would sit down in the hospital bed with them. So when Nicole gently sat down on the bed, taking off her shoes before putting her feet up on the bed, Waverly couldn't help but allow a smile to appear on her lips. Before Nicole had the chance to say another word, Waverly buried herself into the Officer's side, gripping onto part of her shirt as though it was the last thing keeping her alive.
Before hesitating any longer, Waverly softly spoke as she began to explain everything to Nicole. Not moving once to look into the Officer's eyes, Waverly fought against the anxiety of the memories in order to tell Nicole about her past. Nicole didn't move, trying to understand every word coming from Waverly, finally piecing all the puzzle pieces together. Nicole felt her heart break each time Waverly had to pause and compose herself, understanding the horrifying feeling certain memories could cause.
A full thirty minutes passed before Waverly finished telling Nicole about her complicated history. Then another five minutes flew by before either one of the women said a word. Waverly had been trying to prepare herself for any and all possible responses, some of them more painful than others. Nicole, on the other hand, was trying to connect the words in her head without hurting Waverly anymore than she was.
"Waverly, I... I have no idea where to even begin right now. For you to have to go through all of that alone, whether it was because you pushed yourself away or others distanced themselves... it just hurts me knowing everything you went through before I could be in the picture to help. And I didn't even notice all the signs of... this... you were giving off," Nicole started explaining. When she felt Waverly's hand gently touch her cheek, Nicole closed her eyes and leaned into the embrace.
Wiping away one of the stray tears gliding down Nicole's face, Waverly offered her an innocent smile. Nicole gave back the same small smile before leaning forward so their foreheads were touching. For a moment, while sitting with Nicole in a comfortable silence, Waverly forgot all the hardships she had ever faced in life. She listened carefully to each breath Nicole took in, each sigh in relief Nicole let out, and each thud from her heart. Waverly finally felt as though someone saw her as just Waverly.
"We really need to talk more about this, but I am having a hard time keeping my lips off yours," Waverly breathed out, breaking the silence. Nicole lightly laughed at Waverly's comment while shifting in the hospital bed to where she could see the other woman better. For the first time since Nicole saw Waverly in Shorty's, Nicole saw the sparkle Waverly had in her eyes.
"Who says you have too," Nicole replied silently as a smirk formed on her lips. Waverly mimicked Nicole's smirk while her hands made their way to the back of Nicole's neck. Gently pulling the Officer closer, Waverly allowed her eyes to flutter closed while the space between them closed. Nicole, however, kept her eyes open until the last possible moment, enjoying the sight of Waverly in front of her.
When their lips finally connected (after what felt like an eternity), Nicole quietly hummed against Waverly. Waverly responded by smiling against Nicole's lips, her hands still gently clasped around her neck. She loved how well their lips seemed to fit together, in both a physical and emotional sense. Every time Waverly would kiss Nicole, even if just for a second, fireworks erupted in her stomach before exploding again in her head.
As time passed, the kiss remained as emotional as it had been when they started it. Nicole's hands ended up running gently through Waverly's hair, occasionally getting caught in tangles. Neither woman noticed the door slowly opening to reveal Wynonna standing in the door way with two coffees, a bag of chips, and a package of Twizzlers in her hands. Looking up, Wynonna's mouth dropped open at the sight of her baby sister and Officer Haughtpants making out in the hospital bed.
"Not what I expected to see! Haughtpants! Come get your coffee and Twizzlers before I through them at your head!"
Author's Note: That is a wrap on this story! I hope you all enjoyed it as it was a really fun project for me these past couple of days. Please let me know what you liked or what you didn't like about this and I will use it for future reference. Also, feel free to give me suggestions for future pieces! Until next time, I hope everyone has an amazing life.