Chapter 24

The nurse ushered Sara and Lincoln into the small hospital room. Michael was laid out in the middle room adjourned in the traditional hospital gown with a bandage wrapped around his head.

"Excuse me." Sara said to the nurse who was checking Michael's vitals "Why's his head wrapped up? I don't remember any head injuries."

"The doctor found a cut on his head with some minor swelling. Most likely happened when he hit the floor. Nothing serious." the nurse replied not looking up from her patient.

She scribbled some notes on his chart and quickly left the room.

Lincoln walked over to the chair in the corner of the room and dropped the large duffel bag of Michael's stuff into it. He turned back around and walked up to the side of Michael's bed.

"I'll give you guys some privacy." Sara said quickly standing up and exiting the room.

Lincoln looked back down at his little brother.

"Hey bro. Look I know things lately have really sucked and if I were you I probably wouldn't have anything left to fight for anymore either. But the doc's here. She's outside waiting to see you. I don't know what happened before she came here, but I know that right now she's a mess and you're the only thing that can fix that. Maybe when you wake up you can give her this..." Lincoln reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box "I found it when I was packing your bag. Sara's here and my guess is she's not planning on leaving anytime soon, so as soon as you wake up you guys can fix everything." Lincoln walked over to the bag and put the ring safely inside. "I'm not much for the touchy final words thing so I'm just going to go now and let Sara come in here and talk to you. Love you Mike." he finished and walked towards the door.

He stepped outside to see Sara leaning on the wall right outside the door. Her eyes were puffy and she had tear streaks down her cheeks, he could tell she had been crying.

"Hey." he greeted her.

"Hi." she replied not looking at him.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." she rapidly wiped her eyes trying to rid herself of any evidence of her breakdown while Lincoln had been in Michael's room.

"Alright, well I'm done now so you can go in and..."

"I can't go in there." Sara interrupted.

"What'd you mean you can't go in there? He already thinks you abandoned him once and if you don't go in there than he'll think you left again and he really won't have a reason to fight." Lincoln yelled.

"I'm just...scared. What if he dies?" Sara asked with a shaky voice.

"Would you rather him die knowing you weren't there?" Lincoln lowered his voice. "Do you want to go through life asking yourself what if?"

She knew he was right; she had to tell him how she felt before it was too late.

"Thanks Lincoln" she said getting up and making her way towards the door.

"Sure thing Doc."

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The room was quiet; the only sound was the steady beeping of the heart monitor hooked up to Michael.

Sara sat down into the chair next to his bed. He looked so peaceful, like he was sleeping.

"Michael, its Sara. I don't even know if you can here me, but there are something's I need to tell you. So I'll talk and you can listen." Sara took a deep breath. "Before I met you I drifted through life not really living but functioning. The worst part is that I didn't even realize it. But then I met you and it's like I was alive for the first time in years. Then you left and I was numb again. I tried so hard to get that feeling back. I was so angry that I tried to find someone else to prove that to myself that I didn't need you to be happy. Then I met Mark and he was so much like you that I thought I could be happy again. But even before I found out what a psycho he was I knew he could never make me feel half the way I feel when I'm with you. Everyday that went by, even when I was mad at you; I wanted to be with you. But like you said I was too stubborn to try and do anything about it."

Sara gently took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers together.

"I know that I hurt and I'm so sorry, leaving you was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. But you should know that I lied when I told you I didn't love you. The truth is that I have loved you since the first day I saw you and everyday since then. Michael, you're one of the strongest people I know. Please hang in there; if not for me than for Lincoln and LJ, they need you. I need you. I can't lose you, not again, because if it weren't for you I never would have known what love was and I plan on spending the rest of my life making up for the time we never spent together. So as soon as you wake up we'll be able to start the rest of our lives together."

She brought their hands up and placed a gentle kiss on his palm.

"But until then I'm not going anywhere; I promise."

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Sara still clutched Michael's hand tightly in hers as she slept.

She woke with a start when the warning bell on Michael's heart monitor went off. The nurses and doctor came rushing in.

"You need to leave ma'am." the nurse told a panicked Sara.

"Michael!" she yelled as they pulled her out of the room.

She watched from the door as the nurses tried to resuscitate him. Lincoln came rushing up behind her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Michael just flat lined." she informed him not taking her eyes off the doctor as he worked.

One of the nurses walked up to the door and closed it blocking them from seeing anymore.

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Sara and Lincoln sat in the waiting room waiting for the news on Michael's condition.

They bolted out of their seats as soon as the doctor walked in.

"What happened?" Lincoln asked impatiently.

"The wound on his head was more serious than we originally thought. The gash on his head became infected and caused some brain-swelling to occur. It caused a blockage in his brain that caused his heart to stop. We managed to catch to remove the blockage and get his heart started again. He's going into surgery right now to relieve some of the swelling."

"Why the hell didn't you guys catch this sooner?" Lincoln raged tightening his fists at his sides.

"It didn't show up in the scanner and the bullet wound prevented us from doing any further tests."

"How long should the surgery take?" Lincoln asked calming down a bit.

"About an hour and a half. It's a fairly minor surgery and I don't foresee any complications."

"Other than the swelling how is everything else?" Sara piped in.

"There's been a major improvement in the last few hours. I can't explain how but his body seems to be healing itself."

The doctor excused himself and rushed into the next room.

"Michael's going to be okay!" Sara said to Lincoln with a huge smile.

"I heard; that's great."

"I wonder how he improved so quickly in a matter of a few hours. Medically it doesn't make any sense."

"I think I have a pretty good idea."