A/N- Happy Monday! Another close call on updating, but at least it happened :)). I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.
Disclaimer- Same as always. I don't own the show or the characters from the show. This does come from my imagination. I don't profit from this.
Third POV:
After a week and a half of daily Physical Therapy and better food, Emily grows strong enough for the doctors to release her. She waits in her room for her papers to be processed. Her doctor had gone over everything Emily would need to know. She would get to go home, as long she has someone to help her around. She would need to go to a few more sessions with the Doctor Richards, continue seeing her psychiatrists, much to Emily's dismay, and would be on a few medications for blood pressure problems, anxiety and the remaining infections. Emily glances toward the door, where Nolan had exited earlier to take a call. When he arrived earlier today, he had brought her a pair of fleece pants, one of his hoodies, and boots. According to Arrayah, who's with Aiden while Emily is being discharged, it's been snowing "elves and reindeer", and so Emily is dressed in warm clothes to go home. Remembering Arrayah's mentioning of elves reminds Emily she will have to do Christmas shopping soon; she wants it to be memorable. Emily is already sketching out a plan in her head when Nolan walks in again. He sits on the bed next to her and takes her hand. Emily wants to pull away, but the feeling of his warm hand incasing her smaller hand, now bruised hand from IV's, reminds her of a time when they were first seeing each other: safety. Nolan taps her hand with a finger and she looks at him.
"You okay?" He asks with the sincerity that she is all too familiar with him showing. No matter how mean she was to Nolan, at the end of the day, he would be the kindest and most caring human being out there.
Emily breathes in and breathes out, "Yah, I'm just exhausted." It's not a full lie; she is tired of sitting in this hospital. She doesn't want to voice her concerns to Nolan.
Nolan buys her little lie, "Well, don't worry. Once your home, Ray and I will pamper you to oblivion, and you won't be woken up in the middle of the night to be stuck by a needle or have to make convo with a nurse. Unless you want to talk in the middle of the night, then I'll be at your side." Emily can see the blush on Nolan's cheeks as he rambles, and smiles; Nolan still has his little quirky traits after all this time.
"Thanks, Nolan, for everything." Emily hugs him and a nurse comes in with a wheelchair. Nolan helps Emily in the chair and grabs her crutches. They make it down to the bottom floor and the nurse rolls Emily out to Nolan's car. Once she is situated, Nolan begins the drive home.
"Arrayah wasn't exaggerating how cold it was." Emily laughs, her teeth chattering. Nolan reaches behind him without looking back and grabs a blanket from the backseat.
"Ray likes to sleep after therapy, so I keep this blanket back there to keep her warm. Plus, if my car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and there's a blizzard, I'm at least protected a little bit." Nolan explains. They pick up her prescriptions and make small talk until they arrive at his apartment building. He helps Emily to the door, making sure she didn't slip on the snowy ground, and gives the keys to the valet. They get into the elevator and end up having to ride it with his nosy neighbor, Mrs. Yeates. She is an older socialite who has been married four times, moving onto husband number five-and-twenty-years-younger in March, and has some claim to a throne in a place no-one's heard of. She's the neighbor who is in everyone's business and has to know everything about everyone. It's amazing he kept Arrayah for a secret for the time he had her in hiding.
"Nolan, so great to see you!" She greets in an unbearable high voice that would make dogs howl, "I know you! You and Nolan were going steady for a while a few years ago! Emily, is it?" She really did know everything.
"Yes, my name is Emily." She smiles kindly and gives a pointed look at Nolan, "And you're Phoebe Yeates, correct?"
"Why yes, I'm so glad you remembered!" Mrs. Yeates gushes, "Whatever happened to you? I thought Nolan here was getting ready to drop to his knees for your hand in marriage."
"I went away to find myself, confront my past and such." Emily lies smoothly. Mrs. Yeates seems to believe her, "What happened to your leg, if you don't mind my asking."
"I was in a car accident, I'm thankful it was just my leg, and not my spine." The way Emily is coming up with these stories on the spot amazes Nolan, even though it shouldn't; Emily has always been good in these scenarios, and she is as creative as they come. Nolan can't help but imagine that in another life, one without Graysons and evil plots, Emily may have been an actress, maybe on Broadway, or she may have been one of those detectives that went undercover a lot.
"Oh, you poor thing." Mrs. Yeates says, with a pitiful tone that sounded very similar to a cat's wail.
"It happens. I'm kinda glad it happened, I wouldn't have been reunited with Nolan if it hadn't happened." Emily casts a believable loving look at Nolan.
"You two are too cute. I'm sorry, this is my stop. It was so nice talking to you, maybe you can come down for tea and we can continue this." Mrs. Yeates says to Emily and turns to Nolan, "Take care of her, Nolan, she seems like a keeper." She gets of the elevator, and both Emily and Nolan sag in relief.
"Kudos on the stories." Nolan says, throwing his arm playfully around Emily's shoulders.
"Thanks you." Emily says quietly and pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth, "What she said about proposing, was it true?" One side of Emily hopes desperately that it was true, and the other side is screaming and praying it wasn't.
Nolan sees the inner battle going on in Emily's head, "I wasn't planning on proposing. We had only been together for a short while, but I knew where my feeling stood."
"Where do they stand?" Emily asks, wanting to know what state their… whatever stood in. The bell of the elevator dings, and saves Nolan from professing to Emily his true feelings, "I'll get back to you on that. Right now, we have to get you inside so you can eat, take your meds, and nap." He ushers Emily inside his apartment after he unlocks it. He is quick to make her a sandwich with a side of chips. Emily sits on a stool and leans her crutches against the counter. Nolan sets the plate in front of her, with a glass of water and a rainbow of pills.
"I left the anxiety pill out, unless you really want it." He mentions and takes a bite of his own sandwich.
"Thanks, Nolan." Emily bows her head and nibbles at her sandwich. After she eats the whole plate for Nolan's sake, she takes her pills. When she stands up, Nolan hovers around her like a nervous service dog, waiting to assist in anyway. Emily manages to hobble to the couch and looks at Nolan for permission.
"Go ahead Emily, what's mine is yours." Emily can't help but stiffen a bit as she sits down, randomly hearing Dwayne's voice, "You're mine now." She can still hear the maniacal laugh and smell his fowl, smoky breath on her face.
"Did I say something wrong?" Nolan asks, concern and plops down next to her, throwing a comforting arm around her. Emily doesn't lean into him, but doesn't pull away, so Nolan keeps him arm in place.
"No, it's fine." Emily sighs, rubbing her hands over her eyes.
"Emily, when you say it's fine, you typically aren't." Nolan starts rubbing her arm gently, trying to coax out her feelings.
"It was nothing, I promise Nolan. If it was serious I would tell you." Emily says sincerely. Nolan doesn't believe her, but lets it be, "Okay, you should sleep, but not on the couch." He helps Emily up and leads her to his room and Emily starts to feel nauseous at the thought of being in a bedroom, alone, with a man. She knows Nolan isn't like that, but some old feelings are like a roach, near impossible to kill. She hopes she can shed them so one day she can wake up next to Nolan, bathed in sunlight and happiness. He leads her to his bed and she notices Bonnie the Bunny sitting proudly in the middle of the bed. He moves the bunny to the nightstand and pulls the blankets back. Emily looks unsure of it, but she is in no position to run away. She lightly sits on the bed.
"I guess I can leave you to nap. Just yell if you need anything." Nolan says awkwardly, wanting to plant a kiss on her forehead, but he refrains from doing so. He thought they were building their relationship back, but then she went and acted guarded and cautious. He leaves the room to go do a little work in the kitchen. Emily lies underneath the blankets, props her leg up, and stares at the ceiling. She wishes she could act normal, like how she used to with Nolan. Back before this all happened, she could act carefree and playful with him, now she is anxious and withdrawn around him. She knows Nolan will never hurt her, or Arrayah, but she can't shake the uneasy feeling she has. Emily groans into the pillow next to her. She lies there for a few seconds before she turns her head toward the bedside table. She sits up and picks up the bunny. She hugs it close to her chest and wishes Arrayah was here to talk, and that she could voice her thoughts to Nolan. Emily falls asleep with the bunny next to her, thinking about another life where she and Nolan hadn't had that fight and Nolan being there for every step of Arrayah's life.
A/N- Poor Emily with her jumbled feelings, and poor Nolan with having to stand there and not being able to help her :(. Hopefully, nothing will separate Nolan and Emily further than they already are. Oh, and Mrs. Yeates was really fun to write, even if she is annoying. Anyways, I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to vote!