Chapter 21

"When are they letting me out of here?"

"I don't know, Will." Elizabeth sighed in exasperation. Now that he was healing, Will had spent most of the last week testing her patience with a never-ending stream of questions regarding his release from the hospital.

"I mean, I'm doing a lot better now, right? You can tell when they change the bandages. The only thing I'm going to die of at this point is boredom."

Elizabeth laughed in spite of herself. "You are not going to die of boredom, William."

"That's debatable," he muttered sullenly.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Well, I have to go to work on occasion. And I do have classes, you know."

"I know," Will grinned. "So you can become an ultra-talented, world-famous architect and knock the socks off of everybody who's ever designed a building."

"Exactly," Elizabeth laughed. "Tell you what. How about if I bring you some books later?"

"You know I don't really read much…"

"I'll pick good ones," Elizabeth promised, grinning slightly.

"…All right. Thanks."

"Anything to keep you from dying of boredom, love," Elizabeth teased.

"If you really cared about that, you'd smuggle me out of here," Will muttered under his breath as Elizabeth got up to leave.

She stuck her head back around the door. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Don't forget the books."

She had to laugh again. "I won't. And I'll work on smuggling you out next week."

Will smiled grudgingly. "You've got good ears."

"Wot th' 'ell're yeh doin', mate?"

Will raised an eyebrow. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm reading."

"I didn' know yeh could read."

Will feigned throwing his book at Jack, laughing when he flinched.

"All righ', fine. I didn' know yeh liked t' read."

Will shrugged. "Neither did I. Elizabeth brought me some books to stop me complaining about how bored I was."

"T' stop yeh whinin', yeh mean. What'd she give yeh?"

"Lord of the Rings."

"Tha's one o' yer dad's favorites isn' it? An' there's tha' guy in th' movies who looks jus' like yeh!"

"Yes, it is. And no, he doesn't!"

"Does too. 'e looks exactly like yeh, mate."

"Jack, if this weren't Elizabeth's book, I swear I really would throw it at you."

"Good thing it is Lizzy's book, then," Jack bantered airily. "So did yeh ask 'er, or what?"

Will grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah."

"An'?"

"And what? She said yes, of course."

"Bloody 'ell," Jack said, shaking his head. "I guess tha' means I really do 'ave t' be yer best man."

Will gave him an incredulous look. "What? Did you think she was going to say no?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeh never know. Tell yeh wha', though, I hafta ge' goin'. I've got a bachelor party t' plan, after all." He winked cheekily and stood up.

Will frowned apprehensively. "What are you thinking, Jack?"

"Oh, nothin'," Jack insisted innocently. "Don' yeh worry 'bout it." He laughed suddenly. "I bet yeh won' be able t' look 'lizabeth in th' face fer weeks!"

"Wha – Jack! Get back in here!"

Jack was already gone.

"Aw, hell…"

"You've gotta get me out of here, Dad."

Bill laughed. "Getting a little bored, kid?"

"A little? I'm going crazy, Dad! I have nothing to do! Nothing! A guy can only sleep so much, you know!"

"What happened to those books Elizabeth brought you?"

"I finished them."

"Already?"

"What part of nothing to bloody do did you not understand?"

"All right, all right, calm down. Do you want me to ask someone if they know when you'll be released?"

"Yes! Please!"

Bill rolled his eyes. "Would you relax? They'll throw me out for getting you all worked up if you don't keep your blood pressure down."

Will sighed. "Fine. I'm calm. Now ask someone?"

"Okay, I'm going." He shook his head. "Honestly, how old are you?" He made his way down the hall to the nurse's station.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me where I might find Dr. Hoo?"

A voice behind him answered. "Right behind you."

Bill turned to see Will's doctor smiling mildly at him.

"I assume you wanted to talk to me about Will? I was actually just on my way to his room now." He gestured for Bill to walk back down the hall with him. "Is something wrong?"

"Not exactly," Bill said. "He's just getting… restless."

"Ahh," Hoo said, smiling understandingly. "He wants to know when he can be discharged, I assume?"

Bill nodded. "He would very much love to know that. Actually, I would too now that you mention it. He's complaining like a ten-year-old."

Will glared at them as they entered his room. "I'm bored, Dad, not deaf."

Hoo smiled slightly. "Then I have good news for you. You're healing well, and you test results are negative for infections. You can be discharged soon, as long as you stick to a few guidelines."

"How soon?"

"Very. Quite possibly tomorrow."

"What guidelines?"

"Rest, mostly. You should stay at home for a little while. I've been informed that you're a blacksmith, so you certainly won't be going to work. Try to keep physical activity to a minimum. The less strain you put on yourself, the faster you'll heal. Understand?"

Will shrugged. "I suppose."

"And if anything happens, anything at all, you should return to the hospital immediately," Hoo said pointedly. "All right?"

"…Fine."

"Good," Hoo said pleasantly. "You can go ahead and make your arrangements for getting home, then. You certainly won't be taking that motorcycle of yours."

Will raised an eyebrow curiously. "How did you know I have a motorcycle?"

"You friend Jack's been riding it. He said it was yours."

Will stared at him for a few seconds, then reached for his phone. "If you'll excuse me, I have a call to make. And a murder to plan."

As they stepped out into the hall, Hoo said to Bill, "I'm guessing he didn't give Jack permission to ride his bike."

Bill laughed. "Never. He bought that piece of junk, stripped it down, fixed it, and put it back together when he was eighteen. He's a little protective."

"I see," Hoo chuckled. Then, looking a bit more serious, he added, "Now, about those guidelines…"

Bill nodded. "Elizabeth and I will make sure he follows them."

"I thought so," Hoo said, nodding as well. "We'll discharge him tomorrow, then. And I know it's hard, but you can stop worrying," he added with a slight smile. "He'll be fine."

Bill allowed himself to smile as well, relief showing in his eyes as he shook hands with Hoo. "Thank you, Doctor."

Will made a face as Elizabeth pushed him lightly toward the lift in his apartment building.

"The lift? Really? I think I can handle the stairs, Liz."

She gave him another push. "Nope. No stairs. No strenuous activity."

"That stairs are not strenuous."

"Strenuous enough." She tugged on his arm as the doors slid open. "Come on."

Will leaned against the back wall as the doors closed. "So this is what I'm stuck with, then? No bike, no work, no stairs. I'm used to being active, Liz, I need to move."

Elizabeth stepped closer to him. "Well, I can't let you do that, but I can do this…" she said, slipping her arms around his shoulders and kissing him.

He kissed her back, smiling slightly as he did so. The lift rose to his floor and the doors slid open again. And someone nearby cleared their throat. Will turned to see one of his elderly neighbors standing in the doorway of the lift, a disapproving frown on her face.

"Uh… hi, Mrs. Noble…" He pulled Elizabeth out into the hall as Mrs. Noble stepped past them, muttering something about 'young people these days.'

Will grinned sheepishly at Elizabeth. "Well… that was embarrassing."

She giggled. "We're getting married. I don't think we can be blamed for having the occasional snog in a lift."

Will grinned and took her hand, feeling the ring on her finger. "We're getting married. I love the sound of that." He unlocked his door and stepped to the side so Elizabeth could enter first.

"Always the gentleman," she teased, smiling. "And people say chivalry is dead."

Will shook his head as he followed her inside. "Maybe chivalry wouldn't be dead if people spent more time being chivalrous and less time standing around remarking that chivalry is dead."

Elizabeth laughed. "Touché."

Will moved across the living room, sank down on the couch with a barely-audible sigh. Elizabeth sat down next to him.

"Tired already?"

Will shrugged, wincing slightly. "A little. It's just a lot to recover from, I guess."

Elizabeth played with his hair. "I know." She let her hand drop down to his chest, her fingers brushing lightly over the bandages that were now hidden by his t-shirt. "I was there. I saw… everything. I know what you're recovering from."

Will wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him. "I know you saw it all," he whispered into her hair. "I know how it feels, sitting in a hospital, knowing someone you love could die at any time. You feel scared and… and angry, because you're so helpless." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I understand."

Elizabeth held onto him just as tightly. "The other end of things can't be much fun either."

"Well, I don't really know, to be honest. I was unconscious for most of it."

"Not at first," Elizabeth said quietly. "And the look in her eyes… It was heartbreaking. It was like… like I could feel the same pain you felt, because it was all there in your eyes when you looked at me." She pulled away slightly, just enough to see his face. "I can't forget it. I have dreams about it every night. Nightmares."

Will brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "I do, too." He pulled her back into a tight embrace. "Stay with me. I'll hold onto you."

She smiled against his chest. "And I'll hold onto you right back."

He rested his head on hers, an identical smile on his face. "I know."

So yes, I went there with the Will-Orlando thing again. And I shamelessly threw in yet another Doctor Who reference. But hey, how cute was that ending, right? ;)