Misty's POV:

This was a nightmare.

I was just sitting, Styrofoam cup in my hand, full of coffee I had let go cold. I felt like I couldn't breathe as I waited, hoping for any news. They had taken David away to be sedated, as a precautionary measure.

The good news had been that Sam wasn't dead. The bad news was she had to be taken into ICU to get the water drained from her lungs and that it was highly possible she could never wake up.

"Since we don't know exactly how long she had been under when you found her, I can't make any promises as to what her condition could be. Mentally speaking." the doctor had said solemnly to me.

The hospital had been put on lock down following Sam's arrival. No one came in or out, emergency vehicles were re-routed to nearby hospitals. They knew we were in danger. A danger no one had faced before. Everyone was a suspect.

I began looking around, feeling suddenly paranoid. Like everyone's eyes were watching me. Was I next? Was someone about to come after me?

I had to get out and fast.

Sam's POV:

I awoke to a steady beeping and blinding white light. My eyes were heavy, barely opening. I could make out what I thought to be a ceiling tile and the overhead light. I groaned involuntarily.

"Samantha?" I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

I could only groan more.

"Samantha, if you can hear me, don't try and move. Its best you start by taking things slow. If you can hear me, try and raise either a finger or your entire right hand."

I raised my right hand.

"Good. Very good. Now can you raise your left hand for me?"

I raised my left hand.

"OK, now I'm going to test your lower body. When I touch one of your feet, raise the appropriate hand for the side of the body that the foot I'm touching is on."

This went on for a while with me touching my nose and everything, but I was anxious for them to leave. I wanted to see him. I was beginning to remember my near death confession of love to him, and I had remembered his response. He loved me too.

But of course, all that was said because we thought I was dying. Now he was probably going to be like "See, this is what happens when I get close to you. Blah, blah, blah." I didn't want to even hear it.

I just wanted him to kiss me.

David's POV:

I was finally out of my incredibly long, incredibly trippy sedation period. I was little annoyed that I wasn't even asked if I had wanted to be sedated first. It was just "Hey, look over there." STAB!

I remember that one line from The Ramones popping into my head, "Ba-ba-bamp-ba ba-ba-ba-bamp-ba I wanna be sedated" and it was on a never ending, excruciating loop as random chipmunk /smurf hybrids danced around in my head to a psychedelic background. Not my finest hour.

They had finally let me go when they had found out that Sam was alive and well and didn't show any signs of regressing. Unfortunately, by the time all of my medication wore off, she had fallen back to sleep. I watched her through the glass window.

God, she was so beautiful. It was going to go against everything I had been trying to do in keeping her distant and keeping her safe, but its not like it worked that well anyway. No, there would be no more separation. We had been given a second chance, and that was a good enough sign for me.

I saw her stir in her sleep and then open her eyes. She looked at the window to see me standing there, hand against the glass, watching her sleep. She waved me in.

I didn't hesitate. I walked straight up to her and kissed her. Our lips met and every warm thought, every genuine promise, every beautiful memory came flooding back. She clung to me with all the strength she could muster.

I broke our kiss, looked deep into her eyes and said what I had wanted to say for so long. "I love you Samantha Madison. And I'm not leaving you. Ever again."

Her only response was to bring her lips back to mine.