Value Me: a drabble about one character telling another how they feel about them

Ruth sat next to the bed for the second day in a row and watched Harry as he lay motionless, wires running from his body to the machine next to him. His body had been beaten and broken badly, she'd never seen anything like it. They'd bloodied and bruised his face, but that was the least of his problems. His left leg was broken in five places, ankle crushed, needing to be reconstructed. They'd broken his left arm in two places and broken ribs four of his ribs, puncturing a lung. She was surprised his captors had let him live although, given the state of him, maybe they'd believed he was dead.

Ruth hadn't left his side since he'd been found and was tried. She folded her arms at his side on the mattress and laid her head down. Several members of the team had visited and tried to convince her to go home and rest, but she couldn't. She needed to be with him. That's what you do when you love someone and she loved him. It had taken her a long time to admit it to herself and, given her recent actions, you wouldn't know it but she did love him. She loved him with her whole heart and soul and she knew she would give her life if that would save him. She couldn't do that, but she could talk to him, encourage him to wake up.

"I know things have been difficult between us lately and that it's my fault. You need to wake up so I can apologise Harry." She glanced up at him, nothing. The monitors still displayed the same numbers they had last time she had looked. No change. "I enjoyed our date," she continued, "I was so nervous, but you probably know that. You're a Spook; you're trained to read people. I was wringing that poor napkin like there was no tomorrow. But eventually I relaxed and we had a wonderful time. I was excited at the prospect of seeing you again; when you asked me I was over the moon. But finding out that people at work knew about it… it startled me. I wasn't expecting it to be public knowledge so soon and I handled it badly. I got scared and I ran from you. I'm sorry. I hurt you and that is the last thing in the world I would ever want to do… I love you, Harry. I don't know when or how it happened but I do and when you get out of here I'm going to show you just how much."

"I can't wait," Harry croaked. Ruth shot up from the bed and snapped her gaze to him. He smiled at her as best he could through his bruises. "Hello."

"H-hi. How are you feeling?"

"Like hell," he replied.

"I'll get the nurse to bring you some more pain killers." She stood up but Harry's arm reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Just so you know, I love you too Ruth."

A/N: I know it's short, but I hope it works!