Later the next day, Liam finally woke up and relieved Vida of her post. She was sitting cross legged on the end of the bed and we were playing a very competitive game of Go Fish. He walked in, his hair looking like he had tried to smooth it down with his hands, but to no avail, and his eyes still a bit unfocused with sleep.

"Hey," He said in his sleepy voice which made my heart skip a beat. The monitor let out a beep and I blushed. There was no hiding anything here.

Lee just smiled and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

I noticed Vida shoot me a look before quickly looking back at her cards. I don't know if I was supposed to notice or not, but I ignored it.

"I'm fine. I think better, actually."

Liam smiled, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze. "That's the best news I've heard in days, darlin'."

"Well, looks like we aren't going to finish this game, so I'm just gonna say I'm the champion and head on out," Vida said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and putting the cards back in the box.

"Alright, but once I'm out of here, I'm getting a rematch!" I called after her as she sauntered out of the room. Which left just Liam and me.

He brushed a hand down my cheek, trailing it down my neck and arm.

"You feel cooler. They must have brought your fever down." He stated.

I nodded. That is all he needed to know. Since they had brought it down earlier, it had stayed put at a steady 100-101. They were now treating me with IV antibiotics, deciding it was best to treat the infection now before my body tried to burn me alive. And so far, everything seemed okay. They were still concerned about my oxygen level; they brought me back down to 3 liters but anything under that was causing my numbers to drop again. And there was still concern about ulcers and that that was where the infection could be coming from. But overall, I felt okay.

Liam leaned in a kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're feeling more like your old self. Maybe they will let us out of here soon."

I gave him a small smile. I wanted nothing more than to go home with him and be away from the beeping machines and IV lines and antiseptic smells. I wished it would only be another day or two… but I knew better. The doctor had come in while Liam was still sleeping. He explained they were keeping me here until further notice… needing further blood work and possibly an MRI to check for any other possible reason I had the seizure. They needed to rule out everything. Since they could not identify the poison, they had to cover all their bases to make sure they did not miss anything.

"Maybe they will," I finally replied.

For a while, he just stayed with me. I started to get tired and he crawled onto the bed and pulled me close. I felt safer when I was in his arms and quickly fell asleep. It felt like only 5 minutes later when the lights were turned on and Liam was shifting on the mattress.

"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Daly," a low voice, and I recognized it as one of the doctors. I slowly open my eyes, watching Liam scoot off the bed and slide into the chair.

The doctor was in the doorway, tall with blonde hair and a long, white coat on. He walked into the room, holding a file of papers in his hand. He placed them on the table by the bed and cleared his throat.

"If you don't mind, I would like to go over your treatment plan?" He asked.

I just shrugged. "Okay."

He flipped open the file. "Well, first, let's go over what we already know. One, your oxygen levels are slowly improving, but still are not where we want them. Our plan is to just keep trying to wean you down, and worst case scenario, we may have to prescribe you some sort of breathing treatment while at home. But I really believe we can successfully wean you off of it all together,"

I nodded and he continued.

"We are still concerned about the possibly of ulceration in your stomach. The only real way to diagnose is to perform a procedure. I didn't want to suggest it before because you were very unstable, but now it would be safe to go forward."

I sat straighter at the mention of a procedure and I noticed Liam shift uncomfortably. "What kind of procedure?"

"It is really simple, honestly. We numb your throat and we guide a small camera down into your stomach just to look around. It is a quick procedure with minimal side effects. At most, you'll have a sore throat for a couple days," He explained, his face all forced optimism.

He must have noticed my skeptical look because he added, "We can discuss it at the end. Anyway, moving on… your bloodwork came back and we found gram-negative bacteria in your blood which would explain the infection and fever. The antibiotics are working wonderfully, though, and it is clearing up nicely. I am very pleased with the way your temperature has remained low and the antipyretics appear to be working well."

"When does she get to go home?"

I turned to Liam the same time the doctor did. Lee had his arms crossed and one foot was tapping the ground anxiously.

The doctor scratched his head, turning his attention back to the charts. "Well, as for a discharge date, we are still unsure. As we all know, we hit a bump in the road yesterday that has set us back."

I stiffened.

"Are you talking about the fever? I thought you said it was under control?" Liam challenged.

"It is now. But before I can feel safe discharging her, I need to figure out why her body reacted the way it did."

Confusion swept over Lee's face. I felt my stomach drop. "Reacted how?"

Now the doctor looked perplexed. "Did no one talk to you?"

Liam shook his head. "A friend pushed me out of the room as the nurse left to get supplies. I only came back a few hours ago."

I was about to interrupt, but thought better of it. Liam was going to pry it out of me eventually.

"Well, as you know her temperature reached over 105, which is nearing the danger level for thermal brain damage. As the nurses were trying to bring it down, she went into a febrile grand mal seizure and became unresponsive afterwards. After several minutes, she came out of it and her temperature came down, but the fact she went into a seizure is giving us concern and we want to observe her for a while before releasing her."

I was staring at my hands where they rested in my lap. I could feel Liam's eyes on me but I couldn't look up. The doctor stayed and said a few more things, asked about the procedure again, and asked about an MRI.

I just stared at him blankly, and Liam dismissed him with a simple, "We will let you know."

The doctor took his cue and left, which left just the two of us.

I waited for him to say something, but was caught off guard when Liam ran into the private bathroom and began to vomit.

"Lee?" I called to him. I would have gotten up and went to him, but I was still attached to the IV and my legs did not feel the most dependable.

A few minutes later, the toilet flushed and he came out. His eyes were red and puffy and I knew he had been crying. Without a word, he sat down on the bed. I scooted over and he laid down, turning to face me. He lifted a hand and trailed it down my cheek. I studied his face. He looked sullen. Any rest he had gotten was immediately ripped away and he looked even more exhausted than before.

He was quiet for so long, I had closed my eyes and when he finally spoke, I startled.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. I noticed he had rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

"I didn't… you were so stressed out already," I whispered. "I didn't want to add on to it."

He blew out a breath. "I need to know. I need to know if you're alright but more importantly I need to know if you aren't."

"I didn't want you to worry."

He turned toward me again, cupping my face in his hands. "I want to worry. I want to know everything that is going on. I want to know what to expect. I need to know if… I need to know if you aren't getting better."

Tears welled up in his eyes and I wiped them away with my hand.

"I am getting better and I am going to be fine," I smiled. "I feel myself getting stronger every day. I am not going to let this destroy me. I have already made it through so much, something like this is not going to be the end."

Liam grabbed my hand from where it rested on his cheek and squeezed it. "Promise?"

"I promise."

He kissed me gently and I tried to lean in for more but he turned away.

"Not right now. Get stronger and that will be your 'Welcome Home' present."