There was just darkness when I started to come to. There was the faint beeping of a machine, the feeling of tape stuck to my hand, keeping the IV in place. But I couldn't see anything… and something didn't feel right. I tried to close my mouth, lick my lips, but I couldn't. There was something in the way… I could feel it now. Something was keeping my mouth open, and there was a tube down my throat. Why was it there? I tried to cough, tried to dislodge it. I didn't need it there. I kept coughing, and I heard someone shuffle beside me.

"Hey! She's awake!"

The voice was muffled. I couldn't tell who it was.

There was more shuffling, more movement. People were coming into the room. They lifted something off my eyes - so that's why I couldn't see.

I squeezed them shut, the bright lights immediately making them hurt. Slowly, I opened them again. There was a nurse standing over me, and a doctor. I looked around the room, and that's when I saw him.

Liam was standing in the corner, his hands behind his back. His eyes were red and puffy, face pale; he looked exhausted.

I moaned, looking back at the nurse and motioning toward the tube.

"Discontinue the breathing tube," the doctor instructed, looking over at the machine. "Her sats are good, blood pressure is good… take it out and monitor her. We can out her on the Bi-PAP if needed."

The nurse nodded, and within minutes, the tube was removed from my throat.

I started coughing, my mouth feeling dry but my throat feeling so sore. I was groggy, like someone had drugged me. Likely, they had. How long had I even been out?

The doctor stayed for a few minutes, watching my breathing, before excusing himself. The nurse left soon after, leaving just Liam.

He hesitated before coming to the bed. I turned my head to look at him, watching the way he was wringing his hands.

"Hey, darlin'," He whispered, reaching a hand toward my face, but stopping right before he touched me.

He was scared. He didn't want to hurt me.

It was breaking my heart. I wanted to reassure him, but I was afraid to talk.

Instead, I opted to reach a hand over, wincing as I noticed the IV taped onto it. Liam's expression softened and he took it in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

He pulled his chair closer to the bed so he could sit down, but he didn't let go of my hand.

We sat there in silence for a while. The only sound was the machine beeping in time with my pulse. I glanced around the room, noticing that this was not the room I had been in before. No, this was back in the ICU. I sighed, finally getting the courage to speak.

"What happened?" The words came out small and weak, but Liam's head shot up when he heard them.

"It's so good to hear you talk again," He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "You don't even know."

I swallowed, wincing at my sore throat. "What happened?" I repeated.

Liam stroked my hair back, tucking a few stray pieces behind my ear. He was worrying his lip.

"Well," He started, letting out a soft sigh. "You remember going down to surgery?"

I nodded.

"Well, they gave you a couple units of blood cause your red blood cells were low. They took you down, everything was going good. But then it was taking longer than expected. We were all getting worried.

"Finally, one of the nurses came up. You were bleeding so much they had to give you more blood. One of the ulcers had nearly eroded through the lining. But they finally got it under control and brought you back up after four hours."

"Then why am I in the ICU?" I asked.

Liam rubbed his temple. "Yeah, that wasn't the end of it. Like I said, they brought you back up, but you weren't waking up. Your temperature spiked to 104. Turns out, you had an infection in your abdomen. Your stomach was so hard… there was fluid building up. They put a tube down your nose and into your stomach to suction it out, pumped you full of antibiotics… but then your breathing got really shallow and they decided to intubate. And that's when they sent you here." He finished, rubbing at his eyes. I saw a tear run down his cheek, and I removed my hand from his to wipe it away.

"It's been three days since then. They've been keeping you sedated to help you heal. I'm so glad you're finally awake."

I leaned back against the pillows, reaching up to feel my face. The tube was still there, taped against my cheek.

"Nothing is getting better," I croaked.

Liam grabbed my hand away from my face, shaking his head. "No, no, it's okay. Listen, they said this morning that your white blood cell count is back down. That, and your fever broke yesterday. The infection is gone, Ruby."

"Really?"

"Yes! They started tapering you off the sedatives, hoping you would wake up. And look… you did."

Liam gave me a smile, pulling my hand and resting it on his cheek. He was stubbly from not shaving, bags under his eyes, but he was still so beautiful. I longed to be in his arms at this moment, kissing his lips.

I wanted him next to me, but there was too many wires and tubes. I tried to move, but kept pulling on something every time I did. Frustrated, I gave up, and resorted in holding his hand, rubbing small circles into his palm with my thumb.

The nurse checked in periodically, hanging a new bag of antibiotics and checking my vitals. Everything was staying stable, and my temp was down to 99.2. As soon as the current bag of antibiotic was finished running, she was discharging back to the Post-Critical floor.

Slowly, things started to improve. I was moved back to the Post-Critical floor, and my temperature stayed at a normal level. The infection proved to be gone, finally! No more chills wracking my body or heat flashes that made me want to crawl out of my skin.

The tube was removed from my nose, which was the strangest sensation ever. I gagged slightly when it slid up my throat, but was relieved to have it out. I was able to take sips of water, soothing my dry mouth and sore throat.

Gradually, my strength returned. The oxygen was removed and I was able to keep my levels up. The antibiotics were finished and the IV was removed. For the first time in over a week, I was free of all tubes and wires.

Before I stood up from the bed, I motioned for Liam to come over.

"Just in case I fall," I told him, holding onto his hands.

"I won't let you fall, sweetheart," He promised, giving my hands a squeeze.

I smiled up at him, then took a deep breath and counted to three.

My legs trembled underneath me, but they stayed steady. I straightened myself out, feeling tremendous relief to be out of that damn bed.

Then, I wrapped my arms around Liam's neck and kissed him.

Our lips touched and it felt like fireworks were going off in my head. I was craving more, craving him… I stood on my tippy-toes and kissed him harder. He kissed back. He placed his hands on my waist, pulling me closer against him. When we finally broke apart, I placed my head on his shoulder and let out a content sigh.

"I've missed that," I whispered, feeling my heart flutter in my chest.

Liam chuckled. "Oh, trust me. I have too."

The next day, I was free to go.

I all but ran for the truck, Liam trailing behind me.

We jumped in the truck and sped away as fast as we could from that dreadful place. I was ready to move on from this experience. Ready to move past it and put it all behind me so I could look forward to a brighter future.