Rook tries to stand stoically outside of Nikki's hospital room. He's nervous. He keeps running his hands through his hair, clinging to the flowers he bought for her. He catches a brief reflection of himself in one of the hospital door windows. He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath in, knowing the bags under his eyes aren't going anywhere, anytime soon.
The last time he saw Nikki, she was being wheeled down the hospital hallway on a gurney—there was so much blood. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how pale she looked. The thought that he'd never see her again, it made him sick to his stomach. He ended up escaping into the hospital stairwell, in attempt to calm himself down. Rook drew comfort from the cool tile of the hospital stairwell wall against his back. He was so dizzy, his body was betraying him. He focused on his breathing; and put his head between his legs. No, she's going to be fine, he thought. She has to be.
Rook waits for his heart rate to calm down slightly, before entering her room. She was moved out of ICU just this morning. God, he doesn't even know if she even wants to see him. She must be so tired. He almost turns around, but he can't help himself. He's drawn to her, his entire being attuned to hers...he's hopeless.
He slowly opens the door, his eyes cast down. God, why is he so nervous? Rook's heart rate begins to skyrocket again. It's just Nikki, he tells himself. Intelligent, gorgeous, stubborn, Nikki. He looks up and instantly makes eye contact with her. She's been watching him. Her hair is braided, and she's wearing a hospital gown. If he looked closely enough, he could almost see the color slowly seeping back into her skin. God, she's beautiful, he thinks. They stand there, watching each other. He can't bring it in himself to move. She's alive, she's breathing, and all of those pleas to the universe not to take her from him were heard. Rook's eyes start to well up with tears, he's so hopeless when it comes to this woman. He quickly tries to blink them away, but then he notices the shine in Nikki's eyes. And the wall between them suddenly shatters. Rook takes the few steps towards her hospital bed, and falls to his knees beside her, buries his face into her neck. He can't help, but breathe her in. Nikki brings her right arm to his shoulder, and runs her hand through his hair, up and down his neck. The action hurts, but she can't help but touch him, comfort him. She thought she was never going to see him again. Rook finally looks up at her-he looks so tired, she thinks. Her thumb wipes under his eyes. She slowly brings her fingers down his cheek, ghosting her thumb over his bottom lip. She gives him a small smile and it reaches her eyes, she can't help it. They've made it.
Rook shifts and touches his forehead to hers, closing his bloodshot eyes again.
"I thought I lost you, Nikki," he whispers, breathing so much more than words, into the once stagnant hospital room air.
She shakes her head, never breaking contact with his skin.
"I'm here Rook, I'm here, and I'm fine. We're going to be okay," her voice is raspy, and Rook can't help the flood of relief from hearing her voice.
Rook kisses her cheek, moves his kisses to the edge of her mouth, under each eye, and then presses his lips lightly to the side of her forehead. He starts to move his lips, mumbling indistinguishable words into her hair.
Nikki lets out a short sob, just as she barely makes out what Rook is saying.
Like a mantra she hears, "thank you, thank you, thank you," his words whispering over her skin. She draws him closer, a promise that she will try everything in her power to never leave him again.
With love, Kate.
RC
A/N: I threw this one together pretty quickly, so I'm sorry for any grammatical errors I didn't catch (inspiration took hold). As always, thank you for reading and thank you for the lovely reviews.