Bright lights... beeping sounds... whatever he was laying on was jerking quite a lot. Stein turned his head to the side and it went limp as his eyes closed almost completely. He opened his eyes again and tried to figure out where he was, his head rolling around loosely.

"Franken," a familiar voice called. This voice... It was so smoothe, so quiet. And what was that? That thing clawing at the edges? Fear? Or worry? What ever it was, the voice was laced with it. Finally, Stein's eyes fell upon her.

"Marie," he said, his voice dry. "Where...?"

"We're in an ambulance, we're taking you to the hospital."

"What happened...?" he asked drowsily. But he didn't even have time to get an answer before he fell asleep again.

Stein woke up in an unfamiliar place. There was a bright light above him, a door a few feet ahead, a cabinet on the left, and a sleeping Marie next to it. At first he was completely confused, wondering where he was. Then he noticed the I.V in his left arm, and he connected the dots with the bright lights and beeping noises of monitors around him. He was in the hospital. He looked around for a button to press to call the nurse, but he couldn't find it. Well he didn't really have time to because she walked in as if on cue.

"Hello, Franken. How are you feeling?" She asked, she actually sounded concerned. She was a short woman with brown skin and a slight Italian accent.

"I'm not too sure..." he said, watching as she checked the monitors and recorded down the results on a clipboard. "What happened to me?"

The nurse had a small look of sadness on her face, but she erased it and looked up at him and said, "The doctor will be in shortly, he will tell you everything you want to know." Then she exited the room.

As the door shut, Marie's eye opened and she sat up a bit. She looked up and saw Stein looking back at her, and relief and happieness washed over her. "Oh, Franken!" she exclaimed as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Stein smiled at her, hoping it would make her feel better. He really did not understand her, especially now. She seemed so happy, yet she was crying. Weren't people supposed to cry when they were sad? I really don't get this whole 'feeling' thing. He thought as the door opened and the doctor walked in. He was almost as tall as Stein, had black hair and was cleanly shaven. He was even wearing a lab coat, but it was not covered in stitches. "Hello, Franken. I am Dr. Rosenthdal," he said as he read over his clipboard. "I suppose you'd like to know why you're here."

"It'd be a nice thing to know, yes. And call me Stein, if you don't mind." he said casually.

"Well, Stein," Dr. Rosenthdal made complete eye contact with him, "You had a stroke, which caused you to fall unconcious, then you had a heart attack. You're actually a very lucky man to be alive. If it were not for Miss Marie, you would not be here breathing." he said, gesturing to Marie as she blushed.

"What do you think caused the stroke and cardiac arrest?" Stein asked after giving Marie a gentle yet sincere 'thank you' look.

"Marie told me about how you reacted after you two made certain contact... Tell me, Stein, is it true that you never feel any emotion?" Dr. Rosenthdal asked curiously.

"Well, it's not completely true. I feel humor, and in some rare cases happieness. But other than that, I usually am very monotone. Why do you ask?"

"My guess is the reason of your stroke was caused by too much brain activity at once. As you told Marie, what you were experiencing was like trying to learn to read, only your brain was so hard at work to figure everything out that it went into insane over-drive, and 'snap'." The doctor said, snapping his fingers.

Stein took a moment to understand the doctor's words, he was still drowsy. Then he finally asked, "And the heart attack?"

"Too much stress along with your brain freaking out."

"So, what exactly was the worst that happened?" Stein asked slowly.

The doctor hesitated, then he spoke. "Your heart stopped beating, Stein. For about five minutes, actually. Which is why I said you are very lucky to be alive." Dr. Rosenthdal said slowly.

Stein took a few moments to grasp and comprehend what he had just heard before nodding quickly and shortly. The doctor noted the monitors around his patient, then he checked his wrist watch. "Ah, I should get to my other patients. I will be back in to check up on you later on today." he said as he nodded to Stein and Marie, making eye contact with both of them.

Stein took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he felt warmth on his left arm. He looked over to see Marie holding his forearm, her cheek bone against her hands. Then he felt hot tears, Marie's tears, rolling down his arm. Oh how he hated to see her cry, especially over him. Stein reached over and stroked her hair with his right hand.

Her hair... It was so soft, and her scent was so sweet. "Oh, Marie... Don't cry. I will be okay, thanks to you. You saved my life," he said smoothly and quietly.

"But then if it weren't for me, you still woudn't be here. I should have not come to you, I should have tried to stay with Azusa or some one else. I-" she was cut off by Stein's stern voice.

"Marie. You're babbling again," Stein said and Marie looked up at him questioningly to see a smile spread across his face. "Listen to me," he continued. "If it were not for you, I would not have actually learned what it felt like to be happy. Or what sadness is, or awkwardness. You're right, if it were not for you, I would not be here in this hospital bed. But I think the fact that I've learned something that I never thought I'd learn is a very important thing in my life. So I think me laying in a hospital bed is most definatelty worth it."

"I understand what you mean by awkwardness, but why sadness? Did I do something wrong or did I upset you?" she asked, her voice beginning to shake.

"No, you did nothing wrong."

"Then why were you sad?" Confusion was written all over her face.

"The thing that made me so sad, Marie," he paused and reached his left hand up, putting it on her cheek, then continued, "was seeing your tears fall so much."

Marie sat there for a few moments, wondering what to do. Should I tell him...?

"What are you thinking of?" he asked quietly.

"I was thinking... I think..."

"You think...?" he asked, slightly turning his head.

"I... Love you," she said slowly.

Stein didn't really take much time to try to understand what she had said, which was odd to her. "I know you do, Marie. I was just wondering if I feel the same. It's so frustrating, I don't know what emotion is what, and I am no where near figuring out how to understand those emotions, let alone express them..." There was a long pause. Should I tell her what has been going on with me? Should I tell her that I have been slipping out of reality? But I think she has some sort of idea of this happening, I'm pretty sure she read what I typed on the computer... But then, why did she still tell me she loves me...? You'd think she'd be too creeped out by now and had left somewhere else already. And yet, here she is, sitting by my bedside, telling me she loves me...

Please leave your reviews, comments and suggestions, they help me out a lot! I'm not too sure when I will be adding chapter 6, so I apologize if it is a long wait. This whole story writing thing can be a real headache after a while! But I suppose it's better than doing nothing, especially when you run out of art paper :P But anyway, thanks for reading, it means a lot to me! :) -Mikshizels