Andy wakes up around 3:00 and immediately notices the bed is empty. Panic seizes his heart. He jumps up turning on the bed side lamp. "Sharon, Sharon!" he calls, his voice rising.
"I'm in the bathroom." He hears her softly call.
He hurries to the bathroom, turning on the light. He finds her sitting on the floor beside the toilet. "Damn-it Sharon. You scared the shit out of me! Did you fall? What happen?"
"Andy," her hand reaching up to cover her eyes, "please… don't yell…please Andy. I…I…woke up and…and I felt sick. So I came in here and sat down. I…I held on to the…to the wall the whole way in…"
"Why didn't you wake me?" he interrupted, his voice still raised.
"Shhh, Andy… please calm down. Can you turn the lights back off…my head…my head is killing me."
Andy switches the lights off, the dim lamp from the bedroom barely lighting a path to them. He kneels beside her, carefully placing a damp cloth to her bruised forehead, "Did you throw up?"
"No, just really nauseated."
"Let's get you back in bed. Can you stand?"
"I'm not sure. I…I tried earlier but I…"
Without out a word, he reaches down and easily lifts her to his chest. He carries her to the bed and gently lays her down. He goes back to the bathroom and rinses out the damp cloth, putting it on her forehead when he returns. She hums quietly into his hand as it lingers on her cheek. "I'll be right back, I think I saw some ginger ale in the fridge and I'll get something for your headache."
Making his way through the darkened condo, Andy is surprised to see a soft light coming from the kitchen. As he gets closer he can make out Rusty starring into the open refrigerator. "Rusty?" he whispers.
"Jesus Flynn!"
"I'm sorry kid. I was trying not to scare you. What…What are you doing up? Is everything ok?"
Flipping on the kitchen light, Andy leans against the bar waiting for Rusty to answer. "Just talk to me Rusty. You know I'm here for you."
Rusty closes the fridge and walks over to lean on the counter beside Andy. "Is she really going to be okay 'cause I don't think I can handle it if she's not. I know she…she likes to pretend that she's fine but I know her so well now and I can see that she's really not fine, not even close. And I know you see it too. She tries to hide her true self from everyone even Ricky and Emily, but she can't hide from me and I don't think she can hide from you either."
"Rusty, I'll admit she's got a very hard time ahead of her. I don't think she even realizes that yet. But, she is the strongest, most amazing woman I know and she will be okay. Will it be easy? No. You know how stubborn she is. She will fight us both to be independent because that is all she knows. It is going to take a lot for her to let us take care of her. She's not use to that. But I'm not going anywhere and I will do whatever I have to do to protect her, even if it means pissing her off in the process."
Rusty tentatively reaches over and places his hand on Andy's shoulder, "I…I'm so glad that you two finally saw what the rest of us have known for a while now. She deserves someone to love her and make her happy, he says blushing. "Wait, I didn't ask why you are up?"
"I…I came to find some ginger ale and get her pain meds. She woke up not feeling so well."
"Can I do anything? Are you really sure she needed to come home from the hospital?"
"She's fine Rusty, this is normal with her type of injuries. Go back to bed and we both will see you in the morning." As Rusty turned and made his way toward his bedroom, Andy stopped him for a moment, "and Rusty, thank you for letting me love her. It's important to her, to both of us, that you are ok with this…with us."
When Andy returned with the ginger ale and pills, he found Sharon had fallen back asleep. He quietly turned off the lamp and slid into bed next to her, careful not to wake her.