Chapter 3: Declarations and Diligency
The sirens of the ambulance wailed and the lights flashed in the darkness of the night and the never-ending whispers of reassurance from Cosima were the first things that Delphine was aware of. Next came the pain, pain in her side from where she was shot, pain in her head from the hard ground that she hit when she fell and the pain in her heart for Cosima when she died.
You won't last the night
Delphine knew that this would not stop until she was found and killed and buried somewhere no-one could find her. Delphine's eyes were still clamped shut, her breathing accelerated until she was almost at the point of hyperventilation and all that she could hear was the rushing air in and out of her lungs and blood pounding through her veins. Delphine's eye shot open when she felt a hand settle in the middle of her chest to see Cosima with a soft smile on her face and red rimmed eyes as she leaned in closer to Delphine and whispered in her ear.
"You need to calm down before your heart rate gets to high and you have like another blackout which will just totally freak me out but its okay because I know that means that you are awake and that's good but you make me worry when you do that and…what?" Cosima stops and asks as she sees a small smile creep onto Delphine's face after her breathing slowly returns to normal.
"You are very cute when you ramble" Delphine says softly as she smile gets slightly wider then her smile shrinks as a look of dread comes to take its place and she states quite simply
"You should not be here with me, mon amour. It is not safe for you to be with me anymore" Delphine says firmly but grabs the hand that Cosima had left placed on her chest and Cosima can see the tears well up in Delphine's tired eyes.
"I'll always be here, nothing you say can make me leave you alone. I love you Delphine" Cosima uttered softly while gently squeezing the hand in her own as leaned in and rest her forehead against Delphine's in a soft manner in place of the embrace she long to share with the French woman and Delphine wanted to share with her little American.
The women stayed like this for a while as the ambulance is racing to the hospital until the ambulance EMT probed the bullet wound in Delphine's side.
"Merde! Ow! What is it that you are doing?" Delphine nearly screams at the man poking her.
"Now that you are awake and aware, I'm checking the wound to see if the bullet is till lodged in the wound or if it went all the way through." The man explains calmly
"Well? Which is it?" Cosima asks impatiently
"The bullet went all the way through which is good but Ms. Cormier is still in danger, we won't know how much damage has occurred until we get to the hospital." The man informs Cosima.
The small woman rests her forehead back to Delphine's and breathes a small sigh of relief. Delphine closes her eyes and relaxes against her love, maybe she relaxed a bit to much. The world started spinning behind her eyelids, even though they were closed, she feels her body slipping backwards, away from the contact with Cosima and against the stretcher she was on. She tried to open her eyes as they rolled back and the darkness took over once again. The last thing she hear was Cosima's worried voice reaching out to her in the abyss.
"Delphine!"
Early the next morning
The rhythmic beeping sounded throughout the room, coupled with the quiet inhalations and soft exhalations of Delphine had sent Cosima into a light sleep on the chair next to the hospital bed as she had a gentle hold on Delphine's free hand. Cosima dreamed of simpler times when they were together at her lab classes and when they stole Leekie's wine from the neolution lecture. A soft smile graced the face of the American as she dreamed, a subtle change in the breathing from asleep to awake startled Cosima from her dozing. Cosima stares in the brown eyes that she had longed to see open after they suddenly slid closed in the ambulance.
"que se passe-t-il? pourquoi suis-je ici? ce qui est dans mon nez? tout fait mal." Delphine rushed in french as she was staring back at the brown eyes of her love.
"Delphine, I understood basically one percent of what you just said. Calm down and say again" Cosima said to Delphine as she raised her hand to Delphine's face and left her hand to cup Delphine's cheek.
"It hurts" Delphine sobbed as tears started to well in her eyes.
"I know, I know but the nurses can help. I can call them?" Cosima whispered reassuringly as she leaned slightly towards the call button
"Non, non. Don't, please no. Just come here" Delphine reached for Cosima and pulled her down to lie her head next to her own as the tears flowed freely down her face. "Just stay with me a little while longer" Delphine breathed into Cosima's neck
"I'll stay with you, no matter what." She says into Delphine's ear as she nuzzles Cosima's neck. Delphine's breathing slowly calmed into a slow, deep rhythm signally to Cosima that her bruised and batted puppy had once again fallen asleep. Cosima laid on the bed with the French women curled around her for a while longer and the tear marks on Delphine's face had long dried and the small dread-locked woman was lulled into a comfortable slumber by the rhythmic breathing and beeping.
Later that day
Cosima awoke later that day with a gentle breathe to find Delphine cuddled on top and around her with a soft smile of contentment on her tired face. Cosima genteelly stroked the sleeping woman's face with loving tenderness before moving her hand to stroke the fluffy blonde hair that adorned the french woman's head. Her puppy she thought as she continued absentmindedly stroking the hair, lost in thought.
"Hmmm, c'est bien" Delphine mumbled as she was pulled from unconsciousness by the gently stroking of her hair. Delphine started at the brightness, shutting her eyes as Cosima rambles.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you but to be fair your hair was like right there and it has been a while since I've had a chance to just lie in bed with you which by the way is quite uncomfortable considering that people are here to rest and recover…"
"Shhh, it is fine" Delphine interrupted the woman's rambling and nuzzled closer to the smaller woman, sighing against the soft skin of Cosima's neck
"How are you feeling?" Cosima questioned the blonde woman.
"mieux, better than before" Delphine said in a quiet voice.
"The doctors should be back in to see you soon" Cosima reassured her as she sat up a little to accommodate the injured woman to sit upright.
"Okay, have they said anything to you?" She said as she sat up, still keeping herself firmly on Cosima.
"Not much, just that surgery went well and they would be back to check on you and tell you what happened later." Cosima said calmly but Delphine could sense some underlying tension in her voice.
"What is wrong, mon cher?" She questioned as she lifted her head to see in her love's eyes
"They won't tell me anything because I'm not a family member but we are, I love you" The tears now were in Cosima's eyes threatening to spill at any second.
"I know, I feel the same way. Je t'aime aussi." Delphine leaned her face towards Cosima's as she gently placed her hands on her cheeks. Cosima closed the distance between them within a few seconds and tentatively captured Delphine's lips in a soft peck before pulling back. Delphine tried to keep Cosima within kissing distance but her injury has left her too weak to form any real protest that will keep Cosima close. Delphine's hands fell limply to her lap as Cosima went to exit the hospital bed to rejoin the chair that had been her spot for the past day before she joined Delphine on her bed. Delphine looks at Cosima with a smile starting to emerge, reaches over and grab Cosima's hand and clasps it tight between her hands trying to convey how much she needs her.
"Whatever comes, we will deal with it together" Delphine says firmly to her darling as she squeezes the small hand between her own. Cosima leans over and gives Delphine a gentle peak.
"Together" The two agree and sit in quiet company until the doctor comes to see Delphine.
What should happen next? Good news or bad news? Let me know or I decide
French translation
mon amour = my love
Merde! = Shit!
que se passe-t-il? = what is going on?
pourquoi suis-je ici = why am i here?
ce qui est dans mon nez? = what is in my nose?
tout fait mal = everything hurts
c'est bien = that's nice
mieux = better
mon cher = my dear
Je t'aime aussi = i love you too