(Zack P.O.V)
I was silent pretty much the whole flight to Richmond and as the helicopter started going down over the hospital, I felt my heart start to thump in my chest. I knew it was stupid to be nervous about seeing my wife but I didn't know what to expect.
"Alright, we have information that says she's got her car here in Richmond so you can drive that back home. If you need any more help from us, feel free to give me a call. Good luck." Sargent Pearson told me, handing me his card.
"Thank you. For everything." I said with a grateful smile as I walked off towards the door to the stairwell. I heard the helicopter fly off and I was left alone. My heart was still thumping and I had to wipe my hand on my jeans before I attempted the door handle. Once inside, I looked around, unsure where to go. I began to wander around, not really looking for anything, just wandering.
"Excuse me sir? Can I help you?" A voice made me turn and I found a pretty young nurse behind me.
"Er, I'm looking for my wife. She was admitted this morning."
"Are you Zack Martin?"
"Yes."
"Oh, so you're looking for Maya. Well, I'm her nurse, Vicki. I'll take you to her."
"Thank you." I followed her silently to a closed door.
"She's in here. I'll give you some time alone. If you need anything, just press the button on the wall beside her bed."
"Okay." I smiled at her and she walked off. For what seemed like ages, I simply stood there, staring at the door. Eventually, I told myself I was being stupid and turned the door handle, breathing in deeply.
"Maya?" I asked tentatively as I pushed the door open, not sure what to expect. I heard a gasp and the rustle of sheets as the door fully opened and I saw her lying on the bed, facing away from me. Even from the back, I could tell she looked bad. I could just see the edges of some bruising and her form seemed thinner. Pushing my nervousness away completely, I crossed the room to her bedside and took her hand in mine. I couldn't say how good it felt to feel her skin against my own again, even if it as slightly thinner than the last time I'd seen it.
"Maya, look at me." I begged, tears falling from my eyes.
"No." Her answer was simple and clear but I wanted more.
"Why not?"
(Maya P.O.V)
I knew that when I told the doctors my name this morning that they would somehow contact Zack but I didn't think he'd be here within hours of that. I should have been excited to see him but I couldn't even bring myself to look at him, the guilt over the pain I must have caused him over the last two weeks building up inside me. I could hear him crying behind me and his hand felt so good in mine but I still couldn't do it.
"I can't." I told him, letting my own tears spill over.
"Yes you can. Maya I love you. No matter what happens I always will." He said, squeezing my hand.
"No. You'll hate me."
"For what?"
"For what I did."
"For running away? Maya I don't care. Well I do, but all that matters is that we're together again."
"Not for running away."
"Then what? Maya I don't understand. Please, help me understand."
(Zack P.O.V)
She rolled over quicker than I could have thought possible and it took all my self control not to react to the bruises on her face.
"I killed her." My eyes widened as she spoke.
"You what? Killed who?"
"My sister."
"Your sister? But I thought you said she was murdered."
"She was but I still killed her."
"So you murdered your sister?" I was really confused now. Maya burst into tears and instinctively, I sat down on the bed, pulling her closer. She kept on sobbing for ages as I just sat there, holding her tightly. Finally, she stopped crying and pulled back and looked at me.
"No. but when I was walking past the alleyway where she was found I heard her calling out for help. I chose to ignore it, not wanting it to be true."
"Maya, that's not killing her."
"I could have saved her!"
"Not that I've had any experience like that but I'm pretty sure anyone would have done what you did in that situation. I mean, you were fifteen. What else were you going to do?"
"I could have called for help. Or maybe me being there as well would have stopped those bastards."
"I don't think anything would have changed, honey."
"Why aren't you running away, repulsed? I'm responsible for my little sister's death." She pulled away as if she thought that her being so close was what was stopping me from running away. Sighing, I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me.
"Maya, you didn't kill her. I don't care what happened that day. The Maya I know and love would never hurt a fly. I know the past year has been hard but I still love you, no matter what happened in your past."
"But—"
"But nothing. I'm not going anywhere. I love you and your past has no significance to me. All I need is my wife and two little boys."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"I love you Zack."
"I love you too Maya." We shared a kiss and for a moment it was as if none of this had ever happened.
"I'm so sorry. For everything. I can only imagine what you and the boys went through these past two weeks."
"It was hard but we held on to the hope that you'd come home to us."
"I always planned on it." She smiled and the tiny crack in my heart I'd had since she left finally fixed itself.
"Are you going to tell me what happened though?" I asked, gently brushing a hand over the side of her face. She blushed and looked down.
"I went out and got drunk last night. I don't even know why. I was just thinking over everything and I needed to get it out of my head. Afterwards, I was walking back to my motel when I had the sudden flashes of the past in my head and I finally admitted to myself that I could have saved her. The whole time, I was whacking myself in the head, trying to get the images and sounds out." I laughed a little.
"Oh Maya. You know how crazy that sounds, right?" She grinned and nodded.
"I know. But it didn't seem so crazy at the time." After that we just sat together, enjoying being close to each other but eventually we were interrupted by Nurse Vicki coming in.
"Hi. Maya we need to stitch up the cut on your head before you go home so the doctor is getting ready now." I hadn't even noticed the trail of blood leading from just above her eyebrow down the left sid of her face.
"Okay. I'm coming." Together we followed Nurse Vicki to the room where the doctor had set up a tray of instruments. They tried to get me to go outside but I refused to let go of Maya's hand, let alone leave the room so they told me to stand to the side and try not to get in the way. It didn't take long and soon they were simply wiping up the trail of blood.
"Alright, Maya you're good to go home. Here's a prescription for anti-depressants that I want you to take." Nurse Vicki said afterwards.
"Thanks." Maya smiled and handed the piece of paper to me. I tucked it away in my wallet and handed her the backpack with her clothes in.
"Here. Something to change into."
"You're the best." She kissed me and ducked into the nearest bathroom.
"You're lucky Mr. Martin. Sometimes they don't come home." Nurse Vicki told me.
"I know. I guess luck is on my side." I grinned and she laughed, walking away to whatever her next job was so I sat on a chair and waited for Maya to come back. It wasn't long before she ran back down the hall, throwing herself at me.
"Whoa. You were only gone for two minutes." I said with a laugh, returning her eager kiss.
"I know. But I can hardly stand to be away from you for very long now." We went down to the hospital entrance and I hailed a Taxi. She told the driver where her car was and we snuggled together for the short trip. I paid the driver when we got out as she stood by her little orange Ford Fiesta. Taking the driver's seat, she drove us to the motel where she'd been staying and checked out. She grabbed her suitcase and we started the trek back to Boston. About halfway home, we swapped drivers and I took the wheel while she fiddled with the hands-free phone, calling Cody and Bailey.
"Bailey Martin speaking."
"Hey Bailey." She said with a grin.
"Oh my god, Maya!"
"Hi."
"Oh it's so good to hear your voice."
"Is that Maya?" We heard Cody in the back ground.
"Yeah, here I'll put it on speaker phone. Where's Reed?" There was rustling over the line as Bailey switched to speaker and we could hear Cody calling out to Reed.
"Hi daddy. Guess what?" Maya had tears in her eyes hearing her son again.
"What?"
"I'm having a sleepover at Aunty Bailey's house with Kimmie!"
"Aren't you lucky?"
"Yeah. Where are you daddy?"
"I'm coming home now. But I've got a surprise for you. Do you want to know what it is?"
"Yeah!"
"Hey baby boy." Maya said and there was a moment of silence on the line before Cody and Bailey started laughing.
"Reed, that's your mommy on the phone with your dad." Cody explained, still laughing.
"MOMMY!" Reed cried.
"It's me buddy. I'm coming home with daddy."
"Yay! I can tell all my friends that you came home now." Maya rolled her eyes but accepted it.
"Bailey are you still there?" I asked.
"Yeah I'm here."
"We're just heading into Philadelphia for the night and we'll be home tomorrow. We'll probably be at your place around one, is that okay?"
"Sure. We might go out to the park or something in the morning."
"Great. We'll let you get on with your evening then."
"Hang on. Reed, come say goodbye to your mom and dad."
"Bye mommy. Bye daddy. I'll see you soon." Reed's voice came through.
"See you tomorrow, buddy. You be good for Aunty Bailey and Uncle Cody."
"I will." Smiling, Maya hung up just as we pulled in to the car park of a hotel in Philadelphia.