- Author side note: I am so, so sorry it took so long to update. Last weekend I attended New York Comic Con and the rest of the week was spent getting my life in order/dinner parties/AOS watching/hiking/other random things you don't need to care about! But here's chapter 4! -

4

Fitz woke with a shiver. Although the room was dimly lit, the light still made his eyes squint. It had been more than week since they were last open. He was alone.

His consciousness sent the sensors off. Fitz was lost on what to do; he was disoriented, confused, and exhausted. He was taking large gasping breaths because for some reason he felt he hadn't been able to breathe.

And Jemma.

His mind went straight to the thought of her as if she was the only thing he could ever think about.

Fitz couldn't quite remember why at this moment it was so imperative to see her safe and alive. He just wanted to know she had a heartbeat. Her voice kept echoing inside the confines of his head but he couldn't make out any words.

The first person to enter into Fitz' medical room wasn't a doctor, but Coulson. While the man bore a relieved facial expression, Fitz stared back looking horrified.

"Hello Fitz, how are you feeling?" Coulson said, coolly.

Fitz wanted to speak but the words just didn't appear in his mind. His bottom lip quivered and he looked up at Coulson with befuddlement in his eyes. Coulson sensing now that Fitz couldn't reciprocate a conversation, sat down at the edge of Fitz' bed.

Coulson was always even-tempered, even angry or in a period where most would panic he had control. It was what made him a good leader. But what made him a great leader was just Coulson sitting on the bed with Fitz, prattling off about some of the mundane things Fitz missed while in a coma.

Coulson's one-sided talk lasted for a couple of minutes. Fitz wasn't so much as listening as he was just hearing. The familiar sound of footsteps racing down a hallway caught Fitz' attention to the point where he snapped his head to the doorway. Before the visitor turned the corner into the room, Fitz said the first word his conscious brain could form.

"Jemma?"

His voice was low and raspy, unused and unfamiliar with the exact way the muscles in his throat were supposed to contract to form sounds. His attempt, a croak, delighted Coulson for a moment until he realized how difficult it would be to tell Fitz she wasn't there.

Saved for the moment, the pair of footsteps in the hallway belonged to two people. Skye and Triplett appeared in the doorframe moments after Fitz' vocal breakthrough. Skye crossed the room in a millisecond and threw her arms around Fitz. In return, he stiffened; shocked and melancholic this wasn't from someone else. Tripp followed Skye in, walking slowly over to the bed. After Skye recoiled from the hug, Tripp gave him a congratulatory squeeze on his shoulder.

Then, a voice from the corner of the room piped up. He hadn't seen or heard her come in. But she was there.

"Oh, Fitz! Look everyone is coming to see you. Isn't that wonderful?" Jemma said cheerfully.

Fitz did more than just look at her. He gazed at her like he was seeing the Large Hadron Collider for the first time. His body was washed over with a sensation of warmth. Everyone in the room was ignoring her, but she was the center for him.