When Max was finally able to go and see Kate a few days later, she invited Warren, but he declined, saying that Max should go alone and that he'd see Kate when she came back to Blackwell. He assumed that she wouldn't want people to see her like that, weak, in the hospital, so he gave her the privacy that she deserved. And as soon as the brunette had permission from the hospital, she didn't hesitate to take the bus straight there. Flowers and a teddy bear in hand, Max wasn't sure how this was going to go. She knew for sure she'd probably cry, but she hoped she wouldn't make Kate upset.
Her heart thumped hard in her chest, nervousness pooling in her gut. Never in a million years did she think she'd be going to the hospital to visit her girlfriend who was on suicide watch. But that was the thing about life; you never knew what was going to happen. Whatever, despite everything Max was feeling inside, she managed to push it aside and focus all her attention on Kate.
The bus was nearing the hospital just on the outskirts of Arcadia Bay, and Max felt like something was constricting around her insides. She felt like she couldn't breathe because all of the anxiety was trapping her, filling up her lungs so she couldn't get the air she so desperately needed. And then the bus stopped, and it took every fiber in her being to lift her legs to walk. They felt like jelly, wobbly and unstable, as they carried her through the hospital doors. This hospital wasn't very large, well, at least compared to the few other hospitals Max had been to. The photographer walked to the receptionist's desk, and gave Kate's full name. Once Max had a room number, she found herself walking painfully slow through the brightly lit hallways. Her feet clicking and clacking on the white tiled floors.
Would Kate even be happy to see her? Max had so many unanswered questions she wanted to ask Kate, but she didn't want to overwhelm her girlfriend. Especially now, she was in her most vulnerable state. She was so fragile, and weak, and emotionally unstable. It was going to be hell, putting these pieces back together and what not, helping Kate, fixing Kate. But Max didn't mind, because she loved Kate more than she loved life itself, and she would do anything for that girl. Her breaths were coming in short pants, and she tried to take a few deep ones to calm herself down. And then there she was, standing in front of Kate's door. It was shut, but you could hear the small hospital TV playing in the background behind it.
Max knocked on the door gently, but received no answer from Kate. So she pushed the door open gently, and what she saw was enough to make her heart split in two. "Kate?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, afraid she'd break the blonde if she spoke any louder than that. She laid in the hospital bed, blankets up to her abdomen, and she looked so pale, so weak, so lifeless. It didn't look like Kate. Her face was thin from not eating, and she had dark circles underneath her bloodshot eyes. "Kate, it's me." Max spoke again, taking small steps to get closer to the small hospital bed. Kate turned her head and gave a weak smile, but it still didn't look like her. "Can I sit down?" Max gestured to the edge of the bed, and Kate nodded.
"Can you help me sit up?" Kate inquired, stretching her arms out for Max to grab, "Go slow, I get dizzy really easy." Her voice was groggy and scratchy for not talking for so long. Max helped her girlfriend sit up in the bed, and she sat down on the edge of it. Her blue eyes drank Kate in, because it felt like fucking forever since she'd seen her girlfriend. "Is that for me?" Kate asked, nodding towards the teddy bear and flowers. Hell, Max had forgotten that she'd ever brought them.
"Yeah." Max nodded, giving the blonde the items. Kate sat them on the nightstand beside her hospital bed, and it was silent between the two. It wasn't an awkward silence, but more like they were just drinking the moment in, trying to adjust to this certain situation. It wasn't until Kate cleared her throat when the silence was broken. "Kate, I have to tell you something before we talk about anything else." Max said abruptly, grabbing her girlfriend's fragile hand, savoring the feeling of smooth skin on skin. She had went over this conversation again and again in her head while she laid in bed at night, waiting to see Kate again, she knew that this had to be done. This had to be something to be said, a conversation to be had.
"What is it?" Kate inquired.
Max sighed, unsure if she should just come out with it. "This past week, my life was an absolute hell, and I was trying to figure out why. And then I finally realized it was because I thought I lost you, for good. Kate, when I found you like that... In your room, my whole world just came crashing down on me. And being away from you, waiting to come visit you, just made me realize that I love you Kate. I love you so so so much and I can't live without you, okay?" Max rambled on and on, her face heating up from saying those words, and saying that she loved Kate. Her blue eyes burned into Kate's brown ones, "So you can't leave me, ever, not anymore. I'm in too deep." She added, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips.
Kate was trying so hard not to tear up, "You really mean all that?"
"Every single word." Max replied, not missing a beat.
The blonde smiled, and pulled Max into a tight hug. "I love you too Max." She whispered.
Max nodded, wrapping her arms tightly around Kate's small frame, "And when you're ready, we can talk about all of this, okay?"