Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The soft, steady beeping from the heart monitor machine woke Stella. She was groggy and her eyes felt like they were filled with mud, heavy and gummy. As she tried to open her eyes, she became aware of the pain...she no longer felt. She was still in some discomfort but the stabbing, lightening hot pain was gone.

Stella groaned as she tried to fully wake up.

"Stella? Baby, are you awake?" She heard Kelly say. She then heard, quieter and further away, "Excuse me? Can you get Dr. Bekker? I think Stella's waking up."

"Stella, can you open your eyes?" Kelly asked, laying his hand in top of hers.

Stella turned her head slightly towards Kelly's voice. She slowly opened her eyes. The room was dimly lit but she could still see Kelly as clear as day.

"Hey you." She said softly. Kelly gently grasped her hand, leaned down and kissed Stella's forehead.

"Hi. I'm glad you're finally awake. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck."

"Close but not quite," Kelly responded.

Stella tried to figure out the damage to her body. "Ok, you tell me how I'm doing."

"You've been better but it's not as bad as it could have been. You want to wait did the doctor?"

"No. Just tell me." Stella was more alert now. She figured she was groggy from the meds they were giving her but fought to clear her head. She needed to hear this.

"Well, you have a concussion. The lac on you head will require plastic surgery. They weren't able to close it properly since it had been open for more than 8 hours. You have a few cracked rigs and a bruised sternum."

"How's my leg? Wait!" She said looking down at the blanket and seeing something strange where her leg should be. "do I still have a leg?"

"Yes, but it's pretty bad. Broken ankle, compound fracture of the tibia." You've got a plate in your ankle and screws holding you leg together. You've got a ring fixator from you knee all the way down. There's a lot of muscle and tendon damage. Some nerve damage. Dr. Bekker can give you a better idea."

Stella pulled the edge of the blanket to expose her leg. It looked like something from Frankenstein. Swollen, bruised and screwed to a ring. She had seen this before but it's something else seeing screws poking into her skin. At least I still had a leg, she thought.

"How long have I been here?"

"Four days. They had you pretty sedated most of the time though. And you've been on some heavy duty antibiotics. How do you feel,Stella?"

"It doesn't hurt as much. It's more like a dull ache all over."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah. Hit and run. It was late and I probably wasn't paying as close attention as I should have." Stella said with a grimace as she tried to shift her body to sit up.

Kelly reached over and fixed the pillows behind her and raised the bed for her.

"Stella."

She looked up at him."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of this."

"Kelly, this wasn't your fault. I was mad and I should have just gone home. I'm sorry we got into a fight. I hate fighting with you."

"Me too. We'll figure this out."

Dr. Bekker came in.

"Hello Stella. How are you feeling today?" Dr. Bekker approached the bed, took her stethoscope off her neck so she could listen to Stella's breath sounds.

"Sounds good. How's the pain in your leg?"

"It's ok. When can I get this thing off?"

"About 6 weeks."

"6 weeks?! Are you kidding me?"

"Stella, there a lot a damage here. You're going to need a lot of physio to have even a chance at full function."

"Full function? What does that mean? Am I going to be able to go back to work?"

Dr. Bekker put on a pair of latex gloves and pulled back the blanket, exposing Stella's damaged leg. She gently examined the sutures and pins for any sign of infection.

"I can't offer a medical opinion about that right now. You're young, you're physically fit. That will go a long way to your overall recovery. I can tell you, it will be at least 8 weeks before you can even be evaluated and based on the extent of the injury, it's more likely to be 12 weeks." Dr. Bekker said, as she removed her gloves.

"A nurse will be in the clean and change your bandages. If you continue to progress, you might be able to go home by the end of the week." Bekker nodded at Kelly and turned to leave.

Stella sat there stunned. 3 months! She wasn't going to be able to work for 3 months. What was she going to do for money? This was an off-the-job injury. It wasn't going to be covered by workers comp. how was she going to pay rent, buy groceries? She didn't have a car! How was she going to get around?

Overwhelmed, Stella slumped on the pillows, tears forming.

"Hey Stella. It's ok. We'll figure it all out. For starters, I want you to move back in with me. You're going to need someone to take care of you."

"Kelly, no. I can manage. I'll figure it all out."

"Stella." Kelly firmly took her hand which caused her to look up at him. "Let me take care of you. You don't have to go through this alone. You have me and I want to help you through this. Please."

Stella looked into his eyes. After everything she had been through, convinced that she would probably die in the mangled car, Kelly had been the one to find her. He hadn't given up on her. He knew something had happened and didn't stop until her found her. Yes, everything that he did to find her, everything he had done for her for the months before they even got together showed her that she could depend on him. He wasn't going to run. He was going to be there for her. He wanted to take care of her. Maybe it was about time she let him.