A/N: Please enjoy!
Leaning against the door to her hospital room, Bobby took a sip of the awful coffee he just grabbed from the cafeteria and sighed as he looked over at the bed in which Athena laid. She was still fast asleep, thankfully. He had debated leaving her for a while, not wanting her to have another nightmare or wake in need of something and him not be there, but in the end he'd decided it was necessary. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in almost 24 hours. The nurses brought him the bed like they said they would and he was grateful, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep. His wife was more important and his attention needed to be focused solely on her at all times.
Not only that, but the second he closed his eyes he was met with the most traumatic images.
He was transported back to that night, sitting in the truck and listening to her screams of pain over the radio.
He seriously thought he lost her when that gunshot rang out.
Standing here now, of course, he was able to remind himself that that wasn't the outcome and she was in the best place possible for the moment, but that only helped a bit. She was still so bruised. She was barely able to open her eye it was that swollen and she tired out so easily. Not only that, but she was scared. She was trying to hide it from him, but he'd seen her jump every time there was a sudden noise and he'd seen the fear in her eyes every time he'd had to leave her alone for a bit. He'd only ever known her to be full of confidence and so it killed him to see her like this. She was the strongest woman he knew though, so he knew she'd get through.
He pushed away from the door and entered the room eventually, running the hand that wasn't holding his cup of coffee through his hair before pushing it into his trouser pocket as he approached the bed. He tried to be as gentle as possible so not to wake her when he leaned down to kiss her forehead, but her sleep must have been light because she stirred the moment his lips grazed her skin and her eyes opened slowly when he pulled away. "Hey…" His voice was quiet as he reached up to brush her hair away from her face, the two of them sharing a smile when he sat down in the old chair next to the bed before reaching for her hand and taking it in his own.
"You got some nerve coming in here with that when you didn't get me one." She nodded at the coffee cup.
He chuckled, taking another sip. "I would, but I think you've suffered enough."
She rolled her eyes and tried to make herself a little more comfortable against the pillows, wincing as her body ached in protest at the movement. She turned to him again once she'd settled to a degree and studied his face for a moment. He looked exhausted. Releasing his hand, she reached up and laid her own on his cheek before letting her thumb brush against his skin. "Did you get any sleep at all last night?" She asked, raising her brow.
"I'm fine." He shook his head.
"I didn't ask if you were fine, I asked if you got any sleep last night."
"I think I rested my eyes for about ten minutes. Does that count?"
"No, it does not count," She told him. "Baby, you need your sleep."
"No, I need to make sure you're safe." He argued.
She frowned at him. "I don't think anything too bad is gonna happen to me in here."
"Nothing bad should have happened to you in the first place," He grumbled, reaching up to grab her hand and take it from his cheek. He kissed it and smoothed his thumb across the back of her palm before bringing their hands to rest in her lap through the blanket. He stared at them for a long second before looking her in the eye again. "I should have been there to protect you and I wasn't. I had to sit in that truck and…and listen to what he was doing to you. I couldn't stop him. I couldn't do anything and I have never felt more powerless. I really thought I lost you when I heard that gunshot. I…I thought you were gone, Thena, and I blamed myself for it."
"It wouldn't have been your fault no matter what happened. I chose to go in there alone." She soothed.
"Yeah, but I chose to marry you which means I chose to be the one to keep you safe and I failed," He couldn't keep his voice from trembling. "You are the most important thing in the world to me and if I lost you then…"
She slid her hand out of his a second time and brought her fingers to his lips, prompting him to stop talking. "You didn't lose me," She reminded him in a voice no higher than a whisper. "You didn't lose me and you are never going to lose me, do I make myself clear? I'll never let something like that happen to you and our kids."
He nodded, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to keep his emotions in check.
"Bobby, look at me," She brought her hand to his cheek again and made him. "Do you hear me?"
"Yeah," He assured her. "Yeah, I hear you."
"Good. Now get yourself into this bed and hold me."
Knowing there was zero point in trying to argue with her, he chuckled under his breath as he got up from the chair before waiting for her to budge over a little so he could climb onto the bed. He put his arms around her then, mindful of her broken arm, and allowed her to get comfortable before nuzzling a light kiss into her hair. He took a moment to breathe her in, reminding himself of how fortunate they had been, before dropping his lips to her shoulder through her gown and kissing her there. "You should get some sleep." He mumbled as he tightened his hold of her, smirking when she moved slightly in his arms and glanced over her shoulder at him.
"So should you," She pointed out. "No one is gonna try anything with you here protecting me."
"It'd be a bad day for them if they did," He replied, making her smile. "I love you so much, you know that?"
She hummed. "Never doubted it. I love you too."
He sensed she was starting to feel tired again a short while later, so he leaned in to steal a kiss from her before she settled in his embrace again and let her head fall against his chest. Kissing her crown, he then brought his chin to rest on her hair and sat there in comfortable silence with her until the slight shift in her breathing told him she was asleep. He was starting to feel tired now, he had to admit. Part of him was still reluctant to sleep, wanting to be alert for her at all times, but there was now another part of him that knew it was important. He wanted to be there to make all of this simpler for her and he would only achieve that if he was properly rested.
Deciding it couldn't hurt to get an hour or two, he made himself comfortable against the pillows and adjusted his hold on his sleeping wife before closing his eyes and settling down a little. Whether it had something to do with their closeness or the fact that things looked much brighter now than they did earlier, he had no idea, but soon enough – for the first time since all this happened – he found himself finally slipping into a deep sleep.
A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read. please review if you have the time!