You have to wake up!
We need you!
You can't leave us, too!
What are we going to do when you're gone?
You have to wake up!
These were the words that penetrated her mind as she refused to wake up from her deep, well-earned sleep.
And many more words that sounded much more matter-of-fact, much more like diagnoses from doctors updating her family members on her recovery.
We need you were the words that slowly, but more and more, brought her back to the land of the living.
I need you ... The girls need you! You have to wake up!
The last thing she remembered was the investigation into the man who called himself BodyCounter. Maggie and the miscarriage because the BodyCounter had ambushed and beaten her up. Then she remembered the cemetery and a shot that came out of nowhere. And a burning pain in her abdomen. Then, her memories blurred.
She groaned and moved her head, her fingers feeling as if they had rusted over time.
Then she heard a steady beeping that slowly drilled into her brain.
And when she tried to clench her hand into a fist, she felt a stranger's hand in it.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to open her eyes, even though she would have preferred to continue sleeping to catch up on the sleep she had lost over the past few years.
She couldn't see anything at first; everything around her was blurred. But as time passed, she recognized shadowy outlines, a bright light that hurt her eyes.
It took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn't lying in her bed, that it wasn't her bedroom, and that the annoying beeping belonged to a heart monitor monitoring her vital signs.
She remembered the cemetery and the gunshot.
She had used the last of her strength to give the BodyCounter a fatal shot to the chest.
The man who had turned her life upside down.
She blinked slowly and looked to her right to see a sleeping brunette holding her hand as if her life depended on it.
She looked around the room again and realized that it took her eyes a while to adjust to the light properly, but then she recognized a sleeping girl sitting on a chair with her legs tucked in while holding onto Cuddly.
She nodded as she felt her heart beating vigorously and relentlessly in her chest again and blinked back her tears as she saw Ashlyn asleep.
Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly and licked her lips before she felt someone sitting at her bedside, holding her hand. She looked to her right and frowned a little as she realized that Nikki was at her side, resting her head on the edge of the bed to get some rest.
The detective wondered if she should free her hand and place it on Nikki's head but decided against it, as that small gesture would very likely wake her daughter, and she didn't know how long Nikki and Ashlyn had been in the hospital or how long she had been unconscious in the hospital.
Elizabeth closed her eyes again and took a deep breath before letting her eyes wander around the room again. But this time, she felt a stab of pain in her heart as she realized that no one else was with her except Ashlyn and Nikki.
It was already dark, most likely in the middle of the night.
Jane and Maura were undoubtedly at home in their bed resting, as were Katherine and Nick.
But Maggie couldn't spot them.
Had she ruined her relationship with Maggie so much when they all chased Todd Quimby that the redhead wouldn't even come to the hospital to see her?
Did Maggie hate her so much that ...
Her train of thought was abruptly interrupted when someone carefully opened the door to her room and stood frozen in the doorway.
Elizabeth started breathing again; she hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath and smiled weakly. "Hi, Mags," she said simply in a raspy voice.
Maggie stood rooted to the spot in the doorway, blinking open-mouthed several times, holding a sandwich she must have found somewhere.
It took her a few seconds before her brain processed that she was looking into her wife's open eyes. "Oh my God," she murmured and took long strides towards the left side of the bed. "Elizabeth!"
Elizabeth raised her brows in surprise when she felt Maggie's lips on her own, but it didn't take her two seconds to relax and wrap her fingers around Maggie's wrist.
Maggie leaned her forehead against the detective's and closed her eyes. "You took your damn time, Liz."
"I had to catch up on some sleep," Elizabeth replied flippantly, hoping she could relax the situation a little.
Maggie smiled a little and nodded before sitting on the edge of the bed without letting go of the detective's hand.
Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked at her wife with a slightly furrowed brow. "Maggie --" She paused and closed her eyes briefly. "I'm so finally sorry."
"What?" Maggie asked in a whisper so as not to wake Nikki and Ashlyn. "That you were almost killed?"
The detective took a deep breath and couldn't take her eyes off the redhead. "Just everything. That I'm lying here ... that we lost our baby. Just everything."
Maggie nodded slowly and raised her eyebrows. "Now, just focus on getting back to full health, Liz. Everything else can wait."
Elizabeth nodded as well and smiled weakly.
xxx
When will we get caught?
That was a question Elizabeth and her colleagues asked themselves often, perhaps far too often.
When can't we get out of the way? When is the perpetrator faster than us? When does the backup arrive too late? Or not at all?
This time, Elizabeth almost got caught.
Todd Quimby hadn't killed Elizabeth. But he had killed a part of her.
The detective flinched as someone wrapped their arms around her waist.
She'd stood at the glass door leading to her porch, watching snowflakes slide down from the sky, watching Jalen, Nikki, Ashlyn, and Blu as the kids frolicked in the first snow of the year, even though the oldest of the three kept claiming to be too old for that kind of thing. In contrast, Jalen and Ashlyn kept begging her to go outside until the teenager finally relented.
"What are you doing?" Maggie asked and now stood next to her wife, also looking through the glass door.
Elizabeth looked out into the garden again. "I'm enjoying the moment."
The redhead smiled and took Elizabeth's hand. "Come on, we have guests."
The detective rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders as she followed the ME almost reluctantly. "Do I have to?"
Maggie slowed her steps and looked at Elizabeth in astonishment. "How old are you again? Five?" She rolled her eyes as her wife grinned. "You invited her yourself. Do you remember?"
"What it was before or after I almost got killed?"
The redhead stopped and gave Elizabeth a warning look and a light pat against her shoulder before they walked back into the living room where Maura and Jane had gathered with Nick and Katherine.
Maura looked at her older daughter for a long time as if she still couldn't believe that Elizabeth had actually woken up from her four-week coma and had almost fully recovered.
During those four weeks, Jane, Maura, Nick, Katherine, the girls, and Maggie had taken turns being at Elizabeth's side in the hospital, hoping that Elizabeth would regain her will to live and fight and fight her way out of unconsciousness.
After the first week, Ashlyn and Nikki began to give up hope and wondered more and more what would happen to them if Elizabeth didn't wake up, whether it would mean that they had become orphans.
During this time, it was Maura who had reassured the girls over and over again that their mother was a fighter and that she would only need time to wake up again. But inside, she had the same fear as her granddaughters, Jane, Katherine, Nick, and Maggie. The fear that this time, Elizabeth would not find the will and the strength she needed to fight her way back to life.
Elizabeth had lost too much during the hunt for Todd Quimby. Her baby. Her marriage. Maybe even her will to live.
Maura had driven straight to the hospital every day before or after work to visit her comatose daughter and had told her about all the things the detective had missed during that time.
Had begged her after the second week not to give up for the sake of Nikki and Ashlyn. For the sake of Jane and herself. For the sake of Maggie.
Elizabeth tucked her chin as she sat on the couch and picked up her coffee cup. "I'm not a ghost, Mom."
Maura bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes as Jane chuckled. "Can't I just be happy that my daughter is no longer unconscious in the hospital?"
"Yes, you can," Elizabeth replied, her brows furrowed, "Sure. Just ... Staring at me makes it a little creepy."
Maggie slapped her wife on the thigh while the others laughed heartily.
Elizabeth grinned broadly and looked at her unusually quiet sister and nodded when Katherine returned her gaze with a sigh.
Then the psychiatrist stood and went into the kitchen to exchange the coffee she had drunk an hour ago for a glass of wine. She frowned a little when Elizabeth handed her the red wine.
Elizabeth looked closely at the label on the bottle and licked her lips. "I haven't even thanked you properly yet."
Katherine smiled and shook her head as she poured the wine into her glass. "You don't have to thank me for anything, Liz. I was doing my job."
"And saved my life in the process," the detective replied. "I wouldn't be standing here today without you, Kate."
Katherine took a deep breath and looked closely at the detective. "You're my sister, Liz. I could never have forgiven myself if --"
Elizabeth pulled her into her arms without warning, holding Katherine so tightly that the psychiatrist could barely breathe. "Thank you."
