Riza

Riza jolted.

Mia's hand… Her fingers –

Riza was torn between scanning her daughter's face for any change and looking away to see if the movement she'd felt in her hand was real –

There!

"Mia?" Her name was choked from her. Every emotion surged within her, bringing Riza to her feet. She staggered, half in disbelief, half devastation, sure her mind was playing tricks on her, letting her see what she so desperately wished to.

But… Her fingers were moving. Her fingers were moving! She was waking!

"Roy. Roy!" Riza shouted for him. One of her hands reached out blindly behind her to try and shake him awake, but she was too far away. It ended up flailing desperately in the air, however she heard him snort and cough behind her, woken from his slumber at last. He sounded confused and if Riza were able to focus on anything else other than Mia, she'd have heard the small bed squeaking behind her as he moved, but nothing could tear her focus from her daughter.

Mia's eyelids were fluttering.

"Mia?" A sob came from Riza's throat. "Mia, honey, we're here." She lifted a hand to brush her hair off her face and stroke her forehead. It scrunched beneath her fingers and Mia let out a tiny whimper as she started to wake. "We're right here with you."

Tears were streaming down Riza's cheeks now. Mia had gripped Riza's hand slightly tighter.

She was waking up.

"Mia?" Roy hurtled himself clumsily, still half asleep, from the bed and rounded the other side of Mia where he'd have more room. His hair stuck up on end and was a frizzy mess around his head. Roy braced a hand on the edge of the bed and tentatively, hesitantly, lifted a hand to cup Mia's cheek. He was watching, rapt, as her eyebrows twitched, and her face screwed up briefly.

Riza let out another sob of joy.

"Mum and Dad are here, sweetheart." Riza lifted Mia's hand and pressed a hard kiss to the back of it.

"Come on, Mia. Come on, little love." Roy's sole focus was on their daughter. His eyes flitted between Mia's taking everything in, as she slowly, finally, woke up from her coma.

Both parent's bodies shudder in relief, almost crumbling, as Mia's eyes finally blinked open.

The room was silent. No one said anything. No one was able to. Riza and Roy were both dumbstruck and Mia was still coming to.

"Dad?"

That tiny whisper was enough, it was a spark, that kicked them both into action.

Riza covered her mouth with her free hand as she stifled another sob. Roy leaned over and cupped Mia's cheeks in both his hands gently.

"Hi, little love." His thumbs swiped gently over her cheeks as tears poured down his own.

"What –" Mia's eyes closed briefly before she managed to force them open again. "Mum?"

"She's here."

"Right here, sweetheart." Riza gave Mia's hand a squeeze. Riza could tell it was a feat for her to turn her head on the pillow, so leaned into the middle of the bed so Mia could see her better. "Right here. Right with you."

Mia's face screwed up. Her eyes welled and all three of them were sobbing in the small hotel room in Xing.

She was awake.

She was home.

Roy

Awake.

She was awake.

Roy had never felt joy and relief like it in all his life.

They'd cried together, hugged each other as best they could.

Mia had returned to them.

Roy's legs could barely hold him up. He was so relieved it felt as though every worried and stressed emotion he'd experienced throughout this uncertain period had suddenly fled him. It was as though they were what was keeping him upright. Now they were gone, there was nothing but a lightness to him. His limbs could barely function. But that was okay, because he was content to just stare at his daughter and revel in the fact her eyes were open. She was awake. She was talking.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

Mia was exhausted still. Her eyes were closed but she wasn't asleep, she assured them. Roy had run to find a doctor as soon as they overcame their initial shock and they'd assured them this was normal. It would take some time for Mia to come to and gain her strength. They took her vitals and asked her a few questions and they were pleased with everything they saw and heard.

Still, Roy leaned forward in his chair to ask his own. "How do you feel, Mia?"

She groaned. "Sore."

Roy's heart ached for his daughter. Once again, he wished he could take on all her pain, all her suffering, to free her from it, even for a moment. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze, silently letting her know he heard her and that he was there with her throughout this.

"And tired." Her eyes blinked blearily open, lids drooping slightly.

"Okay, honey," Riza soothed quietly. "There's no rush. If you want to sleep, just sleep. We won't be going anywhere."

Mia's lids fluttered open once more and she shot Riza and him a tired smile. "You're both here…" Her eyes welled up as she glanced between them both.

"Of course we are. We both came as soon as we heard."

Her brow scrunched in thought. "I… I don't really remember… Everything is fuzzy."

"That's okay," Roy reassured her, then paused. "What do you remember?"

"I… I got into the taxi home. I –" Mia froze and her already pale face drained even further.

Both Roy and Riza spied it immediately.

"Mia, you're okay," Riza reassured. "You're safe."

"I was in a car crash?" Her breathing picked up as memories returned to her.

"Yes," Roy interjected, noticing how Riza's face also grimaced in pain. "That's what we were told. You don't have to tell us about it though, if it's too much."

"I –" Mia licked her lips. "Am I paralyzed?" The last word came out a broken whisper. A hoarse breath followed. "I can't move my legs."

Roy immediately stood. His fatigue was forgotten. "No, Mia. Your leg is broken, though." Mia whimpered again and he soothed her gently. "They splinted them both to keep them still and allow it to heal. I don't know if that will change now that you're awake, but it's what they decided while you were asleep. Just in case you woke up in a panic and tried to move."

"Okay." Mia exhaled shakily and Roy was pleased to note his explanation was calming her somewhat.

"They ran those tests on your first, I think," Riza told her. She gathered one of Mia's hands in both of hers. "I'm sure they said it wasn't a risk, and everything was fine, but we can check with the doctor when they come to see you."

"Okay. Thank you." A tear escaped and dripped down Mia's cheek.

Roy brushed it away for her, shooting her a small smile. "No thanks needed, little love."

Mia gave her father a watery smile at his nickname for her. Coined as soon as Roy set eyes upon her after she was born and explained to his daughter one afternoon when it was just the two of them. Riza was working and he'd been offsite in between jobs. It was just the two of them. Mia had only been five or six and had asked why she was called "little love". Roy could still picture clearly the way her nose scrunched up in her confusion.

"Because," Roy had explained to her, scooping Mia up in his arms and causing her to let loose a shriek of delighted laughter, "you have to be little love."

"Why?" Big eyes had looked up at him, hanging on his every word.

And Roy admitted something to his daughter which he'd always kept inside. Something he hadn't shared with anyone in years. But it felt like the right time.

"Because Mummy is my big love. That means you're my little love."

"You still love Mummy?" This confused her young mind. They didn't live together, and he wasn't always with them.

He pecked her cheek before setting her down, his answer easy. "Of course I do. I love you both the most."

He always wanted his daughter to grow up knowing he'd always love her mother. To know that would never change.

"I will love her forever, little love, just like I'll love you forever."

This news caused his young daughter to light up in a way nothing else had. As if this was all she'd ever wanted to hear. And still to this day, he never deviated. Why would he, when it was the truth? Mia, as an adult now, still knew how he felt about Riza. Their relationship was complicated, but Mia knew not to doubt how much he loved them both, and Roy constantly ensured he did everything in his power to show it.

"How did you both get here?"

Tugged back to the present and out of his memory, Roy glanced over at Riza. She'd pressed her lips into a thin line as she considered how to proceed.

"Your mother received a call from your phone," Roy admitted. "You were at another hospital before coming to this one. Once I was offsite, she called me."

Mia swallowed and a look of distress came over her face. "Someone called you?"

Riza nodded. "A doctor from the other hospital."

Mia paled. "Oh my god. And… And you came alone?" Her breathing grew shorter, sharper.

"Hey," Roy soothed gently. "Mia?" Worried eyes flew to meet his. "Do not worry about this, okay? It's already happened. What's important is we were both informed and we were able to be here with you, okay?"

"But… But Mum, you hate flying. And you did it alone? Because of me –"

"Mia." Roy's attempts to soothe fell on deaf ears.

"Hey, none of that," Riza urged gently, but firmly. She stood and settled herself carefully onto the edge of the bed beside Mia. She hooked an arm around her shoulders and drew Mia in close – who immediately turned her face into her mother's shoulder and closed her eyes, crying quietly into her shirt.

Roy's heart ached at Mia's distress, but was simply glad Riza was here with him, for Mia, because she always had the knack to calm her completely.

"Mia?" Riza urged her away from her shoulder and smiled down at her daughter. "No blame game, okay? None of that."

Eventually, Mia started to calm. She nodded shakily.

Riza gently wiped the tears from her face. "I would fly across the world to see you, Mia. I would do it twice. Repeatedly, if needed." Riza gave her a squeeze once more. "I would do anything for you. So would your father."

Mia glanced over at Roy. He nodded enthusiastically, because there was no limit to what he would do for his daughter.

"So, no worrying about that, okay?"

"Okay, Mum."

Riza pressed a kiss to the top of Mia's head, smoothing her hair off her forehead. "We'll discuss it all later, okay? If you want to. But if you don't, that's okay too."

A knock on the door interrupted them. Mia's doctor popped her head in with a friendly smile. "It's good to see you awake Mia."

"Hi," Mia replied quietly. So unlike herself.

"I understand this is a disorienting time for you, but I would like to introduce myself and have a chat with you, if that's all right?"

Mia nodded. "Yes, that's fine." Her voice was stronger this time.

"Excellent," her doctor beamed, and she stepped into the room.

Roy vacated his chair and rose to stand by Mia's head. Mia immediately reached out and latched into him, which Roy welcomed. He grasped her hand tightly as her doctor began to speak and update Mia on her condition.

Mia

She was still in Xing.

She was in hospital.

Her parents were both here and had been almost the entire time.

She'd been in a car crash.

That's what she knew so far.

The details were still fuzzy on the crash. She knew she'd suffered a head injury and broken her leg but whenever she tried to remember anything else about it, anxiety churned in her stomach and her heart started to race, so she blocked it out for now. Mia had no doubt she'd remember it all eventually, and whether it came to her slowly or in a debilitating rush, she wasn't sure. But for now, she'd focus on one thing at a time.

Starting with her broken leg –

And both her parents were here? And – Mia wouldn't lie – looking rather longingly at one another when they thought she couldn't see them? (Or, ahem, whispering quietly to one another when she pretended to be asleep?)

She was kept in the hospital for another two weeks. To make sure her brain was okay after the crash and simply because flying would be hell with her broken femur. Her days were filled with – slowly – learning to walk on crutches. They wanted her as mobile as possible, however there were still days she'd take multiple excursions around the hospital for a change of scenery in a wheelchair. Either Dad or Mum pushed her, taking turns. She saw the beautiful gardens in the centre courtyard. She chatted with different nurses, day in, day out. She didn't know them, but they were ecstatic to see her awake and mobile. She figured they must have looked after her while she was in a coma.

That thought was terrifying. She'd lost so much time…

It would take some time for her to come to terms with it, the doctor said, and she said the hospital had qualified staff ready and open to speak to patients about this kind of ordeal, should she need it. Mia was considering taking them up on it.

She didn't remember much from it. There were certainly dreams. Now she was awake now, she recognised some thoughts were. But there were some which may not have been.

Starting with her parents.

Of course, she remembered hearing them. She remembered feeling safe.

But something must have happened to cause a shift between them. They were acting like… a couple. If Dad wasn't holding her hand, he was holding Mum's, who leaned into his side so easily Mia wasn't sure she even realised she was doing it.

It was fascinating. Endearing.

It caused a small ember of hope to kindle within Mia.

Her parent's lives were their own. They made their own choices and had obviously made some to keep them apart from one another. For what reasons, Mia didn't really know. She'd never wanted to ask to avoid the risk of potentially upsetting anyone. But she knew they still loved each other. Even if Dad hadn't told her throughout her life, it was obvious he was head over heels for Mum. And Mum wasn't as slick as she thought it was hiding it from her. She, too, was obviously still in love with Dad. It was in the way she always spoke about him. With a quiet, wistful tone and a small smile. In the way she'd light up whenever he entered the room. Not to mention the huge grin he'd always shoot her whenever he spotted her.

They were so obvious.

But Mia would keep her observations to herself for now. When they were out of the hospital and back home, then she'd grill Mum about it. She was always a tough nut to crack but when it came to Dad, Mia could practically picture the blush on her face now. And if Mum didn't crack, Dad would be so easy. He'd always been very open about his feelings for Mum. Mia was sure she could get him to spill the beans about how they were suddenly looking so openly in love with one another.

If not, she'd ask Uncle Maes for help. He could help her get the scoop.

Plans were already forming inside her head as she watched them try so hard not to gaze at one another.

But their time would come.

Just like, Mia so dearly hoped, her Mum and Dad's time to be together would come. Now.