Sticks and Skates [Wayhaught]

Hey There, Pretty Brown Eyes

She's not exactly sure how long she sits there, waiting. She knows it's a while, judging by the way Wynonna, Gus, Doc, Nedley, Rosita, Kate and Jeremy have all come and gone, but exactly how long, Waverly can't say. Not that she minds; she'd wait until the end of eternity and then some for Nicole Haught.

Part of her thought she might've been fine, seeing Nicole in whatever shape she was in, but reality was much harsher than her imagination and she was admittedly barely holding it together. How could she? Not when her girlfriend was attached to a machine breathing for her while another tube drained the blood out of her lungs.

It wasn't fair; not in the slightest. Nicole worked so hard to get to where she was, her efforts paying off as evidenced by her performances in the regular season but especially in the playoffs. She was on pace to set even more records, and not just the rookie ones. Nicole was flying high up until that Jolene bitch came around and blew her right out of the sky like it was nothing. As far as Waverly knew, Jolene had escaped the scrum after the hit with just a black eye and a busted nose. She hadn't wanted the woman to be hurt back, necessarily. (An eye for an eye does make the world go blind, after all). No, she just wanted some semblance of justice—equality even—in this situation. Maybe all Waverly really wanted was for Nicole not to be as bad off as she was.

A tap on her shoulder and a cup of coffee being placed right in her eye level broke her out of her thoughts.

"How's the creepy staring going?" Wynonna teased, making sure she took the coffee. (Among other reasons, Waverly wanted Nicole to wake up so that she wouldn't have to drink the sorry excuse for coffee that this place forced on them. To say it tasted like dirt diluted with lukewarm water would've been generous).

"It's not creepy," she pouted, "nor is it staring. I'm sitting at Nicole's bedside because I care about her. Because I love her."

"I know babygirl, I'm just..." Wynonna trailed off, resuming her seat across the bed, biting the inside of her cheek sadly.

"Yeah, I know." Waverly understood. They both had their ways of avoiding their emotions. Waverly buried herself into anything that could keep her mind busy; Wynonna used jokes and humor as distraction. "Have you heard anything new from the doctors?"

"No, not really." She said, eyes trained on Nicole's face. "They're gonna be kicking us out in about fifteen minutes though."

Waverly looked up at the clock, seeing the time tick toward 4 pm. She had read over the pamphlet that Dr. Valdez provided them at least thirty times, trying to keep herself distracted. From 4 to 5 they'd have to be out of the room to allow the nurses to do their work, and allow the doctors to run any sort of test they may need. Waverly held onto the hope that Nicole would be awake by the time she was allowed back in the room. After all, Dr. Valdez had said they were taking Nicole off the sedative and were hopeful she'd come around by the evening.

"You think she'll wake up soon?" Wynonna asked when the silence overtook them. She'd always been good at sensing what Waverly was feeling, but she was starting to wonder if her sister had mind reading powers.

"I hope so."

"She better," Wynonna quipped, "we made a bet, and Wynonna Earp always follows through on her bets."

"Not exactly sure what she'll be able to do with that $50, 'Nonna." She grumbled a little bit more bitterly than intended.

"Right." Her sister mumbled, averting her eyes downward.

A tense silence fell between them again. She hadn't meant to come off rude, but she could tell her sister had been a little hurt by her tone. The anxiety of the uncertainty was eating at them, emotions were high, the hospital coffee sucked and both of them had spent the night on arguably the least comfortable chairs in the world.