That Summer

Stay With Me A While...

A/N: Hi! This is a bit of a longer chapter to make up for my hiatus...enjoy :)

Stevie slowly opened her eyes with an intuitive feeling that something was wrong. She adjusted back to reality after falling into a deep sleep, turning over toward Emma. Oh my god... she thought; the sheets were drenched, and it wasn't from their earlier session.

"Emma... honey," Stevie put her hand on her lover's forehead. "Em, baby, you're burning up!"

Emma was awake, but her eyes had been closed this entire time, groaning in pain. "Stevie, it hurts so bad..." She wailed.

"What hurts, baby?" Stevie asked while lovingly stroking her brown locks.

"I think I have appendicitis...I don't know what to do." Stevie panicked for a quick second. She couldn't drive her to the emergency room; Emma's job was to drive her places! She remembered that paramedics exist and reached for her landline. "Don't worry, baby, breathe... I'm calling an ambulance."

The phone rang and the 911 operator picked up. "Hi, yes, I need an ambulance sent here, my assistant thinks she has appendicitis, and I don't have a driver's license." Stevie explained. She gave them her address, instructing them to arrive without any lights or sirens. Since it was 4am, she figured nobody would be up to tell the tabloids that an ambulance went to Stevie Nicks' house...

After she hung up the phone, she ran into the bathroom to get a cold washcloth to put over Emma's forehead; she was in full mama bear mode, regardless of what had occurred in her bed earlier. She sat behind Emma, straddling her sweaty, weak body and dabbing the washcloth all over her face.

"Can you walk downstairs, baby?" Stevie asked. Emma shook her head, her hands gripping her abdomen. Please don't throw up in my bed... Stevie thought to herself, feeling terrible over how selfish that was of her.

"It's okay, honey, don't worry... they'll come upstairs and get you. They'll be here soon, angel." She stroked her hair, planting soft kisses on her head.

It seemed like an eternity before the paramedics came through the bedroom door; Stevie had gotten out of bed to let them in, so nobody saw the suspicious scene that occurred moments before. One of the paramedics scooped Emma out of bed, carrying her downstairs and into the ambulance.

Stevie jumped in after her and sat by her side, still stroking her hair. She let them wheel Emma out and through the ER, and she followed closely behind until she was stopped at the double doors into the operating room.

She sat in the waiting area, trying her best to hide behind a magazine. The one good thing about appendicitis is that the surgery is pretty quick, so after about an hour and a half, she was brought back to Emma's recovery room.

"She's a little groggy, but we were able to remove her appendix without any problems. She's going to need about a week or two to fully recover at home, but we'll discharge her this afternoon. Are you her caretaker?"

Stevie shrugged, realizing she had no way to contact Emma's family; she didn't even know their names. "I guess I am..." She answered, looking at Emma slowly start to awaken from the anesthesia.

"Well then, I'll be back in a few hours to give you instructions for her recovery. But you two get some sleep in the meantime." Stevie thanked him and watched him close the door; they were alone.

She walked over to Emma, making sure to be by her side when she opened her eyes. "Stevie... what happened... where –"

"Shhh... it's okay, baby," Stevie cooed, scooching into the bed next to her, "you're in the hospital, they had to take out your appendix. But we're gonna go home in a few hours. Just rest, okay?" She kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair again. Emma just nodded, her head falling onto Stevie's chest.