Right There Waiting For You

Chapter 9

Lena's POV

"Lena...Lena?" Sharon shook me. "Lena, sweetheart wake up."

I started to wake up.

"Wh...what? What?! Is Stef ok? What happened?" I woke up quick and shot out of my seat.

"Lena, breathe." Sharon sat me back down in my seat in what appeared to be another waiting room. I had no idea where I was.

"Where are we Sharon?" I asked looking around.

"We're in the ICU waiting room. It's 1AM." She replied with a hand on my shoulder. "They've been trying to stabilize Stef for about 10 hours. Her levels he or going down and coming back up. She's been stabilized for a few hours now, and she just woke up. We can see her." She smiled.

I threw my arms around Sharon.

"Thank you..." I whispered. "...for everything."

"No need to thank me." She said. "How about it?" She asked standing up.

I smiled and nodded as we headed to Stef's room. When we walked in, Stef was hooked up to even more wires, but this time she was sitting up and she was taking a sip from a glass of water.

I stood back a little while Sharon ran to her daughter.

"Oh, Stef." She gently threw her arms around her. "You're ok. I thought I might lose you." She said tearing up.

"Mom, you know I'm a fighter." She smirked at her mother.

"Have they fed you anything?" Sharon asked.

"Nope, just ice water. They want to get me hydrated before they try anything else." She took another sip of water.

Sharon smiled at her daughter then looked back at me.

"I'll give you guys some time." She did a big exaggerated wink, making us both chuckle, and exited the room.

I slowly approached Stef's bed.

"Stef...I-" I started.

"Lena, I'm sorry I put you through this. And I'm sorry that this is how you ended up meeting my mom. I'm sorry for all of this and for everything that's happened because of this." She put her water cup down.

"No, Stef don't apologize. None of this is your fault." I grabbed her hand just like earlier, but this time she grabbed my hand back. "I'm just so glad that you're ok. I would stay here for a week if it meant I could see you happy and healthy." We smiled at each other. "And for the record, I love your mom." We both laughed a little.

"Thank you, Lena, for being here. It means more than you know. And by the way, I know I'm in good hands." She winked, and it took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about.

"Wh-what?" I asked. "I...I said that earlier...you could hear me?" My face lit up.

"Of course I could hear you, babe." She said as she tilted her head up and kissed me quick on the lips.

"Stef, um, I want you to know something." I said nervously.

"What's that honey?"

"Well, through this all, I've realized something. Something important. I can't believe I had to almost lose you to figure out that...I love you. I love you, Stef. I said it to myself when the doctors were working on you, and now I'm saying it to you. Stefanie Foster, I love you. And I couldn't be happier about it." She kissed me on the cheek.

"I love you too, Lena. So much. When I woke up...I realized that I could've died...and I thought of everything I have and everything I love and I just...I love you, Lena Adams."