You are Mine

~ 3 ~

 Lou flew to Melbourne, and neglecting the jet-lag she would be facing soon, rushed to the hospital to get tested. Of course the hospital explained her the procedures, risks and consequences. She submitted the files Debbie had made for their reference and they were impressed. Lou assured the authorities that she is willing to donate and not to delay the procedure. It is after all an emergency. She got tested. Lou was a match luckily but the doctor advised her to rest for a day or two to adjust to new time-zone and be stress-free. Matt was anyway getting stabilised after the brain surgery. His body needs time.

Kristen sent Lou home with Claire to rest. Lou rested only after calling Debbie to inform her whereabouts and the following day, she donated part of her liver to her twin brother. It took almost 4 hours to extract and transplant. The surgeries were successful. Lou rested in the hospital bed and once conscious she was holding an iPad, talking to Debbie. Of course she would first speak to Debbie after surgery.

Few days passed by in the hospital as observation period and during this time she had Debbie calling every hour to check and at times fight because she missed her badly. Debbie made sure to be online and present whenever doctors visited Lou. She even enquired doctors about Lou's conditions and the rehabilitation process. Lou rolled her eyes at that, though she was clearly happy to be on the receiving end of Debbie's affection.

After few days, Lou was sent home while Matt still was kept under observation. He wasn't scheduled to discharge from the hospital anytime soon. Lou's older sister Victoria stayed with her at Matt's place as her primary caregiver.

*****************

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Debbie Ocean was miserable without her better half. Honestly speaking, Debbie missed Lou within 5 minutes of dropping her to the airport. Understandable. Her parole still had 3 months which meant she won't be seeing her best friend for at least for 3 months if Lou stayed there longer! Her best friend, her annoying cocky asshole friend would not be around her for 3 months! Her sweet, kind, soft-hearted, loyal and somewhat dumb friend won't be around her for 3 months! Her ever so naughty, ever so charming, ever so beautiful and ever so loving friend won't be around her for 3 months! Her Lou won't be around her for 3 months! Her love won't be around her for 3 months!

Her love? Yes. Her love. What once was platonic in nature had morphed into romantic love in Debbie's heart the last few years. She didn't dare acknowledge it but prison changes people. And she accepted the fact that she loved Lou as more than a friend. However, it didn't give her courage to confess directly to Lou. Acknowledging your love for someone is level-1 difficulty. But confessing that to the person in question is level-100 difficulty (she is familiar with basic gaming terms, thanks to Constance). And so, Debbie kept her love a secret.

For 5 years, 8 months and 11 days she kept it a secret without much trouble because she was in jail. But it was after her release that put her in circumstances where she almost confessed or just lost her senses around Lou more and more and found it hard to keep it a secret. It's been 2 years since her release. She had been aware of her love for Lou for almost 8 years. And she had been in love with Lou for... God knows how many years. And she didn't know how long she will be keeping it a secret.

There were times the secret threatened to expose. Not her fault. They have been flirting a lot since the beginning of their friendship. It was harmless and mostly with an intention of humour and sarcasm. Nevertheless, they flirted. And after her release, the flirtation was getting more and more intense with less sarcasm and more 'flirty'. That kind of flirty. Also, somehow their physical interactions tended to be more and more sensual and... seductive?

How did that happen? Even they didn't know. Hugging, tickling, kisses on cheeks and forehead, cuddling and snuggling were usual interactions they had even before prison time. And they continued it once Debbie got released. They have been doing that since two decades. So, not anything new. But at some point after MET, mostly after Lou returned back from her trip and both shared a hug that was longer and tighter than the hug they normally had, their interactions changed. In ways unimaginable for a normal person with normal definition of friendship.