Hours went by, it felt like days to Amy who was on the edge of her seat leaning over Steven the whole time while Mark went to be spoken to by nurses and doctors, get coffees and some lunch from the hospital’s café. There was barely any life in Steven but Amy held his hand tightly, whispering his name every time he did move his fingers slightly, she expected him to wake every time but was disappointed when he returned to his stillness.
“You can’t stay there all day, Amy... please just go for a walk, take a break, you look so tired” Mark whispered over from the other side of Steven’s bed to Amy who yawned for the hundredth time that day. She looked at Mark in disbelief,
“No, I can’t leave his side, what if he... dies... while I’m away? I wouldn’t be able to live with the regret” Amy stuttered at the thought of having Steven die,
“He won’t, Amy, he’s strong and stable” Mark began, he looked around the room to see Steven’s doctor approach them, he was dark skinned and had dark brown eyes that were full of understanding and pity when he looked at Amy starting to cry at the thought of her love dying. “Doctor Castle, didn’t you say Steven is fine now?” Mark asked the doctor who was at the end of Steven’s bed reading Steven’s chart.
“Ah yes, yes he will be absolutely fine, don’t worry yourselves about it. In a couple of days Steven will be back to his normal self, what was it? Rocking out on stage?” Dr. Castle reassured Amy, who had walked to him to read the chart of Steven’s recovery,
“Is that a good thing?” Amy asked as she pointed to the chart at some medical jargon
“Yes, it means there’s nothing wrong with the wound anymore as his heart doesn’t need to work as hard because it’s almost healed” The doctor explained as simple as possible for Amy to understand.
“I guess I’ll go for a walk outside then... Thank you doctor...” Amy sighed as she thanked the doctor for reassuring her and walked to the exit of the hospital.
Amy loved walking; it let her clear her mind, she and Steven shared their love for walking which brought them closer. Many days were spent walking in the forests together, hand in hand, just talking about anything and everything. But today Amy was walking on her own in the hospital car park; she embraced the cool wind that hit her chest and face. It stung her eyes causing the tears to fall, she was already expecting them but the strong breeze started the tears off. Even though Amy was told her love would be completely fine, she still worried about him. She sat on a low brick wall that bordered the car park for a while until she heard quick heavy footsteps coming closer behind her. Turning around, Amy saw Mark running towards her
“Amy! Steven’s waking up any second now!” He called to her. Amy’s eyes widened as she shot up and ran to Mark who stopped right in front of her.
“What? He’s awake?!” Amy asked in disbelief. Mark pulled Amy towards the hospital and they started running to Steven’s ward.
“Yeah he was stirring a few minutes ago and I thought you’d want to be there for when he wakes up” Mark explained as the slowed down to walk briskly to Steven’s bed where Amy touched Steven’s hand before she'd even sat down on the chair.
“Steven?” She breathed his name hopefully. Steven’s eyes were moving under his eyelids but they didn’t open. His breathing was stronger as if trying to move and wake. Amy said his name again “Steven, please wake up, I need you!” Steven lay there asleep for one more second before his eyelids fluttered and his crystal blue, bloodshot eyes opened and looked around the room. When they met Amy’s teary green ones, he smiled and breathed out sharply as he tried to sit up but wires and tubes secured him to the bed. Amy stroked Steven’s cheek lovingly as Steven whispered hoarsely,
“You came... I missed you...”
“How could you miss me? You’ve been unconscious the whole time” Amy chuckled, tears pouring down her face at the man she thought was gone from her world that had suddenly re-entered it again,
“I can still miss you being with me, honey, conscious or unconscious” Steven tried to smile but winced in pain “Ouch! What’s wrong with my nose?!” he asked, lightly putting his fingers on the broken bridge of his nose,
“You were punched in the nose on that field, and the hit was so hard it broke your nose, there’s never anything we can do, I’m sorry” Dr. Castle explained apologetically as he checked Steven’s pulse and temperature before swiftly walking away to attend another patient to give Amy, Steven and Mark some privacy,
“Well... that sucks...” Steven muttered miserably as he looked around at Mark and Amy who were watching his every move, fascinated by him being awake and living again after weeks of stillness,
“You look beautiful, my love, don’t worry about it, I still love you, everyone else will too” Amy reassured Steven by squeezing his hand and kissing him on the forehead, she would’ve kissed his nose but wasn’t sure if it hurt too much still to plant a kiss there.
“I love you, Amy” Steven answered simply as he smiled,
“I love you too, there’s no one I’d rather love!” Amy smiled, kissing him tenderly on the lips. Mark shuffled around on the spot in the background.
“Ah sorry mate” Steven laughed as Amy moved back to sit on her chair. Mark laughed weakly,
"No problem... You two are sweet together..." Mark commented on the relationship. Suddenly Dr. Castle interrupted the conversation,
"I'm sorry people, you two are going to have to leave and come back another time, visiting hours are over for today" He announced. Amy sighed and started to protest but thought better of it and simply kissed Steven again and held his face gently and looked into his eyes,
"Stay strong, I love you and I'll see you soon" Amy whispered to him as if it were the most important thing she had to tell him.
"I'm a big boy - in both contexts haha! I'll be fine, I love you too, darlin'" Steven euphemized and laughed softly as Amy shook her head, smiled sweetly and joined Mark who waved to Steven as they left the hospital,
"We can come back tomorrow can't we?" Amy asked Mark when they reached the doors of the hospital,
"Yeah, you want to come again tomorrow? Feeling more confident are we?" Mark smiled as Amy laughed in realisation of her sudden boost in happiness thanks to the love of her life coming back to her.
