4 hours later
I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was tired, and I knew I needed sleep, but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't do that to MacCready. I wanted to be here for him when he woke up.
I had just barely dozed off when Doctor Sun opened the bedroom door. I snapped awake and stood up, almost falling backwards onto the couch.
"He's stable for now." He said calmly. "I may need to come back and monitor him, but for now, he just needs to rest. You can go in and see him, if you'd like. He's awake."
"Thank you so much, Doctor." I was about to walk into the room when I remembered, "Ah, shit, that's right. What do I owe you?"
"Consider this a favor. Me paying you back for the work you did for me a while ago." He smiled.
"Oh, you don't need to do that-"
"Please, I insist. Now, I need to get back and close up the clinic. You two get some rest. You both need it." He waved a goodbye and left, closing the door behind him. After a few seconds I locked it, just for good measure.
I slowly went back into the bedroom, where MacCready was laying quietly, staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, you." I said, walking up to the side of the bed. "How's it feeling?"
He turned his head to look at me. "It hurts like all hell, but hey, I'll live."
"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it, I-"
"Sara, this wasn't your fault, okay? Don't even for a second believe this was your fault."
"I'm sorry, it's just hard seeing you like this." I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "I should probably leave you to it, then."
I turned around to leave, and he spoke up. "Wait." I turned around. "Stay with me, please."
"You... want me to stay?"
"That's what I said, isn't it?" He moved over a little on the bed and gestured for me to come over.
I sat down on the bed next to him, crossing my legs like before and facing him. He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes, silent for a minute. I looked at him, studying his features carefully; his sculpted jawline, his Greek nose, his scarred cheeks, and his beard, which was once a goatee but had now grown out to cover more of his face.
He looked over at me, noticing that I was admiring him. "Do you always stare at people like that?" His voice was arrogant, but still weak, and there was a small, flirty smile on his face.
"Nope, just you," I teased back. His smile grew, and he extended a hand out to hold mine. My heart fluttered in my chest as I leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. When I pulled away, he moved his hand to my neck and pulled me back, kissing me sweetly on the lips.
After a few seconds he pulled away, his signature grin displayed across his face. "Goodnight, Sara," he said softly, laying his head back on the pillow.
"Goodnight, dummy," I responded, laying down next to him. He held my hand loosely as he tried to sleep. I stared up at the ceiling as I waited for him to fall asleep, and when his grip on my hand finally loosened, I looked over at him.
He was facing me, asleep, with his mouth parted slightly and his hand still latched in mine. I smiled at him dumbly, though I knew he couldn't see it. That's when I was finally able to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~
Three weeks later, MacCready's pov
The doctor came by a few times over the weeks, checking on my healing progress. I was finally able to walk without a burning pain in my chest, let alone standing without my vision going blurry. Sometimes I'd go out and practice shooting, trying to get my aim back on track. The wound had obviously left a scar; it was a large, deep pink line across my lower chest.
"RJ?" Sara called from the kitchen; she started calling me that and it's kind of cute coming from her.
"Yeah?" I called back, getting up from the bed and walking to the doorway. She came down the hall and stopped in front of me, looking up at me. "Shortie," I said, smirking at her.
"Alrighttt," She said sarcastically, before continuing, "What are your plans for today?"
"I was thinking of going to John's to get a haircut. I feel like a lumberjack."
She laughed. "I was going to head to Goodneighbor to see if Daisy has any news about Duncan yet." She had taken the cure up to Daisy two days after we got back. "I don't think it'd be the best idea for you to go, but if you really want to-"
"I'll go with you."
"A- are you sure?" Her voice was laced with worry.
"Yeah. I'm getting better every day, I'll be fine heading up there. And for Duncan, I'd do anything."
"You're a great dad, you know that?"
No, I'm not. "I like to tell myself that."
She smiled. "Well, you are. Now go get your haircut, and I'll have everything ready by the time you get back. Alright?"
"Alright." I slowly turned to walk out the door. She went back into her room to start packing.
At this point I had a nice stubble growing from one side of my face to the other, and my hair was well over my preferred length. It didn't even stand up naturally anymore, it spiked out under my hat.
"Hey, John," I said as I approached his small set up. He perked up when he saw me, and his mother stood off to the side, smoking a cigarette.
"Want a smoke?" Cathy asked, puffing on hers.
"I don't smoke anymore." It was partially true; I was doing my best to quit by Sara's wishes.
"Anyway," John coughed, "Here for a haircut? You're looking a little shaggy."
"Yeah, actually," I responded as I counted out fifteen caps. He beamed when I handed them to him, and then I sat down in the chair.
"What are you going for? Your usual?"
"You know me too well."
~~~~~~~~~~
Sara's pov, after packing
MacCready walked back inside just as I had put the last bit of ammo in his bag.
"Sara?" He called out.
"I'm in here!" I called back from my room. He walked in with his hat covering his haircut and a bandana covering his once-there beard.
"Show me," I said in a knowing tone.
"I think I'm good like this." His voice, even though muffled by the bandana, was soft.
I reached behind his neck and untied the bandana slowly, him doing nothing to stop me as his face turned pink. I took his bandana off, then his hat, and looked at him. He had his classic hairstyle from when we first met, and his beard had been almost completely shaved to the point where it was just a nice stubble on the bottom half of his face.
"You look great," I said meaningfully.
He took his hat from me and placed it back on his head. "Really?"
"Really. I love it. You look a lot younger, too."
"You're just saying that-"
"RJ." I brought my hand up to his jaw, and he leaned into it. "You. Look. Great." I gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "Now, let's go. Everything's packed, and Goodneighbor's not too far away."
