Remembering Us

"Just a Bump"

It hurts to breathe. The pain in my chest is excruciating and radiates with each breath. The constant beeping of machines is starting to drive me insane

"Amelia!" I call out, the beeping of the machines becoming louder. "Amelia!" I pull at the oxygen tube tucked behind my ears as a nurse rushes in.

"Mr. James." The man runs to the bed, panic in his eyes. "You can't get up!"

"I need my wife."

He grabs my hand that's currently trying to get the IV line out.

"Mr. James, please, you've just had an extreme trauma."

Easily, he pulls my hand from my arm. Strong fucker.

"I have to see my wife." My voice sounds raspy to my own ears.

"You have two options here, Mr. James. Either I sedate you or you stop and allow me to take you to see your wife." He then proceeds to pull a small syringe for his black scrubs. "Your choice."

I admire the young guys determination, and maybe that's why I let my defensive stance fall away.

"You'll take me to her?"

"After I get a wheelchair; you can't even stand." He points out the fact that I'm leaned against the bed. "Please, sir, if you could just-"

"You can help me walk to a chair." I stand straighter, wincing at the tightness in my chest. "Now."

The nurse is smart and realizes that I'm not negotiating any longer. Then he holds an arm out, motioning that he door. "Slow and steady."

"Yeah. Yeah." I wave him off, doing my best to stay standing. "Is she alright?" I question the nurse as we exit my room. "Where is she?"

"Mr. James do you know where you are?" The nurse leaves me leaning against the wall as he locks the wheels of a wheelchair.

"The hospital."

"Where?"

"Las Vegas."

"Wrong." He says and I practically fall into the chair. "Our were stabilized Nevada, two weeks ago, before being airlifted to here in New York at Hopkins."

Two weeks? Shit.

"You were put into the medically induced coma."

"Cameron?" Amelia suddenly walks out of a room, her eyes widening at the sight of me. The coffee cup in her hand slips from her fingers. Her radiant smile spreads from ear to ear as she starts hurriedly walking down the hall.

I try to stand but she just pushes me back into the chair. "I was so worried." The next thing I know her lips are on mine. The taste of her decaf latte hitting my tongue, teasing my senses.

A throat clears and we pull apart see a nurse standing a few feet back. Should we push you back to your room? Dr. Whiling should be there, waiting."

"I'll take over from here, Wes, thank you."

Wes?

With a stiff nod, the nurse leaves us in the wall while Amelia turns me back around.

She doesn't start moving the chair. Instead, stopping it and crouching in front. Her eyes are red and misty as she unbuttons the front of the hospital gown, allowing me to see the two scars on my chest, just to the left of my sternum. "They barely missed your heart." Her finger tips trail from my chest to my left arm. "And this one hit some artery."

Flashes from that night run through my mind like a movie. Four distinct shots ring out.

"And the fourth?"

Her eyes travel down my chest and to my left side.

"It somehow only grazed you."

"And you?" I ask, looking up at her. "Were you okay?"

"Just a bump." She softly taps the side of my head, above my ear.

She smiles softly at me, slowly pressing her lips against mine.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." I mutter, my hand cupping her cheek. There are dark circles under her eyes, frown lines prominent. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for." She grips my hand tightly, pressing her lips to my knuckles. "Nothing."

Light catches my ring and I look from it to her.

"Your son is quite the officer." Amelia grins, showing me her recovered rings. "Especially when he teams up with my brother."

I chuckle, picturing Johnathan flash his head detective badge, I'm sure he and Xander made quite the image.

"They get everything?"

"Yes."

Her hands come up to my face, her thumbs stroking my cheeks.

"And?"

"You need to rest, we can talk about them more later."

She doesn't wait for my response, standing and starting to push the chair back toward the room I woke up in.

"I've apparently been resting for two week." My mind tired to understand sleeping for two weeks.

How much I must have missed.

"A medically induced coma is not resting, Cameron." She mutters, displeasure clear in her voice. "Let's get you home to rest."

"Home sounds good."

-

It took a week for me to be released from the hospital.

They kept me for seven days doing tests, keeping my attached to monitors.

The head trauma surgeon even convinced my wife that I needed to come home in a wheelchair. Hence my wife's yelling.

"Slow down, Mayzie!"

"Theo, do not push Daddy that fast!"

"Amelia." I laugh at the panic in her face. "It's fine."

She sighs, watching as Theo presses on the wheel locks. "If they jerk you around too much-"

"I'll tell them to stop." I assure her. "Everything is fine. We both know I don't even need this chair."

And that how we continue for the next few hours, until all the kids are in bed.

"They've missed you." Amelia whispers against me, curling closer to my side. "I've missed you."

I hum, my arm tightening its grip on her. "Not nearly as much as I've missed you."

"You scared me." She whispers, her breath tickling my chest.

"I'm sorry."

"Can we be happy now?" She looks up at me through her dark eyelashes. "Is it time for our family to be happy?"

"Do you love me?"

"Very much." Her voice is soft, just like her lips as she presses them against the scar on my chest. "Almost as much as you love me."

"Then I am very happy."

And then I have the first uninterrupted night of sleep in months.

***