A/N: Uh, yeah. Here it is. I don't know how much I like any of this chapter, but oh well.
Sean woke up to the feeling of someone's hand running through his hair. H didn't know where he was. Sitting in a chair with his head resting on the side of a hospital bed, everything slowly came back to him: the accident, the hospital, Kylie not waking up. He raised his head slowly.
"Hey," he whispered. Kylie was looking down at him and she ran her hand from the top of his head down to cup his cheek. She smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak.
"Don't strain yourself," Sean cautioned, and she smiled even wider.
"Babe, I'm not going to strain myself just by talking," she sat up a little higher and winced, Sean grabbed hold of her hand once again.
"How are you?" Concerned showed on Sean's tired face.
"I'm alright," she assured him, but seeing the concern in his eyes she went on. "Really, I'm just a little banged up, but I feel great."
"Great?" Sean looked skeptical.
"Well, good enough," she chuckled. She squeezed his hand in reassurance. They fell silent for a few moments. Sean brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.
"I was so scared," he almost whispered.
"I'm so sorry." There were tears forming in Kylie's eyes as she realized how scared he must have been. She looked around her and noticed that she was hooked up to various monitors and she had an IV. That's what's been pinching my arm, she thought. She looked back at Sean's face.
"Don't be sorry, Kyle, it wasn't your fault," Sean assured her. "How do you feel about getting out of here?" he asked.
"Will they let me leave?" Kylie looked hopeful. She was not a fan of hospitals. Not a fan at all.
"I can go ask. I don't see why not if you feel well enough to leave," Sean turned and moved towards the door. "I'll be right back, babe."
"Ok," she leaned back into the bed and then sat straight upright. "Oh my God!" Sean came rushing back to her bed.
"What? What's wrong?" he rushed. "What hurts?" Sean was looking her over, afraid to touch her.
"No, it's Jacky! How is she? What happened to her?" Kylie's tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. "I'm such a terrible friend! Where is she?" Kylie tried to swing her legs out of the bed to get up, but Sean stopped her, putting her legs back where they were.
"She seemed fine last night, she wasn't in intensive care or anything." Kylie breathed a sigh of relief. "She's a bit more banged up, but she should be fine. I'll go check on her right now and come back and tell you what's up."
"Would you please?"
"Sure. Just promise to stay in bed."
"Fine, but be quick," she pouted. She wanted to go make sure her friend was alright. Sean quickly walked out of the room and down the hall to Jacky's room. Robb was in a similar position to the one Sean had woken up in, only his head was resting back on the chair. He had definitely fallen asleep waiting for Jacky to wake up.
"Hey," Jacky whispered, making Sean jump.
"Hey," he whispered back, trying not to wake Robb. "How are you feeling?"
"A little sore. How's Kylie?" Jacky looked close to tears. "They said she's fine, but they won't let me get up to go see her."
"She says she's perfectly fine, just a little banged up," Sean assured her. "But listen, I'm going to go talk to the nurses and see if I can't get you two out of here today."
"Awesome. I'm not a big fan of hospitals," Jacky whispered. She looked over at Robb and stifled a giggle. "He's been out like a light since I woke up. What time did you guys get here?"
"I got here at about two and Robb was here probably a half hour after me," Sean rubbed his hand over his face, scratching his beard stubble.
"Oh, wow. That sucks, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, I wouldn't be anywhere else," Sean said. "Alright I'm going to go tell Kyle that you're alright before she gets in trouble for trying to come see you, and then I'm going to go talk to the nurses."
"Alright. I'll see you in a bit," Jacky laid back down and tried to get some rest. She felt like she had been hit by a truck…oh, wait… Sean went out into the hall and located the nurses station. He checked to see if they were super busy before approaching them.
"Excuse me?" he asked quietly.
"May I help you, sir?" asked a friendly looking, young, blonde nurse. Her name badge said Missy.
"I sure hope so," Sean began. "Listen, I'm here visiting Kylie Donnelly. She says that she's feeling well enough to go home and she has kind of a fear of hospitals. I was wondering if there was any way to speed up her release."
"Well, we can have Dr. Murray come in and check her out and see if she's fit for release," Missy had a flirtatious nature about her, and Sean was going to take advantage of it. He leaned down on the counter, subtly flexing his arms so that she would notice.
"About how long might that take?" he asked in a low voice. Missy leaned towards him to hear him better.
"Well, it usually takes about an hour or two for him to free up some time but I could put a rush on it for you," she smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. She picked up the phone and paged Dr. Murray to the third floor nurses station. When she hung up the phone she flashed a brilliant smile at Sean. "He should be up here in a few minutes and I can ask him to give Ms. Donnelly a quick check up to make sure she's alright to leave."
"Thanks, you don't know how big of a help you are," Sean flashed her a quick smile and then stood up, making sure to wink at her as he sauntered off towards Kylie's room.
"Hey," she called as he poked his head in the room.
"Yo," Sean went over and sat on the side of her bed facing her.
"What took you so long?" she asked.
"I had to do a little finessing, but I got one of the nurses to call up a doctor to come give you a check up to see if you're good to go," Sean leaned over so his weight was on his right arm, on the bed on the other side of her legs. He leaned in and kissed her carefully.
"Finessing?" she raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah. The nurse out there was in a flirty mood so I may or may not have flexed my arms at her to get her to call up the doctor," Sean said sheepishly, looking down at Kylie's lap.
"You did not," Kylie was struck with disbelief, Sean was not the showboating type.
"I did, and it was embarrassing," his cheeks turning red, Sean changed the subject. "So Jacky is doing alright. It's almost as if nothing happened to her except she has a few bumps and bruises."
"Really? Just a few bumps and bruises?" Kylie asked, suspecting that he was hiding something from her.
"Well, her bumps are more like broken bones, but she said she feels fine."
"Broken bones!" Kylie yelled.
"Yeah, but she said it's nothing serious. But listen, if you don't calm down they aren't going to let you out of here," Sean said, trying to soothe her so that she would be allowed to leave.
"Fine, but as soon as they say I can leave I'm going right over to see her."
"That's fine," Sean said, smoothing her hair back. "Just chill for right now." There was a knock on the door and a nurse walked in with a clip board. Sean got up off the bed and sat down in the chair next to the bed.
"Miss Donnelly?" she asked brightly.
"Yes?"
"Hi there, I'm Missy," she said and then gave Sean a look that reminded him of how Amy used to look at him when she'd catch him walking around the mall.
"Hi Missy. What's up?"
"I'm just in here to let you know what's going on," she said, again, very brightly. She walked, almost bouncing, over to Kylie's bedside and checked her temperature and breathing. She checked Kylie's blood pressure and told her to sit tight because the doctor would be coming in very shortly.
"Was that her?" Kylie asked as soon as Missy had left the room. Sean nodded. "She was cute, I guess."
"Oh, don't be like that," Sean admonished.
"I'm not being like anything!" Kylie insisted, although she did have a slight pout on her face and she wouldn't look directly at Sean. He stood up and cupped her face.
"Kyle," he looked right into her eyes. "She's nothing compared to you." He then proceeded to kiss her soundly but gently, mindful of her cuts and bruises.
"Mmm…point taken." Kylie looked slightly dazed as he pulled back. She licked her lips and nodded. Just then, another knock sounded at the door and a man poked his head inside. Sean sat down in the chair once again and held onto Kylie's hand.
"Miss Donnelly?"
"Yes?"
"Hello, I'm Dr. Murray," the man said and reached over to shake her hand. She freed her hand from Sean's and shook the doctor's. "I've been told you have some fears of staying in the hospital, and that we're to get you out of here as soon as possible," he smiled down at her and she was instantly at ease.
"Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of hospitals," she explained. "And I feel perfectly fine."
"Well, I've looked over your chart and you're one very lucky young lady."
"Yeah, I really am," she was thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to her. She had, for all intents and purposes, cheated death.
"And you've got yourself one dedicated young man here," Dr. Murray gestured to Sean. "He's been in here since they put you in the room last night."
"Yeah, I really am one lucky girl," Kylie smiled hugely at Sean and he returned her smile with one of his own. "So do you think I can get out of here?"
"Well that all depends on some tests I've got to run real quick, so why don't we just get all that over with and we'll see where we stand?" he asked.
"Sounds good to me. What do you need me to do?" The doctor rechecked her blood pressure, pulse, breathing, temperature and her eyes to see if she could follow his finger and respond to light.
"Now I'm going to need you to lie down and tell me if anything hurts when I press on it," Dr. Murray pressed his finger tips over her collar bone and she flinched. "Alright, that would be from the seatbelt, but nothing's broken. It's going to be a bit tender for a while though, so take it easy lifting things."
"Ok," he continued on and took extra time with her stomach, feeling for any injuries they may have missed while she was unconscious. When he got to her hips, she flinched again.
"That's also from the seatbelt," he reached up and unhooked her IV and detached her from the monitors.
"Alright. So other than that, am I good to go?"
"You seem fine, now I just want you to take it easy and if anything comes up please come back and we'll get you fixed up just fine." Kylie sat up and shook his hand once more. He walked over to shake Sean's hand again. "You take care of her, son."
"I will. Thanks again Dr. Murray," Sean made his way over to Kylie and helped her stand up. She went into the bathroom to try and make herself a little more presentable. When she came out, she saw that Sean had somehow gotten a hold of some scrubs for her to wear as they had cut her clothes off in the ambulance the night before. She changed into the pants without any problems, just a bit of tenderness where they settled on her hips. Sean came in as she was trying to put the shirt on. He saw her struggling to lift the arm that the seatbelt had strained.
"Kylie, let me help," he said from behind her. After helping her into the scrub top, he draped his sweatshirt around her shoulders and tucked her arms into it. He then guided her over to the door where a wheelchair was waiting for her.
"Oh, I get chauffer service?" she asked, easing down into it.
"Yes, ma'am," Sean got behind her and pushed the chair down to Jacky's room. After knocking they entered.
"Jacky!" Kylie gingerly got up from the wheelchair and walked over to her friend. She leaned down and hugged Jacky as hard as she could without hurting either of them. "Oh, my God, Jacky I'm so sorry!" Jacky brushed off her apology.
"Don't be, it's not like you tried to get hit by a drunk driver," Jacky held onto Kylie's hands. "And anyway, I'm fine. Bumps and bruises, no big deal."
"Broken bones are a little more than bumps and bruises," Kylie observed.
"Fine, severe bumps and bruises," she smiled. "But seriously, I'm going to be perfectly fine."
"You'd better be."
"So they're letting you out?" Jacky changed the subject.
"Yeah, when are they letting you out?"
"Not for another day or so. They want to keep an eye on me for a bit longer."
"Alright. I'm going to get out of here though, cause I think that nurse is going to try and jump Sean," she whispered. She heard someone laugh and for the first time realized that Robb was sitting in the chair next to Jacky's bed.
"Shit!" Kylie said loudly. "Dude, you scared me! I didn't even see you there!"
"Well, I wanted to give you two your girl time," he laughed. Kylie turned back to Jacky.
"So I'm going to go home and I'll come back and see you tomorrow," she promised.
"No, don't bother," Jacky protested. "I'll be out of here soon enough, you can come see me then."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," she assured her. "Plus, I have Robb to keep me company, I don't know if he plans on leaving until I do."
"They might make you leave after visiting hours," Kylie warned him.
"Visiting hours my ass. They're going to have to come in and physically remove me."
"Such a devoted little boyfriend, isn't he?" Jacky smiled.
"Who are you calling little?" Robb asked, mock offended.
"Not you, baby." Jacky and Robb were soon lost in their own little world of cutesy talking so Kylie stood up and walked back over to Sean and sat back down in the wheelchair.
"Shall we?" she asked.
"We shall," Sean wheeled her out of the room, down the hall and into the elevator. Kylie checked out at the front desk and Sean helped her into the Jeep. They drove home in a companionable silence, each thinking over the events of the past 24 hours.
Sean had carried her from the Jeep into the house and then up the stairs and gently laid her down on his bed. He was rifling through his drawers trying to find clothes for her to wear. She said just a big t-shirt would be alright when she noticed what he was doing. She sat up and changed into it, folding the scrubs and tossing them on the floor.
"Have I ever mentioned how great you look wearing my shirts?" Sean asked her.
"Once or twice," she smiled.
"Well, you look sexy as hell in them," Sean crawled into the bed behind her and ran his hands soothingly over her back. She turned onto her stomach and he took the hint, leaning up over her and lightly massaging her sore muscles.
"Hey, not to be an ass or anything and bring this up at the wrong time, but this whole you moving in thing," he began, but she interrupted him.
"Babe, I can't do anything about it until I'm all healed up. Give me a few weeks and I'll get on it."
"No, I was just going to tell you to not rush it until you felt better."
"So you don't want me to move in?" she sounded a trifle offended.
"That's not what I meant. As it is, you pretty much live here anyway." When she tried to turn over, he just kept rubbing her back and she relaxed again. "What I was going to say is that you don't have to do anything until you're feeling better. I'm sure I can get Robb and Connor to help me move your stuff if you want, and I bet Nick would help too."
"Well if you're organizing a moving team, then we can do it whenever," she said into the pillow.
"Well whenever you're ready, just let me know and I can set something up," Sean continued to rub her back and slowly her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. He laid down beside her and she snuggled back into him as soon as he settled down.
Two days later, Jacky was out of the hospital and two weeks later Kylie had told her landlord that she was moving out. He was sad to see her leave, but happy that she was leaving on good terms. Her apartment had come with utilities, so she didn't have to deal with any bills that she needed to cancel or anything. She had Sean take her to the post office for a change of address form and finally sent a change of address form to her credit card and cell phone company.
She didn't have much furniture to move aside from her living room and bedroom stuff. The bedroom furniture was put into one of the spare bedrooms in Sean's house and the living room furniture went into the sparsely decorated den that no one really ever used.
"You know, we're going to have to start having people over more often," she observed as the last of her things were packed up and moved into Sean's house.
"And why is that?" he asked.
"Because most of the house is empty most of the time," she explained. "I mean, we use what, the bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom? There are like, eight other rooms in the house that never get used."
"Very true," he agreed. "I really don't know why my parents bought such a big house anyway, it was just the three of us and we never really had much company over while I was growing up."
"Well that just means that we're going to have to have sleepovers all the time," she said.
"I don't know about all the time, but I'm all for having company over. I like having people in the house. It makes it less sad," he trailed off.
"Oh, babe," Kylie hugged him around his middle and laid her head on his chest.
"No, it's cool," he hugged her back. "I'm just being a little emo kid." Sean kissed the top of Kylie's head and surveyed his house. Their house, he corrected himself. Sean and Kylie thanked Connor, Robb, and Nick for helping them move her things into the house. After shooting the shit for a little while, everyone left. Kylie looked up at Sean with a serious face.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something…" she trailed off and looked away, then back at him.
"Yeah?"
"This is silly."
"No, what did you want to ask me?" She had piqued his curiosity and he wasn't going to let her get away without asking him what she had wanted to ask.
"Well, when I was in the hospital, before I woke up I had a dream."
"Well, Martin Luther King, Jr., before you wake up is generally when you have dreams."
"Don't make fun of me, you're the one who wanted to know what I was going to say," she walked away from him and sat down on the couch. He followed her and sat down next to her.
"No, I do want to know what you were going to say," he took hold of her hands and kissed them. "No more making fun, I promise."
"Well, as I was saying, I had a dream that you…"
"That I…?"
"That you said something," she looked away from him again and then looked right up into his eyes.
"And what exactly did I say?" Sean already knew the answer. She had heard him say that he loved her. Kylie looked down at her hands, still clasped in his.
"Well, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think it had something to do with you loving me," Kylie blushed furiously and wished she hadn't mentioned it. Talk about forcing an issue.
"Well I'll tell you what, it wasn't a dream," Sean said. Kylie's head snapped up and she leveled her eyes with his.
"What?"
"I said it wasn't a dream," he said simply.
"What do you mean, it wasn't a dream?"
"I mean it wasn't a dream, I really said it." She stared at him, flabbergasted.
"You mean, you really love me?" She still couldn't believe it.
"Well, yeah. What, did you think I was lying?"
"I didn't think it was real!" She launched herself at him.
"Whoa, killer," Sean laughed as he caught her. She kissed him soundly and he returned the favor. After working herself into a prone position on top of him, Kylie lifted her head and looked right into his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I love you, too."
"Really, now?" Sean asked, baiting her.
"Yes, you big jerk."
"Good," he claimed her lips once again and once again she pulled away.
"Say it again."
"Say what again?" Sean played dumb.
"You know what."
"No, I'm afraid I don't." He was smirking.
"Tell me you love me. I want to actually hear you say it, for real, and not think I'm dreaming."
"I love you."
THE (CHEESY) END!
A/N: Ok, I know that was an awful ending, but I really couldn't think of anything else to put them through. Thank you for sticking around through this whole awkward mess. Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, thank you for being awesome.
And a special thank you to Oooh.Look.A Cat, kurstin.burstin, Elle8605, phelps112, Ardwyad, Miss-Simmone01, mickeyyearbook, choppa173, AngelEvie, lil' kayla, and SummerLover.