Disclaimer: Nothing here is mine ... except the idea behind the story & the
story itself...


It's funny, I'm a doctor, but I hate hospitals. I've never liked them. And
now I'm in my husband's hospital room, surrounded only by machinery and cold,
sterile walls... None of those are words I associate with Jed.

He's laying in bed, hooked up to different machines. His eyes are closed...
He looks so tired. I don't think I noticed how tired he looks before... I
should have.

I sit in the chair beside his bed and take his hand him both of mine, "Hey
Handsome, you've got a whole lot of people worried about you... CJ, Toby,
Sam, and Leo ... they're worried about you. Zoey's down the hall with them
right now. She's fine ... but she's scared... Leo's with her."

I look for some kind of reaction from Jed.

"Josh was hit in the arm. He's in surgery right now, but he's going to be
just fine... Everybody else is waiting down the hall. They're waiting for you
to wake up, Jed."

My husband still hasn't moved and, to be honest, I really don't expect him
to. Talking just makes me feel better. That's my control mechanism...

"You know what, I think you just like to wake me up in the middle of the
night." I say. "You're entirely too good at it. Every important decision
you've ever made, you make and then wake me up to tell me... But, I have to
admit, this is a switch. Now I'm the one trying to get you to wake up."

I can hear my voice crack... But, it doesn't really sound like my voice...

"I love you ... you know that?" I reach over and stroke his face. "I loved
you from the moment I saw you... I know I gave you a hard time for a while,
but I've always adored you Jed. And... I really don't know what I would do
without you... I don't think I could live without you."

I scoot the chair over and lay my head beside his, "You scared me, you know
that? I don't ever want to have someone knock on my door like that again.
Don't do this to me again ... you gotta learn to duck, Jed. I'm too old to go
through stuff like this."

"Yeah, but you're still sexy as hell."

I blink and then sit up. My husband's blue eyes are staring back at me. He's
smiling at me with a faint, mischievous glint in his eyes.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask.

Jed looks thoughtful for a moment, "Since you came in."

"And you let me go on, thinking you were asleep?"

"Yes, I did," he answers.

"I hate you." I tell him, but I can't keep the smile from creeping on my face.

"No, you don't," he says. "You find me handsome, sexy, intelligent, and I am
the funniest person you've ever met."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," he pauses. "Really."

I stare at him for a moment longer and then reach over and kiss him, "You're
right. I do. And you are."


TBC...