Chapter 28
Lexa's vital signs, which had recently become weaker and weaker, were increasing day by day, only she still had not woken up and the renewed twitching of her fingers had also failed to appear. Everyone involved still had hope, only Clarke was slowly running out of time. The latter was still by her side, but her vacation was actually over, so she called Marcus Kane. Not only had he been her mother's boyfriend, but he also ran the whole hospital, so he had given her an extra week of vacation after her mother died. Now she hoped she could take all her remaining overtime and every vacation day she hadn't yet cashed in because the hospital had needed it. Even if he would only give her an extra week, the main thing was more time.
She dialed his number and after only a few rings, he answered the call.
"Clarke? Is everything okay with you? Do you need anything?"
"Hello Marcus. Yes, everything is fine with me, don't worry, but I need to ask you a favor."
"What's it about?"
"You have to promise to keep it to yourself. Doctor to doctor."
"You're scaring me right now. What happened?"
"It's all right, but I can't tell you about it until you promise to keep it a doctor's secret."
He promised.
"Mum must have told you about me being friends with Lexa Woods, the actress?"
"Yeah?"
"She was badly injured and is currently still in a coma. For the past few days, her stats have been climbing and I have hope that she'll wake up soon and when she does, I want to be with her for as long as possible."
"So you want a few extra days off, right?"
"I know it's a big ask and you're welcome to use every spare second I have left to do that, I don't care, I just want to be able to stay with her."
Marcus understood that there was far more to it than friendship, but his hands were tied, he couldn't give her preferential treatment no matter what his relationship with Abby had been.
"Clarke, I would love to give you unlimited time, but you've been gone for 5 weeks. I can give you four more days, but that's really all I can do. Because then the next ones go on vacation and we need you here as a substitute. I'm really sorry."
She heard the dejection in his voice.
"I understand, believe me, I know it was a lot to ask you to do this, but I had to."
"I told you that you could call me anytime and I would be there for you. Do you want to tell me what exactly happened and how you even know each other? Your mother was always very quiet about that and just told you to tell me yourself."
So she began to describe everything to him. From the first meeting, the incident on the beach, the thing with Costia, although she didn't go into too much detail there, after all, that wasn't her secret. She told him about the shooting and how the ex-girlfriend had finally waited for her at the hotel room and tried to shoot her, and also that Titus had tried to protect her, but then met Lexa.
"And now? What's next with Costia and Titus?"
"Costia is in a mental institution and if she ever gets out of there, she will have to go to prison for 20 years. Titus, on the other hand, has been given community service and will probably have to take firearms training."
"I take it this all happened in camera?"
"Exactly, but we probably won't be able to keep the reporters out for too long."
The two exchanged pleasantries for a while longer before saying goodbye to each other and Clarke went to Lexa's room. Anya slept sitting up in the chair, her head on Lexa's bed and wrapped her arm around the brunette as best she could.
Gently, the blonde woke her.
"Anya, go to sleep quietly. I'm here watching over her and you need some real sleep."
Tired as this one was, she didn't argue, but was glad and so she went to her hotel room to enjoy some hours of rest and forget her worries as much as possible. Indra was still standing in front of Lexa's door, watching critically anyone who even dared to come close to the door. She already knew the doctors and nurses, and with each new one she asked for an ID card to check that he or she really belonged to the nursing staff. Titus was also here regularly, whenever his community service hours allowed. But he never entered the room of his protégé, he had not deserved it in his eyes, he had wanted to protect her and instead had put her in great danger. He would not forgive himself for this for the rest of his life.
Clarke stepped over to Lexa and looked at her. She was still lying there calmly, almost nothing had changed in this picture, except that she seemed a bit more stable and stronger than a few days ago. She didn't want to leave, but she knew she didn't have a chance. 4 more days could change everything, or everything stayed the same. If she didn't wake up by then, she would fly back here in every free second to be with her. Sighing, she took Lexa's hand in hers.
"We have four more days before I have to leave. I'd love to stay longer, but I can't, I've done everything I can." Gently she kissed her forehead and stroked her cheek. At that point, the actress' face contorted into a small, barely noticeable smile, but it didn't go unnoticed by Clarke. Again and again she stroked her cheek, stroked through her hair and made circular movements on her hand with her fingers. She wanted to just touch her while she could, feel her soft skin and she would give almost anything for a real smile. One that reached her eyes. She had thought a lot about her future in the last few days and in every fantasy Lexa played a supporting role. She sighed deeply. Leaning over her, she kissed her on her lips and, again following an impulse, whispered the three words that came from the bottom of her heart.
"I love you."
This time the fingers did not twitch, instead the brunette's eyes opened and immediately contorted into slits as the bright light blinded her. She got used to it after a few seconds and looked to Clarke afterward. Her eyebrows drew together.
"Lexa, you're awake?" The surprise was so great she almost couldn't believe it.
"Who...who are you?"
Shocked, the doctor looked at her, then the brunette began to laugh slightly.
"Clarke... you look way too serious..."
The latter gently slapped her arm.
"Don't ever do that again!"
"I was just trying to cheer you up."
"That wasn't funny" she pouted.
Gently, two green eyes looked at her.
"Clarke?"
"Hmm?" this one grumbled in response.
"I'm not sure...may I kiss you? Or did I dream that I could do that?" Hopeful and afraid, she looked at the blonde. She didn't want this to have been just a dream, every touch, every tender gesture and every gentle look.
Clarke, who had taken a step backward after Shock, now leaned over her, overcame the distance and kissed her. She kissed her favorite actress, gently and full of love. Lexa put as much affection into that kiss as she could. She wanted to have the doctor closer to her, to feel her, and she made a painful movement. Momentarily her face contorted and Clarke immediately let go of her.
"Are you all right?"
The woman addressed nodded.
"I was just a little stormy, now that I finally get to do what I've wanted for so long."
The blonde laughed.
"Slow down, now we have all the time in the world."
"You know where you really need to jog my memory again?"
Blue met green questioningly.
Lexa pulled her close and whispered something in her ear, causing Clarke to blush slightly.
"We can't do that until you're fully recovered," she replied, smirking and still slightly embarrassed.
At that moment Anya came back in, looking first shocked and then overjoyed. She fell around her sister's neck and then looked back and forth between Clarke and her.
"What are you going to do when you get better?"
The two women looked at each other and started laughing when they saw Anya's confused look.