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Carmilla paced the waiting room.  She couldn’t sit still, not while it wasn’t clear on Laura’s condition.  She couldn’t sit and wait; she had to be doing something.  She wasn’t the only one waiting in the room.  Her father, Sherman, was pacing on the other side of the room, while her friends Perry and LaFontaine were sitting in the corner.  It was like some big nightmare that Carmilla couldn’t wake up from, and it threatened to continue.

Laura had been in the operating room for the past five hours, but Carmilla had only found out about the accident just two hours ago.  When Mattie had told her what had happened, she didn’t care if her team was getting ready for the second half of a semi-final game.  She sprinted into the locker room, grabbed her keys and wallet, and rushed out to her car, speeding her way to the hospital.  When she had arrived, Sherman, Perry, and LaFontaine were already present.  Carmilla had rushed into the hospital, frantic in trying to find out where Laura was.

Sherman had met her first, managing to calm her down before she overworked herself.  He had explained that she and Danny, her co-worker at the Voice, were on their way back to Silas when a drunk driver slammed into the driver’s side of the car.  Laura had been driving, so she had suffered the brunt of the impact.  Danny had managed to pull herself and Laura out of the car safely; bystanders had called 911 before rushing to help stabilize Laura’s neck.

Sherman had been the first one called, as he was the only person Danny had a phone number for.  Knowing that Laura would want others there with her when she woke, he had called Perry and LaFontaine as well.  Neither of them knew Carmilla’s phone, desperately trying to get ahold of someone at the Bats’ facility to inform her of the events.  It wasn’t until after the game had already begun did they finally reach someone.

Despite having a few broken ribs and some serious lacerations from the glass, Danny was going to pull through fine.  Laura suffered the worst of it, the worst being a clean fracture in her tibia, all of her left side ribs being broken, and swelling in her head from the impact.  Right now, they were in the operating room focusing on the realignment of her leg while also relieving the pressure in her skull.  They had been updated every hour, the latest being that they didn’t think that there would be significant brain trauma.

“She might have some memory loss, but we don’t know for sure,” the nurse had informed them.

Carmilla continued to pace the room, silently berating herself for not checking in sooner.  She saw the signs, but she didn’t act on them.  If only I had texted her or tried to call.  I should’ve called Sherman; she was supposed to have come with him.  I should’ve-

“Carmilla, Sherman.  Maybe you two should take a seat for a little bit.  This pacing isn’t going to help Laura recover,” Perry suggested as she stood up.

Sherman looked over at Carmilla, who continued to pace.  He walked over to her, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. “Carmilla, take a break with me, ok?  I’m sure she would be equally upset with both of us if we wore ourselves out worrying over here.”

Carmilla stopped, looking at Sherman for a moment before sighing.  She nodded, following him over to the seats next to Perry and LaFontaine.  Both of them shared reassuring smiles, but it didn’t help fill the pit that was sitting in Carmilla’s stomach.  She couldn’t help but worry about Laura.

“Yeah know, all this worrying reminds me of the time she made her elementary school principle resign,” Sherman said with a chuckle.

The two women and LaFontaine all turned their heads towards Sherman, confused expressions on their faces. “What do you mean?” LaFontaine asked.

Sherman smiled, leaning back in his seat. “When she was in elementary school, fourth grade if I remember correctly, she caught him embezzling from the ‘candy fund.’  She made such an uproar, even made the paper for it, that he had to resign.”

Carmilla couldn’t help but start laughing. “Really?”

Sherman smiled. “It wasn’t the first time she caused an uproar.  When she was five, she tried to get her kindergarten class to rebel ‘against the evils of princesses.’”

LaFontaine joined Carmilla in laughter, while Perry bit the bottom of her lip, trying not to join them. “Now I can see where she gets her drive from,” Carmilla laughed as she wiped away the tears that spilled out over her cheeks.

“No kidding.  Here I thought she was just an overachiever when we met in college.  I had no idea that this has been a thing since she was a little kid,” LaFontaine added.

Carmilla sat back, watching as LaFontaine and Sherman traded stories about Laura, and she suddenly felt empty.  Here she was, sitting with Laura’s family and friends, people who knew her the best, and yet she had only known Laura for the last five months.  She hadn’t had these experiences like they had.  It left a hole in her heart, an empty space as she watched them interact.

“Now, granted, I haven’t seen Laura as happy as she has been for the past five months,” Sherman said, a smile on his face as he turned his attention to Carmilla.

Carmilla looked at him. “What are you talking about?”

LaFontaine and Perry both smiled at Carmilla. “He’s not wrong, Carmilla.  Before meeting you, Laura wasn’t always smiling or laughing like she has been recently.  It’s like after meeting you, a switched flipped inside her,” Perry added.

Carmilla looked at the three people, people who were the closest to Laura, and tried to comprehend what they were saying to her.  The hole that had been in her chest, in her heart, not a moment before was slowly starting to close.  Her heart started to pound hard in her chest.  They…they’re including me into their group…even though I’ve only known Laura for a small amount of time.

Sherman wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I want to thank you, Carmilla.  For helping my daughter see that there is a light in this dark world, that there’s something she can fight for.”

Carmilla smiled softly, opening her mouth to respond, when a nurse came into the waiting room, asking for them.  They all stood at the announcement of her name, the worry rushing through Carmilla’s body like a freight train.  When the nurse began on insisting that only relatives be allowed to see Laura, Sherman was able to strong arm her into letting Carmilla join him in her room.

The nurse led Carmilla and Sherman down to Laura’s room in the ICU.  As they got closer, Carmilla’s footsteps slowed.  Her hand came up to her chest, a fist forming above her heart.  She wanted to see Laura, but here she was, too scared to follow her inside.  Sherman noticed, stopping to face her.  She knew that he could see her worry, her fear, on her face.  He smiled, walking over to her and wrapping her arm around her shoulders.

“Come on, Carmilla.  She’ll want to see your face first when she wakes up,” he said softly.  Carmilla nodded, following him inside the room.

There she was.  Laura on the bed, hooked up to a breathing machine.  Whereas Sherman stopped, his breath sucked in hard, Carmilla continued to walk towards Laura.  She went to Laura’s side, gently taking her hand in both of hers as she knelt down beside the bed.  She gently kissed her hand, trying not to let the tears roll down her cheeks.

“Hey there Laura,” she said softly. “It’s me, Carm.  I heard about what happened and rushed right over here.  I don’t care if I missed the rest of the game or if we got knocked out of the tournament.  I wanted to be here with you, for you.” She could feel the tears begin to roll down her cheeks, taking a deep breath as she felt her body start to shake slightly. “I love you, Laura.  I love you.  These past five months have been the best days of my life, and I wouldn’t change any of it.  Just please, you need to get better.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Carmilla felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to find Sherman standing beside her, a small smile on his face.  He nodded before leaving the room, leaving Carmilla to stay with Laura alone.  She smiled gently, grateful for the silence and alone time with Laura.  She pulled over a chair and sat diligently beside Laura, ready to be there for her when she woke up.  I’m here for you, Laura.  I always will be.

Man…I’ve got such a headache…what the hell happened? 

I remember…damn what can I remember?

Danny…the car…arguing about Carmilla…the light…my head hurting…

She slowly opened her eyes, but it was too bright for them to open fully.

My entire body hurts…I can’t move my leg at all…too hard to breathe…god this headache isn’t helping things…

Her eyes slowly tried to open again, this time opening enough for her to realize she was in a room somewhere.  She slowly tilted her head to the side, feeling something wrapped around her hands.  Her eyes squinted as she tried her hardest to focus on her hand.  It was then that she saw it was someone else’s hand around hers.  It was small but soft.  She lifted her chin slowly to move her head back so she could look around more.

Then she saw her.  Carmilla had her head laying down on the bed beside Laura’s arm.  Her eyes were closed, her breathing slowed as she slept peacefully.  Laura smiled a little, as much as her body would allow her to in her current state and with the breathing mask over her face.  She continued to watch Carmilla sleep, enjoying the peacefulness that was on her face.  Slowly, and with much focus, she wrapped her fingers around Carmilla’s hand.  It lifted her heart knowing that Carmilla was here beside her.

It was then that she heard someone walk slowly into the room.  She looked up to see it was her father.  When he noticed that she was awake, he rushed quietly over to her other side so as to not wake Carmilla up.  She smiled when his hand gently cupped her cheek.  She wanted to talk to him so badly, but she was still hooked up to the breathing machine.

“How are you feeling honey?  Look left for ok, right for in pain,” he suggested, already thinking steps ahead of her.

She smiled, looking left before looking back towards Carmilla.  She was a heavy sleep, her body taking advantage of every opportunity for rest whenever it could due to her hardworking soccer schedule.  She heard her father chuckle softly before walking over to Carmilla to adjust the blanket on her back.

“She’s been out for a couple hours now,” he said softly, already reading the question off of Laura’s eyes.

Laura nodded, turning her head back towards Carmilla.  She knew better than most how hard it was to wake Carmilla up, so she wasn’t too worried.  It was actually the most at peace that Carmilla had looked in all the time Laura had caught her sleeping.  She was always worrying, either about her soccer schedule, the media, or just life in general.  Laura had always tried to calm her nerves, but she could always read the worry in her eyes, no matter how hard she had tried to hide it.  She slowly moved her hand from Carmilla’s grasp and began to stroke her hair, gently pushing it out of her face.

As she continued to stroke Carmilla’s hair, she smiled a little to herself as Carmilla started to wake up.  It was amusing to watch her come out of her slumber, as if watching a cat wake up from its nap.  She lifted her head, looking around the room trying to adjust her mind as to where she was.  As she turned her head towards Laura, it took all Laura had not to start laughing at her girlfriend’s expression.  Eyes widening, Carmilla jumped up from her seat, gently taking Laura’s face in her hands.

“You’re awake.  Oh god, you’re awake,” Carmilla repeated, as if repeating the words would make them any more real. “I was…you’re awake…and I…”

Tears began rolling down Carmilla’s cheeks.  Laura reached up with both of her hands, gently wiping them away and taking Carmilla’s face in her hands.  She could feel Carmilla relax more into her hands, making Laura’s heart melt.  Here was a woman who could have any person in the world if she wanted to, but she chose Laura.  She chose the one person who would remind her the most of one of the most terrible times in her life to be with.  She didn’t have to get know Laura after the interview, but she did.  She didn’t have to answer Laura’s questions for the interview at all, but she had.  And here she was, worrying over Laura and her safety, and Laura couldn’t find any other words to tell her outside of just three.

“I love you,” she said just loud enough for Carmilla to hear.

Carmilla looked at her in surprise for a moment, allowing for a touch of fear to run through Laura’s heart, before a smile appeared on her face.  She leaned forward, gently touching her forehead against Laura’s.

“I love you too, Cupcake.”

Carmilla smiled as she watched Laura start to take her first steps on her own.  The physical therapist was on her right, her father on her left, but she was walking on her own towards Carmilla.  Carmilla bit her lower lip, watching her girlfriend walk one step closer to her, the focus and determination that she loved oh so much written all over Laura’s face.  She slowed for a moment, taking her time to catch her breath, before she started to walk again. 

“That’s it, Laura, that’s it,” Carmilla coaxed, her hands reaching out towards Laura.

Laura lifted her head, a small smile on her face, as she continued to move more towards Carmilla.  Her pace began to speed up as she was only a few steps away from Carmilla.  Carmilla took a step forward, wrapping her arms around Laura and hugging her close.

“That was great, Laura.  You did it.”

Laura squeezed her back before leaning back to face Carmilla. “I did, didn’t I?”

The physical therapist smiled at Carmilla and Sherman before leaving to go to her desk.  Carmilla walked Laura over to her chair where her crutches were waiting for her.  Helping her settle into her chair, Carmilla leaned down and gently kissed Laura.  She leaned back, and both women had bright smiles on their faces.  Since Laura’s release from the hospital, Carmilla had done everything she could to make sure that Laura got the best rehabilitation she could get.

“Alright, Laura, it looks like your next session is Monday, so you get the weekend off from me,” the physical therapist said with a smile as she made her way over to the couple.

Laura nodded with a smile. “Thanks, Mandy.  You’ve been a terrific help so far.”

Mandy waved off her complement. “Don’t thank me; this is my job,” she said, looking down at her chart. “It looks like you’ve only got four more sessions with me before you’re done.”

Laura nodded, grabbing her crutches and pulling herself to her feet. “It’ll make things much easier once these crutches are finally gone.”

Mandy set her charts down on the table beside her. “We’ll see what we can do Monday about that.  For now, if you practice walking without them at home, make sure your father or Carmilla is around to help out.  No trying it on your own.”

Laura smiled and nodded. “Alright, alright.  I hear you,” she said as she began to make her way towards the front doors. “I’ll see you Monday.”

Sherman and Carmilla waved goodbye to Mandy as they followed Laura out to the front doors.  It had been six months since the accident.  She spent two weeks in ICU before being moved into a regular hospital room for an additional four weeks.  In that time, Carmilla was rarely away from her side.  It was Mattie that had appeared in Laura’s room a few days following the accident to inform Carmilla that they had won the semi-final game against Korvae, having rallied under Mel and herself to win the game in Laura’s honor.  Carmilla and Laura were touched by the gesture, but what surprised them the most were the players, from both Silas and Korvae, that appeared in their room moments later.  Even Ell was there.

Carmilla was worried that the situation would be one of the most awkward of her life, but Laura and Ell actually clicked, laughing at the small things that they enjoyed with Carmilla.  Through the entire first interaction, Carmilla sat back and watched her ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend get along as if they had known each other for years.  Carmilla smiled as she watched Laura laugh, that smile she loved oh so much never leaving her face.

It was when everyone had started to funnel out of the room to head home that Ell asked if Carmilla would follow her out into the hallway for a moment.

Carmilla looked at Laura, who rolled her eyes and proceeded to give Carmilla that extra push she needed.  Carmilla nodded, standing up and following Ell out into the hallway.  They walked in silence for a moment before stopping in front of a large window that overlooked the hospital’s courtyard.  They both stood there, silent in each other’s company, before Ell finally spoke up.

“Do you love her?” she asked.

Carmilla didn’t hesitate in answering. “Yes.”

It was quiet for a moment before Ell responded. “Good.  I’m happy for you.”

Carmilla turned to face Ell. “Ell, look I-“ she began to say, but Ell gently placed her finger on Carmilla’s lips, quieting the woman.

Ell looked at Carmilla before smiling, gently placing her hand on Carmilla’s cheek. “It’s alright, Carm.  I am happy for you, and I wish you the best,” she said. “Now go on.  Get back to your girl.  I better see you next time we play Silas; you owe me a full game next time.”

Carmilla smiled, placing her hand over Ell’s. “You’re on.”

Ell smiled back, leaning forward and gently kissing Carmilla’s cheek. “Goodbye, Carm,” she whispered before leaving.

Carmilla watched as Ell left, finally accepting that that part of her life was over and for the better.  She had Laura now, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

It was after Laura was finally released from the hospital that everything good began to fall into place.  The Silas Bats became champions again for the fourth time in six years.  Not a week afterwards, Carmilla got a call from the Women’s National Team, requesting her services for the upcoming World Cup, which she ecstatically accepted with cheers filling the room after.  Best of all, Laura was finally moving in with her.  They had talked about it before the accident, but because of the need to have someone with Laura, Carmilla had insisted she move in with her.  She had a large enough house, and after enough pestering and pleading, Laura had finally agreed.

“So what are your plans for tonight?” Sherman asked as they made their way towards Carmilla’s black Mazdda MX-5 Miata convertible.

Carmilla shrugged. “Probably a movie night,” she said, unlocking the car and opening the door for Laura.

Laura smiled, nodding her thanks as she made her way into the passenger’s seat.  She slid her crutches in the back and pressed the button on the console to have the top fold back. “Just a nice easy night tonight.”

Carmilla smiled, looking back towards Sherman. “How about you?”

He shrugged. “Not sure yet.”

“Dad, you should go out and hang out with your buddies tonight.  Take a night off from worrying about me,” Laura suggested, though it sounded more like a command coming from her.

Sherman rolled his eyes and held up his hands. “Alright, alright, Princess.  I’ll think about it.”

Carmilla and Laura both smiled at him, each giving him a hug before he made his way to his truck.  Carmilla made her way to the driver’s side and got in. “Mind if I take a detour before we head home?” she asked as she turned the car and started to pull out of the parking lot.

Laura shook her head. “You’re the one driving.”

Carmilla smiled, turning to take the long way home.  That was the beauty of living in Silas; because it was on the west coast, the sunsets hit just perfectly on the cliffs, making for a great drive home in the evenings.  Tonight was no exception.  The sunset was as beautiful as ever, and the crashing waves against the rocks of the cliffs only added to the effect.

Carmilla snuck a glance over in Laura’s direction, smiling as she caught her girlfriend enjoying the wind from the drive.  God, she’s so beautiful.  No matter where they were, Carmilla never could get enough of the relaxed nature that was Laura Hollis.  She turned her attention fully back onto the road, turning onto one of the roads that would become a dead end with a parking lot.  As Carmilla pulled into one of the spots, Laura looked at her in confusion.

“Carm, what’s going on?  I thought we were heading home?” she asked.

Carmilla smiled. “And we will, but there’s something I need to do first.”

Laura’s look of confusion only grew, but as she started to ask her question, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.  Carmilla continued to smile as Laura stared at the ring in her hand.

“Laura Eileen Hollis.  Today, one year ago, I met a woman that I didn’t know would change my life for the better.  I was an angry, bitter woman who didn’t want anything to do with the one area that had changed my life:  media.  But there you were, sent to get an interview with me.  You weren’t like the others; you cared about how I would feel with what went into the article.  You cared about what my opinion was.  We sat for hours, just talking about me, talking about you, talking about anything we could,” Carmilla began, taking in a deep breath. “I’ve become a better me because I have you, Laura.  And I-“

Laura’s lips pressed hard against Carmilla’s, interrupting her proposal, but she didn’t care.  When she finally pulled away slowly to take a breath, there was a smile on both of their faces.

“You’re taking too long, Carm.” 

Carm chuckled, holding the ring up to Laura. “Will you marry me?”

Laura smiled, leaning forward to kiss Carmilla again, only this time it was softer and with a smile. “Yes.  Yes, I will marry you.”

Carmilla smiled, sliding the ring onto Laura’s finger and capturing her now-fiancée’s lips in a kiss.  The best way she could describe it was delicious.