Chapter 20

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for coming on this ridiculous, crazy test drive with me! Finished up here mainly because I do want to move on to something else soon. Still thinking through how I'm going to approach that, but definitely had votes for an AU. Wooohooo! Okay, here ya go!

Delphine had spent the better part of the three hour surgery hysterical.

So far, the pack in the hospital waiting room knew very little.

They knew that Cosima had been hit in the shoulder, and had lost a lot of blood. They knew that as soon as Cosima was in the ambulance with Delphine, who they insisted go as a doctor, the decision had been made by the medics that she would have to have surgery to remove the bullet to save the shoulder joint.

They also all knew that at some point during the ride, Cosima had completely lost consciousness.

And so the state in which Alison, Sarah, and Felix had found Delphine was in hysteric tears. Delphine cried until she had nothing left to let out, in the hospital waiting room, using a napkin to wipe her face.

What Delphine didn't know was that Sarah hadn't been willing to hop in the car to follow to the hospital right away. In fact, the only reason Sarah wasn't being held for murder charges was because once she had begun beating Greta, and to a lesser extent Frederick, in a wild, animalistic frenzy, Alison had untied Felix and the two of them were able to restrain her, even though it allowed the bloody and bruised former DYAD monitor and now, former captor to escape.

Sarah had really lost it. She would have killed the woman with her bare hands if she hadn't been restrained. Even then, she didn't completely take strangling the woman off the table.

And now, they took turns in the waiting room pacing, crying, staring at a flat screen television mounted on the wall showing news that suddenly seemed incredibly unimportant and not nearly newsworthy.

"You never told me what you two were getting on about when you were-gathering my cells." Sarah had positioned herself next to Delphine, as they both stared at the flatscreen in the waiting room, not actually registering what was playing on the screen in front of them. The news program was less important than the serious injury to Cosima, and the surreal feeling of being in a hospital, not knowing how the surgery was going.

"Oh. Cosima's mother wanted a picture of us together for some sort of newsletter. It sounded fairly innocent but Cosima insisted it was a big deal and that we not do it." Came the answer from the blonde, who continued to stare straight ahead.

"That's not what I meant. Why was she asking about your family?" Sarah said, also staring at the screen. The difference was, Sarah was very much aware of what was playing on the news in front of them.

"I just thought Cosima's mother had figured out, well, there is no tactful way to put this…how much they are worth. I had no idea…" Delphine trailed off, watching the story broadcast before them.

"Cormier Industries unveiled today plans to eventually produce household items with biological material integrated into the designs. The Cormiers taut their prototypes as the 'future of industry'. Models at the TechNoVate Technology conference from Cormier Industries included a bathtub with biological nerve endings that auto-adjust temperature controls to make baths most pleasing to human senses, and a microwave that stops cooking once food is evenly heated throughout, no time programming required. The company assures everyone that the products themselves are not able to feel feelings like human beings, they merely integrate live cells into the designs, and promise working models will require minimal care to keep alive."

"Holy Shite."

Sarah and Delphine had spoken in low tones back and forth, seeming to be enthralled with whatever was on the television. Felix was nodding off here and there, not having much energy left after spending so much time tied up.

It was the perfect opportunity for Alison to sneak away, her lady-grip pistol still stashed neatly in her purse.

She had no idea why someone would be after Sarah, but she also knew that the shooter hadn't necessarily known which clone she shot. She expected Cosima would be out of surgery at some point, and would need a bodyguard on the room. But how would someone who was clearly not a doctor get into a restricted care unit for post-surgery patients?

Alison wandered casually up and down the hall, reading the signs on the doors.

Staff Only.

"Bingo."

"I can't believe he's actually doing it." Delphine said in disbelief. "He used to joke about making 'smart appliances' when I was a child, but I had no idea he was an actual mad scientist. I don't even know how he's going to pull it off. My father is a mechanical engineer, not a biologist." The doctor sat down, putting her hands in her head. The numbness of Cosima's serious injury was wearing off, and she felt a wave of nausea coming over her. Things were looking like they were getting worse as they waited, not better.

"Well, I think we all now know why there is a psychopath looking for me."

"She's not getting you. Or Cosima." Delphine said quickly, but with enough force not to be argued with.

"Is the Niehaus family here?" A young nurse asked, looking around the room. Immediately the three stood up, walking to get an update, Felix still rubbing his eyes open.

"Cosima is out of surgery, but probably won't wake up for another hour or so. As long as you are all family, you can wait in the room with her. It would probably be nice for her not to wake up alone after such a traumatic event." The nurse filled them in. It was only then that they noticed Alison was missing, as they were on their way to Cosima's room.

"Fe, where's soccer mom?" Sarah said, looking around.

"How am I supposed to know? She probably just went to the ladies room or something." He said, closing the door behind them.

"Or something like that." Came the response, as a curtain pulled back to reveal a still asleep Cosima and Alison dressed as a nurse's aide.

"Alison!" Sarah shouted, as Delphine made a beeline for Cosima's side, not paying any attention to Alison's current state of dress.

"Would you keep it down please!" Alison scold-whispered back. "She needs a bodyguard. Did either of you think to come armed?" She said, pulling up her scrubs shirt to show the weapon in her waistband.

"Quick thinking. If you were a male nurse, that would be kind of hot." Felix said, giving Alison a nod.

"I am here, Mon amour, I am here." Delphine said, taking the still sleeping woman's hand into her own, giving it a kiss, before leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Delphine frowned at the face in front of her. She was pale, and while her heart rate on the monitor was technically in the normal range, it was still too low for her to consider Cosima safe. She knew this would be a battle for healing, as she would have been given an antibiotic injection after the surgery, but the wound, blood loss, and surgery on an already sick body was a lot.

"I guess we just wait for her to wake up?" Sarah said, looking at the women with a worried look, eyes darting back and forth between her sister and the doctor. If she wakes up, she thought, but didn't dare say out loud.

"Sarah…we need those cells." Delphine said, looking up but still sitting on the bed holding Cosima's hand.

"What—like right now?"

"Yes, right now. She is still sick, and she lost a lot of blood before the ambulance got there. And now, her body has to try to heal a wound and keep it from getting infected. Alison, I need you to get us some things." Delphine took out her phone, and immediately began looking up the items she would need to extract cells from Sarah and inject them into Cosima.

"Delphine, how am I supposed to get all of these things? I don't even know what half of this stuff is. I didn't sign up to play hospital Macguyver today. Besides, I'm supposed to be guarding her. We don't know if Dr. Psychotic is going to come back looking for her. And what about if I get caught? What are we supposed to say then? Hmm? That one of the 'triplets' got loose and decided to put on her fancy hospital pajamas and roam around looking to give out sponge baths? I am not giving a sponge bath today, so you can just-"

"Al, leave me the gun. Go get what the doc needs, alright?" Sarah said, holding her hand out. This would not be a discussion. They were going to save Cosima, in every way, that night.

Alison let out her signature "hmmfph" before grabbing the phone with the pictures on it, and storming out.

"You tied me up." Frederick said, matter-of-factly, tailing his sister as they rushed into the hospital.

"I wasn't actually going to hurt you. Do you think I would hurt my baby brother?" Who never came to get me.

"What are you going to do, just storm in there and start taking hostages?" He lunged to grab her arm, missing as she picked up her pace.

"If I have to. You're with me or against me." The woman said, turning to go into the back emergency entrance.

Frederick took out his phone, hoping Felix would still be attached to his and would open a message from him.

She's on her way into the hospital. Back Entrance. If they're in there, get them out.

Alison almost had gathered all of the items. She had gone room to room, trying her best to avoid every cough and sneeze shot her way. In the last room where she had stolen the syringe that looked about the right size and stuffed it into her pants, she was sure she was about to be vomited on. She was sure one more room would have the last of the supplies.

"Nurse! We need help in here!" Alison turned around slowly, seeing that there was indeed a woman waving her into another patient's room, but this one was clearly much larger, and had swing doors at the end of the hallway.

"Shit." Alison said to herself, seeing no way out of this but to actually go into the last patient's room. The doctor at the end of the hallway was waiting for her to come. Maybe it would have a speculum, since she was having trouble getting the gynecological implements.

Once Alison got into the room and saw a speculum on the far table, she exhaled in relief. Her medical scavenger hunt might work out after all.

"AAAAHHHH GET IT OUT OF ME! NO, I DON'T WANT THE DRUGS JUST GET HIM OUT!"

Alison's head snapped to the patient.

The clone would now have to figure out a way to grab the speculum and graciously back out of this woman's labor and delivery without any of the masked individuals in the room noticing.

"Shit."

"I'll be right back." Felix said after looking at his phone, hopping up to leave the room abruptly. He patted his back pocket to make sure the Taser was still there, having had the sense to grab it off of the floor where Delphine had dropped it before heading to the hospital.

"Alright then…" Sarah said, staring at the man as he exited, but making no motion to follow.

Cosima had been showing signs of stirring awake, not seeming to quite make it over the hump into consciousness every time. Each time she took a deep breath, or looked like she was trying to move her eyelids, Delphine lit up, squeezing the woman's hand, saying her name, and each time being let down.

Sarah didn't know how much more she could take, between the upset of seeing Cosima so vulnerable, and Delphine's emotional roller coaster that seemed to drain the doctor each time.

"You wake up when you're ready, Cosima." Delphine would say each time, kissing her knuckles. "Not too early, but soon." The woman continued to stroke Cosima's arm gently, hoping to somehow softly pull her out of her sleep with her touch.

Sarah put her hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"She's gonna wake up, yeah? If she were in a coma or something, she'd probably not be allowed to have visitors, right?"

"Nothing is one-hundred percent. She needs those cells." Delphine said, looking up at Sarah, at a loss for what to do other than wait for Alison, who had Delphine's phone.

Alison's job, luckily, was just to pat the laboring woman's head with a damp cloth, which she thanked her lucky stars for, since she had no idea how to handle anything else, not actually having ever seen someone in labor before.

She would wet the towel, pat, pat, pat, offer a polite, "you're almost there, you're doing so well", and continue to eye the items in the room, seeing the labor room next door finishing up its labor, with the same tools available, including a speculum.

The nurses came in and out, and the woman's male partner didn't seem to notice that the nurse's aide patting his wife seemed to have pants that fit awkwardly, like pants that might be hiding a syringe, gauze pads, and the tools that would be inserted to extract the cells from Sarah, all wrapped up in an Ace bandage.

The woman in labor seemed to be at a standstill. She had been pushing for awhile, and now the labor seemed to come to a stop for the time being, giving her a break from her screaming and pushing. The nurses had already left to check on other rooms, leaving Alison alone with the couple and the obstetrician.

"I'll be right back. Aide, I'm sorry what's your name?" The doctor said, coming back up from under the paper sheet covering the woman's lower half.

"It's um, Heidi, doctor." Alison said quickly, then looking down at her name tag that she had stolen with the outfit.

Maybe she should have checked to make sure her last name wasn't "Ho" first.

Heidi Ho. Great. Now I'm either stripping my way through med school or come from incredibly embarrassing parents who were more likely than not Asian, which I hope I'm not going to have to explain.

The doctor paused for a moment, also noticing the name tag, but attempting to be polite and not say anything to the woman who was clearly new at the hospital.

"Right then, Heidi. I just need you down here to monitor the progress. If the head starts crowning, page me, and press the nurse's call button."

"But-"

Before Alison could protest, the doctor was gone. Alison looked at the couple, who barely noticed her as they caught their breath after the last round of pushing, as she went head first under the sheet, pulling out Delphine's cell phone, hoping that Sarah's phone number was saved in there.

Alison was happy to see it was, hoping the two could not hear her texting from between the woman's legs.

I know how you're going to get the cells out of Sarah. Meet me in Maternity Ward B in two minutes.

Alison smiled to herself, before hearing the woman's screams beginning again. When she looked up, she saw that the labor was indeed progressing.

Rapidly.

Felix had found Greta fairly easily. She slipped in the back door, and immediately started walking around like she owned the place, clearly at home in a clinical setting. She watched as the woman started checking rooms for the clones, heading in the opposite direction from where Cosima was housed.

Felix saw Frederick tailing her as well, hiding around the corner. He motioned for his lover to come over, waiting for Greta to duck into another room.

"I don't know why I'm still trusting you, but I'm going to take your warning as a show that you're on the right side." Felix said, to which Frederick could only swallow and nod. Felix took the Taser out, putting it in Frederick's hand.

"It's non-lethal, alright? If she heads in the other direction, I need to know you won't let her get to us." Felix said, shaking a bit as he handed his weapon over.

"I promise. I don't know what's happened to her, but this is too far."

"Good. Then keep her on this side of the hospital."

"It's going to be alright. Hold my hand." Delphine said, as she wheeled Sarah, now in a hospital gown, down into Maternity Ward B.

Sarah was doing every right thing to play the part of woman in labor without drawing undue attention. She clenched her jaw and grunted, but didn't shout or scream. The doctors and nurses in the hallways simply looked up, confirmed a patient being transported, and then went about their business.

Delphine pushed her right in, continuing the act.

"Almost there. Don't push yet!" As soon as the doors swung shut, the two dropped the act, taking note of the items around the room. Delphine immediately went for the tray with the speculum, grabbing what she needed to get the cells.

"Delphine, where's Alison? Is this the right room?" Delphine took a peek through the window into the next Maternity Ward, seeing Alison handing an actual baby to a woman who had clearly just gone through actual labor, with a mix of awe and disgust on her face. She didn't even bother changing or washing up before coming barreling into their room.

"Alison…did you just deliver a baby?" Delphine asked, standing between Sarah's open legs, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Assisted. I assisted in delivering a baby, thank you. I would also never like to do that ever again. And hurry up. We don't know how long it's going to be before someone actually needs this room." Alison buzzed around, heading right to the sink, pulling off her latex gloves, intent on washing away the last twenty minutes of her life.

Delphine wasted no time grabbing a tray and getting to work on Sarah, who ground her teeth down, quickly realizing she would feel the pinching and pulling with no anesthetic. She made quick work, mixing what she was able to extract with a saline solution.

"Alison, did you get a syringe?"

"Oh." Alison said, reaching into her pants supply. "This is all I could manage to get before the miracle of life decided to interrupt our plan. God, I'm so happy my children were adopted right now."

"Good work." Delphine immediately, filling the injection and putting the cap back on. "We have to get this back to Cosima." Delphine said, having clearly not thought of a way for them to inconspicuously get back to their original room. She was also not too keen on leaving Cosima unguarded, but she didn't really see another option.

"You go." Alison said, pulling a doctor's jacket out of the closet and tossing it at Delphine. "We'll sneak out of here when it's clear." Delphine simply nodded. A "thank you" for what had just transpired wouldn't even begin to cover it, so she left in a hurry to get back down the hall.

Delphine rushed back into the room, with it barely registering in her mind that Felix and Frederick were both sitting there, watching over Cosima. She only looked at them for a split second, before rushing over, pulling the cap off of the injection with her teeth, and carefully pulling the gauze covering and then injecting the mixture into the wound, hoping that Cosima was still pumped full of enough pain meds that it wouldn't wake her up into a world of screaming pain.

"Please work. Please, please help her heal." Delphine said, putting the covering back over the hole in Cosima's shoulder.

"Delphine."

Delphine ignored Felix, watching carefully over Cosima's monitors, checking for any sign she was moving towards waking.

"Delphine." He said again, a bit more urgently.

"What?" She asked, her eyes not leaving Cosima.

"We have a situation." Frederick said, pointing towards the door to the in-room bathroom. She walked over to the room, slowly opening the door to find a passed out Greta, bound up with a variety of medical supplies, on the floor.

"We had no choice." Frederick said, holding up the Taser. They must have jolted her a lot with it to have her completely pass out.

"I don't really know what to do with a body…maybe we should just leave her there for Sarah." Felix said. Frederick could only hang his head, shaking it slightly. He had been dragged into more of a mess than he could have ever fathomed, but when the moment came for him to react, he knew he had to take out his sister before she got her hands on any of Felix's sisters.

"Well, she's a patient here, right?" Came the weak voice from the bed.

"Cosima!" Delphine rushed over, immediately grabbing her hand, kissing her cheek, her forehead, her nose, her mouth, her hand, and back to her cheek. "Cosima, you're going to be alright."

Cosima let Delphine continue the face kisses for a moment, still trying to acclimate to being awake again, and feeling groggy. She tried to say something again, through a raspy voice.

Delphine poured her water from the pitcher next to the bed, holding the cup for her while Cosima took a sip.

Felix was immediately by her side, with Frederick staying a foot or so behind. Cosima took another sip before speaking again.

"Like I was trying to say," Cosima struggled out, "she's a patient here, isn't she?"

The men looked at Delphine confused. Had Cosima woken up still out of it?

"What do you mean?" Delphine asked her.

"Well, the psych ward is around the corner. And she's clearly passed out…why don't we have her sent back to her room?" Cosima said, giving a little smirk. Delphine looked up at the boys.

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Why don't you two get Greta a bed, so she can be wheeled safely back to the psych ward? We want her somewhere safe…and tied down, for when she wakes up."

"We've got it." Sarah said, wheeling the bed they had previously used to bring Sarah to the Maternity Ward. The two were now wearing matching clean scrubs, as Alison patted the cot, ready to wheel out a new patient.

One Year Later

Cosima coughed into a tissue, checking for blood.

Of course, there was no need anymore, having had enough Sarah cocktails to ensure she would never grow another tumor again, but apparently even Sarah super cells weren't enough to evade the common cold.

Delphine appeared at her side, handing her a cup of tea.

"You still check." The blonde said observantly.

"Yeah. I guess old habits die hard, huh?" Cosima looked up, receiving a peck, but backing away when Delphine moved to deepen the kiss.

"I don't want to get you sick."

"You hush. It would be worth it." Delphine said, leaning back down, only separating at the sound of two children coming barreling out of the back door to Marion's mansion, running outside to play with a remote controlled airplane.

"You are to share with Charlotte, alright Kira!" Sarah shouted after them, also coming outside to enjoy the sunshine. Marion had invited the family over to celebrate the engagement in her spacious yard, keeping to the promise to let it be a small affair, even though she had room to host an entire wedding if she wanted to. The fact that Sarah's body had also saved Charlotte's life also meant that Marion had been particularly giving with the group, aside from also biologically having donated to create them.

"Ahhh, the bride to be is finally here! Cal over there has been grilling already for hours." Delphine said, pointing over to the fire pit area.

"Ugh don't call me that. It's just—it's weird. I'm still not used to it." Sarah had agreed to marry Cal, because she really did love him, but she couldn't see herself in a traditional bridal gown. She even refused an engagement ring, suggesting anything from a range of matching tattoos to simply running off to city hall for a quick signing of papers. They had settled on a small ceremony, mostly to make Kira happy, and instead of a ring the two had matching his and hers necklaces, a suggestion from Mrs. S. They had also agreed to a small engagement party, since they hadn't actually set a wedding date yet…or technically planned it.

Cosima laughed before stopping to blow her nose again.

"Hopefully this will be cleared up by the time you two actually call us at a moment's notice to show up at city hall for a ceremony." Cosima said, smiling to show her jest.

"Good idea. Do you think they're open at midnight? I think a middle of the night ceremony after a round at Bobbie's bar is probably most our style." Sarah said, watching Charlotte chase both Kira and the plane in some sort of two-person/one machine game of tag.

Delphine sat on the arm of Cosima's wooden Adirondack chair, putting her arm around her stuffy-nosed clone.

"As long as we're invited, we'll be there. Midnight or not." Delphine said, content to have her arm around her love, taking in the sunshine and the scene in front of her.

"Speak for yourself. Bobbie's? You can't even get us somewhere with an open bar? And here I thought Marion paid you well." Cosima teased.

"Right then. We have a request for a midnight ceremony, but with an open bar. And I'm refusing to wear a dress. So far, we've described a regular Saturday night at Felix's." Sarah said, waving at Cal over at the fire pit. "I suppose I should go see what my fiancé is cooking that is going to require his attention all day." Sarah took off for the cook out area, leaving the two.

Delphine went back to smothering Cosima's face with kisses.

"Seriously, babe, I'm going to get you sick."

"You want me to stop?" Delphine challenged.

"No. I didn't say that. I'm just giving you fair warning."

"Then I think that you should just know that later on, I'm going to make sure we're doing enough activities, alone, to see if that's the case." Delphine gave her a wink, then a peck on the lips. Delphine pulled back to see Cosima's smile, waiting for her adorable chipmunk cheeks to make an appearance.

"You almost killed me with that city hall comment." Delphine said, looking knowingly at Cosima.

"I was…testing the waters. To see how they would react." Cosima said, smiling back up at the blonde, whose hair somehow had the most perfect curls even though she knew they had practically thrown themselves out of bed to get over to the mansion.

"We have to tell them eventually. Not that it would surprise anyone. They know I'm not leaving your side ever again, forced or not." Delphine said. Of course, the night they planned on telling the group that they had ran off and gotten married is when Sarah and Cal announced their engagement, and the two immediately didn't want to steal their thunder with an actual marriage. Of course, that was weeks ago, and because they already lived together and hadn't gone on a honeymoon, their lives just continued on as usual, just with a bit more security in the event that something happened to one of them. The two were already inseparable, so there wasn't an actual change to notice.

"We do. Not that it changes anything. They already know you're my partner, and it's going to stay that way. They know I'm in it for the long haul." Cosima said through her stuffy nose, which Delphine found adorable.

"Well, then I propose that you and I long haul it back inside, since everyone is coming out now and nobody will notice if we are occupying the bathroom with the giant hot tub." Delphine whispered into Cosima's ear, before hopping up with a glint in her eye, pulling her wife along with her.

"Yeah. You're definitely a keeper. I made the right choice." Cosima managed to get out, before being pulled inside and bouncing upstairs, their giggles going unnoticed by the guests coming in through the front of the house.