"To Cho." Rigsby announced, raising his glass of wine in my honor. Van Pelt came through on what she said. As soon as I got out of the hospital, my friends took me out to dinner at a fine restaurant, each of them wearing nice, semi-formal attire. Rigsby wore a black dinner jacket as he declared the toast. "Welcome back, buddy," He announced, turning to me.

"So I've been promoted to 'buddy' now?" I commented.

"How does it feel to be back on your feet?" Van Pelt asked, visibly jubilant. Jubilant was the only word that seemed to describe it. I had never seen her so overjoyed. She was all smiles and was wearing a red V-cut top, a black wavy skirt, and a gold cross necklace around her neck.

"Terrible." I replied sarcastically, sharing a brief smile with her.

"Well, enjoy your week off." Lisbon pointed out, taking a final sip of her wine. Lisbon was wearing her usual black pants, but with a cheery yellow top that made her glow. I found that since I had woken up from the coma, I was noticing things about people and I spent a lot more time simply observing. I began to wonder if this is how Jane thinks. It also helped that I knew things about my friends that they didn't actually know I knew… save Jane. Speaking of Jane, he was quietly sitting across from me in a dark three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. Ever since I woke up, it felt like there was some unspoken connection between us.

"Yeah, while you tour the local TV channels from interview to interview." Rigsby commented. The case had received a considerable amount of publicity and I had been invited to several different news shows to talk about my experience. I didn't really care about the public attention though because at this point I was just glad to be alive.

"He deserves it," Van Pelt added, sending me another smile. I smiled back.

"Try to behave yourself." Lisbon interjected playfully.

"Represent," Jane stated with a charming grin. I wasn't used to the outpouring of attention and found I could only smile in response. Usually I had some witty comment on the tip of my tongue, but I was suddenly speechless. I had come so close to losing it all.

"Who's paying?" Rigsby suddenly asked, seeing as their dinner out was coming to an end.

"Van Pelt," I stated absent-mindedly, remembering her words from when I was comatose. Her gaze quickly turned to me, her eyes expressing confusion.

"How'd you know I was going to offer?" She asked suspiciously.

"A guess," I lied. No one except Jane knew I could hear when I was in a coma and I wasn't sure whether I would ever reveal that fact to anyone else. Jane's blue eyes glanced at me briefly as if to remind me that he knew my secret.

Then again, I knew his.

"Either that or you returned with psychic abilities." Van Pelt ventured, thinking that Cho was hiding something.

"No! We don't need another Jane." Lisbon quickly broke in with a humorous tone. She smiled. Jane turned to her with a grin.

"I resent that." He pointed out. I suddenly started to notice the way Jane and Lisbon looked at each other and how many furtive glances they shared in any given conversation. I was shocked that I hadn't noticed before.

"So what was it like to be in a coma?" Rigsby asked, genuinely curious.

"Annoying." I replied before taking a sip of my glass of chardonnay.

"I don't think you're supposed to be drinking." Lisbon directed.

"Let him live a little," Jane stated, sending another smile in my direction. I had never seen my friends so happy and it was humbling to know that they cared that much about me.

I suddenly felt I owed them something in return.

"Question," I stated. "Did you mean what you said?" I directed at Jane. Everyone followed my gaze and focused their curious eyes on Jane. He didn't lose his composure.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He answered convincingly, which I took as a clear 'yes.' Lisbon was about to ask what they were talking about, when Rigsby spoke up first.

"Look how late it is," Rigsby pointed out; glancing at his watch. "I should be getting home, because unlike Cho I actually have work tomorrow." He added, teasing me again. I glanced at my own watch and was surprised to see how late it was.

"Can someone give me a ride?" I asked, looking around the table. "The doctor said I shouldn't drive yet."

"Sure. I can drop you off." Van Pelt offered cheerily. I slowly and painfully got out of my chair, my body was still weak and I was still soar in my abdomen from where the bullet hit me. I found both Rigsby and Van Pelt had quickly rushed to my side to help me. I wasn't really sure what to say in response as they moved the chair out of my way and placed their hands on my arms in case I slipped. I smiled slightly.

"Night everyone," I announced as I walked on my own towards the exit, with Rigsby and Van Pelt close behind me.

"Night, Cho." Lisbon told me. I suddenly turned back to her and Jane, who were standing up from their seats, both planning to leave.

"Glad to have you back," Jane added, placing his hands in his jacket pockets.

Life's way too short, I thought to myself as I finally decided that they deserved to know.

"Van Pelt," I began, turning to her, "thanks for having my back. It was nice hearing a positive voice every once in a while and you just… you looked after the team." I explained, trying to minimize the cheesiness of my speech. I smiled at her bemused expression before turning to Rigsby. "Rigsby…" I paused to consider my words, "don't condemn yourself for things you can't control or you'll never be happy. You're a good cop." I added. Rigsby's face resembled a guppy as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"Y-you could hear us?" He stammered. I could see his mind working overtime to recall everything he said to me. I looked over at Lisbon, whose cheeks had turned a bright red and whose eyes expressed pure fear. Jane was standing next to her and appeared genuinely surprised and also puzzled as if questioning how much I was planning to reveal.

"Boss," I began and I could see her shaking her head, pleading with me to keep her crush a secret. "You should ask Jane out on a date because he feels the same way about you." I stated bluntly, my eyes darting between the two. Jane froze and Lisbon's cheeks got even redder. I just watched her and saw her face morph as she came to a realization. She nervously met Jane's eyes. "Plus, you two belong together. So do Van Pelt and Rigsby, but we'll save that for later." I added.

"What?" Van Pelt questioned suddenly, feigning surprise at my observation. I was finding this all highly amusing.

"You… you like me?" Lisbon stammered, clearly shocked. Jane couldn't hold her gaze and instead turned his eyes to meet mine. He was shocked that I exposed him. "You do." Lisbon noticed, reading his body language. Jane turned back to her.

"You sound surprised." He answered with a nervous smile, his eyes darting around the room. I had never seen him so anxious. "Of course…," he began, but broke it off.

"What?" Lisbon persisted.

"Of course I like you." He confessed, meeting her curious eyes. His faint smile was genuine and Lisbon just stared incredulously. "You wanted to ask me out?" He inquired.

"I-" Lisbon was speechless. They must have just stared at each other for a full minute before I finally broke the trance.

"Are you lovebirds going to kiss or do we have to wait all night?" I spurred them on and they both looked at me. Lisbon tried her best to glare at me, but failed, her cheeks still a bright red; however, it felt like another minute before a smile broke out on Jane's lips.

"Cho's back," Jane remarked with a brilliant grin. I couldn't help but smile back at him, and though there was no kissing that night, Jane gave Lisbon a belated Valentine's Day that she'll never forget.

I know because they both told me and I've never seen them so happy…

…I'm glad I lived to see it.

THE END

Hadley

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