Chapter Seventeen

And this chapter brings me to the end of my story. I hope those who've read this enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Voices were what started dragging Rochelle back out of the oblivion of sleep she had sunk into. Men's voices, even whispered ones, were so annoying. Why did they have to talk right over her? She could hear Coach saying something and then she clearly heard Nick say, "She'll never forgive me." That gave her the kick she needed to fully wake up and open her eyes.

"Nick, I've told you-she wants to see you!" came Coach's voice as Rochelle forced her eyes to open. She saw Nick next to her bed and reached out to his hand. She brushed it lightly but couldn't grab hold like she wanted to. He felt the touch, however, and turned to look at her. She motioned for him to come closer and when he did, she finally managed to grab his hand with both of hers. She pulled so that he had to lean close to her. She looked into his eyes and willed him to see her love for him, her forgiveness. His eyes were dull and she recognized the return of the shield he had worn for so long. She was so groggy from the medications that it was difficult to focus on what she wanted to say; there was just so much! But with consciousness slipping away again, she made a supreme effort to speak around the soreness of her throat.

"Don't leave me," she whispered and as she felt herself slipping back into sleep, she saw the hope light up in his eyes as he whispered her name, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

As Rochelle woke up, she realized a few things almost all at once. She actually felt awake: no groggy, can't-stay-awake feeling this time. She felt stronger, too. She was able to pull herself up in the bed and rub her eyes. And she was hungry. Her stomach growled to accompany that thought so loudly that Nick, who was asleep in the chair next to the bed, stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hey," she said quietly and smiled.

"Hey," he replied quietly, standing up and moving to her side.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

"Almost two weeks. You've been sleeping now for about two days."

"Two days?!" she exclaimed.

"The doctor said it was the best medicine for you. How do you feel?" Nick asked, concern in his eyes.

"Surprisingly more like myself. I don't feel groggy, I can move pretty well, and I'm hungry. Guess those are all good signs?" she smiled in return.

"Yeah. And you don't sound quite so much like Darth Vader any more," Nick added, cracking a small smile.

Rochelle grimaced. "I bet I look a mess."

Nick brushed a strand of hair back out of her face. "You look beautiful." His hand had dropped to her cheek and she reached up to take it in hers.

"Nick-," she began.

"Rochelle-," he started.

They both stopped and she laughed lightly. "You first," she encouraged him.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, gathering his thoughts and his courage. "Rochelle, you do remember why you're in the hospital, right?"

She nodded. "Poor marksmanship," she replied, smiling gently, trying to ease things for him.

Nick grimaced. "I hope you know how I feel about this. I was so upset when I realized what I'd done. I've never felt like that in my life. And I never want to again." Here he paused before adding, "I didn't think you'd ever want to see me again. I wouldn't have blamed you."

"Nick, don't you think I know this was a terrible accident? Do you know how many times I worried about my aim when someone needed me the most? You're the marksman of the group; the smoker pulled your aim off at the last moment. Ellis told me that you were the one who went back for me...carried me to the helicopter. Someone else would probably have left me for dead but you saved me. Don't you think you should cut yourself some slack?" Rochelle asked.

Nick shrugged. "Regardless, I would understand if you want nothing to do with me."

Rochelle shifted in the bed to make room for him to sit down next to her. He did so reluctantly and didn't meet her eyes. She touched his cheek and gently made him turn to look at her. She sat there quietly looking at him, searching for the right words to heal him.

"If you'd have told me two months ago that I'd be fighting for my life with three people I didn't know, against thousands of freakin' zombies, I'd have said you were out of your mind. If you had told me that one of these three people would make me feel more alive and desirable than ever before-that I'd not only sleep with him but damn near rape him-I'd have called the men in white jackets. It's true though...all of it. I've never acted this way, felt this way, in my entire life. Nick, you make me feel...and it's sad to say, but I've never felt like this before. I never knew I could be the way I was with you when we made love. The way I acted?" Here, Rochelle shook her head incredulously. "I didn't know who I was! It was like this part of me that I never knew existed just pushed 'normal Rochelle' out of the way and decided to take over. No man has made me feel like that. I look at you and can't keep my hands off of you. Just being near you...it's like there's this current between is." Rochelle made a face. "That sounds so trite, but it's true.

"Nick, I don't know how you feel, but I don't want to lose you. I'll admit I'm scared about what's coming next, but even if I weren't, I don't want to do anything without you." She leaned over and, her hands on either side of his face, gently pulled him into a kiss.

She felt tension leave his body and when the kiss broke, he pulled her to him in an embrace. Her arms slid around him and she turned to say quietly in his ear, "I love you."

Any remaining tension she felt in his body fled at that and he pulled her even tighter before releasing her to search her eyes. "I love you, too," he smiled and then kissed her again.

"Hey, y'all! I brought-oh. Well. Shoot-I have the worst timing ever!" came Ellis' voice from the foot of the bed.

They broke apart and Nick laughed. Rochelle looked at what Ellis had in his hands and said, "Ellis, Honey, if that's a sandwich, I'll forgive you!"

Coach came in and saw the two still holding each other and smiled contentedly. "I'm glad everything's back to normal. It's about damn time! And I've got news. We're on the waiting list for a boat of our own so we can head out to hook up with other evacuees. There's a small floating village here in the Keys with people hanging out and supporting each other for the time being. I'm hoping to find my wife and her sister there. You all are coming, right?"

Nick and Rochelle looked at each other. "I go where you go," she said simply.

Nick smiled and turned to Coach. "I guess we're with you, then."

"Oh, man! This is gonna be awesome! This one time, my buddy Keith-well, he decided to go boating. It wasn't on the ocean-just a creek near us. Well, he started fishing when-," Ellis began. The three other survivors laughed together. Whatever the future held, it was going to be all right.