AN: Here we are at long last! The final chapter! Lucky chapter 13!

Chapter 13

The three days turned into a week. An entire week that Viper was unconscious. An entire week that Glenn barely slept. He spent a lot of time in the hospital. Viper might not have been able to talk back to him, but if it meant seeing for himself that she was okay, that was fine with him. Very often Nancy and Rabbit kept him company as well. Marisa, Tyler, and Boone all came by after their shifts as well, promising that they would be around more once Viper was awake, but since she wasn't allowed to have more than four visitors at a time in the ICU, they all took turns.

Glenn was almost ecstatic when he walked into the ICU a week to the day after they had found Viper and Joe was with her along with one of the other doctors and a nurse.

"Is it okay for me to be here?" Glenn asked as he leaned against the doorpost. He was truly tired after the busiest shift that he'd had all week, but that wouldn't have kept him away from the hospital. He needed to be there for Viper, and for his own sanity.

"Yeah, of course," Joe said. "That's the least I can allow seeing as you've barely left her side all week after you finished work. Her IV ran out about an hour and a half ago, and by now the last of the propofol should have circulated through her body." He paused for a moment, looking at the other doctor and then back at Glenn, "See if she'll wake up when you talk to her."

"Me?" Glenn blinked.

Joe nodded, "I think she'll be more eager to hear your voice than mine."

Glen inhaled slowly and walked closer to Viper. He put his hand on her left arm and kissed her forehead, not missing the slight movement from her as he did so, "Viper." He said gently, "Viper, wake up."

Viper moved her head a little, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and then slowly opening them. They fluttered for a few moments, and then the sapphire irises appeared looking extremely sleepy. She looked at him for a few moments, blinking lazily, before her eyes widened in fear. She tried to move her hands, but when she found them restrained, her heart monitor started beeping irregularly.

"Talk to her," Joe encouraged Glenn.

Glenn nodded and looked back down at Viper. She looked terrified, "Vipe, do you know where you are?"

Viper nodded once, going cross-eyed as she looked at the tube that was coming out of her mouth. She looked at him pleadingly.

"Can't she get off that thing soon?" Glenn asked Joe.

"In a few minutes," Joe said. "Now that she's awake we've turned it off to let her breathe on her own, but I just need to make sure she can breathe on her own."

Glenn nodded and looked back down at Viper. He saw tears sliding down her pale cheeks and he pitied her, "Are you in pain?"

Viper shook her head once, making a movement as if to wipe the tears away, but she let out a sound of frustration as she remembered she couldn't move her hands and more tears streamed down her cheeks. Glenn wiped the tears away for her with his thumb and stroked her hair, "You're okay, Viper, don't worry…. Doctor Joe, you're still going to keep her restrained?"

"I need to put another IV in so she doesn't get dehydrated," Joe said. He looked at Viper as he spoke, "It's only vitamins and a few other things to keep your body nourished. Do I have your word that you won't try and pull it out again?"

Viper nodded once, and Glenn was sure that if she had the energy she would have rolled her eyes at the doctor. Joe walked closer to her and glanced at the monitors, "Then before I take them off I'm going to take the tube out of your throat, okay?"

Viper looked nervously at Glenn, but nodded either way. Joe unclasped the tube from the respirator and handed the respirator tube to the nurse.

"Okay, Viper," Joe said. "I need you to take a deep breath for me and then blow out as hard as you can when I count to three, okay?"

Glenn heard the tube whistle slightly as Viper inhaled deeply and she closed her eyes. He slid his hand into her left one and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed back weakly as another set of tears trailed down her cheeks.

"One, two, three."

Viper blew the air out as Joe pulled the tube out at the same time. She gagged on the tube and started coughing. Her face turned red as she leaned back against the pillows and took a few panting breaths.

"Are you okay?" Glenn asked.

"I've been better," Viper answered in a low rasp. "What day is it?"

"Wednesday," Glenn responded, kissing her forehead as Joe motioned for the nurse to release her hands.

"I take it you don't mean the same Wednesday that you found me," Viper said. Her throat felt itchy and horribly dry. "So, it's been a week?"

Glenn nodded as Joe held out a small cup of water, "Drink this slowly, Viper. It should take away the raw feeling in your throat."

"Thank you," Viper rasped and brought the cup to her lips with her newly freed and shaky hand. The first sip was amazing, but at the same time, horrible. It had been more than a week since anything but that tube had gone down her throat. While it brought her pain, it also brought her immense relief. She rubbed her eyes as she yawned, "God, I am so confused…."

"What's confusing you?" Glenn asked. He gave her hand another squeeze and kissed the back of her hand as she squeezed back.

"It's all just a jumble," Viper admitted. "There's so much I-- Where's Amanda?"

Glenn felt his anger spring right back up when Viper mentioned the name. He had known that would be one of the first questions that Viper would ask him, but he still wasn't happy to discuss it, even with her.

"Truehart hasn't found her yet."

Viper's heart monitor suddenly started beeping erratically once again and Joe glared at Glenn, "Are you crazy? Do not stress her out! Her heart can't handle that right now!"

"Joe, it's fine," Viper gasped, suddenly short of breath. She winced slightly as she tried to sit up a little straighter and her heart pounded against her ribcage. She glanced at Glenn apologetically as she accidentally squeezed his hand a little sharply. "It's not his fault, I asked him. I should have expected that answer…." She groaned and hissed through her teeth as she struggled to sit up. "So, how long am I in for, doc?"

"Did I just hear the groan of Viper's voice?"

Viper couldn't help the weak smile that came to her face as Boone, Tyler, and Nancy appeared. Tyler's blue eyes lit up when he saw Viper's eyes open.

"Welcome back to the world, Viper," Tyler grinned.

"Thank you," Viper said. "Hold that thought. Joe?"

She turned her eyes back to the doctor who was giving her a grave look. Her weak smile vanished as she looked right back at him, "What is it? Tell me."

"Your immune system, your heart, and your brain were all damaged by the overexposure to the morphine," Joe said. "You weren't getting enough oxygen to your brain. We don't think there are going to be any long term effects, but for now, you need to rest and we need to keep an eye on you. You're going to be moved up to a room soon."

"For how long?" Viper asked, clearing her once again dry throat.

"Two weeks, minimum," Joe said. Viper heard her monitor go off before she felt the pain that shot through her chest. She started gasping for breath again and she felt tears sting her eyes.

"Two weeks?" She said in a voice a few octaves too high for herself. "What the hell did that bitch do to me?"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Joe said, sidestepping the newly arrived medics and exiting the ICU. Viper was now struggling to keep her emotions under control, something she was normally good at, but at the moment, she couldn't stop the tears from once again trailing down her cheeks. She thought vaguely of how easily she used to be able to control herself, especially in front of her co-workers. What had happened to her?

"Vipe," Nancy said in a low voice. She walked over to Viper's right side and kissed her best friend's forehead, noting how cold her skin felt as she did so. "Viper, it's okay. Two weeks isn't that bad."

"The hell it isn't!" Viper said, her voice still high. The tears spilled over and she inhaled shakily "I don't even think I can walk right now if I tried to get up from this bed! Forget about walking, I can barely push myself up! I feel so… weak…."

Her voice trailed off as her monitor continued to beep and her head lolled to one side. Glenn's eyes widened as he looked at Nancy, who had an MD, questioningly, "What the hell?"

"Her body's shutting her mind down," Nancy said. "Or vice versa. Too much stress."

Glenn nodded as he heard Viper's heart monitor slowing down. He kissed her forehead before talking again, "She's so weak."

"Don't say that," Nancy hissed. "Remember, she can hear you."

Glenn sighed. He knew Viper could hear him. He had been talking to her everyday while he'd been sitting with her. He wanted to see her happy and lively again, and out of the hospital.

"Speak to Truehart today?"

Nancy shook her head, "Rabbit was going to drop by the S.F.P.D. today before coming over." She glanced at her watch, "He should actually be there now…."

Rabbit walked through the bustling and buzzing bullpen of the S.F.P.D., looking around as he walked. There were a few thugs waiting to be booked, phones were ringing left and right…. But there was only one office he was interested in. He knocked on the open doorpost of Ben Truehart's office. He was standing with his back to Rabbit, a blown up map of San Francisco and its neighborhoods, a bunch of red pins dotting the surface.

"She's evaporated," Truehart said. Rabbit assumed that he was talking to him so he walked into the office and shut the door to the office. "I've had my men all over the Bay area and they cannot find her."

"You're going to tell me that with all the manpower and technology you have at your disposal that you can't find one woman? A woman who you have a pretty good picture of and know what she's wanted for."

"She's an EMT," Truehart said. "She's wise to all the tricks of the S.F.P.D., but aside from all that, it's possible she changed her appearance. It's a lot easier for women to change their physical appearances and hide under the radar. We know her as a redhead, but for all we know, by now she could be a blond, a brunette, and with color contacts, her eyes could be any color…."

"C'mon, Ben," Rabbit rolled his eyes. "You and I both know those are only excuses. You can't find her and you're grasping at straws to get the blame off of your back."

"Screw you, Rabbit," Truehart growled. "I've been busting my ass the last week trying to get her. There's no rock in this city I haven't looked under for that psychotic bitch." He sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration, "How is Viper doing?"

"Nancy texted me just as I got here that Viper's off the respirator and she's awake, somewhat," Rabbit responded.

"Somewhat?" Truehart repeated.

"She got a little too stressed out between hearing that Amanda wasn't caught yet and the doctor telling her she's going to be staying in the hospital for another two weeks," Rabbit explained, somewhat impatiently. "Her body shut itself down. Truehart, get Amanda off the streets. It will help Viper recover easier than it would if she stays on the loose."

"You don't think I want that?" Truehart snarled. "You think I like knowing that she's laid up in the hospital because I didn't do enough to find her before more morphine was injected into her?"

Rabbit shrugged, "Whether or not you like it, it happened, so deal with it. The only way you can make up for that is by taking her in already."

Rabbit and Truehart glared at each other. Rabbit was right, and they both knew it.

"I'm going to stop by the hospital later," Truehart said in a grudging tone.

Rabbit chuckled, "That may not be wise. Glenn's barely left her side all week. He's not happy with you either."

"I'm a cop," Truehart said. "What do I have to be afraid of?"

"It's your funeral," Rabbit said as he left the office with a smirk.

The first thing Viper felt when she started waking up was the headache. Her head was pounding. Squeezing her eyes tight, she tried to reach her forehead to rub it, but realized that she couldn't. Curious, her eyes popped open and she groaned as she saw her arms were restrained again.

"What the hell?"

She yawned and looked around and saw Glenn sleeping, or at least dozing, in the chair nearest her bed. Nancy was listening to her iPhone and texting, Tyler was standing by the window looking out at the fading light. She sighed, not wanting to disturb anyone, but she was extremely curious why her hands were restrained. Luckily, Nancy looked up and caught her eye as she looked around the room. Nancy pressed her iPhone and stood up.

"How are you feeling?" Nancy asked in a low voice as Tyler walked over as well and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Weak," Viper admitted, her voice low in general. "What the hell happened to me? Why am I restrained?"

Nancy exchanged a look with Tyler that had Viper's heart racing again. The machines started beeping erratically and Nancy sighed, "Viper, calm down, I'll tell you. It's nothing terrible… you were semi-conscious at some point about an hour or so ago. You were confused and you were screaming, and you pulled your IV out."

"Again?" Viper blinked as she looked at her arm where she could clearly see her IV had been moved and the old area had been bandaged. "I don't remember it at all…. Goddamn it. Well, at least Glenn's resting a bit. He looks exhausted. He's been here all week, hasn't he?"

"As late as they would let him stay in the ICU," Nancy nodded. She loosened Viper's restraints and removed them from the bed.

Viper sighed and rubbed her eyes, "How the hell did I land someone like Glenn as my boyfriend?"

"Going through several complete screw-offs as boyfriends before landing with him," Rabbit said as he walked into the room, a small vase of flowers in his hands. Viper smiled at him though the smile didn't reach her eyes. He kissed her forehead and put the flowers down on a small table beside the bed, "I include myself in that list, just by the way."

Viper laughed a hollow laugh, "Rabbit, you're not a screw-off."

"How high did they make you?" Rabbit inquired, giving her a suspicious look as he sat down in an empty chair. "You're actually being nice?"

Viper laughed, this time a little more animatedly, "I'm not that high, Rabbit. I can actually feel the pain in my head. Thank god there are alternatives to morphine though…."

"How are you doing otherwise?" Rabbit asked.

"Oh, I'm just great," Viper put as much sarcasm into her weak voice as she could manage. "I'm laid up in a hospital by some psycho who was hell-bent on screwing me up because I messed with her. Oh yeah, and I'm going to be in here for a minimum of two weeks trying to get my body to function normally again."

"Well, on the bright side," Tyler spoke up at last. "Joe said that once you finish that IV a nurse is going to come in and take you off for a bath so you'll at least feel a little more human."

Viper wrinkled her nose, "Oh, please don't remind me that I was laying in the ICU for a week before being moved up here." She glanced up at the nearly empty IV, begging it to empty quicker with her eyes.

"Sorry to say it's not going to empty any quicker if you keep looking at it like that," Tyler said. Viper gave him a glare and he smirked, "What are you going to do, glare me to death?"

"Ohh, you just wait till I can move my legs again," Viper growled. "No, you know what, you better wait until I can actually chase after you. Then you won't be so smug."

Viper sighed and leaned back on her pillows. She was tired again. She pretty much deduced that any extra expression of emotion drained her. She glanced over at Glenn and saw his eyes half-open and looking at her. He winked at her, rubbed his eyes, and yawned as he sat up.

"Welcome back to reality," Nancy said to her partner.

"Thanks," Glenn stretched and sighed. "Hey, Rabbit. Welcome to you to, but don't think I'm going to let you get away with kissing Viper every day."

Rabbit chuckled, "You were asleep, how the hell did you know?"

"I was dozing," Glenn corrected him. "And I heard every single thing that went on in this room since Viper woke up again. Oh, and Viper?"

"Hmm?" Viper hummed, shimmying up to try and sit up a little more straight. She sighed, giving up at finding a more comfortable position as Glenn walked closer to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He took one of her hands in his and kissed it and then he leaned over and kissed her lips gently.

"I love you," Glenn said. "I don't care how insignificant, flawed, or horrible you think you are, you are perfect to me."

Viper gave him a look, her eyes round. As he watched, her eyes filled with tears. He felt a little guilty; he hadn't meant to make her cry. He knew that the slightest addition to her emotions messed around with her entire body. But he also knew that she wasn't crying out of sadness, but out of happiness, and if he could make her happy, that was all he cared about. He pushed the bed railing down so he could scoot a little closer to her and she put her head down on him.

Being with Glenn, now that was something that was easy for Viper, no matter what was wrong with her. She often felt undeserving of him, but for some reason that was a complete mystery to her, he kept wanting to come back to her and only her. She was completely fine with that, but she wished, especially now that she was in the hospital, that things didn't always have to seem so uneven to her.

It was then that she remembered the necklace. The heart monitor shrieked as Viper felt a sharp jab in her chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, a few of her muscles tensed, but otherwise no one but Glenn would have been able to know that something had happened in the monitor hadn't registered it.

"What's wrong, Viper?" Nancy inquired, her MD instincts jumping up. Glenn was given the fleeting thought about how Nancy really should have been a doctor.

An actress Viper might have been under normal circumstances, but at the moment, she couldn't hide anything, "It's nothing," she said weakly. "I just remembered something. Something stupid for me to be thinking about right now."

She glanced pleadingly up at Glenn, who nodded and laced his fingers together with hers, "Nance, she's fine."

"You sure, Viper?"

Viper nodded, though she was truly far from fine. She felt herself slowly slipping into another sleep as her friends around her talked in low voices. Within moments she was out, but at the same time, she felt safer than she had the last time she had fallen asleep as she had Glenn's arms around her in a familiar gesture.

"You know, the two of them are so…." Rabbit found his voice trailing off as he and Nancy walked through City hospital towards the parking lot.

"Adorable? Heartwarming? Sickening?" Nancy offered, laughing as she spoke.

"A mix of all those things, maybe," Rabbit said with a nod. "There's just something about the two of them when they're together. It's incredible the way they interact with each other. It's like she'll move and he'll move to counteract her move. Or he'll say something and she'll counter it with exactly the right thing."

"Sounds like you're finally warming up to the idea of them being together," Nancy commented. "What's wrong with you?"

Rabbit shrugged, "Viper's been through a lot. She deserves to be happy. And, if Glenn makes her happy, despite what I think or feel, she should have him."

"Wow, aren't you finally singing a new tune," Nancy grinned. She stood on her toes and kissed Rabbit's cheek. "I think we all deserve to finally be happy. But the question is whether it will come sooner or later."

Rabbit smiled, "I can honestly say, I hope it comes sooner."

He kissed Nancy on the lips and wrapped his arm around her waist. They had both had long days, their shifts crazy. They just wanted to go back to one of their apartments and go to sleep.

Three days later, it was a beautiful Saturday morning that Viper had woken up alone in her room. It was a rare occurrence that she actually alone overnight. Glenn had gotten a cot set up in the room so he could stay with her, but the night before, after a small argument, Viper had sent him off to sleep in his own bed, at least for one night. She had woken early, as she often did in the hospital, already been given a bath (something she highly doubted she would ever get used to), and was set up in a wheelchair so she didn't have to stay laying in bed all day.

It felt good to be sitting up, though moving around was a right pain in the neck. Moving required the ability to be able to push the wheels, which Viper could not do very well as she still had little of her strength back. She sat facing her window, through which she could look out on the city. She wished she could go outside, but the doctors weren't willing to let her do that yet.

"So beautiful, isn't it?"

Viper turned around to look over her shoulder. Ben Truehart walked into the room, a tentative smile on his lips, "Can I come in?"

"Please do," Viper nodded. She smiled as she looked him over. He was dressed in a suit, which indicated he was working, despite the fact that it was Saturday, "I've been wondering if you were ever going to come see me."

"I am sorry," Truehart said honestly. "I've had a very busy week tracking down a false lead on Amanda's whereabouts. I can't tell you how sorry I am that she's still not in a cell downtown."

"I know you're looking for her," Viper said in a low voice. Her blue eyes filled with a pain that had been hidden for a few days. She kept that pain hidden from Glenn because she knew that he was stressed enough without knowing that she often thought about Amanda. "That's all I can ask of you."

"Is your boyfriend still mad at me?"

Viper blinked, "Why would Glenn be angry at you?"

Truehart saw the one emotion he wasn't expecting to see when he asked the question. It was pure oblivion. Glenn hadn't told Viper anything that had happened before they'd found her. His heart fell and he wished he wouldn't have opened his big mouth. But now Viper's eyes narrowed on him.

"Truehart," Viper said in as a serious voice as possible. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You'll probably never forgive me," Truehart said. "But I didn't do everything possible to find you. I went home that night and left the case sitting there on my desk until the next morning. I told your friends I wasn't willing to bend the rules for you because I'm up for a promotion. But now that I see you sitting in that wheelchair, barely able to move, I feel… I don't even think there are words to describe how I feel."

Viper inhaled slowly, "Ben, there are two ways I'm seeing this right now. The first is from a professional point of view. You're up for a promotion and were being careful. And I get that. But Ben, you gotta understand that I also see this from a friend's point of view. You think your promotion was more important than getting to me was, and that hurts. I know we've had differences in the past, but we also had a relationship. You could have cost me my life, Truehart. I don't know why the hell you think you have the right to screw with me like that, but you don't. No one does."

"I know, Viper," Truehart said. "And I'm sorry."

Viper kept taking deep breaths, knowing that if she let her emotions take control her heart rate would start spiking and a nurse would come rushing in and confine her back to her bed for the rest of the day. She was happy to have her little freedom from the bed, so she had to stay calm.

"And would you be as sorry if I wouldn't have wound up in here?" Viper asked, her tone cold as ice.

"Viper…."

"Answer my question," Viper said. "It's a really simple one, Truehart."

"Of course I would be," Truehart said.

Viper's eyes narrowed, "It's funny how your lips say one thing, and your eyes say another. Truehart, I thought by now you would know how good my radar for bullshit is. Aren't you the one who told me more than once that I should have become a cop instead of a paramedic because of my instincts? Well, I'll tell you now, Truehart, I'm going to be a paramedic until the day I retire, and now, thanks to you, I am going to do it with ten times as much dedication. I won't leave those depending on me high and dry. Now do me a simple favor: get out. I can't deal with you right now. We'll talk once I'm out of here."

"If that's what you want," Truehart said, inclining his head. He turned from her, dropping something on the bed as he did so, and headed for the door, "I thought you would like to know though that one of my men finally did pick her up about twenty minutes ago and she's waiting for me downtown."

"Good," Viper said with a nod. "Maybe she'll make it to court after all. Good bye, Truehart."

Truehart left the room just as Nancy was walking in, "Ben," She acknowledged him with a cool nod.

"We got her," Truehart said as he passed her. Nancy paused, took one look at Viper, who was gazing out the window. From where she stood, Nancy could tell Viper wasn't taking in anything she was looking at.

"Glad to hear it," Nancy said. She didn't spare Truehart another look as she walked over to Viper. She hugged her friend's shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Viper, are you okay?"

"Hmm?" Viper hummed, turning her head as if she had only just realized Nancy was in the room. "Oh, hi, Nancy. Where's Glenn?"

"He's still at home," Nancy responded. "He's having a bad morning."

"Join the club," Viper sighed. "Man, I had really been hoping that he'd be here early. What's going on with his morning?"

"Stupid things," Nancy said. "He said to tell you he'll be in as soon as he can be."

"I think I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of the century," Viper said. Her emotions, so close to the surface lately, were threatening her again, her eyes stinging horribly with tears.

"No ya don't," Nancy shook her head. "This is the first time you've been in a wheelchair that you've been able to go around the hospital, and I'm taking you around."

"Please don't," Viper pleaded. "There's so much going on in my head right now. I feel like I'm being overloaded…."

"Then a walk around the hospital will be good for you," Nancy said, walking over to Viper's bed. She looked long and hard at the small baggie Truehart had dropped on the bed. After a moment, she registered what she was looking at and she gasped. "Glenn's necklace!"

"What?" Viper's eyebrows contracted. "What about the necklace? Nance, are you trying to make me feel worse? I know that bitch took it…."

"No," Nancy shook her head. Her hand shook as she held up the baggie, "It's right here."

Viper felt the painful jolt in her heart once again as she saw the necklace. She gasped and tears filled her eyes. She had never been so happy to see a simple piece of jewelry. But it was the necklace, looking exactly as it had the day Glenn had given it to her as a sign of his love for her. Before they had even imagined that they would be spending a good amount of their time in the hospital within a week.

"I can't believe it," Viper whispered as Nancy held the baggie out for her and she took it. She took the necklace out and held it in her own shaking hands. She kissed the necklace before holding it out to glint in the light. "It's so beautiful."

"Let me put it on you," Nancy said. "And then I'm taking you for a walk."

Viper let the necklace slip through her fingers so that Nancy could take it and fasten it around her neck, where it fell comfortably to her collarbone. Viper got chills when she felt the cold white gold against her neck, back where it belonged.

Viper groaned as Nancy unlocked the wheelchair's brakes and turned her around, "Nance, where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere you can get some sun," Nancy responded. "You're turning into a vampire, I swear."

"Excuse me, I was just sitting looking out at the sun," Viper grumbled. "Nancy, why can't you just let me sleep?"

"Because I'm evil that way," Nancy smirked. "Look, if you want to go in five minutes, we'll go. At least give me that long."

"Fine," Viper rolled her eyes. "Five minutes, and that's it."

Viper rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was grouchy and she knew it. There was only one person she wanted to see, and apparently that person was having a bad day as well.

"So, how are you feeling?" Nancy asked as they walked down the long hallway to the sunroom.

"Do you really want to know?" Viper grumbled. She sighed, "I'm sorry Nance, I shouldn't be taking my annoyance out on you."

"By all means, please do," Nancy said. "You've been way too quiet these last few days…."

"Can you blame me?" Viper rolled her eyes. "What is there for me to say? I'm laid up, that stupid woman was finally caught, I feel like I'm a cripple, and…."

Her voice trailed off as Nancy backed her into the sunroom. The room was empty except for Glenn and several dozen different bouquets of flowers, making the room an explosion of light and vibrant colors. Viper's eyes widened and her breath caught in her chest.

"Now, Viper, you need to breathe," Nancy whispered in her ear. "Good luck."

"What!" Viper squealed out, her heart pounding against her chest again as Nancy locked the brakes. "Nancy, what the hell?!"

Nancy smirked as she walked out of the sunroom leaving Viper alone with Glenn. Viper was honestly lost as Glenn walked over to her and kissed her passionately. She felt her entire body melt into the familiarity of the kiss, her body telling her it had been too long since he had kissed her like that. Her mind filled with a familiar warm buzzing as their kiss drew on. She sighed when they separated, feeling extremely light-headed.

"Glenn," Viper said in a low voice, burying her face in the crook of Glenn's neck as he knelt down in front of her and tears filled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that week. "Please… don't do what you're about to do. Not here… Not while I'm stuck like this."

"Hey," Glenn said, putting a strong hand on her shoulder and pushing her back gently so he could look into her eyes. "Viper, you can't be crying before I ask you."

"Glenn, why?" Viper couldn't help her tears as she looked into his blue eyes. "Why now? I'm stuck in this hellish hospital, wearing my rattiest pajamas, looking like a nightmare, and weak as a newborn kitten. I love you with all my heart and soul, but this is just insane…."

"Why now?" Glenn repeated. "I'll tell you why. Because now we don't have anything between the two of us. All your walls are down, and you might think you look ratty and weak and all that other B.S., but to me, you're just as perfect as always. You know I've never cared about how you've looked. Not that I mind the fact that you're beautiful as hell regardless of what you have on. I couldn't care less about the person you normally are on the outside, but right now, you're exactly the same person on the outside as you are on the inside. That is exactly why I'm asking you now, after all the hell you've been through and all the time we've spent together in the hospital the last weeks, both while you've been awake and unconscious. Viper Adams, will you marry me?"

END.

AN: Cliffhanger ending. How AWESOME?! This, of course, means that there is going to be a sequel. Sadly, I'm going to be busy with school for the next few weeks (After all, I am finishing my first semester in college) so I'm going to let this story stew for a few weeks while I finish the semester (and hopefully it gets some more reviews, lol.) But I will work on the sequel in my spare time. I expect it to go up some time in early January (When we'll all be begging for a Trauma fix) Feel free to message me, poke me, do whatever in the meantime, and I'll see y'all in a few weeks!

Pace a voi!

Ironheartwriter