One minute I was sure I had died, next thing I know I'm waking up in a hospital bed. My sides are in excruciating pain, perhaps from the double kidney surgery, and none of the Hawkins' are here. The only one to greet me when I awoke was Richie. That would have been the case if he hadn't fallen asleep in the chair, "Richie, Richie…" I say trying to get his attention, but to no avail. "Wake up you idiot!" This gets his attention causing him to fall out of the chair.

"I'm up, I'm up!" he exclaims.

I have no patience for this, "Good, now tell me why you're here."

"Isn't it obvious?" he asks. "I came to see how you were doing; it must have been hard having to keep kidney failure a secret from Mr. Hawkins. And—"

"I don't have time to play games with you, now tell me what you're actually doing here. If you were that concerned you would have brought everyone, so I assume this has to do with something else." I say.

Richie sighs and sits at the edge of my bed, "Okay, you're right. But I wasn't lying when I said I was worried. When Static and I found you in that warehouse nearly dead, we couldn't rush you to a hospital fast enough. Once you were admitted, Virgil seemed nonchalant about the whole situation. Me, on the other hand, I couldn't leave your side until I knew you were going to be alright."

"I really appreciate that Richie," I say. "But you know I marry Virgil in the future—"

"So you would marry a guy who doesn't give two shits about you?" asks Richie. "Have you ever even kissed Virgil? Look Will, Virgil doesn't care about you and he'll never love you like I can. I never thought you were the kind of girl who let 'the future' dictate your life. But Hell, the Flash cares about you more than Virgil. Get it?"

I start tearing up, "But he was so protective of me in the beginning…"

Richie pulls me in his arms, "I will always love you."

And with those five words I came to realize, my future isn't set in stone, ant that's for no one to know and for us to find out together.