(Untitled)

[be_normal]

The pain's not lessening any, nor becoming any easier to manage as far as Gwen can tell. Sleep's still the order of the day, but while her bouts of consciousness are short, she's much more coherent today than the day before. Speaking's easier because she's learned what causes more pain and what doesn't. Sometimes Peter is there when she comes to

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[sortofaman]

After discussing the drawbacks of being KFC, the Doctor had realised that he had nothing for Gwen, who had nearly died. You got things for people who had nearly died.

Ducking outside, he picked some lilies and got a glass from the kitchen to put them in, then came back into the clinic, wincing a little. "Hullo," he said softly, setting them on the table by her bedside.

[be_normal]

Why she's surprised to see him, Gwen doesn't know. Perhaps because he's a leader type, and she expects him to be out leading, or perhaps just because of the often dubious nature of their relationship. She's not in shock, she just hadn't expected him... but that's sort of their thing, isn't it?

With flowers, no less.

"Hi," she whispers roughly, her gaze shifting from his face to the lilies and back again. "Thank you." Her lips purse slightly as she fights the urge to cry. She's been told not to cry. Her eyes well anyway.

[sortofaman]

But he'd come, been, and gone, with the leading. Been taken down a notch or two. He didn't let her see the way he wasn't breathing too hard, not that she would notice. "How are you?" he asks softly, finding a tissue nearby and wiping her eyes. "Did you want a drink of water?"

[be_normal]

"Lot of pain," answers Gwen, her eyes instinctively closing as he wipes the tears away. It makes her want to cry again, but she masters the impulse. "If it's not too much trouble," she quietly replies of the water, her eyes opening again.

[sortofaman]

"I wish I could do more to help," he said quietly, and got the water for her, putting the straw into her mouth. But he didn't even know where the Vicodin was anymore. Bloody Wilson.

[be_normal]

The hand on her good arm lifts to press briefly against his over the cup as she takes a few slow sips. "I know," she says once she's done and has moved the straw. She supposes she should be glad she can at least move the one arm, but it's a bit like being underwater and rather frustrating.

A faint smile curls her mouth. "You brought flowers."

[sortofaman]

He gently squeezed her hand, careful. "I did. Thought you might something else to look at, smell, than clinic. I had a really...hard time in hospital once." Carefully, he set the water back.

[be_normal]

Gwen's gaze slips back to the lilies, and she's silent for a very long moment, seeming to meditate on the flowers. "I need to tell you something," she whispers without looking back to him. "And you not freak out." He's far too smart to not know what she's driving at, to not know what's coming, but she's almost died, technically still could, and while death may not be of any major consequence to him, it's been rather monumental for her.

[sortofaman]

Admittedly, danger was becoming more and more apparent to him each day. And they were all going to die, in time. So he just waited. "Okay," he said.

[be_normal]

"I just-" Gwen begins, and then has to stop, her expression crumpling a bit as she tries to fight off a fresh wave of tears. "I just want you to know that- that- you're important to me, and-" She swallows hard. "And I love you. I don't-" Her fingers lift to wipe at her eyes as she forces herself to breathe. "I don't want to die and you not know that."

He doesn't have to say anything, and she doesn't expect him to. It was simply something she needed to say, needed him to hear, even if it makes him uncomfortable or makes him want to run, although she doesn't mean it at all romantically.

[sortofaman]

But he could tell that, from the way she said it. That it wasn't romantic. He couldn't say it back, but that...he could tell also that that wasn't the point. "Yeah," he said, getting a fresh tissue and wiping. "I understand." It was a bit awkward, but he didn't run. "You're not going to die. Not anymore. Rob and Tosh are good at their jobs."

[be_normal]

"You don't know that," Gwen quietly replies, looking away as he wipes her face again. What she's not adding is that something could happen to him, to any of them, anytime. Maybe this isn't exactly a new lease on life for her, but it's clarified quite a lot already.

[sortofaman]

"Well, we all are going to die," he said quietly. "In time." He tossed out the tissues and settled into the chair conveniently next to her bed. "But it was good that you told me."

[be_normal]

That's reassuring, if only a little, and Gwen manages to look over to him again. "Are you okay?" she asks, hating herself a little for not having asked immediately. "Did you go out?" Of course he had, but she asks anyway.

[sortofaman]

"Just got scratched. I've been stitched up, don't worry about it," he replied, giving her a bit of a smile. "I led a team out, yeah. We rode some dinos, it was brilliant."

[be_normal]

Telling Gwen not to worry is an exercise in futility, but then, he probably knows that well enough by now. "Rode them?" she replies, her eyes rounding just a bit.