22- Begin again

It's 3.35am when the phone rings.


Taylor's eyes open immediately, sleep not being her best friend these days anyway. She looks to her side, where her phone is laying on her bedside table. The screen lights up, saying it's an unknown number. 

Taylor knows it's the hospital who's calling, and that they would only call in two cases. One good and one bad.


She sits up and grabs her phone, which is still ringing. She takes a deep breath and answers the call. "Hello, It's Taylor."



"Hello, this is the LA hospital, Mandy speaking." The woman on the other side of the line says neutrally. "Am I speaking to Taylor Swift, first contact of Miss Kloss?" The woman asks officially.



"Yes.." Taylor says, her hands sweaty and her heart rate picking up. "Yes, that's me." She repeats. "What is going on? Is everything okay? Did something happen?" 

It seems like an entire century passed before the woman replies. "Yes ma'am, I'm calling you to inform you that.. miss Kloss.."



"Woke up."

Taylor's breathing stops as her eyes widen and her phone almost drops out of her hands. She stares off into the darkness and breathes heavily. 'She woke up..'

"Ma'am?" The woman says. "Ma'am, are you still there?" 

Taylor shakes her head rapidly. 

"Y-yes." She says. "How is she?" 



"She is still very confused and the doctors think that her brain might have been damaged." The woman says. "You can come over now though."

"Oh my god." Taylor says. "Oh my god, yes I will." She jumps up from her bed, bumping her toe on the bedside table as she does so. "I am on my way!" She shouts at the lady as she hangs up the phone and runs out of her room after turning on all the lights.



"SELENA!" She screams, entering one of the guest bedrooms. "SELENA!"

The dark haired girl shoots up in bed and looks at Taylor with two wide, scared eyes. 

"What?!" She asks, shocked all the sudden sounds. 

"SHE WOKE UP!" Taylor screams as she jumps on Selena's bed. "We have to go, now!" 



"She.. woke.. huh, what?" Selena mumbled, looking at the blonde dumbfounded. "WAIT, SHE WHAT?!" 



"She woke up Selena! She finally woke up!" Taylor shouts, running out of Selena's room and towards her closet. A few minutes later both women are sat in one of Taylor's SUV's, being driven to the hospital by one of Taylor's guards.


"Did they tell you how she is?" Selena asks as they almost arrive at the hospital. 



"The woman said she's very confused still." Taylor says, staring at the hospital entrance eagerly. "And that she might have brain damage."


"Oh." Selena says. "Tay, maybe she.. is very forgetful then and-" 



"I know." Taylor says, opening the car's door. "I know, Sel."

The two women enter the hospital and immediately walk over to the IC unit, where Karlie had been sleeping the past month. When they walk over to room 11, where Taylor has visited her girlfriend for all that time. They pass the corner and walk into the room, which is to Taylor's and Selena's surprise very empty. The worst thought skips through Taylor's mind. "Wha-"



"Miss Kloss has been moved to the rest ward." A voice says. Taylor turns around and sees it's one of the now familiar nurses. She breathes out in relief. "Thank god.." She whispers. 



"Thanks." Selena says to the nurse, as Taylor is already making her way to the other ward, where she had stayed as well. 

"Room four!" The woman shouts behind the two women. Selena runs after Taylor, who is already standing in one of the lifts. The two best friends stay quiet all the way up to floor five. When the doors open, Taylor practically flies through them, searching for the room her girlfriend would be laying in.

"Miss, no running please!" One of the nurses on the ward shouts at Taylor. To which Selena apologetically turns around and mouths a 'sorry' to her. 

Taylor has finally arrived at room number four. "Are you sure you're ready Ta-" Selena starts, having to catch her breath while standing next to the blonde. 



"Yes Selena. I am." Taylor says, taking a deep breath before turning the doorknob around and entering the old smelling room. 

Karlie lays in bed, her eyes closed, breathing peacefully. Taylor carefully approaches her, just like she has done for the past month. 

"Hi Karls." She whispers softly, hoping that her girlfriend would finally open her eyes so that she could look at her green orbs once again. Karlie was tube-free for as much as Taylor could see. The tubes in her mouth and nose were removed. She did still have an IV-line in her wrist, which provided her of medication and fluids. "It's me." Taylor softly speaks up as Selena sits down on a chair in the back of the room, laying her winter-coat next to her, which Taylor is still wearing.


Karlie's face slightly moves, her eyebrow twitches a tiny bit before a slightly louder breath comes out of her mouth. Taylor stops her movements and watches as how girlfriend seemingly wakes up. "Karls, you can open your eyes." She says softly. "It's okay, It's me."

Taylor grabs her girlfriend's left hand, she's standing on the left side since she doesn't want to hurt her broken fingers on the other hand. Karlie's eyelids move slowly and after a few minutes and a few more deep breaths, her eyes start to open. 

Taylor feels a couple of tears roll down her cheek as she sees Karlie's familiar green eyes for the first time in more than a month, if you count seeing them on her laptop screen of course. Karlie's eyes are fully opened now as she looks through the room. Taylor remembers how bright the room was when she woke up a month ago and so she let's her girlfriend adjust a little. 

"Karlie.." She whispers. "It's okay, you're safe."


Taylor watches how the green eyed woman slowly turns her face towards her, her eyes half open. The burning wound on her right cheek has almost completely vanished due to the good caring all the nurses did and her left eye was completely back to normal as well. The last time Taylor had spoken to doctor Yadeval, which was two days ago, he had said that her gunshot wounds were only little scars now and that the stabbing wound was the only one that needed a little care still. And of course two finger's on her right hand were still broken.

Taylor looks into Karlie's green eyes, the room silent. "T.. T.. T-Tay.." Karlie mumbles, staring into Taylor's blue eyes before scanning the blonde's face.



"Yes baby, it's me." Taylor says, leaning forward to kiss Karlie's hand softly. "You're okay, you're in the hospital."

Karlie looks across the room, where Selena is sitting, staring at the two. "Selena brought me here." Taylor speaks up, seeing the confusion on her girlfriend's face. "She took care of me. I only got out of the hospital last week myself." She explains.

 

Karlie looks back at her. "T.. T.. T.." She stutters and then looks around in panic, her eyes widened. "T.. T.. T.. T.." Her breathing fastens and so does her heartbeat, making the monitor beep faster and faster.


"Shhh, Karlie babe.. It's going to be okay.." Taylor whispers, holding her girlfriend's hand as she talks to her. "The doctor's say the incidents might have caused you brain damage." She explains to her girlfriend, who is trying to sit up now. 

"No, no, no.. Karls.. don't sit up yet. You have to rest still.." The blonde singer stands up, trying to keep her girlfriend from sitting up. 



"T.. T.. T.. T-Tay.." The green eyed girl manages to stutter, her eyes wide and her body trying to sit up, pushing against Taylor's arms. 



"I'm here Karlie." Taylor says. "You need to lay down." 



"Ill get a nurse." Selena says shortly, leaving the room after. Not long after that, two nurses come running back into the room. Taylor is still trying to get her girlfriend to lay down, who is still making loud noises and trying to get out of the bed. 

"I'm sorry ma'am were going to have to inject some calming medicine into her system." One of the nurses says to Taylor. 



"No wait," Taylor tries, already crying again. "She's just trying to tell me something. She's scared, give her some time." 



Karlie's heart rate is beeping really fast as she tries climbing out of the bed. "Sorry ma'am, you're going to have to leave the room." The other nurse says, pushing Karlie back onto the bed. "Her heart rate is too high and her oxygen too low." 



Selena steps forward and pulls Taylor back. The singer is fighting to go back to her girlfriend. Her blue eyes stare into Karlie's scared green ones before the curtains around the bed are closed, stopping their eye contact. 



"She'll be okay, Taylor." Selena says to her blonde best friend, who she is sitting down in a chair while she speaks. The blonde singer is breathing heavily. "She just needs to calm down." Selena says.



"She just wanted to say something to me." Taylor spits, looking at her best friend with angry eyes. "She was scared, Sel."

"I know.." Selena sighs, sitting down next to her as they both hear Karlie's heart rate slowly calm down. Not much later the two nurses appear from behind the curtains, opening them again.

 

"She has to sleep for at least three more hours before she wakes up again." One of the nurses says, smiling a small smile at Taylor, who looks at her girlfriend. 

Selena replies, when the famous blonde doesn't. "Yes, thank you." She says before the two nurses leave the room.

The two friends sit in silence for a while before Taylor eventually speaks up. "Sorry I spat at you." She says, looking to her side, where Selena's brown eyes are looking at her.


"It's okay." The brown haired woman says. "I understand that it's all scary."


Taylor nods. "I can't lose her again." She says softly, tears threatening to fall again as she speaks.

"I know." Selena says, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. They sit in silence again for a while, both watching how Karlie peacefully sleeps. "You can go home, Sel." Taylor says then. "I'll stay here for a while still but you can come back later or something?" Taylor offers. 



Selena nods, putting on her coat then, which Taylor is getting out of at the same time. "Ill see you in a few hours, yeah?" Selena says, smiling at her friend before slowly walking out of the room.


————————————————————————————————————————

Three hours had passed and Taylor had set an alarm, since she had fallen asleep for about 20 minutes, like she knew she would. It was now 7.30am and the sun was slowly rising. 

The famous singer watched how Los Angeles slowly came alive through the window and then looked back at her girlfriend. She knows she can now wake her up again and even though she's scared to, slowly walks over to the side of the bed. She leans downward slowly and kisses Karlie's head. "Karlie.." She whispers. "Wake up baby."


Karlie lets out a loud breath and Taylor steps back a little bit as she watches her girlfriend's eyes slowly but surely open again. She hopes her Karlie would be a little calmer than before so that they wouldn't have to put her down again. 

"It's okay. It's me, Taylor." She whispers, Karlie looking into her eyes now. "I'm here."



Karlie's eyebrows raise up a few millimetres and het eyes stare at Taylor's face. "T.. T.. T.." She stutters again, panic taking over her face once more. 



"No, no.. wait listen Karls.." Taylor says, not wanting her girlfriend to start panicking again. "You have to try to stay calm baby, otherwise they'll have to put you to sleep again."

Karlie's eyes widen a little at first, but not much later, the woman seems to relax a tiny bit as her girlfriend holds er hand. "I.. I.. I.." She tries, not coming any further than just one letter. "I.. I.." 



"You're awake." Taylor fills her in. "Finally." She adds, smiling while kissing Karlie's hand. She sits down next to the bed and sees her girlfriend is nodding at her, looking at her with questioning eyes. "Should I tell you what happened?" Taylor asks, glad Karlie isn't panicking as much as before. The green eyed woman nods once more, asking for Taylor to explain.



"Well.." Taylor sighs, figuring out in her head, where she should begin. "You've been in a coma for about a month." 

Karlie's eyes widen and her eyebrows shoot up. "I.. I.. I.." 



"Wait love, Ill tell you the rest." Taylor says, leaning forward to kiss Karlie's forehead. "You were kidnapped by a psychopath, you were rescued and an explosion took place, which practically blew up a whole house."


Karlie looks into the blonde's eyes, wanting her to continue speaking. Taylor explains the whole thing. Karlie's kidnapping, her injuries, the dates and times. And Karlie listens, staring into Taylor's eyes. 

"Thank god you're okay.." Taylor says softly, tears making their way down her face. "And that you still remember me.." She adds. "God, I was so scared your brain damage would've wiped everything away." 



"I.. I.. I.." Karlie tries again, unsuccessful at speaking. 

This is when a knock on the door sounds. "Yeah?" Taylor says before doctor Yadeval steps into the room. "Oh, hi." Taylor says.


"Good morning." The doctor says, smiling at the two women. "It's great to see you've woken up, miss Kloss. That's some great news to start my work-day with."


Taylor smiles at the doctor and Karlie stares at him blankly, seemingly still confused by everything. "D.. D.. I.." She tries again, unsuccesfully."



The doctor turns serious then, his smile faltering. "Trouble with speaking?" He asks, to which Karlie slowly nods. 



"Probably one of the side effects from waking up after a month, right?" Taylor asks the doctor, as the man walks over to the side of the bed. The doctor grabs a small light and shines it into Karlie's eyes. He then lifts up her arms and drops them to see if she can hold them up. 



"Can you try to speak, miss Kloss?" He asks, ignoring Taylor's question momentarily.

 

"O.. O.. O.. O.." Karlie tries, sighing angrily after it didn't work.



"The vocabulary part of your brain must have been damaged.." He says, putting his light back into his coat pocket. "We'll have to do a set of scans today to see how bad it is."

"How is her forgetfulness?" He asks Taylor, who's panic is rising in her chest. 

"She.. seems fine with.. that." Taylor replies. "I didn't notice her forgetting anything yet."


Doctor Yadeval nods and turns back to his patient. "Miss Kloss, do you remember how this happened?" He asks.



"Y.. ye.. Y.." Karlie nods. 



"Okay, well ill plan a few scans for you in a few hours. Miss Swift, the nurses and you can keep an eye on the memory loss the best I think. She seems okay with that though." The doctor says. "I will see you both later."

"T-thanks." Taylor stutters, not having expected the vocabulary loss could be an unusual thing for someone that has been asleep for more than a month. 

She feels Karlie squeeze her hand. "It.. it will probably be better later, babe.." The blonde tries to assure her girlfriend, who looks at her worriedly.

—————————————————————————————————————————

The day had passed remotely quick, with Karlie having all these scans planned. She had a full body scan and a head-CT. Also, the nurses had come to change the bandages on her stomach, where the stab wound is. They also took a tube out of Karlie's stomach. She now only had an IV hanging next to her bed, giving her fluids and some medicine every now and then.


Taylor had stayed by Karlie's side all day, not losing the girl out of sight ever again. She had also called her parents, who had swung by, meeting the silent green eyed girl. They had left shortly after, wanting to leave their daughter and her girlfriend alone. 


It is now 8pm and Karlie is sitting up straight in her hospital bed. "Karls, what are you doing?" Taylor asks, looking up from her phone.


"U.. U.. U.. P.." She stutters. 



"You wanna get up?" Taylor asks, stuffing her phone back in her pocket.


Karlie nods and for the first time, smiles a small smile at her girlfriend. "See, we can work this whole verbal thing out." Taylor smiles while getting up and helping her girlfriend sit up. She sits down next to Karlie in bed, both sitting on the edge. Karlie shortly presses her lips against Taylor's warm cheek, making Taylor's smile grow even bigger.


"I've missed you so much." Taylor says, putting her arms around her girlfriend's petite waist.

Karlie lets out a short breath of pain, since her body is practically painful all over, but then lays her head on Taylor's shoulder.


A short knock sounds on the door again, making both women look up. 

"Sorry for interrupting you once again," Doctor Yadeval says as he steps into the silent hospital room. "But I have news for the two of you."



Taylor sits up straight and holds Karlie against her. "So miss Kloss.. your brain damage is mostly in the verbal area, as we already expected." He starts. "Which is quite remarkable and special, since that only rarely happens."


"Okay, and so?" Taylor asks.

 

"And so that means that miss Kloss, you can learn how to properly speak again." Doctor Yadeval says. "It will take a while, but the verbal section of the brain is very grow-able and with the right help, talk therapy and such, you can talk normally like in a period of about half a year."


Taylor sighs in relief. "Thats great." She says, looking to her side where she sees the green eyed girl is smiling as well, a tear rolling down her face. 

"Are you happy with that news as well, Karls?" Taylor asks her girlfriend. 

Karlie nods and wipes the tears away with her painful, broken, right hand while keeping herself seated with her left one. 

"Thank you doctor." Taylor says. The doctor shortly smiles and nods before leaving the room.

The two women lay down in bed next to one another, Taylor careful not to hurt her fragile looking girlfriend in the process. She lets Karlie lay her head down on her chest as they lay in silence, Taylor's arms around Karlie. After a while Karlie starts slowly thumping her finger against Taylor's chest at the rhythm of her heartbeat, making the blonde singer giggle.

Not long after, Karlie points to the drawer next to her bed. Taylor sits up, opens it and grabs a small notebook and a pen that is in it. "Here." She says, smiling at her girlfriend.


Karlie tries writing something down with her left hand, even though she's right handed, but since that one is broken, she is forced to write with her left hand. It takes her a while but she hands it over to her blue eyed girlfriend not much later. 

'

I love you.' It says.

Taylor smiles, laying down next to Karlie again and hugging her from the side, yet again careful not to hurt her. "I love you too." She softly says while looking into Karlie's green eyes. The two stare into one another's eyes for what seems like ages before Taylor slowly leans forward to softly press her lips onto Karlie's. It's a their first kiss in months. It's slow, passionate and loving all at the same time and for the first time in very long, Taylor feels genuinely happy.

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A/N

See? Positive things guys! 

Thanks for all the reactions and such, you guys are great! New updates on either 'We Run' or 'Potions' every Friday night from now on. (Okayokay, sometimes on Saturdays if I really didn't make my upload time) :)

Have a great evening/day/night!

X