Chapter 60: Reunions

I wake up a couple of hours later and know I'm about to be sick. I reach over to the table and grab one of those throw up bag that hospitals and planes have and violently vomit the food I ate earlier into the bag. Spencer woke up when I started flailing, looking for the bags, because I was looking for something to throw up in. At first he was panicked until he realized I was going to be sick. Then, he went to hold my hair and rub my back, like a good fiancé. I don't even care how disgusting I look right now, I'm just focused on how much the incision from my surgery, my broken ribs, and collapsed lung all hurt as I heave the McDonald's up. Spencer presses the button to call a nurse as I cry in pain and throw up. He doesn't know what to do, but he's trying to help. The nurse comes in and walks up to me and inspects me. She quickly asks me "do you usually react to anesthesia this way?" I shrug my shoulders because that's all I have the energy for at the moment and Spencer answers for me "she's only ever had anesthesia when she had her wisdom teeth out, I think." The nurse nods and says "I'll get some anti nausea meds put in your IV ASAP, hang in there." I nod as she leaves, coughing as I try to regain some semblance of composure. At some point in all the chaos, Spencer had readjusted the hospital bed up, so I leaned back against the bed and just tried to breathe. Spencer asks me "did you get sick after getting your wisdom teeth removed?" I nod "I think so. I was 17, so I might not remember it very well. I remember getting sick the first night and thinking I had probably just swallowed so much blood from the procedure that it upset my stomach." Spencer nods "I bet it was mostly because of the anesthesia. We need to remember this in the future to ask for anti nausea medicine ahead of time." I nod "that would probably be a good idea." I close my eyes for a second and the next thing I know, the nurse is coming back in with medication. She scans the medicine and scans my ID bracelet to ensure she's giving the right medication to the right patient. She then puts the medication in my IV and I almost instantly start to feel better. I don't know if it's a placebo effect or not, but I'll take it. The nurse looks between us and says "if anybody asks, I told y'all he couldn't sleep in bed with you." I smile weakly and nod. After the nurse leaves, Spencer kisses me on the forehead and tells me "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Can I get you anything?" I shake my head and give him a half smile as he gets up and goes to the bathroom. He comes back almost immediately. He hands me a cup of water and says "swish this around your mouth and spit it into the dry cup so the acid from your throw up doesn't break down the enamel on your teeth." I nod and do as he asks. I give him a sarcastic smile after the fact and say "so romantic, Spence." He gives me a weak smile and then goes back to the bathroom to freshen up. Again, I close my eyes for what feels like a second and he comes back out in what feels like 10 seconds. I check the clock, though, and it's actually been 15 minutes. He gives me a smile as he walks towards me "do you want to freshen up or do you want to go back to sleep?" I groan and tell him "sleep." Spencer nods "okay, let's get back to sleep. I bet the anti nausea medicine is probably making you drowsy, too." I hum and nod "sounds right." He chuckles and climbs back in the bed, pulling me closer to him "let's go back to sleep, baby, get some rest." I can't even respond before my eyes are fluttering shut as I feel the scent of Spencer - the scent of his shampoo and cologne all mixing together to make him smell like serenity and books - enveloping me in a bubble of safety and lulling me to sleep.

•••••

I wake up a few hours later and feel much better. Spencer is asleep behind me, he's gently holding me lower on my stomach than he normally does. I think it's because he doesn't want to hurt my incision or any of my other ailments among my myriad of injuries. I have to use the restroom, so I gently remove his hand and try not to wake him before slowly moving to get up. I get both feet on the floor and take a deep breath before trying to stand up while holding onto the IV pole. I stand up and my entire abdomen feels like it's on fire. Spencer and the nurse helped me to the bathroom last time and it wasn't near as bad, but maybe the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet or something. I decide I can do it myself without waking up Spencer or calling a nurse. I mean it's just going to the bathroom, I'm a grown woman and should be able to do it myself. I stand from the bed, leaning one hand on the mattress while the other has a death grip on the railing of the bed. I try to stand and it hurts so bad that I cry out. Spencer immediately wakes up and jumps up to help me. He asks me "hey what's wrong?" I sniffle and say "I just had to pee. I thought I could go by myself." Spencer looks down before looking back up and saying "baby, you're going to have to take it easy for these next few days. Your body has been through a lot, so it might not be able to bounce back to like it was." I look down and say "I thought I could at least walk across the room by myself." Spencer hums and says "I bet you can in a day or two, those wounds are just really fresh and localized to one area, so it's going to be a bit painful for now." I nod and sit silently for a second. I look at Spencer and ask "can you help me walk to the bathroom?" He nods with a tight lipped smile and stands to help me. He positions me so I'm leaning into his left side. He holds me to him by my left hip while lifting up some of my weight. Spencer may be skinny, but he's actually really strong. We walk there together, slowly but surely. It still hurts pretty bad, but not as much as when I tried to go by myself. I stand in the bathroom, leaning against the sink and look at Spencer, waiting for him to leave. He stares back at me and, I assume, waits for me to use the bathroom. I look at him and say "um can I have some privacy please?" Spencer looks surprised at my question and just says "oh uh...yeah okay." He looks hurt and for some reason that just makes me mad. I tell Spencer "the last few times I've been naked or even half naked it's been a show for multiple people to see and I would like, for the first time in a while, to be alone. Private." Spencer looks shocked and I look away as I tear up and say with a choked voice "I've been beaten and cut into and poked and prodded nonstop for almost two days now. Just let me have a moment alone to use the bathroom. Please." Spencer doesn't say anything, he just nods and leaves, slowly shutting the door behind him. I slowly drop my underwear and pajama pants and sit down to pee, I cry out in pain a little as I fold my body to sit down on the toilet. While I'm sitting there, every repressed emotion from the last day hits me. I'm angry, sad, scared, and relieved all at once. I hug myself, wrapping my arms around my chest. I try not to cry, but it just hits me all at once. I'm so tired. I just want everything to be like how it was in New York. That was the last time things were normal, before I was abducted, before Emily died. What did I do to deserve all of this? I don't know how long I've been sitting here, but once I finally feel some semblance of normal, I grab onto the rail by the toilet and use it to stand. I use my IV pole to make it the last few steps to the sink. I wash my hands on autopilot until I look in the mirror for the first time since I came to the hospital. There's a dark bruise around my neck with purple and yellow discolorations. There's a cut on my forehead that's slowly closing up with the butterfly bandaids and I have a black eye with yellow and purple discolorations around that as well. My hair is disgustingly greasy and frizzy. I just look beaten and haggard. I feel so distraught, I feel like, in a way, I've hit rock bottom. I had no choice in any of this, but it still feels like it was all my fault. After my disassociation period has ended, I grip the rails and move to the door, opening it myself. Spencer is standing outside the door, waiting on me. He looks scared and I immediately feel bad. I tear up and tell him "I'm so sorry, Spence. You didn't deserve me snapping at you." Spencer wraps me in his arms as he shakes his head. He responds "you have nothing to be sorry about. I was crowding you. You deserve more space than I've been giving you." I shake my head "I don't want space, I just don't want to feel..like a bug under a glass, I guess? I know I'm here so they can help me get better, but I'm so tired of the poking and prodding and I hate all of these people seeing so much of me. You were the first person to see me naked besides my parents when I was young and I guess besides Harrison. And probably my gynecologist. Now pretty much the entire team has seen me naked and so many healthcare professionals. I just feel exposed and I want to feel safe." Spencer nods "I know how insecure you can be, and I know that no amount of me reassuring you that you are absolutely drop dead gorgeous will convince you. You have to see it for yourself." I sniffle "how can I be absolutely drop dead gorgeous with a black eye and a chest tube, Spence?" He gives me a soft smile and says "you look like a bad ass absolutely drop dead gorgeous woman." I feel my cheeks turn pink as I avert my gaze from his. Normally he wouldn't let me out of this, but he doesn't need me to worry about this right now. He tells me "why don't we get you back in bed, maybe later we can get you to walk around the hallway if you feel up to it?" I nod, leaning into him and letting him help me back to bed. I thought I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, but I'm out like a light as soon as Spencer cozies up to me under the covers.

•••••

I wake up to somebody turning on the lights. One of my nurses is here, I think her name is Priya and she's absolutely gorgeous. She speaks with a middle eastern accent and she's a head shorter than I am, probably two heads shorter than Spencer. She comes in and smiles "Miss Winters, it's time to get your vitals and take your meds." I nod and sit up, giving her my right arm for her to do my blood pressure. She takes my vital signs, all are within normal limits, before adding the majority of my meds to my IV. I have a couple of pills to take, I think one is an antibiotic for the wounds so they won't get infected. She gives me a soft smile and says "would you like to take a shower today?" I look over at sleeping Spencer and then back at Priya and give her a small smile, nodding my affirmation. She tells me "we've bent a lot of rules regarding your stay here because of your law enforcement connections, but he can't help you shower here, only a nurse or CNA can." I nod, understanding the legality of it. I had no idea they were bending rules for me, I mean besides them letting Spencer sleep in the hospital bed with me. I look at her and ask "can you help me so I won't wake him up? He has to be exhausted, too, and he deserves the rest." She gives me a warm smile and nods "sure, let me help you up." I slowly get up from my position in the bed and somehow don't wake Spencer. You'd think he was the one on an IV drip of painkillers based on how hard he's sleeping. That thought makes me worry how he's doing with his addiction while I'm on pain killers for my falling apart body. I'll have to bring it up to him later in a safer space. I probably won't bring pain killers into the house when we go back home because I don't want to tempt him. He's done so well for so long and I know the last thing he wants is a relapse, and he especially doesn't want to lose his job at the bureau. When I snap back to the present, I'm finally standing and it's still painful. Priya helps me briefly disconnect my IV and walk to the bathroom. She asks me "have you moved your soaps and things to the shower?" I tell her "I honestly don't know." She gives me a small smile and turns to look in the shower and finds Spencer has already put my stuff in there for me. God, what did I ever do to deserve him? She helps me get undressed, it's so much easier without the IV being connected to me. However, I know if I stay disconnected too long then the pain will be unbearable at this point in the recovery process. She helps me clean myself in the shower and even helps me feel like a person in this incredibly vulnerable state. It's an amazing feat how humanizing her care is, especially since I'm in a shower chair because I can't stand for very long without support because of how messed up my abdomen is. I might not have needed it, but Priya wasn't chancing it and I don't blame her one bit for that. She helps me wash my hair and honestly that's the best feeling I've had in days. My hair being greasy always makes me feel so gross. We finish up and she helps me get redressed. She asks me "it seems like the vaginal bleeding has decreased, yeah?" I nod "it's not as heavy as it was, but I'm still...I don't know, spotting?" Priya nods "that's normal even in a routine IUD removal. Sometimes, patients will bleed for a month or more following the day of implantation or the day of removal." My jaw drops and she nods in response. I tell her "I might not be getting another one, then." She chuckles "they're the most effective forms of birth control, aside from abstinence or sterilization." I nod "I mean, we don't want kids soon, but our wedding is in a couple of months, so I'm less worried about getting pregnant now than I was when I got the IUD." Priya smiles as she helps me get my t shirt back on "when's the wedding?" I smile and tell her "June 25th." She smiles again, opening the door to the bathroom "that's soon, a little less than two months away." I nod and feel some stress and worry take over me. Priya senses this and asks "hey, where'd you go just now? Your wedding should not make you sad." I tell her "one of our best friends died about a month ago and I was abducted and abused a few days ago. Things are just not what I expected them to be so close to my wedding. I hope I won't have any of this affecting me so much in a couple of months." Priya gives me a sad smile and nods "I'm sorry to hear about your friend. That would bother me too, even without everything else you have on your plate." I nod "we will probably have to demote a groomsman to being an usher because she was supposed to be a bridesmaid and I don't want the wedding party to be unequal." Priya helps me walk out of the bathroom and I see that Spencer is still sound asleep in the hospital bed. She asks me "oh, who will you demote?" I shrug "probably one of my brothers." I hear a scoff from the doorway and turn to see both Cole and George standing there looking at me. My face breaks out in a wide grin and happy tears spring to my eyes. George says "I fly from New York to Tennessee in a storm to see you and you thank me by possibly kicking me out of the wedding party?" Cole looks between the two of us and says "you came from New York? I came from Paris. I crossed an ocean to see her, so she better not be demoting me." I laugh and clutch my side at the pain I feel in my incision from laughing. Spencer stirs and looks between all of us and rubs his eyes before saying "hey, what's going on?" I turn to him "Priya helped me shower and my brothers are here, apparently." Spencer hums and readjusts in the bed "that's good," as he punctuates his statement with a yawn. Priya tells me "let's get you back in bed and hooked up to the IV again and then you can visit to your heart's content. I'll come back around in a few hours and we will go walk around the floor together, yeah? The quicker you get walking, the faster you can go home." I nod "sounds like a plan, thank you Priya." She smiles "you're welcome, Miss Winters." I tell her "oh, no, please call me Annie." She just gives me a smile and a wink before leaving the room. Spencer gives me a kiss to the temple and tells me "I'm going to go down to the cafeteria. I'll get some food for both of us, any requests?" I give him a soft smile and shake my head no. Spencer says hi and bye to my brothers, I think he wants me to have privacy if I want it and I appreciate that. As Spencer leaves the room, my brothers pull chairs up by the bed and let the façade of their humor melt away as they really take in the damage I've endured. They look over my face and neck, I see their fists clench and relax a couple of times in response. They look down at my chest tube that I still have and I can see their jaws clenching in response. I'm thankful I'm wearing comfortable clothes and they can't see the wounds on my back from where I was whipped. I don't know how much they know, so I don't plan to tell them about that or bring it up. George looks at me and finally asks "are they treating you nicely here?" I give him a soft smile and nod, "they've been great. I think it might have something to do with being the fiancée of an FBI agent." They both smile, I think relieved that I still have a sense of humor. Cole asks me "Lise, why didn't you tell me, or tell either of us, about Harrison?" I flinch slightly at the old nickname and tell him "please don't call me that anymore." Cole's face changes as the realization as to why I don't want to be called "Lise" anymore registers. I continue "I was embarrassed, ashamed, I wanted to forget it ever happened. I didn't think anybody would believe me, I didn't want to be seen as damaged goods by any of my friends or classmates, and I didn't want to lose my best friend. Well, the last one happened anyway, but it's the only way the assaults ended when I was so young." They both nod, neither of them really know what to say. I look between them and ask "how much do you guys know?" George laughs awkwardly and says "mom told us everything she knew so you wouldn't have to repeat any of it to us. She knows you don't like talking about it." I nod, sounds just like mom. I tell them "well any questions you have for me speak now or forever hold your peace because mom's right, I don't like talking about it." Cole asks me "mom said he didn't...rape you, is that true?" I nod in response "yes that is true." George speaks up "mom also said he is dead, is that true?" I nod again "yes, that is also true." George says "I always just assumed you kept your relationships a secret from the family. Now I'm thinking you didn't have any because of that asshole." I give him a sad smile "I didn't have any serious relationships until Spencer." Cole asks me "and he...treats you like you should be treated?" I give them a wide smile and nod "he treats me like a queen every day of my life. We have our arguments and rough days like any other couple, but we communicate well. He's very understanding. I talked to him about Harrison before we ever got really serious, and that took me a while. He's a very patient man and I know he loves me." They both smile. George says "well, I'm glad you found a good one and didn't let Harrison ruin that part of your life." I nod "I'm not going to let him win." They smile in return. George then says "well now that that's out of the way, now for the important discussion. Which one of us are you kicking out of the wedding party?" My jaw drops in shock and I laugh nervously. I say quickly "um I'll probably just let Spencer handle that decision." Spencer chimes in from the door "oh hell no, you're not making me make a divisive decision on our wedding. They love you unconditionally, I'm still earning my spot in the family." Cole chuckles and says "to be fair man, you saved our sister. The family, including us, probably love you unconditionally, too." My heart swells with joy at the comment as Spencer walks over to me with two to go boxes of food. He tells me "okay, they had chicken strips or a ham and cheese wrap, you choose." The chicken I threw up this morning is haunting me still, so I pick the wrap and Spencer happily sits down with his chicken strips in the bed next to me. He also got us each a bag of chips, a fruit cup, and some cookies for a light dessert. Spencer also hands me a can of Diet Coke and he opens a water for himself, he's so much healthier than I am. George looks at me and says "I doubt you want to keep talking about what happened, so let's do something else. I brought cards?" I smile and look between my brothers and Spencer. Cole says "what about BS? I know all of Annie's tells." I scoff "it's been like 10 years since we've played this. Did you consider that maybe I've changed?" He chuckles "I doubt it. Spencer, you wanna play?" Spencer sighs and says "I've never been very good at card games, but I can try. If it'll make Annie happy?" My mouth opens slightly in shock, that dirty little liar. I say "yeah it would be fun for all four of us to play." George asks Cole as he shuffles the deck "do we want to bet anything?" Cole shrugs "you and I can, but since Spencer doesn't play a lot and Annie is probably high as a kite, they probably shouldn't bet anything." I scoff "I am not that high." Spencer chimes in "I don't want you guys to take it easy on me. Whatever you guys bet I will, too." What a hustler. My brothers don't need anymore convincing and George starts dealing out the deck. They didn't allow me to bet but they allowed me to play. Spencer was right next to me and his money is my money, so I don't breast my cards very well in the beginning, knowing he will predict the game better with as much knowledge as possible. Cole plays the ace of spades first and then it goes to Spencer. I don't even try to read everybody, I'm just going through the motions and enjoying my seat to the show. Spencer is calling bullshit on them left and right, never having to take the deck himself. He doesn't call it on me even when he knows I'm lying, again because his money is my money. Cole is so flustered he isn't noticing my tells, at least not yet. Spencer wins, shocker, and takes the pot. I didn't bet but they all put in $20, making the pot total $60. I giggle and high five Spencer as he takes the money and puts it in his wallet. He turns to my brothers "no hard feelings, right? I can't help that I learn fast and that my job is all about reading behaviors and knowing statistics." Both of my brothers look shocked but not mad. They chuckle and move to stand. Cole looks at me and says "mom told us we shouldn't stay too long because you would be tired. We will both be in town for a few days and we plan to help you get back on your feet before you go back to DC." George interjects "we saw Ryder at the house. I think he really misses you and knows something is wrong. He looks really sad and anxious a lot now, but he calms down when any of us sit with him, at least." I give them a sad smile and nod "that's good. I miss him so much. Give him my love and say hi to mom and dad for me when you get home." They both smile and nod, waving goodbye. With any other interaction, they probably would've hugged me goodbye, but with all the tubes and wires I have attached to me I don't blame them for not attempting one. After my brothers leave and shut the door, Spencer intertwines his fingers with mine, holding my hand. He gives a light squeeze and asks "how are you feeling?" I shrug "I'm fine, I'm just ready to be done with this recovery process and I'm ready to try to get back to normal." Spencer nods "I understand. Why don't we try to walk around the hallway a bit and see if that helps? The more you move, the faster I think you'll go home." I nod "we can try it." I get up with the help of Spencer and he helps me push the IV pole while helping me to the door. When we walk out, Priya looks up from the nurse's station and smiles while standing. She asks us "you ready to walk now?" I give her a weak smile and nod. She smiles back at me and gets up, retrieving a wheel chair from down the hall. She tells me "I'll walk behind you with this and when you're ready to take a break, you can sit down." I nod and take a deep breath, trying to walk forward with as little help from Spencer as possible. I still have a death grip on his arm so I won't fall down to my death when my muscles give out on me. We walk down the hallway towards the end where there are windows that look out of the hospital and there's a sitting area there. We make it that far and I turn to Priya, gesturing wordlessly to the wheelchair. She gives me a knowing nod and helps me down to a sitting position on the wheelchair seamlessly. I sit there and catch my breath, it suddenly feels like I can't get oxygen into my lungs. Spencer's face twists into an expression of fear while Priya kneels in front of me and nods, gesturing for me to breathe with her. She turns to Spencer and asks "can you get her some ice water please?" He nods and hurries off back to the direction of the nurses' station. She breathes with me and once she feels I've calmed down she tells me "after a pneumothorax, any physical activity can be difficult. It will take some adaptation, but we will get there." I nod and gulp in some air before asking "what was the ice water for?" She smiles mischievously and says "to occupy him so he wouldn't scare you more. He's a good one, but he cares so much he tends to get worked up over you easily." I chuckle and nod. I tell her "stop making me laugh or I won't be able to breathe again." She smiles and laughs a bit as Spencer rushes back with a styrofoam cup of ice water. He looks between us and breathes a sigh of relief when he realizes I'm fine. He hands the ice water to me and I take a sip of it. He asks "everything okay, now?" Priya nods "we are fine, just the physical activity and the initial breathlessness was a bit scary the first time around. It will get better after the tube comes out." I nod and ask her "when will that be?" She gives me a sad expression and says "probably about 5 days." I nod, so much for going home any time soon. It's like Priya can read my mind when she continues "but you can leave the hospital before then to recover at home and then come back to get the tube removed. Your recovery is moving at the expected pace and you are ticking all the right boxes. Hopefully we can try to get you home tomorrow or the next day, but, ultimately, that's up to your doctor." I nod and give her a happier expression at that news. We all move to get back up so I can walk back to my hospital room. I am more exhausted now, but I have a renewed hope for going home soon. I miss Ryder so much and I know he's missing me. At least I have Spencer here with me at all times. We make it back to my room and I slowly get back in the bed while trying to even out my breathing naturally without freaking out about the tightness in my chest. Priya and Spencer help me get adjusted back into the bed and I notice Spencer isn't climbing in with me. He notices my expression and asks "I was going to take a quick shower if you didn't need anything from me right now. I was thinking you may want some time to recuperate after the walk." I nod, he knows me so well. I turn to both of them and say "thank you, both of you, for your help. I couldn't do this without you." Priya nods and tells me "well, I'll be finishing my shift soon and night shift will take over. You'll see me tomorrow, though." She smiles at me as she says it and I always feel a sense of peace pass over me when she takes care of me, I hope night shift will be as good as she is. They both disperse and I'm left alone, clicking through channels on the tv. After a few minutes there's a knock on the door frame. I look up, half expecting it to be Priya saying goodbye before she goes home or literally anybody else, but instead it's a ghost from my past. Standing in the doorway is Megan James. She gives me a sad smile and asks "hey, Anneliese. I was...I was hoping we could...talk?" I nod silently at her, sitting up a bit straighter in the bed. She walks in slowly, hesitantly. We stare at each other for a second before I realize I have yet to speak a word to her. I gulp in attempts to wet my now dry mouth before saying "h-how are you, Meg?" She gives a straight line smile and says "uh, I've been good. Especially for the last few years. You?" I nod "uh, yeah, I've been good...too." We sit in an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before we both try to speak again at the same time. I tell her "I'm sorry, you go first." She clears her throat and nods, looking like she just wants to get the interaction over with for good. She tells me "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm sorry my brother happened to you. I should've done more to try to make sure he didn't hurt anybody else, but after high school I couldn't do it anymore. I left for the west coast and never looked back." I give her a sad smile and nod. I tell her "I understand. I especially understand now why you shunned me all those years ago. It was to protect me, wasn't it?" Megan nods "he had done that to me a few times, and...and I just...I couldn't live with myself knowing I could have stopped it. The only way to..to save you from him completely was to end the friendship. I could live with you hating me if it meant you weren't going to be hurt by him anymore." I look at her and tell her "he didn't hurt me, not physically, until this incident." Megan looks confused "at that point in my life when I ended our friendship, he had been regularly physically and sexually abusing me when my parents weren't home. He...he was the babysitter. He was in charge. I had to listen to him or I would get in more trouble. I tried to tell my parents but they didn't believe me and things just got worse. I learned I didn't have anybody in my corner and I knew I just had to get as far away as possible. Harrison was the apple of my dad's eye and neither of my parents ever believed he would do anything. My dad was all too happy to fund my new life on the west coast just so he wouldn't have to bother with me anymore." My heart breaks for her. Had I known any of this, I would've been there for her. She just pushed me away so completely, her walls so high and impenetrable, I couldn't do anything to help her. Spencer walks out, thankfully fully dressed, towel drying his hair, and says "Annie is someone here? I thought I heard a voi-oh hi. I'm Spencer." Megan gives him a soft smile and a small wave, saying "I'm Megan." I can see the realization dawn on Spencer as he looks to me and asks "everything okay?" I give him a soft nod "yeah we are fine, Spence." He nods and continues towel drying his hair while he busies himself with his bag in the corner. I know he's not paying attention at all to his bag and he is actually whole heartedly listening to our conversation. I look down and tell Megan "I'm sorry you went through all of that. I wish I had known so I could've helped you. You could've stayed with me more often. My parents wouldn't have cared. They love you." Meg gives me a tight lipped smile and looks away "maybe that's true. I didn't come here to make you feel bad for the past. I came here to apologize for not having reported my brother for the monster he was to the proper authorities. Had I done that maybe none of these things would've ever happened to you and maybe we could've stayed friends." I look to Megan and tell her "I forgive you, Meg. We can be friends now even if we weren't for the last ten years. You tried to protect me the best you could and sacrificed yourself in the process." Megan wipes a tear and nods, walking back towards the door. She says "um...yeah...maybe we can work on that. I'm only here for my brother's funeral and to make sure everybody knows what a sick psychopath he was because I just know my parents will just try to spin the narrative on him to any idiot who will listen. Or at least people will humor them solely because my parents have money. It's stupid." I nod and give her a soft smile. I tell her "I mean it. I forgive you. I'm willing to try to be friends again, only when you're ready." Megan nods "I'll keep that in mind. I hope you feel better soon, Anneliese. Nice to meet you, Spencer." Spencer turns and waves "you, too." Megan nods, punctuating her stay, I suppose, and leaves the room. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding when Spencer slowly approaches me. He asks me "are you okay?" I nod, smiling weakly "yeah, I'm okay. We had a good talk, I'm glad she came." I think Spencer can tell I don't want to talk more about it so he decides to drop the subject for now before hopping back in the bed with me, helping me decide on what to watch as we flip through channels. I nuzzle into him as much as I comfortably can before eventually letting the painkillers in the IV win as I drift off to sleep.

AN: again I'm NOT a doctor so things could be wrong. I try to be as realistic as possible if you hadn't noticed. Also, hopefully y'all are noticing why you got so much smut before this because it's going to be a hot minute before there is smut again. Sorry not sorry, we gotta get our girl back to 100% physically and mentally before that happens again.