Look out for the ,<>!

I looked at my phone with a frown. I only had 2% left on it and Auggie took my charger with him when he left for lunch. I had no idea when he would return. "Please last, please play this one last song," I begged my phone onward as I hit play on youtube.

A nurse walked into the room and smiled at me. "How are you doing?" she asked as she looked at my charts.

I shrugged lightly. I had been up since yesterday but I still was in pain even with the pain killers they gave me. Every breath I took was slightly labored and I was so tired. I felt terrible even though they said I was improving. "I'm ok."

She nodded, she knew I wasn't telling the full truth. "You need to rest more."

I frowned. Everyone was saying that to me but the more I rested, the more tired I got. Resting wasn't helping. "I'll make sure to rest later today," I said to her as I looked at the time on my phone. It was 11:50. I had only been up for an hour.

She smiled at me, happy with my response. "Good. Call if you need anything."

I nodded at her even though it made my head spin. I watched as she walked out of the room, seconds later Auggie came through that same door with a smile on his face. He just had lunch. Food always put him in a good mood.

"Hi," he said and gave me my charger. Thank goodness.

"Can you charge it for me?" I asked as I handed him my phone and charger.

He nodded and took the two items from me then plugged them into the closest outlet. He looked at my phone then set it down, moving back to his spot of always, the chair beside me. "How are you? You look at little pecked," he said with concern and cupped my cheek.

I smirked lightly, I was in a building full of train professionals and he still was worried about me. "I'm ok. How was lunch?" I asked, changing the topic.

He smiled at me. "It was lovely."

I chuckled at him. "That's good to hear." There was a minute of silence that filled the room as I held back a wince for the laugh I just took.

"Maybe you should nap," Auggie suggested.

I had only been up for an hour, I was not going back to sleep. I wanted to visit with him. Plus, since we were alone, there were still a few questions I was dying to know. "Auggie, you haven't told me what happened these past couple day and you haven't told me about work either. What are you hiding?"

He clenched his jaw shut. He didn't want to talk about it. But I wanted to know. "Please, Auggie," I begged him as I put my hand on his.

He smiled sadly at me. He grabbed my hand and kissed it. "I thought I would never hear you call my name again. You wouldn't believe how good it feels to see color in your face again."

I intertwined my fingers with his and smiled as if that would give him encouragement to go forward with the story.

<>

"I...I- found you in that hall. An EMT team followed me. They said you were already dead. But then you looked at me with those blue eyes. You were still with me. We drove you to the hospital as fast as we could. You're stats were dropping but we finally got you here," he smiled lightly then paused as if trying to find the right words to say.

"We quickly realized that you were poisoned. The poison was something new, something no one had seen before and it was powerful. Almost every CIA doctor was trying to find an antidote but they were running out of time. We were losing you as your body shutting down. That night when you woke up and asked me if you were dying. You were right. The doctors said that was probably your last night. We were out of time and ideas. I was praying so hard that I would see your eyes and hear your voice just one more time. and you opened your eyes. You talked to me. I was so happy, but I knew that was God's way of letting me say goodbye." His voice shook towards the end as he looked up at the ceiling trying to recovered himself.

I squeezed his hand to let him know that I was ok. I was alive and I wasn't going anywhere. I was beating this, with every breath I took, I was getting better.

He looked back at me with a sad smile. "Everything the Doctors tried, failed. I sat in this chair day in and day out as I watched you're health decline. It was an impossible task to watch you lay in this bed, dying."

I frowned at him. I couldn't imagine what he went though. I wish I didn't have to put him though it.

"When they were about to give up, a little jar of liquid showed up on their desk. They thought the night shift person made it and they tried it with your blood and it worked. They gave it to you right away, three days ago."

I nodded at I listened to his words. Fabien wanted me dead. If I stayed in that building I would have died. Everyone here saved me. Auggie saved me. I owed them everything. "Thank you." 

He laughed cynically. "For what? I did nothing."

"You didn't leave my side," I said and kissed his hand. "I'm sorry I put you through that."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm just glad you're here with me still."

"I even missed you birthday," I said remembering this his birthday was August 31st. I shifted in bed so I was more comfortable but I felt pain shoot through my body. Every movement ached and I wanted more pain killer. I took a deep breath in and let it out as if that would release some of the pain.

As if Auggie sensed my pain, leaned closer to me. "This is the best gift you could give me, you're still with us. That's all I wanted for my birthday," He kissed my cheek and I smiled.

I shook my head lightly. "That's not much of a gift."

He folded his arms over his chest and frowned. "It is too."

Before we got into an argument, Zach, Carter, Grandma, Dad and Mara came in the room.

Mara smiled widely at me but made sure to keep her distance this time. She was scarred with what happened yesterday. It made me uncomfortable. It made me feel fragile and I wanted her to stop and go back to acting like normal. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. I hurt but I wasn't going to tell them that. "I'm alright. You?"

"I'm good," she said as she shoved her hands into her jean pockets, not sure what to say next.

"Annalise, I'm so glad you wake," Gram said to me as she sat in the free chair next to the bed.

"Yeah, I've stopped by a few days ago and you were asleep," Carter said and put some flowers on a table.

"Those flowers are stunning. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Hey Annalise," Zach said coolly.

"Sup Zach," I said trying to be as cool as him and smiled.

"You're looking so much better," dad said as he smiled at me.

I smiled at him. I don't think I would ever get use to him walking in to see me. I looked at every one and smiled again. I was over come with emotion as my eyes welled up with tears. I had the best friends and family ever. I couldn't want anything more. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of them.

"Annalise, what is it? Are you in pain?" Auggie asked as he inches closer to me.

I shook my head. "No, I'm ok. I'm just so grateful for everyone in this room. I wouldn't have made it to where I am without each one of you."

Gram frowned at me. "I wish I supported you sooner."

I shook my head. "It's ok. All that matters is that we did it. We all survived." My eyes stopped at Zack who had his left arm in a sling. "What happened to you?"

"I got a crack at Fabien but I think I punched him too hard and sprained my wrist."

Instantly, my joy was killed with the sound of his name. I hadn't heard about Fabien since I woke up. They were shielding me from anything MIA related. I wanted to know what happened to him and MIA. They thought they were saving me from the details, but they weren't. It was just eating me up inside. "You've barely brought up work. What are you hiding? Spill, I can handle it," I said getting a little frustrated with them.

They all exchanged worry looks and it made me frown even more. They didn't want to share. Finally Gram spoke up. "We are working on bringing down MIA. They just had their hands in a lot of pies. It is going to take some time to take it all down." 

I nodded. That made sense. "Where are the leaders?"

Dad moved to my side and frowned lightly. "We couldn't have done it without you, Annalise. I can't believe that my little girl grew up to be so brave." Dad smiled and added, "and hard headed."

I chuckled a little too cynically. He was dodging the question. "Thanks dad." The pain was starting to grow again. I took a deep breath in and let it out only to see everyone with worried looks. "Guys, really? I'm handling it."

"Is there anything wrong with worrying?" Zach asked.

I shook my head. "No, I guess not. So where are the leaders," I said looking at my grandmother, hoping she would feel guilty and share. No one said anything. My mind started to spin as my heart raced. What happened to them? Was all our work for nothing?

"We got the two. But Fabien, after Zach got a hold of him, he managed to run off," Grandma said, breaking the silence.

"Fabien's nowhere to be seen. He's gone."

I started to panic. Was he still alive? I was sure he was going to come after me. He wanted to kill me. I shattered his castle and he wanted pay back. "No that couldn't be, I saw Toby shoot him," I said between breaths.

"You were in that hall alone," Auggie said with a frown.

I shook my head. This wasn't happening. The guy that tortured me was still out there somewhere. It was only time until he came to finish the job. This was my worst nightmare. My heart started pounding in my chest and I couldn't control it. "What about Toby? Where's Toby?" I choked out.

"What are you talking about?" Auggie said as he brushed some of my hair out of my face. "Annalise, you have to calm down." 

But I couldn't. Now my head was starting to spin and within seconds, a nurse came running in and quickly injected something into my IV. Within seconds, my heart started slow and my eyes started getting heavy and I fell back asleep.