Beep. Beep. Beep…

                What on Earth was that annoying noise? Every single thought, every single feeling felt as if it was weighted down by a huge rock. As soon as she thought one thing, it faded as soon as it came to her. She couldn’t concentrate on anything, didn’t want to. She’d simply live here in this serene state of nothingness for the rest of her life.

                But that relentless beeping wouldn’t stop; it bothered her.

                She tried to open her eyes, but they felt so heavy.

                Then, she started to hear more. Voices….words and sentences she was too tired to register. “She’s waking up,” someone said in the distance. “Get a nurse!”

                She tried to open her eyes again; this time her eyelids fluttered a little. “Spence,” the voice in the distance said. Okay, one more time. She tried again. Barely, her eyes opened. With hazy vision, she could make out the blurred figure of a woman next to her beside and she tried to blink to clear her vision, but with every single close, she wanted to fall back asleep.

                She was really exhausted.

                “Stay with us honey,” a man who she didn’t recognize, demanded. Her head lolled to one side as she tried to figure out who the woman next to him was, the one with dark hair and pale blue eyes. Spencer looked at her, but almost through her.

                “Welcome back to the real world, sister,” she laughed, though it came off as a huge sigh of relief. Then Spencer recognized her.

                “M’lissa,” she muttered.

                Melissa smirked and nodded, though Spencer was forced to look away when the nurse turned her head to check her vitals, flashing a little light right into her eyes, causing her to wince.

                “Does everything look okay?” Melissa asked.

                “Seems so,” he answered pleasantly. “We’ll have to see if she needs physical therapy. But otherwise, there seems to be no harmful damage.”

                Melissa arched a brow. “Physical therapy?”

                Nodding, the nurse started to explain. “Sometimes, with head injuries like this, there tends to me a lack of response between the brain and the muscles in the hands. It takes work and frustration, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

                Spencer seemed to slowly be getting out of her dazed state of mind, groaning every few seconds as she slightly shifted in bed. She tried moving her hand down to her stomach, but the nurse grabbed it before he could go near the stiches. “Don’t even think about it, hun,” he warned. “You were in a bad car accident.”

                That was when Toby and Ezra arrived back at the hospital.

                As soon as the elevator door opened, Toby’s gaze fell on Spencer’s room, and his heart dropped. There was so many people in there; had something gone wrong?

                Gasping, he rushed in, only to look at the one thing he had been desperate to see since the accident happened.

                Spencer’s eyes.

                The widest of smiles crept up on his lips as he ran to her side. “Spencer!” he breathed, his eyes frantically scanning over her face. Her eyes, hazy but full of life nevertheless, were brightly green, and it felt like an eternity since he had seen them.

                “Toby…,” she said slowly, a drunken, distant grin on her face. He laughed, unable to contain his excitement. She was okay, maybe a little drugged up and out of it, but okay.

                Spencer let out a quiet breath. “I’m…glad you’re here.”

                She dozed off again.

                Spencer tried to bite back her groan as she shifted in a tiny hospital bed. Every single movement, no matter how small, seemed to make her stomach twist in an unbearable pain. She hated it. Her chest ached…along with her head.  

                She really did feel like she’d been ran over by a truck. But then again, in a way, she had been.

                The nurse had given her a heavy dose of morphine a couple hours ago, but it was beginning to wear off. For the first time in those whole day, she was actually able to form a solid thought. She didn’t think she’d be getting anymore sleep.

                Rolling over to glance at the clock, Spencer groaned at the painful jolt in her stomach, an ache so sharp that she had to grip the pillow tightly and bite her bottom lip.

                “Spencer?”

                Toby’s voice surprised her, and after a long pause he decided to respond. “Yes?”

                “Are you alright?” he asked cautiously. Spencer mentally cursed herself; of course she would have accidently woken him up! “It’s okay…I wasn’t sleeping anyways,” he said after noticing her lack of reply.

                Spencer laughed to herself; he could always read her mind. “Just in a little pain,” she complained, slowing forcing herself on her back again, keeping her eyes closed and breathing heavy to subside the agony. It didn’t work too well. “Do you know what time it is?”

                “A little after ten a.m.” She could hear Toby get up from the chair he’d been in and stepped closer to her. “Scoot over a little,” he whispered, and Spencer followed his order. When she moved over enough, he lifted the sheets and crawled in with her. She grinned at this; his simple action seemed to briefly distract her from the pain. “Where’s the button for pain medicine?” he questioned once he was settled in beside her.

                “Dangling off your side,” she replied sadly. Toby nodded, reaching over until he found the little handle with a button on the top. Slowly, he pressed the button, watching as the IV began to slowly drip. “I tried to grab it, but my fingers…they won’t work.”

                “They will,” he promised gently, tangling his legs with hers. “You just need to practice. The nurse said you need to start going to physical therapy.”

                Spencer rested her cheek on the top of his head, and he closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. There had been a part of him that feared he’s never feel her arms around him again. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered brokenly, the sound making Toby’s heart break a little bit. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I should have driven more carefully…”

                “Hey,” he interrupted. “It’s not your fault, Spencer. It just….I kind of freaked out a bit. Your heart stopped; you died. It just got me thinking, you know, about everything we’ve been through, everything you’ve helped me through. I mean, I’ve grown up with you. Losing you…it’d be like losing another family member. If you were gone, who’d be there to hold me? I’ll tell you: no one. Because, I know it’s crazy, but you’re my rock. You make me happy. I’ll never be ready to let go of that.” He hated how his tears fell on her shoulder, hated how loud his sobs were against her skin. But oh, how he loved the way she pulled him closer.

                “Shhh,” she uttered, right into the portal of his ear. “Shh, baby, I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’m still here…”

                Toby couldn’t help but find it ironic how she was the one in pain yet he was the one who was being comforted. The way she whispered to him, the way she ever so subtly called him ‘baby’ without coming off as cheesy, seemed to calm his nerves. Yes, she was there with him. She was there.

                “I love you,” she soothed. “If I could hold your hand right now, I would.”

                Toby chuckled at that, glancing up at her playfully. “Love you too,” he agreed, reaching over to her chest, careful to avoid the gauze over her chest, to entwine his hand with hers. Her fingers touched the slightest and she groaned, but he took that as a good sign. “You feeling any better?”

                He could feel her smile against his forehead.

                His thumb barely grazed against the back of her palm. “You know, if someone came in right now and saw me with you, I’d get in lots of trouble,” he teased, though it was clear from the relaxation in his voice that he wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

                Spencer watched through half-closed lids as his hand softly caressed her own. “That’s…okay though.” Her voice was heavy with drowsiness and he quickly realized that the morphine was kicking in.

                “Am I losing you?” Toby laughed, tilting his head to the side.

                “Just a little bit…” she drawled.

                He giggled lightly, amused at how quickly the pain medicine had affected her. “Wait. Before you pass out on me…” With a touch so gentle it forced her to oblige, he turned his head towards his own and leaned up, placing a soft, slow kiss to her lips. “Goodnight, Ms. Hastings.”

                Spencer blinked, though her eyes remained closed a second longer than usual and he knew she was falling asleep. But before she did so, she made sure to mumble, “Stay here?”

                So he did.