"Quake"Page 4!!!

A few minutes after the shaking stopped, Steph got her composure back, she stood up just in time to see the nurse run out of Wil's room, Oh God, what happened to Wil? She thought. Then she started running towards his room, ducking around all the debris on the floor, she arrived in time to see the doctor working on him. She came in and said, "Doctor, what happened? What is wrong with him?" She was in tears, the doctor turned and said, "Part of the ceiling fell on him, he has a severe head wound, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung, we are getting ready to take him into surgery." Steph began to cry harder, the doctor looked at her with sympathy, then said, "I will give you a moment with him, before we take him, the OR isn't ready yet anyway, he will be alright." Then he and the orderly went out in the hall. Steph moved over to him and took his hand, then brushed a small piece of hair off his forehead. She bent and kissed him, being as gentle as possible, but also not wanting to stop, as she feared it could be the last time she kissed him, if anything went wrong. After several moments, she stopped, slowly lifting her mouth off of his. Then the doctor came in and took him away, Steph just sat in the chair and began crying.

Steph sat in the chair, in Wil's room, her knees were pulled up to her chest, her arms folded over them, and her head buried in her arms. She was sobbing, the fear and sadness she was feeling had overwhelmed her and she could not hold back the tears any longer. She was so afraid that she was going to lose Wil, she had just found him, the trauma of the earthquake was getting to her too, the reality of it was just starting to sink in. She began to cry harder, as these thought's went through her head, at one point, she actually fell asleep briefly, when she woke, there was a strange man in the room, a black man. He startled her, "Hi, Stephanie? Dezmond has told me a lot about you, I am Leopold, I am in his Guard unit, where is he?" "He's in surgery, he got hurt real bad during the last quake." Was all she could say before the sobs took over again.

Leopold came over to her and took her in his arms,"Shhhh, he is a strong man, he will be alright, is it really serious?" "Yes, part of the ceiling fell on him, he has a head injury, broken ribs, and a punctured lung." She began sobbing again, Leopold held her and let her cry, she really needed it, but had been holding back for Wil's sake. Now she could let it all flow out, she was grateful to Leopold, he was being a great comfort. She finally eased up on the crying and pulled away from Leopold, "Thank you, I really needed that, I was holding it all in so Wil would not see." "You are so welcome, anything I can do to help. I will check back with you a little later." Then he left. Steph decieded to take a walk, she needed to stretch, she walked to the elevator and down to her car, she got the portable CD player and the CD, that meant the world to her, because it was her and Wil's song and she was going to play it for him, when he was out of surgery.

When Steph got back to Wil's room, he was there, his head was bandaged, as well as his chest, and there was a tube coming out of his chest as well. He looked pale, Steph wanted to cry again, but she wouldn't let that happen. She moved over to him, she saw that he still had the tubes in his nose, for breathing, and there were a few more tubes coming out of his arm. She could no longer hold back the tears, she hated seeing him like this, he looked like he was dead, if not for the slow, rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought he was. A moment later the doctor came in, "Doctor, how is he?" "He's in serious condition, the head wound was a little more serious than we thought, he is in a coma right now, the ribs and lung are not that serious, we repaired the damage to the lung. It is the head injury that was are most worried about, if he doesn't come out of the coma soon, he may never." She looked at Wil and began to cry, "What can I do? anything?" "Yes, talk to him, touch him, let him know you are here, let him know you want him back, and that you love him. That will be very important, he is a very strong man, but it will still be a struggle."

The doctor checked Dezmond, then left to let Steph be alone with him, she sat on the edge of the bed, then took his good hand, carefully, since there were a lot of tubes in it. She stroked his face with her other hand, caressing it gently, then brushed some hair off his forehead, she said, "Wil, I love you, please come back to me?" She choked back a sob, then bent and kissed his cheek, his nose, his forehead, then finally took his mouth with hers, drinking him in, tasting every inch of him, she tried to make as much contact with him as possible. She started to cry, because he did not respond to her kiss, the tears fell and landed on his cheek, running down it to the pillow under his head. She pulled away and said, "Please Wil, come back to me, I only just found you, I can't lose you already." Then she got up and put the Michael W. Smith CD, into the CD player. She turned it on and set it on their song, "The Love of My Life" and played it softly. Then went back to him and began to kiss him again, taking his lower lip and nibbling on it, then pulled it into her mouth and sucked on it, she was trying any kind of sensations she could think of to bring him around. She then retook his whole mouth with hers, kissing him gently, she wanted more than anything, for him to respond. She then just sat in the chair, holding his hand, playing the song over and over.

As more aftershocks shook the hospital, not nearly as strong as before, Stephanie continued her efforts to wake Dezmond. She was again caressing his face, she ran her hands over his shoulders and stomach, avoiding his arms and chest, because of the injuries. She was also kissing him again, starting with his neck, then along his jaw, then over his face, his cheeks, eyes, forehead, nose, then finally taking his mouth. She kissed him deeply, inserting her tongue and probing his mouth with it. She desperately wanted him to respond to her, she continued to kiss him, tasting every bit of him, beginning to cry again at his lack of response. "Wil, please wake up, I need you, I love you." "I am sure he loves you too." Leopold said, she didn't know he was there, so she jumped at his voice. She got up and walked over to him. "He's in a coma, they don't know if he will wake, the doctor said I should give him as much physical contact as possible and that I should talk to him." "I am sure he will pull through, he is very strong, why don't you go get some rest, he will be fine for a while." He could tell she was exhausted.

Continued on Page 5!!

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