Leonard sat staring into space, his black hair disheveled, his eyes red and scared, his lips wobbling and his hands shaking in fright. How did this happen? How did he end up sitting in a hospital lobby, being forced to wait patiently for his friend fighting for his life? Why was this happening now? Why today of all days?

*Flashback*

"Happy birthday, Leo." Elaine smiled sheepishly as she handed a wrapped box to him.

His eyes shone with more concern than joy as he reluctantly accepted her present. "Where have you been?" He inquired, looking around the underground parking lot to ensure no one was watching. The smile had washed off her face at the same instant. "Elaine, it's unfair of you to walk in and out of my life anytime you like."

"I just came to give you this," she said sternly, adjusting her emotions and giving him an intimidating look. "Have a nice day... with your wife." It worked. Leonard was tongue-tied.

He chuckled and when he observed she was serious, he adjusted his expression to suit hers. "A nice day? I don't even know what that should feel like. Is this really all you came here for?" He held his present to her face.

The small-sized woman frowned. "I know it might not be so 'fanciful' but..." She paused due to a shortage of words.

Leonard moved towards her slowly and placed one hand on her soft, pale cheek. "Thank you, Elle."

It felt like she was going to melt under his touch and her eyes searched for a place to be, just out of his reach. "Where's Norman?" She stepped backward with a weird smile on her face.

He took down his hands and folded it across his broad chest. The name, 'Norman' just made him feel guilty and terrible. "I don't know."

Elaine laughed and then got serious seeing the awkward expression on his face. "Are you serious? What did you do this time?"

"Me? He asked me to leave his house. I'm not going back there till he learns to apologise when he does something wrong. If it was me, I would have. . ." He trailed off as he saw the ridiculous face Elaine was making. "What?"

"You would've?" She chuckled. "Go and talk to him. I know you're hurting."

"No. I'm not talking to him." His pride had the better of him.

--------------------------------------------

He got up from the chair and walked forward, to clear his mind and prevent the tears that were about to betray him. *This is all my fault. This is all my fault.* Leonard didn't know how much longer this agony of waiting ignorantly would last.

"Leo!" He looked up and saw Beatris running towards him along with his heavily pregnant wife trying to catch up. At that moment, a lot of the burden seemed to have been dropped from his shoulder.

"Beatris. Sara." He embraced his wife and gave her a light peck on her cheek. "Thank you for coming," Leonard said to Norman's extremely worried wife.

He had not even believed Beatris would come after everything Norman had put her through. But once she'd heard Norman was in a critical condition and had been rushed to a hospital, she'd hurried down immediately.

"How is Norman? Is he okay? Why didn't you call us earlier?" Beatris attacked him with her questions and then placed her hand on her forehead to try and calm herself down. "What happened?"

"How bad is it? You don't look so good, my love. Why did this have to happen today?" Sara asked as she placed her hands on Leonard's cheek.

The questions were overwhelming and he felt even worse than earlier. Maybe bringing his overdramatic wife into this wasn't the best idea. "Uhm..." He was about to reply when Elaine approached them with two sodas in her hand.

"I got one for you, Leo." Her eyes were fixed on his wife and there was a slight hint of sadness in her voice. She turned to face him and extended her hands out.

"What is this woman doing here?" Beatris flared up and moved to the centre of the scene. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Beatris!" Leonard tried to warn her and Sara just watched the scene confused.

"Hi." A mischievous smile crept to Elaine's face as she took down her hand seeing Leonard wasn't going to accept her drink in this situation.

The furious woman turned to face Leonard who was presently too heartbroken to help the overbearing situation. "I don't want this woman anywhere around my husband." She warned.

He'd only figured out now that Beatris had probably remembered Elaine from the misinterpreted scene that played out a few weeks ago.

"Oh, your husband." Elaine laughed. "Where were you when he tried to kill himself?" She asked remorselessly as she watched Beatris with an intimidating glare.

Beatris gasped and tried to maintain her balance as she faced Leonard. "He tried to kill himself? Leo, is this true?" She was obviously terrified and Sara placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Beatris mouth hung open. Suicide? She knew Norman had his moments, but he'd never struck her as suicidal. He looked mostly like a happy person who smiled all the time and made other people miserable. He had everything he wanted. Why would he try to take his own life?

"Is he okay?" Beatris asked with a calm voice and Sara nodded behind her, anxiously.

Leonard shook his head. "I don't know. He's been in that operating room for about three hours now and there's still no news," he said.

Sara took Beatris's hand in hers to calm her down. She looked really scared.

"If anything happens to Norman, then just know it's all your fault." Beatris attacked Elaine who still had an indifferent look on her face.

Maybe it was wrong to blame Elaine, but Beatris felt the need to be angry at someone. Where had she come from? What was so special about her? They might've been able to mend their relationship if it wasn't for this woman that had waltzed into Norman's life and made him completely oblivious to her existence. Only for him to attempt suicide?

Elaine chuckled. "You even have the nerve to say that after I saved your husband's life. Seriously? Anyway, it's quite obvious the both of you are delusional and a perfect fit for each other." She spat out the words carelessly

Beatris could only stand still and stare at her.

"Get out of this hospital right now. I can't stand your presence!" She pulled her hands out of Sara's grip and charged towards Elaine.

Leonard was quick to get in the middle of the two women. It looked like there'd be a fistfight in few seconds if he didn't intervene.

"Stop. Please..."

"Get this bitch out of here, Leonard. I don't want her here. Take her out!" Beatris yelled, ignoring Sara who was trying to calm her down.

Elaine chuckled behind Leonard.

"I'd take her away. Beatris, just calm down."

She placed her hands on her head to calm her nerves. "Get it done, quickly!"

"Elaine you have to leave." Leonard turned to face her. "Please."

She pretended to be confused. "Why should I be the one to leave?"

"Elle-"

"You know what? Just hold it right there." She placed her hands on Leonard's chest, causing him to leave his mouth hanging open.

Elaine moved away from him and walked towards Beatris. "You know, if I needed to screw around, I'd go for an actual man," she said with a spiteful smile. "Keep me updated, Leo." She maintained an eye contact with Beatris as she talked before taking one last glance at Leonard and then walking out.

"One hell of a woman." Sara sighed.

Beatris angrily walked to a chair and sat there.

It was exactly four hours later, Beatris was still sitting down looking worse than she was, Sara had two hamburgers in her hand. This was a bad situation but she had to eat something.

Leonard was pacing about and occasionally taking walks out of the hospital.

A doctor had finally walked out and as soon as he announced the name 'Norman Patterson', Leonard and Beatris sprang up anxiously.

"We're friends," Leonard said.

Beatris looked at him before facing the doctor. "I'm his wife."

"Oh." Doctor Blake nodded. His name was written in bold on the badge attached to his green scrubs.

"How is he?" They asked simultaneously.

"He's stable. We were able to flush out the drugs from his system. Your friend... He's really lucky." The doctor said and both of them felt like they could finally breathe. "You can see him. Just don't say anything that could upset him, okay?" He added before walking away.

"I should talk to him first and tell him you're here," Leonard said as he hurried away without even giving her a chance to utter a word.

Beatris stood there watching him walk out of sight, confused. How on earth had she suddenly become the enemy? Norman had to be warned of her presence? Why did she feel so guilty? Did he try to kill himself because of her? She felt warm hands enclose hers and her thoughts faded.

"You still care about him," Sara whispered as she turned to face the woman who had such a comforting smile.

Beatris shook her head. "I don't. I..."

"You would not react that way to that woman if you truly don't care about him anymore," she replied.

Beatris scoffed. "That woman is infuriating. You should've seen the way she looked at me right after kissing Norman. It was as though she was intentionally trying to hurt me." She could not deny the fact that Elaine's spiteful smile had haunted her for days, made her feel stupid and worthless.

"Beatris..."

"I don't want to care. I'm not supposed to after all he's done to me and..." She paused before taking few steps forward, struggling to sort out her feelings to no avail. "It just feels like he needed me and I was not there. Why wouldn't he just talk to me? Why is he so scared to reach out?" She was confused and frustrated.

Sara took gentle steps towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to turn and face the woman in front of her.

"What do you want to do, Beatris?"

She exhaled deeply. "I don't know what to do. What would you do?"

The woman rubbed her hand against her stomach, her patience never wavering. "This could be a new start. You never can tell when life is giving you another chance."

A/N
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