The next two weeks are excruciating. Every day Orion and myself get stronger. After a week we're released. However, him and I spend a majority of our time at the hospital anyway on account of Amy.

We've rented a hotel room for ourselves near the hospital. Seth and John had to go back to school. That was hard in it of itself. I know they didn't want to leave Amy behind, but they had to. Mrs. Price decided to take FMLA time off, so Orion is renting her a hotel room, too.

Amy has her good days and her bad days. Some days she's her old self, laughing, being a smart ass. Other days she's confused and scared, asking why she's there and how long she has to be in the hospital for. The doctors assure us her memory loss will be temporary, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. It's on those days when Amy is confused and scared that I end up holding Orion as he cries until he goes to sleep.

Life is at a stand still. After a while I forget there's a life outside of the hospital. I can tell it's starting to take its toll on Orion, too.

"Let's go home," I murmur into Orion's ear one particularly bad morning, wrapping my arms around his waist and putting my chin on his shoulder. He had accidentally sliced his finger cutting up an apple for himself and it just went downhill from there. Every little thing was making him swear.

"I can't," he grumbles angrily, shoving a sweater and his MP3 player into his backpack to bring with on today's hospital trip.

"You don't want to, not you can't. There's a difference, love."

"They're moving her into a regular patient room today," he growls at me. "I can't."

"Why?"

He pauses. When he replies, it's an emotional whisper. "I don't want her to feel like I abandoned her."

"Orion," I say strictly. I let him go and walk in front of him, taking him by the shoulders. "She's not going to think that."

His eyes drop off to the side. "What if she has another episode where her memory gets all fucked and I'm not there? What if she thinks I don't care about her?" 

Suddenly he looks like he's going to cry. "What if she gets angry at me, and she doesn't want to speak to me ever again, and she doesn't want to come to our wedding, and it's all just a huge misunderstanding--"

I pull him into my arms, chuckling. "You're ridiculous sometimes, you know that, right?" I hold him at arms length and he's stubbornly holding back tears. "That's not going to happen. Even if it did, Ben and your mom will tell her it's simply not the case. It's not like she's going to be completely alone if you're not there, love."

Orion looks down.

"Orion."

He looks at me. 

"You know what I know, in my heart of hearts?"

He shakes his head.

"I know your sister wouldn't want you to be miserable. You've been here three weeks, one of which you were a patient yourself. You need a break, love."

For a moment Orion looks like he's going to argue. I'm happy when he gives in. "Could we at least visit her today?"

I smile. "Of course."

~

"Hey, it's fuckface and his loyal subject, fuckface two."

I laugh. Orion grins, pulling up a chair besides Amy's bedside. I sit on the end of her bed.

"I'm happy to see fuckface's little sister is having a good morning," Orion retorts, laughing too. "Although--pray tell--why am I a fuckface?"

"Oh, you know, the usu.," she replies. "You're up and walking around while I'm stuck in here still. With needles in my arms. Being poked and prodded every hour or so. Eating shitty hospital food."

As she talks, a slow smile goes onto Orion's face. "Hey, look at the bright side!" he gestures to the room around us. "New scenery."

She rolls her eyes. "Oh yes--so much better."

"Hey--you have a picture now."

"I think a monkey could do a better job than that hotel room worthy painting."

Orion leans in, grinning. "I could sneak you some fast food..."

Her eyes grow into plates. "Would you? I would love you forever."

"You're gonna love me forever regardless."

Amy rolls her eyes. "That's entirely besides the point!"

After a few moments the smile slips away from Amy's mouth. She twists the blanket over and over in her hands.

"What's wrong?" Orion asks her gently.

When she looks at us, she looks like she's about to cry. "Um...they--they told me I'm going to start physical therapy soon."

"Okay..."

Her bottom lip quivers. "They told me I might have to use a cane. Forever."

"We're getting married," I blurt out.

Orion looks at me, face screwed up in shock. We hadn't told Amy yet. Even though it was happy news, it was still big news. We didn't want to overwhelm her, especially with how her memory was fuzzy sometimes.

Ignoring Orion's look, I scoot closer to Amy, taking her hand into my own. "And walking with a cane isn't so bad. You could be paralyzed, or dead, or in a coma, or you could have no leg at all, so in the grand scheme of things a cane really isn't the end of the world."

She's looking at me, mystified.

"Plus you're a tough cookie, so I know you'll do awesome in physical therapy. And I know Orion is going to want you to be a groom's attendant, and I know by the time we get married, you'll be ready. And you'll be in a beautiful dress, and you'll be holding a bouquet with both hands, and you'll strut your stuff down that damn aisle."

Amy laughs, wiping away a tear quickly.

"So, fuck what they say, Amy, you got this. I know you do. Don't be sad."

Amy laughs again, wiping away another tear. "Can I hug you?"

I grin, holding open my arms. She scoots forward and we have a really nice hug.

"Holy fuck, now I understand why Orion's in love with you," she says, making me chuckle.

When we're done she looks at Orion. "Orion! Come here, you dork! Let me hug you!"

Orion grins and comes over, hugging her.

"Congrats." She gives him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so happy for you. Really I am."

He positively beams at her. "Thanks."

"Group hug!" she declares, and that's exactly what we do.

~

"This is weird."

"It's nice."

We're standing in Orion's bedroom--our bedroom. Orion stands in the middle of it, arms wrapped around himself. After a bit he speaks quietly.

"I'm not okay."

"Why?"

"I almost died. You almost died. We all almost died."

"The key word there, love, is almost."

"What more do I have to go through? What more fucked up stuff does life have in store for me?"

It's then I go to him and smile.

"It's like I'm a science experiment the universe created, to see just how much one person can take," he tells me seriously.

"Whatever else, however many more punches the universe throws at you, I'm here now. And I'll always be here."

We kiss. As we begin to explore each other's bodies, and I pull off his shirt, he looks self conscious for a moment.

"What's wrong, Orio?"

He looks down at his side where the surgery had been and sighs. "So many scars..."

I pull off my own shirt and smile, holding up my arm to show him the side of my body where my spleen once was. "We kinda match."

Orion pulls my hips to him, kissing me deeply. He pauses a moment, and I'm smitten with the look of love and admiration pouring out of his dark globes.

We make love, and we both ended up crying, and I think he forgets sometimes that I almost lost him, too.