Charlotte's POV...

Five miserable days in the hospital and I'm finally able to take Levi home. All the doctors told him how lucky he was that he didn't ingest anything more potent. Ya, no shit! I want to say that he shouldn't have ingested anything at all, especially from some guy he hardly knows. Levi told me about Lance and when I ever see that loser, he better hope that I don't murder him.

Ugh, I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not a mean hearted person, but I've been angry and frustrated all week. This is no fault of the doctors, they saved his life, so I have no right expressing any internal sarcasm towards them. And who knows, Lance might be a nice guy who was innocently trying to help another injured man out and Levi wasn't in his right mind when he trusted Lance enough to take the pills from him. Maybe I'm angry with myself for not knowing that Levi was desperate enough to seek them out, or I'm upset that Levi thought the need to hide it from me instead of talking to me about his struggles in the first place. Whatever the reason, I'm aggravated and hurt...and can't stop thinking of our baby girl we lost.

Would she have had Levi's bright blue eyes and my dirty blonde wavy hair. To me, there's no other man better looking than Levi; our daughter would've been beautiful, and kind, and loving, and she wouldn't have cared if her father could walk or not walk, she'd love him just the same. "Sniff" Here I go again...ugh!

"Love?" He tentatively calls to me.  I turn to Levi who's sitting on the edge of his hospital bed, me crying in the chair next to him. All I've been doing is crying about everything, I've been a total basket case.

"I'm fine," I say. I'm not and he knows that. There's so much I want to say and ask, but it can wait. I need to get him home first where he will hopefully feel comfortable enough to explain everything.

"Landon texted that he'll be here to pick us up in ten minutes," he tells me. He's trying to get me to talk, yet every time I do, I start crying, so I've kept to myself the last few days. I Know I'm not being fair to him, but I also know that I'm exasperated, and I don't want to say anything I'll regret. It's better to wait until we have some time together at home, or when we decide to talk to the psychologist whom Jake suggested we see. Apparently, Jake and Krysta see this psychologist together once a month. They used to see her once a week after Jake left my rehab center in Boston. It's helped their relationship tremendously, according to them both. Jake had major insecurities about his disability like Levi has and says his counselor helped him figure out how to learn to live with them, and how to help Krysta help him navigate his new life without straining their relationship. I'm all for us talking to this person, I don't know how to help Levi feel better about himself. I've given him all my love and it's still not enough for him. He needs something more than I can give and it kills me to think I've failed him somehow.

"Love, I need to use the loo, can you walk with me," the hesitation in his voice makes me feel guilty. I don't want him to be afraid of asking me for help, ever. I mean, this is part of the reason we're here in the first place, right?

Since Jake came to visit him on day number two, Levi's been taking everything in with stride. His legs are giving him a lot of trouble because the violent seizures caused some swelling along his spine and his nerves surrounding his previous spinal cord injury are "temporarily" confused again, is how the doctor described it. I've been expecting Levi to lose his mind over it, but he's been calm and cooperative with me and with the physical therapist here when we've done our exercises with him. Jake must've given him a very persuasive speech. Maybe he has a speech that will get me to stop feeling like I'm going crazy.

I sit on the bed beside him and let him wrap his arm around my shoulders for support. He's wearing his full left leg brace, but nothing on his right leg because it's been so long that's he's needed one for that leg, we don't have a current brace that would fit him properly, and I'm not taking the chance of him wearing a poorly fitted one that could cause a sore on his skin...not happening.

I help him stand up and wait for him to get control of his leg that's buckling under him. He should really use the wheelchair but he's recovering surprisingly quickly and if he wants to walk the few feet to the bathroom, I'll gladly help him conquer that.

He's been getting stronger the past few days because he's been following the doctor's orders; resting when he needs to, stretching with me when he needs to, and doing the PT he needs to do. Actually, he's been a great patient and he's been really trying to get better so we can go home today. I'm the one who can't figure out my ass from my elbow lately and it must be eating him away not knowing why I've been acting this way with him.

"I love you more than anything in this world and I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you," he says softly. I sigh.

We take another cautious step towards the bathroom before I stop us from moving further. This man has lost too much confidence in himself. I shimmy my body to face him, wrapping both his arms around my neck, and I stare into his soulful blues as I try and convince him of how amazing he truly is.

"Yes, you would Levi. You're stronger than you realize. I've been distant this week and you've been working so hard to go home, we're going home today because of you," I tell him, tears running down my face again. He brushes his thumb across my skin to wipe the tears away. "I'm so proud of you Levi, I'm always so proud of you even when you don't give yourself enough credit." He smiles at me, unsure if he really believes what I say. I wish he believed in himself the way I believe in him, this all would be so much easier.

I love him, every part of him, I've told him so many times and if I say it again now, he probably won't believe me. He never does. How can I love the broken parts, is what he asks himself. Can't he see that he's not broken to me. To me, he's perfectly imperfect...we all are in our own way.

"I don't know how to live this way...with a body that doesn't work right," he whispers. "There is so much I want to be able to do and a lot of times I just can't. I don't know how to fix everything that's wrong with me, and when I try, I only mess things up more. Some day, you'll be tired of trying too."

I look at him, stunned by his confession and relieved that he's actually sharing this with me, that I lift up onto my toes and kiss him on the lips. It takes a moment before he kisses me back, my arms tightening around his waist, pulling our bodies together.

When I pull back to look at him, it's his eyes full of tears this time. My hand raises to cup his face and his eyes close as he leans into my palm.

"I love you Levi, so much! I know you find it hard to believe, but I promise that I'll never get tired of you for trying. You always work so hard to improve your physical strength, and the parts that don't always work the way you want them to are the ones that prove just how strong and brave and resilient you really are. You amaze me every day by not giving up. And what ever we need to do to show you how wonderful life can be, we will do it together. We've got this, okay?"

"Okay," he says and locks onto my lips again.