Dominika woke with a start. The room was dark and cast in shadows, the only light visible a thin strip underneath the heavy door from the hallway. She looked to her right and squinted at the blinking lights of the monitors and machines hooked up to Gerard, the light disturbing in the darkness. She looked down and realized she was spread out on the arm chair at his bedside, covered in one of the same generic white hospital blankets as he. She vaguely remembered feeling sleepy as her arms sprawled over the empty space next to Gerard’s torso in the bed, their voices whispering in a soft exchange in the quiet of the room. She must have fallen asleep without realizing it and the nurses had ushered her over to the arm chair in a dreamy daze.

The outline of Gerard’s profile was just visible in the small amount of light from the street outside that gleamed dully through the industrial looking curtains on the windows. His chest rose and fell in a smooth, even rhythm and Dominika sighed in relief as she watched him. She’d been worried for a moment the day before had all been a dream and she was back in her bed in D.C and Gerard was far away over the sea in Russia. But there he was, bare-chested and asleep, dozing peacefully despite the restrictions on his leg and the copious amounts of tubing he was connected to. Dominika was more grateful now than ever for modern medicine, knowing that without it Gerard would be in so much pain sleeping would be impossible.

She tried to imagine what life would be like when Gerard returned home with them. Would it be strange living in the same house as him? Sure, they’d spent almost a week together in the forest, but they had never actually lived together in a normal setting. Not only that, Dominika was now going to act as Gerard’s nurse, his carer of sorts, and their roles would be reversed. She would be looking after him now instead of him looking after her. Would it be weird? Maybe for him. But Dominika was so glad to have Gerard home she was willing to push through any awkwardness they might encounter.

She turned to look out the window behind her and saw it was still fairly dark outside, with the edges of the horizon only just beginning to lighten. She curled back into the soft chair and pulled the blanket higher around her neck, deciding to sleep for a little longer. Within minutes the successive beeping of the machines in the background lulled her back into a deep sleep.

---

When Dominika woke the next morning, Gerard was already sitting up his bed, watching her with his good eye.

“Morning, baby” he chirped “I never thought I’d see the day where you slept in a chair, I’m impressed”

She rubbed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair, pushing it behind her shoulders as she sat up.

“I must have fallen asleep”

“Admit it, you couldn’t get enough of me yesterday. You had to stay”

She shot him the most withering look she could muster at that hour and rolled her eyes at him. He laughed at her and shook his head.

“All jokes aside, it was nice to have you here when I woke up, kid. Thanks for staying” he said, his smile slightly less disfigured with swelling today. All the medication he was on must be working.

“You’re welcome” she said, quietly, returning his grin from behind her wild hair.

She folded the blanket up neatly and laid it on the arm chair before she stepped into the bathroom to tidy herself up. When she came out, Gerard’s parents were in the room, and she blushed furiously as she stood in the corner awkwardly.

“And how was your night in hospital, Domi?” Donna said, turning to look at her with a smug look on her face. Dominika’s cheeks continued to burn as she answered shyly.

“Fine, I guess…I fell asleep”

“It’s alright, dear. The nurse phoned and said you were staying the night, we knew you were safe” Donna reassured. Dominika was sure Gerard’s Mother had worked out by now that she and her son were more than just friends. Donna had made her feelings about their relationship more than clear in their prior conversations and Dominika could feel her bursting with approval whenever she caught them together in a way that reminded her oddly of her own dear Mother, gone from this world. Dominika’s heart clenched in her chest and she struggled to push the thought into the back of her mind.

“We’ve spoken to your surgeon” Donald interjected suddenly “he’s happy to discharge you in two days, so I’ve consulted the base here in New York and they’re ready to go whenever we are, so we’re thinking we’ll stay the night in a hotel near the airport and fly home early the next morning”

“Suits me, the sooner I get out of here the better” Gerard said, shrugging his shoulders as far as his injured body allowed.

“I made some inquiries into the process of you going back into service too, it looks like you’ll need to complete another aptitude test and be approved for duty, and then you’re likely to be put on light duties for at least a few months”

“Light duties?” Gerard asked warily.

“Desk work” his Father replied grimly. Gerard groaned and sighed.

“Worse than blowing a leg off” he muttered under his breath. Dominika shoved him lightly. He should be grateful he’d escaped with such minor injuries when it could have been so much worse. Desk work was much better than having a leg or any other appendage for that matter being blown off.

“Just enjoy your time at home, son”

In the afternoon Gerard’s surgeon removed most of the external traction from his leg and now he was free from being completely bed-ridden. To celebrate, Dominika had one of the nurses help him into a wheelchair, his IV bags connected to a rack welded to the back, and she pushed him through the corridors of the hospital happily, looking forward to the two of them finally being able to spend some time alone together without the chance of being interrupted by a nurse or a visitor. Gerard was dressed in a light blue hospital gown now, and Dominika had giggled when he put it on.

“What are you laughing at, kid? Blue’s my color” he said, raising his arms slightly to show off the baggy sleeves.

“Is that from the pediatric unit?” she teased.

“Where did all this sass come from?” he asked genuinely, turning slightly so that he caught her eye.

“Must be contagious” she shrugged.

He smirked at her and turned back to face the long hallway they travelled down, Dominika pushing the chair slowly past the endless rows of identical doors. At the end, a set of glassed double doors opened out into a beautiful courtyard at the furthest end of the hospital, away from the bustle of visitors and patients. The wind had picked up around them and it shook the trees that shaded the cobbled stones underneath them, blowing red, yellow and purple leaves loose in a shower of color. It was chilly but apparently unseasonably warm for the time of year and Gerard revealed in the feeling of fresh, crisp air for the first time in days.

Dominika wheeled him over to a bench under a large shady tree and parked it directly next to it so she could sit side by side with Gerard.

The sound of busy traffic was audible far in the distance, reminding Dominika they were very close to the city. She longed to be back in familiar territory, even D.C if it couldn’t be Russia. New York was a completely foreign place to her.

“What are you thinking about?” Gerard asked, taking her hand from her lap and resting it in his. She threaded her fingers through his and looked at him for a long moment.

“Home” she said quietly.

“Russia?”

“D.C”

Gerard raised his eyebrow and stared at her incredulously.

“You miss D.C?”

“It’s grown on me”

“I’m sorry you got pulled out of school cause of me, kid” Gerard said apologetically.

“It’s not that” Dominika said “I want to be wherever you are, it’d just be nice for us to be home together”

“You haven’t told me much about your American adventures” he prompted, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“It’s not very different from my life in Russia” Dominika laughed, shaking her head “security is tight, which I completely understand, John picks me up from home in the mornings and drops me off at the company, I go through ten hours of classes, usually end up in physiotherapy by the end of the day from hurting myself, and then he picks me up again and I go home and hang out with your Mom”

“What about those friends you told me about? Daisy and Henrietta? Don’t you get to do anything fun with them?”

“Daphne and Harriet” she corrected “we have plenty of fun during school hours”

Dominika could feel the heat rising to her face as scenes from Daphne’s party surfaced to memory. She remembered the overly eager guy that caused her early departure and shuddered involuntarily.

“I think you’re holding out on me” Gerard accused playfully. How could he see through her that easily? Was she that bad an actress? She felt guilty enough about going against Gerard’s parents’ wishes and deceiving them without having to admit it to him too. But she knew him, and he wouldn’t give in until she did.

“Fine” she huffed “I went to a little party at Daphne’s apartment last weekend, but don’t get too worked up, because I left really early, there was this guy…”

“A guy?” Gerard said, his interest suddenly piqued. Dominika wondered if she’d made a mistake in mentioning it but decided to tell him the truth anyway.

“Yeah…one of the girl’s friends, I guess, I can’t even remember his name now” she said “he kept trying to get me on my own, I tried to get away from him by going to the restroom and he cornered me in a hallway away from everyone else”

Gerard’s fist curled angrily around the armrest of his wheelchair, his knuckles straining white. Dominika cleared her throat nervously.

“Don’t worry” she reassured “I told him my boyfriend doesn’t let me hang out with other guys”

He seemed to relax a little then, and his grip on the chair did too. Dominika held his large hand to her face lovingly and he sighed appreciatively at the feel of her soft skin against his rough palm.

“No more parties” he said, finally.

“No more parties” Dominika repeated. And she knew she’d keep that promise.

Gerard moved her hand to his knee and tapped the top of her ring finger gently.

“Hmmm” he pondered “I said I was going to put a ring on this finger didn’t I?”

Dominika nodded slowly, speechless. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears just as it had when she’d read those words in his letter less than a week ago.

“I better get on that. I don’t like competition” he winked at her.

Notes