After a moment, the door opens, and Todd pokes his head in. He sees her dozing, and slips in quietly, wearing a new sweatshirt and jeans, carrying his old, wet clothes in a shopping bag. He holds the door as it closes, then tiptoes over to the chair beside her bed. He flinches as he sets the crinkling bag down, then lowers himself into the chair. He sighs, looking at her sleeping...then slides forward on the seat, sitting on the edge. He reaches over, picking her hand up gently, and doing the same as before...placing it between his hands and gently stroking the super-soft skin on the back of her hand.

He stays quiet for a moment like that, looking at her long, delicate fingers, small compared to his. He looks up at her face again, amazingly peaceful now, considering what she went through earlier. He starts to wonder, thinking back to it...how did the crash actually happen? Nobody really said...and he didn't see it...whose fault WAS it?

He sighs, suddenly very tired, the stillness in the room and the stress of everything catching up to him. He pulls the chair forward a little, resting his elbows on the bed. He puts Tea's arm over his left arm, then folds his right arm over hers..then puts his head down, resting it on this pile of arms. His eyelids start to droop...his head grows heavier...and heavier...and his breathing slows down...

A few minutes later, there's a soft knocking on the door...then it opens, slowly. Bo and West poke their heads in...

...and see the Mannings, sound asleep together. Tea, with her left arm and right leg in casts, her head resting on the neck pillow...and Todd, at the bedside, sleeping on her arm. Bo and West exchange glances and smile...then Bo tiptoes in, quietly, carrying a bouquet of daisies for Tea, cellophane crackling softly. He slinks over to the foot of the bed, and places them at her feet. He steals another look at these two people who've been through so much. He smiles, nodding to himself, grateful for what he sees even though he and Todd have a bitter history...grateful that now, at least, they can finally have a few minutes' peace together...in safety. He turns away from this incredible sight, and quietly slips out. West cranes her neck to get one more look as the door closes.

Tea wakes up again a little while later, sighing. Without thinking, she tries to lift her left arm to rub her eye...then flinches in pain, a little hiss escaping from behind her clenched teeth.

Todd quickly rushes over from where he's been standing, over at the window.

"Hey...you okay?"

She sighs, shaking her head as she rubs her eyes with her right hand, her Puerto Rican temper adding a bitter tone to her voice.

"This sucks SO bad, I CAN'T even tell you."

He does a take. "Wow...twice in a couple of hours. You've REALLY been hanging around me too long."

She smiles back, a lovely sight to his eyes. Her tone settles a little.

"Well...it's the only word that seems to fit, you know?"

He nods. There's a silence as they stare at each other. Finally, Tea notices his clothes are different.

"Hey...you changed..."

He looks down at his tourist shop sweatshirt, dark gray with "Montana" embroidered on the breast. He holds it up for her.

"Yeah, well...got tired of walking around in wet clothes that were starting to smell funky. I was surprised they actually had normal-looking stuff...was afraid I'd have to dress like a cowboy or something."

She grins and nods, approvingly. "Yeah...it's not bad at all. Didya get me one?"

"'Course. We have to match. I should probably cut my hair like yours."

She settles back, shaking her head. "Nah. You know I love your hair long...I'll just grow mine out."

He cocks an eyebrow at her, then runs around to the other side of the bed and starts digging in the shopping bag. Tea slowly turns her head toward him as he pulls out a smaller sweatshirt, a pink one with "Montana" silkscreened on it in fancy lettering. He holds it up to her.

"Think Shorty'll like it?"

She nods. "It's from you. It's pink. She'll love it."

Todd sits down beside her. "Oh...I talked to her a little while ago. She's, uh...she's gonna make you a tape."

Tea actually laughs...but only a little before she flinches, biting her lip. "Ohhhh..."

He sighs, reaching out and running his fingers through her hair. His voice, tone, and demeanor...lower way down.

"I'm sorry..."

She shakes her head. They look at each other silently for a moment. Then Todd sighs, and reaches for her hand, holding it between both of his, looking down at it.

"You know, I...there were a few times back there when I really thought you were...you know...I-I ran up to the bridge and couldn't see you, but I saw all that blood...a-and then when I saw you lying in the grass..."

He closes his eyes, taking a breath. Tea opens her mouth, then shuts it, and just lets him go, listening.

"...when I looked at you, it scared the hell outta me...you were all twisted and scraped up and bleeding...your clothes were all torn...and your eyes...you were just looking in all directions...but you couldn't see me...or hear me...and I-I was RIGHT THERE. Then you closed your eyes for a second...and I thought...I really thought you'd died. I've been really scared before...but I think...I think THAT was the scariest thing I'd ever..."

He trails off, unable to complete the thought. Tea pulls her hand out of his to reach up and touch his face. He presses her palm against his cheek, eyes closed. She speaks to him gently.

"Hey...it's all okay now, right? So...just...try not to think about that, okay? I'm here now...and I'm not going anywhere without you."

He keeps his eyes closed, still burying his face in her hand. "What happened, Delgado..."

She takes as deep a breath as she can. "Todd..."

He opens his eyes, lowering her hand. "Do you remember?"

She looks down a moment, thinking...

"Well...I...I remember driving down the road, with the cop on our tail...John was...really freaked out, he just kept checking all the mirrors. I remember...just looking down at my wedding ring, and...thinking..."

"About what?"

She looks up at him. "Well...YOU, of course...and me...and my life...I remember looking out the window and actually SEEING scenes of my life passing in front of me...and then...I...I saw the bridge."

Todd's brow creases, as he listens quietly.

"I was thinking to myself that I HAD to find a way to stop him, but...what? How? Then I saw the bridge, and it was like...like the answer presenting itself...and then I knew..."

"Knew...what?"

"...what I had to do."

There's a silence as Todd looks at her strangely, starting to realize that SHE caused the crash. She sighs, glancing down for a second, then back up. Her voice wavers, as she starts to cry.

"It just came down to a simple choice...lose everything...or take a chance...and I just knew, it was the only way to stop him...and I...I actually WANTED to kill him. And if that meant taking myself out with him, well...I was willing to do it, because I...if I couldn't be with you, I was ALREADY dead."

Todd just looks at her in disbelief. Tea sniffles, wiping her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry. I know it probably makes no sense and I don't blame you if you're angry with me...now that I think about it...it WAS a really...STUPID, and selfish thing for me to do."

He stares at her for a moment, then shakes his head. "No. No, I...I hear you, but..."

She bites her lip, listening.

"...but I'm telling you right now, Delgado...I can't live without you. I've tried, and I CAN'T, it's just too hard."

He reaches out and cradles her face in his hands, stifling the urge to cry.

"...so...please...don't do anything like that again. DON'T you EVER leave me."

She smiles at him, sniffling, and nodding. He leans in, tentatively...eyes darting up and down, eyes, to mouth, back to eyes...then brushes his bottom lip over hers. She closes her eyes, parting her lips...he leans in closer and kisses her, barely, trying not to hurt her. He pulls back, looking at her, as she opens her eyes. She reaches up and caresses his cheek, holding his face close, their noses touching.

Just then, the door opens, squeaking a little. Todd sits up, turning around.

"Oh, hi, uh...hope I'm not interrupting...I wanted to check with you guys before I left," Dr. Powell says, as he steps in, holding a chart.

Todd and Tea both shake their heads and clear their throats, separating. Todd drops back down in the chair as Powell walks up to the bottom of the bed.

"Well, all your test results are back. Everything looks pretty good...oh...hmm."

He sees the flowers sitting there and picks them up, handing them to her.

"You always keep your flowers on the bed?"

Tea looks at them, and sniffs them, surprised.

"Oh! I...I didn't even see them there. Oh, Todd...they're beautiful."

Todd just gapes, confused. "Uh...I-I...those aren't from me."

She looks at him strangely. He shrugs. She looks at the doctor, who also shrugs. She gives them another sniff...and sees a card, which she takes out and reads.

"Tea...thinking of you and Todd. Get better and come home soon...love, Bo...and Lisa. Oh...that's sweet..."

She looks at Todd. "...Bo was here?"

He nods. "Yeah, I talked to him a while ago."

She makes a surprised face. "Wow, hmm," she says, putting the flowers down on the table.

Powell steps around to the other side and takes out a penlight. He gently lifts her chin.

"Okay, just look here...good. Now follow with your eyes..."

He moves the light back and forth, her eyes following it. He clicks it off. "Good. Okay, well. How're those casts feeling?"

She pushes her lips to one side. "Oh, just...GREAT."

He laughs. "Yeah, I know. I've worn 'em. They suck."

Tea and Todd exchange knowing looks. She nods. "Yes, they certainly do."

Powell gently turns her head from one side to the other, looking at her bruises. He touches her lip.

"Lemme just see that nasty gash there...okay. I think that'll heal okay. We'll have to keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn't get infected...okay, then. Are you in a lot of pain right now?"

She tips her head, back and forth. "Oh, you know...only when I try to move."

He nods sympathetically. "Yeah, I know. I'll get you something for it. I would've before, but I was waiting on the pregnancy test."

Tea looks at him, surprised. "Oh. I didn't even know you did one."

Powell sits down on the edge of the bed. "Mmmhmm. Actually, that's why I stopped in. Uh..."

Todd gets up and slides onto the edge of the bed next to Tea. Powell grins at him.

"I, uh, was gonna tell you before, Mr. Manning, but you ran off on me. And then my pager went off, and..."

He looks up, and sees them staring at him, anxiously. He cracks up, shrugging.

"...anyway. Congratulations."

They both make the same, shocked, gaping face. Powell starts to laugh harder.

"I guess you didn't know, huh?"

Tea furrows her brow, and starts to stutter. "Y-y-y-ou mean I'm..."

He nods. "You most certainly are, Mrs. Manning...and thankfully, everything seems to be okay."

Tea looks up at Todd, who's absolutely dumbfounded. She smiles, then looks back at Powell.

"Aiiii...Dios mio," she says, laughing to herself.

Powell jumps in. "Well, considering the severity of the accident, YOUR doctor at home should keep a close eye on you. There might be problems later that we can't detect now, but...as far as all the tests go, right now everything's cool."

Tea looks back up at Todd, whose face hasn't changed. She giggles, then turns back to Powell, pointing up at Todd. Powell smiles at her, then him, as he gets up.

"Well, I'll get the meds going, and check in on you tomorrow. Um...you should eat something, if you can. I'll have dinner brought up too."

She nods as he turns back around quickly, looking at Todd. "Oh, almost forgot..."

Todd's still frozen. Powell and Tea crack up, looking at him, then she throws her hand up, lightly hitting him.

He snaps out of it. "Huh? What?"

Powell shakes his head, smiling. "I was just gonna say, I checked in on Dr. Atherton."

Tea covers her mouth. "Oh...how is she?"

"Well, she has a skull fracture...but her surgery went well, and she's in ICU now. They'll probably move her to a room tomorrow."

Todd and Tea look at each other, relieved. Todd nods at him. "Thanks, Doc."

Powell waves at them both. "Not a problem. See you tomorrow...and congratulations again."

He walks out, and Todd turns around, sitting down farther on the bed, facing her now. They sit there for what seems like forever, just staring at each other in disbelief. Finally, as if the news made her pain disappear, she smiles that famous smile, big, wide...eyes gleaming with tears of awe ...and joy, then covers her mouth.

"Oh my God," she whispers from behind her fingers, then starts giggling...

...which spreads to Todd, whose face goes from stupefied to just plain happy.

"Damn...I'm gonna be someone's father...AGAIN. Oh-ho-ho, man...WOW."

Tea laughs sweetly, reaching out and smoothing his hair back. "...and I'm gonna be someone's MOTHER. Oh...Deee-os MIO! I can't BELIEVE it! This is TOO weird, Todd...this is NOT us, you know?"

He scoots closer to her, clasping her hand and kissing it. "Well, I guess it is NOW."

They sit there for a while, just smiling at each other, taking it all in. Finally Tea glances down, then back up, her voice low and soft.

"Well...at least SOMETHING good came outta all this, huh?"

He gazes at her a moment...then leans in, nuzzling her nose, whispering to her.

"A lotta good things came outta all this. I got you back...I'm starting to get ME back...and now we're gonna have...a kid..."

He laughs to himself. "...man. THAT'S what's weird, Delgado...it's like we finally got all of that happiness junk dumped in our laps. I...I dunno how to deal."

She giggles, nuzzling back.

"I know...been waiting a LONG time to get happiness dumped on us. But it's gonna be SO great, Todd...I can feel it. It just...FEELS GREAT. I love it. I love YOU."

They look at each other...noses touching, foreheads together. Finally, Todd kisses her again, a little harder...she responds, even though her lip is killing her, kissing him deeply, wrapping her arm around his neck. He pulls back, watching her as her eyes open. He looks at her for a moment, then his voice comes out, low and matter-of-fact...

"I love you, Tea."

She smiles...big and wide, then hugs him tightly, her hand rubbing the back of his head. He buries his face in her shoulder. She starts giggling. He cracks up...

...and they sit there, for a long time, just wrapped around each other, rocking back and forth gently, laughing.

To Be Continued in the Sequel to this Series: The Longest Week