“Bette’s fine, I think, she’s recovering. The doctors say that she should be out of the hospital by the end of the week, I think she’s going through more shock than anything right now.”

“That’s good, I’m sure she’ll be happy to know you’re there for her.”

“I think I’ve gotten too involved with this one, Jin, it’s like she’s got me in this whirlwind of emotion. Maybe if I hadn’t been so clouded by how I felt about her, I could have solved the case faster and maybe have seen…”

“Don’t you go blaming yourself for what happened,” Jin cut in, “You know you tried your best.”

“I don’t think I tried my best with this case, I think I have let myself get too tied up with how I’m feeling.”

“So what do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know. I’m torn.”

“Perhaps you should talk to Bette about this? Are you going to see her in the hospital today?”

“Yea, after this coffee,” Gen said, feeling a little better after she had taken a gulp of her Americano.

“You can’t keep blaming yourself,” Jin replied, putting her hand around Gen, “You always do that, blame yourself for how things turn out, but sometimes it’s out of our control, ok?”

Gen smiled at Jin, appreciating her understanding. If only she knew where she was going to go from here.

◊◊◊

Bette awoke to the bright sun shining through the windows of her ward, her body still ached as she moved to sit up on her bed. The nurse had brought her some breakfast earlier, but she had no appetite. The events from the night before still kept playing through her mind, and her rest was disturbed because she was afraid to close her eyes. She had only managed to drift off to sleep at dawn. The light comforted her, although she was never afraid of the dark before.

She turned, hearing someone open the door to her ward.

“Hey,” Gen said as she walked in.

Bette smiled seeing Gen’s familiar face, “Hey yourself,” she managed, trying to sit up.

“Don’t sit up,” Gen told her, briskly walking to her side and helping her adjust her pillows. Gen felt Bette’s skin as she held her, and the warmth of her feelings for Bette washed over her.

“How are you feeling?” Gen asked.

“Better now that you’re here,” Bette replied.

Bette reached out to hold Gen’s hand, and gave it a squeeze.

Gen looked at Bette, admiring her wavy hair that lay tussled on her pillow, her large brown eyes that seemed to be able to read her soul, her nose that crinkled whenever she smiled or laughed, her lips that always tasted so sweet to kiss.

Gen looked down to the floor, shutting her eyes tightly, trying to formulate what she wanted to say.

She looked up at Bette, hoping her expression hadn’t given her away.

Bette looked confused, “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“This might be a bad time, but we need to talk.”