After
a few more hours of resting, Bette awoke to find Tina staring at her intently.
Bette felt weak and tired even though she had been dozing on and off for nearly
a day. She was not in pain, but she did feel rather groggy.

Bette
blinked several times and tried to focus on Tina. When her eyes adjusted she
said “Hi”.

Tina
smiled back to her and said “Hi you…” Tina brushed her hand through Bette’s
wild hair and landed her hand on Bette’s arm. 
Bette reached out for her hand and entwined their fingers.

Bette
said softly “Tee kiss me!”

Tina
bent down and placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s lips.  As she inched away she said “Hi my love. How
are you?”

Bette
said “I am tired Tee and so weak!”

Tina
said “Are you in pain Bette?”

Bette
quickly shook her head and said “No, I don’t feel any pain. I am just
exhausted.”

Tina
said “Well, you lost a lot of blood and had to have a series of blood
transfusions, so you have to give your body some time to rest up and recover”.

Bette
said “I feel like that is all I have been doing is resting up and recovering
and then something else happens to knock me back down”.

Tina
scowled and thought to herself how unfortunate the timing was for this
conversation that she knew she could not put off or sugar coat to Bette. She
took a deep breath and decided to just get it out of the way and then do what
she needed to do to help Bette get through it and get back to the business of
recovering.

Bette
noticed Tina’s scowl and then her deep thinking and said “Tee? Is everything
ok?’

Tina
exhaled and said “Bette, I don’t quite know how to tell you this. You have been
through so much. You don’t deserve any of what has happened to you and you have
been so strong and brave. I want you to know that I am right here with you. I
am not going anywhere and you can count on me to stay with you and help you
through your recovery”.