"How’s she doing?" Alice asked, not really wanting to but somehow needing to know before she went in there.

"Better than we’d all expected, really. The new drugs we’ve introduced through the IV seem to be making a world of difference, and her heart rate has been steady for quite awhile now. She’s breathing fine, too." She paused. "Of course, the cancer’s still there and she’ll still have to undergo chemo and probably radiation, but we’re giving her a really low dose of the chemo right now. We’ll be doing more of that when her body’s a little stronger. She’ll need at least a few days after she wakes up to get her equilibrium back, and she’ll be confused and not able to move too well. We’ll take it slow and try to get her back on track with baby steps, though. The really good news is that these drugs seem to have worked wonders on her infection. Her white cell count is back down, and the fever’s gone, so that’s a very good sign. It just means she’ll be drifting in and out for awhile. All in all, she’s looking good. She’s very tired right now, but she’s not comatose anymore, so you can talk to her."

"Thank you," Alice breathed, knowing that Anna wasn’t really allowed to be telling her all of that but appreciating it. When she finally got up the guts to walk in and stand next to Dana, she was a little surprised at how normal she looked. The blue around her lips was gone, and while she was still incredibly pale she had a tiny bit of color on her cheeks. And she wasn’t shivering anymore. The heart monitor was steady, and Dana was breathing deeply. She actually looked pretty peaceful.

"Dane? I just wanted to let you know that I’m here." And then she didn’t know what else to say, so she just took Dana’s hand and kissed it as she started to cry.

From deep inside the strangely comfortable blackness, Dana heard her. She wanted to be able to wake up and tell Alice that she knew, that it was okay and that she loved her, but she was way too far behind the blanket of dark softness to be able to.

"I’m so sorry, Dana. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t know how bad it was when I left, I promise I didn’t! I came back in and I saw you laying there and you weren’t breathing and all I could think was that it was my fault because I left when I told you I wouldn’t. I thought maybe you thought I’d given up on you. I want you to know that I’d never do that. Ever. I love you so much and I’m right here. I love you, Dana. I love you."

She kept saying it as she cried, over and over again, and Dana could feel tears falling onto the hand that Alice was still holding. She felt horrible at having caused her guilt, and all she wanted was to be able to tell Alice that the only reason she was alive was because of her unconditional love and faith that she could win. She wanted to tell her about the happy place as it was all fading away, and how Alice’s simply being there had made her turn around and run the other way. It frustrated the hell out of her that she couldn’t, and she vowed to as soon as she was able to see through the blackness. With an immense effort, she was able to tighten her fingers ever so slightly around Alice’s. For a minute, she was unsure if it had been enough, but then she felt Alice’s lips pressing against hers and her arms wrapping around her as best they could in a hug.

Alice babbled for a few minutes, telling Dana all about the concussion, her own condition and Helena’s legal troubles before telling her again that she loved her and would be seeing her soon. Before Dana let the blackness completely overtake her again, she felt Alice put something fuzzy next to her on the bed so that it touched her arm. Alice kissed her again and told her that she loved her for the millionth time, then left the room after turning the flower on so it would sing. From the happy place, Dana had to laugh at it.