Untouchable

Chapter Nine

Evangeline

"Hey, here's some coffee." I looked up and Maya was standing in front of me holding a cup out for me.
"Grazie. Why aren't you at work?" I asked as she sat next to me.
"I wanted to be here. I know we're not close, but I am marrying your sister. And I do consider you one of my friends." She smiled softly at me.
"Thank you. For everything." I felt my eyes full up with tears.
"You wanna go to the chapel?" She asked.
"Yeah. Will you come with me?"
She nodded and we both left the waiting room.

We entered the chapel and I walked over to the candles. I'm not a very religious person, but I'm praying to whatever is up there or whatever God's are real that Amelia makes it out.
I lit a candle and watched the flame cackle.

"Do you uh, do you wanna pray?" Maya asked.
"Sì." I walked to the front of the chapel, made the sign of the cross and kneeled.

"Give me strength I need today Lord, may I thrive in the power of your spirit. May your love be the passion in my heart. May your joy be my strength when times are hard. May your presence be my peace that overflows. Amen." I made the sign of the cross and stood up again.

"Let's go back to the waiting room. They should be coming back with an update soon." Maya suggested.
"Thank you, Maya. I appreciate you being here."

We walked out of the chapel, and back to the waiting room as Tom was walking up.

"Is she okay? Did she make it?" I hurried over and asked.
"Yes. She did amazing. More importantly, I did amazing. You all can go see her in a few hours." He said with a smile.

I quickly gave him a hug, tears rolling down my face.
"She's okay DeLuca. She's good." He patted my back awkwardly.
I let go of him and wiped my face.
"Hey, let's go outside." Carina gently pulled on my arm.

Carina, Maya and I walked outside and I took a deep breath of fresh air.
"How are you feeling?" Carina asked.
"Better now that I know she's okay. Maya and I went to the chapel and I prayed for strength." I said as I lit a cigarette.
"I'm glad she's okay. You know, she has a long road to recovery ahead of her."
"I know. And I'm gonna be there for her every step of the way." I nodded as I took a drag of my cigarette.

"Amelia? Oh my God she's waking up." Meredith said.
I shot up from my chair, and stood by her bed.
"Amy? Amy can you hear me?" I asked.
She blinked and looked at us all.
"Amelia?" Tom checked her eyes.

"Why isn't she talking?" Maggie asked.
"It's normal. She'll start talking soon. Most patients don't even wake up this soon post op." He stated.
"See? I told you you'd be okay." I gently kissed her forehead.

*A few hours later*

"She's talking?" Meredith asked as she ran in.
"Sort of." Andrew said with a smile.
Amelia muttered something in French.
"The hell?" Alex asked.
"It's French!" Maggie exclaimed.
"Amelia speaks French?" Alex asked.
"I speak French. Amelia speaks German." Maggie said.
"What's she saying?" Meredith asked.
"She said she needs a glass of water."

I immediately grabbed the water and poured her a cup.
"Merci." She said as I held the straw to her mouth.
"All the Shepherd children went to French preschool!" Meredith exclaimed.
"It's still in her brain somewhere?" I asked.

"I've seen this before, it reverses on its own. But it's still good, it's still progress."
Maggie asked her something in French, and Amelia responded confused.

"What she say?" Alex asked.
"I asked her if she could speak in English, she said she didn't even know she could speak French."
We all chuckled, and I grabbed Amelia's hand.

"Pouvez-vous demander à tout le monde de me donner, à moi et à Evangeline, un menuet seul ? Et allez-vous traduire?"
"She asked if everyone would give her and Evangeline a moment alone. And she wants me to stay to translate."
Everyone nodded and left.
"Amy this can wait till you can speak English." I squeezed her hand.
Maggie translated my message.

"Non, ça ne peut pas. Parce que je dois le dire maintenant. Je t'aime aussi, Evangeline DeLuca. Je t'aime tellement, tellement. Et il est peut-être tôt car je t'aime, mais je m'en fiche même. Parce que mon cœur dit que je t'aime." Amelia spouted off, her eyes filling with tears.

Maggie cleared her throat awkwardly, "She Uh... she said 'No it can't. Because I have to say this now. I love you too, Evangeline DeLuca. I love you so, so much. And it might be early for I love you but I don't even care. Because my heart is saying that I love you.'"
"You heard me? You love me too?" I felt a tear roll down my face as I smiled.

Maggie told her what I said.
"Oui. Je t'aime. Je suis amoureux de toi, italien fou." Amelia smiled.
"She said, 'I do. I love you. I'm in love with you, you crazy Italian.'"

I laughed softly, and leaned down and pressed a kiss against her's.
"I'll leave you two alone now." Maggie smiled softly and left the room.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before you went under. I was just scared."
She nodded and squeezed my hand.
We both fell asleep holding onto each other tight.

"I love you." I heard Amelia say.
"Huh?" I yawned and sat up.
"I love you, Evangeline." She said again.
"Wait, you just spoke English!" I exclaimed, fully awake this time.
"I did?"
"You did! Anita, page Meredith, Tom, Andrea, everybody!" I shouted at the nurse in the hallway.

"God, Amelia. I love you, I love you." I leaned down and gave her a kiss.
"I love you too Evangeline." She smiled at me.
"God it sounds so good to hear you say that in English." I laughed.
"I can say it in German too. Ich liebe dich, Evangeline DeLuca."

"I'll never get tired of hearing you say that. In any language." I kissed her forehead.