As her lips began to tremble Bette whispered softly, “Tina?”  Reaching out her hand, Tina gently cupped Bette’s chin.  Tears began to flow freely down Bette’s face and once again she closed her eyes tightly.  Tina moved her hands upward and softly cupped Bette’s face.  Looking tenderly at the shell of a women before her, Tina realized how truly broken this had left her.  As Bette’s shoulders began to shake, she turned her head and pressed her cheek tightly against Tina’s hand.  Tina began to gently trace the path left by Bette’s tears.  As she gently stroked her lovers face, she began to trace Bette’s lips.  The touch of her hand was so light that Bette feared if she were to open her eyes that Tina would be gone.  “Bette, are you o.k.?  How do you feel?” Tina asked in a voice barely above a whisper.  “Lost,” Bette quietly replied.

            After filling in Shane and Dana about what she hoped was happening upstairs with Tina and Bette, Alice let out a deep sigh.  “Let’s just hope that we did the right thing,” she said nervously.  “The only thing that I know is that those two really love each other.  I know that they have a long way to go, but they truly belong together.” She added.  “There was never any doubt about that, said Dana, “But has anyone just come out and asked Bette what the ***** she was thinking when she got involved with Candace?  What reason could possibly justify throwing away a loving seven year relationship for a piece of *****?” 

            “Tina, why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”  asked Bette as she finally opened her eyes.  “After what happened between you and Candace I realized that I was no longer what you wanted or needed.  I didn’t think that it would be fair to you because I knew that you would feel obligated to me because I was pregnant.  Honestly I didn’t think that other than feeling that guilt that you cared one way or the other about me,” Tina said sadly.  “Oh God Tina can’t you see that nothing matters more to me than you,” whispered Bette through her tears.  “Let’s not do this out here in the hall,” said Tina.  As she attempted to rise from the wheelchair, it suddenly rolled backwards causing her to stumble.  Bette instinctively threw her arms around her to keep her from falling.  Tina held tightly to Bette as their bodies landed squarely against one another.  Tina found her head resting against Bette’s heart which was beating so loudly that she thought if would come through her chest.  She thought of all the times that they had made love when she would fall asleep on Bette’s chest with her arms wrapped tightly around her.  Listening to the sound of Bette’s heartbeat slowly returning to normal had always soothed Tina’s soul and sleep would come easily.  Many times she would wake up in exactly the same position, still wrapped securely in the safety of Bette’s arms.

            Suddenly both women realized that they were still holding tightly to each other.  For whatever reason though, neither woman wanted to be the first to let go.  Tina looked up into Bette’s eyes and saw a look of desperation and loss loss for a time long ago.  Both women still had tears flowing down their faces as they slowly released one another.  Bette placed her arm tightly around Tina’s waist and began to gently guide her to her room.  As they approached the bed, Bette helped Tina sit down and lifted her legs up onto the bed, removing her slippers. Pulling the covers up around Tina’s chest she absently leaned over and pressed her lips to Tina’s forehead. 

            The door opened and Alice, Shane and Dana entered the room.  “*****!” said Shane.  “We can come back later.”  “No,” said Bette quietly, “I should probably go.”  Tina quickly reached out and grabbed her hand saying softly, “Please don’t.”  “We are going to go ahead and leave now,” said Alice.  “Shane and I really need to head back to L.A.” added Dana.  “I am going to go back to Tina’s and get a shower and a little more rest,” said Alice.  Bette slowly nodded her head never taking her eyes off of Tina.  “Call me later and we will go rent you a car or whatever we need to do,” said Alice.  As the door closed behind the three women, Tina gently turned the edge of the cover down and pulled Bette towards the bed.  Bette slipped off her shoes and slid into the bed.  “Hold me,” the two women said almost simultaneously.  Although both women knew that there was so much that needed to be said, the only sound in the room was that of gentle breathing as the two held each other tightly and slowly drifted off to sleep.