The next day, everyone came with Alice and Tina to the hospital to see Bette but also to support Tina. After informing about Bette’s room and condition, they all went up to Bette’s room. As they were looking through the window, they saw how fragile and broken Bette looked. She was hooked to several machines and there were wires everywhere. Tina entered the room and pulled a chair to the side of Bette’s bed. She took Bette’s hand in hers, kissed it and softly whispered words to Bette.
Tina: “Hey baby, it’s me. Everyone is doing fine, we’re just worried about you. I’m just worried about you. God I’m scared Bette. I can’t live without you babe. I don’t know what I’d do. Please come back to me Bette, don’t leave me.”
Tina broke down and cried again. She rested her head on Bette’s body as she sobbed. Alice entered the room and gently hugged Tina.
Alice: “It’s okay Tina. Bette will make it. She’s strong.”
Shane and Dana also entered the room and hugged Tina.
Shane: “Don’t worry Tina. Bette will wake up. You’ll see. I just know she will.”
They staid with Tina for a while until a nurse came in to tell them visiting hours were over.
They stood up but Tina remained seated.
Dana: “Aren’t you coming Tina?”
Tina: “No, I’d like to stay here with Bette. I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes up.”
The nurse saw the look of love in Tina’s eyes and decided she could stay but the others had to go. They all said goodbye and left Tina with Bette. Tina held Bette’s hand for the next hours, talking to her, caressing her, till she was so exhausted she fell asleep with her head on Bette’s stomach. When the nurse came in the next morning, she woke up and saw that Bette was still in a coma. The nurse told her she should go home and take a shower, but Tina refused to leave Bette’s side. Alice came by later that morning and had brought some of Tina’s clothes with her.
Alice: “Hey T. I figured you weren’t going to leave this room so I brought you some clothes and other stuff. Don’t worry, I called your office and told them what happened. They said they were sorry and hoped that everything would go well. You can take a shower here while I sit next to Bette if you want.”
Tina just hugged her friend and thanked her before taking her shower. When she returned she felt much better and was ready to face what had to come. Alice stood up from her chair, making room for Tina. She grabbed another chair and sat down next to Tina.
Alice: “Did she wake up yet?”
Tina: “No, not yet. The doctor said she could wake up any moment. We’ll just have to wait.”
Alice: “Did they tell you what happened?”
Tina: “No not really. I guess I’ll have to ask Jessica that.”
Just as Tina said that, Jessica and Roxanne came through the door. Jessica walked over to Tina and gave her a hug.
Tina: “Thank you for coming Jessica. That’s really nice of you. Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t believe we met yet.”
Roxanne walked over to Tina and extended her hand.
Roxanne: “I’m Roxanne. It’s nice to finally meet put a face to your name Tina, Bette told me a lot about you.”
Tina: “It’s nice to meet you too Roxanne. I just wished we met under other circumstances. This is my friend, Alice. Alice, this is Jessica, Bette’s camp leader, and Roxanne, another activist from Greenpeace.”
Alice: “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Jessica: “Tina I wanted to talk to you about what happened. I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”
Tina: “Yeah I do.”
Jessica: “Do you want for us to grab some coffee and we’ll talk when we return?”
Tina: “I’d love that. Thank you.”
Roxanne: “What about you Alice, do you want some coffee too?”
Alice: “Sure, thanks.”
Jessica and Roxanne made their way out of the room and returned five minutes later with four cups of coffee.
Jessica: “Here you are. Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you what happened.”
They all sat down as Jessica started telling the events that occurred only a few days ago.
Jessica: “Well Bette might have told you that we were chasing a group of hunters?”
Tina: “Yeah she did. She sounded pretty upset too.”
Jessica: “Yeah she was. Well we spotted them and she just dropped everything and ran towards them. They were killing baby seals and she just lost it. She didn’t look were she went, she just ran. Roxanne and I ran after her and we saw her fall through the ice. When we got to her, Roxanne here didn’t think twice before she tied a rope round her waste and jumped in after Bette. She was unconscious and we weren’t able to wake her up. She had been in the water for quite a long time and we are lucky to still have her here with us.”
Tina: “Thank you Roxanne. I can’t start to tell you how grateful I am.”
Roxanne: “It was nothing Tina. Bette was so nice to me after what I had done, it was the least I could do.”
Tina: “Still, you could have died to. Thank you.”
Tina stood up and hugged Roxanne. Jessica and Roxanne stayed for another hour before leaving. They promised Tina to drop by the next day and check up on Bette. Dana and Shane came by at noon with some sandwiches. They all ate together in Bette’s room and shared some pleasant conversation. They were all trying to cheer Tina up and get her mind on something else for a while. Tina thanked her friends for their company as they left her and she joined Bette again. Alice had brought Tina one of Bette’s favorite books and Tina read it out loud to Bette. For the next few days, Tina stayed by Bette’s side and told her what was going on in everybody’s lives. She had also called Bette’s family and they came to visit her too. Tina could see Bette’s family really loved her and was glad they could make it. One night, when Tina was already asleep next to Bette, Bette slowly opened her eyes and confusion filled her mind. Where was she? What had happened? Why was she in this bed? She quickly realized that she was in a hospital. She looked to her left and saw a woman sitting in a chair. It was dark so she couldn’t really see who it was. Before she had time to say anything, she felt herself fall back to sleep.

To be continued…