Tina stood looking down at the floor and did not want to make direct eye contact with Bette. She knew that Bette was going to be really mad about being back in the hospital, especially since she was finally sprung a few days ago. After a few minutes Tina looked over in Bette’s direction and saw that she was staring straight ahead with her arms folded across her chest.  Tina forcasted that Bette did not exactly look approachable. 

After a few more minutes of awkward silence and tension that you could cut with a knife Tina said “ Babe, are you going to speak to me?”

Bette continued to stare forward and not answer Tina. She squinted her eyes and furrowed her brows to further show her annoyance, as thought it was not apparent enough from her body language.

Tina said “Bette, please… I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t know what else to do”.

Bette said “How about talk to me and ask me if I thought of all this was necessary!”

Tina took that opportunity to move closer to Bette’s bed and talk to her.  Tina said “ Bette, I am sorry. I panicked. You do look so much better now and maybe I jumped the gun. I just love you so much, I don’t want to lose you. I felt overwhelmed and nervous. Bette, forgive me, I had your best interest in mind. I swear, I did”.

Bette started crying and said “Tee, I just got a chance to be out of the hospital and I did not want to be back here. I don’t want to be in the hospital anymore. I am ready to move on. I can’t stand it here. I can’t stand all the poking and prodding and the machines and the doctors. I just want my life back. I want us back. I don’t want to be here”.

Tina moved closer in and took a hold of Bette’s hand and said “Sweetie, I am so sorry. I know that you don’t want to be here and I want us to move forward with our lives as well, but I want you to be in tip top shape and healthy. This is a great hospital and Dr. Miller has been great treating you. I want them to continue to be involved until you are recovering and feeling better. We knew the recovery would be slow and that there would be bumps in the road and I am right here with you all the time, working with you to get past this. I won’t leave you Bette. We are here together for however long it takes to get through this and get you back in shape. I will stay in the hospital with you. You won’t be here alone”.