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Nate was still asleep when they transferred him a half hour later, and he stayed asleep for several more hours. Eventually, though, he stirred, groaning quietly as he opened his eyes--barely-- and began processing what all was going on.

When Nate stirred, she sat up straight... When she saw his eyes opening, she smiled as best as she could in the situation, and whispered "Hey. Love you..."

When he heard Seren's voice he opened his mouth, wanting to reply but found he didn't quite have his voice at the moment. He cleared his throat, then swallowed... and nearly choked, his throat was so dry. He coughed a few more times, then closed his eyes, brows furrowed as the frustration, on top of everything else, was enough to threaten tears.

It took him long moment to gather himself, at which point he simply gave her hand a squeeze. He barely had the strength to do that, but he hoped she understood.

She squeezed his hand back, but was concerned about the fact that he was having so much trouble, that he nearly choked. She stood, without letting go, and leaned over, pressing a kiss to his forehead, but also pressing the button to ask for the nurse.

When the nurse assigned to him now that he was in a room arrived, she quietly said "Is he allowed to have water, now that he is awake? He seems to be severely dehydrated, he choked trying to talk."

"How about we start with ice chips for now, to be safe?" the nurse, this time a young woman named Lucy, said as she approached and began a quick assessment. She was mindful to address Nate as well, and Nate opened his eyes to show he was, in fact, awake, if a bit groggy. "I am glad to see you up, Mr. Whitmore. Now, if you're in pain, just let me know. The doctor put a few pain meds in for you, as needed. And we can figure out food when you're up for it."

Nate managed a nod, and Lucy gave him a polite smile before looking to Seren. "Does that sound okay for now, the ice? I'm a little concerned about his swallowing while he's still a little groggy, is all."

Seren smiled a little and nodded at Lucy's suggestion. "You are the medical professional here, not I..." Her voice was soft, kind and understanding. "I trust you to know what's best in this situation. Thank you very much for all of your help."

She sat back down in the chair. "I will happily help give them to him, or anything else I can do."

She pressed a gentle kiss to his hand, again, and waited patiently for the ice to arrive, and once it did, she set them on the table besides her, and began to gently give him them, one at a time, as long as he wanted them.

The way she sounded, he wanted to just pull her into his arms and hug her, keep her close to him. He gave her hand a squeeze again, and kept on with the gesture as she fed him the ice for a period of time.

Eventually he was able to swallow without choking, and in a quiet, rather raspy voice, he said, "I love you, Seren." He paused and gave her hand another little squeeze. "I'm really sorry..."

The second squeeze earned him a loving smile, and she was more than patient enough, more than happy enough to keep taking care of him for as long as he needed. She would care for him for the rest of his life if she needed, though she was glad that she didn't. He would be miserable in that situation, and she would never want him miserable.

When he finally spoke, her smile warmed up a little, in relief at the fact that he was able to speak again, even if he was raspy. His apology, though, earned him a surprised and slightly fierce expression. "I love you too, Nate. Always and forever. But don't you go apologizing. This isn't your fault, you didn't do it to yourself. It was that damn fool of a driver who slammed into you who is at fault. You're a victim in this, not to blame."

She offered him some more ice as she continued, in case he wanted to keep working on rehydrating himself. "I don't want you apologizing for what you did not do, did not cause. I just want you focusing on the fact that I love you and am so very grateful you're going to heal up ok, and that you had me listed as your legal emergency contact and decision maker so I could be here to help."

Nate took the offered ice chips slowly, one small bite at a time as he listened, managing a weak smile when she vehemently denied his apology. He nodded slightly, and quietly took the ice chips until he felt he didn't need them anymore.

"Thank you," was all he said after her, and then he closed his eyes and tried to think back to what happened. Not a whole lot came to him, though that was likely because he was still in a great deal of pain. It was tolerable enough, but he wasn't exactly comfortable. He didn't like the fog that the pain medications gave him, though, nor the fact that they would no doubt put him right to sleep in his current state, so he didn't want to ask for anything just yet.

Eventually he gave in and opened his eyes, set his sights on Seren, and asked, "So what exactly happened? Last I remember, the light just turned green and then... mostly black."

Seren watched him as he closed his eyes, wondering what was going through his mind, as she set the chips aside. When he spoke, her eyes closed for a moment, then she sighed and said "You got t-boned, love. a*****e ran the red light as you were going through, and we're lucky he didn't hit farther forwards."

She settled back, unable to relax but not wanting to seem too tense. She went over the situation with him, answering all of his questions and explaining what the doctor had told her.

Finally, though, they finished the discussion, dealt with a few other things, but the nurse eventually came in and told her she would have to leave in half an hour. She arranged for Dai to come get her, and went back to Nate's place, anxious about the situation.