Within the Script (A Stanathan Fanfiction)

Chapter Eighteen: Concerns

A week passed. Stana didn't say a word to Nathan about the "I love you" thing, but she didn't hold a single word against it. Instead, she remained content in seeing him every day and talking to him. By his demand, she went home for more than an hour daily. She slowly began to actually get back to a normal schedule, running in the mornings, showering, eating, going to the hospital for a few hours, coming home to work with the production company and other odds and ends before going back for a few more hours in the evening until he fell asleep and she came home to sleep (again, by his demand).

He was getting stronger, getting better and stabilizing, but the doctors were rather concerned about his lack of stamina. He was getting better, able to walk around a bit and talk most of the day away, but by now, they expected a man of his age and strength to be able to go farther faster. They were pushing him to do more, but they didn't want to push him too hard. Still, there was discussion of releasing him on bed rest as soon as he was able to lap their level in under seven minutes (a task taking two minutes at a typical pace). They chalked all of this up to the coma and suggested his muscles could get back to full strength within another week. It was a hard thing to picture, but Stana didn't dare question it so long as Nathan was working as hard as he could.

At the last dash of the hallway (a so far nine minute walk) Stana walked slightly ahead of Nathan for a moment, seeing Jon at the other end looking for Nathan and her. As she glided ahead, he watched her leave, not oblivious to the outline of her body in those tight jeans. She caught up with Jon in just enough time to stumble into him. "Hey," Jon said quickly.

"Hey, I didn't think you were coming by today. I mean, your wife said you were out until Tuesday," Stana told him, then adding to his wary eyes, "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you."

He smiled, "Well, I carved out some time. Molly said he was getting anxious to get out of here."

"Really?" Stana looked at the man approaching her and spoke a bit more softly. "I don't see that."

The man's brow bent as Nathan approached and he huffed out a questioning sound. When Nathan finally pulled up beside the pair, he greeted Jon, "Long time, no see, Jon. Where've you been?"

"Working," Jon replied. "I haven't been able to sleep fifteen hours every day like some people."

"Fifteen?!" Nathan questioned loudly, faking insult. "Try twelve."

"Down to twelve?" Jon asked.

Stana smiled and nodded. "Down to twelve."

"And to think you were a vegetable only a short week ago," Jon grinned. "So, if he's down to twelve hours and he's up and moving, do we know when he's going home yet?"

Stana and Nathan looked at each other a moment and thought aloud together, "Soon." His hand had crept down to hers and taken hold of it.

"Well aren't we lovey dovey today," Jon teased again.

She then answered with a smile, "If you can't handle it, Jon, then you're free to leave." He rolled his eyes, and led the way into Nathan's room. While she helped Nathan into bed, Stana asked, "So, Jon, how's the hiatus treating you?"

"Not too terribly. Outside of that one's medical issues, it's gone pretty smoothly," Jon answered. "How has the hospital been?"

Stana shrugged. "Not too bad. Spare your quips, it's been pretty decent. Nathan?"

"Red Jello is good and TV and Twitter are great. I've got very little to complain about when this one's around." Stana blushed a bit. After this, she switched the topic and tried to make lighter conversation until Jon had to go.

As he left, he pulled Stana out with him to do what he came here to do. In the hall, he guided his friend far from Nathan's room in order to keep the conversation from reaching him. Jon then looked Stana in the eye, ignored her anger and said, "You know this thing that you're doing with Nathan can't just be a thing, right? You two can't just be a thing to one another. That cannot happen. You know that, right?"

"I know," Stana stated, bewildered by the idea that they didn't know she knew that.

He then nodded and shifted around in his place, turning to her in only enough time to say, "Good."

She nodded before asking, "Was that it?"

"Yeah, that's it," he said. "They just wanted me to make sure you knew that."

"Who's 'they'?"

Jon looked at her as though the answer was obvious. "The cast and writers and everyone really."

"Ah," she said, hiding her displeasure at that answer.

He then told her, "And Marlowe wants to meet with the two of you to discuss some episode writing crap. And a couple of the heads want to recraft your contracts."

"What? Why?"

"Incase that goes south," Jon stated. She didn't know what to say, so she simply nodded and pulled Jon into a goodbye hug when the time came. When he was gone, as she walked back toward Nathan's room, she couldn't help thinking about how this could go wrong. She knew he loved her and- she wasn't sure of what she felt for him aside from the strength of it. But- if something did happen with this, she couldn't imagine breaking up with him and still working with him. She could certainly work, but he fell hard when things went bad. That could mean an end to her career as well as his own. But she didn't breathe a word of that to Nathan. She just mindlessly carried on without saying a word, a tactic that unfortunately seemed to work and was becoming habit.

------------------------------------------------------------
A.N: I promise an action packed chapter next chapter.