Mike slowly opened his eyes. His body was sore, his chest hurt like hell, but he was alive. Which he didn't think was possible when Charlie had stabbed him. The memory of the knife sliding into his chest caused more pain there. But Mike was alive. Ryan had saved him.
"Mike?"
Mike turned his head slightly towards the voice. Ryan was sitting in a chair at Mike's side. He had a worried yet relieved look on his face. "Ryan…" Mike tried to speak. His throat was dry, his voice hoarse. "I… didn't… I didn't…"
Ryan put a hand on Mike's shoulder. "It's okay, Mike," he said calmly, "I know you didn't tell them." Soon, Mike fell back asleep. The doctors had told Ryan that he might wake-up for only a few minutes before falling back to sleep. It could happen a few times before Mike would be able to stay awake much longer than that.
Ryan watched Mike sleep, the rise and fall of his chest; listened to the beating machines around him. Mike had gone through bell, just to make sure the followers didn't find out Claire's location. Most people would have given in but not Mike. Ryan hadn't even known that Mike knew Claire's location.
A nurse came by to check on Mike. "Has he woken-up at all?," she asked.
"Yes." Ryan answered, not taking his eyes off of Mike.
"About what time was that?"
"Close to 1:30," Ryan said checking his watch and seeing it was now 3:00 A.M.
"Just for a few minutes?"
"Yes."
"Hmm…"
Ryan pulled his eyes away from Mike to look at the nurse. She had blonde hair, brown eyes. She wore a nurse's uniform. But what struck Ryan as odd was that she was staring at Mike. "Is there anything else?" he asked.
"No." she as she left.
Ryan turned his attention back to Mike. Not long after she left, another nurse came in. She was elderly. When she asked if Mike had woken-up, Ryan asked, "Didn't the other nurse take care of this?"
"You must be mistaken," She said kindly, "I'm the first nurse who has come to check on him today. Now, what time did he wake-up?"
"1:30," Ryan said as he got up. He went into the hall and dialed Parker. "Parker," he said when she answered. "I think one of Joe's followers was at the hospital."
"Don't bother," he said when she was about to lockdown the hospital. "She's long gone by now."