Title: Triptych: In the Blink of an Eye; In the Eye of the Beholder; In the Mind's Eye
Rating: PG13
Summary: Trying to figure out how this season ties together and how the series will end next season, this is what came to my mind.
Words: about 1000
Disclaimer: Mine Mine Mine. Or not.
Beta: Belladionne gave this a read and made me post it! All mistakes are mine and mine alone.
Warnings/Spoilers: Don't think there are anything
Written: April 20–ish, 2010
Feedback: Love it. Feed the monster.

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In the Blink of an Eye

Amazing how quickly everything can change. You think I'd be used to it by now. Being a military brat meant moving all the time, never really getting settled, always living in a state of upheaval.

One day it's a bright sunny spring day and you're out enjoying it with your girlfriend, and in the blink of an eye there is nothingness….Pain and nothingness. It never goes away. I shouldn't be aware of the pain but it is pervasive – nothing will stop it from breaking through.

Maybe one day I'll blink again and things will be different.

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In the Eye of the Beholder

She sat holding his hand, telling him about yesterday, about what she had to get done today, telling him jokes, looking for some reaction, any reaction. He lay there, mostly still, but occasionally his head and limbs would move involuntarily.

The door slid open quietly and she turned, startled – no one else was usually around this early.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, " he said, looking at the form in the bed.

"No, it's fine. I just didn't expect to see you in this early."

"Yeah, I usually stop by for lunch, but I have meetings all day and won't have a chance to talk with him. There's a big Monster Truck rally tomorrow night; figured I'd see if he wanted some company for it…"

"So it's on a pay-per-view and you figured you could write it off as a hospital expense if you watched it here with him," she laughed with a grin.

"Ya got me! It seems to make him happy… calmer somehow. I should come more often. I just don't know…don't know what to say, to do. It's been so long. Does it even make a difference anymore?"

"I don't know. I'd like to think so. Maybe one day something will change. I like to keep him updated. I tell him almost everything… Heaven help me if he ever…if he ever…", she faltered, not able to finish the thought, tears welling in her eyes.

He was quiet for a bit, watching her. "You know, it's not your fault. You are NOT responsible for any of this. This is what he wanted. "

"To be in a coma forever? "

"No, to not be in pain. We all thought he would only be in the coma a few days, a week maybe. Not even he thought it would be permanent. But it was just too much for his body to take. He threw two more clots, more muscle died, he knew there would be a chance of complications. He's not even really in a coma any more, it's more a minimally conscious state."

She was quiet for a bit, absorbing what he had said, thinking about the last few years.

"Sometimes I think he's THERE, still trying to find a way back to us. Maybe that's why I keep him up to date on everything going on." She paused again, stroking his hand, his cheek trying to make some sort of contact with him.

"He responds sometimes. I told him about Vogler coming into the hospital and almost taking everything I had achieved away – that got him riled up. The wheelchair guy with Addison's - I don't know how I solved that one… I tell him about the odd or unsolvable cases that come through the ER and the clinic. He seems to react to them. I wish I knew what was going on in his brain.

"After the Ketamine, he seemed…better. More responsive somehow. And there was less pain; he seemed to have responded to it, at least for a bit. We almost had him back. Then…"

Interrupting, he said "Then he threw another clot. You had no choice – you had to amputate. We should have done that to begin with."

"When he wakes up, he'll be furious with me. You're right, I had to take the leg. He didn't want that; he thought he would ride out the pain in the coma and then it would be okay. Then it was the Ketamine but that didn't last. When he threw another clot in his thigh I had no choice; not if he was to have a chance of coming out of this. Maybe I should have let him go then. Have I been wrong to keep him this way?"

Gently he sighed and said "Lisa…. it's been almost 15 years. How much longer can we keep this up? I don't mean I want us to talk about pulling the plug on him, but I'm at a loss at what we do now. Your position here has allowed us to keep him close to us, to keep him in a private room here where he has constant attention, but how much longer will that last? You dress him in his tees- and pajama pants instead of hospital-issue pajamas; you even keep his scruff the way you know he likes it."

"I'm not ready to give up on him. He's THERE… he's just trying to find his way out. Stubborn as always. Has to be right."

"It's your choice… I don't want to lose him either, but I'm not sure it's fair to any of us to keep him this way."

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In the Mind's Eye

I am invincible. In my mind's eye I can solve any case they bring me.

This is all too easy for me – a random idea from one of them leads me to a diagnosis that no one else would have ever seen.

Her touch – I can feel that. Somehow it makes me feel…better. Like there is something there.

His friendship. How he is there even when I give him nothing in return.

I want that to be real. I want to be able to reciprocate; to let them know it's okay.

If only I could wake up and not be in pain.