Otis let his eyes flutter open in the morning sunlight. Was he dead? Was this heaven?

"Congratulations, kid. You made it through the night." Cutter said, smiling.

"Oh, thank god..." Eve sighed in relief. "We didn't lose him, John. We didn't lose him." She hugged him tightly.

"I know. Thank god."

You can thank God all you want but my body still hurts like hell... Otis thought.

"That chest tube must have been what he needed. I can't believe all that came out of him." Hugo remarked. "He's still not completely out of the woods, but he's at least better than he was last night. I thought for sure we'd be carrying you out of here in a sheet, kid."

"We stayed with you all night..." Eve commented, yawning. "I'm gonna send Vera up here so she can keep an eye on you now and we can rest."

"Good job, kid. I knew you were a fighter." Cutter smiled.

Vera hesitantly opened the door. "Did...Did he make it?"

"He made it, babygirl." Cutter proudly answered.

"Oh, yay!"

"Can you take over now? We're gonna get some sleep."

"Sure thing!" She sat next to him on the bed, replacing her mother. "I'm so glad you fought...I'm so glad you're still here."

Still too weak to speak, Otis offered a small smile.

"I can't wait to hear your story...To get close to you." She stroked his hair lightly, ignoring his mild flinch. "You want a drink of water?"

Otis nodded. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until she had offered. She propped his head up gently, holding the glass to his lips as he drank greedily.

"Shhh, careful. You'll make yourself sick."

"Thank you..." He managed.

"Aw..." She lightly stroked his face. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting a blow- instead, a tender caress. "That's the first I've heard you talk...You need a shave."

He chuckled slightly, but then broke into a coughing fit, stiffening and groaning in pain once he had finished.

"Whoa, whoa! Relax. Relax..." She held his head in her lap, gently stroking his hair as he caught his breath. "Shhhh...Guess I shouldn't make you laugh, either, huh? I was being serious, though. You're getting long in the whiskers, Otis. Sure it's about the farthest thing from your mind right now, though." He felt her move , but couldn't turn to see what she was doing. He realized when she raked a brush through his hair, cringing as she pulled on knots that had formed over the days he had been immobile. "Sorry...But if you're bed ridden too much longer and I don't brush it out we'll have to cut it off...It's so pretty..."

Once she had untangled his hair, she gently combed through it a few times, just gauging his reaction. His eyes fluttered open and closed, and he struggled to stay awake.

"Awww, you like how that feels? Ain't no body ever taken care of you before?"

Otis sleepily shook his head.

"Ohh...Has...Has anyone ever touched you and it hasn't hurt you? Is that why you flinch?"

Otis nodded.

"I...I'm sorry..." She muttered, stroking his hair as he slipped into sleep.

Otis's fever raged again that night. Baby sat by his side, wiping the sweat off of his brow with a cool cloth as he whimpered and struggled in his sleep.

"Shhhhh, shhhhhh. It's okay. It's okay. No one's gonna hurt you."

"Please...Please stop..." He begged pitifully. "I'll be good...Please Daddy, please..."

She moved to stroke his face, but he flailed, knocking her hands away and crying out in fear. She sighed, unsure of what to do. She needed to get him to calm down. He could hurt himself or pull out one of the tubes in him.

"Well, this calmed you down earlier..." She mumbled, beginning to stroke the brush through his hair. He whimpered and turned his head away at first, but then calmed. After a few moments, he opened his eyes. "Hey. There you are..."

"Angel baby..." He murmured, staring up at her.

"Mmmm..." She stroked his face. He didn't finch- her first cue he wasn't totally 'with it'. "You're still a million miles away, but at least you're a little closer to earth..."

She stayed with him, stroking his hair as he drifted back into darkness.

The next morning, he groaned as sunlight hit his face. She giggled, using her hand to block it from his eyes.

"You back on our planet today?"

He squinted at her questioningly.

"You were pretty far gone last night. That's okay. You're still recovering. Don't worry, you didn't do anything embarrassing."

Within a few days, Otis was sitting up on his own. He was still weak and hurt, but he was improving.

"You look like you're feeling better!" Baby said, smiling.

"Yeah...A little..." He offered a smile.

"You look a lot better. You were cutting it real close there, Otis."

He shrugged. "I...I guess..."

"Well, I'm glad you're better. You're still not 100%, I know, but at least you're out of the woods."

"Yeah..." He glanced at her nervously.

"What'sa matter?"

"I...I don't remember the past few days..."

"Aw, I bet you don't...You were in and out of it so much. Do you remember anything?"

"I remember thinking I was dead...And I looked up and saw your face..."

"Is that when you called me angel baby?"

He chuckled. "Oh. So I did say that out loud."

She laughed. "Yeah, you did. It's okay. I like it!"

"Uhm...Thanks for...For sticking by me."

"You're family now, Otis. Of course. We'll get you up and runnin' in no time. Don't you worry."