John Carter laid in his hospital bed, an oxygen line running through his nose. He was awake and in pain. The ceiling was uninteresting, and John's mind wondered to Surgical ICU. His back twinged and he was tired. These last few days had been the longest of his life. The white hospital gown fell of his left shoulder, but he hadn't noticed. The revolving door of people made his head hurt. All of his colleges from the hospital had checked on him—Doctor's Anspaugh and Benton had checked his vitals a few hours ago when the sun was a speck on the horizon. They chatted with Carter for a bit before admiring their work, and leaving him to get some rest.

Deb Chen had been by, checking on the man whom she had considered a brother. She'd observed him for a while after her shift was over, and she placed a hand in his shoulder as he slept, hoping he would never remember the last few days. Mark Greene had just stared at him, unable to speak. The pair exchanged a look and Mark headed back to the ER to try to help the rest of the staff regain a sense of normalcy.

Every inquest into the condition of the woman who had his heart was ignored. No one told him anything, and John hoped for the best but prepared himself for the worst. That was his only choice, and he hated it.

"I see you're awake." the gruff voice floated from the other side of the door.

He shrugged, not in the mood to deal with the cocky surgeon. "What do you want, Dr. Romano?"

"I was personally sent on this mission by a Miss Lucy Knight," he chuckled grabbing his gold stetoscope from his neck, and listening to John's heart.

"One of the nurses can do that." Carter replied, not even listening. He knew what was coming next. Romano was here to tell him that Lucy was dead—and he couldn't bear that.

"They'd probably kill you. Besides, I wanted to check out Benton's handiwork for myself. You'll probably have a scar." He checked John's stitches.

I'm so sorry, Luce. It should've been me.

Dr. Romano observed John's far away look. "Are you listening?"

"Yeah. Pulse ox 97 on 100 liters. Got it."

"Woah, I'm sorry, Dr. Carter. Wrong answer. You don't win the grand prize now." Romano snorted, his sarcasm oddly comforting in the abyss.

Carter looked at him as if he had three heads. John's brown eyes had traces of life left in them, but it was faint and nly decorated the edges.

"Carter," Romano said in a serious voice, "Miss Knight is alive."

"No! You're lying!"

"I'm many things, but a liar isn't one of them." he clucked his tongue. "You should know that by now. Besides, nobody dies on my table Carter."

Carter nodded, his hair disheveled. Rocket Romano was a lot of things, but a liar and an incompetent surgeon he wasn't.

"How is she?" he whispered, suddenly unable to find the words.

"She's stable. She was awake earlier, and asking for you. I'd say you both were very lucky."

"This is all my fault." Tears sprung up in Dr. Carter's eyes.

"Did you stab Lucy and yourself with that knife?" He waited for the young doctor's answer. While he didn't particularity care for the rich kid who had decided to play doctor, he knew his new student had a thing for him. He figured they shpuld at least get the chance to screw it up themselves. At least they could do it in person, and not because one or both of them was in the morgue. Rocket shuddered, pushing that thought from his mind. They were both fine. Lucy was fine, and she would start her training soon.

"No, but i didn't listen to her," John admitted.

"You'll have plenty of time for self-deprecation and guilt later, but right now she needs you to be strong. She's going to need someone to help her through this."

"I'll do it." his eyes were determined, and Romano smirked.

"I know you will."

"Dr. Romano, thank you. Thank you for saving Lucy—thank you for not giving up on her—and thank you for saving me in a way because if i'd lost her—"

Dr. Romano noted something on his chart and sat down beside him. "Well, technically, Eliza—Dr. Corday helped. And, you can thank me later, Carter by taking care of her. I didn't save my new student for you to break her heart."

"Student?" John asked, his blood pressure rising slightly.

Rocket understood he had to keep John calm. "Yes, and while I'd love to rub it in your face right now, I'm too tired." Robert didn't have the heart to tell the patient just how close Dr. Corday had come to not saving the woman with the blonde hair. Couldn't bear to tell him that Lizzie didn't believe Lucy would survive, and Romano had to convince her to keep trying. He would only tell him if necessary and if he ever needed to know. Rocket deiced it wasn't beneficial to Carter's recovery to tell him.

The gold stetoscoped surgeon stood, his eyes fixed and his poker face strong. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, why?"

"How bout I let you see her, and I"ll see what I can do about moving you into Surgical?"

John's face brightened. He smiled, happy to finally get out of this room and see the one person he'd been dying to. Carter cursed as he sat up, and he gripped the sheets. The pain was worse than ever before, and he fought to stay conscious.

While he swung his legs over the side of the bed, Dr. Romano found a wheel chair. "You can walk if you like or i can wheel you."

John stood, holding onto the IV stand as he tried to find his legs again. He nodded, and took a few steps, sweating and groaning before falling. Robert followed him with the chair and caught the young doctor before he hurt himself.

"Thanks." he pulled at the gown, adjusting it and making sure he was comfortable.

"Carter, stop saying that. You'll make me soft." The pair laughed as mischief and relief coated Romano's eyes.

"We can't have that now, can we?" Carter agreed as Romano pushed him down the hall.

Dr. Romano dropped Carter off inside Lucy's room. "She's sleeping now, but you can stay as long as you like."

Carter wheeled himself to her side, and took her left hand.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Page me if you need me." Rocket yawned, his mouth full of perfectly white teeth.

"Seriously, Dr. Romano, thank you."

"Take care of her, Carter."

—

The fit doctor hardly remembered the drive home or stumbling up his steps into his house. Every inch of him was tired—he'd been on for 48 hours, and he needed a date with his king sized bed.

Removing his black overcoat, he threw it over the gray armchair to his right. Gretel greeted him with slobbery kisses, and he managed to bend over and shower her with affection. He fed her and drug himself down the hall to his room.

He stripped down to his boxers, leaving the pile of scrubs on the floor. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers up, adjusting the pillows until they were perfect. The horrors of the last few days were gone. Closing his eyes, dreams of a certain red-haired surgeon lured him into peaceful sleep.

—

Elizabeth Corday made her final rounds of the evening, and headed into the Surgeon's lounge. She grabbed the pillow and blanket out of the supply locker and placed them on the couch. She had to be up in a few hours, otherwise she would've gone home to her lonely apartment and her decently-comfortable bed. Thoughts of her nap with Romano earlier nagged at her, and she couldn't help but smile.

She slipped off her shoes and laid her pager on the table, pushing the horrors of the last few days from her mind. Laying down, she closed her eyes, pulled into sleep by dreams of a handsome surgeon.