A/N: I live! Please review!

"How long has he been sleeping?" Coulson asked. He had followed Jemma to Fitz's room in the ICU as soon as she had shared that something might be wrong.

"Only a few minutes, sir." Jemma said.

"Don't wake him." Coulson said, "It'll be better for him to wake up naturally. How soon do you think we could know?"

"I think it would be best to let him sleep." Jemma said. "There are tests that we can do, scans, things to determine what is going on."

"Why didn't we catch this sooner?" Coulson demanded.

Jemma bit her lip. "We did know, sir. They told me that when they brought him in, they ran a CT and an MRI, and detected that there might be something wrong. They said that we wouldn't be able to know the extent of the injury until he woke up."

"And you didn't feel the need to share this?"

"I was hoping for the best." Jemma said. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Where is his doctor?" Coulson asked. "I want to talk to them, and figure out exactly what we're looking at."

It ended up being nine hours before Fitz woke up again. Nine hours of waiting, theorizing, and being prepared for the worst.

Skye was still sitting by his bed. Coulson had forced Jemma to go take a rest, and most of the base was quiet. "Skye?"

"Yeah?" Skye said, rousing herself from the chair. "Hey Fitz. How are you feeling?"

"I, um, it's hard to say." He said quietly. "It's-" his eyes roamed the ceiling above him, his brow wrinkled as he looked for the right word. "Different."

"I know." Skye said, taking his hand. "We know. But we're going to get you better, okay? You're going to be just fine." She looked away hastily. "Uh, how about some water?"

He nodded, and sipped wearily from the straw she offered him. "Where's Jemma?" He asked, looking around in alarm. "Did War-the water?"

"She made it, Fitz. You saved her." Skye reassured him. "She's sleeping now." Reaching for her phone, she texted a quick message to Coulson: He's awake, but he doesn't remember waking up this morning.

Fitz's eyes flickered to the phone. "What day-"

"It's been nine days, Fitz. Almost ten." Skye told him, guessing his question before he finished. He looked confused. "You were in a coma for nine days." She repeated. "That's why you're here, in the hospital."

"Nine." Fitz said, letting his head rest back on the pillows. "Jemma's okay?"

"Jemma's totally fine. You saved her life, Fitz. You're a hero."