Jean watched Alice carefully over the next few days while Matthew recovered in the hospital. They had to keep him under light sedation to recover and she knew it ragged on Alice's nerves. Hospital staff walked on eggshells around Dr. Harvey, especially when she was on her rounds after checking on Matthew; she was short with police too whenever her duties as Police Surgeon called her away from Matthew's side.

Luckily, Hobart had experience dealing with a prickly Alice Harvey and let a lot of it slide; Peter tried to be there for her as much as he could (Sergeant Carter, however, was not thrilled and the two of them butted heads often). Jean was usually also called in with Alice to smooth ruffled feathers and she prayed that Matthew would recover quickly.

Alice haunted the house, rattling around the halls long after Amy was done for the day and Jean busy with council paperwork in the study. Whe she didn't have work, Alice would curl up on the couch, staring unseeing at the walls as her tea grew cold, read books without actually reading them, or sit out in the sunroom long after the sun had gone down. With Lucien's disappearance, his practice dried up and the patients moved on (though Agnes Clasby liked to stop by now and then for a visit), so there wasn't anything Jean could really distract Alice with.

Not that she'd send patients to her in this state.

Jean took care of her, made sure she ate and showered and slept in between shifts at the hospital and calls out to the station. She let Alice have Mattie's old room, up on the second floor, but most mornings the bed was still made and Jean would tiptoe down to Matthew's room on the first floor to find Alice curled up on top of his bed - her arms wrapped tightly around one of his pillows, his thick green bathrobe draped over top of her like a blanket.

She never breathed a word about it to Alice; she simply woke her friend for the day with a steaming cup of strong tea and helped her work through cases while they waited for Matthew to wake up.


Alice pinched at the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh, trying to will away the headache building behind her eyes. Her eyes burned with grit - sleep was fitful, even surrounded by the comforting smell of Matthew's things (old books, pipe tobacco, the spice of his aftershave, and mint); she hadn't slept this little since her medical school days and it was starting to catch up with her. Her nerves and patience were almost completely shot, most of the hospital staff gave her a wide berth in the halls - only approaching her if they absolutely needed to - and Alice saved all of her tact for dealing with patients.

Jean was blessedly understanding, usually making sure she didn't tread on too many toes while fulfilling her police surgeon duties, trying to get Alice to rest more, and that both of them were well fed on top of her council meetings and jobs.

(She'd have to thank her profusely when this was all over)

Only Nurse Wolfe would talk to her, keeping her up to date on various patients and hospital gossip, assisting Alice on her rounds, and always ready with a cup of tea if she saw Alice falling behind. She saw more of Constable Peter Crowe as well - Hobart sent him to assist with autopsies since Alice and Sergeant Carter butted heads every time they spoke.

Carter didn't like Alice - didn't like her methods, the way she spoke to him, or the fact that she was a woman.

Alice didn't give a damn - she was there to do her job and get back to Matthew.

Peter, dear Peter, kept smiling - even at her most taciturn, Alice appreciated it - and asking after her, Jean, and Matthew. He was even picking up medical terms and seeing the signs of foul play in bodies during autopsies, starting to trade theories back and forth with her as they worked. Pride swelled in her chest at her sort of protege, and more often than not, she walked away from time with him feeling more energized - was this what Lucien felt like with Charlie?

A cup slid into view and Alice looked up to see Peter standing there with a smile.

"Constable Crowe."

"Morning, Doc, you look like you need this."

She gave him a tired smile, "I do, thank you."

"Any news about the boss?"

"Still unconscious, but… he's healing nicely," Alice answered.

He nodded, "That's good, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"Good, I'm starting to miss him telling me to stop smiling."

That startled a laugh out of her and it very nearly ended in tears ('God I'm so tired'), but she blinked them back as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I miss him too, Constable." She took a sip of the tea - pleasantly surprised it was exactly how she liked it, she wondered if he'd been talking to Nurse Wolfe. "If you're truly missing someone telling you to not smile, I'm sure Sergeant Hobart could take over."

Peter grinned, "Nah, he's used to me already, just ignores it."

Alice chuckled into her mug, "Then I suppose I could."

"You were the first," he nodded. "I think Boss picked it up from you."

She was surprised that he'd noticed, and that her cheeks grew warm at the idea of her and Matthew picking up little things from each other. It made sense, besides the Blakes, Matthew was her closest friend, the one she trusted the most with… everything.

'Matthew, please wake up.'

A commotion at the nurse's station interrupted their conversation and Alice sighed.

"What now?"

She vaguely registered that Peter followed her as she rounded the corner to deal with the disturbance. One of the nurses - Frey? Frye? - argued with a young red headed boy, their voices starting to carry down the hallway as the boy stubbornly refused to leave. Alice got closer and recognized him - Geoffrey Roper.

'He must have heard about Matthew,' Alice mused and instinctively reached out to touch his elbow lightly and get his attention - Matthew said he had difficulty hearing.

"What's all this?" she asked, directing her question more to Geoffrey than the nurse.

"I heard Superintendent Lawson got hurt and I wanted to see him," Geoffrey told her. They had a passing understanding of each other - she'd sometimes been over at the Blake house when Geoffrey and Matthew discussed books, Matthew drawing her in to explain some of the science behind their stories. Geoffrey hadn't interacted with her much, but he knew that Alice was friendly (to Matthew, to him).

"I told him that only family is allowed back on the ward," the nurse sniffed, crossing her arms.

"Hm," Alice frowned. She looked back at Geoffrey; he'd set his chin in a stubborn way that reminded Alice so much of Matthew. If she denied him access, he'd probably just sit in the waiting room whenever he had free time, all just to see Matthew.

Offering the boy her hand, Alice gave him a slight smile, "C'mon."

"You mean…?" he looked at her hand and then up at her, both of them ignoring the nurse's outraged spluttering.

"You want to see him, Mr. Roper, the least I can do is show you where he is."

"Really?"

Alice nodded, her smile widening when he took her hand. She swept him away from the nurse's station, paying no mind to the irritated nurse behind her - what was another coworker who didn't like her? She wouldn't be the first and certainly not the last.

Geoffrey practically skipped beside her and she bit back the fond laugh. He'd blossomed under Matthew's mentorship, his smarts and personality shining through once he'd found someone who allowed him to be himself; Alice knew the feeling, much of the same sort of thing happened with her and Lucien. Matthew delighted in teaching Geoffrey about history and swapping murder mystery novels, and Geoffrey could escape out from under his mother's controlling and abusive thumb.

"How is he?" Geoffrey asked her once they got away from the nurse.

"He's… not good, Mr. Roper. He's stable, but he's still unconscious."

"Will he wake?"

Alice saw no reason to lie to him, no good ever came from lying. She did try to soften it though. "I don't know. We stitched him up, and he's on fluids… but he got injured pretty badly and his body needs time to heal."

He pondered what she told him, clutching his book to his chest and his hand tightening around hers. "So… we wait?"

"We wait," she nodded.

"He must be awfully bored, in his head, I mean."

She'd never thought of it that way.

"I… suppose he is."

"I brought a book, do you think he'd mind me reading to him?"

"I think he'd like that very much, Mr. Roper." She paused before Matthew's room and nodded. "He's in there. He looks very bad, but keep in mind that he's healing."

That stubborn set of Geoffrey's chin was back and he nodded. "I will, Dr. Harvey."

Alice moved to walk away from him, but a light tug on her white coat had her turning around with a raised eyebrow.

Geoffrey's cheeks flushed faintly and he looked at his shoes, "Will you…?"

"Yes?"

"Will you stay? Sometimes there are words I don't know and Superintendent Lawson usually helps me sound them out, but…"

The other eyebrow rose and she glanced between him and Matthew's still sleeping form inside the room. Biting her lower lip, Alice nodded. "I… of course, Mr. Roper."

"Could you call me Geoffrey?"

"Of course, Geoffrey."

She let him pull her into Matthew's room and smiled as he chatted with Matthew - updating the unconscious police superintendent on happenings at school: whether he was bullied or not, what they were learning about in history, what was happening at the Roper Nursery - while they settled into the chairs next to his bed.

Alice sat to Geoffrey's side and followed along in the book over his shoulder; at first she only helped him sound out words, but he liked how she read it out loud and asked her to take over on the next chapter. They alternated chapters, Geoffrey's head ending up on her shoulder somewhere along the line and Alice found she didn't mind it at all.

Matthew seemed more at ease when they were done, but Alice supposed that could be her own mind playing tricks on her. Geoffrey left the book on his bedside and asked her if they could continue tomorrow.

Alice smiled and nodded, "I'd like that and we have to find out what happens next."

Geoffrey surprised her with a hug and practically ran from the room - leaving a startled pathologist in his wake, but Alice looked forward to his next visit.