Ellis looked upon Nick's sleeping face as the doctor started to replace his bandages. He was almost unrecognizable; the wrinkles on his forehead were relaxed and his thin lips were slightly parted. He was breathing smoothly, unlike Ellis' breaths which were croaky and strained. His wrists and ankles had been freed of the leather straps, but they were bruising slightly. He'd been awake on and off, but never long enough to keep him awake.

"Ellis?"

Ellis' eyes looked up to the doctor. He was staring back, worried.

"I asked if you were feeling okay."

"What?" he asked. "Oh, yeah… no, I feel kinda sick."

Ryan reached behind himself and grabbed a bedpan. He set it on Ellis' chest.

"If you get sick, aim for that."

"Alright."

Ellis didn't know how long Nick had been down for. It was a couple days, at least. Maybe even a week.

On the first night after Nick subdued, Ellis underwent another surgery. Alice had installed a metal plate to help his arm heal, but his body was rejecting it substantially. Ryan went in and replaced it the best he could, removing the dead flesh around it and sewing him up meticulously. The infection in his arm went down after that, but it had already infected his blood stream and had already spread to this lungs. He always had a fever of over one-hundred and he was restricted to a nasal tube to help him breathe.

Ryan put Ellis on an intensive regime of antibiotics two days after the sudden surgery. He was given solid food, and he was starting to actually hold it down today. Ryan told Ellis that if there was nothing worrisome with his vitals, he could try walking.

Ryan revealed the flesh from under the gauze and smiled.

"It looks much better today, buddy."

Ellis followed the stitches up and down his bicep. He frowned.

"I spent a lot on that tattoo," he muttered. "You think it'll be all fucked up after this?"

Doctor Bixon twisted his mouth in thought. "It'll scar a little, and it might warp a little, but I guess that's a small price to pay for something like this, huh? I wouldn't be too worried about it."

Ryan stood up.

"I have to go check in with the pharmacy downstairs. You okay for a bit? When I come back, we'll try to get you standing. I'm hoping Nick wakes up today for a while. He woke up last night for a while, but he fell asleep again right away. We need to get this room cleared out for any other survivors. We'll move you two into a different room, that's all I can guarantee."

"Okay."

Ryan nodded and exited the room without another word.

Ellis winced at the silence surrounding him after the door slammed shut. There was nothing but the hum of the oxygen machines running and the heart monitors quietly buzzing. Two weeks ago, he was out in the semi-deserted world, fighting his way through hordes of infected, big and small. Everywhere he turned, gunshots would ring out through the streets. Bombs, bullets, blood… everything made a noise. Now, the silence was more unnerving than anything the mechanic had experienced in the past two weeks.

Ellis looked at Nick again, running his tongue over his dry lips. He almost forgot that he was breathing into an oxygen mask. He sucked in some of the cool air and kept his eyes fixed on the conman.

"Nick?" Ellis asked. Nothing. The silence pounced in as Ellis closed his mouth. He felt his neck tense as the silence teased his ears.

Ellis lifted his good arm and grabbed a bedrail. He tightened his grips, his sore muscles slightly stiffening. Holding his other arm close to his chest, Ellis heaved himself up into a sitting position. The bedpan fell into his lap as he bent his knees. He kept his eyes closed, breathing deeply and slowly. Reaching over the rail, Ellis felt for the latch that would lower the rail caging him in. He grasped it and pushed it down. The rail slowly collapsed on itself. Ellis swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his toes pointed towards Nick. His bare feet felt the cold tile, shocking his senses. He grabbed his IV tower and slowly shifted his weight into his legs. He straightened his legs and his back, unused to the feeling of not having his coveralls wrapped around his hips.

He took another deep breath and took a step, using his IV as a staff. He made it three gruelling steps before he felt dizzy. He quickly grabbed Nick's bed and pushed the bedrail down before his knees gave out. He slowly turned around. He eased himself onto the mattress, exhausted from his short journey. Nick didn't stir.

"Nick…."

Ellis lifted his hand and let it hover over Nick's rising chest. He drew it back after a moment. He swallowed and parted his lips. He sucked in his bottom lip and sucked on it, running his tired eyes over Nick's face. After being pulled out of action so abruptly, Nick's face healed immensely; the bruises were gone, the scratch on his forehead was nothing but a small pink mark, and the bags under his eyes were no more. His hair was clean and shiny, but still smoothed back. The dirty suit he was so proud of was in a box on the other side of the room, replaced with a hospital gown that was hanging low on his chest, showing the groove between his pectoral muscles. Ellis looked at the scars on the right side of his chest that used to be open and scabbed. His arms were chiselled and free of blemishes.

Ellis tore his gaze away and looked to his lap sheepishly.

"I dunno if you're awake or whatever…"

Ellis leaned back, feeling the small of his back graze against Nick's hip. Ellis closed his eyes.

"I think it's been two weeks, give or take a day," Ellis began. "Since we came here, I mean."

Instantly, Ellis felt comfort in the sound of his voice. He took another breath before continuing.

"Y'know, when you stayed behind to fight that Tank to buy the rest of us extra time, I thought that was the last thing I'd see yah do. I dunno if y'all remember, but you did kill that thing by yourself. I couldn't see it very well, but it looked like yah stabbed it in the face or somethin' with that ninja sword. Then it jus'… backhanded yah.

"For a moment, I got so scared. You were flying through the air like a ragdoll. And when you hit the ground, you got right back up. You… pulled that pouch thing off your thigh and ran like a mad man towards us. When the chopper started leaving, yah jumped. I dunno how I got there so fast, but the next thing I knew, I was holding onto you over the river. Man, I was never so relieved.

"But then there was that damn Hunter. I didn't even hear it, but I guess that was account of the helicopter. Anyway, it grabbed your leg. That's why you're all stitched up. We didn' know yah were so hurt until I was sitting in your blood. I mean, it soaked right through my suit, an' y'all know how thick that fabric is. But we tried our best to stop it. You jus' kept bleedin'… yah jus' kept bleeding."

Ellis hung his head and leaned further back, feeling comfort in the warmth of Nick's skin between their hospital gowns.

"I don' think yah remember much before we landed. You were screaming for a while an' swearin', o' course. But soon yah went quiet. Yah pulled me close to yah an'… an' you… you told me something.

"And you...admitted it...to me...when you said that...there were reasons...beyond your control... when you were saying... why you let me... do that to you... Because...you were telling me...something else...weren't you...? When you said that..."

"That's what you said to me, Nick. An' I thought that that was really the end. That would've sucked, huh? If you called my bluff an' died before I could tell yah?"

Ellis felt his cheeks get wet. He reached back and found Nick's hand. He slowly lifted it over his head and rested it on his lap, wrapping Nick's arm around him.

"…We wheeled yah in as fast as we could. You were in shock at this point. An' the elevator we were in broke. It fuckin' broke! We managed to get everyone out in time, but I broke my arm doin' it. Lemme tell yah, it hurt like a bitch."

Ellis chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. He wiped his eyes again with the back of his hand.

"You looked like shit, though. Ryan, the doctor, said you weren't gonna make it unless we got you some more blood. I was kinda cornered. You and I matched so I let him take it. Did yah know that CEDA won't let anyone transfer blood to each other? I think it's dumb, with all the injuries an' all. But I guess I underestimated how much blood was needed to give you a chance. Ryan told me it almost killed me, but it was the least I could do. Man, it was close. Your heart stopped twice, apparently. So did mine, though, so I guess it's not so bad. It was like that time Coach had that heart attack, remember? We had to use that defib unit on him? Well, this was scarier, seeing it happen to yah.

"But that's why I was so out of shape when you woke up. They put me under to try to give me a better chance, but one of the nurses unplugged the ventilator when you were attacking her. Don' worry, she deserved it. She tried to take your rings, y'know. The doctor gave them back to me so I'll give 'em to yah when yah wake up.

"I remember hearing you screaming my name…"

Ellis choked on his breath and covered his face with his left hand, trying to breathe properly.

"I could only hear yah. Then I couldn't breathe. I know it didn't look like it, but I was trying my hardest to wake up. I did when they tried to force another one of those tubes down my throat. It tasted bad, but I started choking on it. I jus' thought, 'Ellis, man, y'all gotta wake up and let 'im know you're okay.' An' you were jus' staring at me."

Ellis faltered for a moment, sucking in another breath.

"It's weird telling a story without it involving Keith, ain't it?"

Ellis smiled weakly under his hand. He moved his hand down to Nick's arm that he had wrapped around him. He ran his fingers down it slowly. He shifted himself so he was facing Nick.

"Truth is, man… you were right. About me saying something else that night. I know you said you weren't gay or nothin', an' I don' think I am either, but… I dunno…this feels different. I've dated a few girls before the apocalypse, believe it or not, an' I never felt so… out of place. Does that make sense? It frustrates me to no end. I guess I kinda wanted it from you. You were this mysterious guy an' I felt so… I dunno how tuh explain it. I know you wanted it to be a one-time thing an' all, but I'm sure yah can agree with me when I say that it didn't feel like that. I'm sure you didn' get over it, either."

Ellis paused for a moment. He leaned forward so his mouth was over Nick's forehead. He grabbed Nick's hand and pulled it towards his chest. He placed over his heart, letting Nick feel it beat.

"This isn't supposed to be lovin' or nothin'. I'm jus' bein' honest with you."

Ellis rested his forehead on Nick's, his eyes closed and wet.

We've been through Hell, Nick. I jus'… wanted to thank you for getting me here. Just… do me a favour, alright? …Please… jus'…"

Ellis grabbed his chest as he tried to suck in another breath, the impure air itching his lungs. He stopped and slowly panted.

Ellis gave Nick's hand a squeeze as he pulled it up to his mouth, breathing heavily onto the conman's still fingers.

"Shit," Ellis gasped. He got up and staggered to his own bed, grabbing the oxygen mask and sucking the air into himself deeply. He struggled to get back onto his own bed, practically hyperventilating and coughing up heaven-knows-what. Thank God his eyes were closed while he gasped under his mask; otherwise, he would have seen that Nick's eyes were open, staring at the ceiling, and trying so hard not to make a sound.