A/N: Here comes another chapter, a bit longer this time. Also bringing some answers:) Hope you enjoy and please, let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

The night wasn't kind to Connor. He spent most of it awake, fighting nausea and a hell of a migraine. At one point, he was ready to smash his skull against the wall just to stop the pain, but he couldn't even find the strength to get out of his bed. He wished for unconsciousness, but it didn't want to come. By the time morning had rolled over, he had fallen into restless sleep due to sheer exhaustion, so when he was awakened by the technician taking him for his CT, he was anything but a ray of sunshine. When he was pushed back from the imagining, he was welcomed by a new nurse from the morning shift. His name was Edgar and he looked to be a man who meant business. And of course, first order of the business was breakfast, followed by morning rounds. Connor took one look at the breakfast tray, the determined look on Edgar's face, and knew his day won't get much better.

Of course when Dr. Jacobs came in and started shining that penlight in Connor's eyes, the measly breakfast he'd managed to consume made a reappearance. Connor was just a bit sad that he didn't manage to splash some of the oatmeal on Jacobs' boots, but at least he made the doctor jump back a little. Though it wasn't worth the discomfort he felt, he had to find at least one bright spot in this situation.

"I see you are still having trouble keeping things down," Jacobs said a bit reproachfully, while peering at Connor's chart.

"Only when I eat and someone uses that damn penlight on me," Connor growled and Jacobs wrote a note in the chart, muttering the words "Hm, patient's irritable" under his breath. Connor's heart rate quickened a bit and Jacobs paused, realizing his mistake.

"Course I'm irritable. I barely slept, my head is killing me, and I swear that the next person who uses that light on me will walk away with a broken arm," Connor said threateningly. But instead of taking him seriously, Jacobs just raised his eyebrows, as if saying "You're proving my point." Which he probably was. As quickly as the anger came, it vanished, and Connor pushed the knuckles of his hands into his eyes, groaning.

"Sorry. That was... uncalled for. I don't know what's wrong with me," he muttered, feeling remorseful and spent.

Jacobs just waved him off.

"Trust me, it's not the worst I've heard, Dr. Rhodes. Some of those mood swings and irritability are caused by the concussion and the medication, and the rest I believe is simply exhaustion. I can see you had a rough night and didn't get much rest. I'll let you get back to sleep as soon as we finish here. For now, I'd like to discuss the results of your CT scan, if you feel up for it."

Connor blinked, suddenly feeling apprehensive and alone. He wished to be back in the ED where there were people he knew and trusted. Hell, right now he would've appreciated even Will Hallstead making fun of him, easing the mood. Or his father.

As soon as that thought crept into his mind, Connor gave himself an imaginary slap on the head. He was really losing it if he was wishing for the presence of the man he resented for being there just last night.

"I'm fine," he spoke suddenly, wincing at his own voice. "What did you find?"

"Well, the scan shows that the bleeding has grown a bit, but now it seems to-"

"Hey, what did I miss?" Ethan Choi walked into the room, cutting Jacobs off in the middle of his sentence. "Sorry for being late, pal, some guys from a bar fight just stumbled through the door, had to take care of them."

Connor felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile, feeling inexplicable relief over Ethan's appearance. Obviously Jacobs didn't share his feelings as he glared at Choi murderously.

"Dr. Choi. I wasn't aware that you were called in for a consult," he spoke, his voice tight and controlled.

"I wasn't. But seeing as I was the admitting physician and Connor's friend, I thought it would be better if I was here. Also, there's an ED full of people who want to know how he's doing. Just thought I would save you some time explaining everything repeatedly."

"I don't see a reason why I would need to divulge confidential patient information to any of your colleagues, Dr. Choi," Jacobs started, and Connor could see this was going to end in a pissing contest that he didn't have the patience to watch right now, so he decided to cut in.

"It's okay, Dr. Jacobs. I'd prefer if you kept Dr. Choi informed as my admitting physician." Connor looked at both men, hoping he didn't look as pitiful as he felt. Dr. Jacobs hesitated for a minute, then simply nodded.

"Well then. As I was telling Dr. Rhodes, the area of the bleed has grown during the night, but it's a slow growth, so there's hope the bleeding will stop by itself. I've scheduled another CT in the afternoon, but if there isn't a significant change, I'd like to give the meds at least 24 hours to work."

"What about swelling of the brain and ICP?" Choi asked and Jacobs nodded, turning on the light box and showing them the most recent scan and the one taken right after the attack.

"There is a slight swelling of the brain apparent since the last 12 hours, but I think the steroids are doing their job and keeping it down. We're carefully monitoring the patient… sorry, Dr. Rhodes. Pupil dilation is still slightly uneven and tracking is slow, but not worse than yesterday. There were no further instances of loss of consciousness or deterioration in mental status. If anything occurs, we will start ICP monitoring ASAP."

Connor grimaced at that. While he knew it was a simple process - he had done it several times himself - he didn't fancy the thought of a hole being drilled into his skull to have a probe inserted. Although if it came to that, he would still prefer an ICP monitor over brain damage.

Ethan just nodded, looking at the scans.

"So how long until I can leave this joint?" Connor asked, trying to look relaxed while he felt anything but.

"It's too soon to say, Dr. Rhodes. Let's wait for the next CT scan. But I wouldn't be planning anything outside this unit for the next 48 hours at least."

"Awesome," Connor muttered, disheartened. It wasn't like he had any other place to be, except maybe home, but even the thought of his empty apartment made him nervous. There were just too many sharp corners he could encounter if he was hit by a dizzy spell, all alone.

Dr. Jacobs and Ethan spent few more minutes discussing the dosage of Connor's medications and the possible interactions as they wanted to get a hold over the persistent nausea, but Connor somehow tuned them out. It was only when Dr. Jacobs left and Ethan touched his shoulder that he looked up, blinking.

"Sorry. What?"

Ethan was studying him with concern, but shook his head and smiled.

"Nothing. I hope you don't mind I popped in?"

"Nah. Thanks. I'm still kinda out of it to really follow what Jacobs said."

"I can see that, man. By the way, you have a really impressive bruise on the right side of your face. Don't let the girls see you with it, or they'll mother you to death," Ethan joked and Connor's lip twitched.

"I don't need to worry 'bout that," he sighed and nodded towards the nurses' station, where Edgar was discussing something with Jacobs. "Doesn't Maggie want a rotation here? Just for the day?"

Ethan laughed. "I'll ask her, but don't hold your breath on that."

"Maybe a little hypoxia would cure my headache," Connor joked, rubbing at his eyes.

"That bad?" Ethan turned serious and suddenly Connor wanted to talk about anything else.

"No worse than a migraine, don't worry. Say, can you tell me what the hell happened?" he changed the topic, and although Ethan was still looking at him thoughtfully, now it was for different reasons.

"You still don't remember anything?" he asked carefully, and Connor wondered if he would get any information out of his friend or not.

"Think I had a flashback, could've been just a dream though," Connor admitted.

"That's good." Ethan brightened, then added: "I guess. What do you remember?"

Connor recounted the part of his dream that possibly related to his injury. He knew it wasn't just a dream the moment he saw the grimace on Ethan's face.

"You were right there, weren't you? I remember seeing you when I fell..."

"Yeah. I'm sorry." Ethan looked really miserable and Connor frowned, confused.

"Why?" There was no way Ethan could've stopped the attack, at least in Connor's mind. He appeared in the waiting room when Connor was already going down...

"I knew that guy was desperate and angry. I just told him his son died and he rushed out of the ED, muttering about someone having to pay. I was about to follow him, make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid, but Maggie needed info on another patient and I lost track of him. I'm really sorry man, I should've stopped him."

Connor was still having trouble focusing and Ethan's pacing across the room while he was explaining didn't help his situation.

"Hey man, stop. Just... stop. Making me dizzy," he muttered, grimacing, and Ethan paused, then settled himself in the chair right next to Connor's bed, looking remorseful. "Thanks," Connor sighed."Look, I still don't get how this is your fault. Or why that guy decided cracking my head open would solve anything. Did... did his son die on my table? I can't remember most of the morning. Did I mess up?"

"No, no. Course not," Ethan quickly said, grabbing Connor's right arm. "The Patterson kid, the one you saved?"

"Yeah, what about him? He crashed his car-"

"Five minutes after he'd run over another kid, a 16 year old boy, who was heading for his morning baseball training."

"What?" Connor blanched and his stomach flipped, but after a moment, he shook his head. He wasn't going to question who he saved. He knew from his own experience that 18 year old kids could be reckless and idiotic. Even if he knew at the moment Patterson was lying on his table that he was responsible for the death of another boy, Connor still would've done everything to save the kid.

"Connor?" Ethan was calling his name, but Connor was lost in deep thought. Only when Ethan reached up to wave a hand in front of his face did Connor flinch back, his eyes going wide.

"Whoa, hey. Didn't mean to startle you. You okay?" Ethan asked, looking Connor in the eyes and checking the quick pulse on the monitor. Edgar the nurse appeared behind him, frowning at the ED doctor reproachfully.

"We are trying to keep his blood pressure down, not bring it up," he said to Choi, but the doctor only nodded, watching Connor with concern.

"Not his fault." Connor spoke a little breathlessly, his cheeks coloring red with embarrassment. "Just got startled," he mumbled.

"Do try to keep it down," Edgar admonished, watching the monitors until Connor's heart rate slowed down to more appropriate levels before leaving the two alone.

"Sorry, I just..." Connor wasn't sure what to say. One second he was deep in thought, the next he saw a quick movement and Ethan's hand suddenly became a baseball bat heading his way.

"Flashback?" Ethan asked, already knowing the answer. He knew the signs, and really it was no wonder Connor was cautious about fast movements, especially when he was in a zoned out state. It might be a good idea to tell Dr. Charles to stop by and make sure Connor was handling the situation well, Ethan thought to himself, but didn't voice it out loud. When Connor didn't reply, he took it as a cue to change the topic.

"Mr. Parker is now in custody, pending a psych eval. The cops will want to speak with you about what happened, but Jacobs and Goodwin managed to delay them so far."

"How so?" Connor blinked. He didn't think Jacobs would be batting in his cage so much. Although maybe his father's presence last night might've had something to do with it. Which reminded him…

"They let my father in here last night, why not the cops?" Connor thought that dealing with the police might've been preferable to his father in any case.

"Your dad was here?" Ethan frowned.

"Yeah. Probably pulled the sponsor card or something," Connor said, suddenly tired. It was starting to get on his nerves, how one second he felt like jumping out of his skin and the next he could barely open his eyes. Concussions definitely sucked.

"What about that guy with the bat? How did he even find me? And why?" Connor asked even as his eyes were slipping closed, trying to get all the relevant information before he fell back to sleep.

"Maybe we should leave it for later, Connor," Ethan said, seeing the closing eyes. He was getting up from his chair when Connor grabbed his wrist, stopping him from leaving.

"I wanna know," Connor said imploringly, and Ethan gave up.

"Okay. The short version then. After I told him his son didn't make it, Mr. Parker left the hospital to calm down. You were still operating on the Patterson kid. April said that the paramedics dropped of the box with the kid's stuff they collected on the scene. When Parker came back to sign some papers and say goodbye to his son, he went through the box... that's when the parents of your patient arrived and were asking at the desk after their son." Ethan paused, looking at Connor and deciding if he should continue or just let the man succumb to sleep.

"Come on, Ethan," Connor said tiredly. "Don't let me hang there."

Ethan sighed, then shook his head.

"We aren't really sure what happened next. It looks like there was some beef about a girl between those two kids. Parker knew about it, so when he heard the other kid's name, he became suspicious. We don't know if he had some info or if he reacted on instinct, but he put two and two together. When April came back to the desk, the baseball bat from the box was missing and Parker was gone. Two hours later I saw him getting into an elevator. He didn't look right, so I went after him, but the elevator left and I had to take the stairs. By the time I realized where he went... you were already lying on the floor, bleeding, and Mr. Patterson had him pinned against the wall."

"Why did he attack me?" Connor asked, still confused. He could understand the rage, the hate. He felt all that when his mother died and then there was only his father to blame. But how he came into the equation was a mystery to him.

"We think his primary targets were the boy's parents, that you were just in the way, but Parker hasn't said a word yet, so it's all just guessing."

While it should've helped, knowing what happened to him and at least some of the reasons behind it, Connor still felt off, but he had trouble identifying why. Would it have been better to be targeted specifically for saving someone's life, or just be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Somehow none of the answers were helpful, but the feeling that there could be an angry relative lurking behind every corner was a bit daunting. It was probably just the fact that Connor was laid up in the hospital with a concussion. While this wasn't an entirely unfamiliar setting, he sure as hell didn't feel at home here, or even comfortable. Suddenly, he wished to be home in his own bed, in his own apartment where he had control over who he let inside and when. He felt just a tad vulnerable, lying there without even a door to close.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Ethan spoke, seeing the internal struggle play out clear as day on Connor's face. He would definitely need to speak to Daniel soon. "You'll be back on your feet in a few days. And I'm pretty sure by the time you get out of here, the security will be maxed up. Goodwin wasn't any happier about the situation than your father, I imagine."

"God, don't remind me," Connor groaned, not even wanting to know what his father was planning. He couldn't get a reading on the man. One minute his father went against him, trying to pull him off Russell's care, the next he was sitting by Connor's bedside like a loving parent. Or maybe that was just a hallucination, Connor thought suddenly. That would be more like it.

Ethan chuckled and patted Connor on the arm.

"Relax. If anyone can handle crap from your father, it's Sharon Goodwin. And I'm pretty sure they were on the same page this time, so… should be interesting."

"Great," Connor muttered with mixed feelings. Just then, Ethan's pager went off, and he gave an apologetic look to Connor.

"That's my cue to leave, I'm afraid. Oh, the guys from the ED wanted to know if you're up for some visitors?"

Connor blinked, a bit surprised.

"Sure, I guess," he said a bit uncertainly. "Just tell them to watch out for Edgar."

"Gotcha. Rest up, man." Ethan left and Connor burrowed his head into the pillow. He wasn't sure what to think of anything he'd heard in the last day. On the other hand, his head wasn't very keen on thinking at all, so that was probably alright. He relaxed for a few minutes, feeling incredibly tired and bored at the same time, wishing that Ethan could've stayed just a bit longer. He saw Edgar move closer to check up on things, a look of admonishment already on his face.

"You should try to get some sleep, Dr. Rhodes. And do try to relax," he added after recording Connor's heart rate and pulse.

"If only it was that easy," Connor muttered, but gave a nod and closed his eyes to stop the big man from pestering him any more. Edgar snorted, clearly realizing Connor's game, but left without another word. Strangely, Connor found that closing his eyes was much easier than opening them. Maybe he would just take a nap, like everyone was telling him to.

TBC