It was several minutes before the door reopened, Darcy had been getting fidgety waiting. From what she could tell, she could wriggle her toes and fingers so that was definitely a good sign. Her head however was in agony and every part of her seemed to ache at the slightest movement.

When the door opened Jane came in first, followed by Bruce and what she assumed to be the doctor.

"Darcy!" Jane cried out, darting to her bedside only to stop abruptly.

"It's OK Jane." Darcy said, holding out her hand. This was what she had been afraid of, changing the way people looked at her. Jane stepped forward and took her hand with a small squeeze.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I've been so worried."

"I'll fine." Darcy assured her. "But I hate to tell you Boss, I am totally calling in sick for the next several days, maybe a week."

"Done." Jane grinned.

"How are you feeling Darcy?" the doctor asked.

"I still have all my body parts and they all work so that's a plus." She replied.

"I'm Dr Johnson, I've been informed that we might have some issues with treating you." He introduced himself. Darcy couldn't help it, she laughed. She laughed a lot. Until the pain in her chest and stomach caused her to stop.

"Ouch." She murmured, trying not to laugh again. "Seriously? You're Dr Johnson? Like Doc Johnson? You know that's a brand of sex toys right?"

"Urm…I was not aware that it was, no." the Doctor replied looking completely embarrassed.

Bruce cleared his throat but from the way his hand covered his mouth, Darcy could tell he was either laughing or trying not to.

"Right, anyway, sex toys aside." The doctor said primly. "I've brought in two people you know who might be able to help with your check up. Obviously, it would be ideal if I was able to do it myself, perhaps if someone held your hand?"

"Um…" she didn't really know what to say.

"You don't have any previous diagnosis for mental issues on your records so I assume that this isn't something you're currently seeking help for?" he asked.

"No." she replied. "I didn't realise it was an issue for a while after it became an issue. Look, I know I'm a crazy person. I know that but I can't help it and I don't know exactly what to do about it because I've never really talked about it or tried to have anyone else fix it. I tried to get over it, tried to force myself to snap out of it and it didn't work so I'm sorry but I can't help you because I don't know how."

"It's alright Darcy," Bruce said calmly, coming to sit on the chair beside the bed. "We'll work around it. How's your pain? Do you need anything?"

"Do I get the good stuff Doc?" she asked.

"It'll probably be pretty good." He nodded.

"If we start with checking your head injury first then we can get you some more pain relief before moving on to the other injuries." The doctor told them. "You're awake and talking, you know who everyone is so that's all good news. Do you remember the attack at all?"

"I remember the bits I was conscious for." She nodded. "There's blank patches where I must have been knocked out but the rest is still there."

"That's very good news, repressing the most recent memories is common after a head injury, so it's excellent news that you're not experiencing any lack of memory."

"Head hurts though." She said. "and you sound all fuzzy."

"That'd be from the explosion, temporary hearing damage is very common, we'll have a look in a moment to see if we can spot any more serious damage but hopefully it will just be a temporary thing." He explained.

"So you can still hear everything, it's just muffled?" Bruce clarified.

"Yeah, exactly like that." She nodded.

"Again, the fact that you can hear everything is a good sign. Is your vision normal?" he asked.

"Seems like it." She nodded. "You didn't have to shave my head did you?" She asked suddenly, glancing around her shoulders when she realised that her hair wasn't in her face.

"It's right here." Jane said, lifting a plaint from the back of Darcy's head and tugging it to prove it was still attached.

"Ow Jane." She mumbled, shooting the woman a glare. "I have a head injury and you pull my hair?!"

"Sorry, sorry." The older woman said.

"Alright, can we take a look at you eyes first?" The doctor asked. After a moment of hesitation he handed the light to Bruce who stood to move closer to her.

"I don't have to actually touch you, alright?" He said quietly as he leant down slowly. She nodded and he flickered the light across one eye then the other. "Looks good, can you follow it for me? Good."

"Ears?" Dr Johnson spoke again as he made a note on his paperwork.

Bruce took the otoscope and came back to Darcy.

"Are you alright? I'm going to try not to touch you with anything but this but I might accidentally-"

"It's OK." She nodded. "You get it."

She tensed when he moved even closer this time. She felt Jane squeeze her hand in a gesture meant to be reassuring that wasn't really because it felt like someone was trying to keep her hand pinned. Only the knowledge that it was Jane trying to be a good friend kept her from snatching her hand away. She felt the scope touch her ear, she waited for an accidental touch that didn't come. She could feel the heat practically radiating from Bruce's body, she could feel his breathing near her hair, she could even smell him. It was that familiar smell that caused the fear to retreat. He must have noticed, being this close but he didn't say anything.

He walked around to the other side and did the same thing. This time she tensed on instinct but the fear didn't resurface. She remained tense when his hand brushed the skin of her cheek briefly but she didn't flinch, she didn't move.

"All normal." He said, pulling away.

"You know, when people think about playing doctor this is so not what they're imagining." She blurted out. Bruce chuckled but said nothing, he understood that this was her own little way of taking some control back, putting barriers up.

"Excellent, this next part will require touching, so I'll explain what I need to do or have Dr Banner do for me before we do anything." Dr Johnson said carefully. "We need to check you're head wound. First by sight, which might require touching your hair to get a good look at the area. Then one of us will need to gently feel the area. There won't be any skin contact because if the gloves."

"OK, I can do that." She nodded. "I can do that right?" She asked looking up at Bruce.

"I think you'll be surprised by how much you can do." He nodded, taking a pair of gloves from the offered box.

"Kinky." She smirked, as he tugged the white gloves on. "Sorry, just slipped out."

"Yeah, yeah, just like how sex toys and playing Doctor slipped out." Jane rolled her eyes. "Apparently your little problem doesn't stop you having a dirty mind."

Darcy took a deep breath as gloved fingers moved around her hair and then flinched when they prodded at her skin. "Ow!"

"Sorry." He apologised. "Looks good, bruising is minimal and the wound has sealed well."

"Brilliant, on a scale of one to ten, one being zero pain, how much pain are you in now?" The doctor asked her.

"I don't know...like if ten is unbearable then I guess about a five or six."

"Alright, I'm going to get you something for the pain. Then we can do a few more checks." He nodded. "I'm also going to seriously recommend you accept a referral to see someone to work on your problem. It could be very problematic in future if you're injured and no one can treat you. We're very lucky that Dr Banner here also has some medical experience."

Dr Johnson left the room and Jane let go of Darcy's hand.

"I don't think I'm much use here. It'll probably he easier for you with fewer people around right?" She said.

"Thanks Jane, for coming and for understanding." Darcy smiled, the older woman had surprised her by stepping away. It gave Darcy hope that perhaps she might come to be able to trust Jane like she had trusted Bruce. "You're the best."

"Feel better soon. I'll come check on you tomorrow and bust you out." Jane grinned back.

The silence that filled the room once Jane left was tense, not exactly uncomfortable but not comfortable either.

"I'm not afraid of you." She admitted finally. He looked up from where he sat surprised. "I mean...I'm not saying I'd be totally OK with random bear hugs or grabbing or whatever...I'm making this sound weird aren't I? What I'm trying to say is that, when I can see you coming, I'm not freaked out by you."

"Good to know." He said softly. "You don't have to tell me anything, you don't have to tell me why or how...but one thing I was wondering was; why haven't you asked someone for help? Surely you want the things most people want, surely you know there are people out there that can help you."

"I will tell you, eventually." She said. "As for help...my mum was ill at the time, I didn't want to make things harder on her. Then when it was just me, I was worried about the cost of...you know therapy or doctors or meds or whatever. Then I guess I told myself that I'd lived with it for this many years..."

"What's putting it off a little longer?" He nodded.

"You noticed but you never asked. You never pushed and you just...you understood."

"It took me a long time to get used to people touching me again." He nodded. "My problems aren't the same."

"I know." She agreed. "But the fact that for months I've had this friend that I can trust not to ask, not to push, not to touch...I trust you. When Jane was squeezing my hand, I was fighting fear. When you were touching me, I tensed, I expected the fear but it didn't happen."

"Nothing to fear but fear itself." He murmured. "When the fear goes the reaction is just habit, that'll fade. Working on trust with Jane and some of the team, that'll give you the same result. You will learn not to be afraid of them but it won't make the fear go away completely."

"Are you like Gandhi or something?" She asked.

"No," he chuckled. "It's just a thing. You're reaction is because you fear something that isn't going to happen. It's just fear. Logically you probably know that but fear is pretty disabling. I should know."

Darcy let out a breath and held out her hand. She smiled when Bruce was able to take it in his and she didn't even tense. His eyes focused on hers as his fingers skimmed over her wrists and back to her hands. She found herself focusing on those deep chocolate eyes as she felt the warmth of his touch ghost further up her arms this time. Tears prickled in the back of her eyes at the most contact she had been able to feel without fear in years. Looking into the face of the adorably sexy scientist in front of her she couldn't help but wish she could let him touch her all over. She wondered if one day maybe she would be able to get that far. One day would she be able to have all the intimate touches that people had with people they loved?

For the first time in years Darcy felt hope. Hope that even if she was never completely cured, perhaps she could at least learn to accept the touches of a few close people in her life. That was hope enough to bring a smile to her face, even as Bruce's hands moved back to her hands and stayed there this time.