I am sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. I hope the wait was worth it.

When Q finally woke up he immediately regretted it. His abdomen was a giant pulsing ache that seemed to spread through his whole body. But he was still half asleep. He tried to move and get comfortable and in the process set off a massive starburst of pain. A strangled noise escaped his lips and his eyes opened to stare at a blurry ceiling.

It took a few moments for the memories to come trickling back in. The man in the file room. The bullet. Eyes that melted and bloody hands. That persistent voice.

He turned his head to the side and saw his glasses on the night stand. Clumsily he reached over and put them on to further examine the room. White walls all around but through the doorway he could see long glass hallways. He was in the MI6 medical facilities. A nurse came in and took one look at him before calmly walking back out. A minute or so later the nurse returned.

"Glad to see you're up and running sir," she murmured as she checked his IV and vitals.

"Are you comfortable? I can give you more painkillers if needed." Her tone was crisp and professional. The perfect bedside manner for MI6. Q considered her offer. There was a lot of pain but his brain already felt like it was wrapped in a sponge and he did not want to increase that sensation. He shook his head.

"How long have I been unconscious?" he asked her

"3 days sir," with that she nodded, turned on her heel, and left the room.

Q sat there for several minutes taking stock of how bad he felt. The conclusion was that it could be worse. Then Bond strolled through the doorway.

"Not dead are we?" James asked dryly.

"Afraid not, sorry," Q replied. James stepped over to one of the uncomfortable looking plastic chairs against the wall. He lazily dragged it over to beside the bed and sat in it.

Once seated he just stared at Q. This was the James that Q was used to seeing. Smooth, steady, and hard. When James spoke it was with no emotion.

"Just for the record, if you ever knowingly walk into a dangerous situation like that again I will kill you," there was no joke on his face. Q found it odd since the threat was so contradictory but the intent was plain.

He simply met the man's gaze and inclined his head. There was a long silence. James no longer met his gaze and instead preferred to examine the IV tubing. Q sighed and aimed for humor

"You know after all that fuss I was surprised to not find you by my bedside when I woke up," it didn't quite ring true but it was close enough. The corner of Bond's mouth curled.

"Waiting by an unconscious man's bedside is pointless. The waking one suffers acute boredom and the unconscious one doesn't know the difference." Q chuckled a little and found it made him wince. Of course James noticed. Without hesitation he reached over and pressed the button for the nurse, Q sighed.

"This is unnecessary James," He murmured. Again those eyes hit him with full force.

"Q, you were shot and you nearly bled out. You need rest and if you are in pain you need medication. That is not up for discussion," his tone did not leave any other option.

At that moment the nurse came back in.

"What do you need sir?" she asked.

"Give him something for the pain and something to help him sleep."

Neither of them spoke as she injected something into his IV.

"That should take effect in a couple of minutes," She said before leaving them alone again. Once she was gone Q looked at James.

"I dreamt about him." James didn't need to ask who.

"You won't anymore. Dreaming about the dead is a useless pastime," he murmured standing up out of the chair.

"You would know," Q mumbled back. He could feel the drug starting to work. Things were feeling softer, warmer. This time James did chuckle and it reached his eyes.

"I would, now go to sleep," he said. Q nodded a little and let the chemicals drag his eyelids closed. He lingered for a few moments longer, barely waking. He felt a hand double check his pulse, just for certainties sake. Then the hand retreated and...after a short pause, a quick and gentle brush of lips on his forehead and something slid beneath his pillow. Then the drug pulled him into soft dreamless sleep.

Later, when Q woke up, it was night and there were more guards posted around the infirmary. But once he was less groggy he felt something under his pillow. He had a vague memory of something being slid under it before he fell asleep. He fumbled around until his hands touched smooth plastic.

He pulled out his Iphone which James must have left for him. He smiled a little and began to toy with it. Casually he checked on the surveillance in MI6. He easily accessed the server where they stored old footage. He felt a little twinge of curiosity and he went back to that night. It was the 6th…

On the video he saw that James had come and sat in that same awful plastic chair by his bed four times during those three days. Each time he stayed for an hour at least. Q smiled to himself.

A useless pastime indeed.

I know from experience that Q would totally not be this lucid being all drugged up in a hospital and I don't know any knockout drug that takes that perfectly specific amount of time. Either it would take like an hour or it would take a minute BUT WHATEVER STORY ARTISTIC LICENSE BLAAAARGH. Who needs realism in fanfiction right?

Also I cannot thank you all enough for your responses. My life is crazy stressful and distressing right now and all the comments from you guys really do make my day.

And since you guys are awesome and because I felt like it you get a BONUS CHAPTER AFTER THIS YAAAAAY. Basically I don't know where its set chronologically but it's a part of this in that its these characters the way I've been writing them…so yeah :/