"Okay, they've got a spot for him up in ICU finally." Nathan came into the ER cubicle. "We're going to pack him up and take the whole bed with us." Jim and Chris stood on opposite sides of the bed. Vin slept quietly, knocked out with painkillers and exhaustion. Jim held one of his hands, enclosed in a compression glove and bandages encircling his torn wrist. "You two can follow us…"

M7*M7*M7

The pain hovered blissfully on some other plane that wasn't quite connected to Vin. It rolled in and out like shallow waves, but never stayed in one spot for more than a few seconds. Everything thing seemed fuzzy. Everyone seemed blurry. He tried to remember what was going on, where he was and why he was laying down watching lights roll by overhead. Nathan had to be somewhere nearby; Vin could hear him saying quiet, comforting things.

Hospital maybe? Seemed like something bad had happened, though he couldn't remember just now what that might've been. Car accident maybe, he remembered something with his car.

Then the lights got too bright and his eyelids got too heavy and he slipped off to sleep again.

M7*M7*M7

"Why don't you wait here, in the lounge, until we get him all set?" Nathan asked. He tried hard to not make it sound like an order for Jim and Chris to wait outside ICU, but he didn't want either one of them within sight or earshot of Vin until he was completely set for the night. He could tell Jim was disappointed and maybe thinking of pushing the issue, but Chris was dead sure about to question it. So Nathan warned him, "Chris – you want to stay the whole night with Sam? You play nice."

He waited just a few seconds to see that his words had the desired effect and went into ICU to take care of Vin.

M7*M7*M7

Vin became vaguely aware of his surroundings, and vaguely remembered what was going on. He wasn't in the ER anymore, there were solid walls around him, not just curtains. Nathan was still there though; Vin could hear the rippling murmur of his voice. Vin pulled himself a little closer to being awake, in case Nathan was talking to him. But then he heard a woman's voice.

"Dr. Larabee? Mrs. Tanner is on the phone again. She said to remind you that Vin is allergic to Darvocet."

"OK, Elizabeth. Thanks." Vin couldn't be sure, but Nathan sounded a little snippy when he answered. Then he said a few more things that must've been directed to someone else in the room, something about getting Vin set up on the monitors or something.

M7*M7*M7

Chris sat very still in the ICU waiting area. Jim paced the floor in front of him. "I hope Vin stays unaware enough, just long enough, that we don't have to tell him where Sera is. I hate to think how he might take it."

"Well, he hasn't asked so far. Hopefully he'll stay so strung out on painkillers and exhaustion that he'll sleep until tomorrow morning."

"I just can't help thinking about the day he finally understood that his Mom was dead…" Jim said.

"I remember…" Chris shook his head. "He still won't eat KFC…"

M7*M7*M7

Vin couldn't help a low groan of discomfort as he felt himself lifted from one soft, warm surface to another softer, warmer surface. He opened his eyes, he thought he was opening his eyes, to look for Chris, or his Dad, or his Mom… Something about his Mom, he couldn't remember. Somebody was talking about his Mom?

"Dr. Jackson? Mrs. Tanner's on the phone again. Said to tell you that if Vin spikes a temperature, he's prone to hallucinations."

"OK, Elizabeth. Thanks." Nathan's response was going from snippy to sarcastic. More conversation with the other somebody in the room. Vin could feel things being applied to his chest, somebody was moving one of his hands…

M7*M7*M7

"So – what do we tell Vin?" Chris asked, watching Jim continue to pace. "He'll think it's his fault Mom got sick."

"I know. I don't think we can tell him she almost died, but I think we have to tell him she's in the hospital." Jim gave up his pacing to sit on the worn sofa next to Chris. He put his head in his hands. "Being a parent is the hardest job in the world."

"Yes it is." Chris softly agreed.

M7*M7*M7

"Dr. Jackson –."

"Elizabeth, so help me if the next words outta your mouth are 'Mrs. Tanner…'"

Vin wondered what his Mom was doing that would make Nathan so upset. His mouth was too dry to try and form any words. Elizabeth answered Nathan cheerfully.

"No, actually that's not what I was going to say…" she paused long enough for Nathan to give a sigh of relief. "Sera and I are on a first name basis now…" but before she could say what Mom wanted this time, Nathan grumbled something under HIS breath and left the room.

M7*M7*M7

Chris and Jim were both surprised when Nathan stormed into the waiting room.

"Will one of you please get Sera on the phone and distract her long enough so that I can get Vin set up in his room without her calling every forty-two seconds to tell me one more thing about his medical history that I already know?" and he stormed out again without waiting for an answer.

M7*M7*M7

Vin wondered why Nathan left, why he could hear him now out in the hallway, arguing with Mom. Only he couldn't hear Mom saying anything back. Nathan better watch out for that…Mom was never so lethal as when she kept her voice low.

Even though Nathan had left, someone still worked on him, Vin could hear voices, other women's voices. One he didn't remember hearing before: "I didn't think he'd ever leave." And the voice Nathan had identified as Elizabeth said:

"I know. There's nothing quite like God on earth as a doctor who thinks he knows everything. I gave him to Sera. She can keep him busy while we finish in here."

Mom…Mom must be nearby. Vin struggled again to get his eyes open, and when he did, a nurse came into focus. She smiled down at him.

"Well, look at those sweet blue eyes. How're you doing honey?" By her voice, it wasn't Elizabeth.

"Mom? Where's…Mom?"

"Well, from the sound of the conversation at the nurse's station, I'd say she's hastening the untimely death of Dr. Jackson."

"She's – she's –." But whatever thought he'd been pursuing eluded Vin, and he went for the most obvious. "She's my Mom." And the nurse smiled at him again, and laid a warm and very gentle hand along the side of his face.

"I know she is, and Moms know everything, don't they? Especially about their kids. More than doctors know." Her voice was as gentle as her touch. Vin remembered that his hands didn't work, though he didn't remember why, so he turned his face into the softness of her hand, wanting to hold the warmth and gentleness to himself as long as he could.

"You just relax honey, and let us get you settled in here. My name is Joan. Nathan said he was letting your brother stay with you, your brother Chris? So, just as soon as we get you squared away, your brother can come in here with you, all right?"

For a moment, nothing else existed for Vin but this nurse, the sound of her voice and the soft warm touch of her hand against his painful cheek. Then he looked up into her concerned eyes again.

"I want my Mom…" he told her.

to be continued