Story Summary: Jack's at Ianto's bedside in the hospital waiting for him to wake up after emergency surgery, while Tosh and Roddy go investigate a Rift spike.

Recommend you read We Worked Together (the story can be accessed through my profile - socalrose) before reading this story because it's a sequel to We worked Together.

This chapter is PG-13.

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Roddy (OC), and Owen

Note from socalrose: I had writer's block until yesterday - finally had a breakthrough. Let me know what you think about the chapter and story. Cheers!


Awaken

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father – prepare to die!" Jack said with a very bad Spanish accent.

"Princess Bride, Jack?" Owen asked walking into the room. "You're reading a girlie book to Ianto?"

"Hardly," Jack replied looking over the top of the book at Owen. "It has sharks, swordfights and R.O.U.S."

"R.O.U.S.?" Owen asked not remembering the phrase from the book.

"Rodents Of Unusual Size," Jack replied. He watched as Owen rolled his eyes before turning to check the monitors and read Ianto's medical chart. "How's Ianto doing?" he asked.

"He still has a long way to go, but his vital signs are a little better and he's regain some color in his face," Owen replied.

"Ja-ack?"

"Ianto?" Jack said dropping the book on the floor and standing up. Still holding onto Ianto's hand Jack leaned towards Ianto and gazed at his face. He could see Ianto struggling to wake up. "Come on Ianto, let me see your gorgeous baby blue eyes," he said encouragingly. Ianto's eyelids fluttered at first then he managed to open his eyes. He blinked a few times and was finally able to focus his eyes on Jack.

"Jack," Ianto whispered hoarsely. "What happened?

"We were at the Pharm shutting it down, remember?" Jack asked concerned.

Ianto was trying to remember. "We were outside when you, Martha and Owen came out and joined us," he said his eyes focusing on a point somewhere above Jack's head. "You told Tosh to shut it down and then Copley was there threatening Owen and Martha with a gun. I yelled at him and then I fired – Owen! Are Owen and Martha okay?" Ianto asked getting agitated.

Owen leaned in so Ianto could see his face. "Hey, it's okay Ianto; I'm fine and so is Martha thanks to you, hero Teaboy. You shot Copley and unfortunately Copley shot you in the chest. You're in critical care in the hospital. On a scale from one to ten, how's your pain level?" Owen asked.

Ianto tried to take a deep breath and unimaginable pain lanced through his chest. "Shit – twenty!" he said gripping Jack's hand tightly, tears spilling down his face. Owen took a syringe out of his coat pocket and administered the medicine into Ianto's IV line. It took a couple of minutes but Ianto finally felt the pain subside to a manageable level.

"Better?" Owen asked watching his patient, his friend closely. Slowly the tension left Ianto's body and Ianto loosened his death grip on Jack's hand.

"Yeah, better," Ianto said. "Thanks."

"Least I could do for the man who saved my life." Owen said.

"May I have some water?" Ianto asked.

Shaking his head Owen said, "Too soon after surgery, but you can have ice chips; I'll have the nurse bring you some. Get some rest Ianto." Owen gestured to Jack before leaving the room.

"I'll be right back Ianto," Jack said. He kissed Ianto lightly on the lips and stepped out into the hallway to talk to Owen. "Well?" he asked.

"It's a good sign he's awake, but he's still not out of danger," Owen replied. "We'll monitor him closely. Once he's had some ice chips, encourage him to rest, alright?"

"Alright Owen," Jack agreed.

"I have to go update Ianto's chart; I'll see you later," Owen said and headed off to the nurses' station.

Jack returned to Ianto's bedside. A nurse came in briefly and gave Jack a cup of ice chips to feed to Ianto. He spooned some into Ianto's mouth. The melting ice felt soothing to Ianto's throat.

"Want some more?" Jack asked. Ianto nodded his head and gladly accepted more ice chips. Jack put the chips down and carded his fingers through Ianto's hair. "You scared the hell of me Ianto," he said quietly his eyes filling with tears again.

"Sorry I scared you, Jack," Ianto replied reaching up his hand and wiping a tear from Jack's face. He curled his hand around Jack's neck and pulled him down for reassuring kiss. They heard someone clear their throat causing them to break apart.

An older nurse was standing just inside the room. She was wearing surgical scrubs, had silver hair styled in a short bob, reading glasses precariously resting near the tip of her nose and a friendly smile which matched the twinkle in her eyes. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to set up this PCA device," she said pointing to the small machine she had rolled into the room.

Jack said, "Don't mind us, Nurse – ?"

"Janet," the nurse replied.

"Lovely name," Jack commented. "Do carry on, Nurse Janet," he added with a grin.

Nurse Janet smiled; "You're a spunky one," she said rolling the machine over to Ianto's bed. "Good morning, Mr. Ianto Jones. My name is Janet and I'll be setting up the PCA machine for you."

"What is a PCA machine?" Ianto asked.

"PCA stands for 'patient controlled analgesia,'" Nurse Janet explained as she moved Ianto's IV bags from the standard IV pole to the one attached to the PCA machine. She also added a new, smaller IV bag to the pole, threaded the tubing through the machine and plugged the end of the tubing into Ianto's IV line. "This smaller bag has pain medication and you can activate the release of a predetermined amount of the medication by pressing this button." Nurse Janet laid the control button on Ianto's bed next to his hand. "It has a failsafe built in, so don't worry, you can't overdose yourself. How is your pain level right now?" she asked.

"It's about a five right now and please call me Ianto," he replied.

"Alright, Ianto now don't try and tough it out, use the PCA – you'll rest better and heal quicker. And here's a small pillow, hold it against your chest if you feel like you're going to cough, sneeze or laugh. Do you need anything else?" Nurse Janet asked.

"Not right now; thank you," Ianto replied.

"Get some rest," she said to Ianto. "And you, Captain Spunky, behave. We don't need him busting a stitch because you're snogging him – are we on the same page?" Nurse Janet asked raising her eyebrows and looking at Jack over the tops of her eyeglasses.

"Trust me Nurse Janet, I won't do anything to impede his quick recovery," Jack said whole heartedly.

"Good," she replied. "I'll be back to check on you, in a little while, Ianto." Then with a smile and a nod to Jack she was gone.

"I like her," Ianto said quietly. "How about you, Captain Spunky?" he asked Jack.

"Yeah, I like her style," Jack admitted. "You should get some rest Ianto." He leaned over and kissed Ianto's forehead. Ianto's eyes were slowly closing.

"As you wish," Ianto said as he drifted off to sleep.


Good Morning

Tosh slowly became aware of her mobile beeping and grabbed it from her night table. She flicked it open and read the text message:

Ianto woke up

Owen & I talked

2 him. He's resting

again.

- CJH

Tosh smiled and put the mobile back on the table. Sunlight was sneaking through her bedroom curtains and splashing across her bed. Fortunately it wasn't hitting her or Roddy directly in the face. She gazed at Roddy's face and wondered if he had actually said those words to her last night or had it all been a dream? Tosh carded her fingers through his hair and kissed him lightly on the lips. Roddy sighed and reached for her and kissed her back. He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Good morning, beautiful," he said.

"Good morning," Tosh replied. "Did you mean what you said last night?" she asked.

Roddy sensed her insecurity; taking both her hands in his he said, "I love you, Toshiko Sato, with all of my heart and soul," and kissed her.

"I love you too," she replied when they came up for air. They kissed again only to be interrupted by Tosh's PDA beeping. "Bugger," Tosh said reaching for the PDA. Looking at the display she sighed. "It's a Rift spike."

"Bloody Torchwood," Roddy said rolling on to his back. He rubbed his hand over his face trying to wake up. He took a deep breath and then asked, "How big is the spike; do we need to call Gwen?

"No, it's a small spike, so we can handle it," she replied getting out of bed.

Roddy got out of bed with a groan.

"Are you alright?" Tosh asked.

Roddy put his hands against his lower back. "My back's stiff from our little Weevil adventure last night," he replied. He tried some gentle stretches to loosen up his back. "It should be fine once I get moving." They quickly dressed and headed out in Tosh's car. Roddy drove and Tosh navigated based on the signal her PDA was receiving.

"The signal's coming from Bute Park," Tosh said. "We'll have to park here and walk the rest of the way." Roddy parked the car and Tosh led the way following the signal. After they reached a grove of trees and bushes she stopped. Studying her PDA readings she said, "Whatever it is, we're practically on top of it." They both started searching the immediate area.

Roddy heard a noise and saw something moving in the bushes. "I think I've found it," he said and headed for the bushes.

"What is it?" Tosh asked as she pulled out her gun.

"Not sure yet; give me a moment," he replied lying down on the ground in front of the bushes so he could peer under the bushes. "It's a ferret."

"A ferret – that can't be the alien," Tosh said putting away her gun.

"How many Earth ferrets have you seen which are pink and glow in the dark?" Roddy asked.

"You're joking."

"Tosh," Roddy said looking up at her, "I'd never joke about a pink, glow-in-the-dark ferret."

"Really?" Tosh asked.

"If you don't believe me, get down here and see for yourself," he replied with a small smile and mischievous glint in his eye.

Tosh got down on the ground opposite Roddy and looked under the bushes. "Oh my God, it is a pink, glow-in-the-dark ferret!" she exclaimed. "It looks scared; how do we get it out of there?"

"Kiss me," Roddy replied.

Looking puzzled, Tosh asked, "How is kissing you going to help us catch the ferret?"

"I've seen this species of ferrets before; they can sense emotions and if we're kissing it'll know we're not a threat," Roddy explained.

Tosh looked skeptical; "And it will just walk out to us?" she asked.

"Yep – come on Tosh, what have you got to lose?" Roddy asked with a grin.

"If this is your idea of a joke Roddy," Tosh threatened.

Roddy used his best puppy dog eyes look on Tosh. "That innocent pink glow-in-the-dark ferret's life is in danger unless you kiss me right now, Tosh."

"You are crazy," Tosh murmured as she kissed Roddy. They enjoyed their kiss for a moment then Tosh noticed the ferret was timidly emerging out from under the bush. "What do we do now?" Tosh asked while still trying to kiss Roddy.

"Put your hand out palm up like this," Roddy said demonstrating with his own hand. "We've got to let the ferret choose who to trust." Tosh put her hand out palm up as well and they waited. The ferret sniffed at both their hands before resting its head on Roddy's palm.

"Hello there," Roddy said reaching down and picking up the ferret. He opened his jacket and slipped the animal inside before zipping the jacket up again.

"How did you know it wouldn't bite you?" Tosh asked.

"We had some ferrets come through the Rift before years ago," Roddy began as they headed back to the car. "And we discovered they are very peaceful and sociable; plus if it's only one ferret it will want to bond to a human, because it can't stand being alone."

Tosh thought about it and said, "So the fact that it chose you,"

"Means the ferret came through the Rift alone," Roddy said.