I would have updated this yesterday. But we got a foot of snow and it was cold and windy and I work outside and you probably can see why this fic was not something I particularly wanted to finish then, haha.

ANYWAY, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far. I've had a ton of fun writing this fic, I'm glad they announced an episode called White Out because it inspired me to actually dig this draft up and finish it before we actually GOT a snow episode. Hope you all like this last chapter!


"The waiting is the worst," Sylvester said quietly. "It always has been."

A hand reached over from the chair next to him and closed around his. Sylvester offered a small smile.

"Their prognosis should be good," Toby said.

"We know that, you've said that," Happy said tensely, her knuckles white from holding onto the armrests of her chair. "You keep saying that. It won't make it any more or less true."

"Then there's no harm in saying it," Toby pointed out. He looked at her. "Hey," he said in a gentle voice. "You know they'll be okay."

She nodded. "I know." She let her eyes shift to Toby. "We did good out there."

"Yeah." He smiled, grabbing one of her hands. "We did real good."

"Get a room," Sylvester said jokingly.

Happy leaned around Toby to look at him. "Oh, we had one."

Toby smirked triumphantly. "And we used it."


"How much longer?"

It was a question they all wanted to know. It felt like hours since Walter and Paige had been taken away, and it had been nearly a half hour since Cabe had risen from his seat to find someone on staff who might know something about their condition.

"Cabe, thank God." Sylvester jumped out of his chair, and the others stood up quickly as he walked up. "What's the news? Did you see them?"

"There's still a risk of one or both of them losing fingers, a part of their ear maybe, but they're essentially out of the woods," Cabe said. "Walter has a concussion, but they've classified it as a grade two, so it isn't life threatening. I ah," he cleared his throat. "I asked that they be put in the same room. They won't remember everything, not right away, maybe not ever, but..."

"But they will remember how dire their chances seemed," Toby finished. "And if they wake up and can't see each other they might panic."

"Exactly." Cabe nodded. "Once they wake up they'll have a better idea of how quickly recovery will be. But they're very optimistic."

"Oh thank God," Sylvester said, sinking back down in the chair. "When can we see them?"

"They're both expected to regain consciousness relatively soon," Cabe said. "Once they do, they'll let us in one at a time."

"Can I go first?"

Everyone looked at the one who had asked. "Of course you can," Toby said.

Cabe nodded. "You should."


Walter shifted uncomfortably, opening his eyes. He had an oxygen tube under his nose. A glance to his right told him he had an I.V. in his arm; he was normally sensitive to the tape used to hold it in place, but he must not have all the feeling back yet. His hands hurt, but for the first time in what seemed like a very, very long time, he felt warm.

He remembered the cold. It was coming back...not a detailed play by play no, but...when he'd briefly woken up hours earlier on a helicopter Cabe had told him, and that helped the memories flow. He remembered the tire, and the boulder, and the door, and his blood on Paige's hands, and her body in his arms, struggling to warm itself; struggling to stay awake. He remembered at one point having her bra wrapped around his forehead and now that he remembered that he thought he felt a bandage in the bra's place. He remembered, at the end, it was painful for both of them to move, and he remembered leaving her in the back of the van to get help and not being able to get back.

"Paige."

His voice didn't sound quite right. He tipped his head to his other side, away from the machines hooked up to his body. She was just feet away, in the next bed, a number of tubes connected to her as well. He noticed her hands, discolored and blistered. They didn't look too bad. He was sure his hands looked similar, which meant her hands probably felt bad.

She opened her eyes, turning her head with a quiet groan, looking over at him. "You're alive," she said in a whisper.

"We're alive," he said, a corner of his mouth turning up, remembering something she said to him once, how important it was that they both survive. "Happy and Toby found us."

"Yeah." She gave a small nod. "If our fate had to be in anyone's hands, I'm glad it was them." She was quiet for a moment. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." He cleared his throat. He wanted water. "If it wasn't for me we wouldn't have crashed. My idiotic...shenanigans...you almost died because of me." He couldn't tell if his voice was cracking due to his dry throat or his emotions. "I'd do anything, Paige. To keep you safe. And I almost killed you." One of his eyes – the one closest to his head injury – was twitching.

"You couldn't...couldn't have known that tire was going to blow," she said, clearing her own throat. Her voice sounded strange too, dry, somewhat raspy. He still liked how it sounded. "Walter...you saved my life. You kept me hydrated, kept me talking. Kept me as warm as you could." She bit her lip. "I know you'd do anything for me. That's why I'm still here. Walter, my son still has his mother because of you. And..." she fell silent, and he wondered if she was falling asleep. "And..." she continued, "You know, before...I was having a good time. With you. Enjoying the easy mission, goofing off a bit...it was fun. It was easy." She gave him a smile. "It was...nice."

They looked at each other for a long moment, then she bit her lip. "Your head hurt?"

"Yes. But it would have been worse if it'd been allowed to bleed. You sacrificed some of your heat to bandage me up."

"I'd do anything to keep you safe too," she said quietly.

"I know."

"Mr. O'Brien? Ms Dineen?"

The nurse accompanied her voice by rapping her knuckles against the door. "My name is Sharmika. How do you both feel?"

"Deader than I'd like," Walter said. "But alive enough that you shouldn't be too concerned." He blinked. "Oh God, I'm turning into Toby."

"We have a visitor, if you're up to it," Sharmika said.

They both smiled when they saw who it was. He ran to Paige's bed and put his hand over hers.

"Mommy."