When Cameron came into the room after supper, she was not surprised to find him alone and awake, a mostly untouched tray of food sitting on the table. "Not hungry?"

He looked at her, shaking his head. "No."

She was relieved to see that he wasn't withdrawing as much as he had that morning. When she had done her afternoon rounds, it was nice to see him playing with his son and smiling at his wife, even if it was a haunted smile. She was actually glad it was her turn to be on call now. She considered Maggie her patient, whether House thought so or not. Her boss had gone home at six, leaving her to determine if Maggie was ready to be extubated, with the proviso that she call him first. Remote control medicine and she was the robot.

But that was all right with her. She hadn't left the hospital since the morning they had taken Maggie on as a patient. House teased her—at least she thought he was teasing—about Maggie's father, and she would go so far as admitting the man touched something inside her. House got a kick out of trying to get a rise from her, but she refused to take his bait this time.

"I have encouraging news."

Goren noticed she avoided calling it good news. "What's that?"

"The machine is no longer breathing for Maggie, so we can extubate her. I already talked to House."

He was quiet for a moment. "So what does it mean?"

"It means her lungs are improving."

"Does it mean she's clearing the toxin?"

"It could."

"But we have to wait for morning to be certain. If she's alive come sunrise, she'll probably recover."

She nodded slowly. "I wish I could tell you more. All I can say is that any improvement is a good sign. Let's get this tube out."

"You're sure she's ready?"

She nodded. "If she's not, we'll just put the tube back in and wait until tomorrow to try again."

He watched silently, holding Maggie's hand, as Cameron pulled the tube from her throat. Then she listened carefully to Maggie's lungs for a long time. Finally, she straightened away from the bed. "She sounds good."

Opening a package of green tubing, she slipped a small cannula under Maggie's nose and plugged it into the oxygen outlet in the wall. She turned the dial to half a liter and watched the monitor over the bed. The bottom number settled at 96 and Cameron nodded, satisfied. "This is good, Mr. Goren. It's very good." She hesitated. "I'll stay here by Maggie if you want to call your wife."

He smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

She watched him leave the room. With a sigh, she turned back to Maggie.

Goren placed the call and told Eames about the extubation. She seemed relieved. That's good, isn't it?

"It's good, Alex."

Then why don't you sound more relieved. She's improving.

"I know. I'm just...tired. That's all."

Then try to rest. Dad and I will come up first thing in the morning.

"Okay, baby. Good night."

He hung up the phone, thanked the nurse and headed back to Maggie's room. After saying good night to Cameron, he sat down and leaned forward, settling his head on his arm near Maggie. He was utterly exhausted and couldn't stay awake. The only benefit to the bone-weary exhaustion he felt was that his sleep was dreamless, and his body and mind could regenerate.

The room was dark, except for a nightlight over the bed. A green nightlight. Nightlights weren't supposed to be green. This wasn't her room. Her nightlight was white. And why was this thing in her nose? She pushed it off her face and moved a little, realizing there was a hand resting gently on her stomach. She rolled onto her side under the comforting touch of the hand that guarded her and watched her father sleep, with his head resting on his arm near her pillow. She moved closer, gently kissed his forehead, then rested her head against his. She didn't feel good, but she felt better than she had a little while ago, after her nap. Her tummy was still sore and her chest still hurt. She was wet with sweat and her head hurt, and she felt cold and hot at the same time. She didn't like not being in her own bed, and she didn't understand why she wasn't there, but Daddy was with her, so it had to be okay. She felt uncomfortable and unsettled, so she sought comfort from him and nestled her hand into his hair. Maybe when he woke up, he'd hold her and she'd feel better. Yeah, that was what she'd do. She'd wait until Daddy woke up so he could make her feel better. With a contented sigh, feeling safe under his hand, she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Marcy looked at the beeping monitor and frowned. Maggie had just been extubated and now her sats were dropping. She set down her pen, concerned, and hurried to the little girl's room. She smiled to see her breathing easily, curled on her side and snuggled as close as she could get to her father. Walking around to the other side of the bed, she gently moved the oxygen cannula back to its place under her nose without waking either of them. She listened to Maggie's lungs and, satisfied, returned to her desk.

He stirred at the sound because it was different. It wasn't the usual background noise he'd come to recognize. Thinking maybe it was the absence of a sound, namely the respirator, that got his attention, he tried to slip back into the depths of sleep. Then he heard it again, and he recognized it. Pulling himself to wakefulness, he gradually became aware of his surroundings. His arm rested on the smooth sheet, a pillow for his head, which throbbed a slow beat to match his heart, the familiar result of stress and lack of sleep. But there was something else...a gentle pressure against his forehead...and a little hand, nestled into his hair. And the noise he'd heard. She coughed.

He turned his head and moved to rest his chin on his forearm. Softly, he kissed her nose. She stirred, opening her eyes to look at him. "Hi, Daddy." Her voice was hoarse.

"Hi, mouse," he whispered, swallowing the lump in his throat.

She reached out and gently rubbed her hand over his cheek. "I don' feel good."

He gently stroked her hair and kissed her. "I know you don't." He ran his finger along the side of her face. "I missed you, baby," he whispered, trying not to choke on his emotions.

She looked confused. "Did I go someplace?"

He nodded, swallowing hard, his eyes moist. "Someplace far away."

"I don' 'member goin' anywhere. Where did I go?" She looked around her, then back at him. "Am I inna hopsital?"

He nodded, smoothing his hand over her sweat-dampened hair. "Do you remember when I was in the hospital and Uncle Mike told you my brain was sleeping?"

"An' I was your medicine. You holded my hand and waked up."

"Right, baby. Now, it was your brain that was sleeping."

She just blinked, not sure she understood what he meant, since she didn't remember her brain sleeping. "Did the water make me sick?"

"No, but something in the water did." He kissed her again. "Let me go and call Mommy so she can come up here to see you. I'll be right back."

"Then can I sit in your lap?"

He nodded. She coughed again and rolled over to settle back into her pillow. He left the room and walked to the nurses' station. Marcy looked up from her work. "Is something wrong?"

"Call Dr. Cameron. Tell her Maggie's awake. And, may I use the phone?"

She smiled and set the phone on the counter for him to use. Then she moved off to use another phone to call Cameron.

He dialed and waited while the phone rang. He closed his eyes at the sound of her sleep-muffled voice. Hello.

He couldn't speak for a moment. Hello, she repeated. Bobby?

"It's me," he confirmed, his voice hoarse with emotion.

What's wrong?

He struggled with himself. "N-nothing. I, uh, you need to come up here."

Why? What happened?

"Sh-she's awake, Alex."

I'll be right up.

He set the phone in its cradle, waved thank you to Marcy, who was still on the phone, and went back to his daughter. She was half asleep when he stopped to stand beside the bed. "I don' like these straws in me, Daddy."

He smoothed his hand over her hair. "I don't blame you. When the doctor comes in, tell her that."

She coughed again and held her arms out to him. He carefully arranged her tubes and wires so nothing would get pulled. Then she sat up and he lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. "I feel bad," she whispered.

She snuggled into his chest with her head against his shoulder and nestled her hand into his hair. Her little body shuddered and she sighed softly, then coughed. Her hand tightened into a loose fist and she snaked her other arm around his neck. He rubbed her back and gently kissed her neck. "Don' leave me," she whispered with a yawn.

"Not a chance."

He was gently soothing her by pacing back and forth, three steps in each direction, which was all the tubing would allow, when Cameron arrived a few minutes later. She smiled at the sight of the little girl snuggled in his arms. He gave her a tired smile. "She said she feels bad."

She took out her stethoscope and placed it on Maggie's back, listening to her heart and lungs. Goren looked toward the door when Eames appeared, out of breath. "Did you run?" he asked with a soft smile.

She came into the room and stepped up to his side, placing one hand on his waist and the other on the side of Maggie's head. Maggie opened her eyes and smiled sleepily at her. "Hi, Mommy."

"Hi, baby," she said, barely able to manage a whisper.

Maggie reached out and wiped a tear from her mother's cheek. "I feel bad, Mommy."

"I know you do."

"Maggie?" She looked around. That was a voice she didn't know. Cameron smiled gently when the little girl spotted her. "I'm Dr. Cameron. Can you tell me how you feel bad?"

"I jus' feel yucky. My throat is scratchy an' my tummy hurts, an' so does my chest an' my head. But you can take these straws outta me."

Cameron smiled at the sweet child. "You still need some of them, sweetheart."

"Take off the others. Please."

Cameron met Goren's eyes, then looked at Eames. "If you want to lay her down for a minute, I can remove the Foley from her bladder. Her urine output is normal again and now that she's awake, she won't need it." She turned to Maggie. "Okay, Maggie? Let Daddy lay you down for a minute."

She hesitated, then nodded. Cameron lowered the bedrail. Eames walked around to the other side of the bed and leaned over to bring her head down close to Maggie's. Goren held her hand after leaning over to kiss his wife. Maggie squeezed his hand and reached up to hug her mother's head. She cried softly as Cameron removed the catheter. Once it was out, she scrambled back into Goren's arms, holding tight to his neck, snuffling and coughing into his shoulder.

Cameron gave her back a gentle pat. Then she stepped away and said, "I'll call Dr. House, to let him know what's going on. He'll probably be in first thing in the morning."

Goren looked at her. "Is she going to be all right now?"

Cameron nodded. "I think she's going to be fine."

"Thank you."

Another smile for him and she left the room. This was a part of her job that she loved the most. At the thought of waking House at this hour, her smile broadened. An added benefit, she thought. Tonight, she didn't care if he fussed about being woken because everything was okay. She wanted him to know this child was awake, and she really did not care if he wanted to know it or not.