A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting. Hectic, very hectic weekend. New update: tomorrow. To make up for Saturday...
"Excuse me, sir." A voice startled Bobby and the Australian raised tiredly his head towards the owner of the voice. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.
"Who are you?" Bobby asked, observing the suit the man was squeezed in. It was clear he wasn't a doctor nor a nurse.
"The nurse told me to speak with you…"
"Who. Are. You?" Bobby repeated getting up.
The man took a step back, looking up at the no-nonsense expression on the tall man's face. The stranger cleared uncomfortably his throat.
"I'm Mark Higgins. I work in the insurance division of the hospital. There's a problem with Mr. Hudson's documentation."
"What do you mean? What kind of problem?" Bobby asked, taking a step forward.
The men took another step back and shot a worried glance at the busy corridor. Bobby had raised his voice and many people were now watching them, albeit covertly.
"Could you follow me for a minute, sir? This way we'll have a little more privacy."
Bobby looked briefly around himself. Higgins was right. That wasn't a good place to talk but he didn't want to leave Jack's side.
The man seemed to read his thoughts and a sympathetic smile softened his features.
"I swear I'll be quick. We don't need to go to my office if you don't want, sir. We could use the doctors' lounge on this floor. It's just behind that corner."
Bobby nodded and followed the man.
Bobby shook Higgins' hand and exited the lounge. still deep in thought, he rounded the corner and stopped at the vending machine for a coffee, fixing his stare on the door of Jack's room at the other side of the nurses' station. He had to talk about this problem with Jack but he didn't know how to bring up the subject. Jack was lying in a hospital bed, paralyzed, and the hospital wanted to kick him out because of some stupid mistake on an even more stupid piece of paper. The Australian observed the nurses coming and going, entering and exiting rooms, their quick steps in clear contrast with the slow and nervous ones of the people who waited to be allowed to see their loved ones. His mind drifted back to the problem at hand. Did they really believe that Jack could care about his lack of insurance and money at this moment? He shouldn't bother him with such trivial issues in such a difficult moment. Maybe Myles could help… He had to inform Garrett and D… and why had that nurse entered Jack's room? Jack had been given his medications not so long ago. Maybe Jack needed something… By this time Bobby was already walking quickly towards Jack's room but a thought made him stop abruptly and then spring towards his destination. There wasn't any male nurse on this floor, not on this shift. A sickening feeling planted itself in his guts and he threw himself in the room, not even noticing that the door had been locked up when he slammed it open with his weight.
The nurse at Jack's bedside was giving his back at the door and, at Bobby's less than discreet entry, he turned his head, meeting thunderous eyes with his guilty ones. One moment later he was slammed against the floor with such a violence that it literally took his breath away. He had just won his struggle to breath when a fist connected with his left temple and robbed him of any coherent thought. And then he passed out.
Bobby stayed still for some moments, trying to catch his breath. But then a chaos of jumbled sounds invaded the room and Bobby shot on his feet, his eyes finding the panic-stricken ones of his best mate. Jack was already struggling to breath, his chest rising and falling in a frenzied rhythm, his right bloodied hand on his chest just above his heart. His bloodied hand? What the heck had happened to his hand? Then Jack's eyes started to droop and Bobby ran to his side.
"Jack! Jack, stay with me! Sparky!" He yelled, his voice pleading.
Two nurses and a doctor rushed into the room.
"What happened?" The doctor asked and then started giving orders to the nurse.
"I – I don't know." Bobby answered, still confused.
The Australian returned to the man still laying unconscious on the floor. The man had a syringe in his hand, still attached to the IV line that had been unceremoniously extracted from Jack's hand when Bobby had assailed the nurse.
"This man was giving Jack something." Bobby added, taking the syringe in his hands. "There's still some liquid in the syringe." He informed.
A funny thought entered Bobby's mind and he shot an awkward look at the doctor.
"Do you know this nurse?" He asked tentatively, hoping he had just assailed an innocent man who was doing his job because this would have meant that no one had just tried to kill Jack and maybe had managed to succeed.
"No, he doesn't work here." One of the nurses answered while still pumping air in Jack's lungs through an Ambu.
Suddenly, the frenzied sounds of the machines surrounding Jack stopped and a shrill, continuous, hated sound took their place.
"We stabilized him. We had to re-intubate him because the attack worsened the already fragile condition of his lungs. Luckily he hasn't been given all the substance, whatever substance it was, and we've been able to bring him back. He's asleep now. Please, when he wakes up avoid any stress. His heart and lungs have already had enough excitement this couple of days." The doctor said after a couple of minutes.
The fake nurse groaned and shifted slightly on the floor.
"Does he need my expertise?" The doctor asked, trying to assess the man's conditions form his position.
"He'll survive. You can check him later when he'll officially be in the hands of the FBI." Bobby answered. "And you…" He added, placing a foot on the man's chest "Do not even try to think something stupid!"
When the doctor and the nurses left the room, Bobby took his cell-phone to dial the familiar number when the little piece of technology started buzzing. Bobby looked at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow.
"D? I was going to call you." He said, still a little surprised by the coincidence.
"Bobby, we have a problem." D communicated through the phone.
The Australian glanced at Jack and then returned his hard stare to the fake nurse's face.
"My thoughts exactly, mate."