Daphne let out a deep breath to try and calm herself as she watched Brian walk through the double doors into intensive care. Come on, Brian. Bring him back to us, she pleaded silently. Hugging Jennifer wordlessly for a few seconds, she smiled encouragingly as she turned to look for a place to sit during what would no doubt be an interminably long wait in one of the lobby's hard plastic chairs.

She spied several familiar faces in the crowd, including Emmett, Ted, and Debbie, along with an older couple sitting next to Molly who must be her grandparents. She was startled, however, when she looked toward the back and observed Ethan Gold sitting with his head down, hands on his thighs.

Acknowledging this was probably not the wisest time to engage him in conversation, she nonetheless couldn't wait to have a few choice words with him. Walking determinedly over to him, she greeted him.

"Ethan? Remember me? Daphne?"

The man looked up at her then, eyes focusing in recognition. "Sure, I remember you, Daphne. I'm sorry we had to meet again under such terrible circumstances, though."

"Yeah, well, to be honest, I'm sorry we had to meet again at ALL. I need a word with you outside - NOW." Pointing a finger toward the exit doors, she stood firmly rooted to the spot until Ethan finally rose slowly from his chair and began to follow her.

"Okay, you've got my attention now. What do you want to talk about? I don't want to stay out here too long in case Justin's condition changes," Ethan said defiantly as he stood on the sidewalk facing the curly-haired spitfire.

"Why did you lie, Ethan?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Ethan crossed his arms defiantly.

"I'm talking about where you said you and Justin met yesterday. You said you met him at a bar in Soho."

Daphne detected a slight tremor in the dark-haired man's voice as he replied, "So? What about it?"

"You didn't meet Justin at a bar in Soho. You met him at the Ritz Carlton, didn't you? And not only that, Brian saw the two of you there and jumped to conclusions, didn't he? Conclusions you were only too happy to perpetuate for your own goals. You really are pitiful, you know that?"

"I don't need to justify my actions to you. It's none of your fucking business. Why don't you just butt out? This is between Justin and me; it has NOTHING to do with you."

Daphne stabbed a finger into the man's chest. "Oh, on the contrary, I beg to differ – It has EVERYTHING to do with me, because Justin's my best friend! And for your information, my cousin Annie is his roommate, and she told me he only agreed to meet with you to tell you to move on because he HAS! He told her he loved BRIAN, not you, you asshole! And if you were so sure he loved YOU, you wouldn't have had a problem lying to me about Justin seeing Brian in the first place! And, furthermore, if you really loved him, you would have wanted what was best for HIM, not what YOU wanted! So why don't you just do us all a favor and get the hell out of here!" Daphne's rather vocal tirade was quickly becoming the center of attention from the nearby crowd, but she didn't care. Apparently this was the only way Ethan could understand perfect English.

Ethan was about to protest yet again that she was out of her mind, when he heard an older female voice speaking directly behind him. "She's right, Ethan. Everybody can see that except apparently you. That kid has been in love with Brian since the day they met, and that is NEVER going to change. Now you've got 30 seconds to get the fuck away from here, or I'll personally go in there and call security to have you removed!"

"You, you can't do that," Ethan sputtered, staring at Debbie vehemently, who was gesturing at him wildly.

"Oh, yeah? Watch me! I can make a really big stink when I have to! And I'll do whatever the fuck it takes to make sure Sunshine gets out of this hospital completely well. And that means NOT having to deal with the likes of you! So I suggest you leave. You've caused enough pain for him, AND for Brian." Debbie stared intensely at the violinist until he finally looked away, defeated.

"I'll call you later to see how he is," Ethan finally said to Daphne stubbornly, still clinging desperately to any hope that Justin might still harbor feelings for him.

"Don't bother. Because I WON'T answer." Turning on her heel, she and Debbie marched back into the waiting room to await the latest word on Justin's condition, as Ethan dejectedly trudged the other way in the direction of the subway station.

Brian slowly walked down the hall, smelling once again the antiseptic smells of a hospital intensive care ward. Not only the same smells, but the same sounds and sights he had remembered from several years ago, when he had waited desperately for a sign that Justin would pull through that horrendous bashing at the hands of Chris Hobbs. He couldn't believe that they were at the same crossroads once again, only this time it was an almost invisible, but insidious foe threatening to take the man he loved away from him.

I'm NOT going to let that happen, Sunshine. You hear me? If you leave me, you might as well take me with you, because my life would end, too. As he neared Justin's room, he steeled himself for what he might see. Still, he wasn't fully prepared for the sight that assaulted him – the young man he knew so intimately and that was usually so full of life and energy lay listless and still on a sea of white sheets, hooked up to blood pressure and heart monitors, with IVs infusing saline and medication into both slender arms and an oxygen tube held in place under his nose.

Brian let out a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding as he nervously approached his partner, trying to somehow WILL the younger man to wake up and look at him. But there was no outward sign that Justin knew he was in the room.

Sitting down in a chair that had been pushed next to the bed, he sat down and immediately reached to gently grasp a slender hand in his own, moving it to cradle the blond's hand against his worried face as he spoke to his lover with quiet urgency.

"Justin? Can you hear me? It's your fucked-up, stubborn asshole of a partner talking to you. Listen, Sunshine, I know I really messed up this time. I KNOW you love me. And I know I love YOU. You just make me crazy sometimes, you know that? You know I'm not good at this whole relationship shit. I mean, what do I know about healthy relationships? I certainly didn't learn about them from my prick of a father or my mother, the ice queen.

Brian continued to hold Justin's hand as he slowly lowered it down onto the bed, absently rubbing his fingers over the other man's knuckles. "Daphne told me what you were doing with Ethan yesterday," he said contritely. "I know you were meeting with that fucking, sorry excuse of a man just so you could put that chapter behind you. I know that NOW. But I also know I should have trusted you, Justin. And I'm sorry, Sunshine. You don't know HOW sorry." Brian sniffled and wiped his suddenly watery nose with the sleeve of his free hand. "But I can't adequately grovel unless you wake up," he insisted. "So come on, you stubborn little shit. Wake up." He squeezed the lifeless hand a little to emphasis his plea, but his partner remained motionless. "Come on, Justin," he said more softly. "You've played the drama queen long enough. I need you to wake up. Please, Sunshine." He reached over and placed gentle pressure on the full, pink lips to tenderly kiss him, then buried his face in the side of his lover's neck just below the ear. "Come on, Sunshine," he repeated pleadingly. "I need you. I LOVE you."

A woman studied the tall, handsome man sitting by the patient's bedside, murmuring words of encouragement while holding the young man's hand as he repeatedly caressed it with his thumb. She noticed his tousled, brown hair and his disheveled appearance, despite the expensive-looking clothes.

"Let me guess – an uncle?"

Brian didn't even look up. "No, not even close."

"I didn't think so. Don't worry – your secret's safe with me…..My brother's gay, too. The name's Julie."

"Brian." He nodded briefly in acknowledgement at the older, petite nurse standing at the door's threshold, not wanting to take more than a second to glance away from Justin.

"He's a beautiful-looking young man."

"Yes, he is," Brian replied without hesitation. "And his eyes are the most incredible shade of blue."

"I'm sure I'll get to see that for myself soon," she responded, encouragingly.

"You know what, though?" Brian's eyes misted over. "The most amazing thing is that he's even more beautiful on the INSIDE. "

She encouraged him softly, "Keep talking to him. I firmly believe a person who's unconscious can still hear what you're saying to them." She paused for a moment. "I'll be right outside at the nurse's station if you need anything." Before turning around, she added, "I'll be praying for your young man."

"Thanks."

Brian remained at Justin's side throughout the afternoon, mainly continuing to murmur words of encouragement and to plead for him to wake up, his hand holding the blond's slender one tightly, almost as if it were a lifeline. He didn't notice when Julie returned to the room around dinner time, observing him maintaining his steadfast vigil.

"Brian?" She called to him softly so as not to startle him. "I need for you to leave the room for just a few minutes while I take some blood and check his vitals. It will just take a minute or two, and then you can come right back in," she reassured him.

Brian hesitated for a few seconds; he did not want to leave Justin for even a minute. But finally, he leaned into his partner and whispered in his ear, "I'll be right back, Sunshine. I promise." He reluctantly let go of Justin's hand as he stood up and backed up from the bed, never taking his gaze from his lover's until he was forced to turn and leave the room.

"It will just take a few minutes," Julie repeated. "Why don't you take a short break? I'll come get you just as soon as I'm done, I promise." She smiled at him in understanding.

Brian rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and smiled a little at her in return. "Okay," he said finally. "I'll grab some coffee out in the waiting room. But come and get me as soon as you're done."

"I promise," Julie said, turning back to her patient with a syringe for the blood sample.

Jennifer rushed up to Brian as soon as she saw him coming out of the intensive care ward. "How is he?" She asked him urgently. Justin's friends and the rest of his family, also, stood nearby for encouraging news on his condition. Their faces dropped as they immediately discerned by his expression that there had been no appreciable change.

"He's the same," Brian sadly confirmed. "He's still unconscious. The nurse was checking his vital signs just now and taking a blood sample, so she told me to take a short break." He hugged Jennifer in a sign of comfort as she returned his embrace, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sure you're making a difference to him, Brian. I KNOW he realizes you're here, and that will make him fight even harder. He's always been a fighter, and he's not going to give up now. Not after he knows you're here with him."

Brian sighed, releasing his hold on her. "I hope you're right, Jennifer. I don't know what I would do if I lost him." He was increasingly getting worried, because he realized the few minutes Julie said she would need were stretching into more like five or ten minutes.

Just then, the doors quickly opened and Julie rushed up to him. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her, desperately trying to tell by her neutral expression if something had happened.

"Julie?" He whispered to her. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

Finally, Julie smiled. "You were right, Brian. His eyes ARE the most amazing shade of blue."

Brian was almost afraid he hadn't heard her correctly. His heart beat rapidly as he dared to ask, "He's awake?"

Her smile was now a radiant one as she said, "Yes. And he's asking for you."