A/N Sorry for the slow update - I needed to get One Hell of a Day out of my system first (please read it!). Anyway, Becker is awake and ooops being mean to Jess again! There will be some fluff coming in a later chapter - I promise! I just need to get the filler out of the way first. I hope you like it anyway...

The room suddenly became alive with medics; they rushed in and surrounded his bed, all pulling and poking at different parts of him. His view of Jess became obstructed and he struggled to move his head to keep her in eyesight.
"Captain Becker," one of the medics touched his shoulder firmly, bringing his attention back to the commotion around him. "Please try to stay still. We have you on a ventilator and we need to get the tube out of your throat ok?"
Becker focused on the man, of medium build with blonde hair and blue eyes, and nodded once.
"Ok," the medic continued. "Now, I want you to take in a breath with the ventilator and then, on three, exhale as I withdraw the tube. Are you ready?"
Becker nodded again. He inhaled and listened to the medic count. He exhaled and felt his throat being torn apart from his chest to his mouth as the tube grated its way out. He coughed violently as the tube left his mouth and the medic held him gently.
"Try some water," the medic suggested as the coughing subsided.
Becker took a sip, some of the water trickling down his chin, and nodded his thanks.

It was at that point that something bouncing behind the medic caught his attention. Jess. She was trying to see over the medic's shoulder and even though he was not a tall man, he was still taller than Jess without her heels and so she was hopping about trying to see what was going on. She was very quiet but Becker could feel her excitement and enthusiasm radiating across the room. Once all the medical equipment had been removed from Becker's body (bar the heart monitor and the drip), all the medics, except the blonde man, moved back and left the room. Becker came into Jess's view and she squealed and launched herself at him.

She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. Becker raised an eyebrow and then sucked in a noisy breath as pain spiked across his body like a million little lightning strikes. He moaned softly as Jess disentangled herself from him and the pain faded to a dull ache. Jess stared at him, her big blue eyes filling with tears as she realised she had caused him pain.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," she babbled.
He stared at her and his eyebrows lifted again. "Its good to see you too, Jess," he rasped with a slight twist to his lips. "But why is it whenever I'm injured, you insist on torturing me?"
She pulled a face, knowing he was referring to the Therocephalian bite he sustained about a year ago but she resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"I'm sorry I hurt you," she said. "I just got a little over excited. I mean its just so great that you're alive!" her natural exuberance and girly foolishness around Becker began to get the better of her. She looked at the medic for confirmation. "I mean, isn't it great that he's alive?"
The medic smiled at her and nodded. He knew how long she had been here waiting and was prepared to indulge her for a short while at least.
The look on Becker's face, however, was priceless. He looked bewildered, confused and not a little bit scared. Then he recovered himself slightly.
"Yes, Jess, it is really great that I'm alive," he agreed soberly.
She giggled then nudged his leg with her hand. "Budge up!"
What? Budge up? He budged up anyway, and Jess seated herself on his bed and took hold of his hand. Her face became serious for a moment.
"I was worried about you, you know," she told him.
He squeezed her hand. "I know. Thank you. But its all going to be fine now."
She smiled at him, happy with his reassurance.
Suddenly he frowned, noticing for the first time that she was clad in only a hospital gown and a blanket.
"Jess, how long have you been here?" he asked gently.
"Oh, not long," she breezed. "They kept me in anyway for observation, that's why I haven't been home to change." She pulled the blanket further around her shoulders self-consciously.
Becker studied her from underneath his eyebrows. She was lying but he was too muddled to figure out why just yet. She looked very tired, with dark rings under her eyes. Tell-tale tear tracks still smudged her cheeks. He had to get her to go home somehow.
"Jess," he murmured. "You need to go home. Have a shower, get some fresh clothes and something to eat. You look so tired."
She dropped his hand and her face fell. "You want me to leave?" she whispered.
"Just for a little while. You need to freshen up and I need to rest." He tried to make it sound as sensible as possible. But the hurt didn't leave her face.
"Right, ok, I'm sorry. I'll be going then," she stood up, pulling the blanket ever closer about herself, as if this would ward off the anguish she was feeling at being sent away.
She glanced once at the medic and fled the room.
"Jess!" Becker tried to call her name but his voice had no volume. Then she was gone and he had the horrible feeling that he had handled that very badly.

His uncertainty must have shown on his face because the medic spoke to him.
"You were right. She did need to go home," he told him matter-of-factly.
Becker looked at his doctor. "How long was she here?"
The medic smiled. "Hmmmmmm, you've been here about 43 hours now. She's been here, oh about 43 hours give or take…"
Becker's eyebrows twitched as the words sank in. She'd been sat in that chair for 40-odd hours just waiting for him. He closed his eyes and sighed. He should never have encouraged her. What had he been thinking? He opened his eyes again and stared hard at the medic.
"And what about me? What's happened?" he demanded, angry at himself again.
The medic, which Becker vaguely recognised as Johnson, pulled up a chair and sat down.
"How much do you remember, Captain?" he asked gently.

Becker swallowed. He remembered being in the lift with Jess, dropping his guard and letting her in for just a moment. He remembered his fear as Ethan had stepped out of the shadows. He remembered moving to push Jess out of the way of the bullet…
"Ethan shot me, didn't he." It was a statement, not a question. Johnson nodded.
Becker was suddenly alert. "Where is Ethan now?" he demanded, his mind ready to leap into action, even if his body was not.
"Calm down, Captain Becker," Johnson laid a soothing hand on his arm. "Ethan is dead. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
Becker relaxed, but only slightly.
He indicated to his injury with his head. "How bad is it? And why do I feel like I've just been trampled by a herd of stampeding Embolotherium?"
The medic's lips became tight and Becker winced, this couldn't be good.
"You died in the car park, Becker," Johnson told him, knowing the Captain would prefer to hear it straight rather than be mollycoddled. "The bullet penetrated just below your arm, breaking a rib on the way in. We had to perform emergency surgery at the scene. When you went into cardiac arrest we had to break two more ribs so Mr Anderson could get your heart beating again."
Becker's eyebrows flew up towards his hairline. "Matt?" he barked.
Johnson nodded. "He had field surgery training so stayed to assist. He gave you a heart massage while I tried to stop you from bleeding to death. Then we transported you here. You had several transfusions because of all the blood you lost and you were touch and go for quite a while. We gave you a maximum of 48 hours to show signs of improvement. You did in 41 hours so we're pleased with that." The medic paused for a moment.
"She never left once in all that time. She kept talking to you about the most random things. I dare say you don't remember any of it - which is probably just as well," Johnson smiled as Becker looked baffled.

"So, what happens now?" Becker asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from Jess again.
Johnson stood up. "We will be keeping a close eye on you. You're not out of the woods yet by any means. The biggest problem we have is whether you've developed a blood clot, which could cause us some major issues should it reach your lungs or your heart. We will be scheduling a series of scans to see if we can pick anything up. In the meantime, we've got you on Warfarin to help thin your blood a little in an effort to prevent one forming, or decrease the size of any you may already have."
Becker swallowed, knowing that a blood clot could be as deadly as the bullet itself.
"Please don't worry, Captain Becker, you're in good hands. The ARC is better equipped than even the best private hospital in the UK."
Becker huffed at that, remembering a distinct lack of EpiPens - something he had personally addressed to the extent that the Medical Bay now had a boxful in every cupboard.

Johnson left Becker to mull over their conversation. Becker concentrated on thinking about what had happened, Matt's involvement and how to speed up his recovery. Anything to prevent himself thinking about Jess and about why she had stayed with him for so long. Slowly, he drifted off into an exhausted sleep. But here he couldn't avoid Jess. His dreams were filled with her.

Thanks for reading. Please review! Can you name the episodes that are referred to? (Just for fun!). Stick with it - there's fluff on the way! :-)