Ray crumpled his coffee cup in his hands while he paced the floor of the hospital emergency room. 'God what was taking the doctors so long?' He ran his fingers through his spiked hair and slammed the remains of the coffee cup into a nearby trash can. He sat down in a plastic chair next to Francesca and before she could begin to attempt to comfort him he popped out of the hard seat and began pacing the length of the room again. "What happened?" he croaked out.

Francesca had been the one to take the call from the officers on the scene. Eye witnesses said that Fraser had run the red light and was hit on the driver's side by cross traffic. He was conscious when the EMTs had arrived but by the time they had had gotten him extricated from the vehicle and strapped to a backboard, Fraser had lost the battle and was pulled into darkness.

Ray ran his hands through his upended hair once again. "Oh my god… what about Diefenbaker? Please tell me Dief's okay," Ray begged Francesca.

"As far as I know he is okay. He was taken to the animal hospital. I can call over there and find out for you." Francesca stood up and gave Ray a comforting hug. "It's going to be ok," she spoke softly. "I'll go check on Dief."

Francesca left to find a phone along with a number to the animal hospital. Ray resumed his pacing while Lieutenant Welsh looked on. "How long?" he asked.

"How long have we been waiting? Too damn long!" Ray yelled frustrated.

Welsh let out a sigh. "No, Detective. How long have you and the good Constable been more than partners?"

"Oh… that, uh… not long. Well, since the ship thing and he saved me from drowning." Ray answered still pacing.

"Please, sit down. You're making me dizzy with all this back and forth business." Welsh explained with his hands and Ray reluctantly took a seat. "Would you care to explain?"

"What's there to explain? We just get each other. One day, he was over and we shared a pizza and I asked him a few questions and he had the answers I was looking for. And then he didn't have an answer and then he was kissing me and I was kissing him and that's that." Ray recalled the night when he and Fraser shared their first kiss. A small smile formed on his lips at the memory of him pushing Fraser towards his bedroom. There was more to it, but Ray wasn't going to share how it was the buddy breathing experience that had really set things in motion.

Ray stood up again and clenched his fists. They had been waiting for two hours with no word on Fraser's condition. Every time a nurse passed them, Ray tried to get some information, but was always told "Someone will be with you momentarily. Please take a seat."

"I'm about ready to throw a seat!" was Ray's response to the latest nurse.

Welsh stood up and took Ray by the elbow and led him over to the hard plastic chairs. "Come on… yelling at the nurses isn't going to win you any brownie points, especially if you're going to be want to be spending any extra time in his room. Now, tell me about this other friend of yours." Welsh tried to diffuse Ray's anger. "What's his name again? Jimmy?"

"Yeah… Jimmy. Fucking weasel." Ray vented as he dropped himself onto the hard chair. "He apparently has a thing for Fraser. Fraser told him to leave him alone that he wasn't interested but then the guy moves in two doors down from him."

"Sounds like he could be trouble." Welsh replied worried. "But he isn't technically breaking any laws, so there is nothing you can do, but grin and bare it."

"It's really not about that any more. Fraser has to leave… he has to go back and where does that leave us?" Ray questioned running his hands through his blond spikes. His hair was becoming very unruly. "We were just getting things figured out between us and the damn Ice Queen sends him packing all of a sudden. And just like that… drops the news in his lap and sends him on his way."

Ray stood up again and returned to pacing. Welsh sighed. "Maybe you could use another cup of coffee." Welsh offered.

"Maybe, I just need someone to tell me what the hell is going on in there!" Ray snapped in response. Welsh sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry, Lieu… I'm just… worried. It's been over two hours. Someone has to know something." Ray took his seat again feeling defeated. He placed his head in his hands and let out a long breath. Welsh gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Ray closed his eyes against the forming tears. When he opened them again, he saw two blue bootie covered feet in front of him. His head snapped up and Ray stood up abruptly.

"How is he?" Ray blurted out.

"Are you Detective Vecchio?" the doctor asked.

Ray bit back an explicative. "Yes… how's Fraser?"

"Let's have a seat." The doctor motioned towards the hard plastic chairs.

"I'm tired of fucking sitting… how is he?" Ray yelled at the shocked doctor. "And I want to hear it in English… not doctor mumbo jumbo."

"Ray!" Welsh warned. "That's enough… let the good doctor speak."

"It's quite alright. I apologize for keeping you waiting. Your friend is very lucky. His injuries are mostly superficial and will heal up quickly, that is the cuts and bruising. However, his left arm was broken near the shoulder. The break was too high up to cast, so we had to surgically insert a pin to fix it. He also has two cracked left ribs, which will just need time to heal. What concerns me the most is the hit to the head. He has twelve stitches right at the hair line above his left eye. I was reading his medical chart and I saw that he was here just last week for a hit to the back of the head that required stitches as well." The doctor explained slowly and in a language Ray could understand.

"Yeah, he got hit with a two by four." Ray explained. "Nine stitches."

"That blow coupled with another from the accident has left him with some memory loss."

"Memory loss?" Ray asked. "As in… can't remember his name?"

"He knows who he is, but recent memories are gone." The doctor explained. "It will be difficult to gauge the full extent of the memory loss until he is fully awake with no remaining effects from the anesthesia."

"Is it permanent?" Ray wondered.

"Only time will tell," the doctor explained.

"Well, can't you just give him some of that ginkgo biloba stuff?" Ray questioned. "Isn't that supposed to restore your memory?"

The doctor had the nerve to laugh. "I wish it were that easy. It really is a matter of time and healing. There is a lot we know about the brain, but some things are still a mystery. Like I said, we won't know the extent of the memory loss until he wakes up and we can better speak with him." The doctor further explained.

"How do you know he can't remember anything?" Ray asked confused. He didn't know how the brain worked any more than the next guy.

"He had regained consciousness on the way to the hospital. He could tell us his name, his job, but not what he was doing at the time of the accident or where he was. We asked him where he thought he was and he mentioned Canada."

"Can I see him?" Ray wasn't above begging.

"He is still in recovery but will be moved to a private room within the hour. I will have a nurse come get you when he is settled, and then you can see him. He won't be very coherent today, so don't expect too much out of him. He's also going to be on some pretty strong pain medication as well, so he will most likely sleep the remainder of the day. But everyone is different. He may surprise us all and wake up with his memory intact."

Lieutenant Welsh thanked the doctor as Ray sank into a chair. "He's not going to remember me?" Ray asked as the doctor left. "Everything we have been through, he's not going to remember?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The doctor said he may wake up and remember everything. Give him time, Ray."

"Yeah… time we don't have any more." Ray replied bitterly.

"I need to get back to the station and make a few phone calls. You going to be okay? I'm going to hunt Francesca down and take her with me. I can leave you my car." Welsh told Ray. "I suppose I should call Inspector Thatcher as well."

"I'm not going anywhere, so I won't need your car. But can you find out about Dief for me?" Ray asked.

"Sure thing." Welsh squeezed his shoulder and left Ray waiting alone.

Ray began pacing again and worry began to creep back into his thoughts. What if Fraser never regained his memory? Would head back to Canada with a 'Thank you kindly, Ray' and never look back? Ray and his thoughts were bad company. He ran his fingers over his lips and remembered Fraser's last kiss and the desperation he had put into it. Would he ever feel those lips on his again? Could Fraser fall in love with him again? There were too many questions that he didn't have the answers to and wasn't likely to get them before Fraser was due to report back to Canada.

Ray was lost in his thoughts when a small nurse stopped in front of him.

"Are you Detective Vecchio?" she asked, not wanting to startle him.

Rays' head snapped up. "Yes… can I see him?"

"Mr. Fraser has been moved to a private room. I will take you to him." She motioned in the appropriate direction with her head. "Follow me."

Ray was following her with dread in every step and a hundred 'what if's' invading his brain.

"You may go in. There is a chair by the bed if you want to sit with him. Please don't try to wake him, he needs his rest. I was told you were his partner." The small nurse asked.

"Yeah… he's my partner." Ray replied… 'In more ways than one' he thought to himself. "Thanks."

The nurse left and Ray slowly opened the door to Fraser's room and stepped inside. He hated hospitals and never felt that more than now.

"Shit…" he cursed when he let his eyes settle on Fraser. He was pale and had a large bandage across the top of the left side of his forehead. His left arm was wrapped from his shoulder down with pristine white bandages and disappeared under the thin hospital blanket covering Fraser's still body. He had small cuts and some deep purple and very angry looking bruises beginning to form on his left cheek from the impact of the side window. Fraser had been lucky.

The IV lines and the heart rate monitor were a momentary distraction. At least his heart beat was strong and steady. Fraser was alive, that's all Ray cared about at the moment. If Fraser fell in love with him once, he could fall in love with him again. Ray had the advantage this time of knowing that he already loved Fraser.

Ray settled himself in the seat next to Fraser's bed. Unlike the hard plastic chair in the ER, this chair was thankfully padded. Ray had a feeling there was going to be a lasting impression of his backside indented in it by the time Fraser got out of the hospital. He took Fraser's limp right hand into his and intertwined their fingers. Fraser never stirred. The room remained quiet except for the steady drip of the IV and the constant blip on the heart monitor. Ray laid his head on Fraser's bed and covered his face with their joined hands. It had been a trying day and he was asleep in less than five minutes.

The small nurse who took Ray to Fraser was shaking Ray gently. He opened his eyes and immediately recalled where he was. Fraser's hospital room. He stole a glance at the wall clock that read 9 pm. He had a horrible crick in his neck.

"I'm sorry sir, visiting hours are over. You can come back in the morning. I've already let you stay later than allowed. I didn't have the heart to wake you." She explained quietly. "You said you were partners, now I understand. My name is Mary if you need anything."

"Thank you for letting me stay. Will you call me if anything happens? And my name's Ray."

"Of course I will. I'm on early tomorrow. I can let you see him at seven. Go home and get some real sleep. He's going to need you and you're going to want to be well rested." Mary checked Fraser's vitals and once satisfied led Ray to the door. "See you tomorrow, Ray."

Ray had been hoping to get lucky and be able to spend the night in Fraser's room, but hospital policy had prohibited it. Now he was wishing Welsh had left him his car. He called for a cab to take him home. He was going to need to get a rental or an extra from motor pool sometime tomorrow. Ray paid the cab driver and made his way into his apartment. He was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster of a day. His thoughts kept returning to Fraser's memory and if it would return and how long would it take?

Ray showered, pulled on clean boxer briefs and crawled into bed. He had a bad feeling tomorrow was going to be a long day. He set his alarm for 5 am and let sleep pull him under.

Ray arrived at the hospital at 6:45 in the morning with a large cup of coffee in hand. He was looking for the small nurse from the night before. 'What was her name?' Ray tried to remember. 'Ha, maybe both Fraser and I need the damn ginkgo biloba stuff. Mary… that's it.' Ray scanned the nurse's station for Mary. He found her hidden behind a computer.

Ray walked up to the desk. "Good morning, Mary." He said softly. "How's Ben this morning?"

Mary wore a bright smile already this morning. "Good morning, Ray. He's sleeping again. He was awake with some discomfort very early this morning. The doctor's adjusted his pain medication and that seems to have done the trick."

"What about his memory? Does he remember anything?" Ray was silently begging for a 'yes'.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. The night nurses only noted discomfort in his chart this morning, nothing about regaining his memory." She explained. "Would you like to see him? He's still asleep but you can sit with him if you like."

"Yes, definitely. Thank you."

Mary took Ray to Fraser's room once again. She checked Fraser's vitals, made her notations in his chart and quietly left, leaving Ray alone.

Ray settled himself into the chair he had vacated last night. Fraser was still in the same position. He didn't look any better than the evening before. He didn't look any worse, either. The IV was steadily dripping away but the heart monitor had been removed. The doctor's must have thought he was improving. Ray didn't know if he should remain quiet or try and talk to Fraser. 'Don't all the doctor's in movies tell families to talk to the patients… because they can hear you? What the hell, why not…' Ray thought… what was it going to hurt?

Ray took Fraser's hand into his own and noted the chill to it. Fraser was never cold. He locked their fingers and gave the chilly hand of his partner a gentle squeeze. "Morning, Ben," he began. "Your doctors have told me that you can't remember anything. No… that's not entirely true." Ray paused and reflected on what the doctor had told him. It wasn't true, Fraser knew who he was… it was Ray he wouldn't remember when he woke up. "I need you to try really hard because I can't lose you." A single tear slid down Ray's cheek. "We're partners, remember…a duet. Red ships and green ships, Ben…" Ray sucked in a breath and swiped away the next tear before it could escape.

"It's okay if you can't remember… because I remember. I will help you get our memories back. I love you, Ben. Just hold on to that, if you can't remember anything else about me… remember how much I love you." Ray was nearly choking. His eyes were flooded with fresh tears about to spill over. There was a cough from the doorway and Ray quickly swept his hand over his eyes. He knew they had to be red and bloodshot but he didn't care.

Fraser's doctor stood in the doorway with Inspector Thatcher. Thatcher cleared her throat and spoke. "Might I have a moment of your time, Detective?" That woman grated on his every last nerve. Ray turned his gaze back to Fraser. He squeezed his hand one more time wishing he felt something in return. Reluctantly, Ray let go of Fraser's hand and followed Inspector Thatcher into the hall.

"Would you care explaining to me what is going on and what has happened to my Constable." She asked. Her voice had an edge to it this morning.

"Ben was in an accident yesterday afternoon." Ray began but was cut short.

"I can see that. I'm not blind. What I want to know is how it happened?" She was angry. "I get a call last night from your Lieutenant telling me that my Constable had been involved in an accident in your vehicle that he was driving, without you in the car. Where were you, Detective?"

"Hey, back off, alright. I gave Fraser permission to drive my car. It was at his place and I needed to talk to Welsh so I asked Ben to get the car for me. Then he was to pick me up. What is your problem?" Ray matched her anger with his own in return.

"My problem, Detective is he was to get ready to move back to Canada to a new posting. Now, he's in a hospital bed and I have to explain to my superiors in Ottawa why he won't be ready when they need him in two weeks." Inspector Thatcher spilled out her words with a touch of venom.

"That's your problem, not his. How dare you just demand that he leave with no notice or warning at all? He's been here for four fucking years and you give him a week to pack up and leave. You ever think that he has made a life for himself here? Just because you hate it here, doesn't mean that Ben does." Ray spat back.

"Ben? Since when is it Ben?" she demanded.

"Since he saved my life on a sinking ship and he refused to leave me to die alone, that's when." Ray turned and walked away from Inspector Thatcher. He needed some air, quickly before he broke down in the middle of the hospital hallway.

Ray found Mary and asked her to call him when Fraser woke up. He had a few phone calls to make. He needed to check in with Welsh and he desperately needed to find out about Diefenbaker. Dief was part of Fraser's past before Chicago and he was hoping he would at least remember the deaf wolf. Dief remembering Ray may help Fraser remember him as well.

Frannie answered the 2-7 precinct phone. "Good Morning, squad room."

"Frannie, its Ray." Ray cringed and pulled the phone away from his ear. Frannie was ecstatic to hear from him. "I was calling to talk to Welsh and see if you found anything out about Diefenbaker."

"I'm so glad you called. I didn't want to bother you last night if you were still at the hospital. Dief has a broken front leg from falling off the seat, but is otherwise in good shape." She told him.

Ray sighed with relief, finally some good news. Frannie mentioned she had Dief with her and could keep him until Ray was ready to get him for Fraser. Ray thanked his friend profusely. She patched him through to Lieutenant Welsh.

"This is Welsh, how can I help you?" The Lieutenant's voice was hoarse. He sounded like he had been talking for quite some time.

"Lieu, its Ray. I'm just checking in."

"Ray, how's the Constable this morning?" Welsh inquired of Fraser.

"Not really sure. He was still asleep when I got here this morning. The nurse from yesterday said that they had to increase or change his pain medication last night. I don't know about his memory yet. I… uh… might have said a few things to Inspector Thatcher. She was there this morning as well. I don't think she likes me too much." Ray confessed with a shrug.

"Listen, the accident reconstruction crew had a look at your car to see if something mechanically went wrong. You know, maybe causing Fraser to run the red light." Welsh sounded like he was on to something.

"Yeah and did they find anything?" Ray was curious. He was so focused on Fraser, he had forgotten about his car.

"Your brake lines had been cut. Once the brake fluid was all pumped out, Fraser wouldn't have been able to stop. It's a miracle no one was killed." Welsh explained.

"Someone cut the lines? You have any leads?" Ray was really curious. Was someone out to hurt him and Fraser had been caught in the cross fire?

"We got a set of prints, Ray." Welsh stopped. Ray could hear him let out a sigh.

"Who is it Lieu?" Ray demanded. "You know… tell me."

"Detective, you are too involved in this. You need to step back and let us handle it. Focus on taking care of Fraser." Welsh tried to reason with Ray.

"Who is it?" Ray demanded again.

Welsh knew better but told Ray anyway. "Jimmy Akers. His prints were all over the lines and the surrounding area under the car. Unless he's done work on your car, he's our guy. We're picking him up, Ray. Please stay at the hospital and let us handle this."

Ray leaned against the wall and slid down until he hit the floor. His friend had betrayed him in the ultimate way.

"Ray…" Welsh's voice had softened. "Ray, we're going to nail him, okay. Don't worry, just take care of Fraser.

"Okay," Ray agreed reluctantly. He wanted to kill Jimmy himself. He ended the call. Ray remained on the floor with his head tilted back against the wall. He closed his eyes and his thoughts drifted back to Fraser. He longed to hold him and kiss him. He was lost in his memories of the moments they had shared from their initial kiss to the last time they memorized each other's naked bodies, inch by naked inch.

"Excuse me, Ray…" Mary had interrupted Ray's thoughts. "Ben's awake."