I have my computer back! I'm so happy that I could dance. I promise that I'm writing as quickly as possible to update everything. I hope it was worth the wait.
Alright! I've been thinking about this and while I wasn't going to do this originally, I can't help it now, because the idea is stuck.
I hope you all like it, and thank you or the reviews and patience. Suits fandom has the very best people in it.
It was evening and the nurse at the main desk of the ICU unit was very thankful. It was only twenty minutes until the end of her shift and she was going straight home and having a very stiff drink. The people that were haunting that Ross kid's room were driving her completely crazy. She didn't mind the quiet woman who had helped her chase the kid through the hospital, but the man that keeps pacing the hallways when he isn't sitting like a stone in the room was completely different.
A sharp rap on her desk made the nurse jump slightly, and her eyes focused on the end of the walking stick that was resting on the desk, up a rather thin and wrinkled arm to an equally elderly face with sharp blue eyes. "Excuse me, ma'am, you can't be back here."
"Is that so?" The voice was soft, but firm, a foreboding smile flickered over the woman's face right before the nurse's day got even worse.
Both Donna and Harvey heard the commotion, the redhead from Mike's room and Harvey from the hallway. The lawyer turned the corner and stopped while Donna poked her head out of the door, looking surprised, staring at the small fragile looking woman who was easily berating the nurse who was twice her size.
"So, without even asking who I am or why I am here, you are going to assume, because I am elderly, I must have wandered away from my keeper and can't be here?" Katherine was enjoying the conversation, really. Mike never let her berate the nurses at the home. "So who are are to tell me that after finally getting permission from the nursing home, actually managing to get a cab to this hospital, that I can't see my grandson?"
"Ma'am, I just meant.."
"You meant exactly what you said. Don't you try to swindle me. You tell me what room Michael Ross is in and show me where it is and I might not report you to that nice doctor that sent me back here." Katherine smiled again as the nurse gaped.
"Gran! What are you doing here?" Donna couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice.
Her face brightened at the sight of Donna. "Donna, sweetie, there you are, I thought you might still be working." Shooting one last glare at the nurse, she placed her cane on the floor moving slowly toward the redhead.
"Not today, luckily my boss is skipping work with me." Donna snarked back, glancing over her shoulder at Harvey, who was moving toward Mike's room.
"Good. Now, sweetie," The older woman paused, leaning on her cane slightly more than usual. "Is there a chair in that room for an old lady?"
"No, But I will be happy to let you have mine, Mrs. Ross." Harvey offered, coming to stand next to Donna. "The doctor said that only one chair was allowed in ICU due to the fact that often the room is filled with people that don't need to be tripping over things."
A raised eyebrow met the offer, "Well, the often talked about but never seen Mr. Specter. You look different than Michael described you." She started moving again, brushing past Donna with a small pat, and moving into the room that held her grandson. "You call me gran, honey. Family isn't formal with each other."
Harvey didn't really understand Donna's words of the day before, the ones about how when she told this woman about Mike's accident that she seemed to age years in seconds. Seeing it with his own eyes, just brought them back to him in perfect clarity. He saw her pause, and straighten, hand clenching on the top of her cane. He saw the expression on her face, when she turned to sit in the chair next to the bed, nothing like the one that had been there. This one was of remembered sadness, memories, mixing with reality, and it made Harvey focus on Mike instead, until the older woman was settled.
No one liked hospitals. It was a fact, just like there would come a point in everyone's lives that they would have to go to one. Either because of a family or friend getting injured or because they needed to go themselves. Katherine Ross had spent plenty of time in one. The birth of her son and grandson, both of which were happy times which she didn't mind so much, while her husband was sick and dying, when her son and his family were in that horrid accident, and afterward, when it was just Mike, staring blankly out the window, in too much shock after the accident to be released. She was there for herself, tests, and surgery, but Mike had always gone with her, filled with positive cheer and always a pack of cards. Now, she was again here for her grandson, and it broke her heart.
Carefully, she placed a hand on Mike's forehead, resting it there silently, taking a moment to look her grandson over. It was always Mike, he had been her joy as a child, always asking questions, reading to her from whatever book he had at the time, occasionally making up stories to amuse her when she felt bad, always visiting her, working so hard so that she was proud of him. She leaned close, kissing Mike's cheek, and whispered. "Don't you worry, Michael, I'll take care of them, you just worry about getting better..." Straightening as much as she could, Katherine glanced toward Donna and Harvey, taking note of the visible worry that both of them were unable to hide. "Which one of you is going to tell me how this happened?"
Donna shook her head, more comfortable with Gran than Harvey was. "Well, Gran, Mike was..."
"Sweetie, before you try and change the subject like you did before let me tell you something. Michael is very careful on his bike, he above everyone knows exactly what kind of damage a car can do. So I know, that this was not a normal accident. You are a good girl, I'm sure, and only want to spare me but I can handle whatever happened."
Harvey almost smiled at the slightly surprised look on his secretary's face. Mike obviously hadn't been kidding Harvey when he told him that his gran was like an older Donna. "Mrs. Ross..."
"What did I tell you in the hallway?" The older woman didn't miss a beat.
Now, Harvey did smile, he liked this woman, she was like Donna and Mike rolled into one super person. "Gran, then.. Donna and I," a glance at the redhead, "don't think it's really our place to tell you. I think that you should hear it from Mike."
Donna nodded, silently thanking Harvey for his quick thinking. It hadn't taken long for the older woman to won Donna over, with her attitude and motherly kindness. She didn't want to tell her that it happened because Mike was so adamant about protecting her.
Katherine stared at Harvey, then nodded. "Very well. I'll let Michael tell me." She paused then motioned Harvey closer, ignoring the amused look Donna had at the motion. "Come here, and let me get a good look at you."
Harvey moved until he was standing next to the older woman, leaning down slightly. "You talk like you will never see me again." He kept his tone light.
"I will see you again, young man. You will come with Michael to visit me." It was not a request, but more of a statement. "Now tell me, why you have such a dark look in your eyes." Her tone softened some. "I see more than worry."
Harvey started in surprise, generally only Jessica and Donna could read him so easily. "It's nothing."
"Sweetie?" Katherine looked toward Donna. "Can you get me some water? Michael would have a fit if I got coffee."
"Of course, Gran." A look passed between the two, that Harvey couldn't read, and Donna slipped silently out of the room.
"Alright, young man. Tell me what's on your mind." She smiled up at the lawyer, reaching out again to pat Mike's head.
Harvey frowned slightly, eyes drifting toward the bed. "It's nothing." He repeated, then clarified. "Nothing that can be taken care of at this time."
"Michael isn't going anywhere." Katherine smiled at the expression Harvey had. "I can tell you that with all certainty."
Harvey's eyes drifted back toward Mike, noting the stillness.
"There is nothing that you can do about what has already happened. It is done and cannot be undone, thinking about it will accomplish nothing." The words were soft now, spoken with care and with the weight of experience behind every word. "Instead, I want you to tell me, what are you going to do when Michael wakes up?"
Harvey was silent, keeping his gaze fixed on Mike, while Gran's words echoed in his mind. If he was being completely honest, Harvey wasn't sure what he would do when Mike woke up. He knew that he was not the easiest person to deal with, Donna told him that often enough, but that was just who he was.
When it became obvious that Harvey didn't have an answer for her, Katherine smiled slightly. "Michael told me a lot about you. I know everything you have done for my grandson and I can never thank you enough for it. I can tell you this though, you have left a great impact on him. I firmly believe he would follow you anywhere to prove to you that you aren't wasting your time."
"Mike isn't a waste of time." The words fell out before Harvey could stop them. "I've never thought that, despite things I might have said. But.."
"Gran's right, Harvey." Donna spoke up from the doorway, a cup in her hand. "That's why I told you that you had to be here whenever he woke up. Because Mike needs you just like you need him." She passed the cup to Katherine with her usual efficiency, and produced a pack of cards from her pocket, the cellophane wrapper shining in the bright light. "Now, Mike told me once that you are a complete shark at cards, so lets see what you have."
Harvey declined the invitation to play with the two, knowing better than to play cards with Donna. Instead he reclined slightly against the wall, half watching as Katherine stomped Donna in two games of gin and was only barely beaten in a rapid game of war. Most of his attention was inward, focused on the wise words of the elderly woman. She was right, to a point. He did need to figure out exactly what he was going to do when Mike woke up. It would be impossible to continue to tell the kid that he didn't care, because after this, Harvey wasn't even sure that he wanted to. He wanted to talk to Mike, ask him exactly what Trevor had made him do over the years, talk to him about why Mike didn't come to him when Kyle started blackmailing him, even if Harvey had a pretty good idea about that. He wanted to explain to the kid how different he made Harvey see things, about the realization that he had sitting by Mike's bed. For the first time in a long while, Harvey wanted to be completely honest with someone, admit that Mike made him whole, and that scared the lawyer. It went against everything that he had trained himself to be.