"Good morning, Gentlemen!" The cheery voice instantly roused Jim, who was glad for an excuse to move to a more comfortable position in the plastic chair he had been sleeping in. He smiled at the young nurse who was bustling about the room, then looked over at Blair with a twinkle in his eyes. This nurse was sure to interest his young friend. Sparkling green eyes examined her patient from a heart shaped face under a profusion of blonde curls. She was not only pretty, but she looked to be as bubbly as Blair at his best.

Blair opened his eyes slowly, glancing at the smiling nurse. Then he looked away from her, an almost sullen look on his face. Jim's smile disappeared, but he responded to the nurse. "Good morning. I'm Jim Ellison, and this is Blair Sandburg."

"Nice to meet you, Jim," the nurse chirped. "I'm Jackie. I've got the day shift, so you'll be seeing a lot of me. How are you feeling, Blair?"

Sandburg kept his focus on the wall. "I don't know."

Jackie's smile didn't even slip at his morose response. "Well, let's just see, okay?" She quickly set about checking his vital signs and examining the stitches above his eye for signs of infection. "So far, so good. We've been doing this quite a bit, but this is the first time you've been awake. I'm going to unwrap your arm now and look at the incisions to make sure they aren't infected or inflamed. It won't hurt a bit." Carefully unwrapping the top of the bandages, she peered at his injured arm, touching the incisions lightly to check for heat. "Okay, all done. Didn't I tell you it wouldn't hurt?"

Blair didn't even bother to respond. Closing his eyes, he looked as though he were attempting to go back to sleep. Jim was really getting concerned. Blair was not acting like himself at all. He was really concerned about his emotional state. Hopefully it was just a result of all of the medication he still had in his system.

Jackie was unfazed by Blair's lack of response. "Okay, Blair. We're all done here. I'll be back later to check on you. If you need anything, just push the button. I've put it close to your right hand so you can reach it easily." Then she smiled at Jim." Or you could send your friend to look for me." She turned and bustled back out of the room as breezily as she had come.

"Wow!" Jim laughed, watching her go. "And I thought *you* were energetic!" He turned to watch his partner, who still hadn't looked his way. "Chief, have I done something to upset you?"

Blair shook his head and finally looked in Jim's direction, although he didn't meet his eyes. "No. I'm just tired. I want to go back to sleep."

"All right, Buddy." Jim stood up suddenly. "You go back to sleep. I'm just going to step out for a minute and stretch my legs, okay? Will you be all right for a few minutes?"

"I'm fine, Jim. You can go home and get some real sleep." Blair turned his head again and closed his eyes.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'll just hang around for a while." Jim took one last look back at his partner and stepped out into the hall. Letting the door close quietly behind him, he headed for the nurses' station. Jackie looked up when she saw him coming.

"Well, that didn't take long!" She stood up quickly. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to the doctor about Blair. I'm really concerned about his emotional state. He doesn't act like himself at all." Jim looked earnestly at the young lady. "I don't know how to deal with him."

"Let's walk." Jackie came out from behind the desk and headed down the hall in the opposite direction from Blair's room. "Jim, Blair has had an incredible shock physically, with all of the damage done to his arm. Not to mention the fact that he nearly drowned, and from his records I see that this is not the first time he nearly drowned. He hit his head and most likely has quite a bad headache.

"Top all of that off with the knowledge that a young lady ..a friend...was not as lucky as he was, and you can see why he is acting the way he is. He's grieving, Jim. And that's natural."

Jim shook his head. "I guess you're right. It just really unnerves me to see him like this. He usually bounces right back from anything that happens. I just don't know how he's going to bounce back this time."

"Jim, that's twice in two sentences you used the phrase 'bounce back'. You need to face the fact that he's not going to 'bounce back' this time. He is going to recover slowly, and he's going to need a lot of support from you and his other friends to do that. Dr. Palmer has already requested a consult with one of our staff psychiatrists. I think he's scheduled for this afternoon. Dr Palmer figured Blair would have been through the worst of the anesthesia by then and alert enough to talk to him. But it's not going to be easy ... for either of you. Can you handle seeing him this way and stick by him?"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Jim's vehemence brought a smile to Jackie's face.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Has our little talk helped you any?"

"Yes it has. Thanks, Jackie. I guess I didn't need to speak to the doctor after all." Jim flashed a crooked smile at the young nurse as they headed back down the hall.

***************

"Good morning, Daryl." Simon poked his head in the door of his son's room. "Why don't you get up and come to breakfast? I made your favorite. Pancakes and sausage."

Daryl rose quietly and followed his father to the table. Sitting down, he immediately began to eat, bringing the fork to his mouth mechanically. The silence was oppressive, but Simon could think of nothing to say to break it. Watching his son surreptitiously, he ate his own breakfast, trying desperately to think of what to do next.

"Daryl, I'm going to go back over to the hospital this morning. Do you want to come with me?"

"No." Daryl was firm, but not rude, so Simon could not take exception to his tone. "Daddy, I think I want to go to school today."

"Daryl, are you sure?" Simon could not disguise the surprise in his voice. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"I don't want to just sit around thinking about...things, Dad. I want to go to school. I don't want to miss anything in my classes. I can't afford to get behind." The longer this speech went on, the more intense his voice became. "I have to go, Dad!"

"All right, Daryl. Calm down, Son. You can go to school. But if it gets to be too much for you, I want you to come home. Okay?"

"Thanks, Dad." Daryl jumped up and dashed back to his room, grabbing his clothes to take to the bathroom. He had just enough time to shower and be on time.

Simon sat stunned at the table. What had just happened here?