A/N - And so the sun shines again...

WARNING: A brief mention of nudity...

I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Please enjoy, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!

Ps. Don't forget to review!

Eliot abruptly felt pain over every inch of his body, except for maybe his left hand. There was something hard in his hand. Fuck, it felt good to feel something again. He hadn't moved yet, but he felt the hardness in his palm. It was small and in an oval, polished smooth. It was some kind of stone.

'Did I say you could slack off? Get your ass back in line, don't slouch. The pain is nothing. You will push through it. You're no pansy! It's just like whatever's in your hand; it's small. You can overcome it,' the bodiless opinion of a former soldier spoke in his head.

First he tried to move his fingers… He succeeded in gripping the hard object tighter.

"Shut the front door!" He heard Parker speak loudly. "Don't try to talk. Your name is Lazarus Ford and you're big brother to Bethany Ford, me. Nate and Sophie are our Aunt Ophelia and Uncle Patrick Ford. Can you do that again? Just for me?"

Eliot followed her instructions and kept still as possible. Hardison must not have had time to pick better names for the team. Lazarus? What the fuck? Well he supposed it was true since he'd died at least 3 times. Lazar didn't sound like too bad of a nickname. He released the item in his hand a little and gripped it again.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…"

He felt her pick up his hand and gently open it. She trapped the rose quartz stone between their hands. She gripped his hand with her own and Eliot tried so hard to wrap his fingers around her hand. She put another warm hand on the back of his. He felt her shaking in her hands but he also felt her strength.

"Can you open your eyes for me? Please open your eyes for me…" He heard the tearful plea in her voice.

'Hang in there, soldier. We're almost done. Walk with me… We're going to walk toward the light,' his imagination spoke.

Eliot tried to slowly open his eyes… Nope, it was too painfully bright. Maybe had black eyes? He had no idea, but the light was still too much after having slept for so long.

When Parker felt the twitch in the back of his hand, she thought it was a mistake until she felt the tiny muscles move in his hand. He had closed his hand tight and the first thing she could think of was to help him learn his new cover. Then when she got that out of her mouth she asked if he could move his hand again so that she could believe that it happened. He moved his hand again to release and grip the rose quartz stone in his hand. She didn't have to pinch herself; she wasn't dreaming. She needed him to see her, to see Nate and Sophie when they came later, and to see the doctor. So she asked for one more miracle as tears began to fall. Parker watched him try but he couldn't lift those eyelids. His blood pressure began to rise and she panicked a little.

"Never mind, just rest. Just feel my hand. I've got you. I've got you," she offered and she caressed his upper arm to soothe him.

She hit the call nurse button on the hospital bed and pulled out her cell phone. She called Sophie's cell because she knew that the grifter would pass the information along.

"He woke up," was all she'd said and hung up before Sophie get in a word edgewise.

Then Parker gathered up Eliot's hand and she gripped it with the stone between their hands. She heard her phone buzz but she let it go on because there was no way she was letting him go to answer it. He gripped her hand back and she put her other hand on top so that he could feel her warmth.

Earlier at the Bridgeport Brew Pub loft apartment, Sophie had been wrapped around Nate, enjoying her beauty sleep when she heard her cell phone as it rang from the end table on her side of the bed.

"You gonna get that?" A sleepy, lovey-dovey Nate asked.

"Maybe," she groggily replied.

"Go on, it could be important," he said as he swatted her naked buttock.

"Nate! Oww! All right, I'm going," she said as she rolled away from Nate.

She hit the answer button and when the line was open all she heard was, 'He woke up.' Then the line went dead. There was only one person she could think of who was calling that early in the morning. Sophie jumped up and onto Nate's bed. She started bouncing on it making all kinds of noise… In the nude. Nate was looking at her as if she'd lost her mind. She sort of had…

"Eliot's awake!" She started screaming as she continued to bounce on Nate's bed.

Nate sat up and took his time getting out of bed. His joints ached a bit after what they'd done last night. He stood and walked in his black boxers to the closet to get dressed. He smiled that it was nice to see Sophie happy, but she needed to pull it together.

"Fun time's over Soph. We should get to the hospital. We can buy breakfast on the way, my treat," he said as he finished buttoning up a light blue dress shirt.

He was glad to hear that Eliot was awake. Now the rehabilitation could start. As he was about to slip his jeans on; he caught sight of Sophie running around nekkid looking for her undies. He went to her drawer in his closet and pulled her out a pair of purple lacy panties and tossed them at her.

"Thanks. Did you want to text Hardison?"

"No, no. We should wait until we've been to the hospital," he zipped up all the important bits and grabbed a dark gray sweatshirt off a hanger.

"Right, no need to pull him from his geekdom just yet," she spoke before she zipped up her important bits in her jeans.

"I'll go get the car."

"Be there in a few minutes," Sophie kissed him before he turned to go.

They hit the nearest McDonald's for breakfast on the way to the hospital. They ate mid route and parked in the parking garage a few minutes later. Official visiting hours didn't start until 9:00a.m. and Patrick and Ophelia Ford were there at 8:00a.m. Once they were inside the building and signed in as visitors with special permission from Dr. Milton, Nate turned to Sophie.

"You go on, there's something I have to do."

"Are you okay? I can wait."

"Yeah, yeah, just go on and I'll be there in a few."

"'Kay, not too long."

"Promise, now go on."

Nate watched her until she disappeared into the right elevator to take her up to where Parker was with Eliot. He turned and headed for the small chapel again. He found it empty and so he took up the same seat he had when he first entered the room. He bowed his head and got quiet… There was so much to say that Nate didn't know where to begin.

"Father God, I owe you one. Thanks for bringing Eliot back. I know he still has more to heal from, but I just wanted to say thanks. Please continue to be there for us and Eliot as he continues to move forward. Thank you for giving us all strength to get this far,' Nate entreated in his head. 'Amen.'

He sat there in the silence a few minutes and then left the tiny chapel to go celebrate Eliot's victory.

A few minutes after Parker had pressed the nurse button, Anisette came into the room to see what was going on. She had her eyes closed and head bowed, focusing her energy on the word, 'Healing.'

"What is it my dear?"

"He woke up," Parker looked up as more tears slipped from her eyes. "He moved his hand three times. He couldn't open his eyes, but I don't think he's ready yet. I tried to keep him calm. He's resting now."

"Well now, that's wonderful news," Anisette said lowly so she wouldn't suddenly wake the patient for no reason. "I'll go get Doctor Milton. He'll want to come in and check Lazar's vitals himself."

"'Kay."

Anisette turned on her heels and left the room. Five minutes later she returned with Dr. Milton. He walked in with his stethoscope in his hand and the chart in the other. He moved up close to the bed on the right and began to write a few things into Eliot's vital sheet at the top of the chart. Then he handed the chart to Anisette. Parker stood up and moved to Eliot's ear.

"Lazar, the doctor is here. He needs to check you out," she softly spoke to him. He squeezed her hand to let her know that he was awake.

"Hello Mister Ford. I'm Doctor Milton, please don't try to talk. You have a tube down your throat to help you breathe. I'm going to check you out now. I'll try to be quick and gentle as I can. Try to stay calm."

He began to listen to Eliot's heart. Then he moved on to his lungs. After that check, he went for his eyes.

"Turn off the lights," he called to Anisette and she did as he asked right away. "And dim the blinds."

Once the room was dark enough he lifted Eliot's eye lid and shined a bright little light in each one which panicked the poor man; it made his eyes hurt. Parker held onto his hand on the left and stroked his forearm to keep him calmed down. It worked rather well. Anisette turned the lights back on and opened the blinds to allow the day light in. The doctor checked Eliot's wounds without Parker seeing anything because she didn't want to look at them. She wasn't ready for all that yet. He couldn't check the fractures or broken bones yet because he needed to order a new set of x-rays first. She was glad that the doctor seemed pleased.

"Well, his eyes look good and so far his heart sounds good. I'm ordering a full x-ray work up so we can check how his bones are healing. Now that he is conscious, he must stay calm for the next few days. So, that being said, he won't have to move. The portable machine will come to him. You will have to leave the room for just a few minutes so we can get accurate pictures. If he does well, I don't see why he can't move to ICU on the first of September."

"Now that… Is wonderful news," Sophie spoke from the doorway, "Good morning, Doctor Milton. How is my nephew?"

Parker was glad to see the grifter was able to get in to see Eliot so early. She stayed by his side and Sophie naturally gravitated toward her. The two women quickly hugged as Parker still held Eliot's hand.

"He's improving which is a good sign, but he's not out of the woods yet. We still have to watch him for infection. The drainage so far has been good, but he's been on his back for quite some time now. But like I said; if he does keep improving, well, say in the next two weeks or so he can move into the ICU."