Exams done, the guys met in the surgery waiting room. Marco's shoulder was still in place, though there was added bruising to the area. Chet was found to have a bruised left kidney area, but the kidney itself appeared normal. John had slight cracks in two of his ribs on his left side, and was taped for support.

Roy and the Chief went out and brought back take out food and plenty of drinks for the men. At first the guys declined, saying they weren't hungry, but they were convinced by Roy telling them they couldn't help Mike by falling over from dehydration and malnutrition. So they ate, and discovered a healthier appetite than they thought they had.

About four hours into Mike's surgery, the guys heard heels clicking on the floor. Looking up, they were surprised to see Emily Stanley, JoAnne DeSoto, Marcella Lopez, and Cassie Kelly. "What are you all doing here?" Hank asked his wife.

"Honey, we know Mike is here, in surgery. We don't know the details, and it's probably none of our business. What IS our business is, one of your brothers is hurt and has no family here for him. So, WE are now his family." Emily stated.

"Si, Migue is Marco's hermano, so, he is mi hijo." Marcella Lopez affirmed.

"Mike's always been there for you guys, so we are just returning the favor." Cassie Kelly stated.

"Besides, you all look like you could use some company." JoAnne DeSoto said.

"Ladies, you are all amazing. Thank you." John said, as they settled down to wait. And wait they did. Dixie appeared with coffee, juice, milk, and snacks, but the one thing they all wanted, she just couldn't supply. Information on Mike.

At approximately five hours into Mike's surgery, Dr. Early came into the waiting room, followed by Dixie. He was in sweaty scrubs, with his lab coat over them. Taking off his sweat-soaked scrub cap, he wearily sat down in the chair facing the patiently waiting visitors, whose number had quietly increased by two people, Lt. Ron Crockett, and Vince Howard. Vince was still in uniform, showing that he had come straight from work to check on his friend. Their presence surprised everyone but Hank, who had enjoyed watching the friendship blossom between his second in command and the officers. Both men greatly respected and liked Mike Stoker, and the concern was easily read on their faces.

Joe Early greeted all the new faces in the room, then took a sip of the coffee that Emily offered to him. "Thanks, Em," he said tiredly. "I wanted to give you all an update on Mike's progress. Um, do the ladies know what's going on?"

"Yeah, Doc, we made the decision to tell them. We believe Mike's going to need all of us in his corner and we should all know the best way to help him." Hank said.

"Good idea. Well, we are nowhere close to being done. The tears to his anal and rectal areas were pretty severe, and the Gastrointestinal Specialist, Dr. George, did a great repair. At first we thought Mike would need a colostomy, but now we don't believe so. Kel and I got the scalp wounds sutured up. Honestly, it was about the worst thing imaginable. Mike was practically scalped by the force of his hair being grabbed so hard and so many times."

Gasps and cries were heard at Dr. Early's statement, and they all moved closer together to offer each other support. Dixie quietly passed around a box of tissues, after taking some for her own tear-filled eyes.

"Yeah, I know." Joe Early's voice faltered. He too was shaken at the damage inflicted on the gentle, sensitive man. "Anyway, on further examination, we believe that the difficulty inserting the catheter, and the bloody urine results are from the beatings he received, and hopefully will heal on its own. Until then, he will need the catheter. Dr. Garner, the Urologist, is following Mike closely." He took another sip of his coffee and continued, "As you may have guessed, the skin damage is extensive. Dr. Krauss, the Plastic surgeon, is working with Dr. Brackett on that. His back is in horrible shape, and may end up needing skin grafts. His wrists are badly abraded, so are his feet, also his neck from the rope. His lungs sound moist. Do any of you guys know why?"

"Doc, those bastards kept throwing dirty lake water in his face every time he passed out. He may have aspirated some." John said, hands gripping the chair arm so hard he thought it was going to break.

"Well, now we know why. We're going to put him on antibiotics anyway. We just have to watch him closely for signs of pneumonia."

"Doc, what about Mike's throat?" John asked, "I kinda got a look at it after..." his voice broke, and he had to take deep, shuddering breaths to get his control back. "It looked like hamburger back there. What can be done there?"

"We have Dr. Mullen, the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor taking a look. We'll see what she thinks she can do. Look everyone, getting Mike's physical condition stabilized is just one small step. He's going to need special equipment and care for all the injuries he sustained, but in addition, he's going to need intensive psychiatric care. We have a trauma specialist psychiatrist on staff, Dr. Eric Oliver, who will be joining us on Mike's case. He's already familiar with Mike, having cared for him in the past. He will probably have a few meetings with all of you who will be involved in Mike's recovery as family members. And by the way, Kel and I want to thank you all for being here for Mike." Joe said with a grateful smile.

"Dr. Early, there was never a doubt we'd be here." Cap said.

"Dr. Early, we know Mike will be going to the ICU. He has no family but us. We would like permission to sit with him. You know we won't interfere with his care, we just don't think he should be left alone without people who love him by his side." Marco pleaded, Chet and the others nodding as he spoke. "Yeah, Doc, we can set up a schedule so Mike always has someone." Chet said.

"Yes, Joe," Emily Stanley added, "And when the guys are at work, we women can sit with him."

"Well, I'll have to confer with Kel and Eric, but I'm pretty sure it will be okay. You'll have to meet with Eric to go over what should and should not be said." And with that, Dr. Early stood up, finished his coffee, and headed for the door, saying, " I'm going back in with Mike now. I'll keep you updated."

"Bye Doc" "Thanks Doc" "Thanks Joe" followed him as the door swung shut. A huge sigh was heard from all assembled, as Mike's 'family' settled back to continue waiting. After about four more hours, an exhausted looking Kel Brackett joined the group, accompanied by two doctors, one in the same type of sweaty scrubs, and the other in surprisingly casual jeans and pullover shirt.

"Hey everyone," Kel said wearily, "This is Dr. Krauss, our plastic surgeon, and this is Dr. Eric Oliver, Mike's psychiatrist. They both wanted to join me for this family meeting." Everyone found a seat, then Dr. Krauss started to speak. "Okay, as you know, we did extensive repairs to Mike's body. We're hoping that he will heal without the need for skin grafts, but we just need to wait and see. When he goes to ICU, Mike will have special equipment and dressings to ease pressure on his surgical repairs."

"He actually did fairly well once we got his blood volume stabilized." Kel said, "We did have look at his throat, she did some surgical repairing, but said that it should heal fairly well on its own. We're going to keep the tracheostomy in place for awhile, and keep him in a medically-induced coma. That should help him to heal even faster. He'll be on multiple meds, including antibiotics, anti-inflammatory meds, and pain relievers."

"Did Dr. Early talk to you about us being with Mike?" Chet asked.

Kel gave a bit of a grin at that, saying, "Yes, he did, and I was two steps ahead of you. I already have it written on his orders to allow you to visit, so long as you also take care of yourselves in the bargain."

"With that in mind, we need to talk about what to say, and what not to say, at Mike's bedside." Dr. Oliver interjected. "I'm a firm believer that a person who is comatose can perceive their environment, and have had patients repeat, verbatim, words I have said to them while they were unconscious. Just follow the general rules - don't call him Michael, don't mention Westin, keep your conversations upbeat. When he comes out of the coma, we'll meet to see where to take it from there. For now, love and support. And yes, please, hold his hand, or touch his arm while you speak to him. Identify yourselves when you come in the room. Assure him that he's doing well, that he just needs to rest. Sing to him, read to him, most importantly, show him you love and respect him. That's the best medicine he can get right now."