Peter's heart thumped in his ribs as he opened the door.

Neal was asleep—"Oh, hey Peter." He slid hid eyes open.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, thought you were Mozz. He's been pretty good about dragging himself in here, but he keeps rattling off ways to bust me out." Neal chuckled softly, the pain that the action caused etched in his face.

Peter was still lingering by the door. He just wanted to look at Neal, but he didn't want to make Neal uncomfortable.

"Hey, you alright?" Neal's voice was still weak, but he sounded significantly stronger than he had before. His eyes were more vibrant, more sharp.

Peter forced himself to smile.
"Shouldn't I be the one to ask you that?"

"Well, Peter, you are the one who fainted." Neal quipped.

God, it felt so good to be back in this familiar banter.
Peter was never really one for physical displays of affection, but the day had taken quite a toll on him. He awkwardly stepped towards Neal's bed, letting his hand clutch onto the side railing of the bed. He frowned when he noticed that Neal's left hand was cuffed to it.

Neal, just as sharp as ever, noticed.
"Oh yeah, the marshals came by. Until they get a new anklet, it was either this or surveillance, unless I wanted to go to the prison infirmary." Neal tried to keep his tone light, but Peter had noticed the slight tremble in his voice at the mention of the anklet.

Peter's gaze snapped from the cuffs to Neal's blue eyes.
Peter's eyes were shiny and bright and nearly burning a hole into Neal. This was certainly unfamiliar territory, and Neal felt incredibly self-conscious. He felt horrible for putting Peter through this. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Peter must have felt when he'd thought Neal was dead. Selfishly, though, Neal felt a warmth in his heart. It was nice to have somebody worry about him. He worried about Peter often, about El, Diana, Jones, Mozzie… but it felt nice to have someone worry about him.

"Neal, I am so… sorry. I wish.. I wish there was another word for it. You nearly…" No, there was no 'nearly' about it. Neal had died. Neal had died twice. Peter's breath hitched.

"You died. Twice. Because of me, and I can't—I can't-"

Neal felt like the scum of the earth. His heart ached for Peter. He'd never seen the older man this worked up.. well, maybe, when Keller had kidnapped Elizabeth, but this was different.

"Peter—"

"Neal, let me finish. You asked me to take the anklet off of you before the undercover op, and I refused. I refused. And you died because of it. You-You-"

"Peter, I'm alive. I'm okay, see?" To illustrate his point, Neal painted on his million-dollar-Caffrey-smile.
"And you didn't refuse. You forgot that Hughes had the key, and you didn't want to wait. Which is good! We didn't have time, and if I hadn't shown up for the meeting.. things could've gotten bad."

"What, worse than you dying?" He spat.

"Peter, I'm not dead. I'm alive. You saved my life. You. Saved. My Life." Neal needed for the words to sink in, needed to ease his friend's guilt.

Neal had gotten himself a little worked up in the process, his breathing a bit more rapid. He paled slightly; his lungs still burned a bit when he breathed, and his ribs throbbed.

Peter could see this, of course, and mentally scolded himself. Leave it to him to agitate the young man. He was going to drop this—for now.

"Peter." Neal's voice was pained.
Peter didn't really trust himself to speak, so he just nodded towards Neal.

"You saved my life. None of this, none of this is your fault. I'd still be at the bottom of that lake if it not for you."

His eyes flickered away for a moment.
"You saved my life in other ways too." His voice was barely above a whisper, almost as if he was merely thinking aloud.

Peter felt Neal's fingers on his wrist. He was awkwardly reaching for Peter's hand but was impaired due to the handcuff. Peter cupped Neal's hand in both of his like a concerned father. Neal looked up at him.

His eyes were bright and full of emotion.
Thank you.

Peter smiled, his heart warm.
You're welcome.

In the next chapter, the Burkes will be bringing Neal home to heal, and they're going to have to approach to topic of a new anklet. Lots of hurt/comfort awaits!