Chapter 21

Neal Caffrey hovered over the operating theatre, taking in the impressive spectacle below. He'd never realized just how many individuals were involved in carrying out a surgical procedure. There was the obvious head dude – although in this case it was a 'dudette'. Everyone was referring to her as Dr. Miller and she was a relatively young woman by Neal's standards. Of course, that was the thing about being in your 50s, everybody seemed too young to be doing the job they were doing... She might have been young but she was a definite go-getter, not afraid to bark orders - and everybody reacted to her instructions without so much as a moment of hesitation.

By her side were a couple of young guys who people kept referring to as 'Dr. This' and 'Dr. That', most likely surgical residents. Add to that, Dr. Peel (as one of the nurses had just referred to him) – he stood at the head of the operating table alongside another resident, monitoring Neal's breathing, obviously the anaesthesiologist. Finally, Neal checked out the three nurses who moved around the room, doing various tasks, carrying out orders, the bottom of the food chain in this setting, although like everybody else, Neal knew that nurses were the real heroes in hospitals, the ones who did all the heavy lifting without much of the recognition.

He could relate to that - he recalled his days at the FBI doing everybody's bidding for NO PAY. He suddenly flashed back to the Halbridge case, the first one he'd worked on with Sara and how she had gotten to sit back and watch him do all the dirty work while she got to walk away with her hefty commission. He'd been so pissed about that, back when he only saw the hard as nails side of Sara Ellis. Well, everybody knew how that had ended... His musings were interrupted as Dr. Miller spoke again.

'This guy's damn lucky that bullet didn't land any closer to his spine or we would have been going out there to tell his family he'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life'

'Yeah, a definite close call' echoed one of the residents – Neal thought he looked like he might be the brownnoser of the two.

'That spleen is going to have to come out' Miller said again.

Damn it! thought Neal. He'd learned all about the mystery organ and its important function the last time he'd had abdominal surgery – after Craig Williamson had decided to slice into him like a hot knife through butter. He'd lost part of his spleen that time and he waited with anticipation for the surgical team to make that discovery for themselves.

'Hey, this guy doesn't have a whole spleen!' exclaimed the brownnoser.

'BINGO!' Neal cried out from above.

'I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that' said Dr. Miller. 'But, it's not for us to know – at least not while the patient is out like a light.'

'It's bloody cold in here' a young nurse whispered to one of her colleagues.

Wow, Neal's hearing was really sharp up here as he floated above everyone – nobody else seemed to have heard.

'Yeah' the other nurse whispered back. 'Get used to it – they always turn down the temperature when there's been a lot of blood loss in a patient.'

'He's cute!' the first one replied, glancing down at Neal's face.

'You better get your head in the game' admonished the more senior nurse. She paused for a moment '... but yeah, he is kinda cute... for a guy his age.'

Awww! Neal hated getting older; he was still as vain as ever and he enjoyed the way heads turned when he walked into a room. Of course right now, he was lying, inert, with a breathing tube down his throat and his hair... well, not his best look.

Suddenly, June was back at his side.

'Where did you go?' Neal asked.

'Just exploring. Come with me, I want to show you something' she said as she took his hand.

The next thing Neal knew, he was hovering over another room in the hospital – looked like the surgical waiting room. He could see his loved ones moving around below, patiently waiting for news about his condition.

'I hate doing this to them' he said as he looked around at the worried faces.

Peter looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders; he sat with his face in his hands, elbows on his knees. Mozzie sat, his arm draped around the back of the chair, his legs bouncing up and down as they always did when things weren't going fast enough for his liking. Hope sat with Cameron by her side and suddenly he saw her stand and start to pace. That's when he noticed she was dressed in scrubs and he flashed back to the gallery, remembering how she'd kneeled over him, talking to him, comforting him and trying to keep him from bleeding out. She'd probably ruined her clothes, poor kid.

She began to pick up the pace, finally stopping and addressing her uncle Peter.

'This is taking way too long!' she said, her voice shaking.

Neal watched as Peter stood to put a comforting arm around his goddaughter.

'Honey, it's going to take a while yet. Why don't you and Cam go get something to drink at the cafeteria?' he suggested before Hope cut him off.

'NO!' Hope shouted as she pulled out of Peter's grasp.

Peter stepped away, surprised at the gesture, watching as Hope resumed pacing.

'This is all my fault' she blurted out as she stopped, long enough to address the group. 'He stepped in front of that bullet because of me… so I wouldn't get hurt.'

'It's not your fault, Hope' Peter said. 'He only did what any loving dad would do – you weren't the one pointing a gun at him.'

Neal looked over at June – poor kid, this wasn't her fault but true to form, Hope was carrying the brunt of the guilt. Sara wasn't there yet and Neal realized she was probably still somewhere between the hospital and Chicago. She'd be going crazy – he knew he would be if the tables were turned and she was the one lying in an operating room, fighting for her life.

'Don't worry' June said, reading his mind. 'When you come to and they see for themselves that you're going to be all right, everything will fall into place.'

There was a bit of a commotion and the door to the small waiting room opened; Sara and Liam appeared with El close behind.

'Mom!' Hope said as she ran into her mother's arms.

Sara looked like hell, her clothing askew, her hair uncharacteristically disheveled and her face... well she suddenly looked old beyond her years, every single line in her beautiful face accentuated, leaving deep crevices the likes of which Neal had never seen before. It was the face of pain and anguish.

'It took you so long...' Hope said, relieved to see her mom.

'I had to fly into Newark' Sara answered by way of explanation.

Hope's attire drew her attention and she was relieved not to have to see her, covered in blood. She'd been briefed on the way over about what had happened and how Hope had been with her dad at the time of the shooting. Details were still sketchy. Hope hadn't been able to recall much but by the sound of things, she'd been instrumental in keeping her dad alive until help had arrived.

'Honey, are you all right?' Sara asked as she held her in her arms.

Hope didn't know the answer to that question so she just let her mom hold her, letting herself melt into her embrace. What a relief it was to finally have her here.

'Mom, I'm so scared. What if...' she didn't dare finish the sentence.

'We can't think like that' Sara interrupted.

From above, Neal could see the tears she was trying desperately to hold back for the kids' sake.

'Daddy's strong, he's going to pull through' he heard her say.

Suddenly, Liam was on his feet and he stood between his mom and his sister, putting his arm around both of them. At thirteen, Neal still thought of his son as a little boy, but in this moment, he was behaving like a responsible adult – strong and brave, looking out for the ones he loved, comforting them and giving them strength.

Neal took in the scene below, hating to see his family and friends so upset.

'They love you so much' June said as she stood by his side.

'I'm a very lucky man' he said, mesmerized.

'They're lucky too, darling. Lucky to have you in their lives.'

'You know, the first time Sara walked into my house with the police, I was so angry. I hated her for what she was doing to you. And then, you started to have her over to the house more often and I would cringe every time I saw her come to the door.'

Neal smiled as he recalled the long, tortuous road he and Sara had shared leading to their present circumstance.

'And when you brought Sara to my birthday party that time, I still had my doubts. I thought she was aloof and distant, not at all the right woman for you. But over time, I could see her start to soften, letting you into her world just like you were letting her into yours. And then I could see you changing, not because she was asking you to but because you wanted to be a better man for her. What more could I want for you than to become the best person you could possibly be? She's a keeper Neal, but I guess you already figured that out a while back.'

Neal looked fondly at June – he hadn't expected to see her again and he wasn't sure quite how this strange encounter was actually happening but he chose to suspend disbelief and just enjoy a few more minutes with his surrogate mom. He knew he'd be regaining consciousness eventually but for now, he was free of pain and he was happy to have June by his side, sharing a few moments together before she left for good.

He blinked and he was suddenly back in the OR, the regular beat of his heart echoing in the quiet room. The two residents were hunched over his body and something was being removed from deep inside his gut and put into a steel utility bowl, taken away by one of the nurses. Ewww, that was disconcerting, thought Neal, although he felt nothing.

Dr. Miller was still barking orders, directing one of the young men to suction more blood from the open cavity.

'This is weird' Neal finally said as he continued to observe from afar.

'It is, isn't it' agreed June. 'You know, I could hear all of you around my bed earlier today, talking to me. I heard everything that was being said but I couldn't move. It was so frustrating. I wanted to reassure all of you that I was fine, I'm at peace.'

Neal looked over at June, her face glowing.

'I'm glad' he said with a loving smile.

'There's an awful lot of swelling around his spine' one of the residents (not the brownnoser, the other one) was saying.

'That's going to affect his mobility until the swelling goes down' said Dr. Miller.

'This guy must have been born under a lucky star' said one of the nurses. 'It looks like he's going to pull through with a minimum of damage.'

'Well, he's still going to have a long road ahead – and he's going to need to watch out for infections without that spleen of his' agreed Dr. Miller as she gave the order to start closing him up.

'Darling, I've got to go now' said June softly. '... and so do you. Be happy!'

Neal smiled lovingly at June and nodded.

And just like that, June Ellington vanished from his sight.