Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. Yet. Oh who am I kidding :)

Lyrics below belong to SYML.

Rory stumbled into his office, closely followed by Paris and Helen. Jess was sitting behind his desk, holding his mobile. Cerberus was lying in his feet. As the three women crashed into his office the dog jumped to a start position and let out a woof. Jess looked in the direction of the door, his brows furrowing slightly.

'Oh boy.'

'I should've never given up on fitness. Damn.'

'See, he's not even unconscious.'

Jess' expression gradually switched from confused to amused.

'Ladies,' he put his mobile back into his pocket, 'to what do I owe the honor?'

'Okay, I'm getting back to the OR, vasectomy's calling,' Paris said and started to walk out of the room. 'You coming?' she made Helen who was still standing, clueless, an impatient gesture, taking her by the arm and leading her out of the room.

As the door closed behind them with a click, Rory licked her lips, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to set some order into her chaotic thoughts. So they just burst into his office like a SWAT team closing in on a high-profile criminal. An explanation was probably due. Preferably now. Any time now.

'Okay, so we were thinking how far you were going to go with that thing about taking every test your patient takes.'

Jess' brows arched up.

'What did you think, that I would inject myself with muscle relaxant and get myself unconscious only to prove I could get my sight back?'

Rory didn't reply. She took a steadying breath and looked at Cerberus who had sat down onto his hind paws, his back against Jess' shin. She didn't know what to think anymore.

'We need to talk,' she gave out a sigh.

'You and me?' Jess asked, his voice a bit unsure. His features seemed to hesitate between keeping up a nonchalant appearance and showing apprehension.

'No, me and the dog.'

Jess didn't reply, probably thinking she was being sarcastic.

'I mean that. We have to talk to your dog - he can't keep following me all around the hospital.'

She gave the black Labrador a pointed look. Cerberus wagged his tail.

'It's you I'm talking about, mister,' she folded her arms before her chest. 'You can't keep doing that. I know your sneaky owner has my shower gel somewhere into this lonely cave of his but you should know that stealing people's shower gels is a bad, creepy thing to do and it doesn't mean anything because although he's desperately missing me he's far too pigheaded to get over himself and deal with his inferiority complex so please, please stop dragging him behind me because it's hurting me really bad. Can you do that, Cerberus?'

Cerberus wailed once, sadly. And Rory couldn't block the association with a kid of divorced parents. Well, mommy and daddy aren't together anymore, kiddo. Better take it in stride.

'I mean that, Cerberus,' Rory sighed. 'You have to stop this.'

There was a beat of silence and the dog twisted his neck to look up at Jess, as if searching for confirmation.

Jess was sitting in his chair, not moving a muscle. He seemed to have fallen under some spell.

Cerberus stood up and moved to put his muzzle over Jess' knee, looking at him expectantly.

'Are you gonna say something?' Rory asked exasperatedly, her strength draining out of her.

Jess was torn out of his trance and moved a hand to pet the dog's head. He took a breath and looked down at him.

'I told you she's amazing,' Jess said, his voice strained. Then he cleared his throat and continued, his unshed eyes directed at the dog. 'But you really need to stop trying to push us together. It's not fair to her. I...,' he swallowed, looking up in Rory's direction. 'I don't wanna hurt her anymore. She only deserves otherwise.'

He licked his lips.

'I wish there was another way.'

Rory held her breath at the mixture of sadness and determination in his eyes and for a moment she lost herself in them. When the pull at her chest became too much to bear she turned to go.

Cerberus wailed.

Rory turned back at the door.

'Take care of him, will you?' she said softly.

Jess nodded with a stoic expression, not realizing her last words were directed at the dog and not to him.

Rory went out of Jess' office and hurried down the corridor, wondering if meeting Jess in person would ever get any less emotionally exhausting. I wish there was another way. Me too, she thought. She had reached the stairs when the realization hit her. Jess wasn't talking about what was already done. He was referring to what he was about to do. What did you think, that I would inject myself with muscle relaxant and get myself unconscious only to prove I could get my sight back?
Rory turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could.

As she stormed into Jess' office, Cerberus was barking above an unconscious Jess who was lying on the floor, an intubation set prepared beside him, his mobile resting by his open fingers, right next to the used syringe and empty Anectine ampoule. The reanimation team burst into the room not a couple of seconds later making their way past a numb Rory. They had undoubtedly gotten a call by Dr Mariano, telling them in his office there was an unconscious patient who needed emergency intubation.

'If you bled, I bleed the same
If you're scared, I'm on my way'

Rory stood on a bench in the waiting area of the ICU, her arms hanging limply by her scrubs-clad frame. She had just yelled at her boss. She had made sure Jess was taken care of and then went to the Chief's office, yelling at him for not stopping this craze earlier. The Chief had let them perform the EEGs and Jess was currently intubated and scanned. It was too much. Someone had to stop this. Damn, she had to have stopped this.

'Hey,' Paris took her surgical cap off, dropping into the seat next to Rory. 'The surgery went on longer than expected. I came as soon as I heard. How is he?'

Rory looked ahead blindly.

'I keep failing. I'm doing my best and I keep failing. It's all slipping away from me. Whatever I try to fix gets broken.'

Paris sighed and rested her head back against the wall and her palm against Rory's shoulder.

'Maybe some things are beyond your ability to fix.'

They stood for a while, with Paris' hand resting over Rory's shoulder.

'Be kind to yourself.'

'What?'

'Be kind to yourself. That's what my therapist told me,' Paris said.

Rory kept silent, feeling another damp trail roll down her cheek.

'I think sleeping with Tristan was the kindest thing I've done to myself lately.'

Rory opened her mouth and then closed it. Something told her Paris wasn't done sharing.

'He's just so... I don't know,' Paris sighed with frustration, 'full of fluff.'

Rory rose an eyebrow involuntarily, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. Paris gave her a scowl.

'Don't look at me like that. I can't handle cute. I can handle grumpy or neurotic. But he's just so... loving.'

Paris said the last word with obvious disgust.

'He's like a magical unicorn, strutting around puking rainbows.'

Rory thought she couldn't crack a smile. But she did. And she gave her friend a grateful look, knowing Paris was changing subject to make light of the situation because Rory didn't need any more drama.

'Hey,' Helen joined them a couple of minutes later. 'He in there?' she motioned towards the ICU.

Both Paris and Rory nodded.

'I'll just hang around here for a while,' she said taking the seat on the other side of Rory.

'I'm gonna kick his ass,' Tristan appeared from around the corner another couple of minutes later, shoving his surgical cap into his scrubs pocket. 'Like, literally kick his ass.'

He ran a hand through his hair and threw a sideways look at the ICU.

'He okay?'

They nodded.

He sat down on the floor against the opposite wall, elbows propped over his knees.

'Mind if I join the party?' he asked, looking up at them.

'You're welcome... Shania.'

They looked at one another and somehow laughter made it all better, if even for a moment.

'Did you run away?
Did you run away? I don't need to know
If you ran away
If you ran away, come back home
Just come home'

TBC