Marcus had explained things carefully to April, and then made the difficult phone call to Donatello. Because of having privileges in the hospital, a nurse had offered to set up one of the doctor's quarters for him, but he wasn't about to leave April on her own. He was stretched out on one of the couches in the family waiting area now, lightly running a comforting hand over her hair as she leaned against him wearily.

April hadn't asked Marcus if Luke was going to make it or not - she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer. Somehow it seemed like she and Luke had been best friends for a lot longer than the six and a half years that she'd actually known him. They'd been through so much, things that most people could live an entire lifetime without seeing or doing.

As she tried to breathe out the tension and pray for her friend, her mind drifted back to the first time she'd ever Luke in her building, just walking off an elevator.

(Six years and a few months ago)

The tall blond following behind the movers as they carried boxes through the hall seemed like little more than a kid to April, but the look in his blue eyes bore an incredible weight. He didn't seem to notice her as they passed, and he jogged ahead of the other men to get the door to the apartment open.

Four down from me. Someone that young, he must have a good job to be doing this on his own. At least he looks like he's alone, and I didn't see a ring on that hand.

Despite the hired help, the young man made several trips along with them, bringing things upstairs to the apartment on his own.

Not afraid of working, though he doesn't seem to have the rough hands for it, she added thoughtfully.

April found herself pondering him for the rest of the day. She wasn't sure if it was just her naturally inquisitive nature, or just that look in his eyes that had captured her. She knew better than to bother him that night, even though she was curious.

Everyone deserves a chance to get settled in. Maybe I'll run into him over the next couple of days.

But as it turned out, a week passed without her seeing hide nor hair of him. A couple of times she'd even snooped close by his door during the day to see if she could hear anything, but never did. The only time she actually had was when she'd come home late one night, and distinctly heard what sounded like a TV from outside.

I wonder if he works from home. He's definitely not a morning person. I bet I would have an easier time trying to connect with him at night.

She felt strange for obsessing, but some part of her simply couldn't let that vision of him go. On her way home from work the next night, she stopped by her favorite bakery to put together a package. When she got back to their building, she could see lights on from under the door, but he never answered when she knocked. Quickly she scribbled a welcome note to him, and left her offering outside the door.

April didn't expect anything to come of it - obviously the new neighbor liked his privacy, and she was done intruding. So when there was a knock at her door two days later, she was rather surprised to see the young man standing awkwardly outside.

"Hi," She said with a warm smile. "5G, right?"

"That's me, are you April?"

"All my life. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to apologize for not answering the door the other night. Those cookies blew my mind."

"I wish I could take the credit for them, but I'm no baker. I'd be happy to share their true location with you..."

"Oh sorry...Luke Barrows. I just moved in....but you knew that. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Luke, do you wanna do something?" She asked suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Do you have something to do, are you busy?"

"Well sure. I was going to stare at the ceiling in my apartment for a couple of hours, maybe watch a few re-runs I've already seen ten times, eventually eat something that vaguely resembles food. But I think I could rearrange some of that, what did you have in mind?"

"First the bakery, and after that, we could play it by ear."

"I have to warn you that I'm not very good company."

"If you don't mind listening to me jabber on, I'm sure you'll do fine. How about it?"

He hesitated for a long moment, but then nodded.

"Alright, lemme grab something, and I'll be right back."

That had been the first of many such evenings she spent breaking down the walls. He was so distant at first that he barely talked, but also didn't seem to mind listening to her. It didn't take long for her to realize how intelligent he was, and she wasn't surprised to learn that he was a doctor. April was dying to ask questions, but wisely held off. She had the distinct feeling that if she pushed too hard, he would simply retreat.

There was nothing romantic in their encounters. It was obvious that he wasn't remotely interested, and her own curiosity wasn't following along those lines either. She had been steadily chipping away at the hard exterior for over a month and a half before he began to slowly open up to her and talk about his life before, his life with his parents.

All of his depression had come to a boiling point around the time that he'd moved in. For that first week when she'd never even seen him, he had literally shut down to the entire world except for delivery people.

"I don't know how to live like this April." He had finally admitted to her. "Every day I feel like I'm on the brink of a ledge, tittering for my life. And then I ask myself why, why I am even trying to figure this out? What's the use of living when you don't have a reason to anymore?"

"You have plenty of reason left for living Luke. I know that it's hard, but this is how you start to deal with it, by talking. If you let it all eat away at you, it will destroy you from the inside out."

"April, I'm never going to be able to be the person I was before. I feel like that Luke died with them. I'm living in a shell, existing just to breathe in and out every day - and I don't know why I bother."

"You'll remember, I promise you will Luke. It won't last like this, you will get to live again. But you can't give up before that happens."

"Why are you bothering with me? There has to be other people you'd rather hang out with."

"Because you matter Luke, and I'm trying to convince you of that. Your presence here in this city, where you are right now, it matters. I know you feel like you've completely lost your purpose, but I don't see how that can be true. You went to school, you jumped through all the hoops to become a doctor. You got into the medical field to save lives, and you can still do that. Your parents being gone doesn't change that."

"It changes everything April. In college we had to learn to remove ourselves, to not become too emotionally vested in a patient. I was good at it, for awhile. But now...I tried to go back last week. I didn't tell you that, did I? I tried to go back and it didn't work. Death and dying, dying and death, everywhere I looked. I can't cut myself off from it anymore, and I couldn't take it."

"It's too soon right now. You have to give yourself time Luke."

"How is time going to help me deal with death objectively again?"

"It will Luke, just give it a chance, give yourself a chance. You can come back from this - you just have to want it. Do you want to live?"

He met her gaze, and seemed to think about his answer.

"Yes and no." He finally said.

"We'll start there."

April blinked back tears again as she clutched Marcus' hand in the darkness.

You're not finished living yet Luke, so don't you dare quit on me.