It was well past the children's bedtime when Jen led them—conspicuously avoiding the hallway she'd gone through to get to Duncan's room—back to the intensive care unit. Nick had just been wheeled back in, it seemed. A nurse was putting all the machines and things back in place.

"How is he?" Jen asked.

"The scans didn't show anything of concern," was the only reply.

The nurse finished her work and left Jen and Nick and Ella and Cody all alone with only the hum of machines and beeping of the heart monitor to break the silence.

"Mum?"

Jen looked down at Cody, still holding her hand with his free one. "Yes, sweet boy?"

"Is Daddy going to wake up?"

She had dreaded this question from the moment this all happened. She knew her children would start asking questions. They were smart and curious, the both of them. But this question was the hardest she'd ever have to answer as a mother, she knew. Christ, she'd rather explain where babies come from right now than try to find a way to answer this question. But one thing Jennifer had always vowed from the moment she gave birth to her children was that she would not deceive them. She would not ignore or avoid their questions, and she would not obfuscate the answers. But there was a vulnerability required to be shown in this moment that she was not sure she could manage. She needed to be strong for Cody and Ella, and she did not know how to explain the situation without every single one of the feeble walls holding her together just crashing right down.

Jen looked over to Ella, still unspeaking, and to Cody. Both of them looked up at her with anticipation for what she would say.

"Daddy loves us so much. You know that, right?"

Both children nodded.

"He won't leave us unless he has to. And he'll fight hard to say. I know more than anything else that your dad would give anything in the world to keep all of us safe and happy. And he can't do that if he's not here. So he's doing his best to be able to wake up and be back with us." As she spoke, a lump formed in Jen's throat that threatened to destroy her, but she was able to finish what she had to say with only a slight crack to her voice. She swallowed hard and took some slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.

Thankfully, that answer seemed to satisfy the children. "Mummy, I'm tired," Cody whined.

"Do you want to go home to sleep? I can have one of your aunties take you home," Jen offered. "I've gotta stay here with Dad." That was the truth of it. She wasn't entirely sure if the hospital would let her stay, but she was fairly certain she could get Bernice to give a police order.

"I wanna stay with you," Cody insisted.

Jen would not refuse him. "And how about you, Ella? Do you want to stay?"

The little girl just nodded. Jen leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Bernice had obviously made sure Ella's hair was washed when she gave them baths after dinner; that bubblegum shampoo she loved was a rather pungent scent when she was freshly washed.

Jen moved her chair to be able to watch Nick. She'd already resigned herself to not sleeping. She did not want to sleep. But the children needed to sleep. "If you're careful, you can put your heads on the bed, but be really careful not to jostle Daddy, alright?" Jen warned.

Cody with his cast had a bit more trouble than Ella, but he managed to get himself situated, as did she. In the end, they were able to curl up on either side of Nick. Jen found an extra blanket in the cupboard and draped it over them. She turned out all but one light, in case the nurses needed to come in for something during the night, and they all got settled.

The memories in Nick's mind had all dissolved to blackness. No thoughts would come, and nothing seemed to exist within him. But then…he noticed something. There was pain, to be sure, but this was more than that. He could smell…bubblegum.

Nick would know that scent anywhere. He had hated it at first. It had a sugary sweetness to it that made his teeth clench. Jen had bought it on accident for Ella, not noticing the scent advertised on the shampoo bottle, but their daughter had absolutely adored it. Every time she got her hair washed over the last four months, she'd run all over the house excitedly telling everyone in the whole family that they had to smell her hair. That sugary sweet bubblegum smell now only made him smile.

For about two hours, Jen watched her children sleep curled up next to Nick on that hospital bed. They seemed peacefully sleeping. She was glad that Ella in particular was able to sleep. Jen was more worried than she really had time to be during the waking hours about how her daughter was going to cope with all of this. She had done her best to be gentle and patient with Ella for the time being, but if she was still not talking when morning came, Jen resigned herself to asking a doctor about it. Surely there was a child psychiatrist somewhere in this hospital.

But Jen tried not to concern herself about that now. She wanted to think of happy things. She wanted to watch Cody and not think of his broken arm but of the way he loved to run around the house barefoot and shouting out the football scores on game days while Nick flipped through the games on telly. She wanted to watch Ella and not think of her trauma but of the way she could sit for hours reading a book and snuggling with her SamBun. She wanted to watch Nick and not think of his injuries but of the quiet, soft, beautiful way he loved and cared for their family.

She watched Nick's face and let the tears fall down her cheeks once again after holding them back for so long. She silently begged for him to wake up. She needed him with her. She needed him to be alright. She needed to be able to grow old with this man who had changed her life from the moment they met. They had gone through every up and down and tragedy and triumph imaginable, all to end up with their children and their happy life, only to be here in this hospital like this. Such a thing was never in the realm of possibility. She and Nick had sought promotions to let them keep desk jobs so that they wouldn't have to worry about field work anymore. They'd both decided that five years ago, that they'd not put themselves at risk anymore, for the sake of each other and their babies. And as Jen watched her husband now, she could think only of that choice and how poorly it had served them now.

But as she watched him, she saw something. His lips twitched and he actually started to smile. Jen's eyes went wide as he blinked awake. His gaze found hers immediately and she let out a sharp gasp. His smile grew.

"Hi," he rasped out.

"Hi," she replied, giving a watery sort of laugh.

The children shifted at the noise. Ella woke first, likely because she had not actually been sleeping. She lifted her head and rubbed her bright blue eyes. "Daddy?" she mumbled.

"Hello, bug," Nick said to her, reaching out to touch her freshly washed blonde hair.