"Shay, you need to be gentle with Mama" Kelly instructed after checking his watch, he couldn't let her sleep much longer or they would be late to the doctor.

"Why?" The toddler asked curiously, tearing her eyes away from the cartoon on the television screen to look at her father seriously.

"She's a bit…" He trailed off as he tried to think of the best way to explain it to his daughter.

"Hurted?" Shay questioned.

"Sore" Kelly finally offered instead.

"Why?"

"A bad guy was a bit rough when she was trying to catch him at work yesterday" He explained, hoping she wouldn't ask about his motive.

"Oh. Bad guys is so naughty" Shay replied with a frown.

"They are."

"Wa'bout Emmy?" The two year old queried, looking at her baby sister. The baby had been fussy all night, refusing to be held but wanting constant attention. Kelly's foot was resting on the side of the bouncer, keeping a calming rhythm as Emmy dozed but didn't sleep.

"Emmy is too little to understand, but Mama will manage" He assured, knowing his wife would act as if she was fine.

"I can help" Shay volunteered kindly.

"That would be nice."

"Ta-da" Chase announced as he arrived in the doorway with two plates. One contained a serving of plain full-sized pancakes while the other had a dozen or more mini choc-chip pancakes, a morning snack.

"Looks great. I'll go wake her up" Kelly informed as he stood.

"It's alright Em, I'm here" Chase comforted, moving into position so that he could continue to bounce the grizzly baby.

"Er" Kelly called softly as he settled beside her on the bed, she looked so peaceful. He hated to wake her when she hadn't had nearly enough sleep. He waited a moment then tried again, "Er, babe it's time to wake up." Resting a hand on her leg he watched as she began to stir.

"Mmm?" She questioned sleepily, realising as she shifted just how warm and cosy she had been.

"Sorry" He apologised, rubbing her thigh to make sure she didn't drift off again.

"What time is it?" Erin croaked as she opened her eyes.

"Just after ten" Kelly answered. "There are pancakes waiting for you downstairs. And I made you a doctor's appointment at eleven" He explained, hoping she would be distracted by the food and not argue.

"I'm hungry" She stated simply, the dryness in her mouth disappearing as she thought about food. For a moment she was too occupied trying to remember when she had last eaten to comprehend the second half of his statement. "Wait what?"

"You need to get your shoulder checked babe, I know you don't want to but I need to know you're okay" Kelly reasoned gently.

"It doesn't hurt" She dismissed, she had expected it to, but the pain never seemed to come, or any feeling for that matter. Reaching across with her other hand she felt at her shoulder, slightly swollen, then down her left arm. It was still there, but completely numb and slightly cool to the touch.

"You okay?" He questioned, a concerned frown overtaking his face.

"Yeah" Erin answered a little too quickly, she didn't see much point in worrying when she was already booked in to see a doctor. For the time being she was just going to make the most of being pain-free. "Did you get the girls?" She asked before worry consumed her husband entirely.

"Yeah" He nodded.

"I'll get dressed then come down" She informed, gesturing to indicate that he could go while she got ready. They had showered together only a few hours before but now she didn't want him to see her; stiff and sore she wouldn't be surprised to discover new bruises.

"You sure?" He asked, not wanting to leave her.

"I'll just be a minute."

Nearly ten minutes later Erin made her way down the stairs, sliding her hand down the rail slowly as she took her time with each movement. She had slept well but her muscles didn't seem to have received the message, tense and achy all over.

"Mama" Shay greeted excitedly, waving rapidly instead of rushing to give her mother a hug. That wouldn't be gentle.

"Good morning" Erin responded calmly.

"Mornin'" The toddler replied with a smile.

"Morning Er, how are you?" Chase interjected curiously, he could tell just by the way she was walking that her first day back had been a big one.

"I'm okay, you?"

"No complaints" He shrugged, selecting another little choc-chip pancake from the plate on the coffee table.

"Mama, you sit here" Shay commanded, pointing to the space next to her on the couch.

"Okay" Erin complied, settling on the couch. Shay slid off the seat and moved to pick up the plate of pancakes designated for her mother. The two year old did her best to coordinate the plate, dropping the cutlery as she concentrated on not tipping the maple syrup. "Thank you" Erin murmured as she accepted the plate from the toddler, letting it rest on her lap so that she could receive the retrieved cutlery a moment later.

"You want me cut 'em?" Shay offered, used to her food being cut up for her she knew it made it easier to eat.

"I've got it, thank you" She assured, using the side of her fork to cut off a piece of pancake and pop it into her mouth. "Yum."

"Shay, come finish this one" Chase requested, pointing to the half-eaten pancake the toddler had discarded.

"Go on" Erin encouraged, watching the toddler retreat reluctantly before turning her attention back to eating. She had almost eaten half when she heard Kelly and their youngest daughter in the hallway. The moment the baby saw her mother she squealed, reaching out her short, chubby arms as she desperately tried to reach her. "Come here bub" Erin cooed as she set her unfinished plate on the coffee table.

"Are you sure?" Kelly asked, he knew what her answer would be but he wanted to give her a moment to really consider how she was going to manage holding the squirming baby with only one arm.

"Just give her to me" She urged, knowing the baby was going to start crying from frustration at any moment. Kelly frowned but did it anyway, turning the baby around and getting her positioned so that his wife barely had to support her. "Aww, I'm sorry" She whispered as the baby snuggled against her chest, using both hands to cling on tightly. Ember had clearly missed her.

They spent a few minutes cuddling before the baby made it clear there was something more she wanted, dribbling as she tugged at the fabric of her mother's shirt. Erin unbuttoned the first few buttons as discretely as she could with one hand and allowed the baby to nurse. Patting Emmy's back to help her settle she looked longingly at the plate on the coffee table, usually she would be able to multitask.

"What are you up to?" Erin asked, looking to her husband to see if he would be willing to help.

"Laundry" He replied, giving her a nod as he made his way out of the room. "We have to leave soon."

Erin sighed before looking down at the baby, feeding contentedly, it was certainly easier than pumping. Trying to be thankful for the limited time they had together she tried not to think of the food, at least not until a piece of pancake was held up in front of her face.

Shay had taken it upon herself to help. Moving the plate to the couch she had torn off a piece of pancake, the full-sized cutlery too big for her to use properly, and decided to feed it to her mother. Erin's first concern was the toddler's sticky hands but then the taste of maple syrup and fluffy pancake pushed aside all rational thought.

With her daughter's help Erin was able to finish her breakfast and still have enough time to put Ember down for a nap. The six month old seemed exhausted, leaving Erin to wonder if Cindy had gotten any sleep. At least Chase wouldn't have to worry about the baby getting upset when she left.

Descending the stairs with the baby monitor in hand Erin caught the end of a conversation between her husband and their eldest child. If Shay behaved while they were away Kelly promised to take her ice skating on Thursday, blatant bribery but it meant Chase would have an easy morning.

"How long has it been like this?" The doctor asked, concern visible beneath her professional expression.

"It happened yesterday afternoon" Erin answered flatly, concentrating on the large hand warming her thigh to stop herself remembering the events that had led to the injury.

"Less than twenty-four hours?"

"Yes" She confirmed. Powell's doctors had said the first twenty-four hours were critical, she couldn't help but wonder if there had been any improvement.

"Okay, so usually I would get x-rays but it's pretty obvious that you've subluxed your shoulder and honestly the sooner we get it back in place the better. Right now the top of your humerus is pinching the nerve and blood vessels, which is why your hand has been tingly and numb." The doctor held up her hands, creating a fist with one and cupping it with the other to demonstrate what had happened to the bones.

"Alright" Erin accepted with a stoic nod, forcing it back into place was going to hurt.

"There is a risk that moving it could cause further damage to the nerve, but right now blood flow is compromised." The doctor explained.

"Which isn't good" Kelly contributed, giving his wife a sympathetic look.

"Exactly, as it is you're not a candidate for surgical reduction so–"

"This is my only option" Erin summarised calmly, it was hardly going to resolve itself and she didn't want to wait until it was bad enough for surgery.

"It's your best option" The young doctor agreed with a reassuring smile, she preferred to give her patient's options but that wasn't always possible. "There are a couple of choices for pain relief" She offered kindly.

"I'm good" Erin asserted, shaking her head dismissively. It would feel better once it was done, she could manage momentary pain.

"You don't want anything? Even Tylenol?" The doctor clarified gently.

"I'll be fine. Can we just get it done?" She requested.

"Sure, hop up on the bed" The doctor replied, gesturing to the narrow bed at the back of the room, complete with a thin white paper sheet.

"Babe?" Kelly whispered as he stood to follow her, checking in.

"The sooner it's done the sooner I can get back to work" She justified with a lopsided shrug.

"You are not going to work today!" He denied instantly, his voice louder than he intended, more so in the silence of the doctor's office.

"We'll have a chat about that in a minute. Just lay back for me" The doctor instructed as she washed her hands. "Try to relax and breathe."

Erin did as she was told, taking deep even breaths as the doctor took hold of her injured arm. A glance at her husband made her smile, from the badly masked cringe on his face anyone would think he was the one bracing for pain. The doctor gave no warning, Erin's expression shifting rapidly as her arm was rotated, smile long gone she closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

"Ahh!" She couldn't help but exclaim as the doctor rotated her arm the other way, the bones grating momentarily before slipping back into place. Kelly reached across, unfurling the tight fist his wife had formed, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand as she waited for the pain to subside.

"How does that feel?" The doctor questioned as she examined the joint.

"Uh, sore. A bit better maybe" Erin replied uncertainly, it wasn't the instant relief she had expected.

"It might take a few minutes. Will you be alright while I go get a sling?"

"Yeah."

"Are you alright?" Kelly asked the moment the door closed behind the doctor, looking at his wife sympathetically.

"Mhmm, I'm fine. Really Kelly, please stop worrying" Erin urged. His concern was making it difficult to pretend that it had never happened, that she really was fine.

"You can't take on dangerous criminals all by yourself."

"It wasn't something I planned to do" She defended, realising as she spoke that she hadn't even had a chance to tell him what had happened. Someone else had.

"I know but I'll always worry. Because I love you" He reasoned softly, leaning forward to press his lips to her forehead. Erin knew it was a coincidence, but his closeness was timed perfectly with the pain beginning to subside.

"Here we go" The doctor announced as she returned. By the time the couple separated she had the navy blue sling unfolded and had begun to adjust the straps.

"How long do I have to wear this?" Erin complained almost as soon as the sling was in place. It was comfortable, supporting her shoulder, but the last thing she wanted was for everyone to be able to see she was injured.

"At least two or three days. I'm going to refer you to a physiotherapist who will have their own recommendations but generally speaking no lifting at all for a week, two would be better. It'll take six to twelve weeks to fully heal. The easier you take it now, the faster it will heal" The doctor advised seriously, getting the sense that her patient was particularly reluctant. "So no working today."

"Okay" She accepted with a nod despite having no intention to comply. At the very least she wanted to stop by the district to help with paperwork.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" The doctor questioned once she had finished typing and the printer was humming away.

"No, that was all."

"Here's your referral. Feel better soon."

"Thank you" Erin said as she accepted the letter. She wasn't convinced she was going to comply with that instruction either.

"I know you wanted to go to work–" Kelly began as he held the car door open for his wife.

"To do paperwork" Erin clarified, not sure why he thought she wanted to do anything more. Not only had she seen more than enough action in the last twenty-four hours but there was also no way Hank would allow her out from behind her desk.

"Well I told Hank you wouldn't be coming in today" He informed as he reached across to do up her seatbelt.

"What? Why?!" She demanded indignantly. It should have been her decision.

"You've had three hours sleep and at the time I didn't know how bad your shoulder was" He justified, regretting starting the conversation. She seemed to be in an objectionable mood, after barely any sleep and a doctor's appointment he should have known better.

"It's fine now" Erin argued, trying not to let herself get frustrated when he meant well.

"You're in a sling for three days. Then physio! No lifting for a few weeks" Kelly listed exasperatedly, a day off work for such an injury was more than reasonable. He hated that she was injured but it did mean she would be safe at a desk for a few weeks.

Kelly recognised that neither of them were enjoying the conversation so he stepped back, closed the car door and took his time walking around the vehicle. Even after he started driving they remained silent, Erin carefully considering the best way to do what she wanted without upsetting him.

"Can you please drop me off at Med?"

"Why?" He questioned, frowning as he glanced across at her.

"Because if my husband says I'm not allowed to work the least I can do is check in on my friend" Erin responded snarkily. The hospital was only a few blocks away and since Hayden had crossed her mind during the appointment she couldn't stop thinking about him.

"Erin" Kelly sighed. "You can go do paperwork if you want, I just thought you might like to spend some time with your daughters. Or just looking after yourself. I agreed to you going back to work because I thought you were going to at least attempt a work/life balance."

"You agreed that I could go back to work? Glad I had your permission" She replied bitterly, he had not only completely missed the point but also overstepped. He knew how important it was to her to have control, to be independent. "Asshole" She added, just loudly enough that he could hear her as she turned to look out the window.

"You know that's not what I meant" Kelly offered in an attempt to salvage the conversation.

"Just drop me off up here. I'm not going to work so you can stop worrying. And I've spent a lot more time with the girls than you have so maybe you need to work on your work/life balance."

Kelly didn't bother to respond, anything he said would only make it worse, but he didn't do as he was told either. After watching her disappear through the front doors of the hospital he pulled into the car park, it would cost a small fortune but if he wasn't there she would probably try to walk home by herself. She was stubborn and he had been stupid.

Erin was relieved to leave her husband and his bad attitude behind, not that she was looking forward to seeing Hayden in the Intensive Care Unit. According to the nurse he was in a critical but stable condition, Erin didn't really know what that meant, other than that she wouldn't be allowed to visit for long. She just needed to see him.

"Hayden is right over here" The nurse explained as he led Erin to one of the glass-surrounded bays just off the nurse's station.

"Thanks" Erin whispered before stepping into the small room, seemingly half occupied by the machines keeping the man on the bed alive. His head was bandaged, crisp white more comforting than the crimson she had last seen there, tubes and coloured wires winding over the blue-grey blanket that covered the rest of his form. "Uh, sorry" Erin said softly when she noticed the woman at his bedside.

"Probably didn't expect to see me here" Sam commented as she looked at Erin with red, watery eyes.

"How is he?" Erin asked, not bothering to respond to Sam's statement. Separated or not it was nice that Hayden wasn't alone.

"The doctor's don't even know" Sam scoffed, dabbing at her nose with a tissue. "They don't know if he'll wake up. I haven't seen him in weeks, this happens and all of a sudden I miss him. His stupid smile" She added with a weak laugh, it wasn't funny, a stress response.

"I'm really sorry" Erin replied softly. She had accepted that it was too late for any action of hers to change the outcome and that if she hadn't been there things would have been worse. Still she could apologise that it had happened and that Sam was suffering because of it.

"It's not your fault" Sam dismissed quickly, the beep of the machines more apparent in the quiet she continued to speak. "I wanted him to quit when his partner was shot. I didn't want Ruby to grow up without him. But he joined Intelligence instead, he said it would be safer…" She trailed off momentarily. Erin was surprised to hear about Hayden's partner, she had no idea that he had spent time on the streets and she'd never even thought to ask why he had chosen an office job with Intelligence. "It turned out to be longer hours. He'd be gone before we got up and come home once she was in bed. He was never home. So I moved back to my parents. Then he wanted to see Rubes…"

"He loves her so much" Erin inserted, they had never really talked about much else.

"Yeah, he says that…" Sam replied cynically.

"When I was looking after her he'd call me all the time to ask how she was going."

"A phone call isn't the same as actually spending time together though!"

"I know, it's hard" Erin agreed, she had personal experience with that. "But I also know that Hayden is the best at his job, he can trace phones and find blueprints in seconds. He saves lives every day. The city is a safer place when he's monitoring CCTV" She explained, they had different roles but the same motivation. Making the city safer was how she justified working when it meant time away from her children.

"Strangers are more important than our daughter?" Sam challenged.

"No, but he knows Ruby's safe with you."

"He'd rather sit behind a computer!"

"He makes a real difference" Erin reiterated. If the worst should happen she desperately wanted Sam to know that Hayden hadn't died in vain, that he had been trying to do the right thing.

"That's why he wanted to be a cop, to make a difference" Sam shared with a sad smile. She had been supportive then, when he first said it. Who didn't want a hero for a husband? She hadn't known of the sacrifices that came with the job.

"And he does" Erin asserted firmly.

"I just want him home" Sam confessed, all she had ever wanted was her best friend back.

"He'll be spending a lot of time at home soon. Recovering" Erin suggested optimistically, he was going to need support.

"If he wakes up."

"When, when he wakes up" Erin urged, he had almost made it through the critical first twenty-four hours. "You'll work it out, if you want to. You just have to communicate."

"I hope so" Sam accepted, reaching for his hand to squeeze. "I'm so sorry, you have to wake up Hayd."

Erin shifted her weight from foot to foot, feeling as if she was intruding. "I should probably go…"

"Thanks for coming, for talking" Sam acknowledged, doing her best to smile at the visitor. "I hope you're okay" She added, gesturing at the sling that hadn't even registered until that moment.

"Yeah" Erin dismissed rapidly. "Let me know if you need anything. You know where I live" She added, trying to lighten the mood. It had been unsettling when Sam had knocked on their door and demanded to see her daughter, but now Erin knew her impression of the woman had been unfair.

"Sorry about that" Sam apologised, it hadn't been her finest moment.

"Don't be, I'd do the same for my girls" Erin shrugged, giving a small wave as she backed out of the room. Now she just needed to follow her own advice and talk to her husband before they were the ones fighting over custody.

Not even two minutes passed between Erin sending the text and Kelly pulling up in the pick-up bay out the front of the hospital. He had been nearby, waiting. "Hey" He greeted evenly, watching to see if she needed any help.

"Hey" Erin replied, clipping up her seatbelt and closing the door with her right hand. "I'm sorry, I know you didn't mean what you said before."

"I worded it like an idiot" Kelly shrugged, he should have taken the time to think before he spoke.

"I guess, I just…" She attempted, visiting Hayden had put things in perspective but she still needed to address why she had been so frustrated earlier. "I overreacted, because you were trying to be rational. I do need more sleep. And I need to be more careful" She admitted, smoothing her hand over fabric of the sling. "Yesterday was a lot for my first day back. The attack on Hayden and the CI files being leaked–"

"How is he?" Kelly interrupted to ask.

"Not good, they're not sure what's going to happen" Erin explained, his life was never going to be the same.

"I'm sorry" He sympathised gently. "It is a lot for your first day back."

"I tried to jump right back in, I volunteered to stay late because that's what's expected with Intelligence. We work the case, see it through. But I wasn't ready. And I didn't really cope" She confessed, though he had been there to witness her breakdown she still felt weak admitting it.

"You're allowed to not be okay after something like that" He reasoned.

"Yeah. Well I'm not okay. But it could have been so much worse. I could have actually been hurt. I hesitated!" She exclaimed, clenching her teeth as she forced herself to take a deep breath. She hadn't expected returning after leave would make her feel like a rookie all over again.

"That happens."

"I didn't want to admit it, I still don't" She continued reluctantly. "But I'm really tired and I just want to relax at home."

"And you can" Kelly encouraged.

"Because you talked to Hank, I should have thanked you…"

"I get it" He replied, happy to disregard everything she had said immediately after the doctor's appointment.

"I'm still sorry. But at least I'll be doing paperwork for a while, that might be a more gentle introduction" She suggested hopefully, though she didn't enjoy reading case files she would do nothing else if it meant staying safe so she could go home to her family every night.

"It'll take some time but you'll get it. We will" He assured confidently, like any big change it would take time to adjust. "New rule though, you only work late when I can be home with the girls. They should get to sleep in their own beds."

"Mmm" Erin agreed with a yawn. She was certainly looking forward to her own bed and as soon as they got home she headed straight for it.