The rest of the weekend passed pretty uneventfully. Peter had been able to talk Neal into taking exactly one of the sleeping pills, but at least didn't seem to be having nightmares - at least not loud enough to wake anyone. Peter hoped they were gone for good, but he knew that was extremely naive.
"You know, you didn't have to dress up to work case files in the dining room." said Peter, looking at Neal as they got down the stairs. Neal had dressed in a pair of dress pants El had carefully removed the seams from the side until it reached knee length, promising they could be fixed to normal later on. Along with that, Neal had somehow managed to get a button-up shirt on and while it had to be rolled up past the cast, Neal had managed a tie and a cardigan. "Jeans and a shirt would have been perfectly acceptable."
"Oh Peter, you're no fun." said Neal, taking a seat at the dining table. Diana had dropped off some files along with a spare laptop for Neal to use in case it was needed. El had set up the table for them to use as a working space as she did have her desk. El had brought him breakfast up early since the space would be too full downstairs for eating. "I happen to like looking nice, thank you very much."
"Oh Peter, he looks nice." said El, giving Neal a wink as she sat a cup of decaffeinated coffee in front of him, thinking it was probably best considering. In fact, she had moved the regular coffee to another shelf and just had made decaf for everyone. "I made up some sandwiches and stuff for lunch so whenever anyone gets hungry, we can all take a break."
"Thank you El." said Neal, giving Peter a look. "And how do you have time to do so much?"
"I woke up early and couldn't sleep and decided to be productive." said El, as it was basically the truth. She had been having nightmares herself the last couple nights and waking an hour before the alarm had been a blessing. She had just chosen not to tell Neal as he would feel guilty and not to tell Peter as he had been resistant to let her hear the statement.
The next few hours passed relatively quietly, the only sounds were paper shuffling and the occasional sharing of notes of a file between Peter and Neal. Peter couldn't resist glancing up at Neal on occasion hoping Neal was handling everything well and did notice the shake of his hands occasionally. As if in pattern, Neal would occasionally give Peter a look of 'It's all fine.' El noticed the trend and had to stop herself from laughing at the two men.
Around noon everyone knocked off for a bit and had lunch in the living room - sandwiches and carrot sticks being on the menu.
"Oh I almost forgot, Dr Rogers called earlier when you were in the bathroom and confirmed your appointment for Wednesday, Neal." said Peter, biting into a deviled ham sandwich. Hearing Neal groan, "I know you hate doctors, but you do have to go."
"The only plus side is I'm hoping to be changed into a walking boot." said Neal. He noticed Peter giving him a look. "I've done a little research in the past and technically it's been over three weeks since I broke it and it's a possibility. It would certainly be better than this cast."
"Just no trying to talk him into it, Neal." said Peter. "You don't want to rush something like this."
"I know, Peter." said Neal rolling his eyes. El couldn't resist giggling at the two. "I haven't seen a rule anywhere I can't hope for something though." Everyone was shocked into silence as the burner phone of El's rang.