It seemed like every part of his body was aching, and he could feel the uncomfortable pinch of a needle in the back of left hand. He tried to bend his legs then froze quickly; there was a tightness around his left calf and a stab of pain shot through his lower leg. With a frustrated sigh he belatedly remembered the laceration and let his left leg ease back to the bed.

He exhaled loudly through his open mouth and tentatively opened his eyes. The room was bright, sunlight bouncing off the light grey ceiling high over his head.

"It's about time you woke up, I gotta get back to work," came a familiar, and amused, voice from his right and he turned his head on the pillow, frowning slightly.

"Are you guys still here?" he asked in amazement, his voice croaking, and he tried to clear his throat, his eyes sliding to the plastic cup of water on the small metal table beside the bed.

Chuckling, Dan Healey got quickly to his feet and picked up the cup. "Not 'still here'," he explained as he reached for the remote. "Let's raise the bed a little bit, shall we; don't want you to drown, right?" Without waiting for a response, he pushed one of the buttons and the bed began to rise. When he thought Steve was elevated enough, he released the button and handed his colleague the cup. "Norm and I went home last night right after we talked to Mike. You were kinda out of it." He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "We just got back about an hour ago."

With a soft groan, Steve took the cup, his eyes snapping back to the sergeant's face. "How is he?"

"Mike? He's fine, don't worry about him. They had to put a pin in his left wrist," he pointed to his own automatically, "but because they couldn't get him into an OR till four this morning, so we were told, they figure he's going to be sleeping most of the day. So you're stuck with me right now." Healey smiled broadly. "But don't worry, it's only for a bit," he followed up quickly with a chuckle, "I'm just here to see if you need anything."

Steve blinked slowly as if trying to process not only what Healey was telling him but what had transpired in the past forty-eight hours. It was all quite overwhelming. He brought his left hand to his forehead and carefully touched the fresh bandage, remembering the visit from the plastic surgeon the previous evening, who had numbed his head and stitched him up with impressive skill and speed.

He took a pull on the straw then put the cup of water back on the table, allowing himself time to think. There was so much going through his mind. "Do you know when they're going to let me out?"

Healey shook his head with a shrug. "Nope. But I do know it's not today."

The younger man nodded, uncharacteristically accepting of the pronouncement; Healey knew he must really be feeling the effects of his injuries. "Ah, I don't know, maybe a change of clothes, I guess."

Healey grinned. "Sure, piece a cake. I can get some clean clothes for Mike too while I'm at it. Where are your keys, do you know?" He leaned forward and opened the small drawer in the bedside table. He and Haseejian had been given both Steve and Mike's guns and badges the night before, the hospital staff not wanting to be responsible for them, but keys were another matter. There were two sets in the drawer, one obviously belonging to the LTD. Healey took both. "I'll have to go get Mike's," he mumbled under his breath as he pocketed them, realizing he and his partner would have to make a return trip to the pier to bring the tan LTD back to the Hall.

"Don't bother," Steve mumbled, pointing at Healey's pocket. "I have his house key on my ring."

Healey paused momentarily, then grinned. "Oh… of course you do, what was I thinking…?" He chuckled. "Anything else? Want me to bring you something to eat or something to read?"

Steve shook his head slowly with a slight, appreciative smile. "No, thanks, I'm okay." As Healey started to turn away, he stopped him. "Dan…?" The sergeant turned back. "Ah, look, ah, just after it happened… the 'quake… on the top floor. I, ah… we managed to save a little kid… and a baby. But the mom…" He inhaled deeply, his stare far away under a furrowed brow. "She wasn't very old, about twenty-three, twenty-four maybe… long blond hair, thin…" He cleared his throat. "She, ah… she didn't make it…" He swallowed heavily. "Can you try to find out who she was and what's going to happen to the kids?" He met the sergeant's kind dark eyes sadly.

Healey nodded slowly. "Sure… sure, I'll find out what I can. It might be a little too soon for them to make identifications, you know? They're, ah, they're probably still cleaning up at the site and they might not've even recovered everybody yet… but I'll see what I can do."

Steve smiled gratefully, perfunctorily. "Thanks…"

Healey grinned encouragingly. "No problem. Anything else?"

The younger man paused, both of them knowing that he wanted to ask something else but not wanting to be a burden. Healey raised his eyebrows. "And…?" he prompted with a knowing chuckle.

"Well, there was that guy that was helping me out," Steve began tentatively and Healey cut him off, his voice suddenly professionally clipped and formal.

"Black, about my age. My height as well but in a little better shape. Named Neil? That guy that was helping you out?" He paused, staring at the younger man smugly, his eyes sparkling.

Steve's glare narrowed and a smirk twisted his lips. "Yeah," he said slowly, sarcastically, "that guy."

"You introduced him to me yesterday, don't you remember?" he asked with a curious frown, not really expecting an answer. He was sure there were a lot of things that had happened in the last forty-eight hours that the young man wouldn't remember right away." "Don't worry about it, there was a lot going on," he said quickly with a dismissive shake of his head. "And don't worry, Norm got his bona fides yesterday before he disappeared." He shrugged and laughed. "Hey, we're not amateurs, you know. So, what, do you want us to try and find him?"

Still smirking, Steve shook his head then sighed heavily with a smile. "No, ah, no, not right now. After I get outa here I'll try to track him down."

"Well, Norm and I can help you out with that, don't you worry."

"Thanks."

"Listen, ah, I'm gonna get outa here. There's a lot still going on out there, you know, after the 'quake. The department's stretched pretty thin at the moment. We'll drop by tomorrow morning, maybe get take you home, who knows, hunh?"

Steve nodded noncommittally, appreciating the confidence. Healey leaned forward and slapped him lightly on the arm. "You take it easy, okay. I hear that bone bruises can be really painful."

"I can vouch for that," Steve said with a soft chuckle.

Laughing Healey crossed to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back towards the bed, his smile disappearing. He stared at his young colleague for a beat. "You did a hell of a job yesterday, helping to pull those people out of the rubble. I don't know how you did it, after what you went through yourself." He smiled proudly. "You saved lives yesterday… remember that, will you?" His smile vanished again and he clenched his jaw, swallowing heavily. "You saved lives…" Without another word, he turned to the door, pulled it open and left without looking back.

# # # # #

His left arm felt thick and warm, and it was slightly elevated. He tried to flex his fingers but they refused to move. His mouth and throat were dry and his head felt heavy. He moaned slightly as he rolled his head gently from side to side and opened his eyes slowly.

"Do you want some water?" he heard a familiar voice close to his right ear and suddenly a white plastic cup was thrust in front of his face. He refocused, blinking slowly and exaggeratedly, then he squinted.

"Rudy?"

"Yeah, who else would it be?" came the gravelly growl. "You want some water?"

Slowly, still trying to get his bearings, Mike reached up with his right hand and guided the cup and straw closer to his mouth to take a long sip. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," the captain chuckled as he straightened up and put the cup on the side table.

Mike looked around the room as if trying to remember why he was there then looked at Olsen again. "What time is it?"

"Three o'clock."

"In the afternoon?"

"Yeah. They told me they couldn't operate on your arm until some ungodly hour of the morning so…?" He shrugged. "How are you felling?"

Mike stared at his forearm in the cast then shook his head slightly as if clearing it. "Ah, I'm not sure… Okay, I guess…" His eyes snapped towards the captain. "How's Steve?"

Olsen had already raised both hands in anticipation. "Relax, relax, he's fine. He's in a room down the hall. He's doing great. He has some bone bruises - which sound painful, actually - but nothing's broken, and he's got stitches in his head and his leg but he's fine. So you can relax."

Mike, who had been staring at him from under a very worried brow, visibly deflated in relief.

Olsen chuckled slightly. "Considering what you both went though, it coulda been a helluva lot worse. You got off lucky, both of you." He was going to add 'unlike a lot of others', but remembered what Healey and Haseejian had told him, about someone named Bobby and all the poor unfortunate souls who had perished in the collapsed warehouse, and stopped himself. Instead, he reached out and self-consciously patted his old friend's right forearm.

"Listen, ah, I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I gotta get outa here. We're up to our eyeballs in earthquake clean-up out there, it's all hands on deck, if you know what I mean. Maybe you're lucky being stuck in here for awhile. Anyway, ah, Condon wanted me to drop by and check in on both of you and let him know how you're doing."

"Thanks, Rudy." Mike smiled gratefully, but the sadness in his eyes was obvious and disturbing.

Olsen tried to sound encouraging as he headed across the small room to the door. "The, ah, the nursing staff told me to let them know when you woke up. I think they're gonna bring you something to eat." He stopped at the door and a tentative smile curled his lips again. "I'm glad you're okay and I'll see you sometime tomorrow."

"Yeah… thanks, Rudy." Mike watched as the door closed then stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes. He wasn't hungry; there was a knot in his stomach that had been there since he'd walked away from the warehouse. And, right now, he wasn't sure if it would ever go away.

# # # # #

He had picked at his dinner, mostly just pushing the unappealing food around on the plastic plate to make it look like he'd eaten more than he had. He knew they wouldn't be fooled, but he didn't have an appetite, and he was at a loss to be more creative.

He'd tried not to think, tried not to let his mind relive the harrowing events over and over, but he wasn't successful. Every time he closed his eyes he went right back there. Every time…

He was staring unfocused at the end of the bed when he heard the soft creaking of the heavy wooden door opening and turned his head slowly in that direction. Then he froze, his eyes widening and his heart starting to pound as his visitor, wearing a blue robe over a hospital gown, his left arm in a sling, shuffled slowly towards him.

"They said I could go for a walk," Mike smiled affectionately.