" I'm sorry Rick" Jessie shook her head " there hasn't been any change... Lesley still hasn't regained consciousness or responded to anything..."

" Part of me Jessie wants to let her go but I don't think I can do it... I can't say goodbye to her, I don't know how.." Rick sat by Lesley's side

" I'm going to give you some time with Lesley alone... We'll talk alittle bit later.." Jessie gave Rick a hug and stepped out

Jessie took alittle bit just outside of Lesley's cubicle to give Rick alittle time

" Jessie, is everything okay?" Bobbi asked

" No it's not Bobbi... Lesley may not make it... Somebody tried to kill her the other day and this person who ever she was, drugged her IV line with some kind of toxin she's been in acoma ever since and her blood pressure is too low Steve and Martinson don't think she'll make it through the rest of the day or through the night. She's already had 1 close call so far." Jessie exclaimed

Rick stayed at Lesley's side hoping she could hear him

" I really need you Les, I can't do this by myself. I can't say goodbye to you Lesley please don't make that my only option.. please wake up darlin.. come back to me" Rick pleaded again missing that Lesley started to slightly open her eyes

Rick sat beside Lesley refusing to leave her side until she was gonna be okay to be out of the ICU... Only when he went to pull up the blanket slightly, she had slightly moved her fingers on Rick's hand he looked over at her and smiled when he saw that she had started to slowly regain consciousness

" You're gonna be okay Les, everything is going to be alright..." Rick replied and stood up to give Lesley a kiss on her forehead

Rick saw just how much pain and how weak Lesley had been and it tore his heart apart to see her in the way she was in... " I'm gonna be right here right by your side until I can take you home."

Rick did his best to assure Lesley when he went to give her a pain relief as she looked at him in fear. " It's gonna be alright Lesley I promise you I'm not gonna hurt you or let anybody ever hurt you again..."

Monica finally was able to check in on Lesley's condition before she brought in respiratory to have a trach put on her...

" Just rest sweetheart I'm gonna be right here right by your side..." Rick rubbed on her hand and gave her a kiss.

" R-Rick s...stay with me... I don't want you to be away from me.." Lesley asked after Monica finally was able to get Respiratory Care in to trach her

" I'm not gonna leave you alone, not ever I would die before I were to ever leave you by yourself again..." Rick replied and pulled Lesley into his arms.

" Rick... Please... Do-don't start to cry... I'll be okay ev-even if I..." Lesley started to say when Rick then interrupted " don't Les, don't start talking like I'm gonna lose you... Don't you dare try to leave me. I need you Lesley and so will the kids."

" R-Rick I can't feel my legs... What's happened..." Lesley looked at Rick with fear

" Lesley we're gonna take care of that I promise you... Do you know where you are?" Rick asked gently

" I'm in... I'm in the hospital... But I'll admit it feels alittle fuzzy."

" Sweetheart, someone tried to hurt you. I don't know who yet I will get to the bottom of it before I ever let something else happen to you again." Rick replied while holding Lesley's hand.

" I lo-love you R-Rick..." Lesley whispered

" Lesley don't you do this don't you ask me to let you go... You have to fight.." Rick begged Lesley until he shot up quick to intervene when Lesley had stopped breathing and coded again right in front of him

Rick ran out just as Monica had gotten off the elevator " Monica it's Lesley!"

Monica rushed in... " Rick I don't have to tell you that I need you to wait outside"

" Please just help her Monica…. I can't lose her." Rick got out while stepping out of her cubicle

Monica managed after nearly 35 minutes to resuscitate Lesley before having her moved back to CICU where she would be watched every second and after Monica sent the blood samples to the lab, was when she went to look and talk to Rick.

" Jessie I don't know what I'm gonna do if we can't find an answer to save Lesley... I don't think I can live without her and just to have to think about that it terrifies me..." Rick sat back beside Lesley's cubicle but looked to the side.

" Don't do that Rick, don't start losing your hope yet... Lesley is gonna need you to stay strong for her.. Lesley is one of the most stubborn fighters I have come to know than anyone else. I know she isn't gonna give up that easily..." Jessie replied and stood up when Monica started to meet with them

" Monica...?"

" It seems like the neurotoxin is still in her system... Steve is gonna get the results soon. I had the lab put a rush on her blood work… and her EKG shows a slight abnormality with her cardiac enzymes. I may recommend a new pacemaker set up providing how she responds to the medication. " Monica answered Jessie's unasked question.

" What the hell are we doing about it... We need to do something to help her Monica" Rick stood up

" Easy Rick... Steve and Monica are gonna work round the clock for sure to help Lesley just as we are." Jessie laid a hand on his arm.

~~~

After another month Steve and Monica finally were able to get the toxin out of Lesley's system but they were unclear on the lasting effects that may still be there and rather or not Lesley was gonna regain consciousness was a question Rick wished he could get an answer to.

" The trach can't be removed not until there's a change or until she regains consciousness I want to monitor her vital signs still incase of any other problems..."

" But she's gonna be okay..." Rick stated

Monica placed her hand on Rick's arm " that is our hope Rick. Lesley so far is stable and Steve is hopeful that she'll remain stabilized where we can hopefully remove the ventilator..."

" I don't understand why she hasn't regained consciousness yet... Has Steve said anything about it?" Rick's asked

" Mark is monitoring her cranial function... But I don't think we should be too concerned, with what she's been through, I would think it's normal to be out like this." Monica replied before stepping out.

After a few hours Mark decided against removing Lesley's trach while Rick stayed at her side refusing to leave until she was to wake up.

" Lesley... I can't do it without you.. I don't think I ever want to try... please come back to me "

" Come in Steve..." Mark said while just getting Lesley's results and labs back.

" Are those on Lesley's case... What's the latest for Lesley?" Steve asked

Mark sighed before giving Steve an answer " It's not good Steve... The longer she's unresponsive to stimuli, the greater it will be that she may not wake up at all... Take a look at her E.E.G... her cranial function has declined in spite of our best efforts. If it keeps going, she'll lose all function by the end of today."

" I see what you mean... The longer she's comatose the less likely she'll wake up" Steve replied.

" So far we've done all we can medically, Steve. At this point it's up to Lesley to wake up on her own, or it'll be up to Rick when to remove life support."

~~~

Still confused, Lesley tried to decide what to do if she wanted to stay or wake up again.

" Lesley you have an important choice to make..." Irene reached out a hand

" I don't know that I can leave him... Mom he's been so wonderful to me and he's always been there to keep me safe even if I didn't want him to... How can I leave him..?"

" You can go back to him lovebug you can go and be the mother you've always wanted to be... One thing that will never change is how proud I always will be of you..." Irene smiled and gave Lesley a hug

" I used to always wonder if you were gonna be proud of how I managed things for myself… even as I believed for a long time that you had just up and left me without reason…."

" Lesley I will always be proud of the woman that you grew up to be just as I will always love you."

" I just…. I don't know that I can leave here especially when I never got to know you… but I don't think I can leave my kids and Rick..."

" you take your second chance lovebug… you can go be the mother you've always wanted to be.. I don't want you to throw your 2nd chance away, not when you have your two beautiful little girls and your little boy who will depend on you just as his father. Take your chance, my love, go be the mother you deserve to be. " Irene hoped she pushed Lesley in the right direction to finally wake up when giving her a hug.

~~~

" Rick the longer she's unresponsive to stimuli the greater chance she may not wake up..." Mark said

" Lesley will wake up... She has to." Rick shot back

" Rick by this point her chances are slim at best. The machines are what's keeping her alive by this point."

" I will not give up on her!" Rick barked and walked off.

Rick walked off with Mark about to go after him to try to get him to see reason from what he saw from his point as a neurologist versus a friend but Jessie stopped him in his tracks " Rick needs to be alone for right now. Hearing what you just told him that's not something he's taking well as no one would with things like this concerning a loved one."

" Jessie, this is the bottom line. I ran these twice and watched her response to stimuli as Rick sits by her side as well as you've been back and forth with her. She has no response to stimuli or any cranial activity by this point. It could be the machine's by this point that's gonna keep her alive unless Rick decides to shut them down and remove life support." Mark replied with a straightforward approach regarding Lesley's current condition though he wasn't sure entirely

that they had lost Lesley as he had said she had no current brain activity as that is different from brain function.

" You said she's got no Brain activity… couldn't that mean she could still have a chance?"

" I can't really answer that Jessie right now the bottom line remains at where her condition lies and right now she's not responsive to any stimuli. It could be the machines that's keeping her alive at this point." Mark answered as honest as he thought he could

" That isn't good enough, Mark… we cannot just sit back and do nothing when Lesley's life hangs by a thread. Not when at heart that is my daughter in there fighting for her life." Jessie argued back

" Jessie all I am gonna say to this is this, the longer that Lesley is unresponsive to stimuli or unresponsive like right now while either you or Rick are with her, her chances at regaining consciousness are gonna be slim to nothing." Mark tried again to be gentle while explaining where Lesley's condition lied

" Jessie, we're doing everything we can that I can promise you. Right now take some time to be at Lesley's side." Steve insisted.