Frank was in the hospital for two weeks, and ordered to stay on medical leave for at least three more. That amount of inactivity would've driven Frank insane, if it weren't for the pain that sitting for any length of time caused.

Every day, someone from the team would go check up on him, see what he needed, if anything. Sometimes he would convince them to take him to HQ for a little while, just to get out of his apartment. It was usually Cody who he got to bring him, since he lived the closest to HQ and it was a shorter ride.

Today was one of those days, and they walked in to hear Monica, Alex, and Jake laughing as they sat around Cody's best computer.

"So this is what goes on when I'm not here?" Frank said, jokingly.

They all turned around quickly, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Frank!" Monica said, jumping up from Cody's chair—nearly tipping it—and quickly moving away from the machine. "How you feeling?"

He smiled as he slowly walked to the couch, Cody refusing to let go of his arm.

"Doing better," he said. As soon as he'd gingerly sat down, Cody ran over to the computer and quickly inspected it.

"What did you do to it?" he asked, suspiciously.

No one said anything.

Cody sat down and started clickity-clicking on the keys, trying to find something amiss.

They all quickly left Cody and went over to Frank.

"How's the pain?" Alex asked.

"Improving," he answered.

"Slowly," Jake observed, watching Frank squirm.

"Why don't you lie down, Frank," said Monica. "You'll feel be—"

"HEY!" Cody suddenly yelled.

Monica ran into the next room as if she was being chased.

A second later she was, by Cody.

Frank watched them run, puzzled. "Wha—?"

Alex tried not to laugh. "We deleted Solitaire off all of Cody's computers."

Frank frowned. "Why?"

"As a joke! We didn't think we'd get caught doing it…"

Frank still didn't understand. He looked up at Jake, who explained what had gone on while Frank had been in the bank line that day, when Monica had solved Cody's Solitaire game for him.

Suddenly Monica came flying into the room, Cody fast on her heels.

"CODY!" Alex yelled.

"WHAT!" he yelled back.

"WE SAVED IT ON A DISK!"

Cody stopped dead, his shoes making a loud screech on the floor. "You did?"

Alex nodded, holding it out.

Cody went over to her, took it, and went back to his mass of computers without saying a word.

Monica stuck her head out of the closet. "Is it safe to come out now?"

Alex laughed. "Yup."

Monica stepped out, looking at Cody, to make sure he didn't come after her again. When he didn't, she approached the couch, and smiled as if nothing had happened.

The phone rang, and Cody answered it. Not too many people had that phone number, so they all looked at Cody as he spoke to the caller.

"Jake," he said. "It's the DA, regarding yours and Frank's testimonies." He pushed against the table and rolled his chair closer to them, tossing the cordless phone to Jake.

Jake caught it. "Hello, sir…yeah, I think I got it pretty much worked out…Frank? Yeah he's doing better…" He made a face at Frank as if asking him if he wanted to talk to the DA.

Frank shook his head, to tired to banter.

"Yeah…really? That would be good…yeah, I'll tell him…okay…right…bye." Jake hit the 'hang up' button, and tossed it back to Cody, who almost missed catching it.

"What'd he say?" Frank asked.

"He's gonna let you wait till the last day of the trial to give your testimony."

"Why?" Cody asked, not thinking first.

"So he doesn't overdo it while he's still recuperating, duh," said Monica; belatedly realizing she shouldn't get on Cody's bad side after what she'd just done to his precious computers.

"That's nice of him," Alex said. "Good thing there were so many witnesses; they don't need your testimony asap in order to convict Capone."

"And it helps that Jay is gonna testify against him," said Jake.

Everyone nodded. "I hope the judge has mercy on Jay," Monica said.

"So do I," Frank said, with a yawn he tried to stifle.

"Okay, you've had enough, time to go home," Cody said, taking his keys out of his pocket.

Frank shook his head. "No, I'm fine." It hurt too much to remain sitting, however, so he shifted around to lie down instead. "I'll just lie down for a while."

Cody looked at Jake, who shrugged. "Okay, you're the boss!"

Frank fell asleep, and the team went about their business.

Frank's nap turned into a deep slumber, and two hours later he was still out like a light.

"Cody."

"Yeah?"

Alex walked over to him, whispering. "Monica and I are gonna go pick up some food. Keep an eye on Frank, okay?"

Cody looked up from his screen. "Where's Jake?"

"He had something to do," Alex said, and left.

"Okay," Cody replied to thin air. He looked back at the Solitaire game. I love it when we're slow, he thought. He frowned when he saw that he'd wasted precious seconds, score-wise. This game was another toughie, but he was determined to win it…

********************

"Cody!"

Cody jumped when Alex's voice yelled, in the otherwise quiet room. "What?"

"Where's Frank?"

Cody jumped up from his chair, and saw that the couch was empty. "Uh…"

"You were supposed to be watching him!" Alex accused, as they started to look around.

Cody didn't answer, knowing she was right.

"Maybe he's in his office," said Monica, running up the stairs.

They all followed her, and saw that the door was open. Frank was sitting at his desk, leaning far back in his chair, his feet on the desk, so as not to stress his wound and cause himself pain.

"Frank! What are you doing?"

The unexpected voice startled him, making him jump so that he lost his balance and his feet came off the desk, making the chair snap back into an upright position.

Frank gasped, and clutched his midsection, as the violent motion sent pain stabbing through his body.

The rest of the team ran to him in concern, seeing the pain on his face.

"Hello?" They heard Jake from downstairs.

"Up here!" Alex yelled.

Jake followed Alex's voice up to Frank's office, and was surprised to see Frank sitting at his desk slightly hunched over, his arms wrapped around his stomach. A pain-filled expression was on his face and the rest of the team was surrounding him.

"What happened?" he said nervously, running over.

"I'm a rotten babysitter, that's what," Cody said, with a sigh.

"What are you doing up here, Frank?" Jake asked him.

Frank sighed, willing the pain to subside. "Trying to…write…my testimony."

"Why didn't you just ask one of us to bring you the files?" Alex asked. "Better yet, you dictate, one of us writes."

"Or types," Cody suggested.

"You shouldn't overdo it, Frank," said Monica. "If you want to get to the trial in one piece, you gotta take care of yourself."

"Yeah, starting with the delicious Chinese food the gals brought back," Cody said, practically drooling as the aroma wafted up into the office.

"We got your favorite," Alex told Frank, with a smile. "Sweet & Sour Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and Beef Teriyaki."

Frank looked up at her, knowing how she and Monica thought he hadn't been eating enough since he'd been injured. "I know a plot when I hear one," he said with a slight smile, exhaling slowly as he was finally able to straighten up.

"Whatever works," said Alex, taking his arm. "Now, back to the couch!"

*******************

The trial began two days later. Alex and Monica spent the day in the courtroom, glaring daggers at Artie when he happened to look in their direction. They were so busy glaring that they didn't notice the person who slipped in 5 minutes after the trial started.

Frank Donovan sat in the back row, slouched down in his seat. Not just to accommodate his wound, but so that no one would see and recognize him. The opening arguments went on for so long that Frank was actually relieved when one of the hostages went on the stand. He slouched down lower, however, not wanting attention to be drawn to his attendance.

Suddenly people started standing up, and Frank realized that he'd been in a light doze for who knew how long. Realizing that the judge had called a recess—for lunch he realized, noticing the time—he got up as quickly as he could and left the courtroom before Alex or Monica saw him.

By the time the court reconvened, Frank wasn't sure he wanted to go back in. Hearing the witness' testimony to what she'd seen—not only Artie's behavior, but also regarding his injury—it was upsetting, to say the least. He had almost bled to death, while a psycho had strutted around wreaking havoc.

Eventually he went back in, but it wasn't too long afterwards when the court adjourned, to reconvene the next morning. Frank left the courthouse, but was too agitated to get in his car and drive, so he started walking down the street. After a while, his still not-fully-recovered body protested the exercise vehemently, and he regretted the impulsive action. He realized that there was a little park not far from where he was, and his only objective now was making it to one of the benches.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally made it, and all but collapsed onto the bench, trying not to wince. He sat there—or rather, slumped—and tried to figure out why he was so unsettled by this situation, more then all the others. He'd been injured before, many times, why was this time so different? Maybe because I lost one of my organs? How easily it could've been worse. Luckily the spleen was something he could do without, but would he be that 'lucky' next time?