Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply

It had been two weeks since the transplant, and today was the day that both Scott and Harry would be released from the hospital. Lauren had been with Scott every day since then, holding his hand, willing him to get well. Now, he was going home, well, not home exactly, he was still not in the condition to be left alone, so he would be staying with Lauren and, Harry.


When she heard that there was no one else to take care of either of them, she offered to take that one for the week or so that it would take. Her brother, Daniel Davis, was an excellent doctor, and Scott was convinced that if not for him, and as much as he hated to admit it, Harry, he would be dead.

Scott stood to pull on his pants and winced. The incision, as well as the bullet wound, was still sore.

"Hold on there, Mr. Guber," Cathleen said, "You shouldn't be doing that yet, you are still recovering."

Cathleen Montgomery was the nurse that had taken care of Scott while he was in the hospital. She was young, not much older than Lauren, and she was very sexy, if he did say so himself.

"Let me do that."

Cathleen approached him and buttoned his pants. The she pushed him gently onto the bed and reached for his shirt.

"He'll do that if you don't mind," they heard Lauren say from the doorway.

"Good morning, Miss Davis. I was just helping, Mr. Guber…"

"You were dressing him, something that my brother told you not to do."

"Miss Davis, he still…"

"Needs help, of course he does, and no thanks to you. Harry is doing much better, because he was made to do for himself."

"Mr. Senate was not my patient…"

"You are a nurse, Ms. Montgomery, I though everyone on this floor had the same nurse, or did you break those rules too?"

"Lauren!" Scott said, hearing the venom in her voice, "Cathleen was only trying to help, I've told you the wound is still sore."

"Yes, you did, but like the doctors said, you need to do for yourself. I know it hurts, but…"

"It won't get any better if I don't try to do for myself."

"Right, that's my warrior. Now, I will help you with the shirt if you need it, you may see to your other patients, Ms. Montgomery."

When Cathleen had left, Lauren went and sat beside Scott. The nerve of some people, taking advantage of illness that way, and a nurse to boot.

"Lauren, what was that about?"

"What was what about, Scott? Do you need help?" She asked, as she saw him wince and struggle with the right sleeve.

"No, I've got it. Why did you treat Nurse Montgomery that way?"

"She was disobeying my brother and hindering your recovery. And why did you accept her help and not mine."

"It's different, she's a nurse and you're…"

"Not."

"Right. Listen, Lauren, you don't need to take care of me. I can stay with Steven until I'm fully recovered. You needed trouble yourself."

"Trouble myself? It's not trouble."

"Lauren, before all of this happened, you and I shared a very special few days. We made love, we shared things, and then we decided to cool it and I just wanted you to know that no matter what has happened, there is no reason that you should feel that you have to play nursemaid to me."

"I don't feel that I should, I feel that I want to, and of course, Harry still needs some keeping after, so I'll have my two favorite men under one roof for a while."

Her favorite men, had she just said that? She did, she had for all intents and purposes told Scott that she had feeling for him and for Harry, that could be a disaster. She decided to dismiss it.

"Now, that this is settled, Daniel will be here to sign the papers in a few minutes." She kissed his cheek. "I'm going to go and see Harry, I'll see you in a bit."

Marilyn agreed to help her the first night. Scott insisted on helping her too, and in sitting at the table to eat dinner, when she could plainly see that he was exhausted. Harry, on the other hand, stayed in bed, and ran Lauren ragged, much to Scott's chagrin. By six a.m. the next morning, Scott doubted she would be able to stay awake to teach her class.

Before she left, she checked on both Harry and Scott. She told Harry to make sure that Scott rested, and to make sure the neither one of them over did it. By noon, Scott was run down. He had been up since before Lauren left and was trying to make things easier for her when she got home. His back ached so much he was seeing stars. He went into the den where Harry was watching the game, it was about time he did this.

"Harry, I haven't had the opportunity to say thank you for what you did, so I just wanted you to know, you saved my life and I'm grateful."

"I didn't do it for you, I did it for Lauren."

"I know, and I thank you for looking out for her, given the sensitivity of our relationships."

"Look, whatever happened between you and Lauren, she regrets it. So as a favor to her and a thank you to me, leave her alone."

Angry now, Scott turned to leave, but then turned to face Harry once more.

"What happened between Lauren and I is private, and I'll thank you not to refer to it again."

Harry rose, "Is it? You think you won, don't you. You think she was intimate with you because you share something special. Let me tell you something, I was there, too, Scott and this, taking care of you, this is pity, just like the intimate, just like the kiss, pity."

Scott's face was taunt with anger. He wanted to hit him, he truly did. Everything seemed to slow down, he saw his fist form and go to throw the first punch, something her rarely did in anger or sport. Harry blocked his assault, and angry himself, threw his own punch. Scott saw stars again and fell backward as Harry's fist struck him in the gut.