A/N: This was a crazy idea for a little piece of fluff that popped into my head early in the morning, inspired by the preview photo for 5x05 but not quite keeping with canon up to that point. In my head, Tim broke up with Ashley shortly after Vegas and Chris and Lucy have also finally broken up after the fallout of Rosalind's death, and there is a bit more time between what happened in 5x04 and now. I'd appreciate feedback. My writing usually tends more towards angst coupled with a bit of humor, and I'm not sure I've ever done present tense. But my brain insisted on present tense fluff today, possibly to distract me from another FF I'm writing and struggling with.

Lucy watched the monitors attached to the man who lay so still in the hospital bed in front of her. The soft beeping of the heart monitor was accompanied by the hiss of oxygen from the nasal cannula.

The nurse who had just been in the room had mistaken Lucy for being Tim's girlfriend, and she didn't correct her because it meant that she was willing to talk freely about his condition than she otherwise would have.

Even so, Lucy was filled with worry and a lot of what the nurse said flew by her. All she really heard was something about removing shrapnel that had been left over from military days and how they weren't sure why he was he was comatose after the surgery. That and the fact that the nurse said it was good that she was there to talk to him and hold his hand because that could help a comatose patient. Sometimes they could hear what people were saying, though they were still in the coma.

She just wanted him to wake up. She wished she could do something useful. It wasn't like an emotional hurt where a hug would help make things better, and she felt so helpless.

A crazy thought popped into her head. Why couldn't she hug him? No one was here to tell her she couldn't. On impulse, she kicked off her shoes and climbed into the hospital bed next to him, snuggled close and wrapped her arm around him…

"Hey."

Lucy shifts in her sleep, but the quiet voice isn't quite enough to wake her up.

"Hey, Lucy..."

She wakes up with a start. And nearly slides off the uncomfortable hospital chair as she struggles awkwardly to wake up fully and sit upright on the slippery seat.

"Tim…" He's awake now, in his hospital bed looking at her with a small smile playing on his lips and she's relieved to see him looking better than he had after the surgery last night.

"You were smiling. Must have been one good dream you were having."

Oh, God. Her cheeks flush as she remembers fragments of that dream. She'd been snuggling him in a hospital bed because he was comatose?! Snuggling him?!

"I… I don't remember. I think I just dozed off for a minute." He doesn't look like he believes that, but she tries to make herself look more alert to emphasize the point.

"Have you been here all night?" He knows the answer, just like she did so long ago. But he has to ask.

"No." Even as she says it, she's knows that he's not fooled, even though things have been so strained between them. And she can't help that her lips curve upward, thinking about him telling the same lie when their positions were reversed.

A bigger smile now. "Uh, you still have some…" He points his finger at the side of his mouth and waves it a bit…

"What?" She reached for the side of her mouth – the wrong side - and finds nothing.

"The other side. A little bit of drool from your nap. You sure you don't want to tell me what that dream was about?" He's not quite smirking at her, but she can see the crinkles of laugher around his eyes. He reaches out and wraps his fingers around her hand that is resting on the edge of his hospital bed, causing her heart to do a little lurch.

"Oh, God. " Her cheeks redden again as she reaches to swipe at the corner of her mouth with her other hand. "And, no. Wild horses couldn't drag it out of me." The last bit with a pointed stare. He chuckles as they both realize she just admitted remembering a dream that she'd just said she didn't remember, and now he wonders whether she was blushing about the drool or the dream. Either way, he can't help thinking how blushing is making her even more attractive.

"You just need to rest and get better." A slight pause and she continues, "I was so worried about you." There's a catch in her voice, and he can see the strain of worry around her eyes, but he sees something else in here eyes, too. And he's suddenly feeling more hopeful than he has in the last few months.

He squeezes her hand. "I'm feeling better already. I'm glad you're here…" She can hear the emotion in his voice, and she blinks away the tears that want to come.

They can see the promise and hope in each other's gaze.

He smiles again to break the tension. "Don't think I'm not going to ask about that dream again..."