When he was paged to ITU, he went there a little more quickly than normal. He told himself that he wasn't trying to be quicker, better, more efficient, because of Diane. No, of course not. Because why would he do that? He had seen neither hide nor hair of her for years; they were barely even friends any more. Keep telling yourself that, said a little voice inside his head. Maybe one day you'll believe it.

It was only because he had known her so long. Only because he had seen Jack being born, that's why he was so worried, of course it was. Nothing to do with Diane at all.

But when he got to ITU and saw her, holding Jack's hand and looking so anxious, so vulnerable, so beautiful… all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her, to make that worried look go away. He told himself that it was wrong to feel like that… she was married, after all. To Owen. And she obviously cared nothing for him… how could she care for him if she'd ignored him for four years? Four years without so much as a phone call, letter, even a damn Christmas card! In that instant, the protectiveness he had felt towards her evaporated, to be replaced only by anger.

"He's waking up," Connie informed Ric.

"Why page me? This is Zubin's area," he replied, nevertheless checking Jack's obs.

"I thought I was perfectly capable of handling a child waking up on my own, but Diane disagreed," Connie told him, shooting an almost admiring look at Diane, who simply shrugged.

"I'd just feel more comfortable if Jack was seen to by someone who treated him." Her eyes said more, they told epic tales of her feelings, her desires, her thoughts… but Ric was looking the other way. Diane looked down, down at her neatly folded hands, and spoke tonelessly. "Is he okay?"

There was a mumble in a child's voice, and suddenly Diane was at her nephew's side, oblivious to Ric's warning glance. "Jack… oh…"

Jack's eyes had fluttered open – bright blue eyes, Ric noted, just like his auntie – and he was looking around, obviously terrified. "Tell him it's alright," Ric whispered in Diane's ear, and she nodded.

"It's okay, sweetie…" she said, sounding tearful. "It's alright, you're okay… You were in a little accident, do you remember?"

"The car…" It was obviously an effort for him to speak. "It hurts… my tummy hurts…" His eyes were filled with tears, and Diane sat down on the bed next to him.

"Okay, but it won't for much longer… Ric's going to give you something to ease the pain, and then you'll be able to go to sleep, and it won't hurt tomorrow…" She ignored Ric's nudge, probably telling her not to lie to a child. Well, what did he know? He didn't know Jack. That's not his fault, a little voice told her, but she ignored it. If he really cared, he would have kept in touch somehow.

"'Kay…" Jack mumbled, not even bothering to complain as he normally did when told to go to sleep. His eyes had almost closed, and he didn't even open them when Ric adjusted his drip and morphine dosage.

Diane watched him for a few moments, half conscious of Connie pulling Ric to one side and whispering something to him before leaving, half conscious of Ric pulling her back and into a chair, half conscious of hearing the monitors bleep steadily… only really conscious of the child sleeping in front of her. And then she was jerked back to reality as Ric spoke.

"Diane, you're not doing him any good sitting here like this…"

She cut through him. "Did you call Owen?" Was that hurt she saw in his face?

"Yeah… yeah, I did. He said he'd be here as soon as he can." He looked down at the floor. Of course, Owen had the right to be here with her. No one else.

"Okay." She shrugged. "This is such a mess," she murmured after a few moments, more to herself than anything.

"What's that?" he queried, alarmed at the look of utter sadness on her face.

"I just…" She sighed. "I promised I'd take good care of Jack, I promised everyone… and what have I done for him? Got him lying in the same bed as Jo did five years ago…" She covered her face with her hands, not wanting to look at anyone, and was shocked to feel Ric's hand on her back.

"C'mon, you're getting out of here."

"What?" she demanded.

"I'm going to the canteen," he explained. "Are you coming?"

She looked up. "I should stay with Jack…"

"He's asleep, Diane, he won't wake up for hours." He placed one hand on her shoulder. "I know you feel that you should stay with him, but I promise you, you will be here when he wakes up. The moment there's any change I will be paged, and you will come back with me. How's that?"

She nodded slowly. "Alright."

"So… coffee?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. Okay."