Its was one o'clock when Dave strolled into the ICU. Questioning a nurse he was directed to ICU 7. Peaking in he found that the young man in question was still asleep. Settling into a chair Dave picked up a magazine, prepared to wait patiently while Randy slept.

Some time later Randy opened his eyes slightly. When he spotted Dave sitting in the chair next to his bed he groaned. Dave just looked up at the sound.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Randy asked.

"Only an hour. No big deal. You needed the rest." Dave responded, his voice neutral at the moment.

"After this past week I figured you would be tired of sitting and waiting."

"There's a difference. Today I was able to sit at your bedside and assure myself that you were okay. Unlike this past week when all I had to do was sit there and worry." Dave answered a slight edge in his voice.

When Randy didn't respond he continued. "You know I can see you not wanting to see me but there were a lot of other people out there that you hurt by refusing visitors."

"I didn't really mean for that to happen. When I first got in the Emergency Room I refused because I was angry, confused, and just too sick to do anything. Once they moved me here I slept most of the time and when I was awake I was too weak to deal with it." Randy admitted looking apologetic.

"Don't you mean it was easier to ignore everything?" Dave asked, watching as Randy shrugged. "That is not the behavior of a responsible adult; it is one of a kid trying to get out of trouble." He continued sternly.

"Are you saying that if I had accepted visitors in the ER you and Paul wouldn't have torn into me regardless that I was half dead?" Randy shot back.

"You are making us out to be monsters. Do you really think of us like that? The only reason we would have tore into you was if you had been giving the nurses a hard time." Dave responded, feeling hurt.

Dave waited for Randy to speak up. When five minutes had gone by in silence Dave signed and stood up. "I hope you get out of here soon." He said as he headed for the door.

Randy sat up in bed in astonishment. "Dave man wait."

"No Randy. I thought you wanted to be a part of this family. The good and the bad. However if you think so bad about us and resent us so much then maybe you don't belong with us." Dave stated softly, not looking at his young friend.

Randy's response was to pick up Dave's magazine and throw it at the big man. When Dave turned around he spoke up. "You have to know I don't feel that way. I was just being mean to try to excuse my selfish behavior."

When Dave didn't respond Randy continued. "I'm sorry. Why don't you sit back down and we can talk some more."

Dave nodded curtly and sat back down. "How about we talk about you using drugs?" He said in a steel laced voice.

"Any thing you want." Randy said eagerly, relieved that the big man had not left.

"What made you decide to take the drugs in the first place?" Dave asked, crossing his arms.

"I was pretty sure I had a kidney stone. My dad used to get them all the time. Every time he went to the doctor he was just given pain medication and told it would have to pass. I already had the pain meds so I started taking it." Randy explained.

"So why did you take the xanax?" Dave demanded.

"After a couple of days of not being able to sleep I was worried that I was going to get so tired I would fall asleep somewhere important like in the ring or driving. So I took the xanax and was able to sleep during the night."

"Now you see, these are both reasonable explanations for taking a drug. And if that had been all then nothing would have been said. But you used one more. I would really like you to explain that." Dave growled the last sentence.

"I started having a lot of trouble staying awake. I was feeling real weak and lethargic. And my brain felt fuzzy, it was hard to think. So I just went with the flow. John wanted me to go to the club that night. So I did because it was easier to say yes. While I was there this guy approached me. Told me I looked like I needed something to perk me up. Again it was easier to say yes." Randy admitted, not looking at Dave.

"But John made you throw that batch away. Why did you buy the second batch from his friend?" Dave asked, his eyes narrowed as he tried to follow the logic.

"By that time I had convinced myself that I needed it, that it would make me feel better." Randy answered quietly. Seeing the look Dave threw him he shrugged. "I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time."

"That's obvious." Dave was silent for a few minutes while he decided which topic to approach next.

"Do you want to try to explain Monday night?" He finally asked.

"What part?" Randy asked, not wanting to revel anything Dave might not know yet.

"Let's see, lying to my face, sneaking out in the middle of the night to avoid us, anything else?" Dave demanded angrily, his voice rising.

Randy remained silent, eyeing the door to his room hoping nobody could hear their conversation. Not waiting for an answer Dave continued. "Are you that scared of me that you could not confide in me at any time of your illness?"

Randy's eyes shot up. "I am not scared of you. I just thought that I could handle it on my own and then when I couldn't I didn't want to tell you and disappoint you."

Dave's eyes opened wide. "Do you not think almost dying would disappoint me?" He practically shouted.

Randy shrugged. "That wasn't supposed to happen." He flushed when a nurse came to inquire about the noise.

"Well it did and there are going to be serious consequences." Dave threatened not paying attention to the nurse.

Randy ducked his head down. "What kind of consequences?"

Knowing what he was thinking Dave answered. "That is something we will discuss as a group. How about for right now we discuss what happened earlier this week?"

"It's too embarrassing." Randy admitted as he glanced away.

"It was not my intention to embarrass you or shame you. I just got so mad that I snapped." Dave sighed. "I can't say that I regret doing it because if I had to do it over again I would still do it."

"It was the right thing to do. Most likely I would have fought you all the way into the ER and then refused treatment once I got here. You kind of gave me a wake up call." Randy swallowed nervously then continued. "I think the reason I reacted like I did was that nobody has done anything like that since my dad died. Yea, you guys yelled a lot but…."

Dave waited patiently in silence while Randy gathered is thoughts. "It just brought back a lot of memories and I felt kind of resentful that it was you and not my dad."

Dave nodded in understanding. "I should have expected that. And I never gave you any idea that I would treat you that way. I had no idea myself until it happened. And ideally it would have been better if we had been able to talk afterwards. Circumstances did not allow that. But just so you know if you ever behave like this again what you got earlier will look like a slap on the wrist. I think your dad would approve of you being administered to."

Randy groaned. "He would have killed me for doing this."

"Remember that and behave in the future." Dave admonished.

They sat in comfortable silence before Dave spoke up again. "You do know what caused me to snap don't you?"

"Just the general way I was acting?" Randy answered.

"That was horrible enough, but it was more the way you were acting towards Journey."

Randy threw him a questioning look.

"She nursed you around the clock for several days and you repaid her by hitting her, calling her horrible names and rejecting her." Dave elaborated.

"You know that was more the illness and the drugs talking. I would never do anything like that, especially to her." Randy implored.

"I know that but Journey doesn't. You really hurt her." Dave answered.

"I don't remember hitting her but I remember seeing the bruises the next day. I wanted to sink through the floor. I couldn't believe that I was the one that had put them there." Randy stated quietly.

"You have a lot to make up for and I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't give you the chance." Dave informed him.

Randy remained silent, convinced that Journey would give him the chance. After all she had no where else to go.

"Speaking of the little brat I am going to head home and send her your way. You too have a lot to talk about and I don't want you to collapse before she is finished with you." Dave said, chuckling.

"Actually I feel pretty good right now." Randy said smiling.

"It won't last long." Dave smiled mysteriously before heading out the door.

As Journey walked up to the entrance of the hospital she was surprised to see Randy sitting by the front doors in a wheelchair.

"Randy, what in the world are you doing?"

Randy smile up at her from his seated position. "The nurses decided fresh air would be good for me and since I knew you were coming I wanted to wait out here for you."

When she just stood there staring at him he challenged her. "Race you back." He yelled as he turned the wheelchair around and rolled through the lobby. Much to his dismay he found that he did not have the strength to go faster than a slow walk and the quiet girl soon caught up with him.

Once the out of breath young man was settled back in bed he turned to his friend seated beside him.

"Journey, I am very happy that you came to see me. I want to say how sorry I am for so many things. About how I treated you this week, about hitting you and pushing you away. It took a lot of courage for you to put up with me and to defy my by calling Dave. You have to know that I would never intentionally hurt you."" When Randy paused Journey held up her hand to keep him from saying anything else.

"Randy I know that you did not hurt me on purpose which makes this so hard. I have something very important to tell you."