Take Care Bear wiped her forehead as she checked Bright Heart over one more time. It taken a fair amount of bandages and casts to bind his injuries properly, but she was done.

"Is he going to be okay?" Gentle Heart bleated nervously. Ever since she had woken up, Gentle Heart had refused to leave, insisting on staying to help take care of Bright Heart.

"Yup. Bright Heart's not going to feel great when he wakes up, but he'll live and be blowing up more things in no time." Gentle Heart frowned at her.

"That's not funny."

"You're right, sorry." Take Care swapped her face with a towel. "You did good getting him out as fast as you did. Great idea with the stretcher."

Gentle Heart nodded but didn't seem to be listening. She was busy watching Bright Heart. Take Care decided that she better tell the rest of the family, which had parked themselves right outside the door. Normally, Bright Heart would've been taken to her clinic, but since he was going to be spending a lot of time in bed, she decided that it would be best if they tended to him in one of the (many) spare beds in the Hall of Hearts.

Take Care had no sooner stepped out of the room then she was assaulted with a flood of questions that nearly bowled her over.

"Is Bright Heart okay?"

"Will he be alright?"

"What about-?"

"Whoa, settle down everyone!" She said waving her arms for emphasis. "Bright Heart's going to be okay…" The resulting cheer drowned out the rest of her words. "…But he needs to rest so I need it QUIET." Take Care repeated archly. The others collectively winced.

"Oops." Grumpy said, looking abashed.

"What happened?" Brave Heart asked, barely remembering to keep his voice down. Take Care shook her head.

"From the descriptions I've heard, my best guess is the boiler pressure probably got too high for it to handle. It's not anyone's fault, the material just wasn't as strong as it looked."

"And Gentle Heart?" Friend Bear asked.

"She woke up a while ago. It was just exhaustion. She's actually been helping me treat Bright Heart."

"Some details would be helpful." Noble Heart said, looking as old and worn as anyone had ever seen him. True Heart patted his shoulder. Take Care sighed.

"Bright Heart broke two ribs and bruised a third." She began ticking points of her paw. "His right leg is broken too, and he suffered a mild concussion. I had to put in some stitches, especially for that cut over his eye," Take Care traced a line over her right eye for emphasis.

"But you said he's going to be okay, right?" Cozy Heart asked. Take Care nodded.

"I wouldn't recommend that he go on any Caring Missions for a while. In fact, I want to keep him here for a while, for observational purposes."

"How long?" Tenderheart asked.

"About a week or two. After that I can let him go home. The ribs and leg will probably heal themselves in another two or three weeks."

Noble Heart sighed in relief. "Can we see him?"

"I guess so." Take Care said hesitantly. "But just you and True Heart for now, and not for too long. He's really tired and needs his rest." She looked past them to the other Care Bears and Cousins in the hall. "The rest of you can comeback to tomorrow."

The others nodded, reluctantly, and quietly filed out of the hall. Take Care held the door open and let True Heart and Noble Heart inside.

As the trio walked over to the bed, they saw Gentle Heart perched on its side, talking animatedly with Bright Heart. Take Care wasn't sure but she could've sworn she saw them holding hands. But when she looked again a second later, their hands were nowhere near each other so she supposed she saw wrong.

Gentle Heart turned to them and said in her usual soft voice, albeit somewhat excitedly, "Bright Heart's awake!"

"Bright Heart, are you okay?" Noble Heart asked as he sat down on the bed next to him, True Heart taking the opposite side of the bed.

"I feel like one of Lotsa's relations fell on me." He groaned. "My head hurts and so does basically everything below it, but I'm told that I'll be fine."

"That's good to hear." True Heart said encouragingly as she gave him a very slight hug, careful not to disturb his injuries. Noble Heart sighed.

"With all that's happened in the last few months," he nodded towards Gentle Heart "I thinks it's a wonder my fur hasn't turned grey."

"Then we'd have to change his name to Noble Heart Mule." True Heart chuckled.

Noble Heart gave a braying laugh, but it was plainly forced.

Bright Heart flattened his ears. "I'm really sorry to have worried you, all of you,"

He said apologetically. Noble Heart shook his head.

"That's not how I meant it. This isn't your fault, anymore than Gentle Heart's nightmares were hers. It's just that I've been given quite a scare. If anything were to happen to any of you…" Noble Heart shook his head, forcing himself to stop there.

"Just get better Bright Heart." True Heart said as she patted his hand. "We need to have our family inventor up and about."

"You got it True Heart." Bright Heart mumbled as he yawned.

"Okay, I think that's enough for visiting hours. You," she said to the injured raccoon, "Get some rest. The rest of you: out."

Noble Heart and True Heart got off the bed and bade their last goodbyes, a quick kiss from True Heart and a gentle hair ruffling from Noble Heart. Gentle Heart stood off to the side and watched them go. Aware of Take Care's gaze on her, Gentle Heart turned around to face her.

"Gentle Heart, it's time to let him sleep. Go home and get some rest." Take Care urged. Gentle Heart, in an uncharacteristic bout of stubbornness, shook her head.

"I'll stay in the Hall of Hearts tonight. In case he needs me." Take Care blinked her eyes in surprise. "I wont be up all night," Gentle Heart added quickly. "I'll just be here in case he needs a drink or something."

Take Care nodded slowly, it made sense. As much as Take Care wanted to stay herself, she knew she had to make herself available to everyone and there wasn't much else she could do for Bright Heart now. Besides, most of her medical books and supplies were back in her clinic in the Forest of Feelings.

"It's your decision," Take Care granted. "Just don't overdo it. You need rest almost as much as he does."

"I won't." Gentle Heart promised. "Thank you." Take Care nodded once and excused herself, leaving Gentle Heart alone with the sleeping Bright Heart.

Gentle Heart simply pulled up a seat and sat down. She didn't say anything else for hours. Take Care's warning not withstanding, Gentle Heart stayed there the entire night.

It was only fitting she rationalized. After all, he'd done the same for her. Now it was her turn.