A/N: Thankyou for all the kind reviews on the first chapter of this fic. I wasn't sure at first whether I wanted to continue this or not, but I've been thinking about it and I've decided to write as much of it as I can.

This chapter is bought to you by the wonders of Insomnia, Black Hawk Down (don't ask me how it inspired me, but somehow it did) and the songs "Missing" by Evanescence and "Black Sunday" by Cold. Both are beautiful songs. If you haven't heard either of them I recommend you find a way to do so.

Vince coughed weakly, groaning as the cool cloth wiped over his neck and face. It was one thing to throw up like a bitch after drinking too much, but it was another to wake up and realise that you were mid hurl.

"Do you think you're finished now?" A calm, unfamiliar voice asked him as another cloth was draped across the back of his neck. He grunted his response, eyes shut to the scene he was sure he did not want to see. Some nurse looking at him with pity in her eyes and vomit everywhere. How dignifying, he thought to himself, barely able to hold himself up long enough to be relocated into a nearby chair. His side was aching from being hunched over while he retched but thankfully his arm remained comfortably numb.

There was some muffled noise, then talking as he started to fade out of consciousness.

"Look, he's not about to let me clean him up. The man is a brute."

Some muted laughter. "Nah, you just gotta know how to talk to him. I'll help him out."

Vince's brows furrowed, his entire body limply curled up beneath a pre-heated hospital blanket. More tired than he expected, he let his head droop forward, chin resting on his chest as he tried to place the voice through the haze. Not Mia.. Not Leon..

A warm hand brushed his cheek in only the way a woman could. "Come on, Coyote. Let's get you cleaned up, man."

He groaned. "Letty? S'at you?"

"Yeah, boo. Come on. Up." He could hear her quiet grunt as he tried to help her lift the bulk of his weight out of the chair, guilt instantly washing over him. As much as he tried, he couldn't seem to lighten the load for her at all. He was just too damn weak.

" 'M sorry, Let."

Letty smiled, helping him into the adjoining bathroom and sitting him on the toilet seat before carefully leaning him against the wall. "You got nothin' to apologise for, Vince. Not a damn thing."

She took a step back and looked at him. Really looked at him. He looked a mess in his dingy hospital issue pyjama pants and stark white bandages. His normally toffee coloured skin was a few shades paler than usual and his eyes were glassy and vacant, dark circles beneath them. There was still dried blood flaking off his skin near his right shoulder and down his left flank and around onto his back. The doctors had only cleaned up the general area of his wounds to be able to fix him, but the rest of him was still fairly grubby. He was sticky with sweat and other less than pleasant things. Letty took a deep breath, then let it out slowly and grabbed a nearby towel and some wash cloths the nurse had left her.

"Ok, Coyote. Now we can't get those dressings wet, so you have to stay still alright?" she asked him, taking a gentle hold of his face to make him look at her. Hazed blue eyes flitted around the room then finally settled on her face. He looked beyond confused.

"Letty?"

She nodded slightly, "Yeah, boo?" The blood was coming off fairly easy. Her lip curled at the state of him. Fucking hospitals, look at him! She held the rapidly browning cloth under the tap and wrung it out, then carefully started rubbing at a spot on his neck. His head lolled to the side.

"You love me, right?"

Her head jerked up to look at him, shocked at the pain she saw on his face. "Of course I do, sweetie. You're rude, moody, arrogant and gorgeous. What's not to love?"

He blinked at her, seemingly lost in his own thoughts for a minute. "… Why doesn't Mia love me then?"

Letty felt a growl bubbling up in her chest and stood so she was straddling his thigh, then leaned him towards her so she could wash his back.

"Because Mia is a moron. She is a selfish, petty moron. Just like her brother." She spat, careful to avoid all areas that were taped, bandaged or covered in some way. "Neither of them are worth our time any more."

His face was pressed into her stomach, his hands hanging limply by his sides. Wordlessly, she threw the wash cloth down and wrapped her arms around his broad back, then dropped a kiss in the top of his head.

"You ok, sweetie?" she asked, tilting his chin to look at him. Letty swore aloud. If there was one thing that made her cry it was seeing a fully-grown man in tears. Especially this one. Vince never cried. He hardly ever showed any emotion that strayed too far from anger. Needless to say, seeing him looking all hurt, lost and defeated broke her already aching heart.

"We'll be alright, Vincent." She stroked his head gently, then picked up a new wash cloth and wet it. "We'll be ok."

Vince's breath wheezed out of his chest, left hand curling in the fabric of her pants just above the knee when she moved to take a step back.

"Please don't leave me, Letty. I didn't mean to screw up so bad.." he sobbed quietly, pushing his head further into her stomach.

Letty ran a panicked hand over his head, desperately trying to calm him down before she started howling right along with him. With her arms wrapped around his neck, she rocked him back and forth like you would a crying child, her hand smoothing down over his tangled hair and onto his bare back.

"I wont leave you, boo. I'm not leaving you behind. Not ever."

"Got him off to sleep, I see."

Letty jumped at the sudden noise and spun around in the chair to look at the newly arrived nurse. Her dark eyes studied the older woman for a second, then moved back to Vince's sleeping form.

"I think it was more the drugs than me." She said softly, not wanting to wake him. It had taken a good half hour to convince him that she wasn't about to leave after he went to sleep.

She had been in Mexico for a week when she found out about Jesse. A week and neither Mia nor Dom had told her or Leon about Jesse being shot. Both of them had thought he was back in LA with Vince, sticking around the older man so he wasn't left alone. Imagine their shock and horror when they found out that Jess was dead and Vince was laid up in hospital, drugged out of his mind all alone. Both she and Leon had packed their things and left in the middle of the night without a word. If Vince and Jesse didn't deserve any consideration, neither did Dom and Mia.

The elderly nurse sat in a chair on the opposite side of the bed and looked at Vince with a look of quiet contemplation.

"Are you Mia?" she asked. Letty's head snapped up angrily.

"No I fucking am not. That stupid bitch comes anywhere near him and I'm gunna knock her on her ass myself." She snarled, her distaste for the woman obvious. The nurse blinked at her, shocked.

"I see. I only asked because he was asking for her when he woke up last week is all. Poor dear was so scared."

Letty watched Vince shift in his sleep when the nurse stroked his head slowly, his face turned away from her slightly. The old woman held some sort of affection for him, that much was obvious.

Letty sighed and wrung her hands. "What happened? …When he woke up, I mean."

The nurse, Juliet her name tag said, shook her head slightly and her eyes softened. "He had a full blown panic attack. The pain he was in must have been close to excruciating and I don't think he knew what was happening. He hurt himself and two of the recovery staff in his efforts to keep them away. He doesn't know anyone was hurt though." She gave a small laugh, "None of the nurses like attending to him now."

Letty snickered at that one, envisioning the nurses cowering away from Vince in his current state. He could barely move on his own let alone harm someone at the moment. A thought crossed her mind suddenly.

"Is he gunna be a'right? Will he be able to drive, work, that sort of thing?"

Juliet fixed her with a firm look. "That depends. Once he's physically fit enough to be evaluated we'll find out the extent of damage done. However, no matter what the outcome may be he is going to need help and support. A lot of support."

There was an awkward silence as Letty took in all that was said. It was only broken when Juliet's watch gave a loud beep. The older woman stood, smoothing her slacks unconsciously.

"I have to get back to work," she moved around the bed to stand beside Letty, "I trust you'll be here again?"

Letty nodded, "Of course. I made a promise and I plan on keepin' it." She said, eyes straying back to Vince. Juliet smiled brightly and held out her hand.

"Well then, I'm Juliet."

"Leticia… Letty." she shook her hand, impressed by the older woman's hand shake.

Juliet stepped away, her smile making her look years younger. "I'll be seeing you then, Leticia. You take good care of my boy, you hear?"

Letty smirked as she nodded back. "I will." Once Juliet was gone she turned back to Vince and rested her cheek on the bed beside him, settling in to wait for him to wake up again.