Eames had been all set to be discharged when she developed a fever. That forced her to remain where she was for another "week to ten days." She was angry and frustrated. Maggie needed her, and so did Bobby. She was glad Mike and Maggie was there...she would never be able to thank Mike for his devotion...but she really missed Bobby. They called frequently with updates. They were turning down the ventilator settings every day now, and he was mostly breathing on his own. That was good, they said. But he was still comatose. And since he had not suffered a head injury, that was bad, they said. All that was left to do now was wait...and pray. And Eames was doing plenty of both.

Her little hand fit inside the palm of his. She sat beside him with his hand in her lap, placing her hand, fingers splayed, against his palm. Always in the past, when she did this, his fingers would curl around her hand. Now, they didn't do anything. "Uncle Mike?"

"Yes, bunny?"

"Why won' Daddy hold my hand?"

He sighed. "Daddy's still sleeping, baby."

"But why's he sleepin' so long? He al'ays wakes up when I want him to. An' he still hugs me when he's sleepin'."

Oh, geez...He set his magazine on the floor and walked over to the bed. "This is a different kind of sleep, Maggie. Daddy got hurt very badly. He needs to sleep now so he can get better. It's his brain that's sleeping so his body can heal."

She sighed impatiently. "When will he wake up?"

"No one knows. He'll sleep until his body gets better."

She pouted and gently rocked her hand against his side. "Come on, Daddy! Please wake up."

Logan slipped an arm around her and squeezed. "Come on, Maggie. Let's go downstairs and get some lunch. We can go for a walk before we come back up."

She sighed, still pouting, but she crawled to the head of the bed and kissed her father's cheek. "I'm gonna go get lunch, Daddy. I'll bring you back a cookie if you wake up."

Reluctantly, she let Logan lift her off the bed. They stepped out of the room and she waved to the nurse at the station. "Hi, Nurse Kelly."

Kelly smiled. "Hi, Maggie. Are you and Uncle Mike going for lunch?"

"Yes. Daddy's still sleepin'."

Logan shrugged and waved, heading out of the ICU with the little girl's hand tucked in his. Another nurse came up behind her. "What are you thinking?"

"Not thinking, Gail. Wondering. Why would a man choose to just sit all day in an ICU cubicle with a little girl and her comatose father?"

"Maybe he does it for the little girl."

"But why? No one else ever comes to visit. Where's the little girl's mother?"

"According to his chart, she's still a patient at Berkshire Medical Center."

"Really? So there really is a Mrs. Goren?"

"That's what his chart says."

"Hmmm. I'll be interested to see if she shows up."

"You're such a pessimist, Kelly."

Gail went off to tend to one of her patients, leaving Kelly to her wonderings.

Logan was exhausted. It had taken some doing, but he had succeeded in convincing Maggie to leave at night so they could sleep in a motel a few blocks from the hospital. He told her that Daddy would want her to sleep in a comfortable bed so she could get better more quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was take her away from her father, but he honestly believed sleeping in the motel would be better for her...not to mention the fact that his back was killing him from sleeping in the bedside chair. Maggie finally agreed, but she made it clear that it was just for him that she was agreeing; she didn't want to leave her daddy.

The bed helped, but he was still beyond tired. His nights were disturbed by dreams of a taunting Nicole Wallace, reminding him that he had not killed her and she was not done wrecking havoc on Goren's life. And then Maggie would wake, crying for her father. He would hold her in his arms and rock her until she went back to sleep, but after that, sleep eluded him. Now he had an idea of what it was like to be Bobby Goren. He decided that he definitely needed more sleep than Goren did.

They returned to the ICU after an hour and a half. He lifted Maggie onto the bed and she crawled up to sit beside Goren's chest. "I'm back, Daddy. Did you miss me?"

Of course he didn't answer, and Logan had an irrational urge to just smack him. He sighed, dropping wearily into the chair beside the bed. Maggie was feeling better at least, and she started singing softly. The door opened and the curtain parted as Stephanie, Goren's regular day nurse, came into the room with a syringe and a clipboard. She smiled at Maggie; she didn't recognize the song. "What are you singing, sweetie?"

"A song Daddy taught me."

"I don't understand the words."

"I don' unnerstand 'em, too."

Logan couldn't help laughing; he did recognize the song. "His wife was a little upset after he taught her that."

"Really? Why?"

"It's a German drinking song. He was stationed in Germany when he was in the Army and he knows quite a few of them."

Stephanie laughed. "He sounds like an interesting man."

"You have no idea."

"He must be a good man, to have raised a child so very close to him."

Logan nodded. "She's been his best girl since the day she was born."

"And he has a good marriage?"

"Yeah, he does. As devoted as he is to his kids, he's even more devoted to his wife."

"You don't see that much."

"Well, they kinda broke the mold when they made him."

She laughed again and headed out of the room. Logan leaned back in the chair and watched Maggie, listening to her softly stumble over the German words Goren had taught her. And he dozed off.

Maggie continued to sing, pulling his hand back into her lap and lightly patting his palm. Her song faded when she thought she saw his fingers move. She touched her index finger to his, gently moving it to touch each of his other fingers in turn. No reaction. So she laid her hand in his again, and slowly his hand closed over hers and held it. She turned her head to look at him, but his eyes were still closed. Then she looked back at his hand, closed snugly over hers. "Uncle Mike!"

He started, nearly falling from the chair. Rubbing his eyes he got up and stumbled to the bedside. "What is it, baby?"

"Look! Daddy's holdin' my hand!"

Logan looked from Goren's closed hand to his face. He wasn't awake yet, but the occasional twitch of an eyelid as he watched told him that he was trying to wake up. He went to the door and called to Stephanie. She came into the room five minutes later with a doctor. "Look, Doctor George!" Maggie said, excited. "Daddy's holdin' my hand."

"I'm happy to see that, Maggie," George Harper replied, moving to examine his patient.

When he stepped back from the bed, Logan asked, "So what does this mean, doc?"

"It means he's waking up. I'd like to try extubating him and see what he does."

"What does that mean?"

"It means we pull the tube and if he's ready, he'll keep breathing without difficulty."

"And if he's not?"

"We put the tube back in and sedate him for a few days, then try again."

"Let me guess. This is one of those 'we won't know until we try it' things."

"Exactly."

"Is this gonna be the kind of thing I need to take Maggie from the room for?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

Harper smiled. "Squeamish, are we, Mike?"

"Maybe."

"Well, maybe Maggie can take you from the room while we do it."

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel good."

Maggie looked at him. "I can take care-a you, Uncle Mike. I'm good at that."

"I know you are, bunny. We'll see."

The doctor laughed again. "We'll be back in an hour. You and Maggie can discuss what to do in the meantime."

"Great."

The doctor left and Logan kissed Maggie's head. "I told you he'd wake up when he was ready. It must have been that cookie you promised him."

"I shoulda bringed him a cookie last week."

Logan laughed. "Maybe you should have."

Logan stood on the far side of the small room, holding Maggie in his arms. She hadn't wanted to relinquish her father's hand, but he convinced her to come across the room with him to take care of him. But he could not draw her attention away from the activity at the bed. She didn't seem phased by the removal of the tube from her father's throat, but Logan shuddered. He never regretted going into law enforcement. He wouldn't have made a good doctor. Harper listened to Goren's chest and watched the numbers on the monitor above the bed. Finally he nodded and motioned to Logan. "Bring Maggie back, Mike. It looks like everything's okay. His lung isn't showing any signs of collapsing."

"Uh, what if it does when you walk through that door? He likes to do shit like that to me."

Harper laughed. He nodded at the monitor. "We'll know, don't worry. Call for me when he wakes up."

"Will that be anytime soon?"

"It will be when he's ready."

"Thanks for being so specific."

Harper smiled and reached over to touch Maggie's cheek. "I think your daddy is going to be okay now, Maggie."

"Because he holded my hand?"

"Yes, sweetheart. Because he held your hand."

She smiled. Harper left the room and Maggie sat down so she could see his face. She brought his arm up and folded it across her lap. She rested her hand in his again, lightly rubbing her fingers across his palm. Again, he closed his hand around hers and she smiled happily, leaning over to rest her head on his abdomen. And she waited.