Logan watched the fish swim in the big tank. "Why is it all these surgical waiting rooms seem to have these huge fish tanks?"

"Bobby says they're calming."

He looked at her. "You guys have discussed it?"

"We were waiting for a witness to come out of surgery one time. Deakins had us stay to protect him when he found out the Masuccis were after him. Bobby was all for going into the OR, but that's where I drew the line and we waited in the surgical waiting area."

Logan laughed. "I guess he wouldn't be put off by a little surgery, would he?"

"Hell, no. Once you've seen him stick a finger in an open wound on a corpse...well, I'm not letting him anywhere near an operating room. At least, not when he's not the one on the table..."

Logan tapped on the glass of the tank, then wandered over to the coffee machine. "They all have crappy coffee, too. Want another cup?"

"No, thanks. My stomach hurts enough."

"You're not feeling any better, are you?"

"No. Come on, Mike. They couldn't tell us he'll be okay. He lost a lot of blood. Almost too much. His organs were shutting down. He wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"Yeah, well, the point is he lasted long enough. What time is it, anyway?"

"Quarter after twelve."

He took a sip of hot bitter coffee. "He's been in there awhile. I say that's good because it means he's still alive."

"I guess. But couldn't it also mean they had to do a lot to him? Or maybe they ran into trouble?"

"Trouble is Goren's middle name, isn't it? Same as mine, if you ask my partner."

"You're not making me feel any better, Mike."

"Sorry."

They looked up as Barek and Deakins came into the room. Both of them were grimy, sweaty and exhausted. "Any word?" Deakins asked.

"Nope," Logan answered.

The captain looked from one to the other, eyes finally resting on Eames. "How are you holding up, Alex?"

"I'm okay. Did they get everyone treated?"

"Yes. No one else needed to be hospitalized. Did you see that little guy holding on to your partner's badge?"

Eames smiled sadly. "Yes. He had a death grip on it."

"He wouldn't part with it for anything. Once she was feeling better, though, the little girl gave us his jacket. She said thank you very sweetly. Those kids were very lucky."

"Their grandmother seemed to be taking good care of them."

"That wasn't their grandmother. She was just another passenger. Both kids were traveling with their moms, and neither mom made it."

"Oh, no. Did they find the dads?"

Deakins shook his head. "We found the boy's uncle and the girl's cousin, but neither of them were willing to take the kids in. The little guy lost his dad last year to cancer and the girl's father has never been in the picture. They've gone to emergency foster care while social services looks into that woman's background. She's willing to take both kids, if they'll let her have them."

Logan got a bag of M&Ms from the snack machine and tossed one up in the air, catching it in his mouth. "Lady's got a good heart," he muttered, catching another one. He stopped and looked at Deakins and the women, who were all staring at him. "What? Hey, I didn't have dinner. We were down in that God-forsaken tunnel for over four hours and we've been sitting here almost as long. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry, Logan," Barek commented. "How'd your mother afford to feed you?"

"You don't want to know. M&M anybody?"

Eames was watching the fish swim lazily in their glass prison. She rested a hand on the tank and several fish the size of bait minnow came swimming over. Bobby had been right. They were calming. She rested her forehead against the glass of the tank, looking up when a hand came to rest on her shoulder. She almost expected it to be her partner. But it was Logan, and she turned into him, burying her face in his chest as she slid her arms around his waist. He rested a hand on her back. It was late, they were exhausted, and the more time that passed, the more Eames worried. She took comfort in just holding him, since Bobby wasn't available to give her the reassurance she needed.

"Alex?" Barek called.

She turned, noticing the doctor in the doorway. She recognized him from the emergency room and moved toward him. He recognized her as well. "Detective Eames..." He sat down and motioned for her to sit beside him. He looked at Deakins, Logan and Barek. "Are they with you?"

She nodded. "How is he?"

The doctor sighed. "The good news is we did not have to put him on life support. His heart is beating on its own and he is breathing without the need for a ventilator. Let me tell you...any longer and it would have been too late. Like they told you in the ER, his organs were beginning to fail because he'd lost so much blood. He had a number of small lacerations in his liver that were steadily bleeding, and that was the source of his blood loss. I don't have to tell you how lucky he is that the bleeding was slow. We've given him fluid to bring his circulatory system back up to volume, which was critical to his survival, and he's received three units of packed red cells so far with three more to hang before morning. So...bottom line is we watch him. I seriously doubt he has sustained any permanent damage. We moved him to the ICU, and we will watch him closely. As long as he remains stable through the night, there is no reason for him to stay there."

"Can I see him?"

"Yes. I'll let the nurses know it's okay."

"Thank you, doctor."

She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. Logan looked at Barek and Deakins. "Um, Alex?"

"I'm fine, Mike. Just so you know, I'm telling him he's not allowed to come to work on the subway any more."

They laughed and Deakins said, "Go see him. Logan and Barek will take your current case."

She nodded. "Thanks. The files are on our desks."

"No problem," Logan grumbled, eyeing Deakins with a frown.

Barek grabbed her partner's arm. "Call us later, Alex. Let's go, Logan. A shower and a couple of hours of shut-eye will change your perspective."

"Or you'll change it for me, right?"

"You got it, cowboy."

She stood in the doorway of his ICU cubicle, watching him. He looked a lot better. His skin color was more normal and his breathing was easy and regular. He looked like he was just sleeping. Her eyes strayed to the bags that hung from the pole beside his bed. One was blood; the other was a clear fluid. He had two IV lines running into his right arm. The blood was flowing into a vein in his forearm near his elbow while the fluid went into one in the back of his hand. There was another IV access near the elbow of his left arm, but nothing was attached to it. Finally, she was surprised to see another IV line on the upper right side of his bare chest. "It's okay, detective," came a voice from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder at the doctor. "I'm not used to seeing him like this."

"I would think not. But he's actually doing really well."

"What's that in his chest?"

"Just a precaution. We weren't sure how quickly his organs were going to recover so we put that in just in case he needed a few dialysis treatments. That doesn't seem to be the case, though, and if he continues to improve like he is, we'll take that out as soon as we are certain his kidneys have recovered."

"Has he been awake?"

"He started to wake up, but he hasn't managed it yet."

"Is he in pain?"

"Not at the moment. We'll see how he feels when he wakes up, but I don't think the pain will be anything like it was before."

"So he's okay?"

"Compared to how he was when he got here, he's doing great."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why did it take so long in surgery?"

The doctor hesitated. Finally, he said, "When we got him, he was anything but okay, detective. The first two or so hours were rough. That's all you have to know. Go sit with him."

She hesitated again before she finally said, "Thank you."

She walked to his bedside, eased herself down into a chair, and slipped her hand into his.