Beating the odds

by LioSky

Something was going on with Mike, and it wasn't anything good. He felt it, and Harvey had noticed it. It was not like it was the first time either. But this time it was nothing that either of them could control. As it turns out Mike is sick, really sick. He is going to need help, and a lot of it.

27. Chapter 27 - Bad night

Chapter 27.

He was exhausted. He was pretty sure that Donna was the one thing that was holding him upright. He just wanted to lay down, on his back, and sleep. It had been a stupid idea to come here, but just the thought of spending the day alone at Harvey's place made him want to cry again. He was a wreck. He was pretty sure he had a fever as well. Probably not good.

"Mike, honey? Are you listening to me?" Donna was asking him.

"No, sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you wanted to go and lay down?" She said.

"Yeah, okay." He took the napkin she offered him and wiped his face with it. He followed her into Harvey's office and sat down on the couch. Harvey didn't say anything about it when Donna put a blanket over him and made him lay down. He really was tired. The couch was not that comfortable. It was too hard, but he wasn't complaining. He felt a bit confused too. Like there was something he was supposed to do, or say, but he couldn't figure out what it was. It was kind of stressful though. He shifted on the couch making the blanket slid down.

Suddenly Harvey was standing next to him, the blanket in one hand. Without saying anything Harvey replaced the blanket over him and looked him in the eyes. "Get some sleep Mike." Harvey said. He just nodded and closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax. If Harvey thought it was okay that he slept in his office, it was.

He was woken by voices later, he had no idea of how long he had been sleeping, but he felt a bit better.

"I didn't mean to bother you guys, it was Louis who sent me I told you that."

Mike stirred, and went to sit up.

"Look, you woke him up." Harvey muttered, and Rachel who was in Harvey's office holding a blue file turned towards him.

"Hi Mike. Sorry to wake you." She said and smiled at him.

"Hi. It's okay." He told her.

"Are you doing alright? You don't look so good." She stepped a bit closer, ignoring Harvey who was muttering something behind her.

"I've had better days." He told her. That was so true. She nodded.

"What's wrong?" she looked concerned, with a little wrinkle on her forehead. He considered telling her. It would be the right thing to do, because it had been weeks now, and she still didn't know anything. They hadn't really seen each other that much any way. But honestly he didn't have the energy to deal with her reaction at the moment. He was still tired, and even if it was a selfish reason, he decided to wait with telling her the truth.

"I've been a bit under the weather." He told her. It was true. Harvey snorted and Mike glared at him. Rachel looked like she didn't believe him at all, but she didn't say anything. She looked hurt, and Mike felt guilty. The longer he hid it from her the angrier she would be at him when he eventually told her.

"I hope you feel better Mike." She said coldly and then left. Mike watched her go before he turned his attention to Harvey.

"She is probably going to kill me when I do tell her."

"Probably." Harvey agreed.

"I'm going to tell her soon though."

"You do that." Harvey absentmindedly said turning back to work.

Mike slept like four hours after that. Harvey woke him up and asked if he wanted lunch, he didn't and tried to go back to sleep, but Donna came and forced him to eat, so he did.

He was in a bad mood after that. His chest was aching again.

"You are like a kid woken from his nap." Harvey complained, and Mike argued back until Harvey announced that Mike was just proving his point now.

Mike knew he was annoying the other man, but didn't really care. Eventually Harvey got fed up with him and sent him home, he didn't care what Mike said.

"Just go home and stay there Mike. It's better for all of us." He was saying. Mike got mad at him for saying that and left. Donna accompanied him and gave him his pills when they got to Harvey's.

"You are hurting, aren't you?" She asked. He considered lying to her, but nodded when he looked into her eyes. Of course she knew what was up. She gave him painkillers and put him to bed. He did argue a bit with her then, but she wouldn't have it.

He was hurting, and it was pretty bad. He just laid in bed hugging a pillow to his chest the best he could because of the wounds on his chest, wishing it to pass. The painkillers only took the edge off it, not all the pain. He didn't feel like doing anything else they lay there, so he did. Donna spoke to him some, but he was with his back against her, so she probably thought he was rude. She left after a while. He didn't know where she was, but he didn't bother to find out.

It was a really boing day full of staring into the wall, sleeping and pain. It really sucked to just being able to lay like that, with nothing to do. He felt pretty sorry for himself, but at least he wasn't sad, a bit angry if anything.

Donna stayed the entire day, and had dinner with them. Mike wasn't hungry, but both Harvey and Donna kept throwing him looks so he ate anyway. Mike announced that he was going to bed after dinner, and saw that the others shared a look with each other.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Harvey asked him.

"No." Mike said, even though he well knew what Harvey meant, instinctively he pulled a bit at his shirt that covered the bandages.

"Sweetie…" Donna said, and he knew he had lost. He closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded.

Apparently Harvey had asked for back up.

The whole process went quicker this time. Donna's task was obviously to distract him while Harvey changed the dressings on his chest. It wasn't less painful this time, but Donna being there helped. She spoke to him the whole time and kept telling him to focus on her when his eyes flickered towards Harvey's hands.

He still ended up shaking and close to tears when it was over, his whole chest burning. He didn't know what to do with himself, and now afterwards with both of them there looking at him like that, he felt embarrassed.

He declined Donna's offer of sitting with him when he went to bed in favor of laying there alone listening to the quiet voices of her and Harvey talking, undoubtedly about him. He regretted it later, but was too stubborn to go out to them and ask her back. He just had to suit himself that he said no in the first place. They didn't come to check on him either. They were probably relieved that they didn't have to deal with him anymore that night.

– SUITS –

Donna took another sip of her drink and looked over at Harvey.

"You look tired, Harvey."

He glanced back at her and sat up straighter. "I'm alright." He tried to reassure her.

"Your hands are still shaking." She said gently. He looked down on his hands that was holding his own glass. The liquid rippled a bit. He put it down on the table and removed his hands out of her sight, and let out a deep breath.

"It's okay." She said. "That shook me up too. You did good Harvey."

"So did you. It went much better this time. Without you there…"

She nodded. "Do you think he is okay?" she looked over towards the closed door.

"Probably not." Harvey sighed. "But he wanted to be alone."

"Is it a good idea to let him be alone though? Is he equipped to know what he wants right now?"

Harvey shrugged.

"He is like a whole different person sometimes. I almost don't recognize him."

"Can you blame him though? It must be incredibly hard for him to know how to deal with it all." Donna said.

"I try to act normal and try to make him feel like it's okay that things are not what they was before, but I don't know if it works."

"I think he knows."

"He doesn't show it. He tries to act all tough with me, but I can see on him that he feels like crap."

"Again, can you blame him? He idolizes you and was working his ass off for you, and now he is trying to not to cry as you are changing bandages on his chest."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm not blaming him. I just wish that he would…"

"Would what? Become the old Mike again?"

"Well, yes. I do wish that, but also that he would just talk to me!"

"He does talk to you."

"Not like he does with you."

"Well, I'm not you. I'm nice to him." She smirked.

"I'm nice to him!" He couldn't help but get offended.

"Of course you are."

"I am." He pouted.

"Give him time Harvey. Try to see it from his perspective."

"Alright." he sighed. "You want me to call you a cab?"

"Sure."

Give him time. That's what Donna had said, Harvey thought later when he was getting ready to go to bed himself. He had just checked on Mike, and the kid was sleeping flat on his back. He thought that he had been giving Mike a lot of time. He had told him again and again that they were in this together. He just hoped Mike got it. Sure, Harvey understood that he was in pain from the chest wounds, but he still didn't like the way the kid distanced himself from him after he changed the bandages. Like Mike was pissed at him, for being the one to cause him pain. He knew Mike probably wasn't, but it kind of seemed like he was. But so be it, it had to be done.

Mike had a hospital appointment the next day, so in the morning they decided that Mike would stay at home.

"You don't want me to come with you then?" Harvey asked him while they were having breakfast.

"No, it's fine." Mike said. "You have a meeting, right? Didn't you say that Louis can barely handle things without you."

"Oh, he is doing okay. It's just that the clients prefer me over him."

"Of course they do."

"I'll send a car to pick you up and drop you off later then." Harvey decided and Mike nodded, staring down in his cereal.

"We can watch a movie tonight if you want." Harvey offered.

"Okay." Mike said without looking up, and Harvey felt frustrated. He was trying here. They still had the bandages to get through. He dreaded it. He almost wanted to accidently forget it and leave, but just couldn't. Mike's health wouldn't benefit from it.

Mike refused to say a word during the entire process. He just laid there with clenched jaws looking anywhere else but at Harvey. He hissed as Harvey pulled a bit too harsh on one of the bandages.

"Sorry. I was kind of stuck."

Mike looked away.

"It looks somewhat better though. At least a few of them." He told Mike, who didn't answer.

When Harvey was done, he patted Mike's shoulder and offered to help him up. Mike ignored his outstretched hand and sat up by himself.

"You okay?" Harvey asked.

"What do you think?" Mike said and left for the bathroom. Harvey just shook his head and remembered Donna's words from last night. Give him time. But now Mike was really giving him the cold shoulder and he had no idea why. Had he done something to piss the kid off? The answer to that was no.

He considered leaving without saying goodbye to Mike, because he was taking forever in the bathroom, and he was going to be late to the office.

He banged the door. "You passed out or something?" He joked, only to have Mike open the door in his face.

"What?" He said. "I thought you were in a hurry."

Harvey wanted to strangle him a little bit.

"I am now, thanks to you." He said.

Mike just gave him a look and pushed past him on his way to his room, and Harvey regretted his words. It wasn't Mike's fault, and he hadn't wanted to make him feel guilty about something that wasn't. He went after him.

"Okay, Mike I didn't mean that." And Mike stopped in the door way. They locked eyes with each other. Mike looked sad.

"I'll see you later Harvey." He said and went into his room and closed the door behind him leaving Harvey standing there feeling stupid. He debated with himself of what to do, but then left calling goodbye to the kid without getting a reply.

This whole morning had sucked. He talked it over with Donna, who said that she was going to give Mike a call and see if she could find out what was up with him. He didn't mention the part of him accusing Mike of being late. He didn't think she'd like that, and he wasn't exactly proud of it.

Donna came into his office later and reported that Mike had claimed that he was okay, only tired.

"He said he isn't mad at you, and wanted me to tell you that. What was that about?"

"Good. Did you call Hansson back?"

"Way to change the subject. But yes I did."

– SUITS –

It was pretty late when Harvey got home again. Mike had made dinner, and was just about to start eat by himself when Harvey came.

"Were you starting without me?" he asked and got himself the second plate of food, and held his hand above it to determine if he needed to reheat it or not. He decided it was warm enough and sat down across from Mike.

"How did the meeting go?" Mike asked, and Harvey told him about it. He didn't really listen that much though. Truth be told he didn't really care all that much, but it was nice to just have a normal conversation. Harvey didn't ask him how his day was, so he didn't have to come up with a lie, or worse tell the truth and cause an uncomfortable moment where Harvey had to come up with something encouraging to say to him. He wouldn't believe him anyway, and Harvey wouldn't really mean it.

He felt pretty down today. The morning hadn't started well, and he had regretted his behavior towards Harvey. But he still felt a bit rejected when he woke up. He had really thought that Harvey would come and at least say goodnight to him the night before, but he hadn't.

Mike had gone to the hospital to have a treatment session, but his values was not good enough so they didn't want to go through with it and sent him home again. He also had a slight fever, which never was a good thing. He would go back in two day. He didn't mention this to Harvey at first. It was first later when they were on the couch that Harvey asked.

"How did treatment go? You seem pretty good."

"I didn't have it."

Harvey sat straighter up and looked at him. "What? Why not?"

"I had a fever."

"So they wouldn't let you do it?"

"No." Mike just shrugged and focused on the TV, he noticed that Harvey shook his head at him.

"Alright. Tell me if you feel worse." He said and looked back at the papers in his lap.

"I'm heading off to bed." Harvey stood up and woke Mike up a bit more, he had almost fallen asleep.

"Oh, is it late?"

"Yep. You should too. You look like shit. Are you okay? Need a hand?"

"No, I got it." At least he thought so. He slowly sat up.

Harvey paused for a second.

"I almost forgot. Do you need me to change the dressings?" He pointed towards Mike's chest.

"No, it's fine. They did it at the hospital. Tomorrow though…"

"Yeah, okay. Well, goodnight then Mike. See you tomorrow, kid."

"Okay, good night."

He watched as Harvey walked towards the bathroom. He quelled the urge of calling him back. Suddenly he just wanted to go with him. He didn't want to go to bed. It was going to be dark and lonely and he already felt like crap. At least he wasn't hurting. He had earlier today which also had been a reason for him not going through with treatment. They had told him that the amount of pain killers he had taken most likely had caused the bad values. So basically it had been his own fault. He was screwing up the treatment now. If you thought about it, it was like he was killing himself, because if he didn't get the treatment he would die.

He had been thinking a lot about that today, dying. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. He had tried, but it had been hard to keep the bad thoughts out. He wished he could just shut his brain off. He wished he could shut it off so that he didn't have to think anymore. He didn't want to think because it just made him feel bad. He didn't want to feel bad.

He just wanted like one good day, was that so much to ask for? Or actually it wasn't true, he wanted all days to be good, but that wasn't going to happen. He had nothing to look forward to. Nothing. It was just endless hospital visits and then it was the side effects or just general effects of the cancer.

He walked over to the windows and looked out over the city for a while. Harvey really did have a nice view. At least that was something. For his place he just overlooked a brick wall. This was better.

He could hear Harvey shutting off the shower and thought of going to him and actually tell him that he was feeling worse. Because he really was. He felt the familiar feeling of his eyes watering, but he didn't let it reach that far. He bit is tongue to stop it.

But he just couldn't go to Harvey. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he wanted Harvey to do, because it wasn't really that much the older man could do. Right? It was too late now anyway because Harvey was already in his bedroom. Mike went to his.

The covers were cold, he was freezing, feeling like he never would get warm. He had turned out the light, so the room was dark. He could barely see anything, and he didn't like that. But he wasn't going to admit to himself or anyone else that he was afraid of dark, because he wasn't. He wasn't five years old. But he still didn't like it. Lots of people didn't like that dark. It wasn't the same thing as being scared he convinced himself.

He couldn't fall asleep. He couldn't relax. He couldn't do anything as usual. He sucked.

He put his left hand to the side of his chest and pressed against his ribs and stayed as still as he could. He could feel his heart beating in there. It was still working. That was good. It was still keeping him alive. Sometimes he just hated his heart. Why was it doing this? Was he such a bad host to it that it didn't want to be inside him anymore?

Where did he get that from? He cursed himself. His heart didn't have its own will. It was just bad luck that he got cancer in it. Nothing else. Right?

Or maybe he just got what he deserved. His own heart was killing him, and he would leave nothing behind. No one would miss him that much. Sure Harvey and Donna would for a while maybe. But then Harvey would find a new associate that he would harass, because Harvey would compare that person to him, and Mike with his mind had been fast and good at his job. He wasn't anymore. He couldn't do anything anymore.

He was crying now. He didn't bother to try and stop the tears from running down his cheeks and down into the pillow. Soon he could feel cold spots on it when he moved his head a bit. He tried to be quiet. He didn't want Harvey to hear him. Harvey would just feel awkward, he wouldn't know what to do or say probably, because Mike didn't really have a reason to cry like this. But he did.

He could't stop. Also, he didn't know if he wanted to either. He buried himself deeper in the pillow and just let it out. He just felt so sad. The sadness was just bubbling up inside of him, it felt like it got worse and worse the longer he was lying there. His chest was aching with sadness. Like something in there just wanted to rush out but his ribs kept it locked in there.

He wanted it to end. He wanted to stop now. It must have been hours. He was so tired, but also to wound up to be able to relax. He didn't know what to do about it. He didn't have the answers. He wanted help. He wished that someone would come and help him and take it all away. He couldn't do this.

Harvey was sleeping in the next room. Why couldn't he come? Why couldn't he sense that Mike needed him? Because that was true he realized. He needed Harvey right now. He wanted him.

What would Harvey do if he went to him? Would he be angry? It was in the middle of the night, and Harvey had to work tomorrow. What if he just told him to go back to bed? What if he didn't want to help? Mike couldn't take that. He wouldn't be able to take that. But Harvey wouldn't do that, would he?

I want to you come to me, Harvey had told him that, actually more times than one. Harvey had even been angry about it. Would he be mad if Mike went now, because he had waited too long? Maybe Harvey would be mad because he didn't say anything sooner?

He was drawing deep breaths now, so deep and harsh it hurt and his pillow was cold. He struggled to sit up. He had to try. If Harvey got mad, Mike would remind him of what he had said, he would do that tomorrow. Because if he got mad now, Mike would collapse. It was so cold in the room when he got rid of his cover, he considered taking it with him, but it was too heavy.

He felt weak when he was standing, almost like he was going to faint. But the dizzy spell passed and he stumbled in the direction of Harvey's bedroom. He was shaking from both cold and nervousness when he reached to older mans bed.

He could see that Harvey was sleeping on his side with his back against Mike.

"Har-vey?" he said. Nothing happened, and he almost let out a sob. Why didn't he wake? Because you weren't loud enough, he told himself and tried again. "Harvey?" his voice sounded bad, hoarse.

This time however Harvey stirred and turned on his back and looked up at him. When he saw Mike standing there he reach out and turned the light on and then sat up.

"Mike? What's up?" he said as he blinked against the bright light.

Mike realized that he must look terrible because as soon as Harvey got a good look at him, his face turned into shock and he quickly got more alert. He got out of bed and walked over to Mike and stopped in front of him.

"Hey? What's wrong kid? Mike, what is it?"

Mike didn't know what to say now. He just didn't know. He hadn't thought this through. He just bit his lip hard and stared down into the floor feeling so embarrassed.

"Come here, sit down." Harvey took his arm and pushed him down on the bed. "I need to know what's going on Mike. Are you in pain?" Harvey grabbed his shoulders and tried to meet his eyes. "Hey?" he shook him a bit. "Do I need to call for help?"

Mike hurried to shake his head. Oh god, Harvey thought he was dying or something, and he was just sad. It was pathetic. He didn't want to tell Harvey that!

"Okay, but you got to talk to me kid." Harvey let go of him, and Mike sagged a bit. The older man sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Mike just shook his head again and wiped some tears away.

"Take your time." Harvey whispered then. Mike just sat there and tried not to break down completely. What was wrong with him?

He briefly lifted his hand and put it over Harvey's on his shoulder. Just to feel it there. Harvey was really there.

He was just sitting on Harvey's bed and crying. He knew that he had to do something otherwise Harvey would freak out, or take him back to Mike's own bed. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay like this until it felt better. He just didn't know how long that would take.

"Mike?" Harvey said and it caused him to flinch and quickly look up at Harvey's worried face. He really did look worried. He stared down into the floor again. "So…sorry." He whispered.

"No, don't be. It's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay."

When Mike didn't answer Harvey said "Do you understand?" And it really sounded like Harvey thought it was okay, so Mike nodded. Maybe Harvey really thought so. Maybe he should just believe him. He was supposed to trust Harvey. He did trust Harvey.

"I can't sleep." he said. It was true.

"Okay."

"I'm sad." he whispered it so quietly that he didn't know if Harvey heard it or not.

"Yeah, I kind of get that kid." Harvey chuckled, but he moved his hand from Mike's shoulder to his back, and stroke it. He did it a few times, until Mike allowed himself to relax a bit more. He suddenly noticed that he was shaking. He tried to stop. But then he just let go, because Harvey didn't stop, and he was sitting next to him and stroking his back, and helping. He stopped fighting to hold the sobs back and just let it go.

"Hey, hey, hey." Harvey whispered and Mike felt him shift closer to him on the bed. He put his arm around his back and dragged Mike towards his chest and Mike just let him. A few minutes they sat like this.

"One second." Harvey said then, and got up from the bed, but before Mike had time to reflect on that Harvey was back with some tissues. "You need this." He said. Mike did. Then Harvey sat down in the same position again, and Mike was just so grateful. Harvey wasn't mad. How could he ever think that he would be?

– SUITS –

At first he wasn't sure if something had woken him or not. He stared out into the darkness and listened.

"Harvey?" It was Mike! Mike was there in his bedroom. He could immediately hear on his voice that something was very wrong, and he got worried straight away. The worried only increased when he got a look at Mike. He looked terrible. His face red, and eyes glazed over. Tears were gathered in his eyes and his breath was hitching. He looked like he was going to pass out at any moment, so Harvey hurried to get him to sit down on his bed.

Mike wouldn't answer any of his questions, and Harvey was terrified that the kid was having a heart attack right in front of him! First when Mike shook his head, Harvey forced himself to calm down, and release the breath he didn't realize that he had been holding.

Then Mike whispered that he was sad, and Harvey's heart broke a little for the younger man. He had been relieved at first when he understood that Mike wasn't in any pain, but he had been wrong. It was just a different kind of pain. The word depression flowed through Harvey's brain. He had almost forgotten about that. They hadn't really talked about it much more, other things had been in the way. But they should probably talk about it at some point. It was serious after all. Mike was taking medication for it, but that didn't mean it just went away. Maybe this was connected to that.

Mike was crying now. His whole form radiated devastation, the way he curled into himself as much as he could. When Harvey had put a hand on Mike's shoulder for comfort Mike had touched his hand for a short while. He had looked almost amazed for a second, and it made Harvey incredibly sad. But he was glad to, because Mike had come to him. Mike was here, asking for help now. Well, he wasn't really asking for anything, he was just silently crying next to him.

Harvey was stroking his back in small circles. He hoped it was helping. He could feel his spine at every stroke. He didn't want this for Mike. He really wanted to make it all better. He just wanted Mike to let him. So far he didn't really think that Mike had done that. This was one step in the right direction. A terrible step because how upset Mike was, but maybe it would get better because of it if Harvey managed to get Mike to understand that it was okay.

After a while Mike's sobs lowered in volume and intensity some and Harvey thought they probably should talk some.

"Hey Mike" he started quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?" But Mike shook his head.

"I just…I just want to sit here." He said, and Harvey nodded.

"Anything I can do?"

"Sit here too?"

"Sure." And they did.

"I… I couldn't relax," Mike started then. "I kept thinking on all these things, and I couldn't stop."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just… bad things."

"Come on give me something…"

"I don't know. About getting worse, feeling bad, dying…"

"Okay." Harvey whispered.

"What if my heart can't take it?"

"It will."

"What if it stops?"

"Then we'll start it up again. Don't worry about that."

Mike let out a shuddering breath and hid his face in his hands. He started crying again, and Harvey wasn't sure if he had helped.

"I just, I just can't…" Mike got out. "I can't."

"Can't what?"

"I want it to stop. I don't want to feel like this…"

Harvey swallowed and closed his eyes for a moment where he was beside Mike, still a hand on his back. He wished that there was something he could do to just make it stop for the younger man, but he didn't know what that would be.

"I know. I know" he whispered.

"Harvey…"

"I'm here."

Mike cried harder then, and Harvey just wished that he knew what to do to make him stop. Mike sagged even more than before, and it almost looked like he was going to fall off the bed. He should probably get him to lay down. "You must be exhausted Mike. We should get you back into bed."

"No…" Mike moaned and tried to move away from his hand.

"At least lay down then."

Mike agreed to that, and let Harvey help him down in a laying position.

The kid was warm to the touch. Harvey felt Mike's forehead. Yep, just as he suspected, he had a fever. "You are pretty warm." He kindly said.

"No, I feel cold."

"You have a fever, that's why."

"Okay."

"You know what, I think you should try and get some sleep and you will feel better tomorrow. What do you think?"

"But…Harvey please."

"What Mike?" He put a hand on his shoulder, Mike was looking up at him with wet eyes.

"I just want…" he paused and looked away. "I want…" he looked like he was about to get into another round of sobbing, and Harvey hurriedly asked what he wanted.

"I want to stay with you… It's helping." He mumbled, staring to his side.

"Okay, you're staying." Harvey said. He was secretly thrilled at Mike's words. It was helping, whatever it was, Mike felt that is was helping. That was such a relief, because Mike seemed so devastated just a moment ago that he didn't think that anything was ever going to help. But he just wanted to stay with Harvey. He felt kind of touched actually. The trust Mike put into him was touching. And he thought that Harvey was able to help him coup with something that must really put a lot of weight on his mind. If sharing a bed was going to help that was what they were going to do. He hadn't been planning on leaving Mike alone anyway, like Mike apparently thought he would.

"I'll get you something for the fever and some water, okay? I'll be right back."

He also got Mike's cover from his bed, and laid it out over him, helped him to drink the water to swallow the medication. Mike had stopped crying, but he was drawing shuddering breaths. His eyes was following Harvey's movements while he blinked tiredly.

Eventually Harvey laid down next to the kid under his own cover. He looked over at the kid and saw that he had his head turned against him.

"You think you can get some sleep now?" He asked.

"I think so." Mike whispered, and as if commanded his eyes fluttered shut, before he forced open again. He took a few deep breaths, and again wiped a few tears away. "Thank you Harvey."

"Thank you, Mike."

"For what?"

"Coming to me when you were in trouble."

Mike just nodded, and his eyes closed again. They didn't say anything else that night. Harvey had some trouble falling asleep. He laid there and listened to how Mike's shuddering breaths eventually calmed down and evened out as he fell asleep. Poor kid. He really felt bad for him. He also felt a bit guilty. Guilty for not noticing that anything was wrong earlier that night. Guilty for not preventing it from getting this bad for Mike. But how was he supposed to know?

Mike didn't tell him anything. He had practically been avoiding him this morning. How was he supposed to know that Mike needed him?

At least he would consider it a win that Mike came, that he was here now. They were sharing a bed. He wasn't going to tell Jessica that, maybe not Donna either. That would be embarrassing. But it didn't feel embarrassing now. It felt right. It was what Mike had needed, to be close to him. Or just to be close to anyone else probably. He just had needed to not be alone. And now he wasn't. That was a win for certain.

– SUITS –

Thank you for reading and reviewing!