Chapter 41.

The surgeon didn't answer immediately and Harvey asked again. "How did it go?"

"Well, as you know Mike has heart cancer and there is a delicate procedure to operate on the heart. Unfortunately we weren't able to remove all the part of Mike's heart that is affected by the cancer cells."

"So what are you saying? You didn't get it all?"

"That is correct. We deemed it too risky to try and remove everything."

"What are you talking about?!" Harvey exclaimed. "You just left it there? What the hell kind of doctors are you?"

"Harvey…" Donna's voice stopped him. He looked at her and saw that all color of her face was gone. He calmed down a bit at that.

"As I was saying the risk were too great. We made the decision of not to try. It would have meant a harder procedure than we were prepared for, and also a much longer one. Mike isn't strong enough to go through that right now."

Harvey rubbed his face and drew his hands through his hair. Shit! This was going to hit the kid hard. Somehow Harvey had the impression that Mike believed that the cancer would be gone if he just survived the surgery. They hadn't really talked much about what might happen after the surgery if it wasn't successful.

"What now?" Harvey asked feeling almost desperate.

"In much the operation was successful, and there are other steps to take now. Hope is not lost. Another surgery might be an option further ahead. As for now we want to make sure that Mike doesn't develop any post-op complications and remains stable. There were some scares during the procedure that I would like to discuss with you later on. Mike is doing as well as he can at the moment, his condition is stable but we are working hard to keep him that way."

"When can we see him?" Donna asked. Rachel was holding her hand.

"Not yet, but someone will come and get you when he is ready for you. Only one at the time though."

The surgeon left after that with a promise that he would speak more to them later. They waited some more after that. Harvey didn't want to talk to the rest of them, but they spoke without him. Donna looked concerned at him from her seat, but he nodded towards her. He was fine.

Mike was also fine. He was alive. He had made it out of the surgery and that was what was important. They needed to take one step at the time now. And this was one important step. At least some of the cancer cells were gone. He didn't want to speculate much more, he needed hard facts.

They got to see Mike in the ICU after that. Harvey was the first to go in and see him. Mike looked small and sick. Harvey had seen similar scenes before but it still scared him to see Mike like that. He was connected to three tubes in his chest now. A nurse explained that they were to help drain fluid from the area around Mike's heart. He also had IV tubes and was connected to the usual heart monitor.

"He is doing well." The nurse assured him. "He is receiving pain medications so he isn't in any kind of pain." It looked like she was right about that, because Mike did look calm, like he was just sleeping.

He let the others into the room after that. Mike were going to be sedated during the night, so Harvey went home. He needed to get some real sleep. He was exhausted and managed to fall asleep, even though he had been sure that he wasn't going to be able to.

Harvey woke up in a panic at 5:47. He had been dreaming and it hadn't been pleasant. He swore to himself when he realized that it only had been a dream. He found his phone and he no missed calls, thankfully. At this point that would only mean bad news.

He knew it was pointless to try and fall back asleep so he showered, got dressed and went to the hospital. He was allowed into Mike's room without any problems. Mike were going to be moved to his regular room in a few hours. The kid looked a bit worse than he had last night, and it got Harvey worried. However when he spoke to Mike's doctor he was told that Mike was doing well. There hadn't been any complications so far. They were worried about infections and would keep a close eye on the incision on Mike's chest. They had to look out for any kind oozing or opening around the incision site as well as redness or warmth. All of that would indicate some kind of infection or problem that Mike didn't need at the moment. Fever was another issue that they worried about. Harvey was also told that Mike might have problems with anxiety or depression after the surgery as well as possible memory loss or trouble concentrating and thinking clearly. All of which Harvey really hoped that Mike would be spared from.

Mike had been sleeping when he arrived and remained so. It worried Harvey. He wanted the kid to wake up so that Harvey could see that he actually was okay.

Mike's doctor was there again and examined Mike and spoke to Harvey and Donna, who was there as well at that time, about the operation. He explained thoroughly every step of the procedure, and stopped to explain things when they didn't understand. Harvey appreciated it a lot and after their talk he had a deeper understanding for as to why they chose to not try and remove all of the cancer from Mike's heart. These surgeons were some of the best in the world, at least according to a nurse that came to tend to Mike, so Harvey figured that they knew what they were doing and if they didn't want to continue with the procedure they probably had a good reason. It was confirmed when they spoke to Harvey and Donna. There were some part of Mike's heart that they didn't want to touch, do to possible complications. They just couldn't risk it, since it could have killed Mike. This was better than that. All was better than that, because Mike was still alive and there was still hope. It had to be.

Mike wasn't really awake and aware for the two following days. Time passed slowly and Harvey made sure that Mike wasn't alone, even though he mostly slept. Donna and Rachel would come and sit with him when Harvey couldn't. Occasionally Louis showed up and stayed for an hour before he left again.

Harvey was tired. He had slept badly for the few hours he spent at home while Rachel and then Donna stayed with Mike. When he arrived into Mike's room he spoke to Donna for a while and hugged her back as she said good bye. He then sat down next to Mike. The kid was the same. Mike looked bad. His skin had a grayish tone.

"Hey Mike." Harvey quietly said. "Donna told me you have been sleeping all this time. You can't sleep like this you know. It's probably not good for you in some way. I'm sure someone had said so sometime. I kind of wished you would wake Mike." He just spoke nonsense, Mike probably couldn't hear him anyway.

Harvey took a hold of Mike's hand. It was cold and slack in his hand. He had been sitting like that for some time when he thought that he could feel Mike's hand move. He urged Mike to open his eyes, to just wake up and talk to him. He thought that the other man could hear him. Harvey felt a surge of excitement as Mike's eyelids flickered.

"That's it Mike. Come on, open your eyes."

The kid's eyes actually opened but Harvey wasn't sure if he was awake or at least aware. Harvey didn't care much about that though, he just hoped Mike was aware of the fact that he wasn't alone.

"Mike?" Harvey whispered and squeezed his hand.

Mike's eyes flickered against him, and it looked like Mike fought to focus his eyes on Harvey's. His lips moved but no sounds came out.

"It's okay, Mike. Don't talk. It's okay. You don't have to talk. Just rest. I'm here. " Harvey smiled at him. Mike amazingly did what he asked and fell back asleep.

Those episodes happened more frequently after that. Mike would sleep for hours just to open his eyes and blink tiredly before closing them again. With time he seemed to be able to focus more and more. When he was awake he didn't stay that way for more than a few minutes at the time. He would mumble some incoherent words, look at his visitor and then fall asleep again. He would even sleep through the tests his nurses and doctors did on him.

Harvey spent some time at the office, but couldn't really concentrate and just felt bad so instead he brought work with him to the hospital and worked form there. He had managed to convince a nurse to bring him a small table into Mike's room that he could work from. He was in the middle of the case, with files spread out around him, three piles on Mike's bed, across the kid's legs. He was sleeping anyway and didn't complain. That was when Mike woke up and was a bit more coherent.

"Har…vey?"

"Hey Mike. Nice to see you awake. Are you aware too?"

"What?" Mike blinked up at him.

"Never mind. How are you feeling?"

Mike's eyes slipped closed and he only answered after a moment. "I don't know."

Harvey nodded. "You can go back to sleep if you like." He said. He thought Mike did what he said and went back to his files, but a few minutes later Mike stirred.

"What's that?"

Harvey looked up and saw that Mike was eyeing the files that still was spread across Mike's legs.

"Some of us still has to work, you know." He smiled.

Mike tiredly rolled his eyes. "I have heart surgery and when I'm passed out, you use me as a table?" he made several pauses while he spoke as to catch his breath.

"I didn't hear you complain." Harvey smirked.

"I am now."

"No, you're not." Harvey smiled. "Seriously Mike. How are you feeling?"

"I'm really tired. And sore."

"You in any pain?"

Mike seemed to investigate that, but shook his head. "I think I'm good."

"How are you?" He asked after a minute.

"I'm good Mike. I'm really good."

"Okay." Mike smiled a bit. "Is it gone?" He asked then and Harvey's own smile disappeared. He had feared that question. He didn't want to answer it. He knew that it would probably crush the kid.

"Mike, you know it's not that easy." He carefully said. Mike just looked at him and waited. "I think we should wait for your doctor." Harvey said next. He knew that he was a coward. He knew that he was waiting for someone else to come and be the bearer of the bad news, but he didn't care. Mike didn't fall for it though.

"What is it? Tell me what happened. How long was I out?" He seemed to be a bit better now. Their conversation woke him up a bit more.

"It's been a few days since your surgery."

"And?" Mike pressed on.

"And, you made it through the surgery Mike. That's great. That's… I'm proud of you."

Mike looked at him for a long time. "You are?" He said quietly.

"Of course I am. You did great."

Mike yawed a bit and made himself a bit more comfortable on the bed. "You know I didn't do anything right? I just laid there."

Harvey couldn't help but roll his eyes at him. It was good to have Mike back.

– SUITS –

Mike was pretty exhausted. It was tiring to keep a conversation running. Who knew? Harvey looked a bit worried when he asked about the operation. That was most definitely not a good sign. Harvey apparently didn't want to talk about it so he decided that he should leave it alone for now. He could wait with knowing, even though dread filled him every time he thought about, which was basically like every waken moment.

He was a bit more lucid now. Not super tired any more at least. He had been aware of time passing him by the last few days, but it had really been a struggle trying to stay awake long enough for him to make sense out of everything. That ability was starting to return to him now though. For good and for worse. It had been kind of nice to be that out of it. It made him free from thinking too much or to feel too much, which was a nice feeling to have, because mostly he felt bad.

Now it was just waiting going on. A nurse had come by and said that she would let the doctor know that Mike was awake. It was nice that Harvey was there with him. He didn't want to talk to the doctor alone. Harvey was so nice to him now. It was amazing. Harvey told him that Donna, Rachel, Louis and Jessica all had been by as well. That was nice as well. He couldn't remember seeing them though, but went with Harvey's words.

He had no strength what so ever now. He barely had the energy to lift his own hand, let alone get out of bed. Harvey warned him not to even try. The nurse told him it would be better soon. That he would regain more strength as time passed. At the moment it felt impossible, he had been totally drained. They brought him a late lunch sometime after he woke up. His doctor and the surgeon would come by after that.

He stared at the bowl of soup in front of him. He was only getting some light food since he hadn't eaten steady food in days. Now they wanted him to try and eat, even though he told them he wasn't hungry. Not hungry at all. But they didn't care.

"You have to eat any way. It's good for you. It will help build your strength up."

Mike wondered if they had some kind of manual on what to say, that all the nurses had to learn. Or maybe it was true. He should maybe try. He didn't feel nauseated. Just so extremely weak. He wasn't going to be able to feed himself. That totally sucked. He glanced over at Harvey. He was looking at his papers again. Mike's head hurt from just looking at it. He would not be able to read a single sentence that he was sure of.

"Are you eating that?" Harvey asked him without looking up from his work.

"Not hungry."

"Are you feeling like you are going to throw up?"

"No."

"Then eat anyway." Harvey ordered him. Mike rolled his eyes but Harvey didn't notice. Mike looked back at the bowl of soup and the spoon. It seemed like an impossible task at the moment to lift his hand with the spoon to his mouth. How was he supposed to do that? He tried. And failed. He tried again. He almost tipped the bowl over. He swallowed hard. He was getting upset. Why the hell wouldn't his hand cooperate? He tried again to lift his hand, but it shook so much that he had trouble even grasping the spoon. He felt tears of frustration rise, but refused to let them fall. He was just about to push it all away, he wasn't doing this, when Harvey spoke.

"You need help with that?"

Mike looked at him for a moment then looked away. He did not want Harvey to feed him! "No." He mumbled.

"It's fine Mike. You just had surgery. You just woke up. It's okay to be weak."

"I'm not weak." He started to say, but that was so much of a lie that he almost laughed. That was all he was.

"Your body is." Harvey corrected himself. Then he shuffled closer and to Mike's horror he grabbed both the bowl and the spoon, and turned to Mike.

Mike shook his head all he could. "No… Harvey no." He tried. He was ignored. Harvey held up a spoon to his mouth. "No." Mike repeated and Harvey removed the spoon. He seemed to be thinking for a while before he held it up again.

"If it was me, if I had open heart surgery and I couldn't eat by myself afterwards, would you let me go hungry or would you help me?" He asked.

Mike sighed. "Help you." He whispered and just opened his mouth. He didn't look at Harvey.

"Thought so." Harvey said. "Look, I know this sucks. It really does, but it is what it is. I'm helping you out."

Mike didn't speak.

"You will have to return the favor for me later," Harvey went on and brought him another spoon. "You know, when I'm at some home and in my nineties and can't do anything anymore."

It made Mike smile a little. "Fine."

The day did not get better from that point on. Mike sneaked in a nap after eating almost half of the bowl, but was waken shortly after. It was now two people sitting next to his bed. Harvey was standing on the other side of the bed and had been the one who woke him.

"Hi Mike, sorry to have to wake you up like this, but we wanted to talk about your surgery. This is Dr. Stenmark, your main surgeon, remember him?"

Mike nodded. His bed had been pushed higher up so that he was almost sitting up, he still felt at some kind of disadvantage, he just didn't know what kind. Well, he could barely hold his own head up, that was one.

He was dreading to hear what these people were going to tell him. It couldn't be good news because then Harvey would have been fine with telling him about it. They started to tell him how it had gone, what they had been trying to do and had done for the most part.

"So you are saying that there is still parts of my heart that are infected?"

"Yes Mike, that's basically it." The doctor clarified.

"So it's still there?"

A nod.

"So it didn't work?"

He knew that he was repeating everything he had just told them, but he had to make sure.

"It did work, just not to the extent that we were aiming for."

"So still have cancer then!?"

"Yes you do, I'm afraid."

"So I'm still going to die?" He exclaimed. "You did it for nothing!" He was getting worked up. Apparently he had more energy than he thought.

They tried to reassure him that it was still hope, he couldn't give up, and said that this was just one step, there were more to take. He wasn't really listening though, he knew that he should because it was probably important, but he couldn't let go of the thought that it hadn't worked.

Harvey seemed to have noticed that he was zooning out, because he suddenly nudged his shoulder.

"What?" He asked, confused. But then turned to the doctors. "It really didn't work?"

"It's not a matter of working or not, Mr. Ross." His surgeon said. "In all I have to say it was a successful surgery, it's just that we didn't manage as much as we would have wanted."

Mike wanted to scream at him. "I still have cancer! I'm still screwed. You failed!" he roared.

"Mike." Harvey warned him, but Mike ignored him.

"Why the hell didn't you get it all? You were supposed to get it all!" He did yell the last part. He didn't care if he was being rude. He wanted to be mad. They were supposed to save him. It was supposed to work, and he was supposed to be okay. But that hadn't happen and he felt that he had the right to be angry, to be disappointed.

"I'm sorry, Mike. I know this is hard to hear." Dr. Lundin said.

"Hard to hear. Screw you! You were supposed to get it. You said that first I would do the chemo and then a surgery, now you tell me it didn't work. I don't want to do this anymore. You were supposed to…" He stopped. What was he doing? He breathed hard. Nothing was going to be better because he screamed at these people. They were all looking at him with pity. The surgeon looked pretty upset too. He felt himself tear up. Damn it! He didn't want them to look at him like that. He felt vulnerable laying down like this. He wanted them gone. Now.

"Leave." He breathed. No one moved. "Get out! Get the hell out!" He yelled and the surgeon closed his eyes for a moment as Mike yelled. A small part of Mike felt guilt. Dr. Lundin nodded though, and told him that he would be back later. They left after that.

"Wow." Harvey said next to him. Mike glared at him. "You want me to get out too, or…?"

"No!"

"Okay." Harvey said and stayed where he was. "Ehm… Do you want to talk or…?"

"No. Give me a minute."

Harvey nodded and Mike allowed himself to ignore him for just a bit. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. His chest hurt. He wanted to cry, but didn't. Oh god, it hadn't worked. He somehow had had the thought, or wish deep inside him that had been thinking that it would have. He had kept thinking it that he would be the one that was going to beat the odds, that he somehow would live. But it didn't seem like that was going to happen. He had just wished so much for it to just work, for it to be over so that he could get better. He wished that he could start to feel better, not feel so pathetic and helpless all the time. He didn't want to spend any more time at the hospital with all their pitiful looks and endless tests. Why couldn't it had worked?

Mike felt numb. Frozen. He just laid there staring into nothing, trying to hold his thoughts at bay until Harvey moved next to him. He stood up and then came and sat down next to Mike on the edge of his bed. Mike turned his head to look at him. Harvey looked tired. His hair was a bit messy and it looked like he could use a shave. Mike opened his mouth to speak.

"It didn't work Harvey." Mike stated quietly after they had like that for a minute.

Harvey didn't answer him at first. "I know Mike." He eventually quietly said. "I'm so sorry."

"It didn't work." Mike found himself repeating. "It didn't work." Oh god, he was going to lose it now. He suddenly wished Harvey would hug him, not just sit there. He wished Donna was there, she would get it. He felt tears come to his eyes. His word got blurry. He drew a shaky breathe.

"I'm sorry Mike." Harvey said again.

"Where is Donna?" He asked, because Harvey was still just sitting there.

"Eh…she is… I don't know." Harvey said. "Do you want me to get her?"

"I don't want you to go." Mike said.

"Okay." Harvey quietly said.

"I thought that it would work. Or I was hoping, I thought… you know?"

"I thought so too."

Mike reached out for him then. Screw it. If Harvey didn't get it, he would just have to do it himself. Because right now, Mike was seconds from breaking apart. He couldn't handle it. Worst was the disappointment. And that also made him feel stupid and naïve. He wanted to forget it for a moment. He wanted comfort. He wanted to feel just a little bit better. Now.

Harvey looked confused for a second and then took Mike's hand in his. Mike pulled. He reached for Harvey with his other hand too, the one that still was in a cast.

"Oh." Harvey said quietly and then he got it. He let go of Mike's hand. "Wait." He smiled. He then reached over and made Mike's bed rise, then he sat down closer to Mike and put his hands on Mike's shoulder. "Okay. Come here kid." He whispered. Mike felt how Harvey pulled him up towards him. He was still too weak to be of any help. Soon he was leaning against Harvey and Mike put his arms around the older man, and relaxed. He cried then. He allowed himself to do that. Because at least Harvey was nice to him, and was here. He still had Harvey. Even if he still was dying, at least Harvey was with him.

– SUITS –

Harvey could feel how Mike was trembling against him. His shoulder was starting to feel a bit wet. Mike was crying. Harvey chose to not say anything. He thought it was enough that he just hugged the kid. His heart ached for Mike. He didn't know if anything he said would help him at this time. Mike needed time to handle the bad news before they could move on. Because that was exactly what they were going to do. This was just a setback that they would have to deal with. But Mike had the right to be upset about it, because Harvey was too.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until it was out of Mike's system, he became calmer. He was leaning a bit more heavily against Harvey, like he was drained.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah." Mike confirmed, and Harvey helped him to lean back on the bed. Harvey nodded.

"It's okay." He said and saw that Mike understood that he meant what had just happened and nothing else.

"I don't know what to do now." Mike said.

"I'm sure your doctor have a plan."

Mike laughed a little at that. "Of course he does. Probably five of them."

"Yes, he seems persistent."

"You think he is pissed that I yelled at him?"

"I think he can take it. Probably happens to him all the time."

"Yeah… you think I should apologize?"

"No. I kind of think he deserved it. You did good."

Mike smiled again.

"You want to talk about it?" Harvey asked. He was prepared to do so but Mike shook his head.

"No, I don't want to think about it anymore right now."

Harvey could understand that. "I get that. If you want to do it later though…"

"Thanks."

Harvey nodded. He then took a seat at his chair again. Mike seemed fine with it. His eyes were half way closed, and he blinked slowly.

"You want to get some sleep?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah. I'm exhausted." He didn't close his eyes though.

"Can you stay?" Mike asked then.

"Of course. You don't have to ask."

"I don't want to die alone." Mike whispered then with closed eyes, and even if Harvey couldn't help but feel a twitch in his heart at that he answered immediately.

"You won't. I'm here."

"Thank you Harvey. Thank you."

"Don't thank me Mike." Harvey shook his head. He didn't want Mike to talk like that. He just didn't want to hear it, but he let him speak because Mike needed the reassurance that Harvey would be there if it came to it, but he didn't want to be thanked for it. He had to add it though.

"You are not going to die."

Mike didn't answer or open his eyes. Harvey had to quell the urge to shake him. He wasn't sure if Mike was asleep or not. What if he hadn't heard it? What if he would think that Harvey though he was going to die? Screw it. Mike could fall back asleep. He leaned forward and shook his shoulder.

"What?" Mike blinked at him.

"Did you hear?"

"Yes, Harvey."

"Good." Harvey leaned back in his chair. "Go to sleep."

Mike tiredly rolled his eyes before closing them and soon his breaths evened out. It was first then that Harvey allowed himself to relax as well. He then texted Donna to see when she was going to stop by. The two of them could use her company for a bit. He watched as Mike was sleeping as he waited for her reply. It would be really nice if she was there too, then they could all share this together. It was too much for just one person. Too much for him and too much for Mike. At least at this moment. Harvey could handle it, but everyone needs a break once in a while. He just wished Mike could have one too.

Donna arrived thirty minutes later. She came and hugged him and he hugged her back. Busy day.

"How is he?" Donna asked and sat down in Harvey's chair leaving him to get another one.

"He needed sleep." Was all Harvey could think of to say.

"Oh, that bad. So he knows now?"

"He knows."

"How did he take it?"

"He was crushed. He yelled at them. Cried. "

Donna nodded sadly, she didn't take her eyes of Mike. "What are we going to do Harvey?" She quietly asked.

"We keep being here for him, that's what we do. It's all he wants, I think."

They kept talking for some time, then sat in silence, talked some more. They moved away when a nurse came to check on Mike, but didn't leave the room. However Mike didn't wake up, so it was fine. Harvey was kind of ashamed for being relieved that Mike kept sleeping. He didn't want Mike to wake up again to realize that he still was a very sick man. It had almost seemed to have been too much for the kid. Mike had actually initiated a hug because of it. He couldn't remember a time when Mike had done that before. He had told Donna about the hug and she told him that she was proud of him for it. He was. He hadn't known that he even had that side of him inside. But apparently Mike had managed to draw it out of him.

When Mike did wake up he was feeling a bit better. He was glad that Donna was there and she received a hug as well. Donna and Mike talked for a long time giving Harvey the opportunity to go and make some calls and get something to eat.

Mike slept much. He woke up in the middle of his second night in pain. Harvey was sleeping on a cot placed in the corner next to the window. Mike had woken him by calling his name. Harvey drunkenly sat up and made his way over closer to Mike's bed.

"What's up?" He asked. He turned a light on and as soon as he saw Mike he pushed the call button. Mike's body was tense like a board and he was drenched in sweat, face flushed. Something was really wrong. Mike had his eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Hey, what is it? What hurts?" Harvey asked and tried to make contact. Mike made some undistinctive sound and the next moment a nurse was there and injected something into his IV. It had been chest pains. "Like the worst ever" Mike had described them. They had him on morphine now to help battle the pain. They said it was normal after a surgery like's Mike to be in pain afterward. Neither the pain nor the morphine made Mike's day any better. Though the drugs made him a bit loopy. Harvey preferred that than seeing Mike in so much pain that he didn't even want to talk. It was really hard seeing him like that.

During one of those morphine highs a nurse came and explained that he was there to remove Mike's cast his hand from the shooting.

"Oh, really? Finally!" Was Mike's response on that. The process of removing the cast didn't take long and Mike carefully lifted his hand as soon as it was gone to inspect it. It had healed nicely but Harvey couldn't help but gasp a little when he saw the scar remaining on Mike's hand. He would have that for the rest of his life as a reminder of that day. It was a circular scar, it almost looked like a burn mark, on both sides of his hand. After all the bullet had gone through his hand.

"Can you stretch out your fingers?" The nurse asked and reached for Mike's arm. They all watched as Mike slowly straightened out his fingers as asked.

"Yes, it feels a bit weird though."

"That's because you have had them in the same position for so long. What we need to determine is if you have any nerve damage or not."

"What? Is that a possibility?" Mike asked. "I don't that!"

"You will see a physical therapist later that will work with you. But are you in any pain?"

"No."

"That's a good sign." The nurse smiled and told them that the therapist would be by later in the afternoon.

"Does it feel nice to get rid of that thing?" Harvey asked.

"If it does! It's great."

"You have some scars though." Harvey carefully noted.

Mike studied his hand closer. "But they are kind of cool though, aren't they?" He mused. "If someone ask, I'll just say, it's a gunshot wound, no big deal."

Harvey shook his head at Mike's excitement, but Mike went on.

"It's too bad that it's in my hand though, that's not that cool. It would be more bad-ass if it was on my chest or something."

"Well, you do have another scar there." Harvey nodded towards Mike chest where he still wore a dressing from the heart surgery. It was just three days ago, and they came at least twice a day to check on the incision.

Mike tried to look down on it. "Yeah, I forgot about that." He mumbled. "You think that will look cool though?" He asked worriedly.

Harvey had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at him. "Yes, really cool Mike."

"You really think so? It's so big. I was thinking it might be a bit much, maybe a bit repulsing instead, you know with the ladies."

"No, it's good." Harvey tried. "You can always try it out on the nurses."

"Harvey…" Mike groaned. "They know."

"Yeah, you are right. Too bad."

"Yeah…" Mike agreed. He looked like he was thinking hard. "I could tell people I got stabbed. That's cooler than heart surgery." He blinked slowly.

"Don't worry kid. You are very cool." Harvey told him. Mike was about to pass out. His energy drained fast when he was on morphine. He smiled though. "Yeah…I knew it."

Mike was asleep five minutes later. Donna came by while Mike was sleeping. She had a bag with her and explained that she was going to stay with Mike a few days now. Harvey could head home or go to the office if he wanted to.

Mike was glad that Donna was there and did his best to hug her. She noticed his hand.

"Oh you have had your cast removed." She exclaimed.

"Yes I did. What do you think?" Mike held up his hand.

"Oh my god." Donna said and Mike's face fell.

"Isn't cool?" Harvey tried.

"What? No, it's awful." Donna inspected his hand closer. "Oh Mike I'm so sorry."

"But…" Mike said.

"Mike thinks it's cool." Harvey smirked and met Donna's eyes.

"Oh…" she raised an eyebrow at Harvey, Mike was busy with miserably inspecting his hand. "Well, it is a gunshot wound after all. It has a certain appeal." She added and he looked up.

"Yeah, right! I told you Harvey."

"Right."

As it got later Harvey was staring to think about leaving so he brought it up with Mike.

"Are you asking for my permission to leave?" He asked, grinning.

"I don't want you to have a meltdown because I do."

"Oh, come on. That's not cool…" Mike complained. "But I'll be fine Harvey. I know you will come back." Mike said.

Harvey nodded. "Of course I will. Call me if there is anything."

"Oh just leave, will you? Mike and I have lots to do." Donna ushered him out and Mike laughed.

"What? I'm not invited?"

"No you're not."

"Bye Harvey." Mike waved, with his left hand. When Harvey left he actually felt good about it. The constant worry that lived in him now a days were almost entirely quelled. He still gave Mike a call later that evening. Everything was still fine.

A few days passed. Harvey got caught up on some cases and got some stuff done while Donna was at the hospital with Mike. He dropped by at lunch the next day. Mike was doing better and got stronger, had more energy. He still hadn't been out of bed, but he could sit up and was awake for longer periods of time. However, five days after his surgery they had a setback.

That morning Mike took a long time waking up, and Harvey noticed that the morning nurse seemed to be a bit worried. He asked her what was wrong, but she only told him that she was going to get Mike's doctor there.

Mike was groggy when he was awaken and then proceed with throwing up. Harvey was left to wait in Mike's room as they took him away for some test. Mike was pretty miserable when he came back.

"This sucks." He mumbled and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Harvey sighed.

"It's hard to breathe." Mike said, and the nurse that was still there soon got him hooked up on a nasal cannula. She mentioned for Harvey to come closer to Mike.

"He had a rough time earlier. He is pretty nauseated, so if you keep this ready for him it would be great." She mentioned for an emesis basin on the small table next to the bed.

"Yeah, sure." Harvey promised.

The rest of the day was not pleasant for either of them. Mike did threw up a couple of times and the rest of the time he tried to sleep. Harvey let him hold his hand and Mike held on to it and wouldn't let go. He didn't speak much and Harvey quietly spoke to him, not demanding answers. Donna stopped by as well and spent an hour stroking Mike's head. He thanked her a bunch of times. Harvey got a few thanks as well. He could admire Mike for that. Feeling that bad but still managing to thank them and letting them know that he appreciated them being there.

– SUITS –

Thank you for reading! I love reviews! Thank you so much to all of you who have done that. So what do you think of this chapter. It got pretty emotional, again :p But that's my favorite thing to write. I have a few more plans for the story, but I'm thinking of ending some time in the future. I just have to figure out the end first. If you have any ideas of other things that you would like to read about, let me know :)