The transfer from Dallas to New York was smooth. Deakins had talked with the admissions office and he'd convinced them to place the two men in a room together. He felt better having them both in the same place, and something told him it was reassuring for them and their partners as well. Logan handled the transfer with ease. They weren't willing to take any chances with Goren, though, especially after the incident with his rib. So they medicated him heavily and he was never even aware of the transfer.

They arrived in New York on Wednesday, in the early evening. Logan had dinner with his best girl sitting in his lap, looking over from time to time at her sleeping daddy. Every time she did, Logan would whisper soft reassurances in her ear. "Daddy will be playing with you again in no time, bunny. He just needs to sleep now so he can get better."

He cut up half of his chicken cutlet for her and let her have all of his corn and his apple juice. Naturally, she laid claim to his pudding and he let her have that, too. Eames just shook her head. "You spoil her, you know that, Logan?"

"Yep. It's in my job description as her uncle."

"Apparently, it's the same in her father's job description."

"It is," he answered, taking a bite of chicken and winking at her. "I saw it."

She laughed. "You're an idiot, Mike."

"Yeah, I know." He nodded toward the other bed. "How long they gonna keep him out?"

"They told me he'd be out for a good eight hours."

"It was a friggin three-and-a-half hour flight. Why'd they do that to him?"

"They were worried about putting any more stress on his system, and they didn't want him in any more pain than he already was."

"Great. So when you and Maggie leave, I'll have nothing to do."

"Don't you think you've had enough excitement for awhile?"

"I don't want anything exciting. Just someone to play cards with and talk to."

Maggie tipped her head back to look up at him. "I'll play cards with you, Uncle Mike. I can play Go Fish."

"Great, sweetheart. Finish eating and we'll play Go Fish."

He looked at Eames in time to catch her laughing quietly as she crossed the room to her husband's bedside, and he smiled, kissing Maggie's head. Go Fish sounded like a great idea, as long as Maggie was the one he was playing it with.

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He groaned as pain bit into his consciousness...again. This was really getting old. He was tired of hurting. He shifted his position and stifled another groan. Opening his eyes, he could only make out vague shapes in the darkness. It was night, and he didn't want to wake Logan. Pushing himself up onto the pillows, he became aware of the differences in the room, and he realized they must already have been tranferred back to New York. Well, that was something. One step closer to home...

"Bobby?"

"Alex? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to be here when you woke up."

"Oh. I, uh..." He seemed to change his mind about what he wanted to say. "Where are the kids?"

"They're spending the night at my sister's."

"Good." He closed his eyes, waiting for a wave of pain to pass. "Y-you're due back at work soon, aren't you?"

"Next week. Friday is Bishop's last day and I'm back Monday. I'll partner with Carolyn until Mike comes back, and then I'll be back on a desk until you come back."

"I..." he sighed, again changing his mind and stopping, trying to think of something else to say. But nothing came to mind, so he fell silent.

She had risen from her chair and moved closer to the bed. He could make out the outline of her body in the dim light that came from the machine on the other side of his bed. He could see her face, but he couldn't make out her features well. With no way to gauge her emotions, he was tentative about what to say. The only thing that came to mind was to apologize, but he remembered how well that went over last time. Absently, he rubbed a hand over his ribcage, taking a deep breath and choking back a groan of pain at the fire that flared through his chest. "Do you want me to get a nurse?" she asked.

"No. Not right now. I want...to spend a little time with you."

Leaning closer, she gave him a soft kiss, reassuring him. She had not missed his hesitancy, or his inclination to stay with safe subjects. She heard him move in the bed, heard the change in his breathing and knew he hurt. Easing herself onto the bed, she sat close, her hip against his, her knee resting lightly against his side. His hand came to rest on her calf and she ran her fingers along his forearm. "You know I'm sorry," he said softly. "I won't tell you that again."

She didn't miss the fact that his other arm was braced against his chest. His ribs must be really hurting him. She sighed. "Bobby, I don't want you in so much pain. Let me get your nurse..."

He tightened his grip on her calf. "Just sit with me for a minute," he whispered. "I..."

Again, he trailed off. She was troubled by his uncertainty. "Bobby, do you have any idea how much I love you?"

When he didn't answer, she smiled warmly. "It's not a trick question, you know."

"I...I don't know what you're looking for, Alex."

"Just an answer. An honest answer."

"Then, um...apparently not. I...I thought I did...but..." He looked down, away from the shadow of her face, and fell silent again.

"Ok, this isn't going to work," she grumbled. "I need to see your face, and I think you need to see mine." She slid off the bed and pulled the curtain divider along the side of the bed, so the light wouldn't wake Logan. Flipping a switch, she turned on the light that shined down on his bed. Stepping to the end of the curtain, she looked toward Logan. He was still sleeping. Quietly, she returned to her place beside Bobby. Pressing her hip more firmly into his, she sighed. "Better?"

He nodded. Seeing her face, he could better tell what she was feeling. And he now realized the if he kept his movements to a minimum, the pain wasn't so bad. "What do you want from me, Alex?" he whispered.

"Just your attention."

He tried to moisten his lips, but his mouth was as dry as his lips were. Pulling herself onto one knee and leaning across his waist, she reached for the pitcher of water on the tray table that was on the other side of the bed. His hand came up to lightly tickle her waist, which she absolutely did not expect. Jerking her arm, she dropped the plastic pitcher, which hit the bedrail as it fell to the floor, dumping ice cold water over half the bed. He jerked away from the cold wetness, hitting the leg she was balancing on and collapsing her body across his. Pain shot through his chest, but even so, he was trying hard not to laugh. That hurt even worse. "Shit!" Eames growled. She poked him in the stomach. "What did you do that for?"

He wasn't sure which pain was worse, that caused by his sudden movement or the effort not to laugh. With a deeper breath than he was used to taking, he focused on the pain to bring himself under control, but a chuckle manage to escape before the pain overwhelmed his amusement. From the other side of the curtain, an annoyed voice growled, "What the hell are you two doing over there?" A pause. "On second thought, never mind. I don't think I want to know."

Annoyed, Eames jumped off the bed and yanked the curtain back. "You got something to say, Logan?"

He looked at her, then at Goren, who was trying hard to look innocent. "I guess not," he answered.

Goren said quietly, "Maybe you should get the nurse now, Alex."

"Did you get hurt?" she asked, concerned.

He shook his head. "No, but my chest is killing me now, and I'm all wet."

She looked at him for a moment before she started to laugh. "Aw, no," he muttered. "Don't do that to me."

When Logan joined in, he knew he was in trouble. He took a couple of slow breaths, trying not to laugh. She stepped to his side and pressed her head against his. "Serves you right for tickling me," she whispered.

He kissed her. "Go get the nurse," he whispered back. "Please."

Running a finger lightly along his jaw, she sighed, kissed him and headed out of the room. Logan was shaking his head. "What did you do?"

"Me? She was reaching across me for the water."

"And?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't help it." He sighed. "I've missed her, Mike."

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I know you have."

The door opened and a nurse came in, looking from him to the wet sheets and the water on the floor. He grinned at her. She tried to look stern. "You just woke up, detective. What happened?"

Before he could reply, Eames answered, "That was my fault. I was getting him a drink of water and I dropped it. Sorry about the mess."

With a smile, the nurse disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a few towels, which she dropped onto the wet floor. Then she pulled a syringe from her pocket and injected its contents into his IV line. "Let me know if that doesn't help. I can give you something else with it if you need it."

He nodded. Eames smiled at her. "Thank you. I'll clean this up."

"I'll be right back with clean sheets."

"Thank you."

Goren had leaned back on his pillow as the medicine kicked in, making his head spin. She eyed him. "Better?"

He nodded. "As long as you don't make me start laughing again."

Smiling, she cleaned up the water from the floor, picking up the pitcher and setting it on the tray table. The nurse returned quickly. By the time she and Eames had finished moving him around to change everything, he was in a great deal of pain, in spite of the medicine she had already given him. Anticipating it, she had brought the additional medicine, which she gave him. "Let me know if you need anything else," she said with a soft smile as she left the room.

Eames grinned at Logan as she stepped up to her husband's bedside. She watched him struggle against the medicine and shook her head slowly, leaning over and kissing him lightly. "Go to sleep, Bobby."

He needed no further encouragement. Squeezing her hand lightly, he stopped fighting and let himself sleep.

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When he woke again, it was mid-morning. Eames was playing cards with Logan. Logan was the first to notice that he was watching them. With a grin, he said, "You should have been awake yesterday. I got to play Go Fish with Maggie...for two-and-a-half hours."

Goren smiled wearily. "Been there, done that," he replied.

Eames laid her cards down on the tray and stepped away from it. "Don't," she warned as Logan's hand hovered over her cards.

He laughed. "Like you're gonna come back and finish the game."

She stepped up to the bed and looked into Goren's face. "You all right?"

"Sure. It's just sore right now."

"They've been in every few hours to give you something. They plan to get you up this afternoon."

"Sounds like fun."

"I'm going to go and get the kids so they can come up to visit you, but I wanted to give you something to think about before I go."

Logan groaned. "What did I do to you, Alex? I even let you win that last hand. Now you're gonna give him something to think about and then leave?"

"Be quiet, Mike."

He gathered the cards together and grumbled to himself as he shuffled the deck.

Goren wasn't sure he wanted to think the way she wanted him to, not right now. Reaching toward her, he gently played with the hem of her shirt. She pushed his hand away, but he was persistent. "Cut it out and be serious, Bobby. Just for a few minutes."

"I don't want to be serious, Alex. I want...I just want you, okay? I know I caused you a hell of a lot of worry, and I wish there had been another way." His fingers touched her lips before she could answer. "I know you think there was, but we didn't. We did what we had to do."

She looked toward the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts and debated the best way to say what she had to say. "I understand that. But there's something you haven't yet realized."

"What's that?"

"The last time was saw you was Christmas. That was a month ago. Then, you vanished. Think about that, Bobby. I want you to think about how you would have felt if Carolyn and I had been the ones to just up and disappear, not giving you a single clue to our whereabouts. Not one. How would you have felt, having no idea about whether we were dead or alive? You think about that. You put yourself in my place now. And while you're at it...toss your daughter into the mix...and the son you don't know yet." There was more, but she stopped herself. She leaned over and kissed him. "I'm going to get the kids while you wrap your brain around that scenario. We'll discuss it this afternoon after I get back." She hesitated at the door. "And don't even think you can get out of this with a damn apology because it's not going to work. I know you're sorry. I want more than that from you."

Logan watched her leave, hollaring after her. "Thanks, Alex!" He shifted his gaze over to Goren, who was frowning. "Bobby?"

Goren looked at him, his eyes dark with a look he couldn't quite interpret. "I...I never thought of that, Mike. I-I should have. I was so fucking miserable without them, without her, that I never once thought about what it might be like for her, with me not there. I wanted so badly to protect her...I never once thought about what she must be going through, not knowing where we were or what we were up to. How...how could I have...And Maggie..." He groaned softly as the full impact of her request hit him. He swore softly. "What did I do?"