The pain in his chest was reduced to a dull throbbing, but he was okay with that. He remained still, breathing carefully, listening to the sounds of the room around him. Judging from the tone of his voice, Logan had to be talking to Tommy. He'd really worry about the guy if he wasn't. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He had no way of knowing how long he'd been out, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He tried to take a deep breath, but that didn't work too well and he coughed, groaning softly when the throb developed a sharp edge, but it faded quickly and it didn't take him with it. "Daddy?"

He turned his head and looked at the little face that watched him through the bedside railing. "Hey, mouse," he said softly.

"You been sleepin' a lot, Daddy."

"Sorry." He motioned with his head. "Come on up here, baby."

She scurried over to the chair beside the bed and pushed it closer. Climbing onto it, she was able to climb up onto the bed and scramble into his arms. He gently settled her on his stomach and she said, "You was gone for a long time, Daddy."

"I know I was."

She frowned. "Don't you like my baby?"

"Your baby? Maggie, I love your brother, just like I love you. He had nothing to do with why I was gone, and neither did you."

"Was you workin'?"

"No...no, I wasn't working." He sighed. "Uncle Mike and I had something we had to do, and on the way to doing it, we had a car accident."

"So Gramma was wrong?"

"About what? What did Gramma tell you?"

"She telled me somebody was tryin' to hurt you and Mommy was helpin' them."

He closed his eyes. Damn. Alex hadn't said anything about his mom telling Maggie that. Looking back at his little daughter, he said, "What did you think when Gramma told you that?"

"I didn' unnerstand why anybody would wanna hurt you."

"What about what she told you about Mommy?"

"Mommy wouldn' ever hurt you. Gramma hadda be wrong about that."

He nodded. "Gramma was wrong about all of it. When Gramma tells you something that troubles you, always ask Mommy or me, okay?"

"Okay, I will, Daddy."

She frowned and stared down at his chest. He closed his hands over hers. "What's wrong?"

"Ev'eything was...wrong when you was gone."

"Like what?"

"Like...ev'eything. I couldn' be happy no more, Daddy. I missed you. I jus' wanted you to come home."

He pulled her down onto his chest, ignoring the pain that protested the pressure, and gently ran his hand over her hair. "I'm sorry, Maggie. I never meant to make you or Mommy sad."

Maggie looked up at him, reaching up to wipe a tear from his cheek. "It's better now, Daddy. I'm happy, an' Mommy and I laugh an' play again. That was hard when you was gone." She looked thoughtful. "Can you tell Tommy he can be big now an' play with me?"

"Well, he still needs a little more time, mouse. But Uncle Mike and I are back now."

She sat up, looking hopeful. "Are you gonna leave the hopsital soon?"

"I hope so. Uncle Mike will leave first, I'm sure."

"Why do you gotta stay?"

"I just need to get better."

"An' you won' leave no more?"

"Not like this, no." He raised his voice so Logan could hear him. "Of course, if Uncle Mike wasn't such a menace behind the wheel..."

"Hey, hey, hey..." Logan protested. "Don't go dumping this in my lap there, pal. I was just along for the ride."

"You were driving."

"You were the reason we were there at all."

"Okay, you two," came a voice from the doorway. Eames looked from Logan to Goren, then frowned. "Maggie, how did you get up there?"

"I climbed. Daddy telled me to come up."

She looked at the chair, then at her husband. "Causing trouble again, Goren?"

"Not me. I learned my lesson."

"Somehow I doubt that. But I do have a message for you from Doctor Carson. He said if you don't quit scaring them, he'll send you back to intensive care. And I'll let him."

"I didn't do it intentionally."

"Well, if we're both on the same page here, I'm done discussing it." When he didn't answer, she asked, "What's wrong?"

He just shook his head, focusing his attention on the little girl still perched on his stomach. Eames came over to the bed and lifted Maggie up. "Go say good bye to Uncle Mike. We need to get going."

She kissed Maggie's cheek and set her on the floor. Then she looked at Goren, who watched the little girl trot across the room, push the other chair over to Logan's bed and climb up to hug him and talk to her little brother. Eames touched his chin and he shifted his gaze toward her. "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing I didn't know. But hearing her tell me she couldn't be happy..." He sighed softly. "I'd rather have you hit me again."

"What did you expect? Did you think we just went on with life as normal? Tom was the only one able to do that. You know how much you mean to Maggie, even if you don't get how much you mean to me."

He frowned. "How can you say that? Alex..." He closed his eyes for a moment. Finally, he said, "If I hadn't nearly died, I would have called you."

Silently, she studied him. "You think I'm being unfair?"

"No. But I don't think you're giving me any credit here. We weren't on vacation. It's not like I did any of this on purpose. Okay, maybe I should have let you know we were heading to Denver and then to Austin. But I didn't know what we were dealing with, or how it would impact you if I tried to contact you. So would you please stop being mad at me and let it go?"

"I'm trying. Do you want me to stay away until I get there?"

"No. Please don't do that."

She laughed softly. "How long do you think it will take me to get there?"

"I don't care if you're there tomorrow. Don't stay away. Don't keep the kids away. Just...I need you, all right?"

Leaning toward him, she gently kissed him. "Okay. I promise we won't stay away. But you need to get out of here as fast as you can. I hate hospitals."

"That makes two of us. I'll do what I can."

From the other side of the room, Logan said, "Quit making him think and he'll get out of here sooner."

"You really want me to shut his brain down, Logan?"

"I didn't say that! Just quit giving him shi---stuff to think about."

She walked across to his bed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "If you ever change, Mike, I'll kick your ass," she whispered into his ear. She lifted Maggie and set her on the floor. "Go hug Daddy and tell him good night."

Taking Tommy from Logan after letting him kiss the baby, she smiled and laid a hand on his cheek. "Keep an eye on him, please."

"I try. I promise I do."

Maggie had climbed back up onto the bed and was sitting in her father's lap. When Eames laid the baby in his arms, Maggie held her brother's hand. "I been helpin' Mommy and Grandpa take care-a him. He's a good baby, Daddy."

"So were you."

He kissed the side of the baby's soft head and let Alex take him back. Maggie jumped into a hug and squeezed his neck. "I'll be back, Daddy."

"I'm counting on it."

"I love you."

He held her for a few more moments before he let her go and watched her climb off the bed. "I love you, too, mouse."

Eames kissed him. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Of course. Behave yourself."

He sighed and watched her leave with the kids. Maggie stopped in the doorway and turned, blowing them each a kiss. Then she spun and ran after her mother.

Logan looked over at his friend. "That kid's too much."

"Would you want her any other way?"

"Not a chance, man."

He smiled. "Me, neither."