A.N.: Here I am again to provide you with yet another chapter. Have fun reading it!

Chapter 25:

Dr. Collins was surprised – it was the simplest, most basic but also most truthful way to put her feelings. She was simply surprised by her patient's recovery. Being honest with herself she hadn't had much of any hope. She had already been preparing herself to call his superior and inform him about his fellow agent's death. She had never expected him to recover that quickly.

However calling it a miracle or a gift, wasn't right. She couldn't even imagine how hard all this was for her patient – the pain, the memories, the helplessness and the constant dependance on others. She had caught herself in thinking about the question, if death maybe had been the better way for him. At least he wouldn't have to go through all this right now, wouldn't be forced to cope.

She knew it was hard to think it and she had blamed herself for it, but still there was some truth this thought. He had lost himself – everything he had been, he had believed in had died during that days of his horrible assault and nobody could ever give it back to him. He wasn't the same person any more and no matter how hard the doctors tried and how hard he tried, he never would be.

The life he had known had ended that day and he was left with the challenge of coping with that cruel fact and start a new one. He needed to learn to accept all this pain and pull through it. She herself thought of this task as barely manageable.

But he was stubborn – she had seen it several times now since he was under her care. He hadn't been willing to give up, he had been fighting and maybe he was strong enough to fight some more... She had almost lost him twice already, but he still hadn't given up and she felt like it was her responsibility to not give up on him.

The word miracle came back to her mind – the definition called it an unexplainable event opposing with common events – and that was exactly what this was all about. Danny Taylor's recovery was beyond her explanations, even beyond her understanding. It seemed to her like he had been granted a second chance in life and it was up to him to take it now.

As she remembered the moment she had first seen him – his tortured, bruised, bloodied still form lying on the ground in front of the E.R., dumped like some sort of waste or a dead animal, she wasn't able to put it in any other way. It had been a miracle...

Flashback

She had taken some time for a short break in her double shift down in E.R. and was standing outside the emergency entrance with a cup of coffee in her hand. It was 2 am in the morning and she really wished to get some sleep. Of course she couldn't do that and the coffee was definitely helping against the urgent wish.

She was shivering slightly from the cold outside, but she was grateful on the other hand. It helped her clear her mind and stay focused on her job. So far it had been a quiet night, which really hadn't made it much easier for her to keep herself awake.

She was warming her hands on the styrofoam cup and breathed in deeply, taking the cool night air into her lungs. It was a wonderful change from the sterile smell of formaldehyde inside the emergency room. And she was enjoying the silence out here – the E.R. was a hectic place – quietness was something one would never experience in there.

Her moment of silent gathering was suddenly interrupted by the screeching of tires nearby. Probably an ambulance, braking at the corner to the hospital to get to the E.R. She sighed inwardly – she would finally be provided with some work for this night.

What she heard next caused her to frown in surprise – she could hear something, apparently a body, fall to the ground and next a door slam shut. The car's motor roared as they speeded away again, leaving her completely astonished about what had just happened.

Without thinking she hurried away from the entrance to the spot she believed the sounds had come from, dropping her cup of coffee to a nearby garbage can. The corner to the hospital entrance was completely dark and her eyes needed some seconds to get used to the surrounding around her.

She had been right – it was a body and the sight of it caused her to swallow hard. He was lying on his side, his body bruised and covered in dark stains of dried blood. Both his legs were lying in a sickening angle, which told her that they were definitely broken. She reached out a hand, feeling for a pulse but she couldn't detect one.

She was sure he had been alive when whoever had brought him here, had dropped him off the car. Otherwise they wouldn't have troubled themselves with bringing him here. She gently turned him on his back, firmly holding his neck in position, hoping that she wouldn't aggravate his injuries.

She knew she couldn't help him on her own – he needed a qualified team of nurses and doctors and an E.R. trauma room, but neither could she leave him alone. She did the only other reasonable thing she could do without leaving him alone. She cried out for help at the top of her lungs, hoping for someone to hear her.

„Help me! I need help!"

She didn't bother to listen for anyone to come and react to her words. One of the nurses had assured her she would follow her outside a few minutes later – she most definitely had heard her. She however didn't have time to waste. She immediately started CPR hoping to be able to help the severely injured man.

She felt relief wash over her as she heard footsteps of someone rushing to her. It was the young nurse she had been talking to, she had heard her calling out. Dr. Collins didn't bother to look up at her, going on to try to save the injured man's life.

„Dr. Collins – what happened?"

„Get me two more nurses, some canulas, a bag of salina, a respirator and a gurney, Rachel. And hurry!"

The young nurse – whom Dr. Collins, as she had to admit, didn't know very well – obviously had some E.R. experience. She didn't ask any questions or waste any time but turned on her heels and ran back to the E.R. entrance doors. Dr. Collins checked on her patient's vitals once again, but so far there hadn't been any progress. Some minutes later Rachel returned with the supplies requested, one of the other E.R. doctors asking her about the situation.

„How is he?"

„No pulse, no breathing – that's all I can tell so far. He was dropped off by someone about five to ten minutes ago, since that I tried to stabilize him without any success so far. We need to get him on that gurney and inside, I can't do anything for him around here. Come on, let's hurry!"

They followed her orders quickly and efficiently, getting an IV line going and a respirator working. Her patient was gently lifted onto a gurney and rushed into the E.R. while they were still trying to stabilize him. She was relieved when the effort was finally rewarded with some success.

„Dr. Collins – I got a pulse."

It took them almost another hour of work – tubing her patient, getting the wounds and broken bones crucially set, checking for internal bleedings and cleaning the wounds. She didn't even realize who she was treating, until one of the nurses started cleaning the wounds on her patient's face. She couldn't help but stop in what she was doing for a moment, looking at him.

„What is it, Dr. Collins?"

„I know this man..."

End of flashback