Disclaimer: see first chapter.

A/N: You guys reading and reviewing are the best! – Bless you all! (When in Jerusalem... bless all the time...)

("anything like this is in Hebrew")

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Harm knew that getting out of the hospital wouldn't be easy. His form wasn't exactly what you'd call indistinct, a fact only intensified by his slight limp and occasional dizziness. The first challenge was getting his cloths on, something he vowed never to take for granted again. Thankfully, since it was Friday evening the medical crew was kept to a minimum so it was only minutes until the corridor was clear.

Running a hand through his hair a couple of times, he started ahead, mentally warding off anyone who dared stop him. His slow, careful walks the past few days gave him some familiarity with the floor, specifically the exit. Almost out the door he received a curious look from a nurse that hurried past him. The adrenaline covering for his heart's missed beat, he flashed a smile, kept his back ramrod straight and kept on walking, seemingly unaffected. Behind his back, the nurse cast him another glance, smiled to herself and went on about her work. Only two hours later when she found an empty bed that should have been occupied did she realize what she'd missed. She sat on the abandoned sheets and tried to figure out how to explain she let a patient just walk out of the ward.

-----

Outside, in the chilly air of Mt. Scopus, Harm took as deep a breath as he could manage to rid his lungs of the stuffy hospital environment. He was just about to start down the road when his pant pocket started ringing.

"Rabb."

"Sir! Where are you!" Harm almost smiled as his mind's eye drew him a picture of what Gil's face must've looked like at that exact moment.

"I'm just outside the ICU, walking towards the exit." True to his word, Harm started walking. He took all of two steps when he saw a car speeding in his direction.

"There you are!"

Carefully lowering himself into the vehicle, Harm shot a frantic Gil a calming grin. "You trying to help me escape or help me get wheeled back into ICU?" He joked.

Gil smiled warily and, with a bit more care, turned the car around and out of the hospital grounds.

"Is Colonel-"

"She opened her eyes." Saying it out loud for the first time made the news sink further in and elicited a full blown smile. "She opened her eyes." He repeated.

"Wow, that's great! Did she say anything? Is she okay? I can't believe I wasn't there! Tal probably freaked out, not that I wouldn't, I mean..."

This time, Harm had no intention of cutting the kid's ramblings. His exuberance felt right. His lung capacity was downright amazing. However, the shrill sound of the car phone ringing did stop the musings a couple of minutes into them.

"Hello?"

("Gil! It's Tal, listen, she-")

("Opened her eyes, I know.") Gil smiled at Harm.

("But how-")

"Hey, Tal." Harm spoke up as Gil's grin threatened to split his face to two.

"Rabb! Are you crazy!" Giving no heed to his affirmative reply, Tal went on. "You can't just walk out of the hospital, there's a reason they haven't released you yet! It's not like she'd going anywhere-"

"How is she?" Harm interrupted.

"Asleep." Tal answered on a sigh. "The doctor on duty checked her and seemed satisfied but I'm guessing the real tests and answers will come Sunday morning."

Gil nodded in agreement. "As long as she's not in danger, they won't do anything over the weekend."

"So you're coming here?" Tal asked.

"Yeah, give us half an hour." Gil responded after a moment's calculation.

"I'll be waiting."

-----

Ignoring all his physical limitations, Harm practically ran out of the car and into the hospital. He'd gotten directions from Gil on the way over and following them, along with his instincts, he made it to room 319 in no time at all.

Tal was standing outside the room waiting for him. She flashed him a quick smile, but didn't even bother talking and just pointed to the bed at the end of the room. Returning the smile, Harm breezed past her, still at full gallop. He stopped abruptly at the foot of the bed.

He'd been so caught up in getting out of his hospital room and to Mac's that he hadn't thought of preparing himself to the sight of her.

Since his lungs hurt from the stress he'd put on them in any case, it took him longer than it should have to notice he was holding his breath.

He didn't have any recollection of moving but he found himself sitting beside Mac, her hand in both of his and against his lips.

With his eyes closed all he could feel was the warmth of her skin and the pulse of her blood flowing slow and steady. It was the most comforting sensation he'd felt in a while.

Finally releasing her hand, but keeping contact, he moved his attention to the rest of her body. Her face still showed signs of bruising but they were definitely healing. Her head was no longer bandaged, which left her hair splayed on the pillow. Besides the IV drip and ECG beeping away there was nothing more to suggest the severity of her injuries, though he knew from Ester that there were various bruises hidden by the hospital gown.

"I'm here, Mac." Harm whispered to her when he found his voice. "I'm here and I'm not leaving you again." He couldn't get anymore words out, his heart was still pounding, the rest of him struggling to keep up.

Unbeknownst to him, Tal and Gil, wearing matching smiles, were watching him from the doorway.

("I still think we need to stay with them. There's a real possibility we're going to have to admit Rabb here if he doesn't take care of himself, which he probably won't. Someone's gotta look after him too.") Tal turned to Gil when he didn't respond.

("You don't think-") She started to ask when Gil suddenly came to life.

("Yeah, I agree, but we'll have to change the shifts, I'm going back to the army on Sunday...") He said distractedly.

("We'll be smarter once the weekend is over, but I think we can leave them alone at night, so there shouldn't be a problem.") Once again, Gil was absorbed in something other than their conversation. ("Gil...?")

("He's totally in love with her.") Gil finally responded in amazement and made Tal laugh.

("Yeah, it's pretty obvious, huh?")

After a few parting words to Harm, who failed to notice anything beyond the boundaries of one hospital bed, Gil left Tal alone so he would be able to come the next morning and take over.

-----

The night passed without much incident. Mac didn't open her eyes again and eventually Harm fell asleep beside her, while Tal kept a watchful eye over both.

Harm woke up with a start, unsure of his surroundings. Focusing on a pair of brown spheres brought him out of the fog.

"Mac!" One hand tightly wrapped around hers, as the other reached to caress her cheek. Nothing happened. No recognition flashed in her eyes, no movement was made on her part to squeeze back on his hand or lean into his caress.

Before even allowing himself to analyze the situation, a feeling of dread settled deep inside him.

"Mac, can you hear me?" There was desperation in the words. "Can you..." His voice broke on the question. A sliver of hope shone through as he thought of the possibility that she still had no control of all her muscles. "Blink twice if you understand me, Mac."

Nothing.

His heart shattered, he could swear he heard the crash. This was losing her on a completely different level. She opened her eyes! It must be an improvement! But she wasn't responding at all, so what was he supposed to think?

Tal had seen and heard the awakening of both partners and walked back into the room with a nurse and a doctor in tow before Harm could sink any further.

The nurse once again asked them kindly to give them some room, and Tal had to physically drag Harm away.

Trying to get Harm to talk or take his eyes off of the curtain surrounding Mac's bed was like trying to find logic in politics – a complete and utter waste of time. As soon as the curtain was drawn back, Harm was drawn in – the doctor practically walked into him.

("Wow, sir, calm down. Are you a family member?")

("He speaks English, and yes.") Tal jumped in before Harm could respond. She knew her little lie would make things easier on Harm and she could always claim she didn't know.

"Let's go sit down, sir." The young doctor was surprisingly fluent in English, accent and all. He took Harm's arm and lead him out of the room and to the chairs in the hall. Only Tal, who stayed back, noticed Harm's glance in Mac's direction.

"Sir?" the harried looking doctor finally managed to get Harm's full attention. As penetrating eyes fixed on his tired ones, he regretted volunteering for duty that Saturday.

"My name is Dr. Felner. Dr. Reut is actually overseeing your wife's case but she'll only be here tomorrow, so I'll fill you in." The word wife registered much later, it was only at that point that Harm even noticed the doctor was holding Mac's chart and scanning through it. He waited mutely for the guy to go on.

"As you know, she's lost a lot of blood. The ensuing lack of oxygen to her brain, along with the bruises she sustained to it caused the coma. The thing about comas is that we never know when the person will come out and what the damage will be – every person reacts different-"

"But she opened her eyes!" Harm could help but add to what was becoming a somber description.

"Yes, which means she came out of the coma." Dr. Felner held a hand to stop Harm's expected interruption. "Now, from our preliminary tests she doesn't seem to be responding to external stimuli-"

"But-"

"Which means she's in a vegetative coma. I'm very sorry, sir." The word 'vegetative' repeated itself in Harm's mind a few times before it died down. He never thought it could sound so much like a death sentence.

"Aren't there tests... ways of treatment... anything you can do?" He wasn't ready to give up and he didn't like the look on the doctor's face - it was pity mixed with exasperation.

"As I said, Dr. Reut will be in tomorrow, she'll be able to give you more details and tell you what tests will be made and what more can be done. Again, I'm sincerely sorry, sir."

The young man got up, immediately followed by Harm who was completely ready to put up a fight... but he didn't know what argument to use. He was left watching the young man's back as he walked away.

Very slowly he walked back into the room. Seeing Mac's eyes were still open, Tal's expectant look was momentarily ignored as he rushed back to his earlier position.

"Mac." He couldn't stop saying her name, unconsciously trying to remind her who she was and had to come back to be.

After a few calming breaths, he spoke again, telling both Mac and Tal what the doctor had said.

"No matter what they say, I know you're aware of everything that's going on, Mac. I know you'll come out of it. Be the stubborn jarhead I know and love, come back and prove them all wrong!" He whispered fiercely.

Time, with its tendency to go one despite it all, passed and the day progressed. Gil came and Tal left, phone calls were kept to a minimum, Ester and Simon came to visit when the evening came and Harm's attitude was separately defined to two distinct times – when Mac's eyes were open as opposed to when the rest of the universe came into a somewhat hazy focus. When latter times came, Harm could be persuaded to eat or rest or walk around, but only for short periods because he didn't want to miss any waking moments.

-----

Leaving Ester at Mac's side, chattering at her in Farsi, Simon was finally able to drag Harm away and took him outside for a few breaths of fresh air and a talk.

"What about Sarah's family? Do they intend to come?"

"No... no, her only family is her uncle and he can't come."

"She's family to you, isn't she?" Simon commented quietly. Harm only nodded his head in the affirmative as they continued walking. Suddenly, Harm stopped in his tracks. Simon looked back to find a look of utter shock on Harm's face.

"What is it?"

"I can't believe I didn't think of it... they must be going stir crazy..." Harm was mumbling to himself.

"What? What do you mean?" Simon was lost but Harm was already dialing a number on his cell phone and just mumbled something like "I'll explain later" as he waited for his call to be answered.

Simon could only hear the one side of the conversation.

"Bud! No... no, nothing new so far... yeah, I'm okay, listen Bud, I could use your help. Yeah, I need you to find out anything you can about comas, vegetative state, recovery from them, anything and everything." Harm stayed silent a while but his eyes were twinkling, "yeah, thanks, Bud, call me when you have the information."

Ending the call, Harm turned his attention to Simon once again and explained. "They're all our family, back home, they're feeling just as helpless as I am. Bud will find a way we can help Mac, I know he will."

Determination once again solidifying his steps, he turned and headed back to room 319, a perplexed older man in his wake.

-----

It was 5 AM when the phone rang, but Harm wasn't sleeping. Tal on the other hand was startled awake but calmed immediately when she heard the beginning of the conversation.

"Hey Bud, what do you have for me."

"Well, sir," an excited Bud began, "there's a lot of information out there, but I found one source that seemed reliable and just to make sure I verified it with the head neurologist at Bethesda."

"That's great, Bud, I knew I could trust you to find a way." He could just imagine Bud beaming on the other side of the world.

"Well the definition of a coma is a profound state of unconsciousness. It can be caused by many things and the onset varies between people. There's more unknown about it than there is known."

"Bud, to the point. When are people classified as being in a vegetative coma?"

"A vegetative coma is diagnosed when a person is awake, as in out of the coma, but still unresponsive to external stimuli. It's made about three months after the onset of the coma if the neurological-"

"Wait a minute, three months?" Harm caught the anomaly in Bud's words.

"Yes sir, you see the comatose person will open his/her eyes as soon as 3 days after the injury and at the most after a month, but a vegetative coma can't be diagnosed because it takes time for other systems to catch on, the eyes are the first to start responding."

If that morning was losing Mac all over again, Bud words brought her back to him once more and the joy filling him was indescribable. He breathed his thanks to the heavens.

"Sorry, sir?"

"Nothing, Bud, that's great. Now, are there any ways of expediting the recovery?"

"Yes, I found this site on the internet that claims that various kinds of external stimuli help even those who've been comatose for very extensive periods of time, Dr. Wexler at Bethesda seems to agree."

"Okay, what do I do?" Harm was eager, finally something to do!

"Do you have an e-mail address or a fax machine I can send all this to? I mean I could read it but..."

"Just give me the gist of things, I'll see what I can do about receiving the information later, Bud."

"Alright, sir. Well, basically you need to stimulate all of her senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch as well as her muscles."

"Okay, okay..." They've been stimulating her hearing ever since they found her, but other senses were admittedly left out.

"I... I don't know about the actual ways of getting about it, sir. Dr. Wexler seemed to think the site's approach was rather vigorous and meant for more deeply comatose patients, maybe you should consult with Colonel MacKenzie's attending physician there before attempting it.."

"Don't worry, Bud, I don't intend to torture the Colonel."

"No, sir, I would never insinuate-"

"Bud! Relax, and thank you." Harm couldn't help but smile, Bud would never change.

"Of course, sir, I'm glad I could help with something, we're all so worried for the Colonel. Harriet's on the phone with Chloe practically everyday, Petty Officer Coates comes by a lot, sometimes with Mattie, we're all praying for her, sir."

"I know, Bud, I know... I'll be sure to tell Mac. I'm very grateful to have friends like you and I'm sure she is too."

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay, I'll let you go now, I'll call you tomorrow with an address for that info. Thanks again, give my best to Harriet and the kids."

"Will do, sir."

Ending the call, Harm turned with a smile to Tal, who was looking at him expectantly.

"She'll be okay... can't say the same for that Dr. Felner when I'm through with him, though." Tal smiled tiredly and settled back into the chair for a few more hours of sleep.

Gathering Mac's hand in his, he kissed it lightly once, then again with more pressure. He'll do everything in his power to stimulate her and bring her back to him, Harm vowed to himself and set to the task immediately.

Deciding to keep it simple till he talked to Dr. Reut, as Bud suggested, Harm started rubbing Mac's arm, top to bottom, giving the stiff muscles a much needed massage. He gave each limb his thorough attention. So thorough, in fact, that he failed to notice the brown eyes that opened, as yet without recognition, in response to his ministrations.

Tal woke up to the cheerful sight of Harm rubbing Mac's feet as the sun filtered through the window and gave the bed a somewhat surreal glow.

"Don't pretend you're not enjoying this, Mac, you're just feigning indifference so you won't have to owe me for this sensational foot-rub. Well, guess again, Marine, I've got this all on hidden camera and I will collect."

Tal couldn't help but laugh out loud and cause serious embarrassment to a certain sailor, which only made her laugh harder and Harm joined in. It was a much needed relief from yesterday. This day was shaping up to be much better.

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TBC

Yes, yes, I know, speed it up, I'm trying! ;-)