Henry opened his eyes ever so slightly. All he could see was a blurry figure next to him, touching his hand from time to time. He could not open his eyes for too long as it was too bright for him. He blinked a couple of times. He could hear some voices from far but could not understand what they were saying. He closed his eyes again, not knowing what was happening. He could not move his arms or his legs or any part of his body. He decided not to struggle against his body anymore and decided to lean back and close his eyes.

"Any update?" Carson asked as he entered the infirmary.

"He was up a few minutes ago but went back to sleep." Faith replied.

Abigail was with Faith when Carson came in. she had been at Henry's side for the past hour. Faith had informed her that he should be coming round at that time. It has been almost 48 hours since Henry's surgery. While he was in and out of consciousness, he was too weak to move. Carson had told Abigail that it would take time for Henry to fully recover. Abigail did come and see him from time to time since Henry had been admitted.

"OK. We will observe him some more." Carson said and Faith nodded. He then looked at Abigail and smiled as he pursed his lips. "Abigail, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Abigail said and nodded as she walked out behind Carson.

"I think you should rest a little." Carson said and smiled.

"Oh, I am fine." Abigail said politely.

"I understand that you're worried about Henry. But there is not much that you or I can do at this moment." Carson said sympathetically.

"I understand but…" She started saying.

"We need our mayor to be well and running by the time Henry recovers. I insist that you go home right now and take some rest. As soon as Henry wakes up, I will let you know." Carson said reassuringly.

"OK I will take some rest. However, I feel like he has lost some good amount of blood. His face and palms are very pale." Abigail said, worry written all over her face.

"Well, he has lost some fair amount of blood. We will not know until he wakes up completely on whether he needs more blood, depending on how his body reacts to a number of things." Carson replied professionally.

"Alright then. Please do let me know as soon as Henry comes around." Abigail said as she touched Carson lightly on his arm.

"I will." Carson nodded and smiled lightly. He watched as Abigail walked away slowly towards the café. He walked back into the infirmary.

"She has been really worried about him. She has been around quite a lot for the past 2 days, going home only for a few hours and then return to check up on him." Faith noted.

"Hmmm." Carson replied as he observed Henry's palms. "He is still pale. We will need more blood. Do give notice to the residents of Hope Valley. I am sure someone will match his blood group." He said and Faith nodded and went out of the infirmary.

AFTER THREE HOURS

Henry opened his eyes gently. He felt more aware of his environment. He saw bandages on the side and a glass of water as well as syringes. There was a strange smell of medicine and spirit. He knew at that instant that he was in the infirmary.

He suddenly felt that his mouth had dried up. He reached for the water glass on his bedside, but his hands were trembling. He waited for a bit for his hand to settle down. He tried again but his hands just wouldn't stop trembling.

"Need help?" Abigail said as she tilted her face to one side. Henry leaned back to rest.

"I…didn't see you come in." Henry said. Abigail walked slowly over to his bedside and helped him up. She reached for the glass of water and helped him drink the same. She then returned the water back to the bedside.

"How are you feeling?" Abigail said as she sat on the seat next to his bed.

"I feel like an elephant sat on me." He said and Abigail smiled lightly.

"Carson said you will feel that way for a couple of days until you fully recover." Abigail said. Henry cleared his throat and lay back to rest his back and looked up above the door frame ahead of him, subconsciously. "I am sorry, Henry." Abigail said sadly. "I feel responsible for your state right now."

"I would not blame myself if I were you." Henry said groggily.

"You are being modest now." Abigail said seriously.

"Abigail, I am sorry I did not inform you of my decision…" he started.

"This is not the right time to talk about these things." Abigail said gently. "I would prefer that you be on your feet before we talk." Henry sighed at that. "How do you feel about chicken soup for dinner with some greens on the side? You have lost a lot of blood." She finished

"You really don't have to. I can take care of that." Henry said hastily.

"I do not have to but I want to. Besides, how will you take care of that when you cannot even hold a glass of water?" Abigail asked and Henry looked at her intensely. She got lost in his eyes as her smile slowly disappeared to a look of daze.

"Abigail!" Carson called as Abigail blinked and turned to look at him. "Henry, I am happy to see you up." He said and went to him, giving him a smile. Henry nodded courteously. "Let's take a look at you." He said as he measured his blood pressure. He then observed the white of his eyes. "Hmmm…you are still pale from loss of blood. You will not be able to leave the infirmary for the next two days. Otherwise, we are good!" he finished off, upbeat.

"Thank you." Henry said and nodded at Carson, who smiled back at him.

"I will go to Cape Fullerton this afternoon. I need to get some medication for your iron deficiency. In the meantime, you will need to take lots of greens with your food." Carson said and Abigail raised her eyebrows at Henry. "From the look of you, it seems that is taken care of."

"Oh indeed. Not to worry. I will load up his food with lots of greens." Abigail said and Henry groaned. Carson chuckled.

"Alright. I will get going. Faith should be with you in a bit. She just went home a few minutes ago." Carson said and left.

Abigail looked at Henry who also looked at her.

"I hope you won't give me a hard time with the greens." Abigail joked and Henry smiled slightly and shook his head. She then got up and touched his hand lightly. "I need you to get better soon, so that we can have that discussion." She said and Henry nodded. "Now, if you will excuse me, I will get working on your dinner." Abigail said and started leaving.

"Abigail." Henry said and Abigail stopped and turned to look at him. "Thank you." Henry said and gave her his infamous intense look.

"You're welcome." She said as she walked out. The skip in her heart was not missed by her and she secretly wished he would stop looking at her like that.

AT ABIGAIL'S CAFÉ THAT EVENING

Abigail stirred the soup in the pot as she wiped her hands on her apron.

"Hi Abigail!" Elizabeth called as she walked in. Abigail smiled and turned to look at her.

"Hello." She said to her.

"What are you doing?" She asked Abigail.

"Oh, I am making some chicken soup and some broccoli for Henry." Abigail said casually.

"I see." Elizabeth said, deep in thought.

"Care to share your thoughts?" Abigail asked and Elizabeth sighed and sat on the chair in the café. Abigail joined her there.

"I wanted to talk to you about Henry." Elizabeth said.

"Oh?" Abigail said.

"I do not mean to pry but I feel we are close enough for me to discuss this with you." Elizabeth said and Abigail nodded.

"Sure. You can talk to me about anything." Abigail said.

"I have been noticing this thing between you and Henry. I did not want to draw any conclusions before I ask you about it." Elizabeth said.

"I know. You have a lot of questions about this. Unfortunately, I have no answer to give you because I do not know myself what is going on." Abigail said and Elizabeth smiled. "I do not know why I am drawn to him. Is it because I am trying to make his life better now that he is on the mend or is it because I feel more for him than usual? I do not know."

"And how does he feel about you?" Elizabeth asked.

"I do not know. Again, he could be feeling obliged towards me or it could be more." Abigail said.

"Don't you think you need to talk about this with him? You both are mature enough to acknowledge that there is definitely something going on." Elizabeth reasoned.

"I just feel like things would progress too fast for my liking if we had to talk about it." Abigail said and Elizabeth nodded in understanding.

"Then maybe the both of you should keep matters casual until you figure out what this..." Elizabeth said as she drew a circle in the air animatedly "…is."

"Things are as casual as they can be. It just seems a little weird to the people watching that we talk a little more than usual, Henry and I." Abigail said.

"What people think should be the least of your concerns right now. It all depends on how you feel about each other." Elizabeth said and Abigail agreed.

"I am not ready for a relationship right now. In fact what I am feeling for Henry right now makes me feel guilty. I feel like I am cheating on Noah." Abigail said, despair written all over her face.

"No!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You will never be able to compare Noah and Henry. These are two different people. Noah was the love of your life, but you cannot stop living your life."

"I do not deny that. However, with Henry's history with Noah and Peter, I question myself why I am drawn to Henry." Abigail said, her face full of worry.

"I would say listen to your heart." Elizabeth said, smiling at Abigail.

"I do not know what my heart says or feels." Abigail said, clearly confused.

"Then I suggest you take your time with this." Elizabeth said and Abigail nodded.

"I really do feel the same. But for this, I need to speak to Henry, before he gets his hopes high about this." Abigail said. Elizabeth agreed. "I will talk to him once he recovers and gets home."

"Alright then, I am not worried about you anymore." Elizabeth said and squeezed Abigail's hand, who tightened her grip around hers. "I should get going. Little Jack is with Rosemary." She said and walked out.

"Sure." Abigail hugged Elizabeth as she saw her off.

AT ELIZABETH'S HOUSE

"Hi!" Rosemary exclaimed in a whisper as she handed over baby Jack to Elizabeth who was all too happy to receive him.

"Hi sweetheart…" Elizabeth whispered as she kissed Jack's head fondly.

"I hope he behaved…" Elizabeth said to Rosemary gently.

"Oh he was an angel!" Rosemary said and clapped her hands, looking at Jack adoringly. "You know, he does look like Jack a lot." She concluded.

"Yes he does. He is my lasting memory of Jack." Elizabeth said as she rocked little Jack in her arms. Rosemary smiled at that.

"Oh! Did you manage to speak to Abigail?" Rosemary asked, her attention suddenly shifting and her eyes lightening up.

"Mmmm hmmm" Elizabeth responded in affirmative. "And she says she needs more time to think things through."

"But why?" Rosemary asked, a little disappointed.

"It's a little complicated Rosemary. Remember Henry's history with Noah? She needs time." Elizabeth explained.

"I understand but Henry is a changed man. He deserves a chance." Rosemary claimed.

"What he did is far too serious for one to forget. It is Abigail's husband and son we are talking about. I must admit, I had not thought of this angle as such…"Elizabeth said as she kept on rocking baby Jack. "…but I agree that Henry would be a long shot."

"Love conquers all, Elizabeth." Rosemary quipped in, proudly. "I still believe they are good together. I have seen the way they look at each other, with so much respect and maturity."

"There is a possibility we are misinterpreting this whole thing. I would still say that Henry is a long shot." Elizabeth maintained and Rosemary shrugged.

"I still feel that they are good together. Abigail seems happier around him. I have also seen her turn a tinge…" Rosemary said as she put her index finger and thumb close apart "…rosy when she mentions Henry."

"Well then we should wait until Abigail advises us of the same." Elizabeth sighed in defeat. However, Rosemary's thoughts were very far away. She knew she had to do something to at least bring Abagail and Henry together to talk about this, if not "together-together". "I see a look that in you which shows you are scheming in your head." Elizabeth caught on.

"Oh, I am just trying to be a good friend." Rosemary said cheerfully as Elizabeth shook her head.

"All the best. But just be careful. I mean, this is Abigail and we want what's best for her." Elizabeth warned.

"I know Elizabeth and I also want the best for her. I know she deserves love in her life and I am determined to bring that up to her." Rosemary said proudly.

That evening, Elizabeth went off to bed, a little more worried than usual.