A/N: Hey guys. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I planned on taking a break for Christmas, but I never ended up continuing because I lost someone. One of my dear family friends died about five days after Christmas. I just didn't really have the motivation to write anything about fanfiction. Everything I wrote was extremely sorrowful and all too real; not fictional. So, I took a longer than anticipated break. I have been reading the comments though when a new one pops up and I'd like to thank you for the continued support. This story is actually almost finished.
Almost five days had passed since the ordeal, and they still had had no luck on the case. Jessica's leg was healing faster than any of the hospital staff thought it would. Every six hours the protection detail outside the hospital room would switch off between Andy and Floyd and sometimes Mort so the others could get some sleep. Seth's condition barely changed over those next five days. The nights were worse for both of them. Seth, being locked in with his eyes closed and unable to move, speak, or make any sort of notion that he was still in there could only lay there as Jessica felt lost in her own misery. Sure, the moon shone through the window providing some sort of comfort, but nothing actually helped. She nor anyone else knew Seth could hear everything. She would lay there in the night sometimes silently crying to herself, thinking that the stupid mistake of holding back was now going to make her life change in another way she didn't want it to. She thought as though Seth was already too far gone. The only thing Seth could do as she cried was cry himself. The one thing he could do was let water escape his eyes. His only hope was that Jessica would see one and know he was there.
Jessica thought about how people always said the dead looked so peaceful. With everything she had witnessed over the years, she didn't think that. Even with Frank, witnessing someone die was not peaceful. She didn't think they looked at peace or anything. They just looked dead. Seth looked lifeless and if he was alive, he looked uncomfortable.
"Mrs. Fletcher?" A soft voice asked, rousing Jessica out of her grogginess.
"Oh, hello Lily." She greeted the young nurse.
"How do you feel?"
"Other than a few aches here and there I feel really good."
"Well, that's good because your doctor says you can be released tomorrow.
Jessica smiled slightly and nodded. She wanted to say,
"Why am I healing but Seth isn't?" But all she said was,
"That's great." In a tone that was anything but convincing. The nurse caught on to this and took the clipboard at the end of the bed to write something on it. She paused and looked up at Jessica who had turned to look out the window.
Sighing, she rested the clipboard and pen in front of her.
"Mrs. Fletcher, I know it's difficult."
Without any sort of recognition from Jessica, she paused and set the clipboard down on a nearby table. Making her way back over to Jessica she sighed and said,
"I lost someone I cared about just as much as you do Seth years ago. I was in Portland studying. He was a boyfriend I had known since childhood. We were both 18. He got sick and his doctor couldn't figure out why. He never got better and…he died."
Jessica turned her head to look at the nurse.
"Last I checked, it wasn't often that a hospital employee shares an emotional story with their patients."
"You would check right. In fact, we're supposed to just see you as patients and nothing more. If we get personally involved, it could lead to wrong judgment and if the person doesn't pull through it could leave a mark on us. I see death every day. It saddens me to say that it's nothing new or shocking to me when I hear a code blue. However, there are times, like this where I come out of my shell a little because I realize that it doesn't matter the patient, they're human just like me and they're going through something difficult. Sometimes it might help if the patient saw me as human too, so that way they know they can trust me." The entire time she was talking, Jessica was listening intently.
"So, tell me. Does he really have a chance?"
She looked over at Seth. The nurse didn't break her somber gaze from Jessica. She blinked away tears and told Jessica,
"He does. However, the chance is so small that the doctors are doubtful that he will pull through and even how much longer they should keep his induced coma."
Jessica's eyes closed tightly hoping and praying that he was still in there and that he would pull through. Seth on the other hand, felt weak in his own mind. He couldn't believe it might actually end like this and he didn't even have the ability to scream about it. He only had the ability to have small tears run down his face. So that's what he did. He was giving up.