A/N Hello… sorry about the wait… AGAIN but unfortunately real life got in the way. Damn it lol. But thank you so much to everyone that reviewed. I cherish every single one of them.

I must say the response I got towards Mancini really did make me laugh. It was exactly what I was going for, so I was stoked =]

This chapter feels extremely rushed and hasn't been edited so I apologize for the poor quality but I felt terrible about not having posted in so long. It is also one in the morning and my eyes are almost needing pegs to keep them open lol, so hopefully it makes some kind of sense.

Love you all x

Indeed, what was he going to do with this team? Around midnight Lisbon's temp spiked to 103, indicating her infection wasn't responding to the antibiotics she was on.

Howard was beginning to get worried. She was deteriorating rapidly. At the rate she was going, she was going to lose her other kidney. He had put her on broad spectrum antibiotics, in the hopes he could combat the infection before it came to that. But, being a doctor, he was a realist. He knew there was a high chance he was going to have to remove the kidney tonight. She could survive purely on dialysis for a small while, but if he didn't find her a donor quickly… she was going to die.

Retiring to his office, he sat down to scan the donor list for any potential matches. He had been at the hospital for nearly thirty hours now. He had been about to leave when a nurse notified him of Teresa's condition.

His wife was going to kill him.

Sighing he ran a hand over his face. Technically his shift was over, he could go home if he wanted, but he couldn't bring himself to leave in case Teresa took a further turn for the worst.

Mr Jane was due to wake soon. He had gotten a good sixteen hours of uninterrupted sleep and would be feeling a lot better when he decided to wake.

Howard was both looking forward to this, and yet at the same time he was completely dreading it. He wasn't looking forward to having to fill in Mr Jane on Teresa's condition.

He bit back a yawn and returned his eyes to the screen. There were a few potential donors, at around a 3/6 success. They could work, but Howard would have been happier with a 4/6 considering she had already lost one kidney. If the transplant was to reject, he wasn't sure Teresa's system could handle it. She very easily could go into multi-organ-failure.

He sighed again. it was going to be one hell of a night. She was dosed up on painkillers, but he was refraining from sedating her, she was drifting in and out of consciousness as it was.

Howard leant back in his chair and closed his eyes. He had missed tucking his wee girl in again tonight. He loves his job, it is both satisfying and rewarding, but he still can't get over the guilt of having to put his patients first. When he had become a parent for the first time, he had held his daughter in his arms and sworn he would always be there to protect her. But he had also taken an oath as a doctor to save lives and never do intentional harm, and right now, leaving Teresa, would almost be like causing her physical pain. He had been on her case from the beginning and right now he couldn't stand the thought of handing her case over to another doctor. Her case is a delicate one, and someone also had to be around to inform Mr Jane of her condition.

Right on cue, Howard's pager went off informing him that Patrick had woken up. He sighed again. He really wasn't looking forward to having to fill him in.

Stretching slightly, he got up and made his way to the general ward.

Mr Jane was sitting up in his bed, hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor. He looked small and fragile against the stark white of the hospital sheets. He still looked exhausted, but that deathly pallor had disappeared somewhat from his skin.

"What am I going to do with you Patrick?" Howard said in greeting.

Jane just huffed in reply and followed the doctor with his eyes.

Howard picked up his chart and scanned it quickly.

A nurse had been in every hour to check on his heart rate and blood pressure. The problem with patients suffering from exhaustion, is they could stress themselves into having heart problems.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked.

Jane rolled his eyes.

"Oh, brilliant." He bit back sarcastically.

Howard merely raised an eye brow at that.

"Well what do you expect?" Jane asked. He was uncomfortable, angry and more than a little embarrassed. He needed someone to vent to, and it seemed the only ears available right now were the nurses and his doctor… since when did he become HIS doctor?

Howard took a seat beside Jane's bed. Technically he was off duty so he was able to disregard the formalities. He nodded his head once and Jane took that as a green light.

"Lisbon hates me, I'm stuck in a bloody hospital bed because I was a little tired, and my door got busted down by a female agent because I collapsed on my living room floor. It's pathetic really. All of it." he smacked his head back into his pillow in frustration.

"Mr Jane, to start off with, you have no need to be embarrassed about you having your door kicked down. You're lucky Agent Van Pelt found you when she did."

Jane only looked vaguely interested at that.

"…and she is a damn good agent if I hear correctly. You're doing yourself no favours for resenting her because she is a female." Howard didn't even let Jane respond to that. "Second, you're not in here just because you're a little tired, you're suffering from exhaustion. Basically your body couldn't handle the amount of stress you were putting on it but forcing yourself to stay away. You have a high heart rate and your BP was through the roof when you were first admitted. We were a little worried about your heart to begin with, but your vitals seem to be coming back down to normal as you sleep."

Jane nodded at that.

Good. Howard thought. At least that was a little more of a response.

"Third, Teresa doesn't hate you. She might be angry at you, maybe a little frustrated… but she doesn't hate you."

Howard saw Jane's eyes soften ever so slightly at that.

"How has she been today?" Jane asked quietly.

Howard shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He was dreading this part. It was like delivering any bad news, the messenger always got shot. He decided to start off with the rest of her day first. Maybe Jane knowing she had had a couple of visitors would soften the blow a little. Doubtful.

"Agent Van Pelt came to see her this morning."

Jane nodded at that.

"I called her and asked her to come and keep Lisbon company. I didn't want her to be alone after finding out news like that."

Howard hid a smile. Were these two really that blind? Couldn't they see how hard they had fallen for each other. It was almost a joke that they couldn't admit it to each other… or even themselves.

"She also had another agent come and see her… I can't remember his name. A tall male? Brown hair?"

"Rigsby?"

Howard shook his head.

"No it wasn't Agent Rigsby. From my understanding he wasn't from your team. He's in the FBI."

Jane looked at Howard with an evil squint to his eye.

"Mancini."

"Yeah that was it. Mancini." Howard replied, completely oblivious to Jane's general dislike of the guy. "He arrived sometime after Grace left. Sat with her for a few hours."

While Howard didn't notice Jane's anger towards the mentioning of the other man, he noticed when his eyes turned downcast and looked defeated.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jane replied sombrely. "How is she now?" Jane continued quickly.

Howard winced. He almost wished he had lead with this part of the conversation now. At least it would be over and done with if he had. He internally smacked himself. He was being childish. He has had to deliver worse news than this before.

So why was it so hard?

"Teresa's condition has deteriorated."

Jane blinked as if he hadn't heard him properly.

"I'm sorry what?"

Maybe he hadn't? or maybe he was just disbelieving to the fact that he hadn't already been told. John Howard you fool.

"Her temperature spiked around midnight and he white count is higher than it was this morning. We think her other kidney is failing. We have her on broad spectrum antibiotics to try to combat the bacteria, but we're preparing ourselves to the possibility of having to remove her other kidney."

Jane stared at him dumbfounded.

"She can survive purely on dialysis for a short time, but we really need to find her a transplant."

Jane blinked. Howard could see him calculating something in his head. He only hoped it had nothing to do with what hand and what technique he could use to dislocate his jaw.

"Take one of mine." Jane said suddenly. "Give her one of my kidneys."

To say he was shocked would have been an understatement. Howard had thought of a few possibilities to how he would react, but never did he think that this would be one of them. Or maybe he had… he just didn't want to entertain the idea."

"Patrick…"

"No. We're the same blood type… if it can save her then I'm willing to do this. The risks be damned."

The doctor just stared at him.

"Can it be done." It wasn't really a question. More of a demand.

"You know the risks of living with only one kidney?"

"I told you. I don't care about the risks. If it can save her life I don't care. Can it be done?"

Howard hesitated, weighing his options. Was the outcome worth the risk?

"Technically yes. The anti-rejection drugs we have these days are showing more and more positive outcomes. But it will be risky. Especially if your blood pressure is still this high. It will almost need to be a last minute decision. I have to allow you to heal too Patrick. Like it or not, but your now my patient too, and you're under my care."

Jane nodded at that.

"I'll do whatever you tell me to doc. I need her to be ok." He whispered.

Howard nodded, getting to his feet.

"We'll see how she reacts to the antibiotics, but I'll get a nurse to run some tests to see how much of a match you are against her. I'm not happy about this, but if it's the only choice we have… ultimately the decision lies with you."

Jane nodded slowly in reply.

"Get some rest Mr Jane. I'll keep you updated." Howard said. He patted Jane on the shoulder and left the room.

Incredibly short I know but I really need to go to bed. Please review!