So it never sat well with me that I never finished this fic… I've taken it upon myself to finally get a final chapter up. I'm sorry for any inconsistencies… I've reread the fic and I know my writing style has changed a lot in the last 10 years.

I'm incredibly sorry to those who have had to wait that long for an ending… but here we go!

At first there was darkness. A black void that filled Lisbon with absolute nothingness. She was numb to all things, not a feeling or thought, not a sound.

It was peaceful. Quiet. There was no sense of time here. Only silence. Only darkness.

And then it wasn't.

A feeling of being plunged into icy water, with no sense of what was up or what was down. There was still darkness and silence, but now there was also cold. She tried to move her body, but her muscles were like lead. Trying to force the panic down but not succeeding, she started to drown. She tried to choke the water out of her burning lungs, only to struggle even more.

She choked and spluttered, trying to thrash about to reach the water's surface, but her body wouldn't cooperate. A tugging sensation, deep in her lungs made her gag, but before she knew it the choking stopped.

"Push ten milligrams of morphine." said an unfamiliar voice.

A few moments later, a blissful numbness spread throughout her body, and she could breathe a little easier.

What had happened?

"Shh Teresa, try not to move too much." said a voice.

Through the haze of her foggy brain, Lisbon squeezed her eyes shut, before forcing her eyelids to open. She coughed softly, her energy completely spent.

"Wha-" she cracked, blinking softly to try and clear her vision.

"You're in the ICU." The voice said, stepping into her line of sight.

Dr Howard.

"What happened?" she managed, trying to clear her throat. A straw was placed onto her lips and she desperately took a couple of sips to try and relieve her dry mouth.

When she was finished, the doctor put the cup back onto the table and took a seat beside her bed. He ran a hand over his exhausted face, wondering where to start. She had no idea that Patrick had been admitted to the hospital, nor that he had donated one of his kidneys to save her life.

Doctor Howard took a breath.

"Patrick was admitted to the hospital two days ago." He started - Had it really only been two days?"

At her confused and worried expression, he elaborated.

"He was admitted, suffering from exhaustion." he explained. "When Patrick came to us, he had barely slept in a week. He was tachycardic and hypertensive."

"Why did no one tell me?" Lisbon asked, finally able to find her voice.

"The same night he was admitted, your remaining kidney failed. The antibiotics we had you on, weren't able to control the infection."

Lisbon didn't answer. She knew there was more to the story and she needed to find out the rest without interruptions.

At her silence, the doctor continued. "When Patrick woke and found out about your condition, he offered to donate one of his."

Lisbon felt a flurry of emotions course through her. Judging from the way she felt, she had definitely had surgery… he had given her one of his kidneys!?

"I… I don't know what to say." she replied, guilt filling her heart. She had thrown him out of her room because he had signed the papers, giving the doctors permission to remove her first kidney, and then she had gotten even angrier when he hadn't answered the phone… but he had been sick himself… exhausted… because of her. "Where is he?" she asked finally. She needed to see him.

The doctor blew out a lungful of air. He hadn't been looking forward to telling her about this part.

"Because his blood pressure was so high when we did the surgery… after the kidney was removed he started to bleed."

"He's not…"

At Lisbon's horrified look, he cut her off.

"He's next door, having a blood transfusion… he's ok… but he's still pretty unwell."

Lisbon felt her heart sink. He had risked his life to save hers. Not only by donating the kidney, but by having the surgery under dangerous circumstances. Lisbon knew he would have known the risks, that he would have done anything to save her.

"When can I see him?" she asked, biting her bottom lip. She needed to see that he was ok with her own eyes.

"Soon." The doctor replied. "But right now, you need to get some rest."

At those words, Lisbon could feel the pull of unconsciousness.

"Get some sleep Teresa. I'll be back to check on you in a little while."

Lisbon complied, her body and mind completely spent. She fell asleep quickly, the last thing on her mind was her blonde haired consultant.

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Grace came to visit a few hours later. They had caught a case, so Rigsby and Cho had gone to talk to a suspect. Grace entered the room, looking tired and flustered. Upon seeing Lisbon awake, her face lit up.

"Oh boss! I've been so worried!" she cried, rushing into the room. "How are you feeling?" She took a seat beside Lisbon, too scared to hug her, should she hurt her.

"I'm doing alright." She replied, sitting up painfully. Grace reached out to help her with her pillows. "Thanks." She muttered, settling back into the bed. "All I want is to go and see Jane, but they won't let me until he wakes up."

Grace sighed.

"Have they said anything about when he should wake?"

Lisbon shook her head. "His body is exhausted. They said he could sleep for another day or so."

"Maybe that's not a bad thing." Grace said softly. "You need to give your body time to recover too."

"I just need to see that he's ok, with my own two eyes. I need to tell him I'm sorry."

Grace reached out and patted her knee. "Try to sleep as much as you can." she said softly. "It will help the time go faster."

Lisbon blew out a lungful of air. If she was being reasonable, she would know that her younger agent was right, but her guilt was eating her alive. He had literally saved her life; twice, nearly killing himself in the process.

Grace chatted about the new case for an hour or so before leaving. Lisbon had welcomed the distraction, though found she tired easily.

Grace had bid her farewell with the promise of coming back at the end of her shift.

Lisbon lay in the silence, letting the drugs and her exhaustion pull her under. Hopefully when she woke, her consultant would be conscious. Then she could tell him how important he was to her.

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Lisbon slept right through until the next morning, her body more spent than she thought. She picked at her toast, knowing she needed to start eating in order to gain her strength back.

It wasn't until after her breakfast tray was cleared away, that a nurse came into her room with a wheelchair.

"He's awake." She said kindly. "He's been asking for you - well actually he's been demanding to see you."

Lisbon smiled at that. The nurse disconnected her from her monitors and helped her get out of the bed, slowly lowering her into the wheelchair.

"I'll take you through now for a short visit. Try and keep things quiet. We don't need either of you getting too excited."

Lisbon nodded in agreement. She was already starting to feel sore and fatigued, just from getting out of bed.

The nurse wheeled her down the hallway, turning into another single room in the ICU.

She barely recognized the man in the bed, his golden curls and stark blue eyes the only telltale, that this really was Patrick Jane. As she entered the room, his eyes locked with hers. She could literally see the relief pouring out of him in waves.

"I'll leave you two alone." The nurse whispered, locking the brakes on the wheelchair beside his bed.

"Lisbon." Jane breathed. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Lisbon could hear the pain laced through his words.

"I'm ok…" she replied, her voice quiet. "Are you ok?"

Jane nodded, his eyes not leaving her face. After a moment's silence, Lisbon kicked off.

"Why would you do that? Risk your own life to save mine?" Lisbon asked incredulously. "You could have died!"

"And you would have died." Jane replied in a matter of fact way. He paused, looking into her eyes deeply. "I would do anything for you… you know that." Jane said, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world.

Lisbon took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before nodding. "I do…" she frowned. "Look Jane I'm sorry for treating you the way I did when I first found out about my kidney… I shouldn't have pushed you away like that… I was just scared… and you were the one who got to bear the brunt of it."

Jane waved her off with a soft "Meh."

Lisbon shook her head. "No Jane… honestly… I never should have treated you that way… what I'm trying to say is thank you… thank you for saving my life."

Jane smiled softly, a weight in his chest lifting. Just hearing her say that she had forgiven him made it easier to breathe.

"Of course Teresa." He replied softly. He shuffled up the bed, trying to sit up so he could look her in the eye properly. "Just promise me one thing."

Lisbon leaned forward in the wheelchair, showing she was completely focused on him. "Anything." she said softly.

"Next time you want to borrow one of my organs, all you have to do is ask. You don't need to nearly die." The corners of his mouth pulled up into a small smile. Lisbon returned the gesture by grabbing a pen off of the food tray and chucking it at him. They both chuckled, holding each other's gaze.

Her face turned serious, her eyes downcast. "Thank you again, Jane." she whispered.

"I'm always going to save you Lisbon."

Lisbon smiled at that, reaching out to grab his hand. "I know."

They sat holding hands until the nurse came to take her back to her room. They both slept soundly, knowing the other was going to be ok, knowing that no matter what, they could get through everything together.

Short, sweet and pretty tame in comparison to what I write nowadays. But it's finally finished. It only took 11.5 years! You have no idea how good it feels to finally be able to post this.