Chapter 4: Hospital

Peter wakes up slowly and recognizes the telling sounds and smells of a hospital room. El is next to him, reading in some book he hadn't seen before. She probably bought it in the hospital shop. She didn't seem to come far but he doubt she really read one word of it.

"Hon?" His voice sounds rusty and the thirst he hadn't felt before is hitting him hard.

"Hey hon." She replies, placing the book on the table next to her without putting a book mark on the page. She really didn't read it at all. El gets up and brings him water and Peter drinks it greedily.

"What happened?" The last thing he really remembers was the auctions and the beautiful painting of a young girl turning into a snow fox.

"You were shot and hurt while on a case. They didn't tell me much, just that Neal saved you. They don't know how but he did." Peter feels the pain medication in his body, trying to pull him under again as his eyes flew open. Neal, the falcon, his broken wings.

"Where is he?" Peter looks around panicking. "Where is Neal?" El got up and tries to push him down on his bed.

"He is here. Don't worry." Her voice told him that he should worry. As Peter stops his panic he gets up and pushed back a curtain that separated the two beds of the room. There he is, pale, with an arm in a cast and looking like a small child. Peter´s heart cringed. "He hadn't woken up. The doctor isn't sure why. He thinks it's something psychological because he can´t find anything wrong with him except for the broken arm." She sounds sad and he hates it.

Peter shutters, he knows what is wrong with his friend or at least part of it. He had to shift into an animal, he didn't want to, and it had hurt Neal. Maybe too much. "You should go back to sleep. Visiting hour will be over soon and I want a doctor to check up on you." Elizabeth gets up. "I will be right back." With a kiss on his cheek, she leaves the room and let Peter alone with Neal.

"Don´t worry buddy, I will keep your secret." That won´t stop Peter form trying to fix it. There broken wings aren't able to fly anymore and there has to be a reason.

Neal wakes up hours later to Peter´s voice calling his name. The nightmare he pulled himself out of fill his eyes with tears and only years of experience help him to keep them from spilling. He hates this feeling of being weak and under someone's hand. As Neal´s eyes start to work probably he recognizes the room, or better the kind of room he is in, a hospital room. Next to him lay Peter, who keep himself up on one arm. His leg wrapped up and fixated for better healing is the only thing that kept him from running over to Neal´s bed as the nightmare had started and pulled the agent out of his sleep.

"Are you alright? Should I call for a nurse or a doctor?" Peter asks and Neal turns his head to look at him. He tries to answer but his mouth didn't seem to be able to bring the words he wants to say out. So, he just shakes his head. Hoping it is enough.

The silence in the room is deafening and Neal wishes for something to distract him but he knows nothing ever helped. "Thank you." Neal opens his eyes again, he hadn't notice closing them. He wouldn't fall back to sleep even as tired as he felt but the world is scary, especially after one of his nightmares. "Thank you for saving us. For giving us the chance to return." El, the name appears in his mind. He brought Peter back to El.

Neal would laugh but he fears his tears would use the chance of emotion to finally getting free. "She is probably angry at you for not keeping your promise." Peter looks confused. "Your leg, as if you can fix the kitchen sink with it." Neal points out.

Peter huffs. "I think she will forgive me. My excuse this time is pretty solid."

"Oh Peter, you risk your perfect wife if you continue like that. One day she will leave you, thinking you are not worth it. A man no able to fixing kitchen sinks and taking Satchmo out for a walk." Peter started to laugh but didn't manage to silence the pained sound after he remembered that laughing with damaged rips isn't a good idea.

"You want to talk about it?" Did he? Not really but it´s the first time someone, who knew offered.

"Did you tell anybody?" Neal needs to know.

"No, Hughes was here. I just woke up, El got the doctor and before he could ask to many question the doctor told him to leave. He will ask how you got out of the cell but I won´t tell him how. I promised, remember." Suddenly Neal doesn't feel so good about that promise anymore. At that time in the cell he made Peter promise to keep his secret, but why. What would change. His animal form is useless (except for this one task). There is no way in using it in any way to help him commit crimes, or run or whatever else the FBI thinks he could do with it. The only thing that would change is that they would put the information on paper, his papers. That whoever would be responsible for this task would see his animal form, and keep his description on his permanent record. They would see his wings. They would ask about them. The heart monitor beside him gave a short warning signal. As Neal notice it he calm down. He isn't there, he is in a hospital, talking to Peter. Peter is here, he will protect him.

"… I dreamed about my mom." Neal want´s to tell someone and who would be better suited for it then Peter, the man that saw him. It might be the shadow of the room, or the pain medication or the fact that it all was so long ago and only the nightmares and the pain remains but Neal starts to talk.