Woot woot double update, you guys did the reviewing and the enjoying and so here I am. Leave suggestions in the reviews, pretty please? Enjoy!

Jeff had stopped checking his watch ages ago when Thomas came over, addressing Remi. "Hi, Mr. Duval?"

Remi nodded.

"I'm Thomas, we spoke on the phone. Have you been back to see him yet?"

Remi shook his head, looking distraught. "No, no, I - can I see him?"

"Of course, right this way,"

Remi inclined his head to the bay, indicating for Jeff to follow. Jeff was grateful, he'd been holding his breath in anxiety, wanting desperately to see Nick again but not knowing if Remi wanted to go alone.

Together, they returned to the bay. The curtains were still open, and Nick looked more peaceful now. He had a blanket spread over him, tucked around his shoulders. The chest tube snaked from the bed down to a clear plastic box, though the box was empty, which Jeff figured was a good sign.

There was a mound around his leg under the blanket, and there were no doctors around, so Jeff felt safe pulling the edge back to see. There were ice packs piled around his knee, which was swollen and bruised under a brace.

Thomas leaned over. "Dislocated knee, they put it back in and braced it. He should be walking on it before too long, I'd give it until tomorrow then they'll have him up and building strength."

Jeff shot a questioning glance at Thomas, nodding to the covering over Nick's eye, the one that was pushing earlier.

"The pressure got dangerous, they didn't want him to lose sight in that eye. I'll spare you the details, but they made the opening for the eye bigger and it's protruding, so they cover it to prevent accidental injury,"

Jeff frowned and nodded.

They settled down around Nick, Jeff holding his hand and Remi sitting nearby, but not touching him. He looked nauseous and in desperate need of comfort, but Jeff didn't know what to say and was afraid to make it worse. That's how they were sitting when Thomas came back fifteen minutes later.

"The OR finally opened up to take him for the bleeding, the pre-op team is on their way down now. You can stay with him until they actually take him into surgery,"

Jeff nodded. Remi didn't seem capable of moving.

It was only about two minutes before the team arrived and started preparing Nick to move, detaching monitors and moving all the IV bags to one pole, pulling the railings up, then splitting around the bed. Jeff followed, Remi close behind, when they pushed the whole bed, IVs in tow, to an elevator.

When the elevator arrived at the floor they needed, the team pushed Nick through to a large, empty room that looked like the bay in the ER, but silent and still.

Jeff took his usual position by Nick's shoulder, taking his hand again. Remi still hesitated, standing by his feet and avoiding looking anywhere there were injuries, though most of them were covered by the gown.

The anesthesiologist was over before long. "Are you Jeff?" he nodded. "I'm Marlow, I'll be the anesthesiologist for the procedure today. I have some questions about our friend Nicholas here before they take him in,"

Jeff wasn't going to say anything, but Remi spoke up. "He goes by Nick."

Marlow nodded. "Does Nick take any medications, Jeff?"

Jeff noticed she directed the question to him, rather than Remi. It might have been because he was the contact and they had to, or maybe it had something to do with the fact that Remi was looking awfully pale and shaky, while Jeff seemed to stay relatively collected.

"No,"

"Does he have any allergies?"

Jeff shook his head. "No."

"What can you tell me about his medical history?"

Jeff frowned. "Well, he was sick with probably the flu, I knew since yesterday but I think he must have been sick before then. His fever was really high, 104.6, I remember because we had made a deal about going to the ER if it got to 105. So I think that's the reason for the accident, he wasn't fully functioning. I should have made him stay home, but . . . " Jeff paused, clearing his throat. "He's all in all pretty healthy, so him being that sick was a surprise to both of us, I think. Overall, I know he has a lot of stress, we're students, after all, and he does have bouts with depression. But I can't remember the last time he's been significantly sick or injured. Um, I'm not entirely sure what you wanted from that, but there you go."

Marlow smiled and nodded, making notes on a chart. "That was perfect, thank you. Do you know if he's had any issues with medications like this working, maybe getting and staying numb at the dentist, or waking up during other procedures, or IV pain medication or sedatives just not working as well as they should?"

Jeff frowned harder. "I can't think of anything like that, no. I remember once he mentioned he wasn't all the way numb for a filling or something like that and it was uncomfortable, but I'm pretty sure that was the dentist's fault, not his."

Marlow nodded, writing on her chart again. "Thank you, Jeff." she stood up to leave. "I don't anticipate any problems with the procedure today, it's going to be completely laparoscopic and I'll take good care of him. Thank you for your information."

She shook Jeff's and Remi's hands and left.

Remi found a chair for himself and one for Jeff, and they stayed in their own respective bubbles.

They'd pulled Nick's arm out of the gown so the fabric wasn't in the way of the chest tube, and Jeff laid his head on the bare skin of Nick's shoulder, sighing softly.

"Love you, Nick. Thomas said this surgery's pretty easy, maybe he was just trying to make me feel better. You're going to get some scans done after you're out, no MRI though, lucky for you. Those things are scary, the claustrophobia and all. He said just some x-rays and a CT, and then they'll probably take your chest tube out. That'll be nice, not having this in your way all the time, they had to move the gown. Your shoulder looks cold,"

Jeff squeezed his hand.

"What did you think of the anesthesiologist? She seems pretty nice, don't you think? They said you'll probably have a couple of surgeries today, get them all over with as soon as we can, and I hope she'll be with you for all of them. That would make me feel better, knowing she's in there with you, keeping you comfy when I can't,"

Jeff might have fallen asleep on Nick's shoulder, because the next thing he remembered was someone shaking his shoulder and a team - including Marlow - around Nick's bed, ready to move him. He sat up, embarrassed, and pulled his chair out of the way.

"Wanna give him one more squeeze before we get him a really bomb nap?" Marlow said, holding the IV poles.

Jeff smiled and wanted to cry at her kindness. He took Nick's hand again and gave his lips a quick peck, squeezed his hand tightly, and stepped away. He mouthed a quick "thank you" to Marlow as they passed by, and she grinned over her shoulder.

One of the nurses led them to a quiet waiting room, where they settled into the chairs to bide their time once again.