Chris charged through the doors and veered his course from the reception desk when he saw the team gathered together.

"What do we know?"

"Not much yet. He passed out just after we found him, and as far as we last heard, is still unconscious." Josiah answered. "Medics weren't very forthcoming at the scene."

"Everybody else okay?" He let out a soft sigh of relief at getting nods from the others. "Okay. That's something. What about Inez?" Buck had filled him in on the high points of what had happened when he called to get Chris to the hospital, but the details had been sketchy.

"She's okay. She wanted to come, but I said there wasn't enough room for all of us."

"Who's here with Ezra Standish?" Five heads swiveled to respond to the nurse, but Chris stepped forward first.

"The doctors asked me to let you know he's being taken in for surgery. There's some internal bleeding and his BP is quite low. We'll let you know something as soon as we can. There's a surgical waiting room on the second floor. These elevators will let you off close by, just follow the blue arrows after that." She was gone before they could ask any more questions.

Five minutes later they had settled in. JD texted Nathan again to let him know where to find them and got the reply that he had just parked and was only a few minutes away. They sat quietly, each lost to his own thoughts. Josiah filled Nathan in when he arrived, but it was close to 20 minutes before Vin broke the silence.

"He wanted you to know he was sorry Chris."

"What for?"

"Breaking his promise." Chris looked confused. "I don't think he figures he's going to make it to the New Year's Day party. Wanted you know he was sorry about going back on his word. It seemed pretty important to him."

"Of all the damn fool nonsense. He was worried about that?"

"Like Vin said, it seemed important to him." Josiah agreed.

"I told him you'd understand, but that didn't mean he was allowed to give up."

"Hear you?"

"I hope so."

There was a long silence again, disturbed only by pacing footsteps and nervous fidgeting. JD finally couldn't take the silent tension any longer.

"So what's your resolution Buck?"

"What?"

"You know. New Year's resolutions. Ezra and I were talking about them on the way to the bar. He never makes any but wondered if we did. So when he wakes up, we should tell them what our resolutions are."

"I don't know kid. I don't have any. It's hard to improve on perfection." It was a feeble attempt to relax everyone, but Buck grinned when he saw it seem to work a bit.

"I imagine if you think on it you could come up with something to tweak a bit."

"Well what about you Vin?"

"Actually, I'd been thinking about some. Ezra's been giving me some help when I need to write better. Was thinking I should take some classes. Learn to do that on my own."

"Any effort at self-improvement is always a noble goal Vin." Josiah smiled his encouragement, knowing how hard that must've been for the young man to admit.

"Thanks." Vin said, meaning it sincerely. "So what quirk are you thinking you might adjust Josiah?"

"You do sound like you've been spending time with Ezra." He smiled again. "Hadn't really thought much on a resolution. I strive to continue to improve on a regular basis. As I said, improvement is a noble goal, and I have a truly annoying habit of falling short of it. Perhaps I should simply focus on focusing my goals."

"Now who sounds like Ezra?" Vin teased back at him. "Buck, you didn't answer."

He got a shrug in response. "Don't really know. I was thinking a bit on what Ezra said earlier. He was a lot more subtle about it, but he was right. I probably should think about growing up a bit. Not saying that I'd settle down or anything, but this playing the field thing is a younger man's game. Maybe I should leave the skirt chasing to JD."

"I think young Casey might object to that" Josiah noted.

"So, JD – you're a one-woman man now? Your resolution is to have less fun for the rest of your life?" Buck ribbed.

"No. I'm resolving to not waste my life and may be end up dying alone or some –" he looked up and realized Buck had been teasing him. His response had sobered the room quickly.

"Maybe I ought to resolve not to be so naïve and gullible. And stupid. I didn't mean anything by that Buck." His friend shrugged it off, understanding as always.

"I prefer to think of you as trusting and accepting, with a bit of youthful enthusiasm thrown in." Nathan replied. "Don't change that. Us cynical folk need that reminder of the better side of life."

"You see yourself as cynical Nathan? I never would have described you that way."

"Well Chris, I certainly could try to be a little more trusting of people. I don't often take them at face value. Even when I know better. But sometimes, well I just can't help myself." They all knew he was dwelling on some of the history he'd had with Ezra, but under the circumstances, no one felt the need to put too fine a point on things.

"Our career choice does tend to make is naturally suspicious about things. Maybe too much so." Chris looked at his watch for about the 10th time in as many minutes. "Dammit, what's taking so long?"

"Relax Chris. He was busted up and it's gonna take a while."

"Maybe developing a bit more patience should be on your resolution list cowboy."

Chris directed a completely ineffective glare at Buck, who just grinned. "That's your idea of acting more mature?" Buck's grin didn't falter. The two men had been friends for far too long to take things like this seriously. Chris finally conceded with a slightly sheepish smile of his own. "Patience and I aren't about to become pals. But yeah, a bit of anger management probably wouldn't hurt. When you told me what Standish had done, I was ready to throttle the fool. Still wouldn't mind giving him a good head smack when he recovers enough."

"You'll have to get in line behind Inez for that."

"And it won't change a thing Chris." Josiah shook his head wearily. "It's just Ezra being Ezra. Tries to hide that side of himself, but he's a better man than he gives himself credit for."

Nathan nodded, knowing the fact to be true. "Guess that's the resolution for him then. Accepting who he really is."

"Probably be a bit easier for him to do that if we all did it too." Chris acknowledged. "But damn, he is an expert at pushing my buttons."

Before anyone could comment, the admissions nurse approached the group. "You are the gentleman here with Mr. Standish? Good. The doctor wanted you to know you'll be able to head up to his room and about half an hour. He's quite heavily sedated, so likely won't be too talkative, but is going to be just fine." The collective sigh of relief was almost like a small gust of wind.

"Can you tell us how bad he was hurt?" Vin asked.

"I'm sorry. I don't have the details. He's getting settled up on the eighth floor." She glanced at the admission slip. "Room 829." She looked back at the men. "They can give you the answers up there. In the meantime why don't you all get freshened up a bit? Cafeteria is closed, but there's a 24-hour diner just up the block. Come back in an hour and he should be settled in nicely."

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

You could've set a watch by their return to the hospital. In deference to the late hour, and to the fact they were all feeling the effects of the day's stress, it was a subdued team that made their way into the room.

Ezra looked terrible. First glance had them looking like some kind of mummy, almost all of him seeming to be wrapped in bandages. The contrast of the bruises on the exposed skin was breathtaking. They stood staring mutely.

The voice from behind startled them all. "It's really not as bad as it looks." The admitting doctor spoke quietly. "His left side took the worst of it. Dislocated shoulder, cracked clavicle, clean break to his radius with a hairline fracture of the ulna. There was some bone bruising to the tibia –". He could see they weren't really registering the details. "Well, you get the idea."

"Can you bottom-line all of this for us doc?" Chris asked.

"He's going to be in a lot of pain for the next few weeks, but overall he's incredibly lucky. Minor internal bleeding that was easily controlled. There's a concussion, but no skull fracture. He was, for a while, quite alert and responsive. It's the pain medication that has him out now. He should stay here for at least the next 48 hours was just to make sure we can keep him settled till some of the swelling starts to decrease."

"After that?"

"We can make arrangements for a convalescent facility for him –"

"No way!" "Forget that." "You got to be kidding?"

Chris put his hand up to silence the room.

"Sorry Doc. We tend to get a bit possessive. Does he need that kind of attention?"

"Well, not specifically. But he won't be able to get around on his own and he indicated to us his home would not allow for a wheelchair or even a walker. Not to mention feeding himself, showering and so on."

"Wheelchair?" JD blanched.

"That is simply to keep him off the leg for the first few days. Rest assured, it is not a permanent need."

"So if he can be taken care of, we can take him home."

"He indicated you might make such a suggestion and said in no uncertain terms I was to refuse it. He is already set in motion alternative arrangements."

"Well, cancel them. We'll talk to him. He's not gonna be left like that on our watch."

"The plans are in his control, not mine. I certainly hope you have better luck than I did. Your friend can be remarkably stubborn."

"It's kind of a team trait." Nathan explained.

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

TBC