A/N: A bit shorter chapter this time, but that's where the scene ended. Next chapter will be longer and coming soon, I promise:) Enjoy and let me know what you think. Cheers

Somewhere in the distance there was motion and words and too much light to even contemplate opening his eyes. Connor let out something that sounded suspiciously like a whine when hands grasped the sheets he was lying on and moved him to another bed. In the back of his mind he noticed the change of pace around him, the quieter hum without the noise of the ED. He felt someone squeezing his hand in response to the sound of distress, so he relaxed and let himself be taken back to the darkness.

His dreams were turbulent and troubled. Everything was chaotic, fantasy mixed with memories he desperately wished to forget and it all coalesced into a seemingly inescapable nightmare. When he finally came to and opened his eyes, he was panting and covered in cold sweat. The fact he was staring into the eyes of his own father just seconds after waking up from the memory of his mother's death didn't help. When his father reached out to him, Connor flinched violently, pulling back.

"Son?" Cornelius Rhodes asked, his hand frozen mid-movement. "Do you need me to call the nurse?"

Connor took in a breath, trying to calm down. He gave a slight shake of his head, then muttered a raspy, "Why are you here?"

Cornelius looked at him strangely, one hand landing on the bed railing, the other reaching for the call button.

"I think I'd better call her. You don't look so good, son."

Connor blinked, looking around, and taking in the new room he was in. Well, it wasn't actually a room, it was more like a cubicle. There were several of them in a wide circle, covered only by privacy curtains, and he could see the nurses' station in the center, just like in the ED. He was still trying to slow down his breathing when one of the nurses looked up from the computer and walked towards him. She was a little familiar, but Connor didn't know her name.

"Dr. Rhodes, you're awake. I'm Amy, I'm your night nurse." She introduced herself with a smile and started checking his vitals.

"Connor, please," Connor muttered, and tried to focus on what she was doing instead of trying to figure out why was his father there.

"My son seems to be in distress, nurse. Can't you give him something for pain?" Cornelius spoke, his tone a mix of annoyance and charm.

Amy looked at him, obviously not taken in by the tone, then gave a slight shake of her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give him anymore medication at this moment. We need to assess his level of consciousness regularly, and drugging him wouldn't help us with that," she told Cornelius. She turned back to Connor, who was still watching his father, confused.

"Connor, what is your pain level, from one to ten?"

"Seven, I think. But it's the same as when I woke up in the ED," he muttered, not really comfortable speaking about himself with his father present. "What are you doing here, dad?" he asked, a little more harshly than he intended, but then again, he had a hell of a migraine. This time it was his father who looked uncomfortable. Amy quickly read the room, her people skills honed by several years of nursing. She realized her presence wasn't needed at this moment.

"Okay, I'll give you two five minutes to talk, then you'll have to leave, Mr. Rhodes. It's already long past the visitation hours, and I'll need to assess Connor, then let him get some sleep." With that, she turned and left before either of the men could utter a protest.

Cornelius huffed and Connor gave up the hope that he won't have to talk to his father right now.

"When I heard my son was attacked in the same hospital I so generously sponsored, of course I had to come and see that you were alright. The least I can do is make sure they'll give you their best possible care, if nothing else. I'll leave the matter of deplorable security for the board meeting tomorrow," Cornelius said in a huff, and Connor had to take a minute to make head and tails of what he heard.

"Board meeting?" Connor approached the topic that was the least strange for his father, because the idea that he would come just to check up on his son's health was not even up for consideration, at least not for Connor.

"Of course. Do you really think I would let it slide that some guy waltzed in with a baseball bat and played piñata with my son's head, without a single security guard questioning his presence?"

Somewhere in the sentence was a statement of concern, but all Connor heard was a chance to get the hospital in some trouble on his behalf, which he wasn't that keen on.

"Dad, I don't think it was the hospital's fault-" he started, but Cornelius shook his head.

"I'm not debating this with you now, Connor. The fact is, a man walked in with a baseball bat and attacked a doctor. Not just any doctor. He attacked my son. That is simply not acceptable," Cornelius said rather fiercely, and for the first time, Connor realized that his father came in as a concerned father, not just a board member. This didn't make the conversation any easier, especially not with the image of his mother still fresh on his mind.

"Look dad, I... I can't even think about this now," Connor started, rubbing at his eyes wearily. He ran one of his hands through his hair, wincing when he encountered a sore spot on the left side of his head where he hit the floor. "Just... don't kick up too much of a fuss. I'm okay." Seeing the look of disbelief on his father's face, Connor snorted.

"I will be," he said and let a huge yawn escape him. "Just...need some sleep."

Cornelius watched him for a minute, then stood up with a sigh.

"Claire sends her well wishes. She would've come, but she's out of town for a few days. I'll stop by later when you are more awake, to continue this... conversation. Feel better, son," Cornelius said and awkwardly patted his son's shoulder, then left.

Few minutes later, Connor was roused from a slight doze by the nurse.

"Dr. Rhodes, your father is gone, it's time for the check up."

"Huh? Oh. I thought we agreed on Connor?" he muttered, squinting up at her through barely open lids.

"We did. I was just checking your memory, Connor. See? I remember. Now how about you tell me my name and how you really feel?"

"Amy. Is it short for 'manda?" Connor asked with a sleepy grin.

"Aren't you a charmer, Connor. Spot on. Now tell me how much your head hurts."

"A lot," Connor admitted and gritted his teeth when she pulled out the hated penlight. "Come on, I hate that thing," he whined and looked miserable enough to remind Amy of her puppy dog when she left him alone the first time. She bit her lip and shook her head, amused.

"Trust me, there isn't a patient on this floor who doesn't. As a doctor, you should know that."

Connor would've rolled his eyes but knew it wasn't wise.

"Kay. But you better get the basin; I'd rather not puke on you."

Amy just pointed towards the basin sitting on the table within easy reach, her eyebrows rising in a silent challenge. Connor blinked, then with a sigh, looked right at her. Amy gently grabbed his chin and shone the light first in his left, then his right eye. Connor hissed but didn't pull away, though he went a shade greyer and his breathing quickened.

"Do you want the basin?" Amy asked, once she finished with the test, and Connor burrowed his head back in the pillows, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I'll give you a minute to get your bearings." True to her words, she used the minute to record her findings and check if everything was in its place. Connor, meanwhile, focused on deep breaths, hoping that a bit of oxygen might clear his head and stop it from spinning so wildly. After a while, he felt a hand touching his wrist.

"Connor? Are you in pain or dizzy?" Amy asked and Connor flinched at how loud her voice suddenly sounded.

"Both," he whispered and Amy instinctively lowered her voice.

"Are sounds bothering you too, Connor?"

"Mhm. Migraine," he ground out between tightly clenched teeth.

"Okay, I'll try to be quiet. On the scale from one to ten, how bad is the pain now?"

"Nine?" Connor said, uncertain. He was pretty sure his head was going to explode, but somewhere in the back of his mind, there was a thought that people could feel even worse.

"What about your vision?"

Connor opened his eyes a slit before quickly shutting them.

"S-spinning," he said, swallowing hard. He didn't want to be sick, god, he really didn't want to.

"Okay, rest up, I'll be back in a second."

'Not going anywhere,' Connor thought, screwing his eyes shut and putting his arm over them to block out all the annoying light. He would've liked nothing better than to lock himself in some nice, soundproof, dark room so that he could sob without anyone hearing him if he felt like it. Unfortunately he was lying in the middle of a bright room, where he could hear sounds coming from other cubicles. Patients breathing, moaning, or the annoying sound of the machinery. Connor was getting lost in his misery, his ears taking in every scrape and breath, at the same time reverberating it through his skull ten times louder.

"Here, this should help. I've called Dr. Jacobs for some changes in the dosage of your pain medication. I'm afraid I'll have to wake you up a bit more often, but it will help the pain. This should help too." She pulled his arm from his face and put a cold cloth right over his eyes. A minute later Connor felt something cold entering his bloodstream and after a while the headache went down from a nine to an eight. Maybe if he focused only on breathing, sleep would come and save him from this misery.

TBC