Over the next week, Kate had her bad days and her good days. Some days were so good that she was able to eat, sleep, shower, and take walks around the hospital – and one wheelchair race with Danny that got her reprimanded not only by hospital staff but by Don as well. However, some days were so terrible that she could barely lift her head off her pillow let alone get out of bed. Those were the days Don hated the most.

He couldn't stand to see Kate in so much pain, but he was there for her every day, good or bad. He even paid some kid that lived in their building to take care of Bendel so that Don didn't have to worry about him.

On the good days, Kate told Don many times to go home, get some sleep, see a movie…do something. But on bad days, she didn't have the energy, and though she wouldn't admit it, the bad days were the times she needed him the most. Just the fact that he would sit with her, hold her hand, hold a cold washcloth to her forehead, or even just talk and watch TV with her made all the world to her.

It had been a week since Kate was admitted to the hospital, and Don was walking to her room and was scared at how normal this seemed. He would check in with the nurses to see how she was doing, they'd give him a report, then he'd go in to see her, sometimes bringing food, sometimes not, depending on how she was feeling that day. This particular day, the report was that she had had a terrible night and still wasn't feeling that much better. Don practically ran into the room, and saw a nurse checking stuff – Don was never sure exactly what they did – and Kate lying in her bed, looking worse than he'd ever seen her.

"Hey baby," he greeted. "How are you today?" Instant tears came to her eyes. Don ran his hand over her forehead, and held her hand with his other one. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts," Kate said in a raspy voice.

Don turned to the nurse. "What's wrong with her voice?" he asked, obviously concerned.

The nurse, whose name was Lauren, sighed in an annoyed way. "She was up half the night screaming and crying," she explained to Don. "Seems it destroyed her voice."

Don turned to Kate. "Why didn't you call me?" he asked her. Tears fell from her eyes, and she rubbed her throat, hoping it would help. It didn't. "I tried," she said, softly, "They wouldn't let me." Don turned furiously to the nurse. "Why the hell wasn't I called?" he asked.

"Sir, visiting hours were over and there was nothing you could've done," Lauren said. "You don't have medical experience, you would've been able to help her."

"I told everyone I wanted to be notified if something happened. If she's in pain, I want to know about it. I can help her relax," Don insisted.

"Donnie," Kate whispered, tugging at his hand that was still wrapped in hers. He looked down at her instantly, still rubbing her forehead with his other hand. "I'm sorry. I wanted to be strong for you, but I just can't. It was so bad last night…" she started to cry again. Tears came to Don's eyes as well, he ran his hand alongside her face, brushing her hair, trying to calm her down. "Its OK," he said, "Its gonna be all right, ok? I wanna help you, your gonna be fine. Let me go talk to the nurse, hmm?" Kate nodded, trying to stop her crying. Don motioned for Lauren to follow him into the hall, and she sighed.

"Sir…" she began.

"I know you're doing your job," Don acknowledged. "But she's important to me, and I know I can calm her down. If she's ever in extreme pain again, call me. Even if I just talk to her over the phone, it might help. OK?"

Lauren sighed but nodded. "Yes, sir. We will call you."

Don thanked her, and went back into his girlfriend's room.

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Luckily, it was two days later when Kate felt better than she had felt in a long time. The doctors told Flack that if she kept it up for another day, she'd be free to go.

"Happy to get the hell out of here?" Flack asked her. She was sitting up in bed and she and Flack were playing gin rummy. After hearing his question, she had a huge smile on her face.

"Hell yes," she replied. "I'm so ready."

"What you wanna do when you're out?" Flack asked, smile on his face.

"Jesus, Donnie, you make it sound like I've been in prison."

"Far as I'm concerned, you have been. You ain't been home in two weeks. Bendel probably don't even recognize you anymore."

"You're just saying that to piss me off."

Flack laughed. "So really, what you wanna do?"

Kate let out a long breath, and thought about it. "I want a drink, I want to eat real food, and I want to have sex."

Flack looked at her. He should've expected her to be blunt. "I think I can handle that," he said. She smiled, and pronounced she had gin.