Jules sat in the same plastic chair every day. Her hand gripped firmly in his. Her other hand just rested on top the two clasped ones.

The machines around her beeped continuously. The noise echoed off the walls – the only sound disrupting the silence of the room.

The door behind her pushed opened. At first Jules assumed it was a nurse coming to check up on Sam again, but the person sighed. The breath sounded heavy. Then the feet shuffled forward until they stopped – still behind her. A hand pressed lightly on her left shoulder but she didn't move. She was too busy starring at Sam's closed eyes. Still waiting.

"Jules." It was Greg. He whispered her name but she continued to remain unresponsive. Lightly he pushed her shoulder back so she was resting against the back of the chair. He knelt down next to her left side, Sam was on her right, and started speaking to her again. "Jules, I need to speak with you."

She still didn't respond.

"It's important, can we talk?"

This time she subtly nodded. At least he knew that she was listening.

"I would prefer if we found a better place to speak. Is that alright?"

Now she turned her head and their eyes met for the first time that day. Her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed in on him. Almost daring him to try and pull her away from Sam. But he still dared her. He took both hands in his as he encouraged her to stand up. "He'll be alright for a few minutes."

She didn't resist. She stood on shaky legs and followed behind him.

He led her around the hospital until they reached the hospital's garden outside. It wasn't much, but it allowed for fresh air and some bright color in comparison to the white, sterile walls.

There was a small fountain in the center with complimentary flowers surrounding it. Bushes and other flowers were on the opposite side of the sidewalk.

They sat down on a small, stone bench that was slightly hidden by green leaves hanging from a tree. There was enough room for each of them to sit comfortably together.

Jules had her head bent down and her toes were pushing the grains of rocks from the sidewalk around. Her fingers were fumbling around with each other.

Greg studied the woman next to him. Normally it would have surprised him to see this strong, independent woman acting in such a small and delicate manner, but she had a lot thrown on her at once that he wasn't surprised she was struggling. And he was about to make her burden even worse, however, he promised himself that he would support her until the end.

Wasting no time on small talk, he decided to jump the gun after a few minutes of more silence. "We need to find a replacement for Sam."

She expected that and didn't verbally respond. However, her head bobbed slightly up and down. So he continued.

"I'm also looking into finding a replacement for you."

Now she did undoubtedly respond. Her head snapped up and her eyes ignited a fire he hadn't seen since before the incident. Her jaw was slack for a few tense seconds before she started to protest.

He held his hand up to silence her. "I don't want to Jules. It's only been a week since everything happened, but the Commander wants Team One to start working again next Monday. It's a short time span, I know, but in the past week you have hardly eaten, you barely sleep, and it's difficult to get you to move from Sam's side. I need a fully functioning team member on my team that I know I can trust. I can't worry about both a team member and the situation I am handling. If by the end of the week you've have proved to me that you can separate your work life from your personal life, I will allow you to reside on Team One."

Jules remained silent through his whole speech and took a few moments after to think. Her brow was lightly furrowed. Her thoughts were deep in concentration. She looked up at him. Her brown eyes looked afraid. Her throat constricted and swallowing was made difficult. When she started speaking again, her voice was hoarse, almost as if she was holding herself back from crying. "What if I come back and I can't do it?"

Greg's hand reached for hers to rub small circles on the top of her hand where her thumb met her index finger. "You'll have the team standing beside you and helping you the entire step of the way."

She looked down again. It was quiet for another few moments. The only noise was the birds chirping lightly and the soft wind brushing against the leaves and flowers.

Finally she looked up and her eyes were full of unshed tears. She whispered, "I'm pregnant."

Greg nodded, "I know."

"I'm scared." Her voice cracked and the first tear slipped from her eye. It ran a path down the side of her cheek. He gently wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. He couldn't brush her sorrows away, but he could remove the physical evidence.

"I'll be with you every step of the way." He opened his arms to her and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder while she cried. His arms were circled around her shaking form as she started to cry more. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, occasionally kneading the tips of his fingers into her tense muscles.

"Promise?" She hiccupped.

"I promise."