-35-

"Thanks. I know if anyone can convince her, it's you. Call me if you need anything."

Mike listened to the end of Mary's phone call. They'd been waiting most of the day for Ed to fully regain consciousness. He'd been in and out, but not enough to acknowledge anyone's presence. It was almost four in the afternoon when Mary had excused herself--heading outside and down the long glass walkway, presumably so she could get better cell reception. Since Danny had drifted off to sleep in one of the many recliners outside the ICU, Mike decided to check on her.

"Hey," he said quietly, not wanting to startle her. "Was that Casey?"

"Yeah, I'm hoping he can talk some sense into her. They've been spending a lot of time together recently. She really needs to be here, Mike."

"What's going on with her?"

"She's just scared. You know Sam–she acts like she's tough as nails, but the thought of losing Ed…it terrifies her and she's just having trouble handling it."

"We're all scared, but we're here."

"It's hard to explain, Mike. Sam knows if she's here everyone's going to find out that she's not really that strong. She thinks if she stays away that everything will just fix itself and she won't have to deal with it and then she won't have to let anyone down."

Mike stared at his friend, concerned. At some point during her long explanation Mary had started to cry and he wondered if the toll of the last eighteen hours had finally caught up with her or if it was something else. "She told you all that?"

"No, but… I know exactly how she feels."

Mike slowly nodded his head--deciding not to pry even though he knew now there was something bothering Mary that had nothing to do with Sam. He could tell she was teetering on some sort of emotional edge and he didn't want to be the one to give her the final push. Mary had been amazing through this entire ordeal–making sure every one of them was taken care of, but Mike suddenly realized that no one had been taking care of Mary. Much like himself, Danny was so emotionally and physically drained that he could barely string a coherent sentence together and he seemed to be relying on Mary just to help him put one foot in front of the other while Delinda wasn't much better and Jillian had yet to leave Ed's bedside.

"You should try to get some rest, you know. We've all been dozing on and off, but I don't think I've seen you close your eyes once. I could run across to the Marriott and get a couple of rooms." He put his arm around her shoulders and steered her back towards the waiting room.

"No. Danny needs to be here with Ed and I…I need to be with Danny–in case he needs me."

"Mary, you're exhausted."

"We all are, Mike," she snapped back, not in the mood for his coddling.

"Yeah, but you're the only one sleeping for two." Mike could tell that she wasn't going to change her mind so he tried a different approach, "Look, if I can convince Danny to go with you…"

"NO. I won't let you use me to make him feel guilty, Mike. If he's not here and something happens he'll never forgive himself…he'll never forgive me," she had raised her voice to argue, but the last part came out as barely a whisper.

Mike had been unprepared for the sudden flare of Mary's temper and he'd stopped their progress to let her finish. If the anger in her voice had worried him, the desperate, almost wild look in her eyes had him terrified. Mike put both his hands on her shoulders–trying to soothe her frazzled nerves, but she shrugged off his comfort and fixed him with a defiant glare, "Danny needs to be here and we're staying until he thinks it's okay to go."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Mike put both hands up in a surrendering pose, "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to help."

"Well, I don't need anyone's help. You shouldn't be thinking about me right now anyway. We need to concentrate on getting everyone through this."

Mary stormed away–heading back towards the waiting room–as Mike followed behind, a bewildered expression settled on his face.

They waited in an awkward silence as the nurse buzzed them back into the ICU Family Room. There were a few people scattered about and the television was playing softly as Mary headed straight for the back corner of the room where she'd left Danny earlier. She stopped a few feet away, stunned as she took in the scene before her. Delinda had returned at some point and had settled into the recliner next to Danny. His arm was draped across her as she held his hand tightly around her body, their joined hands resting under her chin. Mary's stomach churned and she turned hastily towards the ladies room, practically pushing Mike out of her way.

---

Several hours later…

"Hey, Mrs. D. How ya holdin' up?"

"I'm okay, Mike. The doctors say he's doing as well as can be expected and now that he's awake I feel a lot better. I mean, he knows who I am–knows what day it is and he remembers what he was doing yesterday so the doctor's say that's an excellent sign."

"Yeah, it won't be too long before he's up and shouting orders at the poor nurses."

"You're right about that," Jillian chuckled. "So, you look like you've got something on your mind."

Mike sighed, glancing towards the door. He figured he had a very small window of opportunity to enlist Jillian's help. It wouldn't be long before Danny and Mary returned from visiting with Ed.

"I'm worried about Mary. She's exhausted almost to the point of delirium, I think. I was going to say something to Danny, but she freaked. She knows Danny wants to be here and she doesn't want him to feel like he can't do that because he has to take care of her, but she refuses to go without him. She's so worried that I'm going to make him feel guilty that she hasn't left his side for the last two hours. Of course, it might also have something to do with him snuggling with Delinda."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing, but it really freaked Mary out." By the time Mary had returned from the restroom Danny had woken and discreetly removed his arm from Delinda's grasp and Mary had given him no indication that she'd witnessed the display.

"I'm confused now. What happened with Danny and Delinda?"

"Well, when Mary and I came back into the waiting room earlier they were all snuggled up together in the chairs. Mary made the excuse that they were both just exhausted and it's true–I don't even think Danny realized what was going on, but I could tell it really bothered her."

Jillian took a deep breath, considering everything Mike had just told her.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. D. I shouldn't be worrying you with all of this."

"No, Mike. I'm absolutely glad that you told me. I know everyone's tired and that this past day has been the day from hell, but that is no excuse for Danny to be forgetting that he has a wife with a baby on the way, it's no excuse for Mary to forget that she needs to take care of herself and that is absolutely no excuse for my daughter to be cuddling up with a married man. I know they're friends, but it's inappropriate and I don't blame Mary for being upset. Everyone's emotions are heightened right now–especially Mary's since her hormones are already out of whack. I'll talk to Danny and if Mary wants to be mad at someone she can be mad at me."

"Thanks, Mrs. D," Mike sighed with relief.

"You're a good friend, Michael."

"Yeah, well…," Mike blushed at Jillian's compliment just as Danny and Mary returned, their hands entwined.

"How was he?" Mike asked.

"Groggy," Danny replied, "but he's definitely still got his spunk. Delinda's in there now, but if you want to go back the nurse said he could have two visitors at a time as long as we kept the visits short."

"Thanks, man," Mike jumped up, waiting a moment for the nurse to buzz him in before disappearing through the heavy door.

"He seems so…frail," Danny said softly.

"He's been through a lot, Danny, but I know my husband and he'll bounce back."

"Yeah, I hope so."

Jillian studied Mary closely. The younger woman had yet to speak and Jillian could see instantly what Mike was talking about. Her eyes were glassy and dazed and the hand that rested in her lap shook almost imperceptibly. Her other hand was busy rubbing gentle circles on Danny's back. To the casual observer she was the supportive spouse, dutifully seeing to her husband's every need in this time of turmoil, but to Jillian she looked like a woman on the brink of insanity.

"Mary, honey? Would you mind getting me some coffee?" Jillian hated to ask her to do anything, but she needed a few moments with Danny.

"Of course, Jillian. Danny, do you need anything?"

"No, baby, I'm okay." Danny assured her, kissing her hand as she walked away.

"Danny, the two of you need to get some rest."

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but Jillian stopped him. "You're both so exhausted you can't think straight. If you could you'd realize that your pregnant wife has probably not eaten a real meal or slept in almost 36 hours."

Danny looked up suddenly, realizing that Jillian was right.

"Nothing's going to happen, Danny. I'm going to stay here tonight, but I want you to go across the street to the hotel and get some rooms. I'll send Delinda and Mike along as soon as they come out. You're all useless to me if you're walking around like zombies and the last thing we need is for Mary to end up in the bed next to Ed's because she's exhausted and dehydrated."

"Okay."

Mary walked back into the room, handing Jillian her coffee, but before she could sit down, Danny stood and wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked nervously.

"Nothing," Danny assured his wife, tilting her head back so he could look in her eyes. He saw it now–the exhaustion in her face, the almost sickening pallor of her skin. He'd been so blinded by his own misery today that he had neglected the most important thing. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to go get everyone rooms across the street so we can sleep in a real bed. Does that sound okay?"

"Are you sure? If you want to stay…"

"No. We'll come back first thing in the morning, but I think we both need a meal and a good night's sleep, don't you?"

Mary smiled weakly, "Yeah."