Moving his hand instinctively to cover his mouth as he coughed, Craig slowly began to realize that he was, in fact, conscious. Not that he was entirely sure when he had become unconscious. Prying his eyes open slowly, he began to suspect that he hadn't only dozed briefly. The place was quieter. And there was significantly less light. Scanning his room slowly, his eyes rested on the form hunched in the corner to his left.

He attempted to process the meaning behind his visitor's presence. As he lay, staring, he was more than a little startled as the man stirred and quickly returned his gaze.

As Joey focused on the obviously awake teen, he quickly shook off the fog from his brief nap and moved to perch himself on the edge of the boy's bed. Meeting his stepson's stare, he quickly greeted the boy with the first thing that came to mind. "There he is."

Giving the man a puzzled look at the strange greeting, Craig replied slowly. "Here I am."

"How're you feeling?" Joey questioned seriously.

Craig, however, dismissed the question as polite conversation. "I'm good."

The response earned him a slight snort in disbelief from his stepfather. That, and an unforeseen hand to his forehead. The teen was not expecting the display. "Joey."

As Craig moved his head away slightly, Joey ignored the hint and left his hand where it was for an extra few seconds. He returned the winy tone. "Craig."

"What time is it?" The boy changed the subject, relieved when his stepfather removed his hands from his face.

Looking over at the wall clock behind Craig's head for confirmation, the man announced the time. "5:15."

"AM?" The boy questioned in disbelief. He had been asleep for hours. So why did it feel like he hadn't had a moment's pause in days?

Joey smiled slightly at the awed tone before providing confirmation. "AM."

"You stayed here all night?" Craig half questioned, half stated the obvious.

His stepfather looked down at him, being sure to keep his tone neutral as he spoke. "Of course I did. I wasn't going to leave you here alone, Craig."

"Who's with Angie?" The big brother immediately wondered aloud.

His stepfather had been expecting that question. "She's with grandma. You've really got to stop worrying about her so much. I've managed to keep her alive this long."

"I know you have, Joey. You're a great dad." The teen told him quickly; afraid he was upsetting the man. Offending him now, as he was sitting in a hospital room because of Craig, was not exactly what the teen wanted to do.

Offended was not the appropriate word to describe the man's emotional state, though. Looking down at the boy seriously, he spoke in a calm, quiet voice. "Apparently, not as great as I thought."

"Huh?" The teen questioned, thoroughly confused.

His stepfather looked down at him seriously. "Obviously I haven't been doing that great a job with you."

"What are you talking about, Joey?" The boy earnestly asked.