Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since I updated- things have been really busy. Enjoy the chapter!
When Harvey returned to the hospital, Mike seemed awake, but also pretty out of it.
"D-dad?" The younger man's voice came out in a slight rasp due to the lack of use.
Harvey took a step back, slightly startled. He knew that Mike's parents were no longer alive, but that was about it.
Without telling Mike that his parents had died, Harvey tried to act normally. Maybe he'll forget he thought I was his dad.
"Hey Mike, I see you're talking. How you feeling?"
"Dad…I waited for…for you."
It appeared that Harvey's strategy had failed. Looking at the sick and weak man lying there, a strange feeling of pity came over him, and something that felt like compassion.
"Waited for what, Mike?"
It took him a few minutes to respond, seeming to have to summon more strength.
"School, you never came…" Mike's voice trailed off.
Harvey was at a loss for words. This was a part of Mike's life that he had never bothered learning about. In fact, the only person he knew from Mike's background was Trevor. And now he was in Mike's flashback of losing his dad.
He decided to go along with pretending to be Mike's dad.
"I'm sorry, Mike."
"Where'd you go, Dad?" Mike became agitated now, starting to thrash as the monitors began to pick up speed.
With a quiet sigh, Harvey sat down next to him.
"Hey, hey, calm down. It's okay, kid." Tentatively, Harvey laid a hand on Mike's trembling shoulder. It seemed to calm the younger associate since the thrashing began to slow.
For the first time since Harvey had arrived, Mike looked at him with recognition.
"H-harvey?"
"Yeah, it's me. How're you doing?"
"Still tired…" Mike tried to sit up more and fell back again.
"Get some sleep, Mike, okay?"
A brief glimpse of fear crossed Mike's face for a fraction of a second, but it was still a glimpse that Harvey caught. After all, he made his living catching things like that.
"I'm not going anywhere, kid."
With this, Mike relaxed back into the pillows, and let sleep overtake him once again.
Harvey pulled a file out of his briefcase and began to go through it, but was interrupted by Ben quietly entering the room. The doctor smiled at him before attending to Mike's monitors and tubes, and then making some notes on his clipboard. He motioned for Harvey to follow him into the hall. Once they were there, Ben closed the door as to not wake Mike.
"Everything's looking stable as of now. We're going to be moving Mr. Ross out of the ICU later, if things stay like this."
"When will he be released?"
"It's a little early to tell, but hopefully we can release Mr. Ross in a week or so. Of course, he would still be a long way from recovery. I understand that he currently lives alone. Is there anywhere he could stay with someone until he fully recovers?"
Harvey knew that the only option was to have Mike stay with him. Even if Trevor hadn't been somewhere in the middle of Montana, he wouldn't trust him to take care of Mike.
"He can stay with me, Ben."
"Okay, great." smiled the doctor. "If you have any questions, please let me know. Have a nice day!"
With that, Harvey went back to the chair next to Mike's bed, and sat down again with the file.
Author's Note: I hope you liked it! In the next chapter…Mike's going to Harvey's place :) As always, reviews are appreciated.