Dr Cox's POV

"Outside, now Newbie. He's awake and off death's door, I want you back on your rounds. Mr Elwood is feeling rather unloved and in need of his hourly vitals check. Off you pop now, Gloria…"

"Have you not been looking after him? You knew I was busy."

"Oh no, I have been keeping an eye on him as well as my own patients. But now he's your responsibility. If I catch you in his room once more Newbie, I swear…" It was an empty threat, I knew as soon as I turned my back he'd scoot back in to check on him or he'd be at the window. It had to be noted though, as he lay in the pitifully small hospital bed, he looked almost normal. You couldn't tell it was him who had needed tetanus shot only a month earlier after the creation of 'Knife Wrench', which he had then put in his pocket, knife side down. I kept my eye on Bambi that night, he only crept into his room once or twice, and both times he'd been asleep.

On the third visit, I caught him sat there, just watching him sleep. "Newbie, what the hell are you doing?"

"Nothing, I'm just taking my break."

"In the ICU?"

"Why not, it's as good a place as any." He'd lied unconvincingly.

"Newbie, walk with me. Is there something going on between you two or something? You've been glued to him since he was brought in and now he's awake your just as bad."

"Can I not be friendly? Does it have to mean I care for him in a sexual manner if I sit in with a friend after they've come out of coma? Noted, Perry, if you lapse into a coma, I won't be sat at your side."

"Newbie, I wasn't insinuating… I just… Does he know you've been at his bedside all that time?"

"I don't know. He hasn't spoken yet."

"Get back to Mr Elwood, his son has just arrived and wants to know how he's doing." I hated to think I'd just hit the nail on the head; I wanted to believe I hadn't seen what I had… After all, only the week before down in the bar, the Janitor had told me he wanted Elliot. "What? You can't imply things like that then send me away."

"You seem to forget who I am. I'll let you know when he's up to talking. Elwood, now Newbie."

***

JD's POV

For a guy who'd just come out of a coma, he was doing an awful lot of sleeping. He could barely keep his eyes open for more than 10 minutes at a time before needing a rest. He'd come off the dialysis a day or two before he regained the power of speech. There'd been no problems so far; everything seemed to be in order. That was until Cox called me into the rest room. "What have I done now? Or have you got some other wild accusation to throw around?"

"No Newbie and… I'm sorry, I was out of line. I just wanted you to know he's talking a little now and he's asking for you."

Trepidation caught up with me as I opened the door. His stunning blue eyes shimmered as he blinked, a small lopsided smile appeared. "Hey, sit down. I hear it was you that sat by me all the while I was dead to the world. I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't wish it was Blonde Doctor." I laughed coyly, not sure how to respond to that.

"Do you remember much about the attack?" He shook his head slowly, staring down at the covers.

"No and I like it that way. I don't want to know the details. I'm here, that's all that matters to me. And stop changing the subject." His smile slid effortlessly onto the corners of his mouth. "I know Cox was in and around here on a daily basis, but that's only because he told me before. He says you hardly moved?"

"I didn't want you to be on your own… That's all. I didn't want you to wake up alone."

"You don't have to make excuses. I'm sure you had better things to do with your time than spend it in this pokey little room."

"Not really. Think back to when you woke up, would you have wanted to go through that alone?"

"Someone would have heard me choking." His grin widened slightly.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Something in my heart tells me someone would have found me before it was too late. JD, I want to thank you. I was mildly aware of a constant presence but you lose all sense of perspective, it's all just a mass of words with no real meaning or speaker." As soon as he finished the final sentence, a cold chill crept through my bones. I think he picked up on my apprehension. "It's weird, I can make out certain parts but others are a complete blur. It's as if they never happened." Panic began to set in.

"I have to go, check on Mr Elwood. He had a huge heart attack this morning…" I tried to shuffle away before he could say anything else.

"For the record, JD, you can never like someone too much…"

***

Dr Cox's POV

Once he was awake and lucid, Bambi seemed to spend an awful more time doing his rounds and attending to everyone else's patients. "Newbie, you fallen out with sleeping beauty in there or something?" He shook his head and walked off in the other direction. "Newbie, look you can talk to me. There's no guarantee I will be able to help or that I won't laugh but…"

"No, it's fine. He just needs his rest, that's all." What he didn't know is that he was the worst liar in the hospital. "Well, he's awake now and you won't mind dropping this off then, will you?" The envelope was stuffed with cash after a quick whip around and a muffin basket that he probably wouldn't be up to eating seemed lame in retrospect but it was the best we could come up with. "Well, why can't you? I'm busy."

"So am I Newbie, so am I. Either you take them voluntarily or I will use his mop to force you…"

"Fine, I'll take them to him."

"Have you two had a lovers spat or something? Cuz recently there's been more chance of me meeting Hugh Jackman and befriending him than you and him talking…"

"Just stay out of it, yeah?" They had definitely had a fight; it was the only explanation for Bambi's weird behaviour.