He stayed there for another couple of minutes while they prepared to move Martin to the CCU. When they wheeled Martin out of the room ahead of him, Ben led him by the arm. Douglas was unaware he'd been so unsteady on his feet.

"It's alright," he reassured him. "It's a perfectly normal response when you've been through something so stressful. I'll take you up and then come back down for the other members of your party."

Douglas only nodded.

"Are you going to be staying with him?" he asked, leaning heavily against the wall of the elevator as it began to rise.

"No, my shift is almost over. His nurse also speaks English though, so don't worry about that."

Douglas nodded, but was a little disappointed to be losing someone who'd already gotten to know Martin so well.

"I'll be back to see how he's doing before my shift tomorrow though, so don't worry."

Douglas nodded again. It seemed that it was all he could manage to do now.

The elevator announced their arrival and Ben walked slightly ahead of Douglas now that he seemed to be steadier on his feet. He lead him through a maze of doors and hand sanitizing stations before they arrived at a nurses station.

There were three women and a man doing various things around the desk, and Ben greeted them briefly in Norwegian before introducing Douglas, mentioning Martin, and probably their partnership.

"Daniel," he told Douglas, gesturing to the man, "As well as Emilie, Nelly, and Thea," he finished, pointing to each of them women in turn. He said something else to them and the headed off again.

"And Martin's nurse, Irene." They were in front of Martin's room, although the term 'room' seemed to be a bit generous. It was more of a curtained off box of glass. Martin's bed was in the middle of it, and there was a number of machines taking up a large part of it. There was a comfortable chair and a table on the other side, which was where Irene was standing. She was impossibly small and looked to be suited more for making miniature dollhouses than handing unconscious patients. But as Douglas had to admit, she made shifting Martin over look easy despite her small stature. Obviously more than capable, he assured himself.

"This is where I leave you," Ben said to Douglas, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll bring up your friends and come around to see you tomorrow morning, alright?"

Douglas nodded absently, focused on Martin.

The tape holding the tube in place had been replaced by what appeared to be gauze, wrapped around the tube and secured around the back of his head. Air was now being forced into his lungs by a machine instead of the nurse with the bag. There were multiple bags of fluid dripping into him into a number of IV sites, the original one in his hand from when he arrived, but there were new additions, including a frightening one in his chest.

The aeroplane pyjamas Arthur had so lovingly provided had been removed, and Douglas vaguely hoped they hadn't been cut off. He wasn't sure how he'd missed that. Perhaps in all the excitement...

His chest was mostly bare, the sleeves of a thin hospital gown shrugged down his shoulders to allow the doctors and nurses access to the numerous wires stuck to his chest. There were more still on his arm and fingers, monitoring blood pressure and oxygen saturation.

Martin basically looked awful. Pale, unmoving, and mostly dead.

Douglas sank into the comfortable chair.

"He's doing alright you know," Irene said. Her voice was lovely,like she was singing without even trying. Probably nice for people in comas. Not Martin. Martin is not comatose, merely sedated. And besides, he's rubbish with women.

Douglas looked at her skeptically.

"He may not look it, but he's responding very well to the ventilator."

Douglas looked more closely at Martin. Indeed his lips and fingers were no longer blue, instead just an almost white, which he supposed had to be better.

"He really just needed a rest."

Douglas had to agree. The way Martin had been working so hard to breathe for so many hours must have been exhausting, and it had only gotten worse the longer it had gone on. This way he could sleep and rest, which would help him recover.

"He's on broad spectrum antibiotics, and we took cultures to figure out what ones will work best. I can show you his chest x-ray if you'd like," she offered.

"Sure," Douglas said wearily.

The black and grey splotched didn't mean much to Douglas, but when Irene showed him an example of a normal chest x-ray, Douglas was shocked Martin could breathe at all.

"He has a pretty nasty case of pneumonia, but you did the right thing by bringing him in when you did."

Douglas only nodded.

"I think your friends are here," she noted, fixing the sheet around Martin and taking note of his vital signs.

Indeed, Arthur and Carolyn were being directed towards Martin's 'room', Arthur looking utterly terrified, but clutching something for dear life in his hands. Douglas only hoped it wasn't a Toblerone.

"Douglas!" he called out, almost running over to greet him.

Carolyn shushed him. "Arthur, don't run. And quiet down! We're in a hospital, not a jungle gym."

Arthur nodded as he reached Douglas, throwing his arms around him in an unusually sentimental gesture.

"Arthur," he said gently. "I'm fine. I'm not sure why you are hugging me." He looked over to Carolyn, who only shrugged at him.

"Arthur, show Douglas what you found in the little shop."

"Oh right! Look what I got for Skip, Douglas." He held it out for Douglas to examine.

Douglas looked back up at Arthur skeptically. "Of all the things in the gift shop, you chose to get him a stuffed otter?"

Arthur nodded enthusiastically. "Because Skip said he wasn't going to fly with a live otter in the flight deck, and this isn't a live one, so it can go in the flight deck."

"I'm sure he'll love it," Douglas confirmed. "Arthur, Carolyn, this is Martin's nurse Irene."

Arthur waved at her, and she smiled, nodding to Carolyn.

"Oh..." Arthur said, and Douglas realized he was seeing Martin for the first time since they'd left the car earlier. "Oh..." he repeated faintly.

"He's doing alright Arthur."

"Right. I'm sure he is. I mean... you were there. And you said he'd be alright..." Arthur sniffed loudly.

Irene directed him towards the chair and handed him a box of tissues.

"Don't fret now," she soothed. "He looks a bit frightening, doesn't he?"

Arthur nodded, still sniffling.

"I know, but they're just things to help him get better."

Carolyn watched the scene unfolding awkwardly, her son being comforted by her pilot's nurse, which her co-pilot stood over, watching.

"How's he been taking it?" Douglas asked Carolyn quietly as Irene explained all of the various tubes and wires unwatched to Martin.

Carolyn only shook her head. "I'm not sure. I explained to him that Martin wouldn't look like himself, wouldn't be awake or able to speak, but I suppose he hoped for something... less."

Douglas made a humming noise, unsure of what exactly to say.

Arthur's sniffling quieted down as Irene explained that he could hold Martin's hand and talk to him, because they weren't sure what he was able to hear.

Arthur tucked the little otter under his Skip's arm before hesitantly grabbing his hand and petting it.

"I got you an otter, Skip. I know you said no otters in the flight deck, but this one isn't real, so I think it's okay. It could be our mascot! I've always said we should have a mascot, but mum wouldn't let me use Snoopadoo, even though I promised the hair dye would wash out. But I think the otter's brilliant. And we can name it! I know, I'll let you name it Skip, alright? When you wake up, you can name it."

He sniffed again loudly, and Carolyn apparently decided that was about enough visiting time for Arthur.

"Alright Arthur. We're going to have to go now. Can you go out in the waiting room for a minute?"

"But why can't I stay with Martin?" he protested.

Carolyn gave him a look, albeit one that was less harsh than usual, but a look nonetheless. "Code red, Arthur."

Arthur's face fell, but he nodded and trudged off.

"God, I hope he doesn't get lost," Carolyn muttered.

"You and the rest of the hospital," Douglas murmured in return.

Irene stepped closer to them. "I'm just going to step out for a minute, but push the call button if you need anything."

Douglas nodded to her, and waited until she left the room to ask Carolyn.

"Partners?" he hissed. "Really? I'm old enough to be his father!"

"Well, I'd have used that except there's no family resemblance. This was the only way to ensure someone had access all the time. We can't leave Martin alone in here. He was wearing footy pyjamas for heaven's sake!"

"I'll have you know, your son lent those to Martin last night." Douglas informed her wryly.

"Oh. I thought they looked familiar. It's rare to find pyjamas with feet, covered in aeroplanes in grown men's sizes."

"No doubt." He was silent for a moment, both of them listening to the mechanical hiss of the ventilator that was breathing for Martin. "Still a little warning would have been nice. I just had to play along with it."

"Yes, well, you're very good at that, aren't you?"

"Carolyn, that is not the point," he said firmly.

"No, of course not," she said wearily. "But it wasn't like I had time to tell you otherwise."

They stood in silence again, watching the comforting rise and fall of Martin's chest. It seemed to happen with such ease now. It was nice knowing he wasn't struggling for breath.

"I should probably find Arthur," Carolyn noted glumly.

"Yes, before he finds the paediatric floor and starts teaching all the kids about polar bears and Timbuktu."

Carolyn nodded. "I'll get rooms at the hotel across the street."

Douglas shook his head. "I won't need a room. I'll be staying here with him tonight."

Carolyn raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Douglas rolled his eyes. "Oh stop that. You said it yourself. The man was wearing footy pyjamas. Besides, I'm his partner after all."

Carolyn only shook her head, but stepped over to Martin to smooth down his wild hair.

"We'll be back a bit later. Say sixish?"

Douglas nodded, and Carolyn gave Martin's head one last past down before venturing off to find a wild Arthur.