Title: Heard It Through The Grapevine

Author: Hawkeye/Katy

Beta: Alex/Odysseus and Onigami/Lorne

Fandom: CSI:NY

Rating: FRT

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the socks I'm wearing. I stole those from my sister.

Don blinked blearily, wondering hazily why the world had suddenly gone fuzzy. He opened his mouth and sucked in a breath to ask why. Then he groaned as the deep breath somehow made seemingly every nerve ending in his body stand up and curse at him. Out of the corner of his eye, Don saw a blurry shape move to stand beside him. He blinked some more, and the blurry shape morphed into Sheldon, making him smile despite the pain.

"Don?" Sheldon's voice came from very far away.

"Ow…" he mumbled, voice hoarse from both intubation and misuse.

"Hey…" Sheldon smiled, relief coloring his voice, "Should I get the nurse to come and up your pain meds?"

"Nah…" Don spoke carefully, trying not to force too much air into his lungs at once, "I'm good now. Just that first one, ya know?"

Sheldon nodded, "First step's a doozy, I know. Here…" he carefully spooned some ice-chips into the injured man's mouth and smiling at the look of near-bliss that crossed Don's face.

Neither man noticed Stella, leaning, arms folded, in the doorway. A small smile curled her lips as she watched the two men. Turning away, she stealthily crept down the hall a few doors away. Then, turning around, she walked back the way she came, heading for Don's room, deliberately making sure her shoes clicked loudly on the tiled floors. Reaching Don's doorway for the second time in less than a minute, Stella knocked gently on the frame.

"Hey… nurse told me you were awake…" she said, not hiding the relieved smile at seeing Don okay.

"Yeah…" Don said wryly, "I hurt too much to be asleep…"

Sheldon immediately stood up, "I can ask them to increase your IV dosage, Don…"

"Settle down, Shel… Geez… Jumpier than a squirrel on crack… 'm fine," Don watched as Sheldon sat down but still fidgeted nervously in the small hospital room, "Really…" he added, to make sure.

Stella looked at Sheldon, "Why don't you go grab some coffee or something, Shel? Maybe find out when we can bust Don outta here?"

Sheldon stared at the Greek woman uncomprehendingly for a moment. Stella raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know that she needed to talk to Don and his fidgetiness wasn't helping. Then he nodded slowly, still looking slightly dazed and walked out of the room. He tried not to listen in, he really did, but as he was walking away he couldn't help but slow his steps a little.

He heard Don's slightly slurred voice ask, "What's up with Shel?"

He heard Stella sigh in response before replying, "He blames himself, Don… So does Mac… We all do, in a way."

That was enough for Sheldon. He carried on walking, almost desperate, now, to be away from that conversation. He walked, almost scurrying, through the hospital, barely restraining from breaking into a jog when he caught sight of the automatic doors that would lead him to the outside world. Sheldon slid through the doors, slumping down on the low wall outside the hospital. He didn't know how long he stayed there. He just knew that he was still there when Stella came out and silently offered her hand, leading him back to the car and driving him home.

Two weeks and a serious bout of cabin fever later, Donald Flack Jr was convinced the world was against him. Well, the hospital anyway. And his co-workers. Especially Sheldon. They were all in cahoots with the nurse he had silently dubbed 'Mrs Hitler'. No, he couldn't go home today. No, he couldn't go for a walk. No, not even in a wheelchair. No, she wouldn't go get the doctor for him to talk to.

"Heil!" he mumbled, glaring at the nurse's station through the glass windows of his room.

His glare intensified as Sheldon walked up to the desk, smiling confidently at the nurses. Damn it! That man had them all eating out of his hand! Even Mrs Hitler! How did he do that?! His jaw dropped as Sheldon puppy-eyed the nurses. What the hell?! His jaw dropped further and his eyes narrowed as the nurses giggled and nodded, leaning in conspiratorially to Sheldon and whispering in his ear. Sheldon nodded back and grinned at the nurse, before walking the few steps up the hall to Don's room. He knocked on the door and stuck his head round the frame.

"Hey…" he started before noticing the filthy look on the detective's face, "What's wrong with you?"

"You're in on it too!" Don grumbled, making Sheldon raise an eyebrow, "Damn nurses are hell bent on keepin' me here!"

"And I'm in on it?" Sheldon clarified, biting back a smile.

"Yes," Don scowled petulantly, forcing Sheldon to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, "You and them Nazis out there."

"Oh…" Sheldon creased his brow in mock-hurt, "So… I just wangled your release… today… on the shift change… for nothing…? Oh… okay…"

Don's eyes brightened, "I'm gettin' outta here?"

Sheldon tried to look stern, but failed miserably in the face of Don's enthusiasm, "Yeah… we just have to wait a half hour for shift change. Then we can get going. On the condition that you have someone spend the first two days with you. To…"

"… keep an eye on me, I know…" Don was still grinning, "Tell you what, Doc, I'll shout pizza and Chinese for the next couple of days if ya stay with me and gimme a ride home."

Sheldon stoically fought the blush that was creeping up his neck, smiling back at Don, "Make it Thai and you've got yourself a deal."

Sheldon heard Don agree as he walked to the door and pulled the wheelchair from the hall into the room. He gripped the handles tightly, fighting yet another blush at the thought of living in Don's house for the next three days. He took a deep breath, calming himself and turning the wheelchair around to face the bed. He raised an eyebrow as Don made a face at it.

"I could just leave you here…" Sheldon said mildly.

Don looked up at him, "You wouldn't," he said confidently, "You're too nice."

Sheldon leaned over the wheelchair until he was almost nose-to-nose with him, "Try me…"

Don gulped, more because Sheldon was so close than because of any feelings of intimidation, "I'll get in the wheelchair…" he mumbled.

Sheldon nodded, setting the brakes and moving around the chair to help. With much cursing, swearing and muted groans of pain he managed to ease Don into the wheelchair without manhandling him too much. He walked over to the seat, picked up the detective's overnight bag and handed it to him. Don set it carefully in his lap. The two waited in silence for a moment, before Don broke it.

"Can we go yet?"

Sheldon stared at him in fond exasperation, "You know… its people like you that make me glad I became a coroner."

Don shot him a mock-pout, "What?"

Sheldon shook his head, glancing up at the nurse's station once more, "Okay, now we can go."

Carefully easing Don's wheelchair out of the room, making sure he didn't bump the detective in any way, Sheldon walked up to the nurse's station. He smiled politely at the swing shift nurse, his smile faltering slightly as the nurse just glared back. She looked pointedly down at Don, who also favored her with his best polite smile.

Sheldon gave the nurse his best charming doctor smile, "I can take it from here if you give me the paperwork."

The nurse gave him a frown, which made Don smirk. Sheldon inwardly sighed, but, outwardly, his charming doctor smile remained firmly in place. Keeping one hand on the back of Don's wheelchair, Sheldon handed the nurse his visiting doctor pass. The nurse's expression changed instantly.

"Oh! Doctor Hawkes, I'm terribly sorry. I'll fetch that paperwork for you right away."

Don tilted his head back, looking up at Sheldon with a disbelieving look on his face, "How did you pull that off? I've flashed my badge in here so many times I've lost count and they do is nod and smile!"

Sheldon grinned and dangled his visiting doctor pass in front of Don's eyes, "Yeah, but here it's not the brass pass they want to see."

Don snorted, staying quiet as the nurse hurried back with Sheldon's paperwork. The dark-skinned man signed it, murmuring questions about physical therapy and wound care. Don quirked a smile as he realized that Shel was asking for his benefit, asking the questions he couldn't find it in himself to ask, not yet. With a final smile for the nurse, Sheldon handed over the paperwork and grabbed the handles of Don's wheelchair.

"Shall we…?" he asked mildly.

"Let's get the hell outta here!" Don spoke vehemently, clutching his overnight bag a little tighter.