A/N This may be it for a few days as RL is starting to intrude. But rest assured I am at work on more of the story.

THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

Part 7

About half an hour later Dr. Liang returned to say, "Your brother has been taken to his room now. You can see him for a bit but he's still pretty drowsy from the anesthesia so don't be surprised if he falls asleep while you're there."

"Thank you," Don said, getting to his feet along with Terry.

"Just check in at the desk on the third floor and someone will show you to his room. If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them when I go check on Mr. Eppes again," the surgeon said.

"Dr. Eppes," Don absently corrected. "Charlie's a math professor at Cal-Sci."

"Ah, I knew that name was familiar. My younger sister Hope Liang attends there and I believe she may be in one of his classes." He quickly reached for his pager and checked it as it went off. "I'm needed down in the ER but we will talk later," the doctor said and turned to hurry off.

Don looked at Terry and sighed, "How am I going to explain to Charlie why I wasn't answering his calls? That I was being a selfish jerk who wanted to be left alone?"

"You'll figure it out," she replied. "Hey, do you want me to wait while you go see Charlie?"

"You might as well," Don answered his mind on trying to figure out what he was going to say to Charlie.

Arriving at the third floor, Don spoke to the clerk saying, "We're here to see Charles Eppes."

She quickly checked the computer screen and said, "Family only is being allowed to visit for the first twenty-four hours. Dr. Liang's orders."

"I'm his brother, Don Eppes," the FBI agent said.

She checked her computer screen and said, "Mr. Eppes is in room 312."

Terry said, "I'll just be waiting out here. Tell Charlie that I'll be in to see him when he's allowed more visitors."

"I'll be sure and do that," Don replied, already heading down the corridor toward the room.

Entering the semi-private room Don saw that only one bed was occupied and he quickly made his way over to it, taking a seat in the chair on the left side. Seeing Charlie lying so pale and still, the IV slowly dripping fluid into his arm, Don gave himself a hard mental kick for ever ignoring his brother's calls. Reaching to brush the damp curls off his forehead, the older man frowned at the heat he felt.

The light touch caused Charlie to stir slightly, his eyes fluttering open. Looking to his left, he recognized the figure in the chair. "Don…you came…" he said in a still weak voice.

"Yeah, Buddy. I'm here and I'm truly sorry I didn't return your calls," Don answered. "But I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." He reached out to lightly squeeze his brother's shoulder.

"You call…Dad?...Didn't want to…bother…him…Thought it was…flu," Charlie said after a minute.

"I called Dad and he said to tell you that he'll be here as soon as he can," Don replied. "Charlie, maybe it is a good thing you did call Terry. I might have agreed with you it was just a bad case of flu. Like David had last week."

Charlie lay quiet for a moment and then suddenly he groaned. "Don't feel…so good," he said and swallowed.

Don had gotten plenty of experience with their mother during her treatments so that he was quick to recognize the signs. "Sick?" he asked as he was already reaching for the call bell and basin.

Charlie swallowed again and began retching just as Don got the basin in place.

"That's it, Buddy," Don said encouragingly as the retching turned to dry heaves. He held his brother's shoulder and the basin.

The door opened and a nurse bustled in ready to take over. Not feeling very well are you?" she asked sympathetically.

The attack over Charlie slumped back onto the pillows. "That…hurt," he groaned, putting a hand to his side.

"I'll see if Dr. Liang left orders for the pain and nausea," the nurse said as she picked up the basin to carry it into the bathroom. A moment later she returned with a damp cloth and the now clean basin. Setting it aside, she poured a glass of water and handed it to Charlie. "Here rinse your mouth out and spit into the basin."

Charlie did as instructed and then lay back closing his eyes. The nurse placed the damp cloth on his forehead and then went to see what orders the doctor had left.

"How are you feeling?" Don asked.

"Like I….just had….surgery, "Charlie said in a dismal attempt at humor.

"And the kind you don't get ice cream afterwards," Don added.

The nurse returned with a couple of syringes in hand. "Dr. Liang ordered compazine for the nausea and some morphine," she said as she injected the contents of both into the IV. "Now I'll be back in a while to check your vitals,"

Charlie watched her, leave fighting against the effects of the meds he'd been given. Looking over at Don, he asked "How come you…never answered?"

"To tell you the truth, Buddy, I have no real excuse. I just had a hard week and wanted some alone time. You can call me selfish if you want, God knows I deserve it," Don answered.

"I'll think about it," was the reply

"Why don't you get some rest while we wait for Dad to arrive?" Don suggested. He watched as his brother's breathing evened out into sleep and then settled back in the chair.