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A few days later, Toye was spending some time in the common room to pass the day away, trying not to focus on his impending surgery, when there was a commotion down the hall. He turned and looked to see Liz there with a one-armed soldier standing in her face, his own red and angry.

"This is bullshit!" he cried.

"Get back to your floor, Vic, I don't need to hear this," she replied, her expression hard.

Liz crossed her arms across her chest, but that only seemed to fuel his fire. "You got both arms, don't ya?" he said viciously. "Both legs? What's stoppin' you, huh? Afraid to go back?"

Liz barred her teeth and she was livid as angry tears filled her eyes. "You know it isn't that! I'd be out of here this instant if they let me!"

"You're not tryin' hard enough! Look at you! You look fine!"

She was shaking with anger and hurt now. "Tell that to the goddamn nurses and MPs outside! Every time I try and go, they find me and…" Suddenly, she clutched her head and moaned, closing her eyes tight. When the wave of pain passed, she tried to open her eyes again, but only another and bigger wave hit her, causing her to gasp and wince.

Vic looked down on her with a sneer. "Nice act, Liz." And he stalked away.

Tears of anger and pain fell from her eyes as she bent at the waist and sank down onto her haunches. She moaned again, willing the excruciating pain to go away.

Seeing it, Toye rolled over to her as quick as he could. "Liz," he rasped. "What is it?"

She tried to catch her breath to stop the acid growing in her stomach, but that only seemed to fuel the booming in her head. "I need…" She started before moaning again, trembling. "Don't let that woman see."

Toye had no idea how to help her, but he knew being in the busy room wasn't going to do it. "Come on. Hop on."

Looking up, she squinted at him, unable to open her eyes fully with the bright glare from the ceiling lights. But she obeyed and climbed slowly on top of him, nestling into his chest to block away the light.

"That's it," he murmured, taking off in the wheelchair. "I'm gonna get you outta here."

"Dark," she whispered, but he heard it. "Somewhere dark."

He continued to speed down the hallways, almost taking out a few staff members. He felt her grab onto his shirt, her fingers surprisingly strong. "Almost there, Liz. Hang on for me."

With almost a screech of wheels, he brought them into a dark and cool room, the hustle and bustle of the hospital fading away. He rolled to the darkest corner he could find before stopping.

"Tell me what hurts," he murmured, his voice gravelly and low.

Liz sighed painfully into his neck. "My head. At the base…" and before she could say more, he gently began massaging his fingers into the tight muscles in the nape of her neck. With his other hand, he brushed hair back in a continuous motion, like his mom always did for him as a kid.

"Tell me to stop if I'm makin' it worse."

She moaned again but this time it wasn't all pain. "You have no idea how good that feels right now." She swallowed hard, and he saw her eyes were still closed. "They told me that these tension migraines are based where your Gift-from-God hand is right now." He smirked to himself at that. "And it hits a huge nerve connected to my eyes. It blinds me."

Quietly, he continued to work his hand for a long time until she felt well enough to sit up. When she did, she wiped away the tears that fell without her knowledge and looked at him. His hand remained on her neck, fingers weaving into her hair. "All because of a severe concussion. Can you believe that?"

Toye hummed under his breath. "How did you manage that, Liz?"

She gave him a sad grin. "Got myself blown back when one of the bridges exploded in Holland. They said I hit my head pretty hard. Haven't been back since."

He hummed again in thought. "Not without lack of tryin' though."

"No," she murmured back. "Not without lack of trying."

They stared at one another for a long time before Liz finally realized she was sitting on his lap. She blushed and got up, her legs a bit unsteady, dusting off her pants as if she just wasn't just inches from him. She couldn't help but look back at him though. "Thanks, Joe. That was the fastest one yet."

Toye grinned lopsidedly. "Maybe that means you're gettin' better."

She snorted as they began slowly making their way back into the main hospital, taking their time, neither eager to get back. "Maybe, but damn Nurse Mindy insists all my symptoms of post-concussion syndrome need to fade before she'll allow me to leave."

"Such as?"

She snorted again, but winced when a remnant of pain coursed through her head again. "The headaches are definitely the worst. I can't even move when they hit."

Toye shrugged as he pushed his chair. "Maybe it's best you aren't back yet then." Liz gave him a dark glare and he held up his hands laughing. "Never mind, I take it back. What else is she holding over ya?"

"My vision gets a bit blurry, but that's finally improving, but I also get dizzy, I can't sleep, and I get irritable."

"Irritable? You don't say?"

She smacked him in the chest and grinned. "I try to tell her that it's dealing with all these whiney men all day, but she won't listen." She lowered her voice to mimic the nurse's English growl. "Rest, Sergeant Brady, you need to rest."

Toye grinned. "Maybe if you were as nice to the rest of the guys as you are to me, they'd be miraculously cured and quit their bitchin', then you can rest like she wants."

She laughed as they got near to his room. "You think so?"

Toye grinned, pushing himself along to her pace. "Yeah, I do. Start with Bill. Hell, let's play with his head a bit."

Her smile got wide now. "That sounds like fun."

Sure enough, when they entered the hospital room, Guarnere was sitting there, fiddling with the radio dials next to his bed. "Joe, is that you? There's supposed to be a spring training report on the box today. Even here, can ya believe that? I was hopin' to catch anythin' about the Phill…."

He looked up to see Liz giving him a big, sweet smile. "Fuck. I didn't do it."

She contemplated batting her eyelashes like she had seen other woman do to men before, but seeing that she figured she'd just look as if she had something stuck in her eye, she merely gave him a wink. The simple action took him aback. "Bill, how are you feeling today?"

He blinked at her until glancing at Toye, who gave nothing away. His friend only shrugged. He turned back to Liz. "I'm fine, doll." He paused. "I am fine, right?"

She laughed before placing a hand on his arm. He tried not to flinch. "You know, I'm going to miss you."

Guarnere bided his time for as long as possible as he thought fast. Liz could practically see the wheels turning and her smile widened. Memories of her time with her friends on the line came flooding back, and this time, it didn't carry the same type of pain they normally did. They were focused on the fun and camaraderie they held together. Before she could stop herself, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

His reaction was priceless. It staggered between happy surprise and jumpy fear that she would somehow unsheathe a trench knife next. But before he could try and make sense of it, Liz stood straight again and left the room with a conspiratorial wink to Toye.

He turned to Guarnere and waited. Sure enough, a wide grin broke across his face while his hand tried to catch the feeling on his cheek. He looked to Toye and cackled. "Did ya see that, Joe? Better move faster, my friend. I'm breakin' that broad down."

Toye rolled his eyes before moving towards his bed. "Yeah, yeah. Work that radio already, yeah? Anything besides your constant yammering."