Dr. Miranda Foster's phone call ended as Luc handed back her cell phone. Her colleague handed back the ridiculously expensive cell phone into her hands, and didn't mind that Luc was standing close to her. Miranda had called Rena, Andy's wife, in hope to find out where he could be. Instead of getting an answer, however, she had more questions than before. Luc had said that Andy was distressed, and apparently more so after the phone call with a mysterious person named Michael. She recalled the day when Andy seemed off months ago, and of how he left the hospital abruptly as well. Could the two incidents be connected? "He seemed…shaken." Somehow Miranda had a feeling that Andy's feelings pushed him to leave the hospital; he would have never left otherwise.

"What do you mean that Andy was distressed?" Miranda asked Luc. He seemed busy with straightening his white coat, and then looked at her surprisingly, as if he were out of a trance. He sighed briefly before he responded.

"Andrew didn't seem to fully realize I was there," Luc replied carefully. "He seemed to be ill almost, because his eyes were red-rimmed and his voice was hollow. It was like he was lost. He didn't even react when I called his name."

Miranda had seen those "symptoms" before. Grieving members of a patient's family often reacted the same way Luc was describing Andy. Scott's parents had reacted that way too, Andy had told her, although he was as heartbroken about Scott's death as his parents were. He had a special bond with Scott, as he did with Koul. Miranda clenched her fists in frustration. Where are you, Andy?

"What will we tell Dr. Jordan?" Luc's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Do we simply tell her that Andrew is missing?" Before Miranda could reply, Ryan Abbott ran up to them.

"Do you know where Dr. Yablonski is?" He seemed winded with excitement. "UNOS found a heart for one of his patients." Neither of the physicians responded. "What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly. Miranda and Luc looked at each other. Suddenly their answer to the problem seemed clear.

"Ryan, tell Dr. Jordan that Dr. Yablonski is missing. We don't know where he is, but his wife is looking for him. Dr. Bovell will take over Andy's patients until then," Miranda said.

"I understand that, but…" Ryan's speech faltered. "Who is Dr. Yablonski's wife?"

"Detective Rena Yablonski." Miranda ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't respond to Ryan as he stuttered for a few seconds before he ran off to find Dr. Jordan. Miranda sighed. She hasn't expected this.

"All we can do is wait," she told herself as Luc waved a half-hearted farewell to the ICU. He hates me now for giving him someone else's patients. He and Andy are still icy to each other. Miranda was certain that Rena could find her husband. Andy used to talk proudly about his wife's detective skills before they separated. She recalled Rena's calm and controlled voice, and wondered if she was shaken with the same fear as she was. He was her husband, after all. Miranda's thoughts stopped when she saw Dr. David Lee walking towards her. His normal expressionless face was creased with worry. Pam Acosta was beside him as well, with her hands on her hips, also trying to conceal her distress, but was less successful. "What do we do now, Miranda?" She was chewing her bottom lip, and David was looking at her expectantly.

"We wait," came Miranda's reply, "and hope that he comes back to us."

And wait they did. For an hour, the three received no sign of their colleague and friend. Ryan was circling around his computer, pacing. Dr. Jordan was exasperated with the situation, but she allowed Miranda to visit Koul, who was in the waiting room while David, Pam, and Luc treated patients. Like Ryan, Koul seemed restless, looking occasionally at the clock. He had been waiting in Andy's office for over an hour before Dr. Jordan told Miranda to direct him to the waiting room. Koul was unusually silent, and he wouldn't meet Miranda's gaze for long.

"Andy will have no idea what horror he has put us through," she said jokingly to him. He slightly gave a laugh, and she sat down in the chair across from him. Although she didn't show it, Miranda was anxious too. Andy had been missing for more than three hours, and she wasn't used to not having him trailing her around the hospital. They were inseparable, not just because they were mentor and student. Andy was Miranda's closet friend, and he was the one that made her love the hospital, as he did, rather than continue to hate the hospital during the days of her youth.

"He saved my life," Koul began. He sighed deeply, and looked at Miranda. "He saved my life when no one else could, and never gave up on me even when I accepted death." The young Sudanese man fell silent.

"What are you trying to say?" Miranda asked. She considered holding his hand, but stopped.

"Andy does not accept death, Miranda." Koul's voice was eerily calm and strangely inaudible. "How can he accept his own if he couldn't accept mine?"

"Andy will not die, Koul." Miranda said fiercely. Somehow his statement made her angry. It didn't seem possible that Andy would die. "You call him the Great Dr. Yablonski for a reason." Koul didn't reply. He seemed to want to say something else when Miranda's cell phone rang. It was a text message from Rena. We found him, the message stated. Miranda found her heart rate quicken. You need to go to the ER now. Someone has to be with him when he comes in. I'm with him now, but I'm not a surgeon. That was the message. Miranda's heart quickened once she realized what Rena meant. Andy was in bad shape. Somehow Rena knew that something what internally wrong with her husband. Miranda would have to see if she was right.

"Koul, I have to go to the ER. Sit tight, all right?" She didn't know if Koul had answered her as she quickly walked – well, ran – to the stairs. Luckily the ER is only one floor down, she thought. Her thoughts quickly turned to Andy. From Rena's message, the ambulance should arrive in a couple of minutes. How extensive were his injuries that even Rena knew that he needed a surgeon? Miranda nearly collided with David as she was almost down to the door leading to the ER.

"Have they found Andy?" He asked, noticing Miranda's tense expression.

"Yes," Miranda said. "Rena told me that he's in bad shape. She wants us to be with him when he comes in." She didn't waste any time opening the door to the ER. David followed in pursuit.

"What have we got?" Miranda and David recognized the level-headed voice of Dr. Lisa Reed. She was following a team of EMTs and paramedics as the stretcher rolled in. Although they couldn't see the patient's face, both physicians knew that the patient was Andy Yablonski. Miranda and David joined Lisa as soon as the stretcher came into the ER room.

"33 year old male, pulse 120/80, BP 60/80 PALP," stated the EMT as the stretcher continued to roll. "Multiple lacerations around the head, extensive blood loss from the umbilical region, simple radial and ulna fracture, and respirations of 30."

Lisa was listening to Andy's lungs with her stethoscope. "I agree," she stated, pulling away from Andy's chest. "His breathing is rapid and shallow, and his pulse is up. Okay, on the count of three." The stretcher wheeled to a stop at across a hospital bed. "One, two, three." Miranda, David, and Lisa lifted Andy from the stretcher. Miranda focused on Andy's head while Lisa and David focused on the umbilical wound. She vaguely heard Lisa calling for gauze. A scalp wound was seen on his right and left side of his head, and she noticed drainage from his nasal cavity. "Andy," she called his name loud and clear in his face. He didn't respond by opening his eyes or squeezing her hand when she asked if he could. He was still unconscious. Miranda took out her penlight and took a look at his eyes. His pupils were dilated and fixed.

"Pupils fixed and dilated. I need a CT of his head, neck, and chest to see if there are any internal injuries," Miranda stated to an RN as she closed Andy's eyes.

"Yes, doctor."

"Hey, Miranda." David called her over to look over Andy's umbilical wound. "I think he has a hemothorax." He pulled off the gauze to reveal the wound. Blood still pulsed from it, but steadily declined because of the anticoagulant meds. "His blood is supposed to be crimson, right?" She nodded as Lisa came over towards them. "But the blood here and on his face is darker. I think his body isn't getting enough oxygen because of a hemothorax."

"His skin is also clammy and cool," Lisa added. "His pulse is high, and his BP is low. His breathing his fast and shallow. I need a chest tube, STAT!" A nurse appeared with a chest tube moments later, and handed it to Lisa, who put the chest tube in Miranda's hands. "You need to do this," she said. For the first time Miranda heard anxiety in the younger doctor's voice. She nodded, and slowly inserted the chest tube inside of Andy's chest as soon as she made an incision. Blood immediately flowed through it. "Whoa," Miranda said. "We've got a bleeder. David, call the OR. We need to stop the bleeding in his chest." David nodded, and disappeared to the front desk. "Okay, we need to move Andy now."

"Is he going to survive the operation?" Miranda turned to find Rena standing beside her as a team of nurses and doctors moved Andy from the ER. Rena was calm the entire time he was wheeled in. At the corner of her eye, Miranda saw her waiting patiently as they worked on her husband. She was outside the doctor's reach so that Andy could receive the best possible treatment. Now Rena seemed slightly tense, her arm muscles tightening as was Andy wheeled to the elevator to the OR. Her voice did not betray her, but Miranda knew she must be fighting a battle inside, even though she and Andy had been separated for more than half a year now.

"I don't know, Rena." Miranda told her truthfully. "His condition could change at any time. There is a chance of a crash because his organs aren't getting enough oxygen along with his recent trauma. We'll have to wait and see." As she walked quickly – well, ran again – she saw Lisa put her arm on Rena's shoulder for comfort. Who was comforting who? Miranda couldn't tell.

Rena had been waiting in the waiting room for a couple of hours now. Andy at one time called this room a room of despair. She understood what he had meant now. The deathly silence and dread slowly could make even the coldest of criminals insane. Rena had expected to arrive in the waiting room at one point of her life, but she hadn't expected waiting for an update of her husband's condition. The day had been insane, she would admit. She had left Phillip at the crime scene when Andy had been taken into the ambulance. A part of her didn't want to leave her partner, but Rena knew that she should be with her husband. And so she went with him, where he was treated by David and Miranda. Lisa Reed was there as well. She couldn't hide her surprise when Lisa had put her arm on her shoulder. They were both helpless to do anything now. Lisa had treated Andy the best that she could, and Rena could see anxiety coming off from the girl in waves. Rena did what she could for her. She squeezed the girl's shoulder reassuringly, and waited in the room of despair. She still waited after an hour had past, and her mind wandered to the case. Why had Andy met Michael? He had told her himself that he wasn't helping him anymore. Did it have to do with what Rena told him early in the morning? She recalled his how his face had fallen when she told him that she didn't love him. His blue eyes were sharp with pain and barely concealed tears. Am I the cause of this?

"Family of Dr. Andy Yablonski." Rena looked up, the voice pulling her out of her thoughts. David was standing in the waiting room. His face was haggard with fatigue. The front of his scrubs was covered with blood.

"How is he?" Rena asked him.

"Well, he lost of a lot of blood. We had to do a transfusion on him. The bleeding in his chest has been fixed with the surgery and coagulant medication. He has multiple cracked ribs too; that's what caused the hemothorax. There is something you should know," he added.

"Yes?" Rena asked.

"Miranda and I looked at the CT. We noticed swelling around the brain, which is –"

"I know what a concussion is, David." Rena said to him. He actually slightly smiled; he was not surprised.

"He crashed twice in the OR, Rena." Now his voice was serious. "At the second time, he went without oxygen for two minutes." She nodded for him to continue. "Andy could have sustained brain damage along with the concussion. He might not regain consciousness for a while." Rena nodded again, noting what David was trying to say. Andy might be brain dead or have sustained irreversible brain damage. "Would you like to see him?" She heard David ask quietly.

"No." Rena said that too quickly. "No," she said more slowly. "I have to find out who did this to him. I've left my partner long enough." She quickly put on her jacket. "Thank you, David," she told the young surgeon.

"You're welcome," he said with a slight smile again, although she thought she heard conviction in his voice. His face was more than haggard with exhaustion, Rena could see, but she didn't reply. She left the waiting room where the crime scene was waiting for her.

The Three Rivers team stood in silence as they watched the figure lying in the hospital bed. A heart monitor beeped while a chest tube produced from the chest. An IV produced from his right arm. It was against protocol to see a single patient with more than two visitors in the ICU, but for once, Dr. Sophia Jordan ignored the rules. Shock concealed any other emotion on her face while she looked at the still form of her fellow colleague in the hospital bed. Andy had a transfusion, Miranda had said. His heart had stopped twice in the OR while they were repairing a hemothorax, but she and Luc tested Andy for brain death, and the result came negative.

"When is he going to wake up, Dr. Jordan?" Ryan asked her, staring at Andy's face, which was mostly covered with gauze.

"When he decides to wake up, Mr. Abbott." Sophia was shocked at the emotion coming from her voice. She was used to her calm manner, not this. "It could be any time."

"Why did Andy's wife leave again?" Koul was sitting beside Andy. Like Ryan, his eyes never left Andy's face. His voice trembled slightly.

"She had a case," Miranda answered with barely concealed disgust. She had reacted strongly with rage as soon as David told her. Her fists were clenched. "I thought she cared about him enough to actually come to his room."

Neither of the team said a word.

"He looks like he's sleeping," Koul said with a soft voice. He touched Andy's hand tenderly.

"And how do you what he looks like when he sleeps?" Pam slightly teased Koul. She edged closer to Andy herself while watching the heart monitor.

Koul gave a small laugh. "I remember when I was still waiting for a heart transplant, and I stole his keys to his hotel. I wanted to play Guitar Hero on his television." Ryan slightly smiled, remembering that incident. "I came into his room early in the morning, and I caught him sleeping. He looked so peaceful, almost as if….his troubles had withered away. He still looks like now," Koul added. "Even now," he softly added. He entwined Andy's fingers into his own. "I never met his wife, but he talked about her sometimes, especially when I was dying." Koul swallowed. Sophia could see that he was in pain. "He always…admired her, and she admired him because he told me that she thought of him as a rock star. I don't understand why they're separated. I don't understand why she didn't see him. According to all of you, Andy and Rena are still in love." His voice cracked. "Why would she not see him?"

At last the tears flowed.