Andy's world was overtaken by pain as he gained consciousness. Even though his eyes were closed, he could still see the light. The man inwardly cringed from the brightness. He also tried to move without much success. It was as if the nerves in his arms and legs were modified from the agony from his body. Andy lied still then, listening to the voices he had become familiar to him from the years working at Three Rivers. He heard David, Pam, and Miranda laughing, and he felt a soft hand on his own. How many days had he been here? He heard the beep of the heart monitor and felt the IV tube in one of his arms. Another tube produced from his chest as well, he could vaguely feel it. Andy hadn't remembered very much of what happened during his fight with Casper. He only felt stabbing pain in his fractured ulna and tibia. He also felt the burning agony around his umbilical area. The chest tube also told a story. "My heart is gone, anyway." That was what he had said before the ex-con, Casper, had almost killed him. Andy thought that he was going to die as he had lied there in the snow, seeing red. Despair had overcome him before he was taken to the darkness. The hand entwined in his own comforted him that he was in the present. He, Andy, was safe. The hand was soft, and warmth radiated from the hand. There was something comforting of how the hand fit into his own. He felt a squeeze from it, and without thinking, Andy managed to squeeze back.
"Andy…?" He heard Rena's voice. She sounded breathless, as if she hadn't gotten her breath. Her voice ached with hope. His wife still clutched his hand, and he felt her soft fingers on his face. Perhaps if he managed to open his eyes, Rena would be assured. He opened his eyes slowly. Pain and light from the sun almost blinded him, and he was about to close his eyes again when he saw her. Andy blinked, trying to focus his blurry gaze. He saw her brown eyes, the very eyes that he loved. Her hair was long and beautiful as it had been when he last saw her. Andy felt her delicate fingers stroke his damaged face, as if to calm him. Rena was tense, he could see. He had never seen her that way before. She was always the strong one, while he was the one who cried and who was sensitive. Now their roles seemed to have been reversed.
"Rena…?" He gasped. It was hard to talk. His voice was hollow and small. His injured face almost made it impossible for him to speak. Around him, he heard his friends talk quietly. He couldn't hear their words clearly, but that didn't matter. Andy gazed at his wife. She squeezed his hand tenderly again, and saw that their wedding rings were close together. A tug of grief – not pain – almost overtook him again, and he saw with startled eyes that Rena was crying. Thick tears flowed down her face onto his hospital bed. He felt some of her tears fall onto his face. He tasted them, and he could almost feel the sadness and pain that was held within each one. Rena was biting her lip, as if trying to hold in a scream. Rena never cried. Andy thought he heard Pam trying to comfort her, but neither of them were aware of it. Tears started to form in his own eyes, and he was blinded again. He tried to stop them as Rena did, but they started to form more quickly. They flowed from his eyes like a flood. Vaguely Andy felt his wife's gentle touch on his face again, brushing away the tears. He blinked again, trying to focus. Rena's now-red-rimmed eyes stared into his own. She smiled gently at him, with the same gentle smile that he had not seen in so long.
"I'm here," Andy whispered hoarsely to her. Tears marred his vision again, and this time Rena didn't wipe them away. She squeezed his hand. "I'm here."
Dr. Luc Bovell and Dr. Sophia Jordan didn't know what to expect when they both got a page from Pam. They both knew that Andy had crashed. He still remained in the ICU, and although the physicians wouldn't admit it, they were giving up on their friend and colleague. Luc hadn't told Andy's patients anything about the status of their beloved doctor. He simply evaded their questions, and wished enviously that he had Andrew's charming manner. Luc was awkward and somewhat insensitive when it came to comforting patients. How can I comfort them with Andrew's death when I can't even comfort them in their darkest moments? Luc had thought frustratingly as his cell phone vibrated. He stared with dull eyes at the communication devise, expecting the worst, when he saw the typed words, Andy's awake. His BP is low, and his pulse is high. You need to come. At first, Luc didn't comprehend. Then the words seemed to click in his brain. He held a breath that he didn't know that he had been holding, and looked over at Sophia. An unusual smile was on her face, and she nodded to Luc when he met her gaze.
"He's awake, Sophia." Luc said breathlessly. He was startled from the joy radiating from his voice.
For once, Dr. Sophia Jordan didn't react when her younger colleague addressed her by her name. She only said, "Yes, he is."
Dr. Andrew Yablonski was quiet when his colleagues came into his hospital room. Luc noticed that his hand was entwined in his wife's, who hadn't left. Rena, Luc thought with a smile. He remembered her as a recent police academy graduate. She had come to say goodbye to Andrew before her first day of work as a police officer. Andrew had been a first-year resident then, still charming and handsome. Even then he had been an amazing surgeon. Dr. William Foster constantly praised him when the resident was out of ear-shot, and stated more than once that "Andy reminds me of my best friend." At an early age Rena and Andrew had been married. Luc recalled how both their eyebrows had raised in annoyance – and later anger – when he called Rena sweetheart and her husband Andrew. Now they were not glaring at him. Andrew's face was still pale despite the transfusion, and half of his face was covered in gauze. He looked tired, almost as tired as the day when he had left Three Rivers. Swallowing hard, Luc remembered what Andrew had said. "I'm not ill, Luc. I'm…" He didn't even finish his sentence. Luc looked at Rena. The detective seemed calm enough despite the situation. She held her husband's hand, and stared curiously at the heart monitor. Luc cleared his throat, and she caught his eye. So did Andrew.
"Do you know what happened, Andrew?"
"Yes." Andrew's voice was hoarse and weak, trembling with fatigue. "I was beaten and almost killed in an alleyway. Before they left to assist in the ER, Miranda and David told me that I had a hemothorax and a concussion. I also had several fractured ribs and a fractured arm." He blinked his eyes, cloudy with exhaustion. "I also crashed three times. I've been incapacitated for three days until now." He fell silent and rested his eyes.
"Do you still want to die, Andy?" Rena asked. Luc and Sophia carefully watched her expression. Her question was sincere, and her grip on Andy's hand seemed to tighten.
"No," Andy replied without opening his eyes. "I'm home, Rena," he whispered, falling asleep. "I'm home…" It was only then did Rena loosen her grip on his hand.