If someone were to ask me exactly why I was on a bus heading to the Brockton Bay Central Hospital in the dead of night I would be torn between telling them to mind their own goddamn business, or lamenting that it was the price one paid for having friends they actually cared about. As with quite a few of my thought processes it was a complete toss up on where that response would land, likely directly correlated to how much caffeine was in my system at the time.

Something Taylor has been on my case about for some time; apparently in this life I traded my addiction to shitty gas station wine for pretentiously expensive espressos and she worried about my health... Which was sort of cute, so I just dutifully nodded my head in understanding while finishing off said espresso before she could be the responsible one and take it from me.

Oh damn, my mind is wandering, it was too goddamn late, or early really, to remain focused for long. Sweet Obi-Wan why do I put myself through this?

Eventually the bus reached my stop, grabbing the cooler bag sitting next to me I groggily made my way out and barely had my feet on the pavement when the doors slammed shut behind me and the run down relic of public transportation took off. Blinking blearily I walked up to the Hospitals main entrance, nodded to the guards at the door, and made my way to the receptionist desk. The woman sitting behind it looked as tired as I was and had a stack of empty styrofoam cups beside a fresh cup of steaming black coffee.

With you there sister, respect.

She glanced up at me and asked, "Can I he- Oh, hello Ben, didn't know if Nurse Adams managed to get ahold of you or not."

I nodded slowly while yawning into my fist, then shook my head quickly trying to focus on the woman in front of me, "Hey Denise, and yeah she did. How long has Amy been here?"

She frowned then shook her head slowly, "She showed up after school, stayed till nine, and wandered back in here around twelve. So not counting transit time, nine hours give or take."

Goddamnit Amelia...

I sighed, "Which floor?"

She gave me an understanding smile as she replied, "Third floor, none critical injuries."

Nodding I stumbled forward, summoned the elevator, and jammed my finger on the third floor button repeatedly before the goddamn doors finally closed.

No elevator music at the very least, the nurses disabled it after eight PM thankfully, small mercies were few and far between and I'd take them where I can get them.

Eventually the doors opened on the appropriate floor and I wandered out, approached an LPN that looked like he was operating off of caffeine and spite, and asked him where Panacea was. Getting the correct directions I walked down the halls peaking into rooms until I finally found my target, leaning against the wall I waited for her to do her thing somewhat patiently. Eventually she exited the room, dark circles around her eyes, shoulders slumped, robes looking rumpled with lank hair hanging out from under her hood.

"Ames, take this as concern from a caring friend, you look like shit."

Amy jumped a bit, blinked rapidly, then groaned out, "Ben what are you doing here? Nurse Adams woke you up didn't she?"

Sighing without answering her query, I wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her down the hall to one of the waiting lounges, she offered no real resistance as I eventually settled her onto one of the couches and placed the cooler bag on the ground as I sat beside her.

I unzipped the bag, pulled out a BLT sandwich and a container of sliced apples placing them on Amy's lap with an expectant look.

"Eat, now, I brought you that bubbly tea you like as well. When you get at least half that sandwich down and a few bites of apple then we'll talk."

She grumbled at me for a time but dug into the offering as we remained in exhausted silence for roughly five minutes. She had killed the entire sandwich in record time and nearly half the apples, downing some of the tea she eventually let out a quiet burp but didn't comment on it.

Yup, she was beyond the point of caring about propriety.

Eventually she let her head fall on my shoulder, and I honestly thought she had fallen asleep when she eventually asked, "Why do they always call you instead of Vicky?"

I tilted my head slightly and shot her a wry smile, "Because Vicky adores you and she'll blindly accept your insistence that you're fine and you just need to heal a few more people before you call it a night. You'll run yourself ragged, again, be a complete and utter wreck the next morning operating on at best two hours of sleep, and rinse and repeat till you pass out for a couple days. Then you'll just hate yourself for not being around to heal everyone while you recuperate and the cycle continues.

"Thing is? These people care about your well being, and if I've learned anything in the past four months it's that they appreciate the fact that I am enough of an asshole to call bullshit on your self imposed martyr complex. Because, hey guess what? You're my best friend, I worry about you, and to paraphrase a bounty hunter from one of my favorite movies, you're no good to anyone dead."

We were silent for a time, then Amy huffed out, "Well, you're right about one thing."

I raised a brow, "Hmm?"

She scoffed, "You are an asshole."

I couldn't hold back my amused snort as I nodded in agreement, "That I am. So, finish your tea, I'll walk you home, and you get some fucking rest and stop acting like the weight of the world is on your shoulders for the rest of the weekend."

She let out a withering sigh as she mumbled, "I'm sure Carol will appreciate that..."

I rolled my eyes then dryly stated, "Fine, tell that self centered bitch that you're going to the hospital but have Vicky ditch you at my or Taylor's place and you can crash on the couch. Seriously, I wasn't being my naturally charismatic self when I said you look like shit, you need the rest."

"You...really shouldn't call her that Ben."

"My father is a lawyer, and is a complete bastard, your adoptive mother is a lawyer, and is a complete bitch. I'm noticing a trend here and I call it how I see it. So seriously, if not for your sake, but the sake of everyone working in this hospital and your friends and family that care, let me escort you home so we can all get some goddamn sleep and get our warm fuzzies for doing something decent for someone who deserves it."

Sighing she dropped the empty containers into the cooler which I then threw over my shoulder as I offered her my hand pulling her up. We made our way to the elevator, entered, and I hit the ground floor button as Amy shot me a look while pulling her hood back smiling at me wryly.

"You know, despite you being an unrepentant asshole, you're a good man, you do realize that Ben?"

I scowled a bit, then muttered, "Trust me no one is more surprised about that than me..."

She swatted my arm lightly while rolling her eyes, and I resigned myself to a couple more hours on the bus before I could finally get back to sleep.

The price one pays for having friends they actually care about I suppose, oh well.