A/N- Sorry it's almost a week late. I just. . . didn't do it? No reason, except that all I've been motivated to do is lay in bed and watch X-Files reruns. . . Sorry! :$ Enjoy anyways.

Andrea squeezed Sharon's hand tightly and then pulled the other woman back towards her.

"Come here, come here." Andrea backed around the corner into the hallway they'd just passed. "Oh, honey."

She glanced around. Rusty stuck his head around the corner but she shook her head softly. He backed away with a nod. Andrea pulled Sharon further down the hall to the women's restroom.

It was one of the nice ones, with soft lighting and padded benches. No one else was there.

"Come here." Andrea pulled Sharon into her arms and rubbed the woman's back as Sharon started to cry. "Oh, baby." The word 'baby' didn't really apply to Sharon, but the word came naturally. It was what she used when her little nieces cried, her brother, and anyone else who somehow ended up crying in her arms.

She felt bad. She hadn't known what was going on when she started giving Sharon the details of the plea, but then the doctors had rolled Flynn out, and she knew. She'd heard enough from Provenza and Tao to gather what had passed in the last several hours. She knew the rest of the story from Sharon herself.

Sharon was crying loudly now, the sounds muffled by Andrea's shoulder.

Andrea sighed softly. There wasn't anything she could say or do that would help. She knew that firsthand. Many years before, her little brother had been ill and in the hospital over Christmas. It didn't matter that now he was an adult, married with two kids. He'd always be her baby brother.

She'd been all of nineteen, when her mother had called her at work- she'd had to work the holiday. There had been tears and a hurried explanation to her boss, and then she'd near about flown to the hospital. There had been more tears and agonizing hours of waiting for blood work and progress. There was no consolation, no peace, no break from the fear of losing him.

She supposed it was the same for Sharon. Her fear could be based in some realistic aspect of Flynn's health or something utterly irrational. It didn't matter. Every fear was real and true in a hospital.

Andrea realized she had stopped rubbing Sharon's back as the woman's breathing became uneven. She started again.

Eventually, the sobs turned to jagged, stuttering breaths, interspersed with hiccups. Finally, there was a sharp inhalation, and Sharon sat up, pulling away.

"'M sorry," she mumbled.

"You have nothing to apologize for. This is what friends are for."

"Your jacket will have to be cleaned. Let me take care of it."

Andrea knew Sharon was fighting to keep herself preoccupied, so the blonde played along. "Look."

"What?" Sharon seemed genuinely confused.

Andrea straightened her lapels. "I spilled tea down the front earlier today, and there's ink all over the cuff." She turned her hand over so Sharon could see. The tea was barely visible- it had just started brewing when she spilled- and the ink stain was a year or two old.

"Andrea."

"Sharon." She shrugged. "It's okay." She reached up and swiped a tear off Sharon's cheek with her thumb, wiped her thumb dry on her wrist, and then reached up again to rub a streak of mascara off the other woman's face. "What did they tell you?" They'd have to face up to the real world soon enough.

Sharon sniffled. "Um, they said his blood clot had moved up from here-" She touched her carotid at the base of her neck. "To here." She touched a spot just below and behind her earlobe, holding her hair back with her other hand. "They took him to surgery for. . . uh, well, I don't know, removal, I guess."

"You don't know?"

Sharon shook her head. "Provenza has Andy's medical power of attorney." She snorted. "Apparently, they were going through paperwork earlier and DNR papers, and. . . well, Rusty was scarred for life, I think." She smiled faintly.

"God, I don't care what happens to me, never let that man do my paperwork. Any of it!" Andrea added.

"Will do," Sharon sighed, leaning into her friend. "Promise me two things, though."

"Yeah?"

"First of all, don't let Provenza do any more of my paperwork than necessary."

"Okay."

"Secondly, don't get you get hospitalized, either. I'm nearly done in." She sighed heavily.

"I'll try not. I don't think my insurance would appreciate it." She wrapped her arm around Sharon. "You'll get through this, and so will he. You're one of the strongest women I know."

Sharon sighed skeptically.

There was a loud knock on the door, and before Andrea could do anything, Provenza barged in.

"You could have waited a moment."

He rolled his eyes. "I've been in enough ladies rooms," he said as Sharon sat up and tried to wipe her eyes subtly. "That I'm pretty comfortable just walking in."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Lieutenant."

"You can't scare me, Captain. I've learned that the Wicked Witch is just a facade."

"Did Tao teach you that big word?" Andrea asked, raising a brow.

He snorted. "You on the other hand; you're just pure evil, through and through."

"I could send Emma Rios back to you."

"Ye gods. Don't you dare, Hobbs."

She shrugged.

Sharon shot them both pointed looks. "I assume there's a reason for your being here, Lieutenant?"

The use of his title anchored him again. "Sorry, Captain. Just wanted to tell you we're going to eat dinner in Flynn's room anyway. Figured we might as well, since no one wants to leave."

"Oh," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, too, Hobbs."

The blonde nodded. "Thanks."

He looked down at the floor, perhaps unwilling to see his Captain in her moment of weakness. "Flynn'll be fine, ma'am. He's got a thick head, and he's put up with Sykes for four years, you for six, the Chief for another seven, and me and Tao and Buzz and Julio for. . . well, let's not go there. Then he's worked for Taylor even longer. If he can survive with all of us this long, he's going to make it through this just fine."

Sharon felt her eyes watering again, and she didn't trust her voice, so she just nodded.

"Alright." Provenza clapped his hands together. "Finish pulling yourself together, Captain- can't have you scaring anyone- and then come on out and get some food."

"We will," Andrea said. She waited until the bathroom door closed again, then nudged her friend. "You heard the man. I've got a tube of mascara in my bag that you can use after you clean the remainder of yours off."

"Thanks." Sharon walked over to the mirror and wetted a paper towel. Andrea watched as she dabbed the smears of black off her cheeks. "What did I do to deserve all of you?"

Andrea cocked her head. It sounded rhetorical, but she answered anyway. "We're your friends, it's as simple as that."

Sharon glanced over.

Andrea shrugged. "Friends don't let friends take the fall alone. We'll be here for you."