The surgery went as well as they'd hoped. They removed Mike's kidney through an open incision surgery on Monday morning and the whole operation lasted three hours, give or take a few minutes.

There weren't any complications, except the fact that Mike's blood pressure was a bit low after the surgery and remained that way for almost four days.

Mike's first question after waking up from the anesthesia had been about Marcus; they'd assure him that the surgery had gone well and they were hopeful that Marcus Specter would make a full recovery.

The pain was worse than Mike had prepared himself for; not that he had any idea how it really would be; and it lasted longer than he'd been told; but he kept telling himself that it was worth it.

Finally after six days at the hospital, he was released. They'd kept him there two extra days because he had no one at home to help him with things.

When he got home, he just collapsed on his bed -or well, he gingerly lowered himself down to it and then passed out,- and slept for 7 hours straight, until the pain woke up him and he had to move to take his next dosage of painkiller; that turned out to be way harder than it seemed, especially since he'd left his bag and his meds by the fridge.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't walk or even stand on his feet without aid; he had to lean on the wall for support and move while doubled over with pain; it took him ages to get from his bed to the fridge by the opposite wall and when he finally took his pills, he just slipped down the wall and curled up on the floor, biting his fist to keep himself from making a sound. He didn't know how long it took him, but he finally fell into a fitful sleep and remained there for another three hours.

The next time he woke up, it was because he needed to use the bathroom, but the pain wasn't bad, so he happily took care of his business and then took a quick shower to get rid of the hospital's smell.

Once out, he, first, put the bottle of his prescribed painkillers near his bed with a bottle of water and then prepared something quick to eat; thankful that he'd thought ahead and gotten everything he'd need, before the surgery.

That was his lifestyle for the next four days.

By day ten, he was able to move around more easily and the pain was finally bearable even when he forgot to take his pills and in order to stay awake and do the needed walking, he took less and less of his pills which also helped with the nausea and the shortness of breath that the pills were causing and he was only too happy to stop taking those meds if that meant he wouldn't be feeling sick and breathless all the time.

Finally, two weeks after his surgery and after another check-up at the hospital and being reassured that Marcus was actually doing very well, too; he went back to the firm.

He was still very weak and tired and walking wasn't the easiest thing to do. He still needed his pills and the discomfort he'd been feeling for the last few days had yet to go away; but he had to go back to work and just hoped that now that Harvey had found some peace of mind, he wouldn't mind the fact that Mike had been gone for two weeks.

He was sorely mistaken.

Not only had Harvey not forgotten about the fact that he'd refused his request; he was so mad at him that he instantly ordered him out of his office when Mike walked in. He didn't even notice how pale Mike looked and how stiffly he was walking.

"Harvey; please. I know you're angry; but I can explain."

"You can explain?" Harvey roared. "Don't you get tired of using that phrase? You keep screwing up and keep begging me to let you explain. Well, guess what; I'm fed up with your half-assed excuses. Get the hell out of my office. I told you before that if you left, you'd better stay gone."

"I'm sorry, alright? But I had no choice." Mike tried to make amends, but deep down he felt it was to no avail.

"You know how much I hate betrayals, Mike. And you keep going behind my back to do things your way. I'm not your grandmother, boy; I won't just sit aside and let you get away with everything you wish to do."

Mike blanched even more; both for being called a traitor and for being reminded of his grandmother in that way.

"I'm done dealing with you and your shits. Get the hell out of my office and go back to wherever you were these last two weeks."

Mike was stunned; he had no idea why Harvey was so angry. It wasn't like he had done anything wrong; he'd just taken some days off. What was so bad about it?

Cautiously, he approached Harvey, who had his back to him. Reaching out, he tried to turn the older man around, but either Harvey's anger was fueling his strength or Mike was way weaker than he'd thought; because Harvey shrugged off and pushed him away and the next thing Mike knew he was on the ground, with his back against the coffee table.

On the outside, it looked like he'd just lost his footing; but the truth was he was in excruciating pain from where his back had hit the coffee table. He was pale and had a thick sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

With tremendous effort and difficulty he pushed himself off the floor and limped out of the senior partner's office, without another word or glance.

He didn't stop outside to see the worried look on Donna's face and didn't see the regret in Harvey's eyes, as the man watched with remorse as his associate walked away painfully.

The older lawyer was already regretting his words and action, but more than anything, he was ashamed of pushing Mike away like that. He really hadn't realized he'd pushed that hard, but by the look of pain on Mike's face, and the way the younger man had ended up on the ground, he must've pushed pretty hard.

Sighing, he sat on the couch and cursed himself under his breath. He didn't know what the hell had gotten into him to make him treat his young friend like that. Mike had just gotten a few days off; true, he'd done so against his words; but maybe he really had some good reasons for it; why had he been so hard on the kid? It scared him how he seemed unable of controlling his anger; he was afraid the worry and concern for Marcus would never leave him and he'd stay this grumpy and cranky for good.

Looking up, he expected a tongue-lashing from Donna or angry glare at the very least, but when he didn't even get a shake of head with disapproval, he knew he'd screwed up way worse than he thought.

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Mike, after taking a few minutes in the bathroom to get himself together and to overcome the pain, with the help of the painkillers in his pocket, walked towards Jessica's room.

He had two options in front of him, he could resign and leave, or he could let her know that, for the moment, he was free for whatever work any other partner in the firm had for him; at least, until Harvey'd, somehow, snap out of his funk. Although, to be totally honest, Mike wasn't sure he really wanted to work with or for Harvey, either; not for a while, at least. The other man had been nothing but hurtful these past few weeks and although he could understand the older man's fears for his brother, he couldn't let it slide any longer. Marcus was out of the woods now and Harvey had no reason to keep being a prick, and besides, Mike knew better than anyone about the kind of pain Harvey was dealing with; he'd dealt with much worse; he didn't think it gave him the permission to be such an ass.

Enough was enough; he'd given the senior partner more than one free pass; he'd taken everything in stride and hadn't said a word; he'd let Harvey insult him, yell at him for no reason and humiliate him over and over again and hadn't said a word.

But he was sick and tired of it, now.

Maybe it was the pain in his side; maybe it was the general fatigue and weakness he still hadn't overcome after the surgery, but for now, he, too, felt that he was done with Harvey Specter.

His meeting with Jessica didn't last long; the managing partner was in the middle of something, so she just gave him a sympathetic look and sent him to his desk, telling him that she'd send one of the partners to give him some work.

By the end of the day, Mike was feeling shitty. The pain in his side wouldn't subside even with the painkillers and he was feeling cold no matter how much hot coffee he took. He was sweaty and more than just tired and if his brain was functioning right, he would've realized that none of those symptoms were something to be taken lightly after a serious injury like the one he'd had.

But his brain was as tired as the rest of his body; he was barely seeing the words on the papers that were sprawled before him on the ground of the file room and he hadn't even noticed how bad his hands were shaking.

So, since he had missed all those other signs, he missed everything else, as well, and when he pushed himself off the ground to go get another coffee, the dizziness took him by surprise; but before he'd even lose his balance because of it, he was unconscious and then he hit the ground; hard and gracelessly.

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... TBC ...

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A/N: Let me know what you think. :)

Thank you so much for your reviews, PMs, alerts and faves. I'm glad you liked the first chapter and thanks for your kind words and for welcoming me into this fandom. :)

Hey, Samantha, hope this was as satisfying as complications during the surgery! :D

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All mistakes are mine.

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