They sat in the hospital waiting room awaiting news of the results to see if the operations were a success on Nate's hands. Sophie had gone in with him and they'd been in their about half an hour and they were getting anxious about the results. They all shot to their feet when the door opened and the Doctor, Nate and Sophie emerged.
"Well. What's the verdict?" asked Parker.
"The breaks in his fingers have healed brilliantly, he has full movement. The reattached finger is going to take more time to heal properly, but there is movement there and that is a good sign" the Doc said as Nate and Sophie walked past the rest of the team and out to the car. Eliot thanked the Doc and hurried out the door with Hardison and Parker to catch up with Nate and Sophie.
"Hey Nate, wait up man" Hardison said as they caught up with them in the parking lot.
"I'm sorry guys I just had to get out of there, too many memories whenever I go to a hospital. I just can't stay in there anymore". The team nodded their understanding as Sophie opened the van door for Nate to get in. The journey back to Nate's was a subdued affair; they watched as Nate flexed his hands into fists then out again. You could see the little finger was just not bending as much as it used to and they could see he was getting angrier and angrier with the situation.
"Give it time Nate; the doc said it would take a bit longer to heal". Sophie explained as she tried to calm his anger. Nate without thinking went to punch the side of the van and Eliot managed to grab his arm before his fist hit the wall.
"Whoa Nate, you want to damage your hands beyond repair that's the way to do it"
Nate buried his head in his hands and was finding it extremely hard to stop the tears that where welling up in his eyes from falling.
"I'm sorry guys; I owe it to you to beat this. I mean it could have been so much worse when I think about it. If you guys hadn't of got to me in time I don't know what they would have done". He felt a soft hand on his chin and it lifted his head up to face them and with tears streaming down her face Sophie smiled and that smile made Nate's tears start falling. The rest of the journey was Sophie just holding onto Nate and stroking his hair telling him they were here for him no matter what.
When they finally got Nate upstairs to his place, Sophie managed to persuade him to go a lie down. He'd been through a lot and shouldn't rush things; they would sort everything out that needed doing. Nate reluctantly agreed and went off to his room, with strict instructions from Eliot to take his med's and no drinking alcohol till after he'd finished the course.