Chapter Twelve- Waking

Becker woke slowly, gradually becoming aware of the muffled sounds around him and the strong smell of ammonia. His mind was pleasantly hazy, a familiar feeling he had learned to associate with strong painkillers from the many injuries he had sustained over the course of his career. After several moments of reflecting on these discoveries, he came to the conclusion that he was in a hospital. He strained his memory, finding it to be surprisingly clear, and tried to remember how he could have ended up here. If he was in the hospital, then he and Jess must have been rescued from the rubble not long after he lost consciousness.

Jess.

If he had survived, she must have made it out all right as well. But where was she? His eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, causing his side to erupt in pain. He grit his teeth and raised his arm to grasp the side rail on the bed and groaned when he felt pain radiate across his chest in response to the movement. His vision swam before his eyes as his head began to pound, threatening to split in half if he did not stop moving. He gasped in a breath as he steeled his resolve and threw the blanket off of him, and swung his legs over the edge of the small bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily demanded, striding into the room, flanked by two nurses.

"Jess," he said, grabbing the side rail for balance as he swayed on his feet. "Where is she? What happened?" he demanded.

One of the nurses grabbed his shoulders and firmly pushed him back into the bed as the other checked his IV bags.

"Jess is fine, Captain Becker; she sustained no serious injuries in the accident," Emily explained soothingly. "I'm sure she just stepped out for a moment."

"Why are you here?" Becker asked, trying not to sound rude. It wasn't that he was unhappy to see her, but he was surprised to wake and find her sitting by his bed rather than Jess or Matt. His head hurt and his mind was spinning from the combination of the medication and his injuries. "Where are the others?"

"Connor and Abby were sitting with you, but they stepped out to have a word with Matt and asked me to watch you. I thought you were waking up so I went to find some nurses to check on you."

"I need to see Jess," Becker said, pointedly ignoring the nurses' glares and continued struggling to stay upright.

"As soon as the doctor looks you over your friend can send her in," the first nurse said firmly. "Now, please, you must get back into bed. You're going to tear your stitches if you aren't careful."

"But-" Becker started to protest, quailing under the nurse's stern gaze and a sudden wave of fatigue and nausea.

"I've paged your doctor; he'll be here in a moment," the first nurse continued. "If you return to bed, I'll go look for your friends. There was quite a group of them waiting for you to wake up." She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to agree.

"Or, if you prefer, the nurses could put you in those restraints like you had me in when we first met and we can all wait for the doctor together," Emily said calmly, crossing her arms to make her point.

Becker glowered at her. "Fine," he muttered, collapsing heavily back onto his pillow, groaning loudly.

"A wise decision, captain."

As promised, the doctor arrived only a few moments later, shooing Emily from the room. After examining him quickly and determining that Becker had not damaged himself further in his outburst after waking, the doctor began explaining what he had missed since being pulled from the rubble of the construction site. The doctor had rambled on for several minutes, but Becker had long since stopped listening.

"Very lucky, indeed… major loss of blood, but we've managed to replace most of it… avoided any major damage," he heard the doctor say, "but you'll need to stay here for observation for at least another week before we discharge you."

"Wait, a week?" Becker asked, snapping back to reality. "That's not necessary; I'm fine to go home."

"It is not up for discussion, Captain Becker," the doctor said firmly, looking up at him over the rim of his glasses, "and I said a week at least. You need to take the time to let your body heal."

Becker rolled his eyes. "Fine. Can I see my cowork- my friends now?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course. For a few minutes only, though. You need to rest." He waited for Becker to acknowledge his instructions before nodding. "I'll send them in," he called over his shoulder.

Becker was exhausted and feeling the strong pull of the drugs the doctors had him on, but he forced himself to sit up straighter and focus. A few moments later there was a light knock on the door and a second later the Jess stepped through the doorway. He was both surprised and pleased to see that she had come alone, though he was worried at how pale and tired she looked. Her eyes were puffy and red as though she had been crying very recently and had not had the time to fix her makeup to cover it. He was so relieved to see her alive and well that he could not think of a single thing to say. Luckily, she began to speak first.

"Hi, Becker," she greeted him shyly with a small smile, standing next to his bed awkwardly. "You had us all very worried for a minute there. Me especially," she confessed with a nervous smile. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Sorry about that," he said finally, forcing himself out of his stupor. "I'm glad to see you're okay too."

She nodded and he noticed she tugged nervously on the long sleeves of her sweater to cover her hands.

"Becker, I don't know how much you remember about what happened, but…"

"I remember everything," he said quickly. "Or, most of everything. Some things are a bit hazy," he corrected himself, unsure of what she was thinking of specifically.

She nodded, her lips still smiling, but her eyes serious.

"Oh." He cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she ducked her head. "Well, then…." She took a step closer to his bed and lowered her voice to avoid being heard by anyone in the hall. "Becker, I just want you to know that I understand completely. You don't need to worry about anything. I don't expect anything from you. What you said, we don't ever have to talk about it again. In fact, it's probably best that we don't since we're friends and we work together and everything."

A sharp knock at the door interrupted her rant and she stepped back from the bed quickly.

"I should let you rest now. I'll, um, I'll try to come see you again later."

"Jess, I don't-"

"Feeling better, action man?" Connor interrupted loudly as he entered the room, followed closely by Abby and Matt. Becker winced at the sudden noise and Matt gestured for Connor to lower his voice. "Sorry, mate." Connor apologized, lowering his voice almost to a whisper. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll wait for you and Connor in the lobby, Abby," Jess said quickly, seizing her opportunity to escape and darting out of the room before anyone could question her actions.

If anyone else thought her behavior strange or worrisome, they did not show it as Abby simply nodded and called after her "We'll be down in a few minutes, Jess."

Connor picked up the chart from the end of Becker's bed and began absently flipping through it.

"The doctor told us you'll have to stay in the hospital for at least a week."

"I'm fine; there's no reason I can't go home now," he said sourly, suddenly wishing he was alone so he could think about what Jess had said.

"You got blown up, mate. You might want to stay for at least a couple of-" Connor suddenly broke off as he flipped back to the front of the file. "Becker," he said, looking at the file as though Christmas had come early, "your first name is Hil-"

"Finish that sentence, Connor, and you will never speak again."

Connor rolled his eyes, but quickly replaced the chart on the bed. "I'll humor you because you're injured."

"Think of it as a vacation, Becker," Abby said, trying her best to cheer him up. "It'll be a nice break from anomalies and creatures. Watch some telly, read a book, catch up on your sleep."

"I'm getting out of here the second those doctors turn their backs. I've escaped from far worse places," Becker said darkly.

"Sorry, mate, you're staying here," Matt said firmly, shaking his head. "Lester's authorized the use of lethal force to keep you in this bed until the doctor says you're good to go."

The doctor reentered the room and surveyed the group. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave now. Captain Becker has had major surgery and he needs to rest now. You may come visit him again tomorrow."

The group said their goodbyes and wished him luck, promising to visit again soon and bring him some things to keep him entertained, and left quickly before the doctor returned again.

Alone again for the first time in what felt like hours, Becker pondered over what Jess had told him. Clearly, he had not imagined telling her how he felt about her. And from her reaction, it had not been well-received. He must have imagined her telling him that

Emily followed Jess down to the lobby, insisting she was tired of waiting in the hallway and needed to stretch her legs, though Jess suspected she had something to say and was waiting until they were alone to say it.

"I think I'll go home and sleep for a month," Jess said, looking at the clock in the lobby.

"I'm sure you will feel better after some sleep and something to eat," Emily said, patting her shoulder gently.

"Maybe…" Jess murmured. She hoped that Becker had understood what she was trying to tell him and would not bring up the issue again. The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that Connor had been right and that Becker could not possibly have meant what he said.

"Jess, are you all right?" she heard Emily ask. "You seem distracted. Did something happen when you spoke with Becker?"

"I've had a bit of a hard day, actually," Jess answered, much more harshly than she really meant. She was tired of people asking if she was all right. She was tired of questions. Her hands were hurting terrible and she just wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and possibly never come out.

"Of course," Emily apologized, taking a step back. "I understand. Please let me know if you need anything."

Jess was saved from having to apologize for her behavior by Abby and Connor arriving. She nodded to Emily once, and then joined her flat mates as they exited the hospital and went home.

Five days passed in the flat Jess shared with Abby and Connor with very little activity. After returning home from the ARC, Abby and Connor sat together in the kitchen preparing tea and debating what to order for dinner. Connor was half-engrossed in looking over some reports he had brought home from his lab, making it too easy for Abby to convince him to order what she wanted.

"Jess has barely come out of her room since we got home from the hospital," Abby commented, casting a glance at her closed room door as they waited for their tea to cool enough to drink.

"Well, she just had a bit of a traumatic experience," Connor said vaguely. "I imagine she wants to be alone for a bit."

"Yes, but she hasn't even been back to the hospital to visit Becker. That's very unlike her," Abby continued.

"I don't know… Maybe she just wants him to focus on getting better," Connor said absently, completely lost in the papers laid out in front of him.

"Or maybe someone said something that upset her," Abby shot back, glaring pointedly at him. Her tone immediately caught his attention, and his head snapped up guiltily as she continued. "Something about people confessing feelings under dire circumstances?"

Connor shrugged helplessly. "How was I to know anything might have happened?"

"Have you met Jess and Becker? They're obviously in love with each other and they just haven't figured it out yet. They thought they were going to die. Of course one of them would have said something. Or have you forgotten the time you professed your love for me when I was dangling off a cliff?"

"I could talk to her, if you thi-"

"No," Abby said firmly. "I think you're done talking for a while, Connor. I'll talk to her. She'll tell me what's wrong," she finished confidently. Abby had decided earlier that afternoon that it was time for her to intervene, not only to repair whatever damage her boyfriend might have unwittingly caused, but also because she cared about Jess as a friend and could not bear to see her so obviously upset.

"So… how are you going to get it out of her?" Connor asked meekly, handing her his biscuit as a peace offering.

"Ice cream, wine, a chick flick, and brute force if I have to."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "You really think that'll work?"

"Connor, this is what girlfriends do. They torture information out of one another and then fix each other's lives. Now make yourself scarce tonight and I'll catch you up on everything tomorrow."