Second-to-last chapter, gang! Hope you're still enjoying the ride.

Danny had just finished a heavy work-out at the gym when he noticed a call from the hospital on his phone. He was on-call but his pager hadn't gone off, so he called in with some confusion. The person on the other end cleared it all up. He wasn't being called as a doctor but because someone listed him as an emergency contact. They wouldn't tell him what the situation was but only that the person who listed him was Mindy Lahiri. Danny grabbed his stuff and jumped in a cab straight for the hospital. He felt panicky in the back of the cab and wondered if this is what it felt like for every person that he ever had the hospital receptionists call in an emergency situation.

He practically ran into the hospital demanding answers, but wasn't recognized because the ER was in a completely different area than Labor and Delivery. A nurse finally slowed down enough to talk with him.

"Are you Ms. Lahiri's husband?"

"No, I'm, um, her person. And she's a doctor."

"I'm not entirely sure what her 'person' means, but I'll assume that means you're close enough to Dr. Lahiri that she wouldn't mind you in her hospital room."

"It's a safe bet."

He was escorted into a curtained off area that definitely would not be considered a room in his department. Mindy sat on the gurney and smiled when he walked through the curtain. He was immediately relieved to see she was safe, alive, and mostly in one piece.

She answered his unasked question. "I dislocated my shoulder."

"You made me your emergency contact?"

"Well yea. My parents and Gwen are too far away and I don't trust Rishi to make end-of-life decisions. He'd probably pull the plug even if I had like a 90% chance of waking up in perfect shape."

"So you trust me to decide whether to remove life-sustaining measures?"

"I guess I do. Don't let the power go to your head. Keep in mind that I'd be just as lovely in a coma as I am conscious."

"And probably a lot quieter."

"Oh that's hilarious. Here I am on my deathbed and you're mocking me."

"You hurt your shoulder."

"It could've been worse."

"How exactly did you dislocate your shoulder?"

"I had just finished delivering Mrs. Johansen's twins and the stupid vending machine in the break room wouldn't release my Doritos. So, I stuck my arm up there and I must have twisted it the wrong way and there you have. They popped it back in, which hurt like hell by the way, but I'm stuck with this sling until they re-evaluate it in a few days."

"Well, at least you didn't have to travel far for help…"

"I know, right? They only called you because I obviously can't drive myself home and they didn't think a cab would be a good idea in my condition. They said I should have someone stay with me to help with like daily functioning stuff, but I know that would be a huge inconvenience and I'm sure I can figure it out on my own, so you really don't need to…"

She didn't get to finish because Danny interrupted. "Mindy, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay as long as you need me."

Tears sprung to Mindy's eyes and Danny looked at her questioningly. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying. It must be the pain medication."

Danny didn't really buy that excuse but decided to let her have this one.

"Um Danny, why are you so sweaty?"

Danny had completely forgotten that he came straight to the hospital from the gym. They made arrangements to swing by his apartment so he could grab a few items while Mindy waited in the cab, and then onward to her apartment. They walked up three flights of stairs, with Danny hovering a little bit to make sure Mindy didn't bump her arm. He also took the keys after she fumbled to open the door.

"Sorry it's a disaster in here."

"Seriously, Mindy, was there a tornado?"

"No mocking the patient!'

"You're really going to milk this, aren't you?"

"Oh, you've got that right," Mindy commented with a smile.

One side effect of her pain medication was sleepiness, so Mindy immediately went to her room to change her clothes. While on her way, she yelled at Danny to stop cleaning her apartment. In order the repair her shoulder, the doctors had cut into her scrub top so it wasn't quite a full shirt anymore. She had draped a sweater over it in the cab to preserve some modesty. She was allowed to remove her arm from the sling briefly, but obviously would not be able to remove and replace her shirt on her own. Because the top was already partly ripped, she was able to get the rest of it off, but that left her in her bra.

"Danny?", she yelled from her bedroom.

"Yea?'

"Can you come help me?"

"Sure, what do you need help with?" he responded as he entered her room. " Oh…," he said, averting his eyes as he noticed her state of undress.

"I need to change my clothes and I can't figure it out with only one arm."

"Oh, um, OK. Well let's see here."

Mindy was glad she had gone with her nice purple lace bra from Victoria's Secret, though she supposed it didn't really matter what she wore in front of Danny since it's not like she was trying to impress him. He was clearly uncertain of how to best be helpful without crossing a line, so she had to ask him to remove her bra, which was awkward because she definitely hadn't needed to tell a guy this since high school. Danny was a gentleman, managing to not look down at all as he unhooked her bra and removed it, being particularly careful with her injured arm. He struggled more with the next step of pulling a large t-shirt over her head. He inadvertently grazed the side of her breast with his hand and stuttered an apology.

"Hey, nothing you haven't done before," Mindy responded before kicking herself as it only increased Danny's awkwardness as they both recalled when Danny was Mindy's gynecologist for that brief period of time. Their eyes caught for a second and the room suddenly felt a lot hotter. Danny's eyes seemed darker to her than they ever had before. There was awkwardness there, but something else too.

During her exam with Danny last year, Mindy figured out quickly that he certainly did not view her solely as a lamp, but also as a woman. She noticed the look in his eyes when she lowered her top and how it intensified as he touched her. At the time, she chalked it up to him just being a guy, but looking back now, she realized that Danny was a consummate professional who did those type of exams all of the time. He was certainly well-trained at approaching them in a solely clinical nature with a clear boundary between himself and the patient. So why wasn't that the case with her?

While she was lost in thought, Danny had recovered from his discomfort and was in the process of re-fitting the sling to her arm and shoulder. She yawned out of sheer exhaustion. Danny pulled back her blankets and pulled them back over her once she had settled under them.

"I'll be just outside in the living room."

"Don't you dare clean!"

"But it's a disaster and there isn't anything better to do!"

"It's so unnecessary, Danny! It's bad enough I've stolen you from your life but now you're going to do chores?"

"Well, it's too bad you're stuck in your bed and can't do anything about it."

"Oh fine, I'm too tired to argue…"

Danny chuckled as he left the room. Mindy mumbled aloud while falling asleep. "Thanks Danny. In case I don't say it enough…you're awesome."

Danny paused at the door to catch a glimpse of her drifting to sleep. "Anytime, Mindy."

About an hour later, Mindy opened her eyes though she was still in a haze from the medication. She could see Danny scribbling on a piece of paper at her night table. He was wearing just a towel, slung low on his hips. She probably should have been wondering why Danny Castellano was practically naked in her bedroom, but it oddly didn't seem too unusual to her in the moment. Besides, the view certainly wasn't bad. She watched a bead of water trail from his neck to mid-back to lower back and then disappeared into the towel. She considered saying something but just drifted back to sleep instead.

She awoke again a few hours later and read the note.

Mindy,

Went to the hospital. Emergency caesarean. I'll be back as soon as I can. Stay in bed. I'm bringing home mint chocolate chip ice cream.

- Danny

Tears sprung to Mindy's eyes again. He was bringing home her favorite ice cream. For a tough guy like Danny, that was practically like signing his note XOXO. He used to be just a handsome jerk colleague to her, but now he was this amazing friend and person in her life and she wasn't quite sure how it happened or if she actually deserved him.

She heard the front door to her apartment open and Danny announcing that it was just him. He knocked on her bedroom door while opening it at the same time. He looked rather depleted and she gestured at him to sit on the bed, clearing a space for him on top of the covers.

"Is everything OK?"

"It is now, but we almost lost them. It was touch-and-go for both mother and baby."

"Those are the toughest ones. Are you OK?"

"A little shaken honestly. I know we're not God, but sometimes it feels like we're expected to be. I felt so helpless. It makes you question your purpose for a few moments and whether you can really help anyone in this world."

"You're an amazing doctor, Danny. You were meant for this. And not to mention, all that you're doing for me. Trust me, you don't ever need to question if you're helping anyone. I'm daily proof."

"Well, I did bring you ice cream…so I guess that makes sense," Danny said as a smile returned to his face.

"All of that and you still stopped for ice cream. Are you sure you're not a god?"

Danny left and returned to the bedroom with two heaping bowls of ice cream and they turned on the Daily Show on the television in Mindy's room. Mindy was pretty awake given her extended nap, but Danny quickly drifted off to sleep. She stared at him, which was probably slightly creepy but he was asleep so it's not like he would know. He looked peaceful. She didn't have the heart to wake him, though she realized that while they had fallen asleep in the same space before, it would be the first time in her actual bed with him. But hey, she had done that all the time with Gwen, who was her best friend, which is practically what Danny was at this point to her. It was totally the same thing. And she didn't dwell too hard on the fact that she automatically labeled this the first time, as if there would be more…