Well, it wasn't the weekend, but at least I was close this time! Thanks again for your continued support! No major spoilers this time, just a vague reference to Blind Man's Bluff, which I already spoiled several chapters ago. :-)

Jim stood in the middle of the hallway, watching until Blair disappeared into the elevator, then he headed back into Blair's room, shoulders slumped. This was going to be a long morning. He glanced at the empty spot where the bed should be and sat back down in his chair. He knew from the written instructions Blair had received that if everything went well, Blair would be brought back here to rest for four to six hours after he got out of recovery. Then Jim would be able to take him home to recuperate.

In the meantime, he should have brought something to do to keep occupied. He sighed; maybe he should run by the station to see if there were any files he could bring to go over while he was waiting. He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of that last night. He had originally planned to do that, but Blair's little stunt the day before had scared him, and he had gone straight home instead of going back to the station after the paramedics had released his partner.

A hesitant knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. He looked up with a start. Simon stood in the doorway of Blair's room, a pile of manila folders in his arms.

"I guess I found the right place." Simon grinned and walked into the room, dragging a chair from the other wall. "Did the kid get off okay?"

Jim nodded, speechless at the Captain's unexpected presence. He stood up, smiling in relief. "Yes, sir. He just went up a few minutes ago."

Simon nodded, sitting down. "Well, while you have the time, there are a few things I wanted to go over with you to clean up the Torres case, and I brought a few other files along since I have a captive audience." He grinned wickedly. "Joel, Henri and Rafe can take care of themselves for a while. They're all working on paperwork this morning, and I told Rhonda to hold my calls."

"Sir, I don't know what to say." Jim sat back down in his chair, grateful and relieved that he would not have to wait alone.

Simon's grin softened. "Don't say anything, Jim. Let's just see how many of these files we can get through this morning. Did they say how long it should take?"

"Well, I guess if everything goes well, the procedure should take between four and six hours and then he'll go to recovery for a while. Depending on how things go and how well he does in recovery, he'll hopefully be brought back here for another four to six hours of observation and laying flat. But I guess if they have any issues with either the procedure or recovery, he might end up being admitted overnight."

"Well, we'll just hope nothing goes wrong." Simon opened one of the folders and scooted his chair a little closer to Jim. "Okay, now about the Torres case . . ."

*****

Blair closed his eyes, swallowing hard as his rolling bed was pushed into a large room filled with equipment and monitors. Several men and women wearing scrubs, surgical masks, surgical caps and sterile gloves were busily at work preparing things for the procedure. The two orderlies stopped the bed just inside the entrance to the room.

"Okay, this is as far as we go." One of the orderlies smiled at Blair. "They'll take good care of you from here." He double checked the hospital bracelet the nurse had snapped around his wrist when he checked in. "Okay, people, I have Blair Sandburg here for you."

A young woman wearing scrubs and a hat stepped over to Blair's side; a surgical mask dangled around her neck. "Okay, thank you, guys." She laid a gloved hand on Blair's upper arm. "Hi, Blair. I'm Stephanie, and I'm going to get you ready. How are you doing?"

Blair looked up at her with a nervous laugh. "Well, okay, I guess. I'm afraid to even ask how you're going to do that."

Stephanie smiled. "Well, you don't have to ask. I'll tell you what we're doing every step of the way. We don't want any surprises." She pulled up an IV stand beside the bed. "First I have to ask you if you have had anything to eat or drink since midnight."

Blair shook his head. "Actually I had kind of a rough day yesterday and went to bed early. So I haven't had anything to eat or drink since about ten o'clock last night."

"Okay, good. " Stephanie grabbed a cotton pad and some alcohol. "The next thing I'm going to do is get you set up with an IV. We'll be using it to keep you hydrated throughout the procedure, and we can also give you any medication we need to through there. We'll be giving you something to help you relax before we get started. You might sleep, depending on how the medication affects you."

Blair looked away while Stephanie found a vein in the back of his hand and set up the IV. "Man, I hate this part."

Stephanie chuckled. "Unfortunately, you're probably not going to like this part either." She turned away while she was talking and retrieved a sealed packet. When she turned back, she looked at him sympathetically. "Because of the IV, you're not going to be able to make it throughout the whole procedure without a potty break, and we can't actually have you moving around once we get started. So I'm afraid I need to set up a Foley catheter."

Blair cringed, but he had known this wasn't going to be a fun day. He had been catheterized when he had been hospitalized after he had been dosed with Golden, but he had been unconscious at the time, so he didn't remember it. He closed his eyes again. "Go ahead."

Stephanie pulled the covers down to the bottom of the bed, and Blair felt oddly exposed, even though he was still wearing the gown. He flinched as he felt the fabric of his gown brush against him as Stephanie moved it out of the way. Desperately, he tried to think of anything other than what was happening right now. He wondered how Jim was doing; he hoped he wasn't just sitting there thinking. Thinking could get you in trouble.

"Okay, Blair, all done. Are you still doing okay?"

Blair opened his eyes and looked up at Stephanie, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Uh . . . yeah. I'm okay."

"Okay, good. I promise that was the worst of the prep. Now all I need to do is prepare your incision sites."

Blair blushed again. "I don't even want to know what that means." All he could think was that incisions were supposed to be made at the juncture of leg and groin on at least one leg. He hadn't really thought about the potential embarrassment of the whole thing. Oh, well . . . it can't be any worse than the catheter!

Stephanie laughed out loud. "You're doing fine, Blair. I'll be done here in just a minute. The doctors will decide which vessels they want to catheterize, so I'm going to get them all prepared. Both legs, your neck and the inside of your left elbow. All I need to do is make sure that each area is clean and shaved. Not painful, not too embarrassing, piece of cake!"

Blair smiled despite his embarrassment, and Stephanie was true to her word. Within a very short time, he was cleaned up and ready to go. Stephanie patted him on the shoulder, and then draped the covers over him once again.

"Okay, I'm all done. We should be ready for you in just a few minutes."

Blair lay back against his pillow, closing his eyes wearily. Now came the really fun part.

*****

"Jim, if you look at your watch one more time . . ." Simon warned. "This morning is going to be long enough without you watching the clock!"

Ellison sighed. "I'm sorry, Simon. I just keep wondering how he's doing. I know it's only been a half hour. I'll try to keep on target here. You were saying?"

Simon shook his head, frustrated. He had known this was going to be a hard morning for his best detective, but it was going even worse than he had imagined. "Okay, let's take the interview from the beginning. What did the receptionist tell you?"

Jim visibly forced himself to pay attention to the subject at hand. "Well, as I said, she told me that the morning before Torres was arrested . . ."

*****

Blair wondered how long he had been waiting; since he had been told to remove all jewelry, he didn't have access to his watch. There were several people busy with the equipment on the other side of the room, chattering back and forth and completely ignoring him. He wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or relieved for the reprieve. He shifted uncomfortably in his bed, grimacing at the pull of the catheter as he moved. The IV tugged at the back of his hand, and the incision sites tingled from the rubbing alcohol.

"Blair, how are you doing?" Jonathan Simmons stepped up beside the bed. Like everyone else, the doctor was wearing scrubs and had a sterile mask dangling around his neck. "You ready to get the show on the road?"

Blair nodded wordlessly.

"Okay, good. Well, we're finally ready. We're going to move you to the table now so we can get started. Then we'll give you some medication through your IV to help you relax. Sound good?"

Blair nodded again, watching nervously as Stephanie and another nurse pushed his bed up beside the table in the center of all the equipment and monitors. The table was lowered until it was at the same level as his bed, and Stephanie smiled, pulling the covers back once more.

"Okay, can you scoot across to the table now?"

With a little assistance from the two nurses, Blair managed to slide from his bed onto the table, noting it was not nearly as comfortable a surface to lie on. Once he was settled on the table and his IV was moved to the attached stand, Stephanie pulled Blair's right arm out to the side and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around it. The other nurse pulled down the top of his gown and began to attach the adhesive pads they used with an EKG. Once the sticky pads were attached, she began to hook the electrodes to them.

Blair watched in nervous fascination as the monitors sprang to life, detailing his vitals and heart patterns across the screens. Stephanie clipped a pulse oxygenation monitor to his finger, and a new monitor added information to the mix. The second nurse gently pulled the top of Blair's hospital gown back up to his neck, covering his chest and the electrodes now taped there. Stephanie moved around to his other side and pulled his left arm to the side, gently twisting it so the previously prepared inner elbow was now visible.

Both nurses stepped away for a moment, and when they returned they were both wearing surgical masks. Stephanie stepped back up to the table, and Blair could tell she was smiling by the way her eyes crinkled.

"Okay, Blair. I'm going to put a sedative in your IV now, so you can just relax. You might fall asleep, but if you don't, don't worry about it. We'll make sure we use a local anesthetic before we make any incisions. You won't feel a thing."

She deftly added the sedative to Blair's IV, and he felt the effects almost immediately. An overwhelming drowsiness rushed through him, and he blinked lethargically. The second nurse was busily placing sterile drapes over him, and he was grateful for at least the semblance of privacy. His eyesight was getting blurry, and Blair could no longer tell who anyone was. Everyone was wearing dark green scrubs, hats and masks, and the fuzzy figures all looked the same to him.

One of the figures separated from the others and stepped to his side. "How're you feeling, Blair? Are you ready to get this taken care of?"

Even though Blair couldn't see much, he definitely recognized the electrophysiologist's voice. "Yeah," he slurred sleepily, attempting a drunken smile. "Les's do it."

He heard a soft chuckle, and then a hand squeezed his shoulder. "Okay, people, you heard the man. Let's do it."

Blair wondered groggily if he was going to actually stay awake for the procedure, his heart rate increasing as he felt hands moving the drapes from the top of both legs and his left arm. The cold air revived him for a moment, and he flinched as he felt a brief stab of pain in the top of his right leg, repeated almost immediately in his left leg.

"Blair, if you're still awake, that was the local anesthetic. It'll take just a few minutes to take effect and then you won't feel a thing." Stephanie's voice filtered through the fog that was filling Blair's mind. "But if you're tired, don't fight it. A lot of people sleep through the whole thing."

Blair nodded his head, at least he thought he did; he wasn't sure it actually moved. He closed his eyes wearily, and suddenly what the voices were saying and what the hands were doing didn't seem to matter anymore.

*****

Jim had given up on looking at his watch and was now pacing the small room in agitation. Simon shook his head in concern; he wasn't sure what else he could do for his friend. They had gone through all of the files he had brought and even discussed the highlights of the Jags game the night before. Blair had now been gone for nearly six hours. Simon had managed to coax Jim into eating a little bit of lunch nearly a half hour ago, but Jim had wanted to wait for Blair to come back before eating anything else.

Banks stood up and cleared his throat. "Jim, I'm going to go ask at the nurse's station if he's about done. I'll be right back."

Jim nodded, not stopping his manic pacing. Simon shook his head as he headed for the nurse's station. He really hoped they were going to get some good news . . . soon!

"Mr. Ellison?" Simon turned at the voice behind him. A young woman wearing scrubs was standing behind him, having noticed which room he came out of.

"No, he's in there." Simon pointed at the room. "Do you have news about Blair?"

The young woman nodded, ushering Simon back into the little room. Jim had heard the commotion in the hall and was standing in the middle of the room stoically, waiting for word. The woman smiled politely.

"You're Jim Ellison?" At Jim's nod, she continued. "I apologize for the long wait without any news. We hit a bit of a complication, and it's taking a little longer than we had hoped."

Ellison stiffened. "Wh . . what kind of complication?"

The young woman smiled gently. "It's nothing to worry about. Doctor Simmons will explain it to you in more detail when he's done. We discovered that Blair actually had several arrhythmias that needed to be fixed, and unfortunately, the doctor is having a little difficulty locating the last one. He can trigger it, so he knows there's still one left, but it's hiding from him, so it may be a little while longer."

"So what does that mean for Blair?" Jim sat down heavily in his chair.

"Honestly, it mostly means it's taking longer than usual for the ablation." The woman met Jim's eyes solidly. "It could still be a few more hours until they are sure they have everything taken care of. And, also, because of the delay and the multiple arrhythmias, we will be definitely keeping Blair overnight. That's the main reason I came down here. Once he's done, he'll be going to a room on the cardiac care floor so he can be monitored more closely. Doctor Simmons has had to do a lot of work, and we just want to make sure he's handling it okay."

Jim sighed, running his hand through his hair distractedly. "Okay, thanks for letting us know. Could someone just let us know where we should go to wait for him?"

The young woman nodded. "You can stay here for now, but I'll have someone let you know which room he's being taken to once he gets out of recovery." She rested a hand on Jim's shoulder. "He really is doing okay. I promise."

"Thank you." Simon walked out into the hall with her as she headed back toward the elevator. "He's really had a rough morning worrying about Blair. Thanks for the update."

The young woman smiled again. "Just doing my job. Now I need to get back up there so I can see how things are going. I promise it will only be a few more hours."

*****

The first thing he noticed was beeping, and a lot of voices talking quietly. Agitated, he turned his head to the side, trying to get away from the noise.

"Blair, can you hear me? I need you to hold very still."

Blair's groggy mind struggled to place the woman's voice. Oh, that's right. Stephanie. He forced heavy eyelids open as far as he could and saw a face hovering above him. He couldn't make much out, his vision still blurry, but he guessed it was Stephanie.

"Wha's goin' on?" he slurred.

A hand grasped his shoulder firmly. "Blair, you're still in the EP lab, and we're still working. I need you to hold your head still. We couldn't use the vein in your arm, so we had to go in through your neck, and you need to stay still until we're done. Don't worry, though. We've almost got you all fixed up."

Blair wondered what she meant and opened his mouth to ask her, when a wave of lassitude swept over him and he realized she must have added more of the sedative to his IV. Before he could think of what he wanted to ask her, he was out again.

*****

This time when Blair woke, it was because of the pain. It took him a minute to figure out where he was, but when he did, he wondered about the pain. They were supposed to give him a local anesthetic to prevent pain. What was going on? He grunted, shifting uneasily.

"Blair?" This time it was Doctor Simmons standing over him. Blair couldn't see him really well, but he sounded pleased about something. "Blair, welcome back. You've been sleeping for a long time, and I've been busy. Once you're feeling a little more aware, we'll talk about it. For now, just know that you're going to be fine."

"Hurts," Blair rasped hoarsely. He had to really concentrate hard to figure out where the pain was coming from, but he finally realized it was coming from his groin. Something was irritating his neck, too and someone had their hand clamped down on it. "Stop it."

Doctor Simmons leaned in closer. "Blair, I'm sorry that you're having pain, but it's unavoidable, I'm afraid. That pain and pressure you feel is because we are putting pressure on the incision sites to stop the bleeding. It'll get better in a few minutes. But it's very important that you don't move. In a few minutes we're going to move you back to your bed and take you to recovery, but I need you to promise me that you won't help, okay? Let us do all the work."

Blair attempted to nod his head, but stopped when strong hands grasped his head and held it still. "Oh, uh, no nodding?"

Doctor Simmons chuckled. "Good guess. Just stay completely still and everything will be fine."

Finally the painful pressure eased off of Blair's upper legs and groin, and he heaved a sigh of relief. "Better."

Simmons tentatively moved the hand he had been pressing down on the side of Blair's neck, checking the incision there. "Okay, we can go ahead and move him now." He leaned in very close to Blair. "Remember, don't help. Let us do all the work."

Blair listened dreamily to what was going on, still half asleep. He heard the wheels as his rolling bed was moved back up beside the table, and he listened as someone directed the others in the best way to move him without bending anything. He could feel hands on him everywhere as the whole team worked together to transfer him back to the bed. Suddenly the surface he was lying on was a whole lot softer, and he relaxed, drifting closer towards sleep. He vaguely felt his bed moving, and he blearily wondered where he was going when he dozed off again.

*****

This was getting old . . . waking up and not knowing where he was. Once again, his bed was moving. He wondered if he was still on his way to recovery. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see if he recognized anyone. Stephanie smiled down at him, mask and hat gone for the first time. He smiled back automatically; she was really pretty now that he could see the rest of her. She had long auburn hair pulled up in a twist, and her brown eyes twinkled when she smiled at him.

"Hi, Blair. You look like you might be a little more alert this time. Do you know where you are?"

Blair chuckled. "Well, I know I'm at Cascade General, but other than that, no. You people keep moving me!"

Stephanie laughed. "Good point. Well, right now we're in the elevator on the way to your new room on the cardiac care wing."

Blair's smile disappeared. "I thought Doctor Simmons said everything was okay."

"He did. He'll explain once you're settled in your room and are completely awake. I bet you're still feeling a little groggy, aren't you?"

Blair started to nod, but then remembered what had happened the last time. "Uh, yeah. Hey, can I nod now?"

"Sorry, not yet. I don't know if you remember me telling you this, but we had to go in through your neck as well as through both legs at the groin. I'm afraid you're not going to be able to move much of anything for several hours."

Blair groaned. "Great. Well, hey, at least I don't have to worry about getting up to use the bathroom, right?"

Stephanie grinned wickedly. "Good job looking on the bright side! The Foley catheter will stay in until you're able to get up and walk around. Right now, I think you're probably going to be grateful for it!"

The elevator bell sounded and the doors opened, and Stephanie and one of the hospital orderlies moved Blair's bed out into the hall. His bed was pushed past the nurse's station, which was lined with monitors and equipment. Once they moved down the hall, he was pushed into a room and up beside another bed.

"Okay, Blair, you know the drill. Don't help." Stephanie's stern voice prevented Blair from moving as two other nurses entered the room. "Okay, everybody, on the count of three."

Together the three nurses and the orderly smoothly transferred Blair to his new bed, and before he knew what had happened, he was tucked in and lying flat on the bed.

"Can't I have a pillow?" This was not going to be comfortable, staring up at the ceiling.

"Sorry." This was one of the new nurses. "I'm afraid you don't get a pillow until after you can move around. We need to keep you lying completely flat for several hours to make sure your incisions don't reopen. You don't have any stitches, so we need to make sure the seal holds. In the meantime, why don't you try to rest? I'll let your friends know you're here. They've been waiting for you for a while now."

Stephanie smiled one last time. "You take care now, Blair. You're going to be fine. I need to get back to the EP lab to do some cleanup and paperwork. Doctor Simmons will be checking in with you periodically, so you'll get some answers soon." She patted his shoulder and headed out the door, passing Jim and Simon, who were on their way in.

"Hey, Chief!" Jim smiled in relief as he headed over toward Blair's bed. "You've had me worried sick. How are you doing?"

Blair looked up at him in confusion. "Why have I had you worried? Why am I being admitted? What happened?"

Jim shrugged. "I don't know all the details yet. I think your doctor is supposed to fill us in when he comes up in a little while to check on you. I only know you were gone for over nine hours, and they found more than one problem."

"More than nine hours?" Blair was shocked. It had only felt like a short time to him. "And you were here waiting all that time? I'm sorry, Jim."

Simon stepped closer. "Sandburg, it's not your fault. And Jim wasn't alone. I've been here with him the whole time. We actually got quite a bit done on a couple of cases while we were waiting."

"So what's next?" Jim sat down beside the bed.

"I don't know." Blair glanced at Jim out of the corner of his eye. "All I know so far is that I can't move for hours, not even to move my head."

"Well, that's not going to be fun." Ellison stood back up. "Sorry, I guess you probably couldn't see me sitting down there. Why don't you try and go back to sleep. I'm sure Doctor Simmons will wake you up if you're asleep when he gets here. You look wiped."

Blair yawned. "Yeah, I am still tired, although I can't figure out why. Sounds like I just slept for nine hours. I hope I can get some more . . . " Blair's eyes closed, and he was gone again.

TBC . . .

Thanks again for reading! Please let me know what you think. I am hoping to have chapter 13 up by the weekend. You guys are the greatest!