See Chapter 1 for disclaimer

A/N: This is the last chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed the story.

Chapter 7

Two days later, Charlie was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, while Amita sat beside him grading papers. Charlie was steadily improving physically, but the doctors were concerned about his mental state. He hardly spoke to anyone, except when answering a question, then gave one word answers.

Although Larry was still in a coma he'd been moved into Charlie's room the day before. They'd all hoped that having Larry in the same room would help Charlie. But Charlie still blaming himself for Larry's condition, and every few minutes he'd look over at Larry with a pained expression in his eyes.

The doctors had stopped the sedative and removed the tube from Larry's head before he was moved. But even though there was no sedative in his system, Larry had shown no signs of waking.

Seeing him looking at Larry again, Amita sighed and said, "Charlie, you have to stop blaming yourself. Larry wouldn't blame you and you know that. It's not your fault." Getting up and going over to Larry's bed, Amita said, "Larry you have to wake up and talk to Charlie, he's blaming himself for your condition." There was no response from Larry.

Amita's cell phone rang and she excused herself to go answer it out in the hallway. As soon as she left the room, Charlie slipped out of bed. He'd been warned not to move around too much, as his still healing ribs could cause internal damage if he wasn't careful. He didn't care he had to talk to Larry and try to wake him up.

He knew Amita would be mad but it was something he just had to do. Taking Larry's limp hand in his, Charlie said, "Please Larry, wake up. I really need my friend to talk to right now." Not getting a response, Charlie started to rub the back of Larry's hand. He stood like that for the few minutes it took Amita to come back into the room.

"Charlie, you shouldn't be out of bed. If Alan comes back and sees you, we'll both be in trouble." Just then the door opened, but it was Don that came into the room.

Don stopped short as he saw Charlie standing a little unsteadily beside Larry's bed. "Hey Amita, I see Charlie snuck out of bed. Better hope dad doesn't catch you buddy."

Don walked over to Charlie intending to make him get back into bed. But seeing the determination in Charlie's face knew it would do no good to argue with him. The fact that he'd gotten out of bed by himself, and could so easily have reinjured his ribs in the process, brought Don to a decision. But first he'd have to get Charlie back into bed, somehow. So going around the bed Don took Larry's other hand in his and started to rub it the way Charlie was doing. "Come on Larry wake up. I think Charlie really needs to talk to you, so how about it?"

Suddenly, Larry's eyelids started to flutter. "Don did you see that?" Charlie asked in an excited voice. Before Don could answer, Larry moaned. Don immediately pushed the call button for the nurse. It was obvious that Larry was close to waking up, and in pain.

The nurse rushed in and seeing Larry was waking immediately called the doctor. Glaring at Charlie she told him to get back into bed before the doctor arrived. Don hurried around the bed to help Charlie, he didn't want him moving too suddenly and hurting himself. The nurse then told Don and Amita to leave until after the doctor had examined Larry.

Larry's eyes were open by the time the doctor came in. The nurse drew the curtain so Charlie couldn't see what was happening, but he could hear what was said.

The doctor spoke to Larry. "Mr. Fleinhardt can you hear me? How many fingers I am holding up." Charlie couldn't hear any answer from Larry. "Mr Fleinhardt what's your first name. What year is it? Do you know where you are?" Charlie still heard no answer from Larry. At first he thought Larry had spoken too softly for him to hear. But at the doctor's next words, he knew it was worse than that.

"I'm sure he's awake, but he doesn't seem very aware of his surroundings. Nurse, please go call the neurologist he'll need to run some tests."

"Yes doctor." The nurse said as she rushed out of the room. The doctor followed at a slower pace glancing at Charlie as he went.

Charlie was just getting out of bed again when Don and Amita came back in. "Whoa buddy. The nurse told us to keep you in bed. So back you go." Don had rushed to Charlie and was gently pushing him back down into the bed.

"Don, I have to go to Larry. The doctors worried. I need to see Larry and talk to him. I know he'll answer me." Charlie tried to push up past Don, but Don was not going to allow it. Amita left to get the nurse. She could see that Charlie was becoming agitated and would hurt himself if he kept fighting to get out of bed.

The nurse took one look at the state Charlie was in, and immediately took a syringe from her pocket and injected it into his IV. "Now lay back and relax Charlie. You can't help your friend by making yourself ill. We'll know more about his condition after the neurologist comes to see him. Until then you need to relax."

"What was that you gave him?" Don asked.

"Just a mild sedative to help him relax. The doctor thought there may be a need for it and prescribed it after he left the room."

Charlie had stopped trying to get out of bed and was lying back against the pillows looking very unhappy.

Amita was visibly upset by all of this. "Don, I'm going down to the cafeteria to find Alan. I'll fill him in on what's happened with Larry and Charlie."

"Okay Amita, but take your time, I want to talk to Charlie for a few minutes." So giving Charlie a kiss on the cheek, Amita left the room.

Sitting down next to Charlie, Don took his hand to make him look at him. He knew that Charlie was not sedated enough to make him unable to understand what Don was about to say. After seeing Charlie trying to get out of bed a second time, Don knew that the decision he'd come to earlier was the right one.

"Charlie, we need to talk about what happened to you and Larry. I know that you're blaming yourself, but it wasn't your fault and you have to realise that, and deal with it. We found out that the enforcers had been following you around for two days before you left on your trip. The computer tech, Ward, had intercepted your last email to me and realised you were on the case. He told the gang and they sent the enforcers to watch you and report back. The day you left they were told to make sure you didn't return to LA. They waited for a quiet stretch of highway before they tried anything. Then it took them another 30 minutes to get back to check up on what they'd done. Apparently they couldn't find the right spot from the other side of the highway and went too far."

Charlie was still looking him, but Don couldn't tell if he was listening. Now he'd started Don knew he needed to get everything said, so he kept going. "If they'd tried to do something at CalSci or the house, it could have been a lot worse. It's not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's me. I should've known that the leak in the office might find out about your involvement. My getting mad at you about going away was wrong, and I'm sorry. I should've sent an agent with you, just to be on the safe side. Ever since we were kids you've been able to make me mad. So mad that I'd lose my temper and not think straight."

Don could see that he had Charlie's full attention now. He'd never opened up to Charlie this way before, but he knew now that it was necessary for Charlie to know how he felt. "When I got your second voice mail about the SUV, I was so scared. I drove like a mad man to get to you. We didn't know how far along the I5 you were, and with each mile I feared the worst. If Amita hadn't been with you and called me, we could've driven right by, and then we would've been too late."

Seeing Charlie about to speak, Don held up his hand to stop him. "Let me finish Charlie. Please relax and wait for the neurologist to tell us about Larry. No more getting out of bed. I don't want you to hurt yourself, and I can't lose you. I couldn't stand it."

Charlie was staring at Don by the time he finished. He'd never heard Don open up like that. "Don, I'm sorry." Charlie said as he squeezed Don's hand. "I didn't realise that my message had such an impact on you. You hadn't said anything about it up until now. Would you've ever told me how you felt if you weren't trying to make me stay in bed?"

"Yes Charlie I would've. This whole thing made me realise we needed to talk. I was planning on having this conversation after your release. But seeing you standing by Larry's bed made me decide to talk to you now."

"I'm sure that Larry will be alright, Charlie. I also know he won't blame you."

"You're right Don, I wouldn't, and I'm glad you two have worked things out." Don and Charlie both jumped at the unexpected voice coming from behind the curtain around Larry's bed. Getting up, Don pulled the curtain back to reveal a smiling Larry looking over at Charlie.

Charlie now had a huge grin on his face. "Larry you're okay? The doctor seemed worried when he left. But you're okay?"

"Yes my young friend, I'm fine. I was confused. My head really hurt and I couldn't talk for at first. Then I heard Don talking to you and it sounded like you needed to hear my voice."

Don went over to Larry and shook his hand. "Larry, I'm so glad to see you awake. I'm sure Charlie has a lot to talk to you about. Just don't let him get out of bed."

Don went back to Charlie and with a grin gave him a quick hug. Then he walked to the door. "I don't think I can stand any more emotional stuff today Charlie. I think I'll go find dad and send him up. See you two later."

Charlie smiled as Don left the room. "Larry, I'm so happy you're alright. I couldn't bare it if you weren't."

"Charles, as Don was telling you, it wasn't your fault. I'm fine. Although I'm sure the doctors will run hundred's of test just to prove it. So let's both just relax and get better. I have some data I need you to work your magic on when we get out of here."

Charlie lay back and smiled. Larry sounded like he was back to normal, and Don had finally opened up and actually talked to him. "Okay Larry, I'm feeling much better already, and you know what?"

"No Charles what?"

"Life is good, Larry."

"Yes Charles. Life is good."

The End

A/N: So that's it. I hope the ending's what you expected. I did think about killing Larry, but I couldn't do that to Charlie. The Don emotions didn't come easy, so I hope they work.