One of the Best

Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA Network.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is continuing to follow the story, and thanks for the alerts & reviews. They really brighten up my day! Let me know what you think of this chapter!

Chapter 7

Elle pushed open the door to Neal's room. She stopped dead not far from the entrance when she saw Peter standing next to Neal's bed. She saw the shock registering on Peter's face and realized she should leave before either of them said something they would regret in front of Neal. She turned around to leave when she heard a soft voice.

"Mom?"

Elle turned back around and, ignoring Peter, walked right past him to take Neal's hand in hers.

"Oh, honey, how are you feeling? I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. Please forgive me."

Elle realized too late that she could have said those very same words to Peter but hadn't. He was probably going to be jealous that she was paying more attention to Neal than to him. Peter was simply going to have to wait though; Neal needed her.

"I'm better now that you're here."

Neal responded sleepily. Elle pushed some of his dark locks back off of his face and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek; the way any mother would. She could see he had visibly relaxed in just the short time she had been there, and she kept massaging his palm, careful to avoid the IV needle on the top of his hand.

"You're ok. You're gonna be ok. I'm here. There's nothing to worry about."

She repeated this softly until she noticed Neal had fallen asleep with a peaceful look on his face.

Elle laid Neal's hand back down on the bed and looked around for Peter; she didn't see him anywhere. She had been focusing so intently on Neal that she never heard Peter leave. She sighed; it was probably for the best. Elle realized she wasn't sure what to say to him anyway, and it appeared he really didn't want to say anything to her either. Elle briefly wondered if she should try to find Peter and explain or even beg his forgiveness, but she had no idea where he had run off to. She thought back and wondered how they had let it get this far. Elle didn't ever remember them being this mad at each other; sure they had fought occasionally, but Elle was realizing this might be the biggest one of them all, and it was all because both of them cared so deeply about Neal in their own special way.

##

Peter was angrily sipping coffee down in the hospital cafeteria. He hadn't really wanted to leave Neal, he hadn't gotten the information he wanted, but he hadn't expected his wife to show up either. What was up with her?

"Oh, honey, how are you feeling? I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. Please forgive me."

How dare she! Those were words she should have been apologizing to him with, not Neal. Peter was pretty sure if Neal hadn't called for her she never would have stayed; he would have been just fine with that. But Neal had seen her walk into the room and stop. He just had to call out "Mom" in his weak little voice, and Elle had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. She hadn't even paid the slightest attention to him, her husband, as she brushed past him and went straight for Neal, babying him and whispering comforting things in his ear. She wasn't even his mother! Elle had taken this whole new "Mom" identity thing way too far. He could only see disastrous consequences ahead; for both Neal and Elle.

He had really wanted to punch something and realized he had to get out of Neal's room before he did something else he would regret later. He had gone down to the cafeteria because he was so mad he didn't trust himself to drive safely home. Fortunately, the cafeteria was deserted at this hour so he only had to hide his angry scowl from the cashier who took his money.

##

Elle couldn't find a comfortable position in the chair. She kept thinking whoever had designed a chair like this had never meant for it to have a dual purpose as a bed. She looked over at Neal who was still sleeping peacefully; wondering how he could sleep with all the noises going on around him. She wished she could shut out all the beeping and the noises associated with the equipment used to make sure Neal was still alive and breathing, but she wasn't having any luck.

Elle wasn't sure how long it had been since she had arrived, and wasn't really sure when Peter had left; time seemed to have no meaning. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, and absently looked at the time. 3:16 am. Since Peter had not returned, Elle assumed he had gone home and went to bed; she couldn't blame him. She was sure he was as tired as she was, and she needed him to be alert so he wouldn't do something stupid and get himself hurt. She would not be able to handle it if both of them ended up in the hospital. She knew he was already stressed out about Neal, and she was sure their argument hadn't helped matters. She fully expected him to throw himself into the case so he would have an excuse not to come home or to the hospital so he could avoid another argument with her about Neal.

Elle suddenly wanted to call him; she just wanted to hear his voice… his voice… not the angry person she had been verbally sparring with. She wanted to tell him it didn't matter who was right; all that mattered now was Neal was alive. She knew they would figure out together what to do when Neal started asking questions; then they could see how much he remembered and would decide what to tell him.

Yawning, Elle realized she probably shouldn't wake him up; she wanted him to get his sleep, and knew he needed it. She slowly scrolled down to Peter's cell phone number and chose the option to send a text message; at least he would see it when he woke up, and would hopefully be in a more forgiving mood. She tapped out the letters: I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U. P-L-E-A-S-E-F-O-R-G-I-V-E-M-E. 5-4-9 and then she clicked send.

##

Peter woke from a fitful sleep as his cell phone vibrated and moved around the table. He answered sleepily, then realized he was still sitting in the cafeteria; he must have dozed off.

"We have him in custody, Boss! We're bringing him in right now for questioning. Did you want to meet us at the office?"

Peter woke up enough to realize it was Diana on the phone. The photos they garnered had led them to a woman realtor named Madison Hunter. In return for immunity, she flipped on Kris Montoya giving them his hideout location after Peter had played good cop to Diana's impressive bad cop routine. The stakeout she and Jones had just been on was a success, and they had a suspect in custody believed to be the mysterious Kris Montoya from the mortgage fraud case they had been working on. Now that Montoya was in custody, hopefully, they could get this case cleared up without needing further assistance from Neal.

Peter left the hospital. He had almost reached his car in the parking garage when his phone chimed. He realized it was a text message, instead of a phone call, and clicked to open it. He saw it was from Elle, and read her message.

I LOVE YOU. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. 549.

Peter once again felt tears streaming down his face as he re-read his wife's message. He felt horrible about their fight, but he hadn't cried about it until he read her message and knew he had already forgiven her; he loved her so much. He realized seconds later that 549 was Neal's room number, and he hurriedly turned around and walked back into the hospital. Work was simply going to have to wait; he had to save his marriage first.