Part VI

As he had hoped, Johnny was released after lunch, though he wouldn't be cleared to return to work until he had a follow-up exam in three days. Mike had dropped by to visit and was going to take Johnny back to his house to shower and change, then bring him back to the hospital. Much as Johnny didn't care for it, Dr. Early wasn't going to give him the go-ahead to drive until the follow-up exam. He wasn't even sure about releasing him, but gave in because he knew Johnny would still be close enough to keep an eye on as long as Roy was still a patient.

Roy was asleep as Johnny left, so Johnny couldn't fill him in on his plans, but there was a decent chance with the amount of sleeping that his partner was doing that he'd be back before Roy even noticed, especially since the nurse came in as they were leaving to give Roy his next dose of medication. Once he and Mike were alone together in Mike's car, Johnny let out a sigh. The side glance from Mike was all the encouragement Johnny needed to start talking.

"It's got me worried, Mike. Joanne still hasn't come back by to check on Roy that I know of. After the way her mother was yelling at Roy?"

"When did that happen?"

"Not long after breakfast. I don't know what all Dixie said to her over the phone, but I bet some of it was stuff she wouldn't say around Pediatrics. Joanne was by once, but she never said a single word to Roy. Not even hi. Just stood back and let the kids go over by themselves."

"And she hasn't come back?"

"No. Not since Roy opened his eyes. Man. You know he's noticed even if he's not saying anything. He's already mentioned that he'd thought he'd dreamed Kim and Chris talking, but not her."

Johnny shook his head and shifted subjects.

"Hey, I meant to tell you. Thanks for volunteering to drive me home and back. I don't want Roy stuck there all by himself and since I'm not cleared for work again yet."

"Glad I can do it."

They started talking about other things with about the normal ratio - Johnny spoke about twenty words to ever one of Mike's.

Back at the hospital, Roy startled awake when something in the hallway clattered. An involuntary groan escaped. His headache seemed like it was even worse than before and the light was bothering his eyes, but he managed to fight down the nausea by closing his eyes and staying very still.

Joanne worked her way around the tray spill in the hallway near the room Roy was in. Stopping at the doorway, she was surprised to see Roy was all by himself. She'd expected Johnny to still be in his bed. Or sitting next to Roy's bed. Her eyes went back to her husband. The bruises on his face and arms were standing out now and made the unbruised skin look even paler by comparison. He seemed asleep and she felt her anger flare again even though she knew it wasn't fully rational.

Still, it seemed like he'd gotten hurt to trump her argument. Brooding certainly hadn't improved things and the talk from Dr. Brackett just seemed a further thorn in her side. Oh sure, she had a right to the way she felt, but not the right to express those feelings around Roy. Not even after her mother had called her in tears over how rude Roy had been to her on the phone. She supposed Dr. Brackett would tell her that what Roy had said to her mother was somehow due to his injuries. Or the drugs he was on. It was just like with the firemen. They grouped together like a wall against outsiders and she'd always be one of the outsiders.

Lost in her own thoughts, Joanne didn't notice that the blue eyes had opened slightly and were staring at her back, trying to get her in focus.

She turned away, taking a deep breath to calm herself. It really wasn't Roy's fault and rationally, she knew that. All she knew right now though was that she wasn't ready for this. Not for facing him. Not yet. Much as she hated to admit it, Dr. Brackett was right. Roy didn't need her anger while he was recovering. Sighing, she headed back toward the elevators without looking behind her.

Back on the bed, it had taken Roy a couple of minutes to convince himself that the figure in the doorway was actually Joanne and not a dream. But he couldn't understand why she was keeping her back to him. As she started to walk away, he tried to call out but his voice came out far softer than he'd intended.

"Jo?"

For a moment, Roy forgot everything that was going on with him medically. The ribs, the pain medication he was on, the concussion, the IV in his arm - he wasn't thinking of any of that. All that he was thinking of was that Joanne had been here and was leaving again without saying a single word to him. He wanted to catch her. Talk to her. One of the unfortunate side effects of the type of pain medication he was on was the feeling of fear that pushed reasoning out of its way. Fear that if she left now, he'd never see her again.

His head protested the sudden movements as he forced himself out of bed, pulled the IV out and started for the door. The spirit was willing, but the body wasn't. And the pain medication was on the body's side. Dizziness overtook him halfway there and Roy silently collapsed to the floor in a faint.

Downstairs, Mike was pulling into a parking spot.

"Thanks again, Mike. You going to come up and see Roy for a minute?"

"Sure. Hey Johnny? Isn't that Joanne over there?"

Johnny's head snapped around to look at the woman walking in a very determined fashion away from the entrance. It certainly looked like Joanne, but she sure didn't look happy. She was too far away to call over to and Johnny wasn't sure he should even try. He just grabbed the small bag he'd packed for himself and hurried inside with Mike close behind.

The first glimpse into the room just showed him the empty bed, but then Johnny's heart went into his throat when he saw Roy on the floor. He immediately started to check on his partner while Mike hit the call button for a nurse. The on-duty nurse took one look then immediately called for Dr. Brackett before she moved to help Johnny check for additional injuries. The only thing either of them found was where he was bleeding from pulling out the IV. Johnny applied a little pressure there and held it until Dr. Brackett came in. Between the four of them, they got Roy back into bed.

Having Johnny bandage the one arm while he prepared to start a new IV in the other, Dr. Brackett didn't mince words.

"What the hell happened in here?"

Mike just exchanged a quick look with Johnny. It didn't escape the doctor's notice.

"Spill it. I need to know what I might be dealing with."

Clearing his throat a little self consciously, Johnny shrugged a little.

"Not a lot to spill, Doc. Mike took me to my place to grab some clothes and when we got back up here, we found Roy where you saw him when you came in."

"And?"

"And - well, I'm pretty sure it was Joanne we saw leaving as we were getting here. She looked pretty annoyed."

"You think they might have had a fight?"

The nurse spoke up then.

"If they did, it was the quietest fight on record, sir. Other than one of the orderlies dropping a tray in the hall, this area has been very quiet all morning. I'm sure I would have heard something if they'd raised their voices."

Eyes slightly narrowed, Dr. Brackett adjusted the drip on the IV.

"Well, I hope we can at least assume she wouldn't have just left him on the floor without telling anyone, so he shouldn't have been on the floor for very long. Nurse Jennings? Bring in a set of restraints please."

Both Mike and Johnny immediately focused their attention on Brackett, though Johnny was the one to vocalize it.

"What? Why?"

"I'm not particularly happy about having to do it either, John. But right now we don't know what Roy's mental state is and I don't want him hurting himself more than he already has. Once he wakes up again and we can find out what happened, we should be able to get rid of them then."

Mike spoke up then.

"We could stay with him."

"I know you could. And I hope that at least one of you still will. But I'm sorry. I prefer not to take chances right now."

It was time that Mike had to head to the station, so he gave Johnny a quick pat on the shoulder that he hoped was reassuring and headed out to fill in Captain Stanley. For his part, Johnny just sat in what was unnatural silence for him and watched as the restraints were placed on his partner. He knew how much he hated them himself and doubted that Roy would care for them either.

Finishing up, Dr. Brackett met Johnny's eyes briefly before heading back to his rounds. He didn't care much for the vague guilty feeling he had. When had the hose jockeys gotten under his skin so deep? Sighing, he decided he needed to track down Dixie and talk this out with her. She was a lot better at handling the human equation than he was.