"Alright, I don't know what you're Goddamn problem is-" A loud, rapid bleeping sound from the pager hitched to the doctors belt cut Harvey short. As he read it, the other man seemed to shed the cold, sarcastic demeanour briefly as he gestured back the way Harvey had come.

"Follow me." And in that moment, Harvey's heart dropped into his stomach, his feet too heavy to let him go back to the room. He soon snapped out of it, though when he got there and saw how many people were in there already, fear lurched in his chest, threatening to punch straight through his ribs. There was no way he could get close to the bed when he went in – all he could do was stand to the side and watched as Mikes seizing body was held down. Even as the heart rate monitor was going off the rails, all Harvey could think of was himself, or rather, how he hadn't been here. He'd barely been gone ten minutes, and Mike had seemed fine – well, there was the headache, but he'd been having them for days, and nothing like this had happened. He made himself watch as Mike was given something, his flailing limbs gradually calming down, and eventually falling limp at his sides. On the doctors word, he was wheeled out of the room and towards the lifts, Harvey in hot pursuit behind them.

Catching up to him, Harvey grasped at the metal bars at the sides of the bed, noting how ill Mike suddenly looked. He was on his side, eyes clamped shut and breathing shallow. Once inside the elevator, Harvey manoeuvred himself so that he was in front of his partner, hand finding his through the bars.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked, looking away only briefly.

"It's likely an aneurysm o f some kind. Often they occur within a few days of some kind of blunt force trauma, such as in this case. If I'm right, we're lucky he wasn't completely asymptomatic. " Had it been a less urgent situation, Harvey may have found the energy to call the doctor out on finally cooperating. Instead, he just rubbed his thumb across Mike's fingers, not feeling any kind of response at the contact.

"What is that, what does that mean?"

"It means he'll need surgery, as soon as possible, ideally." Harvey couldn't look up again after that, instead he just squeezed Mikes hand that little bit harder. He didn't know how aware Mike was at that point, but after having the point reiterated to him that he didn't like hospitals, Harvey was adamant to put him at ease as much as possible. In a way he hoped he was totally out of it; at least then he'd get some kind of reprieve. As the elevator doors opened again, Harvey's arm was gently but firmly pulled away from the bars, Mikes hand falling against the pillow like that of a rag doll as he was taken along the hallway towards the MRI room.

Mike didn't really recall much. Harvey had left him, saying he was going to talk to his doctor. He'd tried sleeping again, but the pain got so much worse seemingly within a minute and then it was like he'd been knocked out. When he came around, his head felt foggy and slow, his vision blurred and offering him not much other than shapes and colours and lights that were uncomfortably bright. Maybe he'd just blacked out, or the nurse had given him painkillers – it was when he tried bringing his good hand up to rub his eyes, and finding that he couldn't move properly, that he started to worry. It was the same with his legs – nothing did as it was told. He couldn't even lift his head without resistance. It was then that he felt himself moving backwards, as though he was being wheeled slowly into what appeared to be a small, grey tunnel.

"What..?"

"It's alright, Mike. You're doing really well. It won't be long now." Replied a voice from somewhere out of Mikes visual range.

"What's going on..? Where am I…"

"You're just having a scan, you'll be out in no time. I just need you to keep still for a minute, alright?"

"No…no, I want a minute – I need a minute, I want to get out"

"Mike? It's me." The sound of Harvey's voice made Mike relax a little, though the claustrophobic nature of the MRI machine forced him to clamp his eyes shut, instead trying to focus on Harvey.

"What happened..?"

From where Harvey was stood in the narrow side room, he could see just see where Mike's arms were loosely restrained, the hand he could see gripped into a fist. He sounded dazed and confused, and Harvey wasn't sure what he could say that would help him settle.

"…You had a seizure-"

"…That sucks…" The nonchalant comment was probably supposed to sound melodramatic, but in his current state it just sounded weak and hoarse.

"You're going to be fine, Mike."

"You know that for sure..?" Harvey was sure the hesitation was more than enough of an answer. But, finally, he managed to reply;

"You need to trust me, okay? You're going to be alright"

"I trust you"

"Good"

"I just don't trust my brain to not explode…" Smiling softly, Harvey placed the microphone back in its place, and went to lean back against the wall. Without taking his eyes off the machine, he addressed the doctor for the third time that day.

"Tell me I didn't just lie to him." His answer came from a few feet away, taking a page from Harvey's book and not taking its eyes off of the computer screen.

"Not necessarily, no"

"But he will be fine. You've caught this thing early, so, what? You just go in, take it out, and stitch him back up? And that's it, right?"

"He's in good hands, Mr Specter" Once again, Harvey felt the cracks in his demeanour getting wider, his tone urgent.

"Tell me he's going to be alright." The doctor turned, having the decency to look at Harvey when he spoke again.

"I don't make promises I can't keep."