The hours crawled by like years for Harvey. He'd known the time spent waiting would be difficult, but now that Mike was much weaker than he had been beforehand, the thought of him not making it through surgery was far too real, and the lawyer didn't know how he was supposed to cope with the possibility that the next time he might be seeing Mike would be on a morticians table. When his phone rang, he considered just hanging up, turning it off, or throwing the damned thing at the wall.

But then he saw who it was, waiting for him to pick up.

"Donna"

"Harvey, it's me – I just need to clear something with you for Jessica. I told her you wouldn't want be picking up your phone, especially today…but you are. What's happened..?" He was eternally grateful he was alone, because the tears pricking at his eyes would have been a pain to explain away.

"...Harvey?"

"I need you to come in, Donna."

"Oh my God, is Mike-"

"Now, Donna." His voice was thick with emotion – so much so that instead of offering further explanation, he hung up on her, and dropped the phone onto the chair next to him as his hands met his face, this time in an attempt to block out everything and compose himself. He was still sat that way when Donna arrived, though when she managed to pry his fingers away, she saw that he'd been trying to keep from crying, and ultimately failed.

"What's happened?"

"How're you doing, man? You look-"

"What the hell are you doing here..?"

"Just came to see how you were. I heard you were in here , and, well sorry I haven't come to visit sooner-"

"You're the entire reason I'm even here – Just, get out. I mean it. I'm giving you a chance to leave and not come back before I throw you out of the Goddamn window" In a gesture of surrender, Trevor's hands came up as he stepped closer to Mike who, in turn, took three back.

"Hey, I don't want trouble man – I just came to talk"

"Talk? Okay, alright, let's er…let's talk about the fact you sent a couple of fucking psycho's to beat me half to death-"

"Okay, I get you're angry – I do, but you've gotta hear me out"

"I told you to get the hell out, Trevor. Now."

"I didn't send them – well, okay I did – but I never thought they'd actually go for you. I just needed to buy myself some time"

"To do what, Trevor? I haven't talked to you, seen you, in months – Do you not think that I cut you out for a reason? You should never have come back to New York-"

"What can I say, business is better here" The loop his old friend had travelled in wasn't much of a novelty any more. Mike couldn't even bring himself to roll his eyes or scoff, only glare at him as he steadied himself on the end of the bed. A wave of dizziness meant he lost focus for a moment, and part of him instinctively wanted to lie down, but he needed Trevor to leave.

"You got what you wanted. Now go."

"What..? No, no I didn't – look, Mike – I know you hate my guts, and you don't owe me anything"

"Trevor…"

"I need money – I mean, I had it, but someone took it or I lost it or I don't know what, but that was why those guys came after you. I figured you'd be at work, so would Harvey-"

"He already bailed you out once – he's the reason you're not dead right now, and you expected him to just roll over and do it again?"

"I knew it would be me in the gutter if I told them the truth-"

"That's where you belong – Jesus Christ, Trevor – I nearly died! You've got more wrong with you than me if you think for even a…second…" He could hear his speech slurring ever so slightly as another, more intense wave of dizziness crashed over him like a tsunami, his grip on the bed frame turning his knuckles white. Whatever Trevor said next went through one ear and out the other as a new pain blared through his head like an air raid siren, and this time it took no willing on Mike's part for him to be violently sick. His grip loosening by the millisecond, he stumbled to the side and tried grabbing at air to stop himself falling. Finding nothing, he let himself fade into darkness, his head cracking against the corner of the table before he finally hit the floor.

Apparently it had been a close call – far too close – for Mike. It was likely that the aneurysm had grown in size and ruptured, and if he'd been found any later, then it was probable he would have suffered a stroke, or worse. This was what Harvey was told, after four and a half hours of torturous waiting. He didn't let himself crumble again, though Donna did feel her hand being squeezed a little too hard as the surgeon ran through the possible complications that could follow an operation like this. Infections, further haemorrhaging, more seizures…

"When can I see him." It wasn't so much a question as a demand dressed nicely.

"He'll be out of it for a several more hours at the most, but even when he comes to it's likely he'll be confused, tired. You can see him straight away, but remember he needs his rest. Talk to him a little, but nothing too exciting or active." Donna did most of the talking after that, asking more questions as though she were reading them from cue cards in Harvey's mind. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to Harvey, rubbing his arm gently, bringing his attention back to her.

"Come on…you need to eat something."

"I have to see him"

"You heard the doctor – he won't be awake for a while yet."

"Donna."

"You need to take care of yourself. Come and get a coffee with me, we'll be half an hour at the most. Then you can come back and sit with him till he comes around." Her tone meant that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, and despite wanting to argue, Harvey let her lead him down a floor or two to the cafeteria. He didn't eat or drink much, and neither did he. But they talked – he told her about Trevor, about how he was the one to put Mike in the OR early. About how he was going to find him and-

"You need to focus on helping Mike recover. Let the police deal with Trevor. I'm serious, Harvey. I know you, and right now all that anger? You have to channel it, use it to commit to Mike like you have been already. He needs you more than ever now."