Peter jogged down the hallway, his concern growing as the voices down the hall increased in volume. When he got there, he found El practically biting Jones' head off.
"Peter!" Jones looked so comically grateful to see Peter coming, that Peter almost laughed out loud.
"Honey! Are you okay? Oh my god, I got this call that you were in the hospital. Did you get in a car accident? Why won't Jones let me in the room?" El finally stopped, pausing for breath.
"Yes I'm okay. No, my driving isn't that bad, I did not get in a car accident. And…" Peter paused, trying to remember what else El had asked, "Jones won't let you in the room because I told him not to."
El frowned and crossed her arms.
"Jones, take a break. I'll stay here with Caffrey" Peter said over El's shoulder.
"Who's Caffrey?"
"Neal Caffrey. Talented art forger and con artist. And he's also fifteen years old."
"Why is he in the hospital?" questioned El.
"I-uh…gave him a concussion."
"You what?!" El looked outraged.
"Gave him a concussion. Speaking of which, I should probably check on him now."
"I'm coming with you."
"No you're not" Peter looked at her as though she was crazy.
"Yes I am" El insisted. To prove her point, she opened the door and walked through, not even waiting for Peter.
She went straight to the boy sleeping in the bed. Peter reluctantly followed her, standing at the foot of Neal's bed. El smoothed Neal's hair back from his forehead, looking at him tenderly.
"Poor thing" she murmured. Peter stared at her, wide-eyed.
"El, hon, I need to talk to you about something."
"What?" she asked distractedly.
"El…he's coming home with us."
"Hon that's fabulous! How long will he be staying?" El's face lit up at the news.
"I'm not sure, but-" Peter stopped as El threw her arms around him. Both turned at the heartbreaking whimper coming from Neal. El's smile slowly faded into concern and she sat next to Neal.
"Does he have nightmares?" she asked Peter, concernedly.
Peter shrugged, "I don't know". He tried to sound nonchalant, but ended up sounding worried.
"Neal…" El gently smoothed dark hair out of Neal's eyes.
Peter opened his mouth to comment on El's seemingly newfound maternal instincts, but thought better of it.
Neal jerked, moaning lightly and rolling on his side.
"Neal…sweetie…wake up."
"Sweetie?!" Peter gave her a shocked look.
El replied with a look that clearly said Peter didn't know what he was doing.
Neal sleepily blinked his eyes open. A pretty woman with dark hair was leaning over him.
Note—I am SO sorry I've been taking so long for updating. It's going to be a while until the next update (due to exams), so I am really sorry.