Soon Andy, Erin, Holly, Michael, Ryan and Pam were all gathered around Kelly's bedside. Michael didn't say anything to Pam, he just nodded his head out of gratitude for her appearance there. He knew she had a family to take care of, but wasn't Kelly family?

"Jim will be by later," Pam informed them, and they all turned to look at Kelly.

She was looking better; she had more color in her face, possibly due to the fact that Erin had taken the time to apply makeup to her. But still they were all starting to breathe easier. It was apparent that she was going to be okay, it was just a matter of her waking up. And that was half the battle. Once she woke up, she would have to face Ryan, and even more importantly, she would have to face herself, and that was the biggest challenge she would face.

"Ryan, how are you doing?" Pam asked cautiously.

"I'm okay." really, he wasn't, but he wasn't about to let that on to anyone. It was bad enough that Michael had seen him break down, but he wasn't about to let the whole office know that he wasn't as strong as he appeared to be. This was between he and Kelly, and soon he would have to be accountable for his actions. He didn't know how he was going to do that, he just knew that he would. But he would cross that bridge when he got there.

Oscar showed up. "Hey how's she doing?"

"She's going pretty well. The doctors say it will be a matter of days until she wakes up," Michael informed him. "And until then, well, she needs all of us."

"Toby would be here but he has his daughter this weekend."

"That's good because we don't need his kind during this time."

"Michael, don't you think you're being a little mean to Toby?" Holly asked innocently.

"You don't know him the way we all do. He would just drag the whole party down, and that's the last thing we need."

"This isn't a party, Michael," Andy spoke up.

"I know that. I know that! I'm just saying people who don't belong somewhere shouldn't go where they're not wanted."

Holly sighed then took Michael's hand. It was a gesture so small, so innocent, that only Pam noticed it. But she did notice.

"I think she will be happy for anyone who shows up," Pam added.

"Even Toby? You think she would want the evil snail showing up at her bedside? For all we know he's an angel all right- an angel of death."

"Please don't speak of death around Kelly," Pam ordered gently but firmly.

"Why not? What are we all afraid of? Everyone dies at some point. Kelly might wake up and then die two minutes later like the guy from the news. We don't know that."

"Michael, you're really not helping things," Holly whispered. "It's best we speak positively and think the best. She's going to be okay."

Michael turned to the group. "You see, this is the kind of person we need in this room. Not Toby Flenderson. We need someone who will cheer us up with a song, how about it Holly? Why don't you sing to Kelly? She could use hearing the most beautiful voice in the world right now."

"I'm sorry, I can't..." she muttered, embarrassed.

"If you can't, then I will. ' Go rest high, on that mountain, Son, or daughter, your work here is done."

"Michael will you stop it?! " Erin demanded. "She's not dead, she's not dying, she's going to be okay. We have to believe the best in her. We need to tell her how much we love her. She doesn't need funeral songs sang to her. Can we all just talk to her like she's right here with us?"

"I think she's right, Michael," Holly whispered as not to embarrass him. "She needs positive words, words of encouragement. I think that is what will make her pull through."

"You, Holly Flax, are a genius. Do you all here that? Let's speak positively to her. Let's pretend she didn't try to kill herself. Let's all just pretend it's a work day. Ryan you speak to her more than anyone. What would you talk about if she was sitting up listening to us?"

Man he hated being put on the spot. "I think she likes music."

"Music you say, old man?" Andy grinned. "You've got the right person. As a member of Cornell and Here comes treble, I would like to sing..."

"Not your music, real music!" Michael shouted.

"can we all not fight?" Erin asked. "She hates fighting more than anything. She had to listen to her parents fight when her sister died. That's why she tried so hard to be a happy person. She didn't want to become like her parents. She is amazing, the most amazing person I know."

Andy looked at her. "You're the most amazing person I know."

Erin grinned. "Really?"

"Really, really."

Michael turned to Holly. "And you're the most amazing person I know."

She blushed. "You're just saying that because everyone else is.."

"No, it's true. Ask everyone in this room. How often have I called Holly amazing?"

"Practically every day since he's known you," Erin chimed in. Andy nodded, as well as Oscar.

"Michael, why haven't you told me that?"

"Because I was afraid to, okay? I'm not brave like Kelly, telling everyone she meets that she loves them."

"Actually that was only Ryan," Erin reminded him.

"It doesn't matter. I tell the cameras how amazing you are. I tell myself how amazing you are. I just hope someday you can believe me when I tell you how amazing you are, Holly Flax."

She turned red once more. "I think I can believe you."

"it's about time. I bet AJ doesn't tell you how amazing you are."

"Can we not talk about AJ?"

"Aren't things going well with him? I wish I could say that I was sorry, but I'm not. You don't belong with him. You belong with me."

"I'm starting to see that."

Pam and Erin smiled at each other. There was true love, right in front of them. Both of them were hoping that that love match would inspire Ryan to say something to Kelly, anything, that would help her out. But instead he sat quietly, watching and listening to the monitors.

"You think you belong with me?" Michael asked Holly.

"I think so," she smiled, and then he kissed her.

"I love you, Holly."

Oscar coughed, trying to let him realize that this was about Kelly, not his and Holly's relationship.

"Okay, okay, I love you too Oscar. Not in a gay kind of way. But as a boss-employee relationship, then yes, I love you too Oscar. I even love Ryan, who does not deserve love because he threw it away. But if you stopped loving someone just because they made a mistake, what kind of love would that be? That would be artificial, not real, and not the kind of love I would want to have in my life." He pulled Ryan close to him, who tried to resist, but Michael persisted. "You see, I love Ryan Howard and I don't care who knows it."

At the other side of the door were Dwight and Angela, who had decided to visit. But after hearing Michael's pronouncement, they both decided to leave.

"Ryan, how are you doing today?" Holly cleared her throat, attempting to change the subject.

"I'm well thanks for asking."

"Ryan how can you be well?" Pam demanded, suddenly feeling frustrated at the whole situation. "Whether or not you admit it, Kelly is your girlfriend. She loves you more than you can ever know, and all you can say is you're doing well? What kind of freak does that anyways? You know what? Maybe she's better off. Maybe she's better off not having you in her life. If Jim said that he were fine should I become horrendously disfigured in some freak accident, I would wake up and then I would kill him. Yes, I said it. I would kill him. I wouldn't want him to be fine. I would want him to be by my side, talking to me, holding my hand, telling me how beautiful I was, even though I wasn't, and telling me that everything was going to be okay. But you...what have you done? You've been just the temp...the temp at Dunder Mifflin and the temp boyfriend. When are you going to wake up and decide you want something more from your life?"

Everyone was shocked. Pam was normally the voice of reason, but on this occasion, something had hit a nerve with her. She just couldn't stand there and let Ryan continue to be an asshole. Everyone could coddle him all they wanted to, but she wouldn't. That wasn't her job. Her job was to tell the truth, even if it wasn't a truth that anyone wanted to hear.

Just then Jim walked in. "Pam, might I speak with you out in the hallway?"

"No, Jim, look at him. He's heartless. His girlfriend tried to kill herself and what's he doing trying to make things better? He's only here because he knows we would hate him if he weren't."

Jim gently led her outside of the hallway. "What's wrong, Pam? I know that wasn't about Ryan and Kelly in there."

"What if it was? What if you don't know me as well as you think you do?"

He smiled for the cameras then turned to Pam. "I know you better than you know yourself. You never get angry, not like that. What's the real deal? Let's go for a walk then we can come back in and see Kelly."

So they went outside where she tried to calm down. "I'm sorry Jim. I don't know what came over me. It's just when I saw Ryan I saw failure. I saw someone who didn't try and failed to protect the person who loved him."

"You know I would protect you, right? I mean you do know that I would literally die for you and CeCe."

"I know that. But when I think of the times I tried and failed..."

"Wait, are you talking about art school?"

She said nothing.

"You didn't fail. You chose love over chasing your dreams. Until now I thought we both agreed that you'd made the right decision."

"I did, and I don't regret it for a day. It's just that here is someone who's been given a million chances, and all he does is take and take and take."

"Not everyone is as kind and generous and warm as you are, Pam. You can't change the world. You can't change Ryan. What you can do is create the best world possible for our family. You have a little girl who needs you, you have a husband who is over the moon about you, and you have a job that you tolerate. This isn't about Ryan or Kelly, anymore, is it?"

she looked at him sadly "It is about Ryan and Kelly. I just don't understand how someone with so much to give can just take and take and take and never put anything into it."

"Kind of like Roy?" Jim asked.

She was shocked. How dare he bring her former fiancee into this mess. "No, Jim you aren't listening. This has nothing to do with art school or Roy or any of my old baggage. It's just I see someone lazy and it makes me mad. Me, I have to try extra hard at everything I do just to make it. Do you think it's easy loving you? That it's easy loving a child who spits peas into your freshly washed hair and refuses to potty train? It's not easy, but I do it because I want to, I love to, and there's nothing more in the world I'd rather do than love my family. Ryan could have had it all, but he destroyed whatever chance he had with Kelly. I just don't understand."

"I think I understand. You care too much, Beesly. That's always been your problem. You care when it's others' responsibility to care. You care until it hurts. And that's what I love about you. So if going in there and screaming at Ryan makes you feel better, I say go for it."

She looked at him for a minute, and then they both started to laugh. "I promise I won't yell at Ryan any more."

"You sure? Because I can steal Dwight's megaphone to make sure that Ryan gets the message loud and clear."

She hugged her husband, suddenly grateful for everything she had in her life. Her life wasn't perfect, but she knew that she wouldn't have it any other way.