Emily had fallen asleep camped in the waiting area outside Derek's hospital room; it was the first rest she'd gotten since she left London, but she refused to leave the hospital, determined to make a point to his mother about her commitment to him.

For his part, Derek was free to move about the hospital at will and, at the moment, he could really use a break from Doyle and his attempts to pry about what had happened between him and Emily. He decided to take advantage of his wider expanse of freedom and explore the new setting – not that it was the first time he'd been inside this hospital, but on those occasions, he'd been concerned with getting in and out as quickly as possible and getting back to work. Since he was stuck here for the foreseeable future, though, he decided he might as well get to know the place.

He'd gotten as far as the cafeteria when he spotted a familiar face he hadn't seen in weeks. "Baby girl..." he said quietly, not having realized until that moment how much he'd missed her.

She jumped, almost spilling her coffee all over her neon blouse, the sudden movement startling him as he wasn't used to producing a reaction in people of late. Her head turned sharply in his direction. "Derek?" she whispered, apparently unable to believe her eyes.

His eyes widened in surprise. "You can see me?"

She pulled her phone out of her chartreuse purse with one hand and held it to her ear. He was confused for a moment since he hadn't heard it ring, then he realized someone would probably cart her off to the psych ward if she was seen talking to what everyone else saw as thin air. "I can't believe it's really you! God, it's so good to see you – I've been going crazy worrying you might die."

"It's good to see you to, baby girl," he tried to wrap her in a hug before forgetting he was still insubstantial. "How are you able to see me? No one else can."

"I've been experimenting to see if I could become a medium and I guess it worked! Wow, this is so weird... So, you're what, a ghost, a spirit, a poltergeist?" she asked.

"Umm...a spirit, I think."

"So, you're not dead?" Her face was shining, full of hope. "Oh, thank God, I was so worried," she said on a relieved exhale. She clutched a hand to her heart and made a dramatic face. "You really scared me, Mister!"

"I know," he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

Her attempt at anger dissolved into a forgiving smile, unable to stay angry with him for very long. "So, what's the scoop? What are you doing here? Are you haunting me?" she teased.

"My soul or spirit or whatever is... Well, I'm sort of trapped between dead and alive. Something's keeping me here, preventing me from either crossing over or returning to my body. And I can't do either until I figure out what the problem is."

She pursed her lips in a dramatic reproduction of thoughtfullness. "And you've got no idea what could possibly be so dramatically wrong in your life that you can't die or live?"

He shrugged, deciding to go for broke. Garcia didn't know about him and Emily, though she may have suspected something. They'd wanted to keep their relationship a secret until they'd been together a year, but just as they were preparing to tell everyone, everything had fallen apart around them. "I know it has something to do with Emily."

"Explain," she demanded. She looked like he'd just confirmed every suspicion she'd ever had, but was trying to restrain her glee.

"Apparently, we have some sort of unfinished business..." He shrugged as if it didn't matter, as if she didn't hold his heart in her hands. "That's why I've been in London with her."

"So, what happens if you don't figure it out?"

"I don't know," he whispered, shoulders slumped. "I either stay trapped in this state forever or I move on... I think that's how it works."

"Well, buddy, you better figure it out because you are not moving on," she informed him seriously, "I won't let you."

He grinned. "I know, baby girl."

"I take it that Emily has no idea you've been hanging around all this time?" Derek shook his head. "Do you want me to tell her?"

"No!" he protested adamantly. "She wouldn't understand – you know she's a skeptic, she wouldn't believe you. And even if she did, it's something I need to figure out for myself...I need to do this on my own."

"But maybe she'd have some kind of idea that might help you," Garcia argued. "Don't you want to wake up?"

"Of course I do, baby girl. But it's too much pressure to put her. I'm not going to do that to her. I need to do it by myself."

"I don't like that." She pouted, fixing him with a stern glare.

"Please, just trust me," he begged. "I could really use your help right now..."

"I'll do anything," she insisted without hesitation.

"Find out anything you can about spirits and near death experiences, anything about staying away from the light. Help me buy some more time." She nodded. "And take care of Emily...make sure she doesn't accidentally starve to death before I wake up."

"Right." She sighed sadly. "I miss you. I could really use a Derek Morgan hug right about now."

He smiled apologetically. "You'll have to take a rain check on that one, but I promise as soon as I wake up, the first hug is yours."

She grinned slyly at him. "Don't kid yourself, my dear. You and I both know that first hug has Emily's name all over it."

"I never could get one past you, could I?"

She shook her head, but her attempt at a smile was grim.