Disclaimer - The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

A/N- Hello one and all! Just a quick chapter tonight - I'm exhausted and it's late where I live, so please excuse me if it's not up to my usual standards. It's only a filler chapter really...the explanations will come later on, as well as the difficult conversations and the conclusion of the case. For now, I hope you enjoy this little Jane/Lisbon friendship interlude!

~ Chapter Eleven ~

The Hospital

It was the beeping that first made its way into his tired mind. The monotonous, ridiculous, irritating beeping that sank into his thoughts and dragged him from blissful oblivion.

Beep…beep…beep…

What was that? His thoughts felt like mud; sticky, heavy and difficult to move through. In fact, he could barely seem to form a coherent thought that wasn't confused or erratic or just downright tired.

Beep…beep…beep….

With a concerted effort that sapped some of his precious energy, Jane tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt far too heavy to lift, and he gave up after a few failed tries. He could feel his heartbeat increasing, partly in panic and partly in desperation and confusion, but he couldn't seem to calm down. His brain was working too slowly, too sluggishly, as if it was still trying to catch up to the situation.

Beep…beep…beep….

God, what the hell was that infernal beeping…?

Beep...beep...

"Jane…you…awake…?"

The voice broke though the repetitive pattern of beeps - a pattern that, up until now, had filled his thoughts - filtering into Jane's mind like a ghost though a wall. He tried to place it, but his mind was nowhere near its usual brilliance, and his thoughts were exhausted and useless.

"Jane…?"

Beep…beep…beep…

Who was that? The question floated to the front of his mind, and when it got there it refused to budge. Who was talking to him? What were they trying to say? It seemed important, but for the life of him, he couldn't work out what it was...

It wasn't Angela speaking, that much he knew for sure. Angela was dead, and no amount of exhaustion or sluggishness was going to make him forget that fact.

It was definitely female though, Jane decided, pushing away the grief he felt at the mere thought of his wife, his heartbeat quickening once more as he fought against the fog in his mind.

"Jane…if you're awake…open your…eyes…"

He definitely recognised that voice! He couldn't place it at the moment, but he knew them, Jane realised. They were friendly, they weren't going to hurt him - he couldn't explain how he knew that since he didn't even know who they were, but he couldn't deny it. It would be safe to do as they said, he just knew it. He could open his eyes…

With a strain, Jane tried to push his eyes open again, but the effort tore the energy straight from his mind, and left desperation in its place.

"Please…Jane…open your eyes…"

I'm trying, Jane told the voice irritably, although in the back of his mind, Jane realised that they wouldn't be able to hear him.

Beep…beep…beep…

He tried to take a deep breath, but the movement must have knocked something in his chest because the next thing he knew there was a shooting pain running through his entire body.

God, that hurt…

Beep…beep…beep…

"Open…eyes…"

With one last effort, drawing on every energy reserve he had, drawing on the pain that was still throbbing in his chest, Jane focused on his eyes, pushing them with everything he had.

"That's it Jane," the voice praised, and if he wasn't already so focused on his task, he would have smiled. As it was, it was taking all he had just to get his eyes to open.

Beep…beep…beep…

After one final push of effort, finally his eyes opened, though the bright light filtered in so quickly that he was forced to blink rapidly to avoid being permanently blinded.

Ow…

Jane blinked again, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. All he could make out was white – wherever he was, he concluded tiredly, it was very, very white…

"Jane…"

He brought his tired gaze over to the voice, only to meet green eyes tinged with concern and relief. He recognised those eyes too, he was sure of it. If only his mind would catch up with him…

"Jane?"

Finally, the initial brightness began to dim as his eyes adjusted to the new scenery. He frowned slightly as he tried to make sense of it, his mind still made up of fogginess and mud. Eventually, with no small amount of effort, his jumbled thoughts began to register what he was seeing, though truthfully, he thought to himself, he should have known all along...

"Lis…bon?" he managed to say, though his throat felt like sandpaper and it burned with the effort.

"God, you're alright!" Lisbon replied, sounding as if she was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Jane's frown deepened.

"Not God," Jane replied, a small smile finally making its way onto his face as he met the gaze of his long-suffering friend. "Name's…Patrick."

"Ass," she shot back, but her returning smile - though still tinged with ladles of concern - showed that she was far too relieved to be annoyed with him. That probably should have concerned him, but as it was, he was far too tired and numb to care. Probably the drugs…

"Hospital?" he rasped, his mind finally working out where he was.

"Yeah, Jane," Lisbon replied, the smile dropping from her face. "You took a hell of a beating. Do you remember what happened?"

Remember what? Jane thought, though he didn't voice that aloud. Instead, he tried to focus his mind, hoping that his thoughts would sort themselves out. Try as he might, however, all he could make out were flashes of events that made no sense to him. A boy…some men…fists…

He groaned, some of the pain making itself known again. 'A hell of a beating' was starting to feel like an understatement, and the numbness he had been fighting against was honestly starting to sound like heaven.

Beep...beep...beep...

"Jane," Lisbon began, and Jane forced his attention back to her, though it was getting harder and harder to concentrate as the fog began to rise up again. "Do you want anything? Water maybe?"

He blinked again, but didn't try to speak again. Instead he just nodded tiredly, already feeling his energy falling away from him. He wanted to stay awake, but he wasn't sure it was a battle he was going to win this time…

He heard movement to his right - it was probably Lisbon just going to get him a drink - but he didn't even try and move his head to follow the sound. The pain from his beating was starting to make itself known again, and the drugs - whatever the hell they had him on – weren't doing much to help anymore.

Ow…

"Here Jane," Lisbon said as she returned with a small plastic cup. She held it to his mouth, but since he was still lying down on the bed, it was impossible for him to take the large gulp he wanted to. Instead he was forced to take little sips, and though he desperately craved more, truthfully each drop tasted like heaven.

His dry throat eased somewhat, Jane let his gaze fall back onto Lisbon, her pale face a stark contrast to her dark hair. She looked tired, he noted. And worried.

"You…okay?" he asked, brow furrowed.

She seemed surprised at his question. "You're asking me if I'm okay? God, Jane, you nearly died!"

Well, that explained quite a bit, although he still had a few questions pounding at his tired mind. He frowned again, then steeled himself to speak again.

"What…happened?" Jane rasped.

"You don't remember?" she asked with her own frown clear on her face and Jane shook his head.

"Bit fuzzy," he replied hoarsely. "It's…the drugs. Hate…hospitals…"

He could feel his energy leaving him more rapidly now, and his eyelids were beginning to feel heavier by the second. He knew he didn't have long before he lost his battle with the drugs, but he clung to consciousness with everything he had left.

"Lisbon...m'glad you're here," he whispered, pain flaring up in his chest again. "Stay?"

God how he wished he felt numb again now. The pain levels were rising now, and it was all he could do not to cry out in pain. Too tired to even fight it anymore, Jane allowed his eyes to fall closed again, darkness already creeping at the edges of his vision.

"I'll be right here, Jane," Lisbon replied, though her voice seemed very far away to him now. "You're going to be alright…I'm right…here…"

Beep...beep...beep.

The darkness came upon him then, and he fell, down, down, until he knew no more.

A/N- So what did you think? I really love writing Jane and Lisbon's interactions since they have such an interesting relationship. However, having said that, I find myself a little undecided how to carry this on. On the one hand, I could explore it in more detail, perhaps on a more romantic level. On the other hands, I could just wrap up this story in a couple more chapters and leave them as very close friends (as they are in the show).

I'm not a huge fan of romance stories in general, but their relationship has so many facets to it that I can't imagine that writing them is anything but wonderful fun - though truth be told, I'm not sure I'd really be any good at it. Either way, let me know what you'd like to see and I'll do my best to bow down to your collective will. For now, I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!