Upon seeing the surgeon, the bright blue color of his scrubs marred by spots of dark red blood, was a very heavy moment. Egon kept himself from stepping toward the doctor as he decided it'd be best for Edward to take the lead and speak with the doctor directly about Winston. Ray stayed in his seat like a frightened child as the idea of losing Winston, who had quickly become one of his best friends, was becoming all to real. Peter himself stayed quiet and practically submissive in his self induced silence.

"I'm Edward Zeddemore," Edward introduced himself with a firm handshake. "Winston is my son. How is he?"

"I'm Dr. Robinson," the doctor reciprocated the handshake respectfully. "Winston tolerated the surgery well. He's currently in recovery in our critical care unit."

Edward's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. "Winston survived. Thank God."

Dr. Robinson continued to explain the situation in a level voice. "The damage was significant but we don't expect any permanent damage, but only time will tell."

"Can we see him?" Edward asked in a very pained yet controlled voice.

"Not just yet." Dr. Robinson sounded as disappointed as the group felt. "We're still weening him off the anesthesia and even then he'll be unconscious for quite some time. Mr. Zeddemore your son had slipped into a coma before surgery began."

"Coma?"

Egon tensed while Ray's posture slouched and Peter leaned away from the group in his chair.

"Yes." Dr. Robinson put his hand on Edward's shoulder. "The swelling in his brain caused enough pressure to result in a comatose state as well as a seizure, which of course was treated with proper medication. As the swelling decreases your son should regain consciousness. Be warned though, once he wakes up he'll be confused and in pain. Don't be frightened by it."

"When..." Edward began wringing his hands together nervously. "When can I see him?"

"Soon. Come with me, you can wait in the doctor's lounge for now. I'll get you some coffee, it's going to be a long night."

"Mr. Zeddemore," Ray finally found the courage to speak and rose from his seat. "do you need us to do anything for you? Anything at all!"

"Just... pray for Winston." Was all Edward could say as he and the doctor walked down the corridor together.

Ray sank back in his seat with a heavy heart. "Yeah. Pray."

Egon cleared his throat. "We should take shifts, keeping at least one person here at all times for both Winston and Edward. I volunteer to take the first shift, you should go back to the firehouse and try to get some rest."

"Y-Yeah, good idea." Ray agreed although haltingly. "We'll go back to the firehouse and let Janine know what's happening. Maybe even tell Peck and make sure he keeps his distance from the hospital."

"Agreed. The less we have to deal with him the better."

"Come on Peter." Ray pulled on Peter's arm only to have Peter respond by pulling his arm away from Ray's grip bitterly. Ray wasn't about to tell into an argument with the stubborn psychologist, so to keep the peace he stood up and stood in front of Peter. "We need to do what's best for Winston. Let's go."

Forcing himself to look up and at Ray with doubtful eyes Peter slowly rose from his seat and followed the engineer back out to the parking lot of the hospital.

Egon stayed behind without offering a single word to Peter. Finally choosing to sit down after the hours of standing Egon's tired body all but collapsed in the seat as he resumed the tedious, if not mind-numbing process of waiting.

Early morning sunlight fought to break through the thick darkness of the still lingering night sky.

Ray walked slowly to Ecto-1, he stood beside the iconic hearse and stared at the now famous 'no ghost' logo and remembered how it was a struggle to get their business up and running, but in that moment he wished for the mental strain of staying out of debt compared to the mental strain of having a good friend in the hospital; possibly dying.

Peter kept to himself as he took his seat inside Ecto-1 and waited for Ray to join him.

Guilt. Anger. Isolation.

It was as if Peter had been cast adrift in a sea of negativity.

The door to Ecto-1 slammed shut as Ray took his seat behind the wheel. Peter jumped at the sound and looked over at the grimace plastered on Ray's face. As much as he wanted to give his friend some words of comfort no words came to his mind. What could day? A simple "sorry" would never amount to the trauma that the team had to endure all because Peter let go of Winston's hand.

The drive back to the firehouse was filled with painful silence and unspoken anger. Peter was angry at himself for failing his friend and Ray was angry at Peter for the same reason, though the kindhearted engineer could never bring himself to put that type of emotional pain on anyone.

Backing into the garage of the firehouse Ray could see Janine at her desk eagerly awaiting their return. As soon as the engine of the hearse was off she rushed over to the door and addressed Ray.

"How is he?" Her kind blue eyes, which were normally filled with a fiery passion and strength were now filled with worry and fear. "I already took care of the paperwork so you don't have to deal with it."

"Thanks Janine." Ray climbed out of the car and leaned heavily against the side of the vehicle. "Winston's dad is at the hospital with Egon. All we know for sure is that Winston took a bad blow to the head and he needed... needed surgery."

"Surgery?" Janine's eyes widened with alarm. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just keep doing what you're doing," Ray put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a small hug. "that's all we can ask. And you're already doing such a great job."

Janine forced herself to smile a little as Ray let her go and groggily walked toward the staircase leading to the second floor of the firehouse. "There's a fresh pot of coffee if you need some!"

"See?" Ray called back as he began ascending the stairs. "Great job!"

Peter exited the vehicle and kept his eyes trained on the cold floor of the garage. He couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye at the moment, especially someone as strong as Janine. Following Ray up the stairs Peter had planned on going into the bunk room and falling asleep for the rest of the morning and well into the evening, but it appeared as though Ray had other plans.

"Sit." Ray instructed Peter as he took the aura video-analyzer from its place beside the large equipment and monitors stored on the far side of the rec room. The metal colander littered with wires and circuits was one of the first invaluable pieces of technology that Ray and Egon had created together after Ghostbusters had been founded. "I want to see what's going on inside your head."

"There's nothing going on, Ray." Peter defied the request sternly and tried to keep walking toward the bunk room. Stubborn as ever Peter did his best to keep moving. "I'm tired, I smell like a hospital and I just want this horrible night to end."

"So do I, but I need to know what happened at the hotel." Ray stepped in front of Peter and held out his hand. "Sit and let me-"

"No!" Peter pushed Ray aside with a firm shove that nearly knocked the engineer of his feet. "I'm fine! Let it go!"

"Peter!" Ray grabbed onto Peter's arm and tried to pull him back, the physical aggression was uncharacteristic for both men and the tension resonated through the firehouse quickly. "You're NOT fine! You keep drifting in and out of consciousness like you've been possessed! I just want to help-"

"I don't need help." Peter gave Ray a glare of absolute hatred that came from the deepest, blackest part of his heart. His blue eyes were dull again and his voice was sinister with an angered growl. "Leave me alone."

Ray's grip loosened as the shock of the moment set in. Never before had Ray seen Peter so defensive, if not outright enraged.

As Peter disappeared into the empty bunk room Janine hustled up the stairs having heard the raised voices. "Dr. Stantz? What's going on?"

"I..." Ray put down the analyzer. "I don't know. But something is very wrong with Peter."

...to be continued...