Darkness Series
Part 3: Kept In The Dark

Nicole replaced her empty mug on the tray that she had used to bring the food into the room and looked at Jarod as he ate the last piece of soup-covered toast.

"More?"

"Thanks," he smiled, removing the napkin that had covered his chest while he ate. "But that was enough."

"Did you like it?"

"It was great, but it was plenty, especially with the toast."

"Tomorrow night, if you're up to it, we'll do something big."

"We?" He raised an eyebrow. "You mean you, don't you?"

"No, I mean we." Nicole spoke firmly. "If you dabbled in medicine then you probably also dabbled in cookery and I can always do with expert tuition."

Jarod tried to hide the pleasure he felt at the fact that she thought he could still be useful. Despite his best efforts, she noticed the expression on his face. She had spoken with intent and guessed what effect it would have.

"Meantime," she yawned, taking the mug out of his hand. "I'm going to bed. Is there anything else I can get you?"
He shook his head and pulled one of the pillows out from behind him, placing it carefully against the leg of the bed so that he could find it easily later. "No, thanks anyway."

"Goodnight, Jarod. Call me if there's anything urgent."

"I will." He smiled. "Goodnight."

* * *

Nicole opened her door the next morning and watched as Jarod quietly came out of his room. As he passed, she reached out and tapped him on one shoulder, suppressing a giggle as she watched him jump, making her voice stern.

"Good morning. Rebelling against doctor's orders already?"

He turned sheepishly towards her. "I was thinking I might try to cook breakfast."

"And I was thinking you ought to spend the day in bed." She put a hand on his arm and carefully steered him back into his room as he mumbled something under his breath. Trying to contain her laughter, she spoke.

"How does it feel?"

His voice was both impatient and demanding. "Are you this bossy at work?"

She couldn't help laughing at that. "I've gone from the fifty patients or more that I usually have to one, for the next week anyway. So you get the lot."

"Lucky me." Jarod grinned as he cautiously sat on the bed. "And my leg doesn't feel that bad this morning."

"It'll still be better for a day doing nothing, with it up." She saw the expression of frustration cross his face and laughed. "But I guess you don't have to spend it in here."

* * *

She settled him into the chair, with his left leg propped up on a footstool. Jarod tucked the blanket around his legs, running his hands over the soft material and trying to imagine what pattern it had. He heard her voice from a distance away, muffled as if she was in a different room, and guessed that she had gone into the kitchen. Her next question confirmed it.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"You said yesterday that you ran out of cereal," he reminded her. "What do you have left?"

Nicole laughed and, standing in the doorway, threw a foil-covered package into his lap. He picked it up and felt it, taking only seconds to identify it, before turning sightless eyes in her direction, his expression demanding. "How did you know?"

"When the police brought your things to me, a pack fell out. I threw a couple into the bag I let Lyle take, to make it more realistic, and this is what's left. Besides," she laughed, "a man who collects PEZ dispensers has to like pop tarts, doesn't he?"

He grinned and tried to throw it back in the same direction. Nicole dived for it and caught it before it hit the wall. There was a moment of silence as, her eyes dancing, she waited for him to speak. Jarod lowered his eyes in the direction of the floor, expecting a reprimand similar to that which he had received after dropping the stylus, able to offer only one excuse that sounded so fantastic, he was sure she wouldn't believe him.

"I'm sorry. I... I forgot."

"Good," he heard from opposite him in the darkness.

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow and lifted his head. "How can that be good?"

She walked over and sat down beside him, placing the pop tarts on the table and gathering both of his hands in hers.

"Jarod, if you're forgetting that means you're getting used to it. As that happens more often, you won't be able to get as frustrated and angry as you have been." She smiled, despite knowing it was for her benefit only, gently tapping his forehead beside the white bandage marring it. "That means there'll be less chance of a repeat performance of this."

* * *

Loading the dishwasher, she turned it on, hearing it hum into life, before leaving the kitchen and walking into the living room.

"It's raining."

"I can hear it." Jarod raised his voice to be heard above the sound of the teeming rain on the tin roof above their heads. "I'm blind, not deaf."

Nicole hid a smile at the tart tone in his voice and sat down opposite him. "What would you like to do?"

"I suppose going outside is out of the question?" he retorted with a grin.

She laughed as a peal of thunder crashed loudly before leaning forward to turn on the television.

"But..." he protested feebly, feeling suddenly humiliated at his own helplessness. "I can't..."

"With this, you can."

She turned it to Jeopardy, the repeat of an earlier show that she had seen several months before, and reached over to pick up a magazine, smiling to hear Jarod providing the questions ahead of the contestants.

As it finished Nicole turned off the television and handed him a book. "I have some repairs I need to make on the clothes I wear to work. Will you read to me while I do it? I find that makes it easier to concentrate."

He seized the book as it was put into his hands, the same feeling of being useful bringing dimples to his cheeks again. "Not a problem." He ran his finger down the spine. "For Whom The Bell Tolls. I've heard of this."

"It's a classic of modern literature. I just never had the chance to read it."

Nicole selected a needle and threaded it, breaking the cotton with her teeth before she picked up her skirt, the hem of which had come unstitched. Listening as he began to read, Nicole was soon forced to interrupt.

"Slower."

"Huh?"

"I know your fingers are traveling quickly, but you need to slow it down or I won't understand you because your mouth won't keep up. You'll skip words, phrases or even whole sentences and make no sense."

He nodded. "You know about this sort of thing?"

"You could say that." Nicole lowered her face over her work, a tear sliding down her cheek, as he began again.

" 'He lay flat on the brown, pine-needled floor of the forest...' "

* * *

With a grateful sigh, Nicole put the last item on the pile, stretched her cramped fingers and looked over at him as he finished the sentence.

" 'All right,' Pilar said. 'And now, for God's sake let us eat.' "

"Where are we up to?"

"End of Chapter 11."

"Not bad. Not bad at all." She glanced out of the window to where the rain was still drizzling. "And how's the leg?"

"Fine."

His response was sharp and she laughed. "Not a very good patient, are you? Other patients are much more satisfactory. 'Oh, doctor, I've hardly slept the last two nights, my head hurts so much. Can't you help me? Please?' Now that's what I call rewarding."

Jarod grinned, turning his face to hers. "You're just nosey."

"Why else would I have become a doctor?"

Nicole listened to him laugh as she rose to her feet, picking up the pile of clothes. "I'll put these in my room and then teach you to play that card game I promised earlier."

"Sounds good."

Jarod marked the page of the book and then put it on the table in front of him, reaching out to pick up his glass. She came back into the room and he could hear her walking over to the bookshelf.

"What music do you want?"

"Something that will let me think about the game," he retorted at once.

She grinned at him over her shoulder, allowing the amusement to be clear in her voice also. "You don't even know what game we're playing and you're already determined to win."

He raised both hands in mock-innocence. "Where's the fun if you don't win?"

Starting the stereo, she picked up one of the two packs and came back over to the sofa, sitting so that they could both feel the cards.

"There's no pictures on these, so we're very evenly matched here."

"Are you pandering to my competitive side?" he queried, trying to suppress his amusement.

She laughed. "Hey, I have to get an advantage somehow!"

* * *

"You've won the last five games, Jarod. I'm never playing with you again!"

He sat back against the chair, his cards in his hand and his voice calm, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth and flexing his dimples. "You won the first one."

"Only because you made that mistake and handed it to me. If it was a mistake."

"I don't make mistakes deliberately," he told her with a grin. "But as you were teaching me, I felt it was only fair that you should be allowed to win one game. Lull you into a false sense of security, you know."

"I'll lull you into a false sense of security!" She threw her cards down on the table and indignantly got to her feet, hands on her hips. "I'll lull you down a long flight of stairs and leave you there!"

Jarod laughed and put his own cards on the table, reaching down to find his glass empty. Picking it up, he waved it in the direction from which he could hear her voice coming, trying to hide a grin.

"Any chance of a refill?"

"Do you deserve one?" she shot back.

"Probably not," he admitted honestly. "But if you don't get me one then I'll have to get up and get it on my own, and - "

She snorted and took the glass out of his hand, heading into the kitchen.

* * *

Nicole looked up from her book to see that the pace of his reading had slowed so that his fingers barely moved across the page. Looking at Jarod's face, she watched his eyes close, only to open again as he forced his head upright, unable to prevent it from lolling forward almost immediately. Finally his hand ceased its movement over the pages and the book gradually dipped from the upright position in which he had been holding it, coming to rest against his leg. His eyes closed for a moment before he forced them back up again. But eventually Jarod gave a soft sigh, let his eyelids fall one final time, and relaxed back in the chair.

An amused grin crossed Nicole's face as she recalled his earlier denials that he could possibly be tired. Easing the book out from between his fingers, she marked the page before placing it silently on the table in front of him. She checked that the blanket was still firmly wrapped around his body and then looked at his face to see that he had remained asleep before picking up the glasses and going into the kitchen. When the phone rang, she dove to answer it before it woke him up.

"Hello?"

"Is Mystery Man napping or something?"

Nicole laughed quietly as she carried the cordless phone into her bedroom and sat, cross-legged, on the bed. "Actually, yes, now that you ask. How's work?"

"Oh, busy as usual. Just called to say that we miss your beaming presence."

"Thanks, Ann. I appreciate it."

"How have you been spending your first day of vacation?"

"Sewing, watching television and getting thoroughly beaten at cards."

Ann laughed. "Which game?"

"Paul's favorite." Her voice lowered and she looked up at his photograph. There was a moment of silence at the other end.

"I'm sorry, Nic."

"Hey, I'm coping." She sighed. "I just can't help wondering... what he would say if he knew. About Jarod, I mean."

"Well, I figured you weren't talking about the sewing." Ann's voice became more serious. "Do you really think he'd mind?"

"I don't know. Sometimes no, but at other times... well, it was his room for a long time, before..."

"You could hardly have the invalid sleeping on the veranda!"

Nicole laughed softly. "Just add pneumonia to the list."

"I really don't think he'd see anything wrong in it, Nic. Paul wasn't the envious or possessive type. He'd just see it as just another step in the healing process."

"They even look so alike," Nicole murmured.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have called you in on it."

"I'm glad you did." Nicole sighed. "It might go some way towards getting rid of the last of the hurt. It almost gives me another chance... to see him again."

"I know. I thought that too. But it's not the same. The roles are virtually reversed."

"And that gives me an even greater insight into what he went through with me making his life hell for four months."

"Hell?" Ann's voice revealed her skepticism. "Nic, the only hell Paul went through was having to say goodbye that last time."

Nicole wiped a tear from her cheek. "Do you want me to break down, or was that unintentional?"

"Completely unintentional. You know that I..."

"I know." Nicole heard the sound of a voice in the background. "Is that you I hear being paged?"

Ann sighed. "No doubt. Enjoy the rest of your vacation. I might come around and make sure that you're behaving yourselves on the way home from work."

"Do that," Nicole smiled. "We'll look forward to it."

She went back into the kitchen and returned the phone to the charger. Grabbing her key, she ran out to the mailbox, rescuing the damp letters and going back inside. As she came into the kitchen to sort out the mail, she saw Jarod leaning on the crutches that she had got out the night before, for necessities. Nicole shook the droplets out of her hair as she walked over to him.

"I guess it's still raining out," the man remarked, feeling the cold water on his face and struggling to suppress his amusement, with a good idea of the comment that would reply to this.

"And I guess it was too much to expect you to be obedient for one day."

Jarod grinned in her direction as he carefully refilled his glass, using one finger to make sure that it wasn't overfull.

Nicole smiled and poured a drink for herself, carrying both glasses into the living room, knowing that Jarod was following. "I just spoke to Ann. She mentioned something about coming to visit on her way home from work."

"Sounds like fun. Does she know any card games I can beat her at too?" Jarod's eyes twinkled as he turned his head in her direction and she laughed.

"I'm sure we can find something, but I don't know if it's the best idea to humiliate the entire staff of St. Luke's. They might come in handy one day."

"They already have." The amusement disappeared from his face and his tone became serious. "I owe them a larger debt than I can repay."

"Well, you can start by not trying to reinjure yourself on my bathtub. Do you know how long it took me to clean up all your blood? And that towel will never be the same."

"I'll buy you a new one." His eyes gleamed in fun again. "In fact, I'll restock your entire cupboard if that will help."

She laughed. "I think we can probably find another way for you to express your undying gratitude, but I'll let you know."

* * *

Nicole watched as he completed a solitaire game and gathered the cards together, shuffling them professionally.

"So I guess you worked in a casino or something too, huh?"

"Only until I became a game warden."

She laughed, replacing her glasses to continue reading an article in a medical magazine.

He raised an eyebrow at her silence. "You don't believe me?"

"We've been through this."

Jarod grinned and sat back, his face turned to her. When she remained silent, he put his hand on the table, reaching for the book. Nicole watched him over the top of her glasses, knowing that he wouldn't find it. For several minutes, she waited in silence as he ran his hands over the surface in front of him, before turning once more in her direction.

"Where is it?"

"Is that a request for help?" she asked softly.

"If you want to take it that way," he admitted, grudgingly, "yes."

She reached over and picked up the book from where it sat beside his injured leg, placing it in his hand. His sigh as she did so was audible and she reached over to gently put one hand on his.

"Well done, Jarod."

He nodded and tried to concentrate on the book, but she noticed that his fingers remained still for several moments before they began to move slowly over the raised dots.

* * *

Jarod put the book down and sat back, wincing as a sharp pain shot up his leg. What had started that morning as a slight twinge had gradually increased to its current state of near-agony, but he was trying not to let her see how much it hurt. A moment later, a thin glass tube being put into his mouth distracted him from the pain as she picked up his wrist.

"What...?"

"Don't talk, Jarod," came the doctor's voice from over his head. "Keep that under your tongue."

He heard the beeps as she dialed a number on the speakerphone.

"Emergency."

"This is Dr. Austen. Is Dr. Stevens still there?"

"Yes, Dr. Austen."

"Good. Can I have a word with her, please?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before a familiar voice spoke.

"Hi, Nic. What's up?"

She removed the thermometer from his mouth. "Hi, Ann. Don't worry about coming around to see us. We'll come in and see you instead."

The woman on the other end laughed. "What's he done?"

"Tried to be too independent. I'd like you to have x-ray ready and have Phil Barnard on standby."

"That bad, huh?"

"At a guess, yes."

"You want an ambulance?"

"We'll manage. See you soon."

She disconnected the call and then left the room, returning to place his leather jacket around his shoulders, readying herself to support him.

"Come on, let's go."

His protest was weak. "But..."

"No arguments, Jarod. We're going."

* * *

"Obviously you have no concept of the word 'vacation'."

Nicole looked around as she knelt beside the passenger door to see Ann standing next to the car, her hands resting on the back of a wheelchair.

"I'm so attached to this place that I'll come up with any excuse to visit it," Nicole joked as she slid a hand under Jarod's leg, helping him turn so that he could get out of the car. The doctors settled him into the chair and wheeled it inside, another figure joining them.

"Evening, Phil."

"Hello, Nicole. Couldn't even stay away for a day, huh?"

She smiled, helping the injured man up onto a trolley in the examination room. "Jarod, this is Dr. Barnard."

"Hi."

Jarod's voice had lost the strength that it had earlier had and Nicole looked sharply at him, noting the lack of color in his lips and the red flush of his cheeks, as well as the brilliant glitter of his eyes that had attracted her attention earlier. Jarod leaned gratefully back against the raised head of the gurney, feeling as if the world was swimming around him and wincing as sharp pain flashed along his leg, swallowing to try and force back the urge to vomit that the pain caused. Voices seemed to waver in volume around him and he closed his eyes, suddenly grateful that the decision had been taken out of his hands and that somebody else was responsible as he felt two hands performing a quick but gentle examination.

"I'll leave you to it," Ann remarked as she turned away. "Call me if I'm needed."

"We will, Ann," Nicole responded. "Thanks."

"What have you been doing to yourself, Jarod?" Phil asked, as Ann left the cubicle.

"He knocked himself out on my bathtub 24 hours ago." Nicole told him, moving away to let her colleague examine the man more closely. "I think he twisted when he fell and I suspect it's been getting worse all day."

The doctor uncapped a small syringe, aware of the patient's existing injuries. "Jarod, I'm going to give you something to ease the pain before we start finding out what you've done. You'll just feel a tiny prick in the back of your right hand..."

* * *

Finally the saw was switched off and the doctor cracked open the two halves of the cast, easing them away from the injured leg. Nicole took them out of Phil's hand and threw them into the bin, looking up to see the patient biting his bottom lip, still able to feel the sharp pain despite the drug that was making him feel woozy.

"It's okay, Jarod." Nicole rested one hand gently on his, watching as his head rolled slowly in her direction. "That part's over."

The doctor carefully slid the lead plate under the injured limb, looking up as the man winced. He handed his colleague the lead blanket and watched as she put it over him before stepping away from the bed.

"Try not to move, Jarod. This will only take a few minutes."

When the x-rays were taken, Dr. Barnard removed the photographic plates and gave them to the nurse who had been waiting inside the room. As her colleague wheeled the machine out of the room, Nicole reached over and put her hand on Jarod's.

"Are you okay?"

Eyes still closed, he licked his lips and then nodded, speaking carefully with lips that felt numb. "I guess..."

"This would've been a lot easier if you'd just said it was sore this morning."

"I didn't want... to take your job away from you."

She laughed and then reached forward, gently brushing the side of his face with the backs of her fingers. "And it's been this bad all day?"

"Not earlier," he admitted groggily. "But it got worse."

She nodded, gently covering him with the blanket that had been removed for the x-rays. "Just try to rest, Jarod. We have to wait for the results to come through before we can do anything else."

"What do you think?" he asked slowly, fighting against the urge to sleep that was increasing now nothing more was being done to his leg and the pain was fading somewhat.

"I'm not going to say; that's Dr. Barnard's specialty. Mine's your head, and we've treated that."

Jarod nodded and sighed drowsily, his muscles suddenly tightening as a shiver went through him, moving his leg slightly. Nicole unclenched one fist and entwined her fingers with his.

"It's all right, Jarod." She reached up and gently placed her other hand on his cheek, watching as his eyelids slid shut, only to flutter several times before they lifted again. "Try to relax."

* * *

Thirty minutes later Nicole looked up to see Dr. Barnard in the doorway. Releasing her hand from Jarod's fitfully sleeping and feverish grasp she stood up to join the other doctor.

"What is it?" Her voice was almost lost in the hubbub of the emergency room, but her colleague heard it.

"I don't know if the transverse fracture had even begun to heal, but when he fell, one of the bones shifted so we've now got a very messy compound fracture. I'm going to do an open reduction and internal fixation, and insert a tibial intra-medullary rod. I've got a team waiting."

Nicole nodded and held the x-ray up to the light, her lips thinning as she saw the way the larger bone had moved out of position. "Nasty." She looked up. "I'm glad it's you and not me."

"You've had your share of jigsaw puzzles too."

She laughed softly. "I won't deny that, but I try to avoid late-night surgery."

He smiled. "Shall we tell him?"

"Hey, you're the doctor!" she protested indignantly.

"So what does that make you?" Dr. Barnard queried in amusement.

"I guess... the visitor."

Phillip Barnard laughed. "Well, 'the visitor' can go and check her other patients while I've got him in theatre."

The doctors re-entered the cubicle and Nicole touched Jarod's shoulder, gently shaking the man to wake him. Dr. Barnard spoke as she stepped away.

"Jarod, I've got the test results here. You've badly damaged the larger bone in your lower leg. Do you understand what I mean?"

The patient nodded and Nicole hid a smile as she noticed the look of surprise in her colleague's eyes. The specialist continued.

"I want to insert a rod to hold it still. It's not a very big operation, but we have to do it now."

"How... long?" he mumbled.

"About three hours. Perhaps a little more."

Jarod nodded again, closing his eyes.

"I'll send some people down to bring you to theatre in about ten minutes." Phil placed his hand on Nicole's shoulder as he passed her and left the room. When he was gone, Jarod opened his eyes again, turning his head to where she stood beside him.

"Can you... be there?"

"Not in theatre, no. But I'll be there when you come out. And I'll stay with you now until you go in."

He reached out a hand and she placed hers on top of it.

"I'm... sorry," he murmured drowsily.

"It's all right, Jarod. You've got nothing to be sorry for. These things happen sometimes." Nicole cautiously leaned against the side of the gurney. "But if you wanted to come back to the hospital this badly, all you really had to do was say so."

Nicole saw the slight smile on his face as she spoke and smiled in response, gently squeezing his hand. Jarod felt the reassuring grasp and tightened his hold on her fingers, letting his eyelids slip shut and relaxing back against the pillow as he felt himself sliding thankfully into a drug-induced, pain-free sleep.

* * *

Nicole waited at the back of the recovery room as the bed was wheeled in, an oxygen mask on Jarod's face and a heartbeat monitor clipped to the finger of his right hand. As she watched, one of the nurses walked over and gently shook him.

"Jarod? Come on, it's time to wake up now."

His eyelids lifted slightly and his eyes moved slowly from left to right before they closed again, but the nurse was satisfied and stepped away from the bed. As Nicole straightened up, Dr. Barnard came over to her, pulling down his mask.

"How did it go?"

"As well as I would have expected. He's got a few days here before we can let him go home, and then he'll have to stay off that leg for a few weeks, but as long as he doesn't do anything stupid, it should be back to at least semi-normal within six to eight weeks."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Well, you can have the fun job of telling him that one."

"If he goes back to your house, you'll have to enforce it."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Does the whole hospital know about that fact, or have you been talking to Ann?"

He laughed and refused to answer, changing the subject. "Are you going to stay here tonight?"

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it. Not unless he wants me to anyway."

* * *

Jarod could feel that the sheets were firmly tucked in around him as he gradually awoke, tempted to just let himself slip back into the warm drowsiness he felt, but a sound attracted his attention. It took a moment before he gathered enough energy to speak clearly, and in that time he formed a supposition as to the identity of the person beside his bed.

"N... Nicole?"

Putting down a magazine she had been reading while he slept, she stretched out her hand to rest it on his arm.

"I'm right here, Jarod. It's okay."

He swallowed thickly, turning his head slowly in her direction so his sightless eyes came to rest at a point above her head. His speech, when he spoke, was still slurred. "What... time is it?"

"Just after midnight."

Feeling the slight pressure of plastic around his mouth and nose, Jarod reached up to try to push the oxygen mask off his face with a clumsy hand, but Nicole stopped him. "Leave it alone, Jarod. You need it."

"No..." he murmured sleepily.

"You do," she laughed, holding his fingers firmly to prevent him from removing. "You wouldn't be able to take it off anyway, so just leave it there." 

"Are you... staying...?"

"Do you want me to?"

He tried to shrug but was hampered by the effects of the anesthetic.

"I think you'll be fine without me but I'll be back later to see how you are." Nicole stood up, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Sleep well, Jarod."

Looking at him, she could see that he was already asleep again and smiled as she bent down to kiss him gently on one cheek before picking up her things and leaving the room.

* * *

Nicole pushed the door shut behind her and went into the kitchen, switching off the few lights that were still on from when they had left the house. Yawning, she was about to go into her own room when she saw the unmade bed in his. She stripped the bed and, opening the cupboard, took out a clean set of sheets, rapidly remaking it. Picking up the dirty linen, Nicole took it into the laundry before going into her room, changing into pajamas and crawling into bed. She was asleep before her eyes even had a chance to focus properly on Paul's photo.

* * *

She was awake before the phone finished the first ring, stretching out a hand and picking up the receiver without even opening her eyes.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Austen, I'm sorry to disturb you so early..."

Nicole looked at the clock and saw that it was only a quarter to four. Rolling her eyes, she sat up, the professional part of her mind reluctantly taking over "Are you aware that I'm supposed to be on vacation?"

"Yes, ma'am, but Dr. Richards asked you to consult on a case and said that he'd allot you more time off later."

She rolled her eyes again. "Well, I guess if the boss says..."

Getting out of bed, Nicole turned on the speaker and began to dress as the nurse explained the condition of the patient.

* * *

At eight thirty she appeared in the doorway of Jarod's room and looked in, glancing at the nurse who stood beside her.

"He had a good night," the woman offered immediately. "Slept for most of it and his temperature's been steadily going down since he was brought up here from theatre."

Nicole laughed. "Thanks for the information, but I'm not the consulting surgeon on this case. Has Dr. Barnard been yet?"

"Almost an hour ago."

Jarod heard the voices in the doorway and roused himself out of the comfortable drowsiness he'd been feeling all morning, hearing familiar footsteps cross the floor before other sounds suggested that she was pulling a chair up beside the bed and sitting in it. Turning his head in her direction, he enunciated carefully to ensure that she would be able to understand him, now fighting against the urge to sleep.

"Isn't it a little too early for you to be paying calls?"

"Not when I was here at four." She laughed. "How's the leg?"

"Better than it was yesterday." He smiled faintly before continuing. "What were you doing here at four?"

"Having my vacation ruined by somebody who decided to get hit by a car for no apparent reason except that it seemed like a good idea at the time."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sounds messy."

"Especially considering they were drunk enough to try and pretend that it was a matador and they were a bull."

Jarod tried not to laugh. "How did you learn that? I'm guessing the patient couldn't tell you."

"His friends were more than happy to. Luckily the car was driven by one of his drunken buddies who couldn't accelerate fast enough to cause that much damage. I'd say he'll probably be out of hospital before you are."

"And when can I leave?"

She choked back a laugh at the eagerness in his voice. "That depends."

"On?" Jarod demanded, trying to pull himself upright in bed, but eventually giving up, sinking back against the pillow.

"How obedient you're willing to be. If you do as you're told, Dr. Barnard said that you could leave in a few days. If you're going to play the stubborn and obstinate game again, I'll refuse to take you in and you'll have to stay here with the whole thing of getting woken at six, bad food, etcetera."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're supposed to be nice to injured people?" he scolded.

"Possibly once or twice," she admitted. "But I don't pay that much attention to advice generally."

Jarod laughed before suddenly yawning, feeling the urge to sleep sweep over him again, and the tone of his voice changed abruptly, revealing his frustration. "I honestly don't know what's wrong with me today, but I can't stay awake for longer than about ten minutes at a stretch."

Nicole eyed the plastic bag on the I.V. stand and the tube that led into the back of his left hand as her lips twitched, but she refrained from mentioning it. "That could, of course, be something to do with the fact that you had surgery twelve hours ago."

Jarod smiled faintly as his eyes closed, unable to keep them open.

"Could be."

His voice was a murmur and she watched his hand slide from his stomach onto the mattress. She tucked it gently under the blankets and then turned away from the bed to find Ann standing in the doorway.

"Hmm, looks suggestive."

Nicole snorted as the two of them went down the hall. "Give me patience, and heaven defend me from so-called friends who spread gossip about me around the hospital."

Ann turned, wide-eyed. "I never did!"

"No, of course not!" Nicole's voice was sarcastic. "So suddenly even the head of this place knows that he's staying in my spare room?"

"Peter Richards knows that?" Ann eyed her in amazement. "How?"

"I think that's the question I'm meant to be asking you. But he did know, and told me this morning while we were operating that he thought it was very noble of me to take him in."

Ann laughed. "Well it is. Noble, I mean. Of course, we know that there are ulterior motives..."

"If we weren't here, I'd punish you for that! As it is..."

"I consider myself punished." She smiled. "I saw the new patient this morning. He's a real mess."

Nicole nodded. "It seems incredibly unfair to me that idiots do something like that and only end up with a couple of scars and a bad headache, while others save lives and it results in the possibility of them never seeing again."

Ann's eyes softened in sympathy. "No change, huh?"

"Not yet, unless he isn't telling me. But I don't think so."

Her face became sad and Ann slipped an arm around hers squeezing gently. "I'm sure it helps to have somebody who understands what he's going through."