"Maddie, I brought you some tea," Howie spoke calmly and quietly as he entered Buck's room. He had been out of surgery for an hour, place in the ICU and marked in critical condition. When Maddie and Howie had arrived in the emergency room, they were told that Evan had been rushed up to emergency surgery and only a little information was given to them before a nurse showed them to a waiting room. The words "bad shape" and "critical" were used but both of them were in such a daze that the rest of it fell on deaf ears. They had to wait an additional three more hours; pacing the waiting room floor, mindlessly flipping through a magazine, or just sitting in silence before a surgeon came in to talk to them. It was unfortunate that Maddie was so used to this, Buck being hurt but this time was different. Sure, when he was crushed by the ladder truck it was scary, and when he coughed up the blood clots that terrified her too but now the list was longer. What was even worse, after hearing it all was when they both walked into the ICU and saw Evan for the first time.

"Thank you," Maddie tried to force a smile on her face, but it fell short.

"Did you call them?"

"I got the same reply as always," she sighed, rubbing her hand over her face as wondered why she even tried.

"Keep them updated," Howie rolled his eyes. He had never met the Buckley parents; Maddie did not see the point. He knew they had caused a great deal of disappointment in her and Buck's lives and not once when Buck was held up in the hospital before had they visited him.

"Spot on," Maddie tapped her index finger to her nose. She could not say she was surprised but it did not mean she was not upset by their response, a red eye flight caused next to nothing to them. "Did you call the team."

"I got Bobby, he said he was going to stop by."

"He doesn't have to, its nearly four in the morning."

"That's not gonna stop him."

"I figured." She looked over to Buck or who she knew to be him. He looked awful; the first time she saw him her breath was taken away. She had seen car accident victims before; she was an ER nurse for god sakes but seeing Evan like this was like a punch to her gut. The left side of his face was purple and swollen; they told her that he had cracked his eye socket and his cheekbone was broken. A nasty gash was stitched up on his forehead where his head had hit the side of the car. He had had been given IVs; he had plenty of lines going into him, one for fluids, one for his meds and one for a blood transfusion that was currently running. A chest tube had been placed when he came in, there was fluid buildup they were trying to drain, and it was still working to clear him up. He had also been intubated; the tube kept in place by the ET tube holder that covered his entire mouth. He had been without oxygen for three minutes while in route to the hospital, it worried her because of the head injury, a duo that did not go well together. The ventilator clicked in rhythm with his chest, falling up and down as air was pumped into his lungs.

Maddie laid her head on Howie's shoulder; he had been the source of comfort through this whole ordeal. He had been very attentive and when she needed space, he somehow knew enough to excuse himself. She was overwhelmed, having no idea to deal with this.

"Did he say anything about the head injury, did they do scans."

"Everything seems normal, which is good, but they will repeat scan him in a little while just as a precaution."

"Good, I'm sure they will come back fine, he is a fighter."

"My brother, Evan the invincible." Maddie reached out her hand and grabbed Evan's, wishing that somehow, he would squeeze back. "You're gonna make it through this," She said confidently.

"Of course, who else is going to teach our kid the importance of mischief and mayhem."

"A Buck job for sure," Maddie smiled as she squeezed Evan's hand again. "Ev, this little boy needs you." Howie smiled and rested his head on top of hers as he watched the interaction. They both had a little guilt not bringing Evan in on the secret but there was no way of knowing something this devastating would happen.

"Maddie, maybe try to get some sleep, I will wake you if anything happens." She wasn't going to fight him on this one after the night they just had she was starting to fade in and out, the baby and fear soaking up most of her energy. It didn't take more that three minutes before Howie heard her soft snore. "Come on Buck, come back to us."