Peter paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room. El watched her husband and decided it would be best to intervene.

"Peter, please sit down. You're going to walk a hole through the floor." Peter paused for a second and looked at his wife. He thought for a moment and then sank into a hard-plastic chair next to her.

"I just don't understand how he can think that his life is less important than mine." Peter sighed. "He has all these extraordinary talents and yet he thinks he's worthless?" El wrapped her arm around Peter's shoulders.

"Neal has a lot of demons inside. He regrets many of the life choices he has made. In a way, he is embarrassed in his upbringing and who he is. Neal is the type of person who cares more about other people than he does himself." Peter turned to his wife.

"How do you know so much about him?"

"He comes over for tea almost every day." Tears welled in her eyes. "He better pull through, I need that tea time almost as much as he does." Peter grabbed El's hand.

"He will pull through, he has to. I need to show him just how important his life is." They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Mozzie came running in frantically.

"Suit! How dare you put him in harms way! I always knew this would happen. You better hope that he is ok!" Mozzie met El's eyes and calmed a little. "Mrs. Suit, I'm glad you're here." El stood and wrapped Mozzie in a hug. "Any news?"

"Nothing yet, Moz." El led Mozzie to a chair opposite Peter. "You too play nice, I'm going to use the ladies room." As El walked away, Mozzie turned to Peter.

"Explain yourself!" Peter stared at Mozzie in surprise.

"There's nothing to explain." Peter leaned back in his chair. "A criminal from my past wanted me dead and Neal jumped in front of the bullet." Peter paused for a moment. "He never should have done it. That bullet was meant for me."

"That's Neal though. He always tries to save everyone, no matter the cost to himself." The room fell silent again. Peter was lost in thought when a doctor approached him.

"Agent Burke?" Peter jumped from his chair.

"How is he?"

"He's stable. We managed to remove the bullet and repair most of the damage. We're going to keep him in the ICU to monitor for any internal bleeding, if all goes well, he can move to a private room tomorrow evening." Peter sighed with relief. "He's going to be sleep for a while, I'll come and find you when he starts waking up." Peter shook the Doctor's hand.

"Thank you." Peter turned around and almost ran into Mozzie. "He's going to be ok, Moz." Mozzie nodded and turned back to his chair. Peter followed and sank back into his chair. "Hey Moz?" Mozzie looked up at Peter. "Why does Neal care so little about himself?"

"Um…that might be a question he should answer for himself. There's thing that I don't even know about him." Peter nodded and turned his attention to the tiny television in the corner of the room. El returned a few minutes later with a couple coffees in her hands.

"I heard the good news!" El had a big smile on her face. "I even managed to get a room number out of the doctor. After some begging, he agreed to let us go and wait with him until he wakes up." Peter stood from his seat and hugged his wife.

"You're amazing!" He kissed her on the cheek and followed her through the hospital halls, with Mozzie tailing close behind. The stopped just outside his door. El stepped to the side and let Peter enter first.

Peter stepped into the room and had to swallow the lump in his throat. Neal looked so tiny in the hospital bed, it looked unnatural. His skin was pale and there were wires and tubes connected to him everywhere. The faint beating of the heart monitor was the only indication that he was alive. Peter watched unsteadily as Neal's chest rose and fell with each faint breath. He fought back tears as he walked forward and grabbed Neal's hand. His hand was as cold as the room, Peter felt the need to warm it, so he covered Neal's hand with his own. El stood behind Peter and placed an encouraging hand on his shoulder. The room fell silent, all eyes on Neal. All of them listening to the steady beat of his heart on the monitor and watching for any sign of alertness.

Hours passed and no change. Neal remained asleep and the three of them stayed huddled close to his bed. Four hours later, Neal's doctor came to check on him.

"His body is healing, he'll probably be asleep for the rest of the night, I would suggest you all getting some rest yourselves."

"We're good here." Mozzie tightened his grip on Neal's hand. The doctor nodded his understanding.

"I'll be back in the morning to check on him." Peter watched the doctor leave and settled in for a long night.