It was some odd minutes past 2 am, and Peter Burke was sitting in a chair beside Neal's bed re-reading a health magazine that he had borrowed from the waiting room. Elizabeth had been asleep in the reclining chair in the room for about two hours leaving Peter bored out of his mind. He tried to figure out who that woman was from the waiting room, but eventually he just got frustrated and dropped the whole thing, at least for the night. Ever so often Peter would glance at Neal who had yet to wake up since his tests earlier in the afternoon. He kept hoping each time he looked that bright blue eyes would be staring back at him and Neal would be his chipper self without what seemed like hundreds of wires attached to him and a nasal canal. But each time reality dealt a low blow.

There was a small TV in the room, but the nurse had made it a point to remind them Neal needed as much rest as possible so it was important to remain quiet if they were going to stay, so Peter decided not to even bother turning it on at all because he didn't want to take a chance that the flickering light would wake the sleeping "ex"-conman. The only light in the room was coming from a small bedside lamp beside Peter which only gave off enough light for the agent to read the words on the pages of the magazine and Neal who laid beside him in the hospital bed. He could also see a shadowy figure of his sleeping wife in the chair on the other side of Neal's bed.

He was skimming over an article about exercise in the magazine he had probably looked at twenty times by now when he heard a small shuffle beside him. He quickly lifted his head to find Neal weakly pulling at the nasal canal under his nose. The tubing behind his left ear had slipped out from behind it and Neal was trying to get it the rest of it off of him. Peter stood and took the two steps it took to get to the bed. He gently wrapped a hand around Neal's small wrist, careful of the IV tubes, to stop the younger man. Neal's reaction was slow and for a moment he didn't react, but once he processed that someone had a hold of his wrist his heart monitor started to beep faster as he sluggishly lifted bleary eyes to see who was there. Peter easily sat down on the side of the bed and placed a hand on top Neal's unruly hair.

"Hey, easy, easy." Peter coaxed as Neal processed his presence. "Calm down, Neal. Breathe."

"Hurts." Neal slurred. Peter spread his mouth into a tight line and nodded. He watched Neal blink heavily and grimace as he did his best to even his breathing. Once Peter was satisfied, he picked up the nasal canal dangling behind Neal's right ear and moved to put it back in place.

"N-no." The younger man protested. "I don't want it. I don't want any of it. I want to leave. I want to go home." Neal began to pull at all the wires attached to his body. He didn't get very far, before Peter had both of his wrists in his grasp.

"Stop, Neal. Stop." Peter had to swallow hard when he saw the pleading, desperate look on the younger man's face.

"I wanna go home." Neal whispered as he looked up at Peter.

"I know, Neal. But you can't, not yet." Peter regretted telling him. He wanted nothing more than to take Neal home, to give him what he wanted. "You gotta put the nasal canal back on. Okay?"

Neal had determined look on his drained face that told Peter he had no intention of doing anything of a sort.

"If you won't do it for yourself, do it for Elizabeth." Peter played as he moved his head in the direction of Elizabeth who was still asleep and Neal followed his gaze. The younger man stared at her for a long time before turning back to look up at Peter. "She's been here the whole time, we both have."

"Okay." Peter knew Neal did his best to hide the trepidation in his voice but the agent still picked up on it. He slowly released Neal's wrists and for the second time moved to put the nasal canal back in place. Neal resisted once again and Peter gave him a warning look, but Neal rolled his eyes.

"I can do it myself." Neal stated, making sure Peter knew he hated being fussed over.

"Alright." Peter said and watched Neal struggle through the drugs in his system to do the simple task of putting the nasal canal under his nose and behind his other ear.

Once it was back in place, Neal closed his eyes tiredly and laid still. Peter thought that he had fallen back asleep and was just about to stand when Neal's unusual small voice filtered in his ears.

"I don't want to have the surgery."

There was undeniable fear in that sentence, but Peter knew Neal had meant to say it with determination as a way of feeling in control. Neal slowly opened his eyes again but didn't look at Peter. He fingered the blanket that was laying over his legs keeping his index finger with the pulse ox lifted up slightly.

"I'm afraid that isn't an option, Neal." Peter said a bit too sternly for his own liking and apparently Neal's as well.

"Of course it isn't." The tone was anything but casual. It didn't take a conman to detect the resentfulness. Deep down Peter knew he had deserved that for the way he had treated Neal the past few days, but that did little to ease the hurt it caused. He tried to do right by Neal, be patient with him, his antics and knack for getting himself into trouble. But, sometimes it was easier said than done and the past few days were a prime example.

"Neal..."

"Forget it, Peter." Neal said as he laid a hand on his chest as pain erupted. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does, Neal." Neal interrupted with a sigh, but Peter continued.

"It matters. It matters to June, it matters to Mozzie, to Diana and Jones. It matters to Elizabeth who hasn't left this hospital since you've been here and worried herself to death over you, who has invited you into our home and treated you like family. She evens takes your side over mine most of the time." A smile tugged at Neal's lips, but Neal quickly dropped it. Peter took a deep breath.

"It matters to me, Neal."

At that Neal stopped playing with the blanket and froze. Peter swallowed thickly, uncomfortable with where this conversation was headed. He didn't want a chick flick moment to occur. He cleared his throat, and Neal finally looked up at him with a blank expression.

"I know you want all this to be over, trust me, we all do. But we can't just ignore this, Neal. It's not something you can just con your way out of."

Neal gave him a devious grin and skeptical look. But Peter wasn't amused.

"This is serious, Neal. This could kill you if you don't get it treated." Peter stated firmly. Fear flickered across Neal's face before he masked it with calmness.

"But... you're going to be fine. You'll have the surgery tomorrow and be on your way to a full recovery." Peter assured patting Neal's leg. Peter noted that even in the dim light of the lamp that what little color in his friend's face was now completely gone.

"Yeah...I'm sure it will go perfect." Neal said but Peter could tell the young man didn't actually believe it. Neal yawned and rubbed a tired hand across his face weakly. Peter could tell he was in pain again since his jaw was clenched and the hand that rested on his stomach was slowly making its way up to his chest. The younger man swallowed thickly a few times before turning wide eyes toward Peter.

"'I...I don' feel so good."

Peter immediately grabbed the small tray on the table and held it under Neal's chin. He placed a hand on Neal's back to help him sit up and add some form of comfort as Neal lost what little food was in his stomach and then dry heaved. Once Neal stopped gagging, Peter asked him if he was done. The younger man gave a small nod and eased himself back on the pillows.

Peter went into the small bathroom in the room and washed out the tray. When he returned, he found Neal curled up on his side with his eyes tightly shut. He placed the tray back on the table and returned to set on the edge of Neal's bed.

"Neal? Are you okay?" He asked. He glanced over at his wife, who to Peter's disbelief had slept through Neal's retching, and silently wished she would wake up.

"Uh...y-yeah. 'mmm fine." Neal said but Peter knew better than to believe him. He pushed the nurse call button unbeknownst to Neal.

Not even a minute later, a nurse on the night shift walked in. She spoke quietly so not to disturb Elizabeth.

"Is everything alright in here?" She asked.

Peter saw Neal open his eyes in surprise before answering.

"Not really. He just threw up and he's in a lot of pain." Neal threw Peter a betrayed look.

The nurse walked over to the bed on Peter's side and the agent stood from the bed so she could check on Neal.

"Mr. Caffrey? Are you still feeling nauseous?" The nurse addressed as she placed a thermometer in Neal's ear. Neal didn't answer and Peter knew he didn't plan on it.

"Neal." The agent only had to warn once.

"A..a little." He answered. "But not much." The nurse removed the thermometer from his ear.

"101.9" She stated. "A little higher than last time, but hopefully we can still get it down in time. Is it just in your chest that you feel pain?"

Neal nodded as he pulled the cover closer to him.

"How much pain, Mr. Caffrey?" Neal just shrugged keeping his eyes screwed shut.

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, how would rate it?"

Neal hesitated a moment and answered a four, but when Peter warned him again he changed his answer to a six and half.

"Alright. I'm going to increase your dosage of pain medication just a little bit. It may not make it completely go away but it will lessen it to a more manageable level."

She checked the rest of Neal's vitals and fixed his pain medication. She turned to leave, but when she reached the door she turned back around to Peter.

"If that doesn't help or he starts feeling sick again, push that button to let us know."

When Peter nodded in agreement, she left softly closing the door. Peter looked at his wife who was shifting positions but still didn't wake up. He was amazed at how much she had slept through, but neither of them had gotten much sleep the past two nights so he couldn't blame her. He turned his attention back to Neal who still laid on curled up on his side, but now was staring straight ahead of him. Peter scooted his chair in front on Neal's line of vision and sat down. Peter could tell the pain medication had already started to kick in. His muscles were more relaxed and his eyes were becoming a bit unfocused.

"P'ter?" Neal slurred as he wearily looked at the agent who had sat down in front of him.

"Heyyy, buddy." Peter greeted softly. "Are you feeling better?"

"Mmhmm." Neal nodded. Peter watched the younger man struggle to keep his eyes open and encouraged him to go to sleep. Neal's eyes had been closed a long time and Peter was sure he fallen asleep, but when he leaned back in his chair Neal must have heard him move.

"P'ter?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

"Yeah, Neal?" Peter stared at him with a questioning look. Neal opened his eyes slightly and it took him a few seconds to focus on Peter.

"Don't..go." Even on high dosages of pain medication, Neal still managed to sound a bit embarrassed about asking the agent to stay. Peter fought the smile that was threatening to show.

"I'm not going anywhere."

If Neal heard him, he chose to ignore it.

"If you go, that...that woman might c-come back."

Instantly, Peter sat up straighter. Neal's voice held fear as if whomever he was talking about he was afraid of them. The idea of someone scaring, or worse actually hurting him, made Peter furious.

"What woman, Neal?" He worked to keep the agent out of his voice and tried to sound casual.

"I..I don't know." Neal said. "B-but she seems...seems so...familiar." Neal's eyes closed once more.

"Why don't you want her to come back?"

"Because...she jus'...stands in the corner...and stares at me." Neal said, opening his eyes to look at Peter. "Every time...I would wake up she...she left."

Peter let the information sink in and he tried not to laugh. He thought that Neal must have dreamed about this woman or was hallucinating from the medication.

"Oh, she's probably just shy." Peter played along, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his smile.

"Maybe...she was dressed...really nice. Lots of jewelry."

Peter's shoulders shook with quiet laughter at Neal, but suddenly he froze. He remembered the woman from the waiting room was dressed really nice and wore lots of jewelry.

"What color of shirt was she wearing?"

Neal must have noticed Peter's voice change because he looked at the agent again.

"Wh-why does that matter?"

"Because ...I may have saw her." Peter explained.

"Ohh...uh, she was wearing...a light purple button up. I think."

Peter didn't say anything as he tried to reel back from the shock. The mystery woman had been in Neal's room. Questions starting whirling around in the agents head, but Neal's slurred voice brought him back to reality.

"Did you see her too, Peter?"

Peter hesitated a moment, deciding on wether or not to tell Neal the truth.

"No, Neal. I didn't see her. You probably just dreamed her or that medicine has you seeing thing." Peter lied.

"Hmm." Neal closed his eyes. "That's a good possibility."

Peter gave a short laugh. "Go to sleep Neal."

For once, Neal did as he was told, leaving Peter sitting unsure of what he should do about this mystery woman.

AN: Feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!