The Things They Carried

Summary: The agents of Graceland are masters of keeping secrets. But sometimes, secrets have a way of coming back to haunt you.

Disclaimer: I own nothing; Graceland belongs to Jeff Eastin and USA.

A/n: So I finally got around to writing this – with NaNoWriMo eating my soul, I haven't really been able to write much on anything else. But, I WON. So that's cool. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

"Hey Daddy…" Mike did his best to avoid eavesdropping on Abbey's half of the conversation with her father, but it was difficult for him to not listen in when she was sitting in the chair next to his bed. Granted, she thought he was still asleep. "He's doing better… they have him on a potassium IV on and off…" There was a moment of silence; Mike could tell that Abbey was listening to something her father was saying. "I did, Dad… but he's stubborn. I don't know if I'm going to be able to convince him to come with me…"

There was another moment of silence, before Abbey spoke again. "His family isn't going to be any help… they're mostly convinced that he's faking all of this for attention. He has one sister who would be willing to help him out, but otherwise I don't think anyone will be there for him." Mike opened his eyes as Abbey spoke, turning to look at her. "I know he isn't my responsibility… but I love him, Dad. I'm not going to sit back and watch him destroy himself without trying to do anything…"

Mike cleared his throat, letting the woman know that he was awake and could hear what she was saying. "Dad, Mike's awake… I should go… I love you, too."

Mike waited for Abbey to hang up the phone before he spoke. "Your dad knows about me?" Mike asked.

"I was with him when Paige called… when he heard what was going on, he encouraged me to come out here and be with you. And he was the one that suggested I invite you to come live with us in Maryland…" Abbey began.

Mike closed his eyes, sighing. "You didn't want me to come with you?"

"That isn't what I meant… I was just concerned with getting out here and making sure you were okay. But as soon as he suggested it, I couldn't get the idea out of my head… I knew that it was what I wanted to do…" Mike glanced over at Abbey, watching the look of concern on her face. "I didn't mean for you to get the idea that I was being pressured into doing this… it was my choice to actually ask you. But my dad is supporting that decision, and he's going to do what he can to help us out and make sure that you're okay."

"Why does he care about me, anyway? He's never even met me…" Mike began.

"Because he knows that I'm still in love with you." Mike raised an eyebrow at the woman's admission. "I didn't want to give up on us. Even if you aren't in a position to be in a relationship right now, I'm willing to wait." Mike closed his eyes again, sighing. He hadn't expected to be having this conversation. "It's almost time for lunch… you going to try and eat something?"

"I don't really have much of a choice…" Mike began.

"Mike…"

"I know I have to eat, Abbey… I'm going to do what I can…" Mike closed his eyes, sighing. "I want to get this feeding tube out, and I want them to stop giving me the potassium IVs… and that isn't going to happen unless I eat."

Mike opened his eyes as Abbey took his hand, squeezing it gently. "You need to take care of yourself," Abbey began. "I don't want to lose you… and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that you get through this." Mike was slightly surprised when the woman pressed a soft kiss against his forehead. "So, the question now is whether or not you want me to go get you something to eat, or if you're going to go with the tray they send you?"

"I should probably just eat whatever they send up…" Mike began. "I have a feeling that they're keeping an eye on what I leave on the tray after each meal…"

"Right… I should have realized they're probably keeping track of the calories you're getting from actual food…" Abbey replied. "I guess they need to know how much they need to be giving you through the feeding tube…" Mike nodded slowly, closing his eyes. He couldn't help wincing slightly at the dull pain that was starting to radiate out from his chest. "Mike? Is something wrong…?"

"No… it's nothing…" Mike began, shaking his head. The pain was gradually starting to get worse, almost as if something was pressing down on his chest, but he didn't want to scare the woman.

"Mike… you're sweating…" Mike glanced over at Abbey, who was looking very concerned. "Something's not right… I'm calling the nurse…"

Mike reached out and stopped Abbey's hand as she went for the nurse call button on his bed. "Abbey, I'm fine… I'm just a little uncomfortable…" Mike began. He watched as Abbey shook her head, pulling her hand away from his.

"Mike, what if something is really wrong?"

"I'm pretty sure that with all of the monitors they have me attached to, if something was wrong they would already know about it…" Mike began, closing his eyes. He couldn't help reaching up towards his chest, gripping at the neck of his hospital gown as it started to feel like he was being choked by the fabric. "I'm sure it's nothing…"

The words were barely out of Mike's mouth before a nurse was running into the room, moving straight to his IV pump and shutting it off. "What's going on?" Abbey asked.

"They're getting abnormal readings from Mike's heart monitor… I was told to stop the potassium and start giving him oxygen…" the nurse replied. "Mike, are you experiencing any symptoms…?"

"He was just saying he was a little uncomfortable…" Abbey began. Mike closed his eyes, focusing on breathing as the nurse worked to set up the oxygen tubing that he needed.

"What is it that hurts, Mike?" the nurse asked.

"My chest…" Mike felt strange, almost as if he couldn't breathe as he spoke. "It's not that bad…"

"Don't lie to me, Mike." Mike opened his eyes as he felt the nurse putting the tubing into his nose, carefully situating it around the feeding tube that was still in place. "I'm going to cut off the pump for the feeding tube, too. Dr. Anderson is on his way up right now, so we can figure out what's going on and determine the best course of action…"

"What do you think is wrong?" Abbey asked. Mike watched as the nurse sighed, checking his pulse in his wrist.

"His heart still wasn't working properly before all of this started… we don't know anything for sure until we run more tests, but this could be a myocardial infarction brought on by the issues he's already been having…" the nurse began. Mike shook his head, knowing what that meant.

"No…" Mike began.

"Myocardial infarction… you mean a heart attack?" Mike closed his eyes at the sound of concern in Abbey's voice. "Are you sure? I mean… couldn't it be something else? Something less serious?"

"That's always a possibility, but we need to keep him stable so that we can run the tests we need to determine what's happening here…" Mike felt Abbey squeezing his hand again as the nurse spoke. "Once we know what's happening, we'll be able to treat the problem and make sure he's okay."

It didn't take long for Dr. Anderson to arrive, and the man barely even looked at Mike before he turned to the nurse. "We're going to need to draw some blood to check his troponin levels, and get an EKG… go ahead and take down the bag of potassium. We can always start it again later, but I don't want to risk causing further issues with his heart…" Mike closed his eyes as the doctor spoke, trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "Once the IV is running again, we'll give him the nitroglycerin for the pain and a dose of Warfarin to prevent blood clots…"

"You think Mike's having a heart attack?" Abbey asked.

"Given the circumstances, chances are high that's what we're dealing with. We're going to run tests and verify that's what we're dealing with, and then we'll move forward with an angioplasty and whatever other treatment we need to go forward with to get Mike's heart working properly and his vitals stabilized." Mike glanced over at Abbey as she squeezed his hand again, turning to look at him as the doctor spoke. "At the very least, we're going to need to keep Mike for a few more days to make sure we're treating the cause of these symptoms and that he's okay."

"I don't…" Mike began. He couldn't really catch his breath well enough to finish his sentence.

"Just take it easy, Mike… try to rest."