Charlie and Megan left the elevator and Charlie immediately zoomed in on his father, who was standing out in the hallway by Don's room, leaning against the wall with his face turned down.

Charlie's hand flew out to grasp Megan's sleeve and he felt himself rush down the hall before he could really process any thoughts.

"Dad, is he... did he...?"

Alan looked up and Charlie saw tears in his father's eyes and his stomach opened to reveal a bottomless pit that threatened to swallow him.

"He woke up, Charlie."

The words sank in slowly and suddenly... Charlie had thought that once this moment came around, once the possibility became a certain event, he'd be bouncing off the walls in joy. But his body had other ideas and he sank against the wall beside his father, his knees suddenly weak, his head swimming.

Megan's voice sounded very far away. "Charlie?"

"I'm okay."

He doubted that, he really did, because he felt faint and very much like passing out. Hands grabbed his shoulders from both sides and he was dragged over to the opposite side of the hallway, the edge of a chair meeting the back of his legs and he sank down gratefully and let his father's hand guide his head down between his knees.

"Deep breaths, Charlie. Come on."

Charlie did as he was told and it didn't take long for the encroaching darkness to recede and his stomach to quiet down. Megan's hand gently rubbed his arm and he looked up and met her eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay, Charlie. That's a normal reaction."

"You look okay though."

Megan gave a small, quiet laugh and slid into the seat beside him. "I'm a woman."

"And that explains that?" Alan asked with a hint of surprise.

Charlie chuckled and leaned against his father's shoulder, closing his eyes once more as Alan extended his arm behind him and rubbed his back. "Ah, Dad."

"I know." Alan heaved a big sigh and leaned back in his chair. "The doctors have been in for 10, 15 minutes now. Can't be much longer."

"How... I mean, was he...?" Charlie couldn't find the words to express himself.

"He was pretty much out of it, Charlie. I expected as much. But...," Alan looked over. "He recognized me."

Charlie closed his eyes and smiled. God, it felt weird. He felt weird. As if his body was finally catching up and now smashed him against the wall. He could probably fall asleep sitting right here.

"There he is."

Charlie's eyes flew open as his father practically jumped out of his seat to approach Dr. Hamilton. The doctor closed the door to Don's room behind him with a smile and ushered Alan back to the small row of chairs to sit down again. After greeting Megan with a firm handshake, he hunkered down in front of them.

"Alright. Don is lucid, albeit still a little fuzzy on the where's and why's. He has a gap in his memory leading up to his seizure, to what extend I can't tell yet. But he's awake. He knows who he is, he knows his father, knows he has a younger brother and he knows he's an FBI agent."

They all smiled with distinct relief. Phil Hamilton looked at them for a moment before he continued.

"He does have a motor weakness in his right side and his speech is slurred, which are both caused by the surgery. Given the right therapy, I'm sure he should be able to recover from that, it's a common side effect. Other than that, I can't tell right now. We have a heap of tests we will perform over the next couple of days to ascertain if and what kind of impairment might be there, but for the rest of today, I guess we better let him get accustomed to the world again."

He patted Charlie's knee and straightened up again. "Don't expect too much yet, he's still tired and I prescribed him something for that headache he has."

Hamilton smiled at them and turned to leave. Charlie wearily pulled himself up and met his father's relieved eyes. Megan touched his arm and looked at him, her features less tense than they'd been before.

"I'll wait out here, okay?"

XOXOX

Scrambled eggs and bubble wrap. Yeah, that had to be it.

While he was out, someone must have cracked his head open, scrambled his brains, wrapped everything up in bubble wrap and stuffed the whole mess back into his skull.

Don really hoped someone had arrested that guy.

He turned his head a fraction on his pillow, trying to ignore the multitude of lines and tubes tugging at him. Everything felt decidedly blurry and just that one inch out of reach, but his head was still throbbing enough for him not to think about all of it too much. Thinking hurt. Although he really wanted to know what had landed him here. But everything was fuzzy and just that one inch...

You thought that already.

Two blurry figures appeared in his line of vision and Don blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. Familiar faces. Good.

"Hey Dad," he rasped.

The side of the mattress dipped slightly as his father sat down and Don tried to reach up with his hand, but it refused to work properly and simply flopped back down onto the bed. Warm fingers wrapped around his and then his father leaned over him and pressed a soft kiss onto his forehead.

"Welcome back, son."

There were tears in his father's eyes. Must have been bad.

Another set of fingers wrapped around his other hand and he tightened them to return the pressure, shifting his head a bit to look at his brother who leaned against the opposite side of the bed.

Wow, must have been really bad.

"Charlie?" he mumbled, shocked again at how hard it was to form clear words.

"Yeah, bro?"

"Cryin'."

"Am not." But he saw Charlie reach to up rub at his eyes.

A mixture of extreme giddiness and immeasurable sorrow started to roll over him and Don pressed his eyes shut to hold his own tears at bay. Man, get a grip on yourself.

Leaning into the warm palm that cupped the side of his face, he was again startled at the dimmed feeling that enveloped one side of his body. He felt the faint pressure of a thumb against his temple, drawing an almost hypnotic circle.

"It's okay, Donnie. Go back to sleep."

Bubble wrap, he thought and then, there was nothing else but darkness again.

XOXOX

Alan Eppes turned off the engine of his car after he'd parked in the driveway and looked to his right with a fond smile on his face. Charlie had practically fallen asleep the moment he'd been belted in on the passenger side. In the dim shine of the streetlight, his youngest son looked very much at peace in sleep, but the dark rings under his eyes spoke a different story.

He reached out and gently shook his knee. "Charlie?"

Charlie blinked and shifted slightly in his seat before he rose a hand to cover a huge yawn. He blinked sluggishly for a moment while figuring out his surroundings.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Nothing to be sorry for. Let's go in, huh?"

Charlie scrubbed his palms over his face in an attempt to wake up further and suddenly stilled. "Damn."

"What?"

Charlie looked up, his hands still held a few inches in front of his face. "I'm supposed to hold a guest lecture at Berkeley on Wednesday. I totally forgot about that."

"You want to cancel?"

"I... I don't know."

Alan opened the door and waited for Charlie to get out on his side. "They would understand if you did, wouldn't they?"

They walked up the driveway to the front door and Alan searched his pockets for the key while Charlie leaned against the side of the door frame.

"I'm sure they would. It's just... it's been planned for so long."

They entered the house and Charlie steered towards the kitchen, getting himself a bottle of water. "They've been trying to persuade me for months and it somehow feels wrong to bow out now."

Alan followed into the kitchen and perused the contents of the fridge. "You don't have to bow out, right? Give them a call, explain the situation and maybe you can reschedule."

He deposited ham, cheese and mayonnaise on the counter and closed the door. "You want a sandwich too?"

"Yeah." Charlie wandered back out into the living-room and Alan busied himself with fixing a late night snack for both of them. When he came out ten minutes later, Charlie was curled up on the couch, fast asleep.

"Ah, well."

Alan shook his head slightly and returned the second sandwich to the kitchen to wrap it up for later consumption. Not today though, he thought with a tired smile.

He sat down in one of the chairs while he ate his own sandwich and watched Charlie sleep.

Alan felt like he had aged a decade or more over the past week and Charlie looked not that much better. He remembered that feeling, he'd had it before, in the week after Margaret had received her diagnosis and their whole lives were suddenly jumbled. But they'd come through that, not without wounds and scars that took their time to heal and fade, but reasonable whole. Life had continued and they had hung on.

He didn't know what the future would hold in store for them this time. Dr. Hamilton sounded very hopeful, but Alan knew that a lot of that had to be professional demeanor, trying to put the family at ease so they could function and support as best they could. He'd met enough doctors in his life to see through that. But he also knew and respected that it was necessary. If the doctors would reveal the whole picture with each and every possibility, as faint as some of them might be, it would be a whole lot harder to be confident.

With a sigh, he got up to put his empty plate into the dishwasher. Then, he tackled the task of getting Charlie into bed.

"Come on," he said after a minute of gentle shaking had only elicited soft moans. "You'll be much more comfortable in your bed."

Glazed brown eyes blinked at him for a moment, but finally Charlie moved. Alan doubted thought that he really woke up while he ushered him upstairs. He waited by the door while Charlie crawled under the covers and then went across the hall to do the same.

They needed their rest. Desperately.

XOXOX

Monday morning brought a cloudy sky and a dull headache behind Charlie's eyes. He turned around onto his other side and curled up into a ball.

"You not getting up?" his father asked from the doorway.

"Haven't decided yet," he muttered back, yawning into the sleeve of his shirt.

"I'll have breakfast ready in a minute. And I'll be heading off to the hospital in an hour or so."

"Uh-huh."

He listened to his father's steps down the stairs and closed his eyes. Man, he was tired. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this drained. Not even finals, on either side of the grading process, had ever left him with this much exhaustion. But those were situations he was prepared for while this current situation wasn't.

Charlie rubbed his temples and decided to get up after all. Life went on. And he had a call to make.

30 minutes later, after a shower and breakfast, he tackled the task of calling Carl Leibowitz, the head of the math department at Berkeley.

"What did they say?" Alan asked as he cleared the table.

"Carl will call back in a few minutes. They're not happy, but maybe we can reschedule before the finals."

"Well, that's at least something, isn't it?"

Leibowitz called back 15 minutes later with the solution. Instead of Tuesday through Thursday this week, Charlie would head north Monday through Wednesday the following week.

"I can't tell you how happy I am about that, Carl. Thank you."

"Don't worry, Charles. I'm glad we could work it out. Give my best to your family and we see each other next week, okay?"

Charlie ended the call and went upstairs to grab his bag and laptop. He'd head over to CalSci after visiting Don. It was time to catch up a little on his work, it felt like ages since he'd concentrated his mind on anything math related, even though it had only been a couple of days.

"You ready?" his father asked when he came back down.

Charlie shouldered his bag and released a breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

XOXOX

"Hey."

Don turned his head carefully, trying not to aggravate the headache that was still gnawing at the insides of his skull. After a couple of blinks, Megan's face swam into focus.

"Hey."

He tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but gave up pretty fast. Hospital beds and comfort obviously couldn't match. Megan pulled one of the chairs nearer to the bed and sat down.

"How are you doing?"

Don thought about that for a moment. Not too bad, he decided. He had a faint recollection of yesterday and comparing that with today so far, he was decidedly less fuzzy even though the headache hadn't been as bad. No more bubble wrap, he thought and had to grin.

"Okay." He swallowed and winced at the raw pain the nasogastric tube caused in his throat.

"That looks very uncomfortable," Megan said and wrapped her fingers around his wrist.

"T'is." Don swallowed with another wince and concentrated on his next words. "Hope they... pull't later."

Man. It was really hard to form any kind of coherent sentence. The words were there, just on the tip of his tongue, but getting them out was a real struggle. Dr. Hamilton had said that it was going to become easier, but Don already felt impatient and a little bit annoyed with his body. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on Megan's touch but not really succeeding. Damn body.

"They've postponed the Albertson trial. I thought you'd want to know."

Albertson? Albertson? It took a moment before the right memory came up. Randolph Albertson. Big style extortionist. Had threatened to bomb several supermarkets. Don was supposed to appear in court to testify some time later this month.

"Could've sent you," he muttered. "Or David."

"Judge Branston wanted you. You were the leading agent on the case. It's not so bad though. Robin Brooks thinks she can link him to money laundering as well, so she's happy for a little more time to gather evidence."

Robin. Don's stomach did a lazy somersault before it knotted up tightly. He didn't really want to go there now.

"She asked about you. Word got around." Just as word had gotten around after he'd started seeing Robin a while ago. Office grapevine was a wonderful thing.

"Yeah."

The appearance of Dr. Hamilton and a small, stocky lady at his side spared Don from further delving into that particular topic.

"Ah, you have a visitor." Dr. Hamilton said with a smile.

Megan turned in her chair. "I was about to leave anyway."

She turned back around and squeezed his hand. "David and Colby will probably come by later today."

"Tell 'em to behave," Don said with a lop-sided grin.

"Ah, you tell them yourself." Megan smiled and leaned down to place a quick kiss onto his temple. "Get better soon, alright?"

Don watched her as she turned around to leave, slightly surprised at the unusual display of affection. Then he focused his attention to the remaining people in the room.

Dr. Hamilton and the woman stepped forward. "Don, this is Evelyn Landers. She's a therapist with our rehab department and will help you get back onto your feet. The sooner, the better, right?"

The blond woman leaned against the side of his bed and stretched her hand out. "Hi Don, nice too meet you."

Don tried to persuade his weak hand to move, but it wouldn't obey, so he lifted the other up instead to shake Eve's hand. The therapist seamlessly switched hands and grabbed his in a strong, warm handshake. Don liked her immediately.

"You can call me Eve, everyone does."

That was a good thing, Don thought. He was fairly sure he wouldn't be able to pronounce her full name properly yet. He shifted slightly onto his side while Eve settled herself in the vacant chair beside the bed.

"Dr. Hamilton here has told me pretty much everything about you that we know, but you don't know anything about me yet. I'm 39, married with two children and I've been working in health care for the last 20 years."

"You're a... PT?"

"Amongst other things." Phil Hamilton, who'd leaned onto the rail on the foot end of the bed, smiled broadly.

Eve threw the doctor an amused glance and continued. "I started out as nurse. Then that became not challenging enough, so I went to school and became a physical therapist. I worked downstairs in this very hospital for almost 15 years, until I had a bicycle accident. Broke my skull and three vertebrae."

Don's eyes widened at that revelation.

"The next 6 months, I spent on the receiving side of health care and once it was clear that I couldn't return into my old job, I decided to go back to school to become an occupational therapist on top of everything else."

"Wow."

"I know," Eve said. "It sounds awfully impressive, but I think it's not. So, what I do here half of the time is evaluating patients and working out therapy plans for them. The other half of my time, I help them getting back into the right tracks, here in the hospital and later at home."

"And she's very good at what she does," Hamilton said and stepped around the bed.

"Now, what we're going to do first is getting you a little more upright," Eve said.

She reached for the bed controls and raised the bed slowly from its near 45 degree angle to an almost 60 degree. Don closed his eyes, fighting the slight dizziness the change of position caused.

"How's that?" Eve asked after a moment.

He opened his eyes again and the dizziness had passed. "Okay."

"Good."

Eve got up and pushed the chair to the side. "I'm going to go fetch a couple of things. I'll be right back." She waited for Don to nod and left the room, meeting a nurse that was just about to enter right at the door.

"In the meantime," Dr. Hamilton said, "how about we get you rid off some of those nasty tubes. You don't really need them anymore, right?"

Don grinned at that and watched the nurse stepping nearer with a tray full of instruments and bandage material.

10 minutes later, being freed of both his nasogastric tube and Foley, he wasn't just as happy as before. Taking deep breaths while he tried to calm his revolting stomach, he saw Eve roll a wheelchair into the room.

"I'm going to leave you to Eve's capable hands now, okay?" Dr. Hamilton said and patted his shoulder. "I'll order some bland food if you're up to it later."

Hamilton left and Eve grinned at his slight frown while he eyed the wheelchair.

"I know, I never liked these either. But I'll doubt you're up to walking on your own just yet. We'll try that tomorrow or so."

She parked the chair beside the bed and leaned over the back with her hands propped onto the arm rests. "What we'll try to do today is get you out of your bed and in here. Then we'll make a little trip to the bathroom and after that, you'll probably be happy to get back into your bed. How does that sound?"

Don thought it sounded heavenly. It took a bit of work until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, but being upright had never felt better. Eve disconnected his IV and capped the port on the back of his hand. Then she slipped a pair of bootie socks onto his feet and helped him scoot forward until he could reach the floor.

"Now, I want you to put most of your weight on your stronger leg and let me do most of the work, okay?"

Don eyed her with just the slightest hint of skepticism. She was maybe 5 feet tall, 5' 2" tops.

"Don, trust me, okay? I've moved bigger hunks than you and I've never let anyone fall."

Eve was right. She did move his weight without any problems. And after their little excursion was over, he was more than happy to be flat on his back again.

XOXOX

Just as they walked down the hallway, Alan saw an unfamiliar woman exit Don's room. She turned around as they approach and smiled at them.

"Are you Don's family?"

"I'm his father, Alan Eppes. And this is my other son Charlie."

"I can see the family resemblance." They shook hands. "I'm Eve Landers, with the rehab department. I'm your son's therapist."

"Rehab?" Alan asked with surprise. "So soon already?"

"It's never too soon to start," Eve said with a smile. "Although this wasn't really rehab yet, just getting him to move around a little, a little wash-up, change of clothes, that sort of thing."

"Isn't that usually the nurses' job?" Charlie asked with a frown on his face.

"Well, I was a nurse once," Eve grinned. "I like to do this with all my patients the first time around. Our usual tests are time-consuming and tiring on the patients. This way, I can evaluate them while they receive a basic amount of care. And I see details the nursing staff don't."

"Like what?" Alan asked, curious now and a little bit uneasy.

"It's too early to speak about that yet, Mr. Eppes. Let's wait for the results of all the tests Dr. Hamilton ordered, okay?"

Alan could respect that. "How is he?"

She looked back at the door over her shoulder. "Tired. He's just dozing off again. It will take a while until he has his stamina back."

"Yeah, I guess it does." Alan looked over to Charlie and stretched his hand out to touch his back, noting the worried expression on his face.

"Well, we'll see each other around," Eve said. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

They shook hands again and watched the woman walk down the hallway. Alan noted that she dragged her left leg just a little bit. Wondering for a moment what kind of story might lie behind that limp, he reached for the door handle.

XOXOX

They both immediately stopped inside the room to take in the picture before them.

Don was curled up on his right side with his eyes closed, facing the door. Most of the medical equipment was still there, but pushed back into the corner by the window, only the IV in Don's hand remaining. Instead of a hospital gown, he was now clad in one of his old and threadbare UCSD shirts. The bulky dressing on his head had been exchanged for a smaller one as well. Released from all the tubes and wires, Don looked a lot closer to normal than he had the day before.

Charlie moved closer and lowered himself into the free chair. "He looks good."

Alan nodded with a fond smile on his face and stepped up beside Charlie. "He sure does."

"You talkin' 'bout me?" Don croaked.

The initial shock quickly transformed into laughter and Charlie reached over to gently pull Don's hand into his own. "Sorry. We didn't mean to... you know?"

Don pressed his head deeper into the pillow, his fingers weakly moving in Charlie's grasp. "S'okay. Maybe m'body will catch up with a'the praise 'round."

Alan perched down onto the side of the bed. "Still a headache?"

"Uh-huh." Don angled his head a bit and opened his eyes to mere slits. "You met Eve?"

"Yeah," Alan said and patted Don's leg. "Just as we arrived."

"Tough lady," Don muttered and turned his face back into the folds of the pillowcase.

They were both silent as Don gradually sank into an obviously much needed sleep. Charlie felt Don's fingers in his hand grow slack and he extended an experimental finger to draw a slow circle on Don's palm. The reaction was instantaneous. Don's hand clenched around his for a moment and Charlie could see a slow smile growing on his brother's face.

"Don't tease," he whispered almost inaudibly.

Alan scoffed at Charlie and rubbed Don's leg through the blanket while Charlie tried to hide his grin. They watched as Don finally succumbed to the need for rest his body demanded and Charlie couldn't stop grinning.

He couldn't help it. He was a little brother, teasing was his prerogative.

TBC

A/N: For those of you who read this the first time around, this is how far we were then. From Chapter 5 onwards, the new stuff will follow. Don't know yet how fast I will be, but I can promise you it won't take 2 years again. ;-)